Bergana Tellus, Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Charity wakes up slowly at first, until she realizes she isn’t alone in her bed.  She jumps out of bed, or at least tries to but her legs are wrapped in the sheet and she ends up falling on the floor and looks back up at the bed to see a still sleepy and bemused Kel’Ren looking down at her.  He asks “Why are you on the floor?”  “Because I fell out of the bed.” she answers with a frown.  Untangling her legs from the sheet she gets up and heads to the bathroom.  Kel’Ren sits up and stretches.  When Charity come out of the bathroom he takes his turn.  When he comes out he sees the sink and stands staring at is for a full minute scratching his head.  Finally he asks “Charity, there is no pump handle, how do you make the water flow?”  Not bothering to hide her smile she walks over and shows him that you simply turn the handle and tells him which is cold and which is hot.  After washing his hands and face he asks “Where do you bathe? She points behind him to the bathtub and explains “You can put the stopper in the drain and fill it with water to take a bath or you can turn on the water, adjust the temperature where you want it and pull this knob here and take a shower, which ever you like.  There is shampoo and conditioner as well as soap on that little shelf in the corner there.  Sorry it all smells of vanilla, I’m not used to sharing my bathroom with anyone anymore, ya know?”  Kel’Ren looks at the items she pointed out to him then asks “What is shampoo and conditioner and what do you do with them?”  His question reminds her just how little he and the others actually know about her world.  “The shampoo is the first bottle and you put a little in your hand and after you get your hair wet, you put it in your hair and rub it around.  It will form a soapy lather that cleans your hair.  Keep your eyes closed though cause it hurts if you get any of the soap in your eyes.  Once you scrub it all the way through your hair and scalp, then step back under the shower spray and rinse it out very good.  Then you use the second bottle there, it’s the cream rinse.  It helps keep hair soft and healthy.  It won’t foam up the way the shampoo dose.  Just work it through your hair and to the scalp and then rinse it out.  I’m pretty sure you know what to do with the bar of soap.”  She opens a cabinet under the sink and pulls out a wash cloth and a couple towels that she puts on the counter for him to use.  “Here are some towels and a washcloth.  I’m going to check on Megan and Dar’Gall while you get your shower.”  “Thank you Charity.  I will find you when I am finished.”  With a smile she leaves the room and he takes his shower, enjoying the ability to adjust the temperature of the water so easily.  Thanks to her detailed instructions he has no problems using the shampoo and conditioner.  While Kel’Ren gets his shower Charity pulls on her house coat and leaves the bedroom and taps on the door to the room Meagan and Dar’Gall are using.  Meagan answers the door still rubbing the sleep from her eyes.  “Morning Charity.  Where’s the bathroom?” Meagan asks around a yawn.  Charity answers “The next door down.” and points Meagan in the right direction then adds “Just so you’ll know, if Dar’Gall wants a shower you may need to explain how the fixtures work and about the shampoo and conditioner.  Everything you need should be in the bathroom.  I’m going to get some coffee going see ya when you come down.”  Waving over her shoulder as she heads to the bathroom Megan answers “coffee sounds good and thanks for the tip.”  Charity goes to the kitchen and gets the coffee going.  While the coffee is brewing she heads back to her room to see if Kel’Ren is done with his shower so she can get a quick one and get dressed.  As Charity walks in her room she is just in time to hear her cell phone stop ringing.  She picks it up off her night stand and checks to see it was Valarie so she calls her back. “Hey Val, what’s up?”  

