Boston and Meriope rode out front.  Meriope kept a watchful eye on the trail, while Boston watched everything else.  As an elf, her sense concerning humans, especially potentially dangerous humans, had been greatly enhanced.  Her eyes, in daylight, could pick out a hummingbird a half mile away, and if she tuned her ears in that direction, she could hear the little buzz of the wings.

The trail ran right down the road, as Lockhart surmised, and it looked clear enough, even in the drizzling rain, that Lockhart could have followed it himself.  But after a while, he complained.

“They can’t have gotten that much of a head start.”

Lockhart, Decker, and Elder Stow brought up the rear, but rode better on bareback than they thought they could.  Elder Stow slid around a little with his shorter legs, but with the fairy weave they wore, they were able to compensate some for the lack of saddles.  Boston showed them how to separate a piece and have it reach around the horse’s belly, and form into something like a seat.  Elder Stow even managed to make something like stirrups, after he learned how.

“I don’t think we should try to gallop,” Decker said.

“Certainly not,” Elder Stow agreed

“Should not have to,” Lockhart said.  “That wagon has to be pretty slow moving.”

Around two o’clock, the rain slackened off, though the clouds never went away.  Boston shouted, and Meriope looked up at the top of the next hill.  Boston saw a bunch of men, clearly, and the mule drawn wagon stuffed with all their things.  Even Meriope saw the man turn and wave to them. Then the man lifted something.

“Get down,” Boston shouted, just before a bullet creased the trunk of a tree.  People scurried to get themselves and their horses under cover.  The man let off five rounds of automatic fire that tore up the ground and a couple of bushes.  Then Boston saw him wave again and walk off, dipping below the horizon of the hill.

“I don’t understand,” Meriope said.  Decker let out a string of curse words and she said she was not asking about that part.

Lockhart pulled out Katie’s pistol to show.  “They have most of our guns,” he said.  “They work like a compact, all-in-one version of your bow and arrows.  They fire a projectile, like an arrowhead.”  He put a bullet in a tree, and Meriope jumped at the Crack! though her horse remained steady.  “They are very deadly.”

“And they have our two rifles,” Decker added.  “They are much bigger guns and can fire a long distance.”

“How did he figure out how to use it so quickly?” Elder Stow asked.

“The Masters?” Boston suggested.  “I mean, they might work for the Masters.”

“That would be my guess,” Decker said.

“Or help,” Lockhart countered, and pointed toward the sky.  “But I can’t honestly think of any gods in this jurisdiction that we might have pissed off.”

“Come,” Meriope said, lest they talk away their advantage.  “They are not far.  We have a chance to catch them.”

The group rushed as much as they could down the hill they were on and up the gradual incline to where the wagon had been at the top of the next rise.  They stopped when they got there, and stared.  Twice the distance they just traveled, and up at the top of a small ridge, they saw the same wagon and the same man, laughing and waving.  At least, Boston could see them and described them to the group.  She saw the man raise something and she shouted.

“Back down.  Behind the hill.”

No one argued.  They did not see or hear the bullets, but they felt certain some got fired.  They talked while Boston got down and snuck up behind a bush to spy on the enemy.  With a glance at Meriope, she went invisible, but also let the bush hide her for fear the thieves had help, and her being invisible might do her no good at all.

“Help from an outsider I would say,” Elder Stow cast the tie vote.  “But I also cannot think of any gods in this place that we have angered.”

“Well,” Decker said with a look at Meriope.  “They can’t have traveled twice our distance on foot, with a heavy wagon pulled by one mule, without help.”

Meriope nodded for Decker, then looked down.  “I am praying for Artemis to come and guide us to victory in our hunt.”

“And it has been raining for two days now?”  Boston asked as she scooted back down the hill and leapt up on Honey’s back.

“This is the third day without the sun,” Meriope said.

“Boy,’ Boston said, when Honey settled down.  “Apollo has to be unhappy.”

“Why?” Lockhart asked.  “I thought Katie said he was the god of healing?”

“And music and poetry, truth and prophecy, and other things,” Meriope said.

“His chief job is god of the sun,” Boston said.

