Chapter 15
Prime Hunting Grounds outside of Fountain Grove, State: Percival, Republic of Shantu, Continent: Barat Year: 2040, Planet: Grimoire
It hadn't taken long for the siblings who went out to hunt to assess their circumstances. They were a tad shocked to find Hermina waiting for them in the hunting area they'd chosen to search for meat. "Ms Hermina Marten?" Harper was shocked. He honestly thought she'd taken off permanently.
Instead, she wore professional hunting garb and was clearly aware of the purpose for which they'd come out. "Good to see that you've recovered some of your health." Hermina surveyed them. "Came to replace some of the resources used up already?"
Harper nodded. "Yes, though replacing all of them might prove a challenge."
Hermina grunted. "Just bringing in a variety of meat, no matter what kind, as well as fish and fowl, and Miss Shiloh will be satisfied." She told him bluntly. "I'm also here because I can't stand being in that suburb they call a city." She grimaced. "Too crowded for my liking."
"So is that considered suburban living?" Harper wasn't sure what he thought about it yet.
Hermina shrugged. "Eh, each to one's own when it comes to describing what suburban life is like." She straightened. "I can tell you this much, it is an upgraded version of life in a township with more governmental interference in your life. They also require currency for every purchase. The bartering that you did in the township no longer works in a bigger location."
Huh, well Harper knew that from all the bookwork he'd gone through with advanced lessons and such. "Yes, I did recall learning about that." While he hadn't actually experienced doing such purchasing as yet, he didn't doubt it would happen sooner or later.
Hermina frowned slightly as she caught the hesitation of the other kids and figured out the reason for it. "When returning to the boardinghouse with the spoils," She offered much to their relief, especially Harper. "I'll take the eight of you out so that you can learn some of the basics."
Harper relaxed. "Sounds good to me." He nodded cheerfully. "Now shall we get down to business?" The last thing Harper wanted to do was waste time in that area when he could explore the marketplaces of Fountain Grove and become familiarized with a new way of living. It was going to be a steep curve, but it was necessary so that none of them were cheated.
The siblings paired up in twos with Hermina directing them in various areas that had the best selection of meat variety. It took them close to an hour before she judged that they'd hunted enough boar, deer, and other kinds of meat creatures.
Then they began hunting fowl of all kinds and that took patience, agility, and an hour and a half because they had to go farther afield to find what they needed.
Harper rubbed his forehead with his forearm and sipped water from his flask. He'd managed to bag five decent-sized turkeys of different kinds. He sat and rested while waiting for the others to return from their pursuits. If Harper wasn't mistaken, the last task of the day would be fishing. That would give them time to cool off and rest before returning back to the boardinghouse.
Right then, Miss Hermina approached him. "Have you all considered the possibility of leaving earlier than a week?"
Harper blinked at her. "Yes," He admitted. "We were hit with a slew of very unpleasant precognitive dreams. I don't know if it is where we're headed toward or what this place could become if we remain here any longer."
Hermina grunted. "It is where you're heading toward, I fear." Her mouth tightened. "I wasn't pleased when I heard where you were being sent. However, it will suit all of your abilities the best since they need hunters and healers." She shrugged. "Artisans not so much, at least that's what they believe right now."
Harper exhaled. "So we're still on for the Three-Prong Forks plains?" For some reason, he wasn't that keen to go.
"Yes, and don't worry. Despite the strange name, it has many different kinds of ecosystems within the prongs." Hermina smiled.
*
Hmm, this hunt hadn't gone so well for him. Ambrose took his time returning to the area where they'd gathered earlier to hunt. "Should I try for some pigeons at least?" He was exasperated with his ill luck. "This hasn't been a good showing for my part."
Ambrose grunted in frustration. "We're going to need to find some other way of sustaining ourselves on the road." He wasn't as pleased with his lack of catches when it came to fowl.
"This is going to be awkward." Ambrose rubbed his forearms anxiously as he sighed in frustration. Then again hunting aerial prey wasn't his forte. He did hope they would still be fishing later, and that way he could make up for his scarce catch.
