26

Almost there, wherever there is

He walked slowly around the perimeter of the work-site, keeping one eye on those two as he moved. They were digging in a desultory fashion, exaggerated movements with little actual effort, and he was sure they were still talking. The miming of the work was partly in contempt of their new boss but also to let them keep on with whatever they found so interesting. So far they had noticed his progress. Must be an engrossing topic, he thought to himself with a flicker of a smile. He knew full well he and Jackson were at the heart of it, with some peripheral mentions of Cranby. He was almost behind them now. He stopped and crouched to look over the field. No one else had noticed anything. They were all working, stopping to wipe off sweat or dust from their eyes. They were a grim looking lot, their clothes covered in gray-brown dust from head to toe. Some of them wore hats to keep off the worst of the sun, others worked bareheaded. There was no rhythm to their work, no coordination. They all swung their picks or sunk their shovel blades at their own rates, making a constant dissonant clatter as rocks were turned and dirt lifted.
The two Rodrigo was most interested in were still miming their peers, but it was easy to see they weren’t doing as much work, as they never stopped to mop the sweat from their eyes. Their theatrics wasn’t that well thought-out, thought Rodrigo to himself, and he took comfort in their sloppiness. They still hadn’t noted his absence. The sun was hot on his back as he remained crouched and intent on his would-be opponents. But he felt no temptation to move. He wanted to stay where he was until they realized they had lost track of him. It would be interesting to see their reaction.
One of them straightened and looked around, pushing back his hat to better see across the work site. He exaggerated his stretching to look for Rodrigo, and then relaxed, leaning over to his confederate to give the all clear. The other stopped his play-acting and leaned on shovel once more. Their faces lost their stoniness, replaced by subtle smiles as they felt like they had won a small victory.
Rodrigo let them stand a minute or two, then stood and blew his whistle for a water break. Everyone else stopped as one man, dropped their tools, and shuffled over to the water tank. As the other two smirked at each other and started for the water, they realized the whistle had not come from the direction they had expected and looked quickly up at where Rodrigo stood. He stared at them without moving a muscle, his arms folded across his chest. They did their best to muster some appearance of indignation but it failed miserably. One of them shot a glare at Rodrigo, while the other was content to scowl at his partner. Even better, Rodrigo thought, they’re not exactly united. One of them may bear a grudge, while the other is an opportunist, recruited so the malcontent could feel stronger. The one who had glared at him looked at the other in time to see the scowl on his face, and at that, turned and stormed off to the water. The scowler watched him go then made his own way there, avoiding him as he queued up with some other men.
Rodrigo stayed where he was, looking over the working. This was going to be difficult with so many of them, and so much topside work. The sun’s heat made it difficult to work very hard which was why there were so many on the crew. Once the work shifted under the surface, there were fewer crew needed as well as less room to put them. Things would be easier then. He watched as the workers drank their fill, drifted off behind some rocks to relieve themselves, and made their way back to their tools. They were in no hurry to start again, but they were content to heft their tools, check for cracks or dull edges, all to look ready without actually breaking a sweat.
The two would-be conspirators were the last to make their way across the stony field but they came one at a time. One picked up shovel and hefted it but didn’t look too closely at it. He was watching his former comrade cross the work site, and showed no surprise when the other picked up his tools and moved to another place on the field. Rodrigo had to look down to keep his smile hidden, but he tried not show anything in his movements or expression when he raised his head once more. He looked once more across the field, blew his whistle one more time and walked slowly back to the water and stores. He made no attempt to look at his remaining malcontent but felt sure the man’s eyes were burning a hole in his back. He didn’t care a bit. If that was all it took to keep someone like him isolated, he could breathe a little easier.
* * *
I collected a few of the small stones, just out of curiosity, and Derwin and I headed back to the settlement. We walked back across the grasslands, rather than following the stream’s course. The ground was less even here, and there were some exposed rocks at the crown of some of the hills and ridges. I noted more small animals here than I had seen earlier, rabbits, mice, and the like. There was a thick forest close by and it looked like our path would parallel its boundary. There were birds flying in and out and as we walked along the forest edge we could hear sudden crashings and the snapping of twigs and branches, the crunching of leaves, as something that didn’t want to be seen fled into the shadows. It didn’t sound heavy, and moved quickly, so I assumed it was a deer or or something similar.
Derwin hadn’t much to say on the way back. He seemed as preoccupied with the sights and sounds as I was. There was more than one occasion where one or the other of us stopped and signaled for quiet as we came across something we didn’t want to disturb. A doe and fawn crossed in front of us with a quick sideways glance, but no apparent haste. Another time it was a large bird carrying off some carrion from the path. It turned and raised its wings in a threat gesture but we had stopped already and simply waited for it to finish. The sounds of bird calls, jubilant and angry by turns, continued as long as we walked within earshot of the woods.
For a time the wood receded away from us and we walked through more grassland prairie. The trees seemed to vibrate gently at edge of the woods where the birds continued to fly in and out. We didn’t see or hear anything larger moving around nor did we see any smaller animals underfoot or in our path. They were either more abundant near the wood or more secretive.
The wood gradually drew nearer the path but never came as close as it had been before. We could smell some woodsmoke as we drew nearer our destination and I looked forward to sitting and getting something to eat, then working through my plan. I wasn’t looking for weaknesses — it had those a-plenty — but alternatives to that when I revealed it, I could successfully fend off the challenges. I didn’t know what other ideas they might propose, but so far I hadn’t met with anything but despair and resignation. I thought I could do better than that.
One thing about approaching this settlement, one never heard any buzz of conversation. No one talked aloud unless they were in a group and even then there were ways of taking and yielding the floor, as it were. We walked in and some looked up from their tasks, others waved or nodded, and Derwin led me to the elders’ hut where I had been received before. Erst was not there, but Reckter was seated at the low table, scanning some paper or map. Derwin disappeared into the back rooms and returned with a jug and two carved wooden beakers, which he set down filled, before making another trip with some dried fruits, meats, and the like. He bowed deeply to Reckter, not so deeply to me, and backed out of the hut.
I sat and ate, pausing to drink what tasted like a honey-based beer. It was refreshing, if sweet, and helped the dried stuff go down a bit easier. My throat was quite dry after the walk back, and the thought of chewing and swallowing the usual fare without something to chase it had been on my mind. I was by no means sure that Derwin wasn’t scanning my thoughts, but I had tried to keep my mind clear on the way back. I don’t think I surrendered anything of importance, not that I expected it would be understood. I had to hope nothing slipped out before I could prepare a convincing argument. With Reckter, I had to be more guarded, so I kept my thoughts on the stream and it’s geological attributes, as well the natural curiosities of our walk back.