JOURNEY TO THE MIDNIGHT SUN
James Sheldon
LOVE CONQUERS ALL
Book 1 of 3
Chapter 4
To become a Seeker, a young man had to clear a series of academic hurdles. More importantly, he had to master what the Order called the three basics: Killing, Courtesy, and Horsemanship. Unfortunately, learning how to survive from what nature provides, as in survivalist training, was not given the same importance. As a result, John had survived the wild by learning as he went from outpost to outpost. And still, in comparison to the savages, he was sorely ignorant. The pocket of civilization from which he’d come had in large part escaped nature’s hard side, a move they could not be faulted for. Their separation may have paradoxically contributed to their failure to locate the Data Block though. Now however, in an unintended stroke of good fortune the magnitude of which John Summerfield remained unaware, he stood as the first Seeker to establish peaceful relations with a group of savages in the wilds of the north.
So John had struck it rich, and still, one would not know it by observing him on this particular morning. His mood ill, he sat atop a chest-like storage box, flipping his large knife in the air, alternately catching it by its handle and blade. Not a fancy knife but a deadly weapon custom made for the Seeker’s own hands. Suddenly he stood up and threw it, sticking it in a nearby tree.
John looked around his campsite. It was a fine site, located on the south side of a lovely little glade with a carpet of grass and a brook running its edge. Next to his tent he’d made a lean-to that sheltered his kitchen. A bleached out log, nice and smooth, served as both bench and border for a living area that included a few storage boxes serving as seats.
“What the hell am I doing?” John thought, surveying it all, “I must…I absolutely must get on with my mission!”
Although cold, the morning promised yet another sunny afternoon with temperatures in the mid to upper fifties (in Fahrenheit). John walked out into the glade where Ellie stood munching what little grass she had not already eaten. Fortunately for Ellie, there were many glades and openings along the river for her to graze. Fortunately for John, she always returned after visiting them.
“Stay, girl,” John ordered, holding his hand up as if to signal her to stay put. Then with fast running steps he leapt and, with his stomach sliding across her back, he swung his leg over and sat up in one smooth motion.
Ellie, having scarcely flinched, may have been the ideal place for a young man to get his head on straight. There in the midst of nature, sitting on a trusted mount in a sunlit glade. John knew he was dangerously close to breaking his oath to his Order. Ever since he had held Laureal’s hands in his, he could not get her out of his heart and mind. His feelings had only grown stronger in the days that followed, for the lovers made certain to cross paths every chance they got. He had not touched her but he always came away deeper in than before. And any Seeker who broke his vow of celibacy or misused the assets entrusted to his care by the Order could be put to death. Of the few Seekers that had broken their oaths and were caught, all had been made examples of. It was not pretty but the Order deemed it necessary for maintaining the sacrosanct nature of the quest.
“Girly girl,” patting Ellie’s neck, “we’ve got to get off this runaway wagon.”
With no small intent, Summerfield swung his leg over Ellie’s neck and slid down to the ground. He had made up his mind. He would break camp that very morning and move on.
That same morning, on the gravelly beach at the base of the small cliff below their summer home, Emma and her grandson Cody sat on smooth boulders while wisps of steam rose from the little river.
“You should be hearing this from your grandfather,” Emma said to the boy, “but today I will speak to you for him.
“Cody, you know that a battle is being waged in each of us. You know that….
“Ghost wolves are fighting for my soul,” quipped the boy, and shaking his head, “I knew this was coming.”
Emma’s eyes grew large and, for a moment she was of a mind to give the boy a good switching. She was still big and strong enough to do so. She refrained in the knowledge that her youngest grandchild was heartbroken.
“Cody…you and I, your mother and sister and cousin, we are all that is left. And I know you want to do your part to save our family. But right now, the shadow wolves see you as their best opportunity to finish us off.”
Taken aback, the boy gazed at his grandmother in silence.
“It’s true,” leaning in, “I know because I’ve seen it before. I lived through the tragedy at the river crossing. Your Mother and I both, and we saw how it affected our kin. Some of us made our way to fulfillment and happiness in life even after we had lost so much. But Cody, there were others that couldn’t let go of what happened. They clung to it so tight, it became a part of them. They became a tragedy inside. They missed their opportunity for a happy life. And ultimately, they had no one to blame but themselves.”
The Matriarch took a softer tone even as she remained somber, “Cody, your pain is terrible because your love was great. But bad as that pain is, you mustn’t allow it to destroy the good in you. You mustn’t let the shadow wolves use your pain to get the upper hand inside and trick you into thinking you can relieve your pain by killing an innocent man. If you were to do that, Vengeance would consume your heart, and he is among the worst of the shadow wolves. You know the story, a shadow wolf will carry the heart of its victim in its stomach to the den of its dark master, and any heart that is twice devoured is seldom recovered.”
