Last Wild Boy (14 page)

C
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“Come, Adam. It's time to work on your lessons.” Nora watched
her boy hurry over to the bookshelf, with Lucky following at
his heels.

Nora was astounded at how quickly they had both grown.
Lucky was now well past middle age — a tall, broad-shouldered dog with a massive head and jaws reminiscent of the leader of the hungry pack that had attacked them almost nine years ago. And Adam was no longer a small boy, enthusiastic about climbing into her lap for comfort and security. Their major physical contact now came during the hours when they sat close together at work on Adam's studies.

Time was such an odd thing, Nora mused. In some ways her life with Alice seemed like only yesterday, but in other ways it had become hard to imagine living any place other than here in Happy Valley with Mabon and the old ones. Despite all her fears and uncertainty about leaving Aahimsa, she had grown to love her new life.

Reading was her and Adam's common joy, but Nora still shook her head and frowned when she saw the book he had chosen to carry away from the dusty stack on the bookshelf. “Oh, no, not that old thing again!”

“I like this book,” Adam answered, handing the faded volume to his mother.

Nora turned the worn copy of
A World History
over and sighed. She detested the book, but by now had learned that she only had so much influence over the developing tastes of her adopted son.

Several of the old ones were excellent readers, as well, but only those for whom the skill had been a necessity to their former occupations in the homelands. The rest had never been taught to read, and had to rely on others to read aloud to them. Nevertheless, the old ones had made a habit of saving any books they found in their infrequent salvaging missions to the various ruined towns and cities nearby, and had placed particular importance on finding and collecting books that detailed what life was like before the revolt, when outsiders ruled the world. Nora hated most of these books, but she figured Adam was better off reading them than nothing at all.

Adam sat down beside Nora and pulled his legs up onto the wooden bench. Nora listened as he read aloud, stroking Lucky's soft head as she sat. The sweet cadence of Adam's voice lulled Nora into a thoughtful trance, and she began to wonder if Mabon would be coming to join their lesson today. The times when Mabon came to sit close to her and Adam and listen while they read had begun to happen more and more often recently, and Nora had grown to cherish the young man's close presence, and even the way he sometimes challenged her to question her own beliefs about the world and its history.

Nora reacted predictably to the world history book every time. Mabon would always sense her lack of interest, but there were times that her reaction to the words was downright hostile. She would read a chapter such as “From Java Man to the Present,” and tell Adam that the old world the book spoke of no longer existed, if it ever really had.

“What kind of history
is
this?” she asked regularly. She gave her opinion that these were just stories of overgrown boys scurrying across the face of the planet, leaving behind paths of destruction wherever they travelled, and pointed out that they ignored the lives of every woman who had ever lived.

She had once read a chapter called “Columbus Discovers America” to Adam and Mabon. By the time she'd finished, she'd been absolutely incensed. “This Columbus man was sent out by a woman known as Queen Isabella of Spain,” she ranted. “It was all
her
idea, but this book is giving
him
— a hired sailor! — the credit. These outsider writers seemed to want to credit the males for everything ever achieved by their society. It's so confusing. Isabella was the queen, the leader. But she was the leader of the men, and they did what she told them to do. So shouldn't the chapter be called ‘Queen Isabella Discovers America'? I don't understand!”

Mabon sat and smiled, listening to the fire in her voice and loving the sound of it. “In a way,” Nora continued, “Columbus and these other men were like the rangers of the wild. Mabon, in your training as a ranger, including the time at the Manuhome and even your punishment in the dead zone, you were doing the bidding of the controllers, who — according to you — were doing what Blanchefleur told them to do. The mayor of Aahimsa is, in a way, like the Queen of Spain. But it's not the rangers who decide what they do. It's Blanchefleur. So it was Queen Isabella who really discovered America.”

“Does that mean it's Blanchefleur who's doing the killing when outsiders are terminated?” asked Mabon.

