The Walled Cities

Chapter 23

Time moves quickly when you are trying to survive. A week had passed since I had seen the fate of Columbia.

Yesterday I had completed work on the structure. Complete, it had a dome shape and had enough room for two people, a fire, and just enough room to store our belongings. I could have made it smaller but I had come to the decision that we would spend the winter here.

Wintering out here would be hard. The extra space was for when the deep snow came and the only reason to go outside was to collect fire wood or look for food in whatever traps I left out.

Much of our time in those weeks would be spent working on various projects. Having the extra space would allow us to work without bumping into each other.

For now though, I enjoyed being outside. Kaelyn I had moved inside onto the bed I had constructed. Part of me knew that she appreciated the thought, and would enjoy being off the cold ground in the winter. I on the other hand had built a bed on the ground. Sleeping on the floor was not new to me and I had no need for a bed.

The last week had been busy without the work I did for the structure. I had killed two more otters and a beaver. Between the meat they brought and the hides that I had cleaned, there was little time for anything else. Building a fridge to store all the meat that I now had and what I had yet to collect was todays priority.

Meat and the greens I had collected did not need much to stay preserved. A simple hole in the ground would be enough to keep them cold. Without a shovel digging a hole was going to be slow work. Still it needed to be done and I could improvise something.

Over the past week I had cut a large pile of firewood. Plenty of the wood was branches and other chunks that would work as digging implements. They would not replace the shovels I used for work around the house but they would make do.

Selecting a three foot long somewhat straight branch, I carried it over to the spot I had chosen to become the ground fridge. Limped is more correct, as my condition had not improved much. When my leg healed I was going to be glad to get rid of my crutch. For now though I leaned on it as I began to scratch the dirt with my improvised digging stick.

Progress was slow, my digging stick was nothing next to a good metal shovel. An hour after I had started I had cut through the mix of moss and dirt that made up the surface of the ground. All the moss I saved for use as sponges or pads for bleeding. They would come in use if Kaelyn worsened or if either of us got hurt again. Hopefully they would not need to be used, as both of us had already had our fill of pain and blood.

Blood and pain would have to wait. My thoughts were too distracting and I needed to focus if I was going to complete the fridge today.

Slowly I removed dirt from the hole. This dirt was soft but not too damp, which was the best for a fridge. Too wet and the food would spoil. Clay would ruin the food as well, as any water would stay in the hole and rot the food. Losing our food stock in the middle of the winter would be devastating. This needed to go just right if Kaelyn and I were to survive.

Right took hours to accomplish. Lunch had come and gone by the time I had scraped a hole deep enough to use. Now I had to line it with wood to keep the food clean and healthy to eat. Getting sick from poorly stored food was something I would avoid at all costs.

Lining the hole was slower than I liked as I could only carry so much with each load. Slow as the process was, I did my best to keep myself from grumbling about it. My thoughts were of the future and of how I and Kaelyn would look when we got home this Spring. Covered head to toe in fur with more to be sold to Notredram and the other Walled Cities.

Notredram... I would have to face Shaw when I went there. I deserved whatever punishment I was given, yet I hoped I would not be. Kaelyn could not rejoin the society of Notredram and without me she would suffer. I had taught her the basics but she was still new to this. Besides most people did not enjoy being along in the world.

Creak

Startled by the sudden noise I looked up from what I was doing. My eyes could not find the source of the noise but I realized that the noise had come from inside the shelter.

Hope rising in my chest, I hobbled over to the entrance to the dome shelter. Ducking under the low ceiling of its only opening, I froze.

Kaelyn had shifted, from the position of the blanket. Careful as not to disturb her, I checked her breathing and her heart rate. Both were unchanged from how they had been the last week. But she had moved, at least a little bit. Perhaps she had even woken up for a moment, but she was asleep now.

Since it was going to get dark soon and the fire I kept had almost burned out, I decided to spend a few minutes taking care of it. Pulling a few branches off the pile of wood I kept inside the structure, I placed them next to me. One at a time I added the branches to the embers of the fire.

Nothing happened at first, but after a few moments, a tiny orange flickering light popped up from the center of the pile of wood. Gradually the flame expanded, greedily consuming the wood I had placed for it to use.

Rather than get back to work right away I allowed myself a few minutes to watch Kaelyn. I was not looking at her in a weird way, though I still felt attracted to her. No I watched her for any sign of a change signaling that she was waking up. Her sleep for this long was not normal and I had begun to wonder if she was going to be able to do much this winter when I would need her the most.