Valarie answers “Hey, everyone is getting there showers.  I was trying to figure out breakfast for everyone, do you want to combine or cook separate?”  Charity answers “I don’t care as long as I get coffee which I haven’t had my first cup of yet.  Were working on showers to.  I guess as soon as I get my shower we can gather up what ever I find in the kitchen and drag it over to your house so we can combine breakfast and start figuring out what we need to pack so we can leave.”  Valarie says “Ok, see you in a bit, I need to go see if Rayne is up or if she went back to sleep, again.”  Charity turns off her phone and puts it on the charger since she forgot last night and it’s almost dead.  Kel’Ren walks out of the bathroom still towel drying his hair.  He has on a clean pair of buckskin pants but no shirt yet.  Charity is struck speechless for a second before she remembers she is still needing a shower.  Kel’Ren sees her sitting on the side of the bed and says “The shower was nice.  It is a good thing to be able to adjust the temperature of the water.  Hopefully we can figure out how to do something similar when we get back to Bergana Tellus and start putting plumbing in the dens we build.”  Charity says “That would be good.  Coffee should be about done.  I’m going to grab my shower and then we will gather up stuff for breakfast and head over to Valarie’s.   That way we can combine resources for breakfast and talk and figure out what needs to be done so we can leave.”  With that she goes in the bathroom and gets her shower, hoping it will help her wake up and become more functional, at least enough to keep her going till she gets that first cup of coffee.  Kel’Ren finishes dressing and gathers up all his stuff and makes sure it’s in his travel pack ready to go.  He sets it by the bedroom door and goes on down to the kitchen where he finds Dar’Gall alone looking at the kitchen apparently as lost as he is himself.  Dar’Gall says “Meagan asked me to get her a cup of coffee but I’m not sure what coffee is.”  Kel’Ren says “Charity told me she had the coffee brewing so I am guessing that the pot of hot dark liquid on this thing is the coffee?” he points to the coffee maker on the counter where a full pot of coffee is now sitting, then adds “It smells interesting, not our tea, but it seems to be what they drink in the morning.”  Dar’Gall says “Ok, now to find the cups.”  Both warriors are opening cabinets as Meagan walks in the kitchen and asks “What happened to the cup of coffee I thought you were bringing me Dar’Gall?”  With a frown he answers “We are looking for cups.”  She goes straight to the cabinet where the cups are and pulls down four cups.  She pours the coffee and hands a cup to each of the warriors then adds milk and sugar to hers telling them “Here’s the milk and sugar, fix your coffee how ya like it.”  Dar’Gall says “We have never had coffee so we don’t know how it should be done.”  Charity walks in the kitchen barefoot but otherwise dressed and reaches for the coffee cup Meagan hands her she pours milk in hers and drinks. “Ah, that’s what I need.”  Then she looks at the two large men watching her.  “What?” she asks.  Kel’Ren says “How do we decide how to fix our coffee?  You and Meagan made yours different.”  Charity takes another sip of her coffee before she says “Ok, well, to start coffee by itself is usually a rather bitter drink.  I like mine with just milk, and I think Meagan likes sugar in hers, don’t you Meagan?”  Meagan nods her head yes as she takes a sip of her coffee.   You can have a sip of mine and see if you like it or want yours sweet, or just plain.”  Kel’Ren and Dar’Gall look at each other then each take a small sip of the coffee black, both pulling back with a grimace. Then Kel’Ren reaches over and takes the cup Charity offers him of hers with the milk in it.  He tries it and passes it to Dar’Gall who also tries it.  Then Meagan passes them hers and they each take a turn trying hers.  Both warriors agree they like the coffee sweet like Meagan’s so they add both milk and sugar like she did in hers.  Charity tells Meagan “Valarie called and we are going to gather up stuff and go over to her house to make breakfast and figure out what we are doing from there.  Bags are in that cabinet next to the fridge on the bottom.”  They proceed to pack up stuff as they drink there coffee and are ready to go over to Valarie’s in ten minutes but both still have to go back to there rooms and put on there shoes.  With a quick refill on their coffee they head of to grab there shoes.  While the females are putting on there shoes Kel’Ren and Dar’Gall remain in the kitchen.  Dar’Gall says “We are very fortunate to have found mates so quickly.  I expected it to take much more time.”  Kel’Ren agrees “As did I. The Great Creator certainly had a hand in things for the females to agree as they have.  They are truly a miracle granted us by the Creator.”  