In the Valley of the Mine - RoF

For once in their lives they were making good time on their second rite. Not once had Cricket felt the gnawing fear of having the rite failed due to them being late to the finish line. This was it. This was the perfect rite.

But it was a little bit boring because of that. The tokotas minded less than the people.

Glady and Mal were leading the line through the tall pine forests. A breeze swayed the tips of the evergreens but didn’t touch a hair on rider nor tokota’s head. The grey and piebald would yawn on occasion. When he began to let his eyes drop too much Mal corrected him with a pop on his shoulder. The tokota would pick up the pace for a bit before falling back into the same pattern.

Sky was tailing close behind him. Since she had no rider she had been given the majority of the supplies to carry. She was as diligent as ever. Even with her boring task she kept alert. Cricket was riding behind her and caught on to her pattern after hours of observation. Every ten strides she’s shift her eyes around and sniff. She never slowed to do this but like clockwork it would happen. He began keeping time based on how often she performed the little ritual. Boy, just watching her was making him tired.

Faline, his mount for the expedition, was plodding along quietly.  The fawn colored curly maned female had been nothing but polite the whole trip but she was starting to get tired of the monotonous travel. She looked forward to the breaks where she was allowed to run off lead for a while. Cricket had taken to trying to play fetch with her. She indulged him though her interest in the game was minimal. She would sometimes check over her shoulder on the black and white yeti trotting along behind her. She expected a bit of trouble from her packmate it seemed.

Ruddy was getting a little bored of all the walking. His impulse to explore was getting the better of him but no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t convince his rider to let him leave the path. Jude was getting used to being saddled with (saddled on?) the most difficult of the group in all the times he got dragged along. He begrudgingly kept the piebald in line and make a mental note to ask to swap for a toko like Faline next time.  

As they walked the three of them began swapping stories about things that had gone wrong on previous attempts. Somewhere ears were burning (mostly ears of the furry variety). It was pretty bad when so little had happened they had to talk about bad things that had happened already to stay entertained. So when they finally were met with an obstacle it was almost a relief.  

All Sky’s persistent checking paid off and she sensed the break in the path before they actually came upon in. Mal stopped Glady, Sky stopped behind him, and the others in the line ran up on them from behind.

The grey dun snapped at Faline and the sensitive female backed away with ears lowered. She didn’t like interacting with Sky if she could avoid it.

“What’s the hold up?” Jude called out from the back of the line. Faline backed into Ruddy and the male shuffled back further, putting more distance between Jude and their leader.

“Bridge is out.” Mal responded. Cricket and Jude dismounted to investigate what they were dealing with. They both muttered a curse when they came up to the edge of the gorge.

It was too far across to dream of jumping. Cricket estimated about twenty strides total if they had been able to walk the bridge. He looked down to see the old rope and plank death trap beating against the gorge wall like a sad clunky wind chime. Maybe it was best that thing had given way before they tried to cross it on animals that weighed nearly half a ton.  He exchanged glances with Jude and they both nodded silently. They were on the same page.

Mal ignored the two young men’s silent conversation and announced their next best course of action.

“We’re going to go through the mine valley.”

“Um… that doesn’t sound safe?” Cricket wasn’t sure where Mal was thinking of but he had the images of landmines stuck in his head. He didn’t want any part of that.

Mal shook his head. “It’s just an old silver mine not too far from here.  If we cut through the valley it’s in we can skirt around the gorge and get back on the trail. We’re making good time so we don’t have to worry about being late.” Cricket checked the sky and confirmed what Mal was saying. The sun was appearing and disappearing behind the wispy grey clouds but it was still high in the sky.

Jude shrugged. “Sound like a plan.” The tokotas were given some time to relive themselves and get a good roll in before the handlers mounted up again. Sky stopped once to watch the gorge. It was as if she expected something to happen. She moved on before she caused another hold up in the line.

They wanted back through the pine forests. Rock began to rise up on either side of the, climbing higher and higher till they made mountains. They crossed a low running river with ease and entered the valley basin. Fog had been trapped between the two stone giants flanking them, veiling the peaks from view.

Cricket was ecstatic when after a while of following the river than ran through the valley they came upon a bush plane landing strip. He made the group stop so he could dismount and examine it. He was a little miffed that it wasn’t all that well maintained but at the same time he felt like he was seeing an old acquaintance.  “Jude, we should come back here some time.” He suggested. He was always looking for new places to take the plane out to. It wasn’t often he found a place worth going that wasn’t for business. Jude didn’t answer right away. Cricket repeated the proposal but as he turned he caught Jude staring at something.

