Chapter Three The Hanging Tree

Mike leads the Spears to rescue Jackie and Maria from the bikers. They rescue Maria but Jackie has been killed. The Spears kill two of the bikers and punish a third.

Chapter Three 

The Hanging Tree

 

Mike had not led his troop far along the road when he remembered Pete.  Cursing himself savagely, he hoped that Howard would take care of Pete's body.  Briefly, he wondered if this chase was futile or maybe even crazy.  But he was determined to find the girls and to rescue them.

Now the time they had spent running with Yuie was their ally.  They were all in good condition except for Ralph, and his panic and anger kept his adrenaline flowing.  They jogged as long as they could, and then they walked, and then they jogged again.  At noontime, they stopped for a fifteen minute rest; Ralph needed it by then.  After their rest, they walked awhile and then they broke into a jog again.

Alternately walking and jogging, they moved forward until the sun went down.  There were a few wispy clouds that night, but the sky had mostly cleared, the moon was three quarters full, and it was bright.  They could easily see the road, although the rough way slowed them.

Two hours after sunset, they came to a side road that led steeply up the mountain.  Although the main road continued onward, they turned onto this road, because they could hear music coming from somewhere above them.  The road was neither paved nor graveled, it was a simple dirt road though it was well packed, and it seemed to be well traveled.

It was harder going uphill, but before a half hour had passed they heard the rough voices and the drunken laughter of men off to their right.  The voices came from a clearing amidst a grove of white fir trees.  Cautiously, they crept closer until they could see a campfire.  Then Mike sent Jacob on ahead to scout the area, and to see if the two girls were there.  Soon Jacob returned.

"Did you see them?" Yuie asked anxiously.  "Did you see Jackie and Maria?"

Jacob glanced furtively at Yuie and Ralph, and then he whispered to Mike, "It's them.  One guy has a rifle; he's sitting down and watching the others.  Another guy is standing and drinking a beer and watching the third guy.  The third guy is on the ground ... busy."

Ralph made a sound as if he was choking, and Mike grabbed his shoulder.  "We can't lose it, man," he whispered frantically.  "We have to keep ourselves together, so we can help them."  Ralph nodded, although his breathing was ragged.  Mike turned to Yuie.

"Do you think you can shoot an arrow into the guy holding the rifle?" he asked.

Yuie was trying to control her shaking.  "Yes, yes, I can do it," she whispered bravely, although her teeth were chattering.

"Okay, listen," he said to the others.  "We're going to move close to them, and then Yuie is going to shoot first.  She's going to shoot the guy holding the rifle.  Ralph, as soon as she shoots her arrow, you and I will spear the same guy.  The rest of you will spear the guy standing up.  Then we’ll all grab a second spear and get the third guy.  Got it?"

They nodded.  All of them were nervous and frightened, but the teenagers were resolute.  Mike gestured, and they moved toward the men.  They were not particularly quiet, but the men had a loud boom box playing, and so they were not heard.  They crept towards the clearing until they could see what was happening.  It was a scene of horror.  Jackie was lying on her back.  She was naked, and there were three gaping wounds on her torso.  It was immediately clear to them that she was dead.  Maria, also naked, was making choking sounds because the man raping her had his hands around her neck.

As soon as he saw what was happening, Mike shouted and he drew back his spear.  By the time he threw his spear, Yuie had already shot her arrow.  It sped straight into the stomach of the man sitting with his back to a tree and holding a rifle.  The man looked down at his torso in disbelief, even as a spear pierced his mouth, drilled through his head, and lodged itself into the tree behind him.  The second man was hit in his back by two more spears, and he fell forward onto Maria and the third man.

The man raping the girl yelled, and he stumbled to his feet, just in time to feel one spear crease his shoulder and another spear glance off the side of his head, knocking him senseless.

The kids rushed into the clearing, rage and fright pumping through their young bodies.  As they pulled the speared man off Maria he groaned, and someone stabbed another spear down through his body.  In their haste to reach Maria they ignored the rapist, but he was unconscious and not a threat.

Maria was gasping for breath, and when she finally caught her breath she began crying, great pealing sobs of deep anguish.  She cringed away from the boys, but she allowed Yuie to take her in the archer’s arms. The two girls rocked and cried together as Ahmad removed his jacket and covered Maria.

