The Treehouse Ch. 04

This was going to be different, up till now he never questioned who he was killing. Now he was worried how the girls were going to see it. Seeing him just kill a man without any warning might bother them but this was war. He could only hope for the best.

The girls were ready, and they were out and roaming a few miles from home when they saw a caravan. They turned and headed out of sight and tried to get hidden in front of them so they could see them. As they were entering into a thicker group of trees Adam had the girls get out of sight and he got up in the trees and waited. He had told the girls to listen and if he howled like a wolf, they were to assume an attack position. Gwen promised to shoot from a safe distance and Judy would stay back from her to back her up.

As the lead wagon was getting closer Adam saw it was a woman driver and from what he could tell there wasn't a man in sight. The lead wagon had a few cows following behind and the two outriders were girls. He didn't want to scare them, but he didn't know how to stop them without hurting them. About the time he had decided to head back and find the girls in order to approach a different way they came riding up from the front on the horses and casually stopped in front. Not sure what Judy had planned he just watched. Not sure if it was brave or stupid. Maybe because it was two girls or maybe it was because they didn't have their bows up or maybe the travelers didn't have any way to fight but for whatever reason they just stopped.

Judy rode slowly toward the lead wagon and told the girl driving. "I'm no threat. But you are in a very dangerous area. There are slavers everywhere. Do you know where you're going?"

After getting a little closer Judy realized the driver was young. But before she could focus on her she realized that right behind the driver was someone in the shadows with a bow and the bow was pulled back and aimed right at her. She calmly said, "If by chance that arrow heads my way my friends will kill every one of you. We mean you no harm but if you attack, we will respond so please put it down."

The driver put her hand up and waved them down. "Every person will tell me they mean no harm and then they either kill or take us prisoner, why should we believe you?"

"I agree with you, and I know you don't believe me, but we are the safest people you will ever run across. I think you should take a break and talk to us. You can keep your weapons and stay hidden, that's actually pretty smart. But please don't shoot at me, I don't want to get hurt but most of all I'd hate for all of you to die because someone got an itchy finger. Seriously do you have a place to go or are you just running?"

After some whispering from inside the wagon the girl said, "We have no idea where we're going. Just hoping to find someplace to lay low and maybe be safe for a while."

"I know how you feel, my friends were all caught by slavers and if it wasn't for a special guy that saved us, we would probably be dead, or at least wishing we were. He's around here somewhere, watching. If he happens to come out in the open, please don't be alarmed. He can look a little scary, for one he got muscles bulging everywhere," she giggled saying that, "but most of all, he's naked. I know what you're thinking but no, he's not nuts. He just doesn't see many people; he's got a hideaway and for years he was the only one there so clothes weren't really needed. He for some reason saved us and while I can't speak for him and say he will help you. I can say that he will not hurt you. I gonna ask him if he knows a good place for ya'll to camp." She figured he heard it all and she was wondering what to do next. She heard a familiar whistle, so she just let the horse go toward it. After a minute she heard him softly say to her, "Go slow and take a right at the downed tree. I will be in front of you and you should be able to follow me."

She rode back over to the wagon and said they should all go slow and follow her. They again whispered to each other. The driver said, "just go ahead, I'll follow but our bows are still aimed at you."

"I understand but please be careful, there are more of us here than you can see and if there is a fight, well you might get me but then it's all over. So, for your sake be careful, think of it like this. This is all or nothing, if were bad guys it's over for you anyway, if we're good guys then you have a chance at a good life. So, don't start a fight you can't win and make an enemy of the only good guy in the country." Judy talked in a calm manner but inside she was barely keeping it together. She knew fear and it was coming off these people in waves. And fear made you do crazy things. She just prayed that they didn't shoot her in the back and take off running.

After a bit of time she saw the downed tree and sure enough just ahead she could see Adam riding his horse. It didn't even surprise her how he went from not being close to his horse and behind them to riding in front of them. He managed to stay just on the edge of her sight, probably trying not to scare the others. After about an hour it seemed she came around a large rock and sitting in a clearing was Adam with a fire already going. The strangers were gonna flip when they got there. She smiled and hoped he knew what he was doing. A naked man sitting by a fire wasn't necessarily a scary thing but then again it wasn't normal either. She didn't see Gwen, so she figured she was following behind or already in a tree for backup. Adam signaled her to get off and sit down. He told her to leave her bow on her back and to just sit calmly and wait.

When the wagon came around the rock the girl saw them and pulled up. The two outriders circled and it seemed that Adam and her were surrounded. Adam mentioned to the group to take it easy. The girl on the wagon asked, "aren't you worried that we have you surrounded?"