The females come back in the kitchen and pour their third cup of coffee and everyone gathers the bags of food and head across the yard to Valarie’s house.  Meagan knocks on the door since she is the first to reach it.  A very sleepy Rayne opens the door and lets them in.  With a yawn she tells them “Mom’s in the kitchen with everyone else.”  They all go in the kitchen and add there supplies to what Valarie has and get breakfast going.  Finally they are all able to sit down to a big breakfast and talk.  Rayne laughs at Dar’Gall as he eats still more pancakes.  In self defense he says “I have never tasted anything like these before, I like them.” Meagan smiles and says “Guess it’s a good thing I know how to make them then hugh big guy.” and leans over and kisses him on the cheek.  Valarie being practical and to the point says “Now, what type of things are you short of on your home world that we may be able to bring from here to make things easier for all of us? I believe you were talking about late crops or something?”  Ber’eall answers “Yes, you are right my mate.  We are short on rafe flour, tell powder, Kell.  Our healing salves and herbs.  There is just so much we lack because we are a brand new settlement and haven’t had time to make the things we will need.”  Dagroth agrees and adds “Pretty much anything you can think of we will need.  Furnishings we can make in time and are not a concern, but the food and medicine are I think the greatest priorities.”  “Ok, well if we see how much money we have left we can see what we can buy and pack to take with us.” Valarie says.  Charity says “We have to determine if we will get everything today and still be able to leave today or will we need to buy food to last us longer here?”   Sage says “Unfortunately I don’t have much to contribute.  I only have the cloths on my back and twenty dollars in my wallet.  That’s it.”  Dagroth wraps an arm around her waist and puts his other hand under her chin and lifts her face to him. “Don’t feel bad my sweet Sage, you are at a difficult point in your life.  You had to focus on staying hidden from the one who was trying to take your life.  This kept you from being able to do other things and is not your fault.” Charity says “He’s right Sage, it’s not your fault and you can help by doing other things like organizing things as we get them and making sure they are packed and ready to go as quickly as possible.  Meat and dairy are expensive here and that they have plenty of on there world so the sooner we leave, the less money we have to spend on the meat and dairy and more we can put to the dry goods and medicine.”  Sage smiles “Ok, if I’m going to be organizing then I better start making lists of what we need and what we have.  Charity why don’t you go clean out your kitchen of any dry or caned goods.  Make sure you bring several can openers because they probably don’t have tin cans like we do and if we are going to bring them we need to be able to open them.  We need to decide now if we are taking the frozen foods we currently have on hand or leaving them?”  The women look at each other for a brief second then all agree “We use what we can here and leave the rest and put in a call to the woman’s shelter to come and clear out the freezers so they can use what’s left.”  Meagan checks her purse and she has seventy eight dollars and forty two cents.  Charity checks her purse and bank account coming up with a total of thirty two dollars cash and three hundred and ten dollars in the bank.  Valarie has two hundred and fifty dollars in the bank and sixty seven in cash.  Rayne has twelve dollars and seventeen cents.  Sage adds everything up so they know what they have to work with then says “We have a grand total of seven hundred and sixty nine dollars to work with.  That’s not to bad.  If we go to someplace like Sam’s Club  or Cosco we can probably do pretty good on bulk prices on the flour and baking powder, salt, hot cereal and even antibiotic ointment and such.  Or do you think we should go to the grocery store?”  Valarie says “We are less likely to be noticed if we go someplace like Sam’s since we are buying bulk on the flour and stuff.  It will be ok prices and not draw unwanted attention.”  Sage says “ok then, Charity and Valarie, you two have the checking accounts so its best if you do the shopping.  Take your guys with to carry the heavy stuff.  While you are gone we can go through both houses and pack up any dry goods, caned good and blankets towels, things like that we can use.  Any personal mementos you will have to pack when you get back from shopping.  Everyone check for any boxes you can get where ever you go.”  Through all this planning Rayne has watched and listened but as Dar’Gall and Ber’eall stand to go with Valarie and Charity Rayne points out “I don’t mean to put a damper on things but the guys are still dressed strange and as big as they are there is no way they wont be noticed the way they are dressed.  