Ambrose frowned slightly as something odd caught his attention. "Hmm, what's going on now?" He noticed Holly and the others hesitating off to one side. That's when he heard what Miss Marten and Harper were discussing. His skin chilled slightly but he shook it off. "We're going to have to face reality eventually." Ambrose chided the others. "Now come on. They're waiting for us to show our faces." Their pitched voices alerted him to the fact that they knew they were in the foliage.
As Ambrose walked forward and shook a shrub to announce his presence, he watched Harper and Miss Marten tense up and then relax when he called out. "Tis I, Ambrose, along with the others. Should we just stomp next time?"
Muffled laughter behind him made Ambrose sigh.
"No, you just calling out would've been fine." Miss Marten dropped her hand from her waist. "If you hadn't, I would've thrown this instead." She had a good-sized dagger in her left hand. "I don't recommend rustling branches in the future. That is a good way to get killed, or seriously hurt."
Ambrose grimaced at that close call. "Okay." He'd actually done it in a specific manner that was a code. "I wasn't able to find as much fowl as the rest of you. I'll have to see if I can fish." He paused. "That is if we still have time." Ambrose sighed as he spoke.
The sun was already lowering as dusk began to settle over the area. Hermina frowned when she saw what he meant. "Yes, we still have time to fish." She examined what they all had caught. "This is more than sufficient to cover what meat was used up in the few meals that you've consumed at the boardinghouse already."
Ambrose was relieved to hear that.
*
Jennifer and Holly cleared their throats. "Is the fishing necessary?" They were looking around the area warily. "I'm feeling eyes upon us and they aren't of the animal kind either," Holly mentioned.
Jennifer grunted. "I caught signs of someone beginning to trail us and a few times I caught sight of other figures flitting in the trees." She clarified why she wasn't pleased with remaining in the area. "All they were doing was watching, but I figured it wasn't a good thing if they were indeed watching us with no good intent."
While neither Holly nor Jennifer had the same amount of empathy that their sisters possessed, they did have heightened awareness when it came to dangerous situations. Right now, they believed it was too dangerous to remain in that area with their collective hunts. However, they would do what their brothers wanted regardless of how uneasy they were being.
This time it seemed they weren't the only ones feeling a sense of threat and hostility in the air.
Much to the surprise of Jennifer, Holly, and the siblings, Ms. Marten hollered. "Stop with the unnecessary stalking and sulking because these kids hunted better than you all." She stood up, fists on her hips. "You should be ashamed of yourselves." She shook her head. "You call yourselves professional hunters and adventurers with that kind of attitude?" Her voice echoed harshly in scolding the hidden observers.
After a few seconds, a group of men and women who were roughly in their late twenties to early thirties finally appeared. "So why did you have us watching them, Ms. Marten?" One of them inquired. A man with piercing black eyes and white hair. He had a scarred and weathered complexion and was wearing gray and brown clothing that blended with the forest.
"So that you could see for yourself just how self-sufficient they were raised." Miss Marten stated calmly. "All of this meat is going straight to the boardinghouse as a replacement for what was consumed yesterday evening and this morning." The group's amazed and somewhat horrified expressions alerted Jennifer and Holly that their appetites would become a topic of several discussions later that evening.
Annoying, Jennifer scowled.
Boring, Holly shook her head in irritation but kept her mouth shut. There was no point in causing a fuss.
At that point, Harper inquired. "So what are we going to do?"
"Yes, I'd like to know as well." Ambrose folded his arms.
"Watch this group of malingers go fish while you all rest before we carry all of this back." Ms Marten instructed. "They will be helping us with carrying everything since they chose to scare you all rather than be smart and introduce themselves as any intelligent and courteous being would've done." She was still mad over what the group had done.
"Well, darn, I wanted to fish too," Ambrose grumbled. "Though I suppose it wouldn't hurt to learn new tricks." He watched the group without much enthusiasm. "I know I've seen them fish before." He folded his arms as he spoke.
The others grinned amongst themselves. Holly and Jennifer laughed. They knew he loved fishing the most. As one of the quietest, besides Sherpa, Ambrose had a knack for fishing that ensured they all had some kind of meat to eat even if it wasn't red from land animals.