Mike turned away overcome with emotion, only to see Ralph sobbing over Jackie's body.  Then his courage broke and his tears flowed, and he didn't try to stop them, and he was vaguely aware that the other kids were crying also.

Mike never knew how long it took for him to collect himself.  At last his tears subsided, and he looked around.  Yuie and Maria were still sitting on the ground.  Yuie was still holding the traumatized girl, and she was speaking to Maria in a low whisper.  Maria had stopped crying.  Ralph had covered Jackie's body with his jacket and shirt and was sitting there, lost in his sorrow.

Jacob had recovered first, and while searching the area, he found a large recreational vehicle nearby.  Inside, he found a picture of a man and a woman.  None of the motorcyclists matched the picture of the man.  The kids never discovered what had happened to the man and the woman.

There was a shack next to the RV that might have belonged to one or more of the bikers.  Eric and Ahmad took the door off the shack to use as a stretcher for Jackie's body.  Rasul dragged the surviving unconscious man far away from Maria and Yuie.

Mike had the boys tie the hands of the unconscious man behind his back, and then they wrapped some cord that they found in the RV around the man’s arms.  He had to cajole and beg Ralph not to kill the man outright.

"I promise you we'll take care of him," he told Ralph in a whisper.  "Just wait."

Slowly, the prisoner regained consciousness.  When he realized what had happened, he snarled at them and threatened them, and in return he was answered with an occasional sharp poke from a spear point.

Mike and the other kids collected their weapons and those of the men.  No one wanted to spend the night there, so when they were ready they carried Jackie's body away from the clearing and down the dirt road.  They pushed their prisoner ahead of them, and whenever he refused to walk they gave him little stabs to keep him moving.  When they came to the gravel road leading to their camp they rested for an hour, and then they began walking back toward their camp.  For Maria’s sake, they moved slowly.  Finally they stopped, threw themselves on the hard ground, and tried to sleep until daybreak.

At dawn, still weary and heartsick they began their trek back to their camp.  Jacob seemed less tired than the others, so Mike sent him on ahead to tell Howard what had happened, and to bring food and water.  When noon came, they were about a mile from the camp, and they stopped to rest.  There, they were met by Jacob, Howard, and some of the other boys and girls who had hurried to them from their camp.  Maria's friends accepted her from Yuie, and they tried to comfort her.

"Get some of these guys to take Jackie back to the camp," said Mike to Howard, pointing to the new arrivals.  Ralph took charge of the young woman’s body, and he led the sad procession toward the camp while the other rescuers lay exhausted on the ground.

"What are you going to do with him?" Howard asked anxiously, indicating the prisoner.

Mike had been thinking about this.  And he had been looking for a tree.  A hundred yards back, they had passed the tree that he had been looking for.  It had a large root stretching out toward the road, and on the lower side of the root the land fell swiftly downward.

"I want you to go back to our camp, and bring the rope that we use to play tug-of-war," he said to Howard.  "And bring one of the big barrels that we use for the recycled cans.  Turn it on its side, and roll it down here.  Tell all of the kids to come down with you. We'll wait."

Howard looked troubled, but he nodded and left.  Mike went to Maria and her friends.

"I need to speak to Maria alone," he said.

"It's okay," Maria said when the other girls protested.  "Leave us alone."

When they were alone, before Mike could speak, Maria said, "Thank you, Chief.  Thank you for coming for me.  He told me that he was going to kill me just like he killed Jackie."

Mike felt terrible, and the memory of what he had seen stabbed at him.  "I'm sorry, Maria," he mumbled.  "I sorry I didn't protect you."

Maria looked at him sadly, and then she said, "It's not your fault, Mike.  You're just a kid."

Mike nodded, and then he told Maria what he intended to do.  Maria paled, stared at the ground for a moment, and then she nodded.

"All right," she whispered.

"Do you want to go back to camp first?" Mike asked.

Maria looked up.  "No," she said with determination.  "I'll stay."

Then Mike went to Eric, and he explained what he was about to do.  "Are you okay with this?" Mike asked.