Your first stop might need to be the thrift shop to see if you can find something for them to wear that will blend in better, although as big as they are you might not be able to find there sizes there, but it can’t hurt to try.”  Meagan says “Maybe it would be better if the guys stay here.  Pretty much anywhere you go you can get help with carrying out heave loads and putting it in the car and they can unload it here.  Let them stay here and help pack stuff up faster and save the money and time of getting them different cloths for now.”  The four warriors look at each other and Dagroth asks “What is wrong with our clothing?”  Sage smiles at Dagroth and says “On your world I’m sure there is nothing wrong with what you are wearing but your not on your world.  Here the cloths people wear is much different.  You see the blue jeans and knit tops or t-shirts we have on, well the men here wear cloths that are similar, just the male version.  No one wears buckskin cloths except maybe in old western movies.”  Dar’Gall says “Perhaps Meagan is correct and it would be best if we remain here though I do not like the idea of you going out alone.”  Meagan asks “And why would it be a problem for any of us to go out alone?  We have been doing it our whole lives.  We do know what we are doing and we’re not stupid Dar’Gall.”  Dar’Gall tells her “Please do not be offended. I meant no insult.  I suspect it is the first indication of the mating bond beginning to form and with it we tend to want to keep our chosen mate close.  It is our nature to protect and care for our female in any way that we can.  We are uncomfortable when separated for very long.”   “Will it always be like this?  I mean it making you uncomfortable to be away from us?”  Meagan asks.  “It is a normal part of being mated on our world.  We have simply learned to adjust how things are done accordingly.  If a task requires a mated male to travel, then it is standard for his mate to travel with him.  If a mated pair have young, then they are exempt from obligations that require traveling.”  Valarie says , “Ok, time to get back on focus here people.  If Sage, Dagroth and Ber’eall are packing up what can be taken from my house, why don’t Meagan, Dar’Gall and Kel’Ren pack up the useable stuff from Charity’s house.  Charity and I can be back as soon as we can with supplies and probably by then something for lunch.”  Sage asks “How are we getting everything to the gate, because this sounds like we are taking a lot of stuff, and I don’t see how we can do that without being noticed”  Dagroth agrees “She has a valid point.  Making many trips from the houses to the site of the gate in the small woods is bound to be noticed by others.  Also we can only enter the gate one time, we can not go in and out carrying many loads of stuff.”  Sage asks “What about using some sort of shopping cart or wagon or something like that as well as everyone having a full back pack, we are all able to pull a wagon loaded with supplies.”  Dagroth smiles at Sage “Very good idea my sweet Sage” Charity says “The wagons are a fairly good idea, but where do we get them without spending a lot of our money on the wagons, and we would have to wait till night to go to the gate if we are all dragging wagons or the neighbors will still notice.”  Rayne says “Mom don’t we still have that wagon from when I was younger, you remember when I was in Girl Scouts and we used it to deliver all the cookies you helped me sell around the neighborhood?”  Valarie says, “Hey, that’s right, I forgot about that thing, its out in the garage, somewhere.”  Rayne says “I can get Ber’eall to help me find it while you are out buying stuff and that will be one less wagon that we have to come up with.”  Charity says “I think the woman across the way is having a yard sale and if I’m not mistaken there was two wagons in the yard, she had twins ya know.”  Valarie says “Rayne, here if forty bucks, run over and see if she still has the wagons for sale.  If she ask questions, tell her we’re using them for a camping experiment.”  “Ok” Rayne says and takes the money and hurries out the door and across to where the yard sale is.  Charity says “Well we will at least have some wagons this way, now we have to get the dry good and stuff and get back, we can watch and see if we pass any yard sales while we are out, otherwise we may just have to narrow down how much we take and go with that.”  Charity and Valarie get in Valarie’s SUV and take off as Rayne gets back pulling the two wagons behind her.  Rayne and Ber’eall dig through the garage and it doesn’t take long to find her old wagon which turns out to be in very good shape and sturdy.  By the time Charity and Valarie are back with the medical supplies and dry goods Sage and Meagan and the warriors have all the best of the stuff from there houses packed and ready to go.  Valarie brought a large amount of fried chicken for lunch.  When everyone is done with lunch they fill all the backpacks some of which also came from the yard sale across the way and then the wagons.  