“No.  Light and warmth, but Helios drives the sun,” Meriope corrected her.  “Every day, Helios drive the golden chariot of the gods across the sky.  Over the ocean, they say the dwarfs of the mountains dig out the gold.  The nymphs in the dark fashion it to make the chariot.  The nymphs of light make the harness and the reins.  And every day, Helios hitches up his fiery horses and rises in a new chariot.”

“The day comes up fresh and new every morning,” Decker encouraged her, and Meriope smiled and looked again at the ground.

“We should move before we lose the trail,” she said.

“Right,” Boston agreed, but Lockhart teased her, having guessed at something.

“Everyone, follow the nymph.”

“Not funny,” Boston groused.

The trail remained easy, and after some thought, Boston asked how Meriope knew so much about the gods, and in particular, Apollo.  She confessed.

“When I was young, my father brought us out of Thessaly and into this land.  We were pushed out from our land by new people, great horsemen in their own way.  My mother died when we came to Corinth.  Father brought her to the temple of Apollo, seeking help, but the healers could do nothing for her.  My father stayed in the temple to pray, and when he was done, he dedicated his life to the god.”

“You were orphaned?”

“No,” Meriope laughed at the thought.  “But I was raised in the temple, and around the priests, and the few priestesses who served in the alcove dedicated to Apollo’s sister, Artemis.”  Meriope shrugged.  “I suppose it was my destiny to serve Artemis, but I don’t mind.”

“So, how did you end up living in the wilderness?”  Boston asked.

“I was driven.  I was young.  But I kissed my father and left without anyone the wiser.  I walked on the road to see where it would take me, and as the day was coming to an end, I found myself outside the shrine.  One old woman was the last, and she told me the story before she died.”

“Good,” Boston said.  Since entering into a world with no television, no internet, and not even any printed books, she had come to appreciate a good story.

“Out behind the sanctuary, there is a spring that makes a small pool before it becomes a stream and runs down the hills to join the river and flow to the sea.  One day, Artemis came to that spot and thought to refresh and relax herself after her hunt.  She stripped naked and entered the clean water, and her nymphs attended her.  Shortly, a hunter came, following his hunting dogs.  The dogs were attracted to the goddess, as all such dogs are.  The hunter spied on Artemis in all her beauty and decided he would rape her.  She kindly put out his eyes and charged his dogs to take him home where he would live out the rest of his days a blind man, whose last sight was that of the goddess, Artemis, in all her glory.”

“I heard she turned him into a stag and his own dogs did not recognize him and tore him apart,” Boston said.

Meriope shook her head.  “That is not the story I was told by the old woman who claimed to have seen Artemis herself in that place.”

Boston shrugged and asked the question she really wanted to ask.  “So, tell me about the nymphs.  What are they like?  What do they look like?”

“How can you not know?” Meriope sounded surprised.  “The people in the villages and small homes in the wilderness all pay homage to the nymphs of the wild.  They seek their protection and help in time of trouble, and leave regular offerings so the nymphs do not turn against them.  Some are tall as men, but thin, like they have little substance.  They have sharp eyes and sharp ears, even such as yours…” Meriope paused, and Boston had to prompt her

“Go on, or is that all you know?”

“No.  There are small ones, too.  No longer than my forearm, and they dance in the air on gossamer wings, or wings like the butterfly.  They all have great magic, and play tricks on poor mortals when they get cross.”

“Go on.  You mentioned dark ones, and dwarfs.”

“Yes, dwarfs.  They are said to stand no taller than half human height, but they are strong like stone, and they are all covered in long fur, though many believe it is hair…”  Meriope paused again, but this time she appeared to be thinking.  “The dark ones I cannot say.  They are great craftsmen, but I have heard they can be frightening to look at.  I would rather not meet one, if it is all the same to you.”

“I thought so,” Boston said, without explaining.  “But the ones of the light would not be so bad.”

“Indeed,” Meriope replied.  “It must be wonderful to be so close to the gods, to serve them day and night.”

“Sometimes being that close to the gods is not a safe place to be,” Boston said, softly, and Meriope stopped her horse half-way up the ridge.  “Tell me what you know of the gods,” Boston asked.  “I know Artemis is a wonderful person.  Most of them are good, but do you know any that are maybe not so good, or inclined to do some not so good things?”

Meriope shook her head.  “Even if I knew of one or two, I am afraid even to think of them, and I will never say their names out loud.”

