Cowpens

Checkers sunk back into her fatigue and hunger-induced stupor on the trip back home. She was half-aware of a strand of cottonwoods, a structure with a large wheel turning in the water, a small cottage, and a barn. Benjamin and Mary did not appear to be destitute, despite what they said about 'having nothing to loot'. The sun had set by the time Benjamin and Mary had arrived, and Checkers was starting to feel slightly chilled. In more settled times, she remembered loving this time of the evening, sitting besides a fire and roasting choice portions of game from the hunt, in the company of her group. Now she was just hoping that she was not going to be someone's meal. She could hear Mary talking to some other men far off, as Benjamin gently placed her on the ground next to the barn. With glazed eyes, she observed him opening a large door. She could smell the comforting smell of fresh-cut hay, as well as the odor of manure. Benjamin lifted her up, and ordered her to walk forward, into a large cattlepen.

"It may seem that we are being a bit rough on you, but please see things from our point of view. We do not know who you are spying for, and cannot afford to have you escape. And if the others knew you were here, they might not be as curious about you as Mary. They would just play it safe and kill you on the spot. I am going to unbind you, so that you can move a little more comfortably. Do not attack me."

Checkers was not in any shape to attack anyone. She was hoping for food, water, and a little hay to sleep in. Benjamin undid the lashings of her shoulder strap around her wrists, and Checkers staggered back, and collapsed on the hay. Benjamin locked the cowpen, leaving Checkers in a dark, drafty, but protected place. She burrowed under the hay in order to protect herself from the cold, her head aching from hunger.

About an hour later Mary came by the cowpen with a tin plate. On the plate were a large link of sausage, and some mashed potatoes - a food Checkers had never seen before.

"I would suggest that you eat just a little bit, or you might get sick," Mary suggested.

Checkers devoured half the link. Her sense of taste heightened from not eating for a while, the flavour of the grease and the fennel seasoning of the link overpowered the starving Glider, and she asked for some water. Mary drew some water using a large wooden bucket, and Checkers drank. She almost felt normal again.

"Mary." She was having a hard time saying what she wanted to say. "Thank you. You may have saved my life."

"I might have at that, Checkers," she said, in a matter-of-fact way.

Checkers paused. "What are you going to do with me?"

"I do not rightly know. Some of it depends on the answers you give Ben tomorrow. Some of it depends on whether you can help out around here - it is nearing harvest time. But you will remain here for a couple of days, at least."

Checkers by this time had consumed the last of the link, and had nibbled on the potato. It seemed to be bland and unnourishing to her. Starch was not a component of the Glider diet - she had never seen a potato. Despite the fact that she was still hungry, she stopped eating, and thanked Mary for the food. She had one request.

"Mary, is there anywhere I can wash?"

"That is a strange request. There are places by the creek, but there are also all types of prying eyes around here. I do not think that you want to attract that type of attention. Your kind is suspect here, and you would not want to leave the cowpens. Why do you feel the need for a bath?"

"I have not had a proper bath for a few months - and I heard you and Benjamin talking about me as if I were some filty animal, like a pig. I felt embarrassed."

"Well, I am going to have to do some washing tomorrow. I tell you what. If you will help me wash your clothes and mine, then some of the leftover warm water can be used to wash you, too. Don't take what Bennie says too seriously. We just don't see to many of your kind over here."

"Thanks. We call ourselves glideri by the way, although 'Gliders' is close enough."

"Well, Glider is good enough for me. I am going to make sure that the animals are penned in tonight. Do not try leaving - if someone else catches you this time, you may not get a room in the Cowpens hotel, like you did tonight."

"I will not leave until you want me to, Mary. Thank you for the hospitality."

Mary laughed good-naturedly. Checkers had said that without a trace or irony or sarcasm, and given that she might have come across the barren grasslands, may have been completely serious. Mary wondered whether her Glider had a sense of humour at all. She seemed so serious, just like she heard about the rare cases where others had been captured and spared for a time. From the accounts of villages adjacent to the Dolomite Range, these strange critters never lasted in captivity long - a week at most. She hoped that Checkers would live for at least a few days so that she could learn more about her race.

1. Checkers and Mary wash some clothes.

Go Back

View Forward Story Tree
View Back Story Tree