Part III "At least we can't blame your ugliness on your mother," howled Dehn. "She was a fine looking woman, so I don't know what happened to you Te." Keepness laughed along with the rest of the men as they told their stories and insulted one another as they always had during their gatherings. The majority of the family heads had assembled now in the barn outside of Keepness' house. Too soon for Keepness, they would be discussing the battle ahead. He watched the men be themselves as they always were and wondered how many shared his fear that this would be the last day they would have of laughter together. The memories of Emisa came flooding back with that thought and Keepness felt a lump in his throat; in one day all of it was gone so hastily, so unexpected. Keepness could see his brother's face laughing and being annoying as always and yet when he scanned the barn, he did not see it as he knew he should. The thought of Emisa turned from sadness for his brother to anger at the Garouian army; the source of all his pain. Keepness quickly forgot his laughter and abruptly said to Tetahk, "Perhaps it is time to start the meeting." "I have discussed our strategy over with Tetahk and some of the other families and believe it would be best to have Dadehn, Amatterill, Kestyan, and Namoy head the first assembly. The Nuntow, Peytahk, Wesses, Acon and others shall assemble seperately here. Myself, Tetahk, Dehn, and Nikota shall head that group." Keepness watched the men and waited for any signs of disapproval. He had tried to keep the families that would work together the best in the same group. He had also tried to pick the men from those families that he knew would be able to lead the families for the heads. He was glad that war was not a time for the individual pride that many of the assembled men had always had between themselves. Much of the pride had been put away for the good of the families. The men discussed the assemblies shortly and began to discuss the co-ordination of the men they immediately knew they would head. The division of the families left some questions of who would belong to which group, but Keepness knew these details would be worked out by the individuals. "The Dadehn assembly will be responsible for the placement of an ambush in the hills. My group will go into the town and try to draw out some of the King's army into those hills. Another part of my group shall go to find the King's Guard in the countryside and fight them seperately there. The King's Guard moves in very small groups which I am certain we will have no trouble defeating. When this is completed, my second group shall return to the wood camp to protect the rest of the families. The food can begin to be assembled at the wood camp immediately following this meeting; so friends let your families know to start." Keepness continued with the outlining of the plan and left the rest of the meeting to the discussion of any details that were unclear or disagreed upon. Keepness began to count the men in his mind as they talked amongst themselves. So many he had grown up with, and got in trouble with. Now it was no longer a fun game. Soon they would head out to battle. The thought troubled Keepness some more. He was not a fighter. He had not in any fights but amongst his friends his whole life. The same men that sat in this room with him now. How could he possibly assume he could now fight a man to his death. Keepness let the questions pass instead of trying to search for answers that would make no difference in a few short days. "I believe we are finished here friends. The next time we see each other shall be at the wood camp. May Girah watch over you all until then." Keepness walked back up to the house. He removed his bow from his room on the wall and began to feel the engravings on it. He began to test draw it and aim at imaginary targets. The draw was as strong as always and followed his aim, true to the movement of his hands. This was the only weapon Keepness had used to any extent. It was not a weapon to him but a tool to hunt. He was excellent with it and knew it would serve him well at a distance. He was not sure what would happen should he get too close to the Garou to use it. A hunting knife did not seem like much protection in the midst of a close range fight with enemies who would have swords and maces. Keepness resolved that he would have to try to stay at a distance and fight if he was to be put to his best use. He walked back to the outside of the barn and helped Tetahk place the rest of the weapons in a cart to be taken to the woods. Some other men had stayed to help gather the weapons and transport them. They did not want to meet the Royal Guard on the way to the wood and lose them before they had a chance to use them. The men finished preparing the cart and mules and they began to head through the field toward the wood. Walking through the field Keepness noted how unfinished it looked. His time away had allowed the native flowers and weeds to begin to grow healthily. There was no food growing for himself and him family. The grasses were lush and long but had no purpose. The animals had long since been moved to other families since Keepness left. Keepness noticed some buckets and tools still in the field from last year. Keepness moved away from the group for a few seconds to pick three bright yellow dandelions that seemed to stand together among the tools. The mini-caravan stopped when it reached the top of the hill. He knew Tetahk had intentionly picked this way to travel to the wood, eventhough it was slightly out of the way. The other men stopped and kneeled and bowed their heads while Keepness moved toward the gravesites. Keepness made it as far as his wife Deandra's grave before he started to weep quietly. As he moved closer to the other two grave markers he too stopped and kneeled and began to cry more loudly. He had not been up here since he had left to the Isles. It was only here that he realized that his wife was not just out visiting friends as she always had; that the door to the house would not open with her warm smile falling on him accompanied by laughter about the neighbor's wives' newest adventures. In his mind, Keepness would see Emisa walk in behind her; laughing and goating his sister-in-law as he always had with his youthful enthusiasm. Emisa would have tales of the new girl in town who just started working in the travelling market. There was always a "new" one, Keepness knew. There would be some new goods in his wife's basket that had never been in the country before; brought in by the "new" merchant girl, no doubt. Keepness would try the goods and wonder to himself how they differed from the regular purchases but only smile at his young wife and encourage her bold bargaining. Keepness stood and placed his dandelions on the grave markers; one on each of the three fresh markers. He stopped at Emisa's grave and kneeled and whispered one last goodbye before continuing on to the wood. "Thank you Mice boy, for travelling with Deandra home to the Great Provider. You take her to the market there while I am away and show her all the new goods. When the time comes, I will meet you both there." -- To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe dragontales" in the body of the message.