Emma laid her hand on Cody’s shoulder, “Your grandfather, father, brother and cousin Norm intended to capture John and bring him here. That is what you told me, Cody. You said your father and grandfather worried that John might be a scout for a clan of mounted marauders…on horse giants! But Cody, if things had worked out differently and we’d have brought John here, we could have determined if he was friend or foe. And Cody, if we could have done that, I am certain we would not have killed John.”
Emma let out a deep breath, “You and I, your mother and sister and cousin…it’s on our shoulders now to get past this. We have a duty to carry on and rebuild for those that will follow. But we cannot build anything good if our hearts are given over to darkness. Feed the good wolves instead, Cody. Feed the good wolves and help your mother and I, your sister and cousin save what is left of our family.”
From the corner of her eye, Emma spotted Laureal heading out of camp with Chewy, walking the river trail atop the cliff, “Granddaughter,” she called, “where are you going?”
“To gather walnuts, grandma.”
“Wait right there for a moment, your brother is going with you.”
“I don’t need his help!”
Emma turned back to Cody, “My grandfather passed down a story to my brother and I know your grandfather would have passed that same story down to you. So I will tell it to you for him. Your great-great grandfather was a renowned warrior, loved and feared throughout the realm. And the story he told my brother, it was made specially for a warrior’s heart. And many a young man that took it to heart, grew up to become a great warrior. I will tell you tonight. But right now, I need you to go with your sister.”
Left alone, Emma took the rare luxury of lingering on her beach, soaking up sunshine in the beauty of an Indian Summer while gathering her thoughts and fighting off despair. She had been in a decades-long endeavor to rebuild the family since the disaster at the river crossing. Now having been knocked down by yet another tragic disaster, she felt crushed and broken. She wanted to give up. Just give up! That or, like a drowning person, grab hold of whatever (rebuilding material) she could get her hands on.
“Excuse me, Ma’am.”
Emma turned to see Summerfield standing atop the cliff fifteen feet above. “Speak of the devil,” she silently thought.
“Might this be a good time to discuss your offer?”
“I thought you’d never ask,” replied Emma.
“Might I join you, then?” smiling at her jest.
“You may.”
As Summerfield came down the stone steps, Emma asked, “Have you seen my granddaughter and grandson this morning?”
“No Ma’am, I have not,” and looking concerned, “Is there reason for worry?”
“No, no worries. They’re collecting walnuts and hunting squirrels. I thought you may have seen them.”
“No Ma’am, not this morning,” taking a seat beside her.
Perhaps in all the world there existed no better place to have a talk. The sun had brought up the temperature and the little river, pretty though it had been in its early morning shroud of steam, now awakened in glittering swaths as though to welcome the breeze that had come from the south. Then, with a lull in the breeze, the surface calmed to that of a slow moving mirror, reflecting a crystal blue sky dotted with white cloud puffs.
Seemingly out of nowhere, a white headed eagle appeared, gliding effortlessly above the treetops, following the path of the river.
Watching the raptor fly, John felt the gravity of his quest pulling at his overthrown heart. For he truly believed that men had once risen to fly faster, farther, and even higher than the eagles.
Emma meanwhile saw the eagle as a sign sent in a moment of truth. Passing overhead, it turned its head one way and then the other, surveying both sides of the river. Like the eagle, the Matriarch had seen enough of life, and enough of John, to decide him an extraordinarily young man. Likewise, she knew his Order had not given him that wolverine cap for nothing. She also knew that John and Laureal had been speaking in the woods. She had not discouraged it.
“Sir,” Emma began, “before we discuss our business, there is a matter of great importance that I must address.”
“Ma’am, you have my undivided attention.”
“My granddaughter, Laureal, as you may have noticed, is an exceptional young woman.” And with a nod of acknowledgement, “I admit to my bias. Still, we all saw it in her, from early childhood, she harbored an abundant measure of natural happiness. And particularly now, when she has been crushed, her resilience gives me great hope. But that is only the half of it. She has always been quick to grasp, sharp focused and determined. Put together, such attributes could be too much for the average young man, as she might run circles around him. But for the right man, well, I believe such a union would hold great promise for the future.”
“Ma’am, I could not possibly find fault in your granddaughter, not after she put herself in harm’s way for me,” and grimacing, he averted his eyes to the river, “in light of what has taken place…I would be hard pressed to find such consideration.”
“Well, with regard to what has taken place, we women have had a talk. We’ve had several talks. And we have decided that, although our men were within their rights to take everything including the life of anyone that encroached on our territory, we also agreed that we can in no way fault you when you were only fighting to keep your life. We have also decided that, reality being what it is, we are glad you are a gentleman and not a brute, or worse a gang of brutes that might take particular interest in my dear granddaughter. And my granddaughter, perhaps more than any of us, has taken your good behavior to heart. But of course that is not to say she is not caught up in a terribly confused situation.”