Eric searched Mike's face.  "Because I'm black, you mean?"

"Uh...yeah," answered Mike.

Eric looked at the prisoner who was still ranting at them.  "I don't know.  Maybe if he was black, I wouldn't be.  But maybe I would.  But anyway, he's not black so it doesn't matter to me.  Yeah, I'm okay.  And if he was black, I think I would still be okay because I was there.  I saw what he did to Jackie, and what he almost did to Maria.  You know, Chief, we were almost too late for Maria."

Mike shuddered.  He didn't want to think about that.  "Yeah, I know."

Reluctantly, Mike went to talk to the prisoner.  "What's your name?" he asked.

"Screw you, kid," the man smirked.  "You better let me go if you know what's good for you."  He struggled in his bonds.

Mike wanted to ask him many other things, about where he was from, what he knew about the Fog, why he had killed Jackie and Pete, but the boy simply couldn't stand to be near him, so Mike walked away.

Howard came back with the rope and the barrel.  Almost all of the girls and boys from the camp came with him.  Mike was hoisted awkwardly onto the barrel.

"All right, come close and listen," he shouted.  The kids gathered around him.

"Now, anyone who saw Pete get shot, raise your hand," Mike commanded.  A host of hands went up.  Mike saw a boy holding up his hand who Mike knew wasn't down in the girl’s camp when Pete was shot.

Mike asked him, "Where were you when you heard the shot?"

"Uh...well..."

"Didn't you have KP duty yesterday?"

"Well, I came out right after I heard the shot."

"So you didn't actually see Pete get shot?"

"Well, no.  But I know who did it!" he burst out angrily.  There was a loud bitter murmur of agreement from the crowd.

"Listen to me," shouted Mike.  "The next person who lies to me about what they saw is going to clean the toilets for a week."  A lot of hands were quickly lowered, and the crowd grew quiet.

"I saw what happened, Chief," said a girl who still had her hand up.  "I was standing right next to Jackie's cabin when she came out.  I saw her run over to that guy."  She pointed to the prisoner.  "I saw him hit Jackie with a gun.  Then Pete ran right by me.  I saw that man shoot him, and I saw Pete's head fly back.  I'm never going to forget that.”

"I saw it, too, Chief," said another girl.  “I was brushing my hair in my cabin.  I heard Jackie say ‘Hi, Hi,’ like she was real happy.  When I came out of my cabin, Jackie was lying on the ground, and that man was picking her up.  Then he put her on his motorcycle.  Then I saw Pete running to them, and then that man shot Pete.  I saw the blood come flying out of Pete's face."

"Is that the man who shot Pete?" Mike asked, pointing to the prisoner.

"Yes, that's him."

"Are you really sure it's him.  Maybe, it was one of the others."

"I'm sure that it was him, Chief.  I screamed when he killed Pete, and that man looked right at me.  He smiled at me.  That's him, alright."

One by one, Mike questioned the kids who saw the shooting.  Mike found five who definitely knew that the prisoner was the man who had shot and killed Pete.  Then Mike asked Jacob to tell the assembled kids what he had seen when he first went to the clearing.  Then Mike let Yuie, Ahmad, Rasul, Eric, and John tell the kids what they had seen.  When Ralph returned, Mike asked Ralph to tell them what he had seen.  As the witnesses spoke, the kids grew quieter and quieter.  Some walked far away, so they couldn't hear any more.

Then Mike asked the man, "Did you kill the guy at our camp?"

The man laughed.  "Maybe so, maybe no," he answered.  "So call the police, and let me go, and I'll wait for them.  I promise.”

Mike was silent for a moment, and then he asked, "What about the fog?"

The man scowled.  "So maybe the police can't get here for awhile.  You can't keep me like this.  I know my rights.  You got those spears, and I got no gun, so let me go."

Then he smiled a very strange smile, and he said in a soft voice, "Sooner or later I'm going to get loose.  Then I'm going to find you, and I’m going to have some fun with you."  There was such a vicious evil threat in his voice that all of the kids except for Mike, Maria, and Eric, flinched and drew back.

Mike jumped down and tipped over the barrel.  "Help me," he said to the Spears.