Boston nodded and kicked her horse to make the top of the ridge.  She looked ahead, but saw no wagon this time.  She saw Corinth instead, and after judging the sun, she shouted behind her.  The city is up ahead.  I bet that is where they have gone.  We should be able to make it before the sun sets.”

Elder Stow straggled up from the back to stop with Deker and Lockhart where Meriope stopped.  “What is up ahead?” he asked.

“Corinth,” Meriope said.

*************************

Monday, Christmas Day, Only a Merry Christmas post.

The second half of Avalon, episode 5.5, Artemis Home will post on Tuesday, Wednesday, AND Thursday.  Don’t forget Thursday this coming week to read the conclusion of the episode.

Meanwhile:

A bit late, but like Christmas, it’s the thought that counts…

*

The sanctuary for Artemis looked small, much smaller than the temple of Amphitrite they had seen.  It had a center aisle between several plain wooden benches, and they faced a table at the other end that held some flowers and wood carvings of animals associated with the goddess.  The bear looked prominent, but also the wolf, the stag, and the boar.  A bow and arrows hung on the wall over the table, and Meriope explained about the bow and arrows, like she recited a worship lesson.

“The bow, she chose for her husband.  The arrows, she chose for her sons.”

Lockhart nodded, but led the others straight to the back, covering the distance between the door and the back curtain in seven long steps.  “How is she?” he asked, as Lincoln scooted around him with Alexis’ bag.

“She is burning up with fever,” Katie looked up.  They had Artie on a straw covered cot, covered with plenty of blankets, and Katie sat on one side, while Alexis sat on the other.

Alexis got out her stethoscope and listened to Artie’s heart and breathing.  She made Artie sit up and face her, and Katie got up to help the men go back out into the main room.  Alexis had Artie pull up her fairy weave top to listen better to her breathing.

Katie spoke quietly to them all, but mostly to Lockhart.  “Bronchitis, definitely.  Maybe Pneumonia.  We may be here for a few days.”

“This was sudden,” Lockhart said.

“All day yesterday in the rain, and again today,” Katie said.  “It may have been something she caught in Egypt and it just showed up after we got here.”

Lockhart nodded.  The housing area by the Nile, the one that Rachel called the slums, was filled with substandard housing and filth, and ripe with coughing, hacking, and people laid up with colds, and the flu, and some worse diseases.  “We should have kept her away from the slums,” he said.

Katie shook her head.  “Alexis said she was not too worried, and from here forward we should be all right, because we all had our immunizations.  She said a tetanus booster would not hurt, and some diseases we should avoid, but generally we should have a good resistance to most things.  It occurred to me, Artie never had any baby shots.”

“An oversight on Amphitrite’s part?”

“No, I don’t think so.  With the Storyteller still missing, I think the Kairos’ connection to the future is tenuous.  It maybe comes and goes.”

“So, what can we do?”

Katie shook her head again.  “Nothing.  Alexis believes she can stabilize her, and after some chicken soup, and a few days of warmth and rest, she should throw it off herself.  That is what we hope.”

“Hey guys,” Boston interrupted.  Everyone looked up, including Meriope, who had been sitting beside Decker and listening intently.  “Meet the rest of the crew, Hysphagia and Cassandra.”  Boston grinned as Cassandra marveled at Boston’s red hair.

Hysphagia looked like she might be twenty, the eldest, but she was also as blonde as Katie, and came across like she might model for blonde jokes.  Cassandra seemed smart, and looked like a normal enough, brown hair, brown-eyed Greek, but she had to be ten, twelve at the most.

“Hysphagia says we should take Artie to Artemis’ brother’s temple in Corinth.  That’s Apollo.  He is the healer in Greece,” Boston said.

“In this age, yes,” Katie said.  “I imagine Asclepius is not born yet.”

“Corinth is another hour, a bit less,” Lincoln reminded everyone.

They heard Artie coughing from behind the curtain, and Katie spoke.  “I don’t think we should move her right now.  Her fever is high and she seems pretty weak.”

“We can pray,” Cassandra suggested, and looked up at Katie like it was a question.

“And that would be a wonderful thing to do,” Katie said.  She smiled, looked down, and brushed Cassandra’s hair back where it had fallen in her face.  Lockhart thought, we already have two adopted daughters.  Let’s not get another.

