Down The Path Read online

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  The full blast of summer came roaring upon them quickly. It got much hotter in the village than he was used to in a summer. The air became so thick it felt like walking through thin pudding.

  Katherine had taught him that it was called humidity and the air was saturated with water, which was why when he quickly sweat through his shirt, it never dried. Katherine had spent a great deal of time throughout the summer teaching Cooper. She was a natural at it and had taught things in an easily understandable way.

  Cooper was taking diligent notes all the time. He already had several binders worth of material to take home with him and he was already thinking of ways of condensing it, lest he run out of room in his pack.

  They focused his studies on everything useful, repairing things, improvising new tools, but much time was spent on getting more from the land. He learned that the reason why the gardening around his city was generally poor was due to the bad soil nearest the lake. The best soil would be out beyond the gates and they would need to kill the honeysuckle, as well as the ticks, in order to utilize it.

  Coopers biggest interest had been how the village seemed to have so much more information than his city. Truly, they weren’t very far apart and it puzzled him to no end.

  The best answer he had been able to find was that the the village had a diversity of people. Since his city was more isolated and had gotten very few visitors over the many years, no one brought in new skills and the information from the past was being rapidly lost as people died younger and younger.

  This village had received people from all over the place over the many decades. Not only did this bring new information into the village, it also brought information from the past as people contributed different memories and old books and other items that had survived. He discovered that Lakewood was from all the way in the west, where the land met another vast body of water called an ‘ocean’ and that Lakewood was actually the name of his home city! Most of the people had come from points far away and stayed because of the ample food and the welcoming, community environment.

  Cooper began to feel that those damn carp may have been what actually started his city down its spiral, but he knew better. They lacked the trees, the larger game animals and the raw materials in his home. Almost everything that this village had ample supply of, his city was lacking in. He suspected his encampment was doomed from the beginning, it just took them a very long time to realize it.

  Even the engines that Scoob was able to fix were in better starting shape than the handful of heaps around his city. They had found the engines stored in an underground bunker deep in these hills. Scoob swore that someone had stashed them there on purpose, in preparation for something, but no one had ever come for them.

  Cooper was learning everything and was not against convincing his people to move away from the lake and closer to the river to have a shot at better building supplies and a variety of food. He didn’t think it would be too daunting of a task to convince them of this once he showed them all he had learned.

  ---

  For some of his more detailed schooling, he was passed off to others in order to do things and better acquire detailed knowledge.

  He spent great amounts of time with Scoob, the happy man who could make engines work. Scoob could turn a fairly shoddy looking rusty motor into a functioning piece of useful machinery in a matter of days. When he would need parts for one of the engines, he would call on Doc who would go off to his workshop and come up with something that would work.

  Doc’s fixes nearly always required some serious rigging, and they might not work at 100% capacity, but they always worked.

  He came to find out that all of the brewers did something else for the community and that brewing was just something they enjoyed doing ‘on the side’ that also benefited the community in ways other than just beer.

  He learned that Doc had rigged up a device that turned fermented sweetwater into fuel. The time he spent with doc using this system was amazing. He would take this special water and boil it to a certain temperature, then the steam would go through some pipes with water around them and the fuel would pour out the other end.

  One of the most fun things was watching Doc and Scoob taste this ‘fuel’ to know when it was the correct blend and also to know when to stop collecting it. The fuel looked clear as water but smelled terrible. At Doc’s urging he had tried some.

  “C’mon, it’ll put lots of red hair on your chest” he had said.

  After trying it, he had no idea how they could drink it. It caused him to cough, nearly vomit and it made his stomach feel very warm and strange. He did not care for it one bit. Then, doc spit some in the fire to show him why it could power an engine. The fire roared to life and Cooper had stumbled into the dirt in his haste to get away from the fireball while everyone around had laughed.

  Some of his most enjoyable days were spent with Ash, learning how to build these great structures. Aria had informed him that the metal boxes were not good to live in because they held radiation and wood was the way to go. She had not elaborated at that time but had sent him off with Ash instead.

  Ash could look at a stack of logs, and then draw on a piece of paper how the building would come together. He knew what it would take to make it sturdy and all the supplies they would need to complete it from beginning to end. It was amazing. Then Ash and Cooper, along with a small crew of other folks from the village, put together a new house.

  It had not taken them very long, several weeks at the most. The simplicity of his designs were astounding. By keeping it simple he was able to build the homes very quickly, but very strong. Like most of the homes, this one was chosen to face quartering away from the prevailing winds so it would go up and over the house. Ash’s attention to detail was uncanny.

  This house joined the small group that included Ash’s home as well as Ceannt’s. It was a grand house, with a staircase leading up to small loft area for storage and winter sleeping. It had lots of windows since those were harder to build into the structures and it took Cooper many tries to understand how to do it. They let him practice by installing every type of window into this one house.

  The best, and most unexpected part, was that when they were finished they told Cooper this house was for him!