The boys helped Mike roll the barrel down the road to the tree.  They put the barrel on the higher side of the tree root, so that the sharp drop was on the other side.  The rest of the puzzled kids followed Mike to the tree.

Mike grabbed the tug-of-war rope.  "Does anyone know how to make a noose?" he asked.

There were some murmurs of shock and the man, prodded to the tree by some of the Spears, exclaimed, "Hey!"

A boy stepped forward.  "I know how to make one," he offered in a very tense voice.  Mike handed him the rope, and with trembling hands the teenager managed to make a noose.

Mike looked at the prisoner.  "Bring him," he said.

The man began to yell and rant and he threatened the children.  He told them in graphic detail what he would do to them if they did not immediately release him.  Some of the kids were so frightened of the man, that they begged Mike to let him go if he promised never to bother them again.

The man struggled, but Ralph, John, and Howard held him firmly, and with some help, they pushed him to the barrel.  Mike called for some kids to hold the barrel steady at the ends.  Some of the Spears, and some of the other kids rushed to help, and shortly there were three or four kids at each end of the barrel.

Mike climbed onto the barrel.  Carefully he balanced himself, and then he took the rope, and with some difficulty he worked it over the head of the struggling cursing man.  Mike had to toss the other end of the rope several times before he managed to get it over the right tree limb.  Then he jumped down.

Other kids had seized the loose end of the rope, and now they drew it taut so that the killer's head was lifted.  The man continued to curse and threaten them.  Mike thought about gagging him, but he didn't just in case the man decided to pray or to repent at the last moment.  The stronger boys lifted the man onto the barrel.  They helped him steady himself, and then they stepped back.  The man wavered, and then he caught his balance.  The rope was tightened a final time, and then they tied the rope to the tree.

"Do you have any last words?" Mike asked the man.

The man stared down at Mike, perhaps at last realizing that he was dealing with someone different.  This kid, this small kid, this implacable kid was going to hang him.  Finally, he was frightened.

"I'm sorry about your friend," he muttered hoping that this might save his life.

Mike stepped behind the man, and he stood next to the barrel.  Howard stepped forward. "I'll help," he said.  "I didn't go with you when you fought, so I'll do this."  Mike nodded.

"Let me do it," Ralph demanded.

"No, not you," Mike said, shaking his head.

"Why not," Ralph asked.  "I want revenge for Jackie."

"That's why you can't do it," said Mike firmly.

"I'll do it," said Desi, coming forward.  When she saw Mike about to protest, she said fiercely, "One of us should be a girl."

She stepped behind the barrel.  Some of the kids hid their faces.  Most of them were scared, but they still watched.  A few were just curious.  Several still did not believe that Mike was going to do this.

The three teenagers placed a foot against the barrel, so that it was held firm against the tree root.  They agreed to go on the count of three.  Someone counted.  On three, they pushed hard against the barrel.  It lifted onto the tree root, and then it fell over and rolled down the slope.  The man dropped.  It sounded like something happened in his neck.  He twitched for many seconds, and then he was still.  His neck was bent over at an awkward angle.  His body released its waste.  Some of the kids turned away and were sick.  Others began crying.  Others just stared up at the body.

Slowly, they all made their way back to their camp, some pushing the barrel.  Mike was exhausted that night, but he found it hard to sleep.  He remembered the terrible sights that he had seen, and once he awakened from a bad dream.  Sometimes, he felt tears trickling down his cheeks.

The next day Mike asked Ralph to make a sign.  Ralph agreed, and using a piece of cardboard, he made a sign and he went over the hill and down to the hanging body, and he attached the sign to the stomach of the body.  The sign said, "Murderer and Rapist."

After a few days, some of the kids wanted to bury the man, just as they buried Jackie and Pete down at the west end of the meadow on the boys’ side of the river.  Mike refused to let them take the body down.  It hung there until the following spring when Mike was finally moved to bury the bones close by the Hanging Tree, where they had buried the bodies of the other three bikers.

