The Red Lands

"Let me bring your attention to this quaint lodging. With a few sticks here and there, you can build the walls. Oh, the open space here is great for an outdoor fireplace. A few benches around would build the homely feel."

"You think we're here to find some picnicking grounds? Who is going to cut logs for the walls and roof? Can you finish before winter?"

Chu took in the crumbling stone structure that had half a wall standing. Giving the one who tried to 'sell' this one-wall house to him some well-deserved slaps, they moved on.

They had started from the Trading Post, walking south along the grasslands. Armed with a stout staff each and a small, flimsy kitchen knife tucked at the waist. Lucy carried a bag with food and adventuring supplies while Ming carried one with their own handmade torches and a length of rope bought from the Trading Post.

The forest line could be seen meandering on their right. Most of the abandoned farms lined the grasslands near the forest. To the east, spirals of smoke indicated the location of inhabitable farms that circled around the village towards the north. Standing on a hill of the undulating grassland, Chu surveyed the scene to gain an idea of the geographical locations.

The village occupied the center of a semicircle with the outlying farms dotting the land around it. The inhabitable farms kept well away from the forest treeline. From his position, his narrowed eyes spotted the outline of the North-South road. This, according to the information provided through gossip to Ming, ran from somewhere far south, all the way to the distant mountains in the north.

Most of the smoke he saw originated from places beyond the road.

In the event of unforeseen problems, Chu didn't want to be far from the village. Half a day's walk was his requirement. This would allow them to trek to the village for supplies with ample time to return before nightfall. Better yet, it kept them away from the path and sight of adventurous fools. His requirement aimed for one of those out-of-the-way places.

For this reason, he avoided those abandoned farms along the road and trading routes. These abandoned farms close to the forest would have been built during the village's heyday and construction. Only through experience, the difficulties in defending, and farming with the threat of beasts coming from the forest were they slowly abandoned.

Of course, some belonged to previous owners who served as unlucky fodder for beasts.

The buildings decayed and broke down due to the ravages of time. The ones close to the villages ended up being scrapped and used as timber or firewood. The sore spots on the plains served as a testament to those in the slums of the unknown horrors around the forest. Due to the countless tales floating around, most of those who ended up living in the tax-free slums never dared to face the overhanging knife of constant death.

Thus, a suitable empty, abandoned house could never be found close to the village.

"Wow, this is a steal of a deal. It has half a roof and three, I say THREE walls with window openings to view outside."

Lucy continued walking while looking around for any stone structures that might crop up out of the undulating grasslands. Out here, away from the village, there was a calm, quiet marred only by the expectant sounds of slapping which echoed behind her.

"You think we are looking for a resort?"

Slap

"When the wolves drag you sorry behind through those open windows, who is going to save you?"

Slap, slap.

"How many times have I told you we need something secure. SECURE!!"

Slap, slap, slap.

The grassland plains stretched away from them with low, undulating hills. From the top of the hills, the village could still be spotted in the distance. Most of the farms were built on these little inclines for that very same reason. To the left in the distance, whiffs of smoke curled upwards far apart from each other. These marked the locations of occupied neighboring farms.

They were nearly reaching the limit of the farms that spread out from the village. Further south would be empty grasslands for miles until the next set of farms and their enclosed village could be reached. Curious as he was about the world, Chu focused on discovering his neighbourhood.

Further east into the grasslands, they could see other farmhouses, smoke curling from chimneys. Behind those farms might be grasslands or roads to other locations. Again, he contemplated the surroundings of his village.

With this planned arrangement, the villages served as a focal point for lumber and furs. It also served as an early warning arrangement in the event of invasion. He needed more information to check if the latter was indeed true.

They found one house that looked good. It was just further from the forest than the others. The walls were made of stone, but the thatched roof needed restoring. With winter on their doorstep, Chu had no idea how to get materials to finish it in time. They sat on the cold stone doorway to rest. Lucy shared some bread slices for them to eat.

Sitting on the stone entrance, he thought about using branches to just cover the roof. Lucy climbed onto an old stone block, gazing around. Ming continued inspecting the ruins, hoping to scavenge something of value. Looters might have overlooked something in haste.

He was in the middle of arranging his thoughts when Lucy called.

"Hey Chu. What's that over there? Looks like a big house."

He stood up and followed Lucy's arm and finger. In the distance, closer to the forest, they saw what looked like a building.

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It was already in the afternoon, but they did take some time to check places up and down while walking. The requirement of being able to walk to the village and back before nightfall stood as a top priority.

"Let's go take a look. I think this house is in the best shape considering the others. We'll use this one if anything."

They walked on and soon came to the farmhouse. It stood built on a small hilly incline like the others. However, what Lucy saw was not a farmhouse but a barn. The farmhouse appeared in a bad state, with some of the walls already broken down. The roof long gone.

The barn itself seemed in good shape considering its abandonment. A few of the sideboards were missing, and one of the large doors had broken off. The roof appeared in good shape, made out of wooden shingles with only a couple of places broken down. The best thing for Chu was that there was a platform built at the back that extended forward to nearly a quarter of the barn's length.

This platform was only accessible by a wooden ladder at the side.

Chu sent Lucy to inspect the condition of the platform. Among the three, she overshadowed them when it came to climbing. He walked outside to inspect the exterior walls. Nodding in approval of the builder's choice for thick planks, he pulled and tugged until satisfied. Scanning around the grasslands and the gentle slope leading to the forest, a mile or two away, he entered the open doorway.