“Oh, what am I thinking,” Elder Stow interrupted with some volume.  “I should fetch my scanner.  We can get all her readings and maybe even pinpoint the virus to make an anti-virus.  I’ll just be a minute.”  He stepped to the door, and only hesitated a second before he stepped out into the rain.

“Lovely place you have here,” Decker said to Meriope.  With the clouds and rain, the whole place had a dark and gloomy look.

Meriope, who sat on the bench where Decker placed his foot, looked up at him and almost smiled, but again, she had no chance to respond as Elder Stow came charging back inside.

“It’s gone.  Everything is gone.”

“What?”

“It has been stolen, again,” Elder Stow showed some anger.  “Right from under our faces.”

“Noses,” Lincoln absentmindedly corrected the Gott-Druk, while he tried to think of what to do.  They all thought while Lockhart, Katie, and Decker moved.  As soon as they got outside, Lockhart whistled for the horse he named Dog.  Dog came trotting up, and Lockhart was glad to see that this time he still had his reins.  Other horses followed Dog, but Katie’s Black Beauty, Lincoln’s Cortez, and Alexis’ Misty Gray seemed to be missing.

“Beauty,” Katie called.  “Beauty.”  The horse did not come.

“We have to get our stuff back,” Decker said to Meriope, who came out with the travelers.  “Some of our things are very dangerous, and would be terrible in the wrong hands.”

“We should ride after them,” Meriope said, like the obvious solution.

“No saddles,” Elder Stow pointed out.  It came as a slim protest.  He knew they would ride, anyway.

“What about Artie?” Katie asked.

Lockhart did not hesitate to make a decision.  “It seems like that dilemma is already solved.  You, Alexis and Lincoln are without transportation.  You need to be here for Artie, and to defend the home and all, if necessary.  I hope it isn’t necessary.”

“How will you track them?” Katie asked the practical question.  “You are not a hunter.”

“I am,” Boston shouted.

Katie frowned.  “We are not hunting bears in Canada.”

“Listen,” Lockhart said.  “They have to have a wagon to carry everything.  They should stick to the road.  It should not be hard to find them.”

“Road is becoming roads, the further into the future we go,” Katie said.  “And this is their home.  What if they go off-road?”

Lockhart was not going to argue.  “You keep Artie’s horse, Freedom.”

Meriope interrupted as she stormed out of the sanctuary, the bow and arrows from the back wall in her hands.  “I am coming.  I am from Thessaly.  I know how to ride, and I am a hunter.”  Decker helped her get up on Freedom, as he helped Elder Stow mount his horse.  Katie and Lockhart held their breath for a second, but Freedom did not seem to mind the replacement rider.  From her height, Meriope got a good look at the ground.  “I see two wagons.  Odd, I cannot tell where they came from, but they are headed to the main road.”  She pointed down the path.

“Wait,” Alexis’ voice came from the door, and she stepped out with Artie’s Anazi handgun.  She walked up to Decker.  “Artie says she showed you how to use this.”  She handed him the weapon, holstered, on the belt.

“I got my bow and my wand,” Boston said to Alexis, who waved to her.

“Use them wisely,” Alexis instructed before she went back inside.

Lincoln passed her in the doorway as he came out.  “Do you want to take the database?”

“Here,” Katie handed Lockhart her gun belt.

“Don’t risk it,” Lockhart said as he spoke softly to Katie.  “You might need this if they come back,” he said, but he began to lengthen the belt.

“We will be all right.  They have the rifles and the other guns, and if they figure out how to use them, you will need something.”  Katie looked at Elder Stow.  The Elder turned slightly red.

“I forgot I had my weapon in my pocket.”  He shrugged.

“Lincoln,” Lockhart got Lincoln’s attention.  “You may need the database if something should happen.  Katie has the back-up amulet so you can find the next time gate.”

“Come on,” Boston shouted, impatient.  Lockhart kissed Katie before he climbed up on Dog’s back and they headed out.

After 1410 BC, Megara, Greece.  Kairos 64: Sinon, The General.

Recording…

No one minded the rain, at first, as long as it did not become another thunder storm sweeping off the ocean.  Notere’s Syria had been dry.  Padrama’s India was dry, apart from the monsoon rain that broke at the end, which they did not feel because Devi protected them.  Then Rachel’s Egypt had been extra dry.  Lockhart could not swear he saw a cloud the whole time they were there.