The following days seem to pass in a haze.  The kids moved around in a stupor much of the time, except when someone breathlessly warned that something or someone had been heard.  Then they would all cringe and cower for awhile, until it became apparent that it was just another false alarm.  The wood on the bridge was removed, but it was placed close by in case it was needed.  Howard found the cover for the five gallon bucket so that the gasoline would not evaporate.  During this time, Mike posted a guard on the gravel road at the top of the hill.

Mike managed to get the kids to dig two graves.  It was not easy to dig graves in the rocky soil with just the simple picks and shovels that they found in the storage room.  But doggedly they stayed at it until Jackie and Pete had been buried.  Much harder, Mike discovered, was the need to say words over the graves as the sad group of campers stood by.  Thankfully, a boy named Luis found the right words.  On the third day, they moved the body of the dead motorcyclist from the parking lot down to the Hanging Tree.

On the fourth night after the hanging, Mike called a meeting.  It was difficult to meet in the dining hall, because the boys were still sleeping there.  This had caused problems.

"I want to get back in my bunk," a boy insisted.  "Let the girls sleep in here for a change."

"We need more privacy than you guys," a girl responded.

"Yeah, that's another thing," a boy said.  "They keep trying to come in and sneak peeks at us in our underwear."  The girls hooted with laugher when they heard that.

"Oh, like you have anything we'd like to see!" a girl jeered.  "And besides, you guys keep trying to peep into the showers when we're in there."  A few of the boys blushed at that.

"That piece of wood fell out accidentally," a boy protested.

"All right, all right," said Mike raising his hands.  "We need to decide how to arrange it so that everyone has a decent place to sleep."

No one spoke for a moment, and then a girl raised her hand and asked timidly, "Do you think it would be alright if we slept in our cabins again?"

That was the question on every one's mind.  Was it safe?  How safe was it?  Were there others around like the bikers?

Mike took a breath.  Like the others, he was wondering about the answers to these questions, too.  But unlike the others, he felt that it was his responsibility to ensure the safety of his tribe.

"You can't sleep anywhere except on this side of the river.  That's final," he replied.

No one challenged him on this, although some girls resented that he could decide for them.  All of them knew by now that the Spears would enforce Mike's orders.

"Can't we at least bring the bunks and mattresses over here?" Yuie asked.

"I guess that would be a good idea," Mike admitted.

"Does that mean that we can get our bunks back?" a boy asked eagerly.

"No it doesn't," answered Mike sharply to the crestfallen boy.  "We are going to have to share the sleeping spaces."  Everyone was silent.

"Look,” Mike continued.  “There's a lot of room in the Chief's Headquarters.  And there are futons upstairs.  John, take a couple of mattresses and put them in the loft.  Four girls should be able to sleep up there.  I'll give up my bed for now.  It's big, so two girls can share it.  John, you and Desi will have to give up the counselors’ cabin.  Six girls can sleep in that cabin.  So, some of you guys can move back into your bunks.  I'll need one though.  Um..."

He stopped.  That was about all that he could think of.

"Mike," Desi said.  "Can John and I move into the cave?  I mean into the small part that's really a cave?"

"Uh...well if it's okay with John, I guess so," he replied.

"Do you think that we could move one of the cabins over to this side of the river?" asked Rasul.  "Since, we're going to move them anyway."

Not all of the kids had heard about this plan, so Mike had to stop and take the time to explain their plans for the cave.  It was plain to see that many of the kids thought the plan was crazy.

"But that means we would have to dismantle the cabin twice," Howard objected.

"True, but it would give us some practice," argued Eric.  "We could find out if we really can move a cabin.  If we can't, then we better make another plan."

"That's a good point, Eric," said Mike.  "Okay.  Tomorrow we'll try to move a cabin.  Then the girls from that cabin can sleep in their own bunks."  This brought a murmur of cheers from the girls.

After the meeting, some of the boys went to help move the two mattresses to the loft in the Chief's Headquarters.  With regret, Desi agreed that she and John would have to wait until morning before they could move into the cave.

The activity caused the boys and girls to cheer up.  Things were moving forward again.  It was good to have something to do.  There was a lot of joking; boys offering kindly to share a bunk with a girl, girls politely declining.  The task of moving more bunks and mattresses into the counselors’ cabin took them until late into the night.  The more they worked, it seemed the better they felt.  Mike decided that everyone would get a late night snack, so pudding cups were opened and enjoyed.