Lucy called him up after measuring the status of the upper decking. Listening for creaks and straining wood, he found the dry platform sturdy. Except for scattered and rotting hay, it served as a good refuge. Gazing around, he noticed two small windows on either side, both barred by a stout board. He didn't bother trying to open them. The fewer openings the structure had, the easier to defend.

"Good, good, good. This is better than the stone house from before. If we remove the ladder nailed here and make a portable one, this level will be safe from animals that can't climb."

Lucy gave Chu a rare smile, knowing he was happy with this find.

"Chu! Come here."

The two of them quickly made their way outside.

Ming stood on the side of a broken well near the side of the barn, between it and the ruined house. He had removed the vines and a rotted board cover that made it partially hidden.

"I think this well has water. I dropped a stone and it made a plop sound."

"Good find. With a bucket and rope, we will have no problem with water."

"Hehe...thanks. But there is something else."

Ming pulled him to one side and had him look over into the well. The afternoon sun cast some light, but not enough to see the water.

"Look at the side, Chu. It looks like a hole or something."

Squinting, only when he focused did he see what Ming was talking about. It wasn't looking like the bricks had broken down, but an arched outline could be seen.

"Lucy, fetch the rope. Ming, bring me the torches and flint."

The torch was a self-made stick wrapped with cloth strips as a head. It was also soaked in the animal oil fat they made from the Trading Post.

Chu tied one of the torches to the bottom of the rope and lowered it down. The three of them glimpsed the water at the bottom and a small arched opening at the side. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he pulled up the rope, and this time Lucy followed down holding the torch.

"If you see anything moving, pelt the torch at it and yell for us to pull up the rope."

Fortunately, nothing happened, and Lucy crawled into the hole at the side. Finally, she came out and called to pull up.

"It's a tunnel, but it caved and I couldn't get past."

Chu stepped back and checked the direction of the entrance. In a straight line, it led to the back of the barn. He stood on the opposite end of the tunnel entrance and extended his hand, lining up the direction.

"There. Check the barn floor, I think there is a trap door."

Two hours later, after clearing away all the rotted hay and debris did they find a small wooden trapdoor in a corner. After another period of struggling, swearing, and sweating, they finally managed to pry it open. Chu went down this time with Lucy to investigate. They entered a cellar about eight square feet or bigger and around six feet high, so as children they certainly didn't have to bend and walk. On one side was a narrow passageway that led to the well. The cave-in proved easy to repair and blocked half of the entrance to the well.

"This is perfect. If we clear the entrance to the well, we would be able to have water and use the well as a chimney to cook down here. If we block the corner around the trapdoor like a fence and make a ladder from it to the top platform, we can use it like a lookout post and move freely during the day."

Chu was pleased with this discovery. Most likely the past owners took this secret to their graves. It was already late, so they hid the well and the trapdoor before running back to the village before sunset.

After a quick cleanup and delivering his two coppers home, they met in the shack. Sakura and Dyna had sorted out some clothes that were in good condition and proceeded in making the quilts.

Sitting by the fire, munching on a slice of bread, they had their discussion.

"Tomorrow we will start moving. I want to do it step by step to avoid being the center of attention."

"Will we take Sakura and Dyna with us?"

Lucy posed the question in excitement.

As children of the area, this ranked as an impossible development. To be part of this adventure, compared to leaving the village. In her eyes, they were all a group.

"No, that will look too obvious if all of us head out away from the usual forest path. A couple of kids venturing into the grasslands looking for plants and roots is okay. But if we move with loads of supplies, it will arouse suspicion."

"How will we leave then?"

"Tomorrow, three of us will go to the Trading Post in the morning when it's empty. We will buy as much food and supplies as we can carry and drop them off in the cellar. We will forage for some firewood and spend the night over there. That will give us an idea if any animals or people are active around there."

"You won't come back for us?"

Dyna chirped.

"Not tomorrow, you guys will remain in this shack and continue to make quilts. I need you to work hard and sort out all the clothes here. The remaining rags will be used to make torches. Those that you made worked well today."

"Yes."

The little girl nodded as she blushed and dropped her head in pride. She still remained a little disappointed that they would not be together with the others tomorrow.

Chu smiled and tapped her head of red hair.

"Don't worry, we will be back. We need those blankets, so we are depending on you."

Chu reassured the depressed looking girl. His older mentality broke out as he patted her head once more.

"The next day, we will return and buy more food at the Trading Post. Then we will head to the forest and bundle firewood. We will hide that in one of the old houses along the way, so it would be easy to carry."

It takes about four hours walking from the barn to the village. By running back they actually took less time, even though they took time resting in between. That time was a rough estimate. Traveling with loads of firewood and supplies would increase the time. Even so, they would still be able to make a round-trip in one day.

Chu planned to use one day to stock up on firewood in one of the abandoned houses. It would be less suspicious if they left the village empty-handed and then picked it up halfway. He wanted to leave some bundles hidden in some abandoned houses between the barn and the village.

In the event of an emergency where they had no choice, a supply of firewood could be used to warm up in a temporary camp. With all their preparation, he was sure that trips during the winter would be inevitable.

"After we stock up on food and firewood, we will move together."

He continued,

"In one week, we will be free of the slums."

Thinking about their needs and the supplies needed, he realized he had missed an important step when gathering raw ingredients that were cheap and necessary. Stocking up on flour, grain, salt, and vegetables might save him coppers, but it opened up another problem.

He gave a wry smile as he looked at them.

"Who knows how to make bread?"