  He had already decided to stay for the winter and leave in the spring, but to have his own house was amazing. He tried to refuse it, telling them he was leaving, but they wouldn’t hear of it. They said if he was going to take skills away with him, he needed to be immersed, and that meant he got his own house.

  Lupe had quickly become one of the pack and was gone nearly every afternoon. Cooper thought she had taken a shine to old Fry, always following him around, but Aria explained that it was because of Fry’s status as the alpha, or dog leader. Cooper didn’t understand who would challenge the block headed old dog, so it made sense to him.

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  Heading into the thick of autumn, the whole village was storing things up for winter. It was really amazing to watch the way that everyone helped, in their varying degrees, all for the good of the community.

  Nearly every house had a cellar beneath it for storing root vegetables. Most held far more than that one house could consume. Much like the crops being spread out, this was a backup in case several cellars spoiled mid winter. It was a way to spread out what they relied on and Cooper thought it was brilliant.

  One morning, Tom knocked on his door. “Hey bud, storms coming” he yelled in through the window and then trotted over to the next house.

  Cooper had been told of these large storms that hit the village during this time of year and was not overly excited to experience one.

  Over the course of the next few days, while preparing for this storm, he learned that Tom could read the waves out in the gulf and tell when a storm was churning out there that may hit them.

  With the design of the village, most of the residents were not overly concerned though. They went around, helping other
s cover their windows and removing dead branches from the trees nearest the settlement, but that was all.

  Cooper had chosen to ride out the storm with Aria and Tom. As the wind whipped outside and the trees swayed violently, the pair recalled stories of their youth over pints of beer. When the rain was coming down especially hard, Cooper began drinking his beer faster than normal to try to hide his anxiety.

  The two old friends were able to calm him easily and got him talking about his own youth all the way up to the story about catching the rabbits most recently. They stayed up all night long while the sky churned and spewed its anger upon the land.

  Come morning, it was beautiful again. The sky was a brilliant shade of blue as the village set out to clean up the handful of trees that had lost their battle with the wind. Aria described it as moderate storm that didn’t cause much damage to the forest, although Cooper was having a difficult time imaging a storm any stronger than that one. No one was injured though and none of the houses had damage; a fact the entire village celebrated.

  24

  With winter setting in, there was less to do around the village, so Cooper spent several afternoons every week with Aria. She taught him many things, but it wasn’t the same kind of knowledge that he gained from the other villagers. This was more about ‘how’ to think.

  At first he had tried writing many of these lessons down, but as he revisited his notes back in his bedroom, he realized that without the proper context, they made no sense.

  One afternoon Aria had asked him to describe certain aspects of his leaving his home city. He went into great detail about the condition of the city and the reproduction problems, the ridiculous expectations heaped on him since birth, and Walters’s plea to help the city.

  As they sat on her front porch, drinking mugs of the hoppy beer that Cooper had grown to love, he told her the entire story. For a long while, Aria seemed to be sitting there just gazing into the forest. She was sipping her beer, sometimes smacking her lips, and to most it would seem that she had not paid any attention to Cooper’s story. He knew her much better than that. When Aria would seem this detached, it was when she was in her deepest thought. She said it was a way to calm herself and let her mind work through what it had just learned.

  Cooper was trying to learn this same technique and it was progressing well. It was hard at first to calm himself so completely, but he was getting much better.

  When Aria spoke, she turned her gray eyes towards him, her brown and white streaked hair always gently falling down her shoulders like waves bouncing off a rock. The eyes seemed to bore into Cooper’s head.

  “Do you know why he sent you away, Cooper?” She asked, a sadness melting over her voice as if she didn’t like the taste of her own words.

  “Of course, Aria, to look for resources, maybe even people, to give the city hope and prosperity.” Cooper replied with the line that he had wrapped around himself so tightly when he had left the city and was all alone for those few weeks.

  Her eyes drifted to her feet and she spoke softly, “I don’t think that’s entirely correct my dear boy”. She reached out and placed her small hand on his shoulder, turning her head back towards him. “No, I am certain he never really expected you to return. He was trying to give your people something to rally around, to increase the birthrate.”

  Cooper sat more upright at that. That couldn’t be right; they spent far too long preparing him if they didn’t expect him to come back. He slowly shook his head from side to side, his own long red hair swishing against the sides of his neck.

  “Please understand, I think what he chose to do was in the best interest of everyone, and he probably sincerely thought it would work. It sounds like he was simply trying to help as many people as possible…”

  “By sacrificing me? Aria, you are very wise, but you do not know him” he replied, the faint shadows of anger creeping into his voice.

  “I do not know him, only what you have told me. The story that you told me, however, is exactly what led me to this conclusion. You said no one knows why the birth rate is so low, so he tried to make the people happy, which you said worked, in the hopes that it would help the situation.”