Eventually, Mike went to his cabin.  There, he found a flurry of activity as girls prepared to sleep.  He sat down at his desk.  He had taken to writing down notes each night, so he could remember what had happened that day, what had been discussed, and what had been decided.  Around him girls were chatting and preparing for bed.  When it got quiet, Mike glanced around to see what was happening.

The four girls upstairs were hanging their heads over the edge of the loft.  The two girls downstairs were watching him.

"Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Um...Chief, we're ready to go to bed now," Makayla replied.

"Oh, okay, go ahead.  I'm just going to work for a bit."

The girl blushed.  "Uh, Chief, the thing is, it's kind of warm right now so...," she looked at the others for help.

"So we sleep in our underwear," explained a girl from the loft.

"Oh," Mike said looking at them.  "Oh!"  Hastily, clumsily knocking over a cup of pens and pencils, he got up.

"Then, I'll see you in the morning," he called as he practically ran out the door.  He made his way to his old cabin and to his own bunk.

The next morning, they began the task of moving one of the cabins.  It was slow going.  First, they discovered that they would have to unbolt the wood braces connecting the corners.  Fortunately, the campground was new, and the nuts and bolts had not yet corroded.  Then they realized that it was difficult to remove the canvas cover without damaging it.  Then they found that several kids were needed to brace the walls while they were lowering them from vertical to horizontal.

Finally, they were ready to move the floor.  But even with kids surrounding and lifting, the wooden floor wouldn’t budge.  Depressed, they stood around arguing until Ahmad discovered that the concrete piers beneath the floor had metal straps that were bolted onto four by four wooden posts which were then bolted onto the floor frame.  Ahmad crawled under the floor, and he unbolted the posts from the frame.   Then, with kids working shoulder to shoulder, they lifted the heavy floor and moved it to one side, away from the concrete piers.  By this time it was late afternoon, and Mike called a halt to the work.

The next day, they discovered how heavy the concrete piers were.  Mike almost despaired at this point, until one of the boys remembered that there was a steel dolly in the shed.  Using the dolly, and with two people pulling and one person pushing, they were able to move the concrete piers over the bridge to the boys’ side.  Accomplishing this cheered them considerably, and in the afternoon they moved the walls over to the boy’s side of the river.  Once again, Mike called a halt to the work.  He wanted to wait until morning to begin the difficult task of moving the heavy floor over the bridge.

Just after they called it quits for the day, Mike had to deal with a new problem.  A girl approached him as he was talking with John.  Her name was Erin, and she was a beautiful blond and blue eyed girl who was very popular with both the girls and the boys.  She was followed by three other girls.

"Mike, we want to talk to you," she began.  Mike discovered that he was a little irritated that she had not called him, “Chief.”

"Yeah, what is it?" he asked brusquely.

"We've noticed that you're only asking certain people's advice when you have a decision to make.  Why is that?  Why don't we vote on these things at Meeting?"

"Because these certain people are people I trust," Mike responded.  "That's why I ask them."

"But that's not fair, Mike," Erin argued.  "You have to let everyone vote."

"No, I don't.  That's why I'm the Chief.  See, there is a vote taken.  Only, I decide who gets to vote.  People who have been helping out a lot get to vote.  Not you."

"So how do we get to vote?  How long before we've helped out enough that we get a vote?  Do only the boys get to vote?" the girl angrily asked.

"Yeah, pretty much," Mike replied curtly.  He was tired of this conversation.

"Does Desi get to vote?" another girl asked.

"Yeah, so?" Mike replied.

"She gets to vote because she's John's girlfriend, doesn't she?" a third girl charged.

"Yeah, so?" Mike repeated.

"So is that what we have to do?" said Erin, really angry now.  "We get to vote if we have sex with one of the Spears?"

"Yeah, that's right!" Mike snapped.  "Now get lost!"

The girls' mouths dropped open as they stared at him in shocked silence.  Abruptly they turned and stormed away.  Mike was just realizing what he had said.  He turned to John who was shaking his head sadly.  He blushed red, and then yelped when John bopped him on the top of his head with a fist.