With a sigh of regret Valarie says “There is just no room for my cookware and dishes.  Well, at least I got to take my best set of knives, and the quilt my mom made for me before she passed.  I guess the rest is replaceable.”  Charity says “I know what you mean, I didn’t realize how much stuff I had till looking at it in terms of what can go and what has to be left.  I suggest we put a call in to the shelter to come and collect stuff after we will be gone.  That way people who need it will be able to use it.”  “Great idea Charity, just call and set the pick up for after we are sure we will be gone ok.” Meagan says.  Sage walks in the room looking upset.  Dagroth asks “What’ wrong sweet Sage?”  Sage answers “I called the shelter and checked with a friend who was keeping watch to see when my ex would be released from jail.  They let him out two days ago and he has already dropped off the radar and no one knows where he is.  He could be anywhere by now, including here.”  Dagroth says “That settles it, everyone grab stuff and lets get through the gate.   Rayne says “I thought for sure my dad would be more of a problem.  I was sure he would have shown back up by now.  Instead it looks like Sage’s ex will be the one causing problems.”  Valarie says “The only reason your Dad isn’t back yet is because I snuck by his place while we were out and let the air out of all his tires, among other things.  His car won’t be moving any time soon.  I know it’s mean but I figured he would be coming back to cause more trouble to and wanted to buy us enough time to be gone.”  Rayne smiles and tell her mom “That’s not mean Mom, that’s smart.  Mean is what he is.”   Ber’eall says “Now that we all agree Valarie is smart, lets get going.  At this point if the neighbors see anything, to bad we will be gone anyway.”  With that everyone picks up there back packs and puts them on and the three wagons and two wire carts that were picked up at a yard sale and head out the back door and into the small woods at the back of the housing division.  Just before the four High Alpha’s can all reach forward to activate the gate a man steps out from behind a large tree with a gun trained on Sage.  He says “Everyone step away from Sage and you won’t have to get hurt.  She is the only one I want, the rest of you are free to go.  Ber’eall and Kel’Ren slowly and carefully step in front of the women as Dagroth and Dar’Gall start fading back in the trees to work there way around the guy.  He shouts “Don’t try to block her from me.  I don’t care how big you are, a bullet will cut you down. Now move.  Sage steps a little away from Ber’eall and Kel’Ren and says “Danny, how did you find me so fast?”  He focuses on her and says “What do you mean find you , there was never a time when I didn’t know where you were Sage.  I had you watch all the time.  Just because I was locked up didn’t mean I didn’t know where you were and what you were doing.  I always knew Sage, always.  I warned you that I would make you pay if you tried to get away from me now didn’t I baby.”  and he starts to slowly walk towards her, still holding the gun but no longer actually aiming it at anyone.  As he gets closer to Sage it is clear that his sanity is long gone and there is no hope of trying to reason with him.  Just before he is close enough to reach her, a huge wolf charges him.  He raises his gun and shoots but his aim is knocked off some because of the hairy dragon that grabs him by the back of his neck and shakes him vigorously, breaking his neck in the process.  Meagan runs to check on Dar’Gall as he shifts back to his man form  and Dagroth shifts back so he can wrap his arms around a crying Sage.  Dar’Gall enjoys Meagan fussing for a moment before he kisses her deeply and tells her “Honey, its not serious, it just caught my flank. Barely enough to bleed even.  I’m ok, I promise.”  Dagroth simply picks Sage up in his arms and says “The noise from his wepon will draw people, we must go now.” and he walks to the Gate and puts his hand on one of the plates.  The other four Alphas take up the hint and also place there hands on the other three plates activating the gate way.  Grabs the handle to the wagon he was pulling and Meagan takes the wagon that Dagroth was pulling now that he is carrying Sage.  Everyone walks into the gate way and it closes on this side before anyone has time to come and investigate the noise of the fight and weapon.