“Definitely Greece,” Lincoln decided.  “It looks like the last time we were here, in Amphitrite’s day.”

“I could have guessed that,” Decker mumbled, as they came out from some trees and he pulled away to ride out on the wing.

“Same rain,” Elder Stow said, before he rode out to guard the other wing.

“Amphitrite’s time zone was what?” Katie wondered.  “A hundred and fifty years ago?”

“And it has been raining for a hundred and fifty years,” Boston teased.

“About one-fifty,” Lincoln answered Katie.

“The road has improved,” Lockhart said, just to insert a positive thought.

Artie began to cough.  It sounded like a sinus-drip gurgling kind of cough.  Katie got out the fairy weave handkerchief she had made and handed it to Artie to blow her nose.  She did, but complained at the same time.

“Why does it have to be so wet?  We should go back and visit my sister some more so we can dry out.”

“Now, we are all cranky from the weather, but we try to make the best of it.”  Katie sounded like a mom.

Artie looked up and shouted at the sky.  “I hate the rain.  Are we there yet?”

Lockhart stifled his laugh, and after a moment’s hard stare at the man, Katie turned her smile away, so Artie and Lockhart would not see.  Artie started coughing again, and Katie whipped her head back to look at the girl.  This time her face showed concern.

“That does not sound good,” Alexis, the trained nurse spoke up from behind.  “We should get her to some shelter.”

“Boston pulled out her amulet and said, “Corinth should be just up ahead.”  She raised her voice and repeated the word for Lockhart.

“Robert,” Katie nudged her horse up between Lincoln and Lockhart.  “We need to get Artie under shelter, and soon.  She doesn’t sound good.”

Lockhart nodded and looked at Lincoln.  He pulled out the database and looked for the relevant map.  After a minute, he shook his head.

“I don’t see anything ahead but Corinth.  Boston?”

“About an hour, gestimate,” Boston shouted.

Alexis took Katie’s movement to the front to move up beside Artie.  She stretched out to take Artie’s hand.  It felt warm, and she announced as much.

Lockhart remembered the wristwatch radio.  “Elder Stow.  Do you see any buildings before the city?  Artie may be coming down with something, and Katie and Alexis want to get her out of the rain.”

“Up ahead, on my side of the road,” Decker’s voice came through the wristwatch.  “A small country church sized building.”

“Probably a shrine,” Katie suggested.

“Nothing here,” Elder Stow reported.

“We go with it,” Lockhart said into the wristwatch and switched it off.  “Hope the god of the shrine is friendly.”

“Are they friendly spirits?  Just listen,” Lincoln said.  They were not amused.  Artie coughed up some phlegm, and there was a touch of blood in it.

“I am bleeding again,” Artie said.  “Only this time from my mouth.”

“This isn’t the good kind,” Katie said.

###

Decker rode ahead so he arrived at the shrine first.  He wanted to check it out and be sure it was safe.  A small, but solid sheltered area looked pushed back among the trees.  He saw a few sheep in a pen, and a two-wheeled wagon with no ox or mule to pull it.  It will do for the horses, he thought.  “Needs a steeple,” he said out loud at the building he still imagined as a country chapel.  He approached the shrine, warily.  He sensed people about, but after seeing and hearing nothing, he holstered his rifle.  He tried not to appear threatening.  He had a sick girl.  As soon as he got down from his horse, he jumped, though his horse remained steady.  An arrow came from the front window and planted itself two feet away.

“Nubian,” a woman yelled from the window.  “Men are not welcome here.”  Decker heard some sharply spoken words inside the building, though he could not tell what they were saying.  He unsnapped his holster, made sure the handgun would come easily to hand, and waited.  A pretty, dark haired young woman came out the front door and gave a sour look to the sky.  She stayed under the roof overhang to stay dry.

“I have never seen a Nubian before,” she said.

“I have never been here before,” Decker said.  “What is this place?”

“This is the place of Artemis.  We are the three who keep this place and honor the goddess in all things.  I am Meriope.  My sisters are Hysphagia and Cassandra.  What brings you to our door?”