Keenly attuned, but not entirely certain, John spoke slowly, “I think…I follow your meaning.”
“If I may continue, I believe you will understand my meaning completely. You see, we arranged a marriage for Laureal years ago. Laureal and the young man had not yet had the opportunity to meet and the final decision would be theirs of course but, in reality, it is rare that Kasskatchen children go against the wishes of their families. Anyway, to make a long story short, there was a growing divide between our family and his due to a situation in which, well, they had become involved with a certain faction in the east that were particularly skilled when it came to taking advantage of, shall we say, ‘low hanging fruit.’ And that is why, a year ago, we terminated our contract with them.”
Pausing to glance out over the river, Emma continued, “Laureal was born at a time when we desperately needed to rebuild our clan, after the disaster at the river crossing. And that is why we never planned to send her off to live with another clan. Instead, we felt that, based on our good family name and on the quality of our young woman, we would find a young man of high quality to come and join us. And towards that end, we had some good offers. However, we decided to hold out for one more year in the belief that we could do even better. And now, here we are, all but destroyed and my poor granddaughter is nineteen!
“What I am trying to tell you, sir, is that Mother Nature has had time to stoke quite a fire in Laureal’s heart, and Laureal has had no means of quenching it. She is so ready to begin her journey that, had you been a witless dope, she may have settled for you anyway. Except you are not a witless dope, and she has gone over the moon, but due to extraordinary circumstances, she is flying over the moon upside down.”
“Ma’am,” visibly bound up inside, “what would you have me do?”
“If you have fallen in love with my granddaughter, then I would have you be the man we hoped to find. By the uprightness you have already shown, there is much for you to gain, not only from our love but from our wealth and reputation which is still considerable. On the other hand however, if you do not love my granddaughter, then you must keep her at arm’s length.”
At war within, John gazed into empty space. “I have given an oath of fidelity to my Order.” Shaking his head, struggling in confusion as his brain overthrew his heart. “As a matter of sacred honor,” turning his eyes to Emma, “I cannot, I must not, fall in love with your granddaughter.”
Emma looked sideways at John. “Sir, if I may be forgiven for pressing, I am an old woman and I have seen much in my life. I have seen the way you look at my granddaughter, and I have seen the way she looks at you. Are you certain that, the answer you are giving me, is the same answer that the voice in your heart is giving you?”
Looking out over the river, John poured his energy into thought like a man who, having gotten lost in a wood, sits down to retrace his steps. At last when he spoke, he seemed to be talking as much to himself as to Emma, “To abandon my mission would be to betray those that spent no small portion of their lives training me for it. It was their great hope. They entrusted me with it. And I accepted it in the understanding that I was to give it nothing less than my all, which necessitates celibacy, for which I took an oath to last until my mission is completed, or, until my death.”
When John had finished his speech, he turned to Emma with certainty.
“Then we have reached an agreement,” stated the Matriarch, making no effort to hide her disappointment. “You will keep my granddaughter at arm’s length based on your oath to your Order, and, on your word to me.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
For some while they sat gazing out over the river. The beauty of the day, holding such promise only an hour before, seemed to have fallen into the shadow of an invisible cloud, blocking the sun and bringing a chill.
At last, Emma broke the silence, “So, things being as they are, let us move to the business of building a wall and stocking of stores for winter, and the trading of information.”
Sick at heart, John nevertheless got down to business, “I will build you a wall. And I will help you stock up for winter. I will complete the wall no matter what, but with regard to helping you stock up for winter, I will help you only until the river freezes well enough for my horse and I to travel on, or until the wall is complete, whichever comes first. In return, I want to compile information as we work regarding routes north, which will require me to take notes and make charts. Of course, this will require you to trust in my promise not to depart prematurely but at the agreed time which I have proposed.”
“As Matriarch of this clan, I accept your offer.”
“All right then, I would like to get started at once. I have scouted a stand of aspens along the river. They are very straight. I will cut the poles and drag them here using my horse.”
“I would like the north section of the wall to be built permanent,” Emma stated, “there is no need for a wall along the cliff, and with regard to the rest, I would like it built to be taken down after the family gets back on its feet. And also, there should be at least two gates.”
“Very well, ma’am. Tonight or tomorrow, when I arrive with the first poles, we can work out the details of the structure based on what you want.”
John rose from his seat, “With your permission, I will get started.”
Emma nodded glumly, “Good day, sir.”
Crossing the beach, Summerfield had only begun the stairs when, unbeknownst to him, Laureal, having returned to see Ellie grazing nearby, had come to see if John might be on the beach below. Thus she took her lover by surprise.
“Good day, sir,” perched at the top of the stairs.
“Good day, miss,” coming up the steps, his manner businesslike. “Your grandmother and I have just reached an agreement,” and reaching the top step, “I am to build a wall,” tipping his cap as he walked past.