"Do you? I understand why you may feel that way but it's not the case. If you decide to shoot us in the back my friends will shoot you and when it's all over, you can go to your grave thinking you went down fighting. Is that what you want? To go down fighting? Our weapons are still on our backs, we are no threat to you as long as you don't start anything. Keep you positions if it makes you feel better. We can talk from here."

The girl in the wagon stared a while, obviously thinking. "Mister you've got balls I'll give you that. I don't know if you have friends or not but I'm willing to take it slow and talk. Why should we believe anything you say? Everyone knows if a man's lips are moving, he's lying. No offence but in this world, you'd be a fool to believe anything you hear. Hell, I don't believe anything anyone tells me. And I think you feel the same way. We have nothing of any value. Maybe enough food to have a meal at sundown and if we don't manage to kill any rabbits it'll be a small meal at that." Looking at Judy she asked. "So, I'm curious, why did you approach us? Never seen a woman slaver but then again, I've never seen a naked one either!"

That caused some giggles from all around. Adam responded for her. "You are correct to never trust anyone. I have a compound and I travel around to make sure no one is getting to close to it. So far only twice in 20+ years have I let anyone live. The first time was about a year ago. One naked girl running scared and for some reason I helped her instead of killing her. She in turn convinced me that it was time to stop fighting and to start building. And then a few months back I ran across a few slavers and after putting them down I asked the slaves to come stay with us. Normally I just send them on their way. And yes, I know that means some other slavers will just pick them up, but I wasn't trying to save the world. I was just trying to keep my part of it safe. Now I along with a group of girls are trying to build a safe zone. At the moment you are in it. In another days' time you'll be out of it. I have no idea what's out there. I keep my area cleared, but I admit I'm seeing less and less people in my rounds. You don't have to come with us, you can stay here awhile. I'll bring you a deer for dinner if you want to set up camp. We can talk and then we'll head out and you can decide what you want to do after we're gone. If you decide to stay in this area, I'll show you a better spot. Lots of fresh water and timber and hidden enough that you can feel safe with a small fire at night. If you decide not to trust us, then just head out in the morning in the same direction you're headed."

"We haven't seen any deer in days, how are you gonna get us one?"

Judy cut in, "Just get your camp set up, if he says he'll get you a deer, he will."

Adam headed off into the trees, the outriders stayed on their horses, but the driver got down and came closer to Judy. "What is your game here? Nobody looks out for nobody out here. If I knew for sure we were surrounded, and you weren't just waiting for us to let our guard down to attack us I'd sure feel better."

Judy got up and went over to her horse, pulled off her pack and started working on getting dinner ready. She told the girl, "you have enough for one meal, I've got enough for a week. What could you possibly have that I need? What would I gain by hurting you? I understand your fear. I've lived with that same fear all my life, only in the last few months have I been able to sleep at night without being afraid I might not see the sunrise. Adam saved 5 slaves and we have become his family. And just so you don't get the wrong idea, he has not bedded me or any of the girls in the trees. The first girl he saved finally managed to get him to mate with her after a few months, but he isn't around long enough for me to ever see it. He spends all his time out here trying to keep us safe. Truthfully, I think he is hiding from all the girls. A few of them have tried to get him to bed them and that scared him off. He isn't interested in bedding anyone. He trusts Molly enough to stay with her but nobody else. Its his story to tell but basically his family took in some woman and a couple of kids and when they turned their back on them, they killed his family. He was the only one to survive. He was 8. He's been alone all this time, killing anyone who came close to his area. He's the most dangerous and the safest man alive. I hope to stay with him till I die. I even hope some day he will bed me, but if not I'm ok. I'll still stay with him. Oh, and just to help you out here, tell your people in the wagon to not freak out. I'm gonna have someone put an arrow in the sideboard. You're not being attacked. You said you wanted to know for sure, right?"

The girl nodded, then told her group to hang tight and not panic or react. About that time an arrow hit the wagon right below the seat the driver had been sitting on. It was a quiet few moments before everyone was able to relax. The group watched her to see what she did. She waved everyone in her group down. The riders had just gotten off their horses when Adam came riding up with two deer on his horse. That was the final straw, the people in the wagon started climbing out. There were five of them. And not one was over ten years old. A wagon full of children!

The kids didn't even notice Adams lack of clothes, but he seemed to come up with a loin cloth from out of his bags and he put that on. It wasn't much but it helped. He then started skinning the deer and cutting off the best parts to get started on the fire. They were gonna feast tonight. The fight seemed to be all gone, and Adam told Gwen to come on in. No sense spending all night in a tree. The three girls all started laughing, surrounded they said? Sure, Gwen said, I was circling around the whole time. I could have attacked from any direction so sure; you were surrounded. Everyone had a good laugh; one group was threatened by a kid with a bow bigger than him and the other by a lone girl hiding in the trees.