Cricket followed his friend’s gaze and was presented to a colossal wooden structure built into the mountain side.  It had been out of use for years but Cricket could still easily make out the red paint that coated every wall. It was a modern day castle of timber. The mist swallowed the ruins once more.

Cricket quickly made his way back to the tokotas and his friends. He stuck close to Jude as Mal led them on foot to the place they’d be making camp.

“You can see the mouths of the mines in the cliff side on a clearer day.” Mal told them.

“Neat! We should check them out some time! There’s still silver right?”

“Probably not but maybe you’d find a poisonous gas deposit or a shaft you can fall down.”

Cricket gave Mal the stink eye and regrouped with Jude. His interest in returning to the valley was renewed.

Setting up camp was an easy process between three people. They settled in the tall pines a ways past the red wood mining complex. The airstrip was within sight till night fell. Blackness as thick as tar fell over them. The clouds held the moonlight at bay which only intensified the mountain night. Mal must have been feeling ambitus because he had Glady and Ruddy haul over some logs to make benched around the fire before it got too difficult to see. Sky did them the huge favor of bringing them back dinner for her human companions before regrouping with the other tokotas. They’d have to hunt for their supper tonight.

Mal roasted the fat summer hare on a spit. It didn’t take too long for him to cook. All three chowed down dutifully.

“Hey, Mal.” Cricket asked on a whim. The grey haired man looked up, curious as to what Cricket could possibly have to ask him when he could have been eating instead. “Know any ghost stories?” Seeing that ruin among the cliffs had put Cricket in the mood. Jude stiffened, looking to Cricket then Mal.

“I know a few.” Mal said slowly. He took another bite of his rations before clearing his throat.

Jude shot Cricket an accusatory glare but the redhead laughed it off. What was the harm in a little bit of storytelling around the fire?  

Cricket’s nonchalant attitude shifted once Mal actually started telling his tale. Of course it had to be about miners.

“They entered the valley in a party of eight. Day of travel left they weary and eager to finish their task of surveying the pass. They split up to do their duty and when they returned each one reported seeing something strange.” Mal leaned in closer to the fire so the light would illuminate his features just so.

Cricket was feeling far less confident about his decision to spend the evening telling ghost stories. Jude was clutching his arm and Cricket felt the need to clutch back.

“’I’ve see a man with a strange face looming just on the edges of my vision’, they recounted. None could recall the exact details that made this man’s face so strange and it left them all unsettled. When night fell they huddled in close to the fire, never straying from the glow of the embers.”

“As they ate they found it strange that the rations did not go as far it was meant to. One, two, three, and four all reported the same. They had only taken what was allotted to them. Five, six, seven, eight assured that there had been no glutton among them. It was only then they realized there was an ninth man by the fire and when his black lips parted there was a-“

A crash erupted from behind Mal sending all three of them jumping for cover. Cricket ended up on top of Jude, which might have been interpreted as the redhead being valiant and trying to protect his friend. Truth was that’s just how they fell. Either way the two were holding on for dear life.

Mal was the one to recover first. He picked up a flashlight and aimed the beam at the source of the crash. Sure enough the light caught a pair of glowing eyes.

“Glady.” Mal raised his voice and stomped towards the piebald. The tokota guiltily dropped the raccoon he had chased down. The others appeared in his wake. It looked like everyone but Glady had managed to catch a meal farther away from camp.

“Smack him!” Cricket shouted, still tangled with Jude on the forest floor. Jude was too paralyzed to agree or disagree with Cricket.

Mal sighed and dropped the raccoon for Gladius to collect. The tokota picked up his prize and darted back to the others to start eating. Mal returned to the fireside only to find the two boy still huddled up close. At least they had moved their display back to the log.

“Want me to finish that story?”

“No.”

“I’m good.”

Mal chuckled and announced that he was turning in for the night. Cricket and Jude made the executive decision to share a tent for the night. It was not discussed again.

The next morning they re-saddled the tokotas. All had fared well during the night. Faline was more than happy to move on from the area. She didn’t have a fondness for it but at least she wasn’t acting out about it. Sky and Glady were oblivious to anything out of the ordinary. Glady was yawning again before Mal even got on his back.  Ruddy was all bright eyed and bushy tailed for Jude, yet Jude was the last to mount up. He had to pick over twenty burs out of the toko’s coat.

“I’m thinking twice before getting a yeti.” Jude declared once he finally seated himself in the saddle.

“Does that mean I’m going to have to return your Christmas gift?” Cricket teased.

Jude shot Cricket a sharp look, “Better not.” Puppy love overcame his fear of having to deal with the yeti coat.

They finished the remainder of the rite with no incident.