Decker wondered if any of the women were older.  This one looked about eighteen.  “We have a sick girl.  We need to get her to shelter and out of the rain.  Artemis has been kind to us in the past.  Will you help the needy stranger?”

The door opened, and Meriope leaned back into the opening.  Decker heard some more of those sharply whispered words, before Meriope faced front again, and the door closed.  She did not have time to respond.  The travelers came up the path from the main road, Katie and Alexis leading Artie.  They had gotten Artie down from her horse and bracketed her.  They practically carried the girl inside without so much as an ‘excuse me’.

Decker waited for the others to come up with the horses.  He led them to the shelter, and Meriope braved the rain to follow.

“What do you think you are doing?” Meriope asked.

“Taking care of the horses,” Decker said.  “Does Artemis not like horses?”

“She likes all animals,” Meriope said, not expecting that question.  “And she hunts them in the wild.”

“We’re animals,” Lockhart said, with a small grin.

“Is Artemis here?” Boston said.  “I like her, a lot.  She came to the battlefield when Zoe, the Amazon Queen went with Katie and Chloe to fight what’s-his-name.  I didn’t meet her, exactly, but the Amazons gave me the name Little Fire.”  She rambled like a fairy, flitting from one thought to the next without a breath between.

Meriope’s eyes got big.  “You rode with the Amazons when they came to Athens?”  The travelers paused.  It seemed an odd question.

“No,” Boston said.  “We met Zoe a long time ago.”

“She was the first Amazon queen way back when,” Lincoln said.

“Katie is the second elect in the whole world,” Lockhart added, and smiled at some private thought.

“I saw Artemis,” Decker said.  “When we were on the mountain, in the snow and ice, before we went over and found that boy who had learned how to make bronze.”

Lincoln shook his head.  He did not remember that time.

“Where that ghost kept following me around,” Decker said, to jog their memories

“And we found his body down the crevasse, and took it home so he could be properly buried,” Elder Stow said.

“Oh, yeah.” Boston’s eyes got big.

“I don’t remember hearing about Artemis.”  Lockhart looked at Decker, and Decker looked sorry he brought it up.  Now he had to tell the story.

“You were all asleep when I heard something in the camp.  I looked out my tent and saw a bear, which stood up and put another log on the fire.  I remember the bear said Little Fire is not doing her job,”

“Hey…” Boston protested.

“So then a woman showed up, and the bear changed into a woman.  The bear-woman seemed very nice.  The other woman scared me pretty bad, before they both disappeared.”  Decker closed his mouth, but Boston and Lincoln were not satisfied with the story.

“Hey,” Boston said it again, but Lincoln asked an inspired question.

“Who was the other woman?”

“Aphrodite,” Decker admitted.  “She pointed right at me, though I was hidden behind my tent flap, and she said I was on her list.”  Decker shivered.  “Artemis laughed when she vanished.”

“That’s the same thing she said when we visited Amphitrite,” Boston pointed out before they got interrupted.

“Benjamin.”  Alexis stuck her head out of the door and hollered.  “Bring me my purse.”

“Right,” Lincoln returned the shout.  He waved to her and picked up her pack, but then stopped when Meriope spoke.

“Wait.”

Meriope had managed to find a seat on a log when the men worked with the horses and talked.  She spent most of her time staring, her mouth open, not believing what she heard.  But she did not doubt that these people were the strangest strangers she had ever seen, and reconciled in her head that they must be servants to the gods, the way they talked about them, and the way they implied that they had lived so long.

“Wait.”  Something clicked in Meriope’s head and she appeared to come back to reality.  “You can come in and see your friend, but you must leave all your weapons and equipment here, and you will have to make a place out here to sleep.  Weapons are not allowed in the sanctuary.”

Lincoln lifted Alexis’ purse.  “Alexis is a physician,” he said.  “These are her medical things.”

Lockhart unsnapped his belt, which held his big knife and handgun.  He looked at the others.  They followed his lead, but Decker especially did not like the idea.  Elder Stow merely packed his things neatly away in his saddle bags.  Lincoln kept the database in his pocket, figuring it was not a weapon.  Boston had access to her invisible slip, as they called it, where she had her bow and arrows, and her wand, if needed.

They trudged up to the sanctuary, and Boston confirmed Decker’s thoughts without any prompting.  “It looks like an old country chapel,” she said.