The Walled Cities

Chapter 40

With a full stomach and my pack on my back, I found myself heading in the direction of Notredram the morning after I had returned home. Cassie, Ezekiel, and Kaelyn had insisted that I eat breakfast and then go. Much as I would have preferred to stay a day or two at the house, I could not really argue with them. Ezekiel, maybe, but Cassie never let me get away with anything, not since the day she had met me and become like a mother to me.

So now at her insistence I was going to Notredram. Each step reminded me how little I had spent at home the last two years, and how much of the children's lives I had missed. When this was all over I was going to do a brisk few trading expeditions in the Spring and Fall. Kaelyn needed to see what home life on the frontier was like as well. Not everything was constant travel and trade. I had full confidence that she would adapt to life on the frontier as she had with nearly everything else so far.

First I just had to convince Shaw to rally an army to retake Columbia. Kaelyn would help with that, though I did not know how other members of Notredram would react to seeing her as an Outsider now. Either way I knew that Kaelyn was not afraid of how her former neighbors would treat her. Gone was the scared lost woman I had met in the woods. Even though she only carried a knife and the slingshot, I knew she was capable of taking care of herself now. Still there was always more to learn and improve upon.

None of this mattered though if I could not raise the army needed. I knew that the Appalachia Rangers would fight, but there were maybe fifty of them. All of them had experience fighting bandits and raiding parties, but the last real battle had occurred when my grandfather was a boy. No one really knew how to fight on such a large scale, and there were few weapons of old that could help. I did not even know if there were any that still worked. Most ships carried cannons that fired four or six pound balls of iron. Columbia had a few along the walls, but those would be used against us. Sheer force would have to be adequate to retake the city.

Despite the differences that the Outlanders and those of The Walled Cities, I had a feeling both would fight. Columbia was vital to everyone, whether they would admit it or not. All we needed was to get enough people to realize that they needed Columbia to be a free city, and we would have a chance at retaking it. Weapons would be interesting as most farmers and Outlanders only had one or two guns. There was not enough time to go south and negotiate with the smiths that produced arms and guns. We would have to simply use whatever we could get our hands on.

Having become lost in my thoughts, I did not notice the noise and columns of smoke coming from ahead. Just as the woodsmoke entered my senses, a voice shouted, "Stop!"

Confused as we were still a day from Notredram, I hesitantly fingered the handle of my knife. Bandits were a rarity in this area,  but with the troubles in Columbia it was possible that a group had sprung up.

Unsure, I waited as a pair of figures appeared from a stand of trees to my right. My hand relaxed its grip on the knife as I recognized the uniform of the guards from Notredram. Confused as to why they were so far from home I waited patiently, noticing that Kaelyn moved to my side as she watched the man and woman come to us. She undoubtedly knew them by name.

Stopping a few feet away from us, the guards looked us over. At the sight of my rifle they demanded, "Hand it over nice and easy. We do not want any trouble, but we cannot have you armed."

Since we were not at Notredram I had every right to keep my rifle, which despite them being from Notredram, I had no reason to comply. Kaelyn seemed to have followed my line of thinking as she somewhat angrily demanded, "What right do you have to ask for such. This is not Notredram, so you two have no authority here. Don't but me Rachel, you and Tom are in another world now. His world, not yours. I am sure if Z is given an explanation as to why he should give up rifle, he will comply."