  “Even if what you say is true, what am I to do?” Cooper was getting exasperated now, “I did not die, and I have all these wonderful things to take back with me which will save our village”

  “I can’t answer that for you, son, I just want you to know all the information”

  He didn’t understand the point of the whole conversation then. Why tell him something she had no guidance for? It served only to upset him and undermine someone he cared about deeply.

  “Remember the radiation I mentioned, the stuff that gathers inside those metal boxes you lived in?” Aria had taken a more commanding tone now, more a lecturing voice. She did not wait for him to reply. “That same radiation is what is causing your birth rate problems. I am sure it is causing a whole host of other problems as well. It’s what we tested you for when you first came onto our beach.”

  His eyes widened as she spoke, forgetting all about the earlier anger. If she knew what was causing the birth issues, certainly she could fix it.

  Seeing his jubilance at this news, she said “The effects are irreversible, Cooper. The radiation is coming in from the surrounding area, probably the great city that you said is near your own. We have reports that giant bombs were dropped all over and that may be causing some of this, but between the wars and the changing planet, I really can’t tell you the cause.”

  His head sank again. He had tried to hold onto the hope he felt just moments ago, but it slipped through his hand like the dry sand on the beach.

  Slowly he rose from his chair, realizing his whole trip was, essentially, worthless. Nothing would save his city. He feared this was something he already knew, deep inside himself. He accepted the reality of the situation far too quickly.

  Cooper slowly meandered the short path back to his house. He wanted to lay down for awhile. Aria rose also, but did not stop him. She didn’t say a word, merely watched him go, a crushing sadness overcoming her as well.

  ---

  Cooper went back to his house and flopped down on his bed. He had much to think about, but gave in to sleep instead. That was all he wanted to do anyway.

  Somehow, he had slept clear through until the morning. He still didn’t feel much like getting out of bed. Instead, he called Lupe up to the bed with him and they snuggled for awhile.

  He didn’t know how to take the news that his city was officially doomed. He didn’t like thinking about it. Then, considering that Walter had used him and his blasted hair as merely a pawn, he grew angry to his core.

  Why should he even bother going back? Walter did not expect him to anyway. And who else was in on this? Did the whole council know, certainly they must have? Did John know? Was all the cheering and revelry really just a big joke to some of them?

  He knew he should eat, but he wasn’t hungry. He saw no reason to get out of bed that day at all and he chose not to.

  The next morning came much as the first. A night of fitful sleep ended as his eyes opened on this new reality that danced inside his head, smothering it with black clouds.

  Suddenly, Lupe jumped off the bed and went woofing towards the front of the house. Then, Cooper heard heavy footsteps and Lupe stopped barking.

  Ceannt came strolling into Cooper’s bedroom, a look of concern in his eyes, and sat down in the chair nearest the bed. Lupe stood just in front of the old man, swishing her tail back and forth at a slow pace while he scratched her head.

  “Listen Coop, I know bad news is bad news. Hell, we all know it.”

  Not even wondering how Ceannt had gotten the information, he said “I think this goes beyond bad news, old man.”

  “And that woman you walked away from knows more about depressing situations than nearly anyone here. You don’t know her past, you don’t know what happened to her husband, it broke her heart having to tell you all that stu
ff and you didn’t even hear her out.” The old timer sounded sad too, as if remembering dark days himself. “We are your family now, and we all want to help you.”

  “Aria said the effects of the radiation are irreversible. The city is doomed.”

  “You’re only seeing the dark side of this. Get up. We’re going for a walk. I’ll be waiting on the porch.”

  He had not said it as a question, and even in his current state, he lacked the tremendous amount of either courage or stupidity it would take to refuse an order from the wrinkly old brewer.

  Gathering himself as much as he could, he put on some clean clothes and headed outside.

  Ceannt was waiting for him, leaning up against the railing to his porch, throwing sticks out for Lupe to get. He didn’t say anything when Cooper walked outside, merely nodded his head and took off at a steady pace, the path crunching beneath his feet.

  They both walked together for many steps before the old man began speaking. “Are you doomed, boy?” It was a blunt question that he had not expected. Cooper began to answer but Ceannt continued “I mean, you have just as much radiation as everyone else from your city. Hell, when we tested you, your levels were barely in the safe zone. You probably have the same fate. Nothing has changed.”

  Cooper thought on this as he took in the scenery on this barely used path. It was one of the few that he had never walked on and it actually looked like the forest was trying to reclaim this one. The grasses spilled out onto the trail, their tall tops arching over the walkway. It was actually hard to see the path at times.

  “So, this walk is doing a lot to cheer me up, thanks.”

  “I’m not trying to cheer you up boy, I’m trying to pull your head outta your behind and get you to see things straight.”

  Cooper chuckled and kicked out at a tuft of grass “Might want to stick to brewing”

  “You see many kids around here?” Ceannt asked him, frustration apparent in his voice at Coopers unwillingness to pull himself up.