"Not cool, dude. Not cool at all," John said.

“She started it,” Mike whined.  John rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I know.  That was stupid," Mike sighed while rubbing his head.

"Yeah, there's going to be a lot of pissed off girls at Meeting tonight.  Yuie will be pissed too, and when Desi finds out that she can vote only because she's doing me..." John shook his head in pity.

Mike paled.  "Oh, s**t," he muttered.  He looked at John anxiously.  "Do you think that you could explain to Desi?" he asked.

"Man, I'll be too busy trying to explain why I was standing next to you," John replied.

"I guess I should apologize at Meeting," said Mike gloomily.

"Good idea," John responded.

During the day, word spread about what Mike had said.  As he stepped up to the podium that night, the room was obviously tense.  Some of the boys had taken the girls’ anger as an excuse to taunt them.  This had made the girls even angrier, and they blamed it all on Mike.  The room was abuzz with low angry voices.  Desi stood at the back of the assembly glaring balefully at Mike.

"I apologize," he said immediately.  This quieted down the room.  Everyone wanted to know just what Mike was apologizing for.

"I apologize to Erin and to the girls who were with her today, and I apologize to all the rest of you.  What I said was wrong.  I shouldn't have said it."

He paused and waited to see what the effect of his apology would have on the tribe.  Erin stood up, and she raised her hand.  Mike pointed to her.

"All right, Chief, I accept your apology.  We know you guys are in charge.  We understand why.  But it's worrying us.  We believe you'll try to protect us from outsiders.  But...well, it's some of you guys that we are worried about."  She sat down.

"I glad you brought that up, Erin," Mike said.  "As of tonight, I'm making a new rule about sex."  Everyone got real quiet and real interested.  This was one subject guaranteed to get them to listen.

Mike continued.  "From now on, no one can have sex unless they're at least sixteen."

Some laughter broke out and some chuckles, and some scornful comments were heard, but many of the kids, both girls and boys, were relieved to hear Mike make this rule.  This would take some strain off the younger kids who made up over half of the campers.  Now they could point to Mike’s rule if they felt pressured.

"How are you going to enforce that," challenged one of the boys who stood amid laughter.

Mike stared at him.  "I'll enforce any rule I make," he replied coldly.  "Don't test me."  The boy shrank down.  The laughter died.  Many of the younger girls smiled.

"I have another new rule," said Mike to the crowd.  They calmed down and waited.  "This is it.  If any guy forces a girl to have sex, I'll hang him."  This was met with stunned silence.  "Do you understand?" Mike looked intently at a few boys, and each one nodded hastily.

After Meeting concluded, Erin made her way to the front and waited until Mike noticed her.  When he did she shyly said, "Thanks, Chief.  Thanks for making those rules."

Mike shook his head.  "Erin, I should have made those rules a long time ago.  Um...Erin," Mike continued.  "The thing is, I really do try to listen to everyone.  But sometimes I, like, poll people when I have to make a decision.  And the truth is, if a guy has a girlfriend I usually let her have a vote, even if I know that she hasn't helped as much as the other girls.  That’s just the way it is."

Erin was not happy to hear this, but she replied, "Chief, I know that the boys helped you more than we did, at first.  But now most of the girls are really trying to help, too.  We’re doing almost all of the kitchen work now.  Don't you think that sooner or later we'll get to vote?  When you get to know us, I mean?"

"Yes," answered Mike firmly.  "And from now on, I'm going to ask your opinion on all kinds of stuff.  I promise."  Erin's face lit up with a bright smile.  Shortly after, she left with her friends.  They all seemed contented.

In the weeks ahead, Mike’s authority would be questioned sometimes, especially when he was not around.  Once a boy was complaining about Mike, and he asked a couple of the girls why they should listen to a kid who was younger than them.

“The Chief brought Maria back alive,” was their blunt reply.  The boy admitted the truth of that answer.

All in all, it was a good meeting, Mike thought.  And afterwards, he was able to escape to his bunk without having to face Desi.  She would calm down by the morning, he hoped.

Then the next morning, as they prepared to move the cabin floor, Jacob came rushing down from the guard post on the hill

"Motorcycle," was all he said.