“Ugh!” Nora had shouted, the gold specks flaring from her
eyes. “You don't understand!” And with that, she'd stormed from the room.

Nora had found it frustrating at first to talk to Mabon. Aside from the odd critique of the insiders, he didn't have much to say. He had spent the last few years alone, doing a horrible job he didn't want to talk about.

“What did you
do
every day in the dead zone?” Nora had asked one day, just to make conversation.

“I was a cleaner,” Mabon had said. “I cleaned.”

“What does that mean?” she'd asked.

“The insiders didn't want anything alive from the outside to get into Aahimsa. The electronic moat over Aahimsa's walls prevented birds and bats and bugs from flying into or over the city. Most flying things learned to avoid the force field, but every day there were a few that were knocked down and killed. They fell into the dead zone, and it was my job to get rid of them. I did it.” He'd crossed his arms and looked at her pointedly. “Do you want to hear more details?”

“No,” Nora had answered. “How did you stand doing that every day?”

“I just did it. I had to, or I'd be terminated. I hoped some day they would move me somewhere better, but they never did. When you have no choice, you either learn to play by the rules and find good things to think about or you let yourself die.”

“Were you that unhappy?”

“Sometimes. Mostly, though, my heart lived out in the wild.
I imagined I was somewhere else and I was happy. And I
was
someplace else and happy then, in a way.”

“What did you do when you were a ranger?”

“At the headquarters camp, we played war games or watched old movies about sports in our off time. Sometimes we heard stories about ranger history. It made us feel like we were important.” He'd told Nora some of the stories and she'd laughed. Mabon had looked hurt, which had surprised her.

“I'm sorry, Mabon,” she'd said, still chuckling. “But you must
realize that the stories you loved were lies, made up by your
controllers?”

Mabon had been shocked to hear Nora say this. “I don't believe you,” he'd said. “Why would you say that? Are you trying to make me feel bad?”

“No, not at all!” Nora had said, her smile fading. “When we
want to think something good about ourselves, people can make us believe all sorts of things. I was also taught things that aren't true — not completely, anyways.”

“What things?”

“I was taught that all outsiders are dangerous and cruel — and that isn't true.”

“How can you know that for sure?” Mabon had asked.

“Because I know you, and I know Adam, and I know the old ones. And none of you are any of those things. That's how I know.”

“But it's still true that life before the insider cities was crueller than the worst of life is now. You and Adam have read from the
old history books. They tell of armies of men that spread like
poison clouds across the face of the planet. People's lives were worth nothing. It was the men that did this — to one another, to women and children and the old. And these were men who had children of their own, men who loved their own women and their own old ones. How could that happen, if they weren't inherently dangerous?” Mabon had shook his head in dismay. “There are things in us that I'll never understand.”

While Nora had been half-listening to the sound of Adam
reading and half-daydreaming, Mabon had slipped into the room. He stood at the doorway, smiling at the sight of the two of them
cuddled up together at the table. Nora looked up and noticed
him, and signalled for him to be quiet even though she knew he wouldn't interrupt.

Mabon walked over and sat down at the table across from them. Adam looked up and gave the young man a quick wave, and then continued until he finished the section he had set out to read, which was about a powerful outsider from a place called Germany who had murdered many innocent insiders and outsiders.

“You're a good reader, Adam,” Mabon said when the boy had finished.

“Thanks,” Adam answered. “I like this book.”

“Perhaps someday we'll find more of them,” said Mabon.

“Mom,” Adam said, looking at her pleadingly, “can I go out to the ruins with Mabon sometime to look for more history books?”

Nora gave Mabon a hard look. “Someday when and if it's safe, perhaps. But not for a long time.” She turned to Mabon and her voice took on a tone of exasperation. “Mabon, please don't encourage him. You know it's not safe for him to go far out into the wild, with the rangers constantly on patrol. It's bad enough that you take him out at all.” She stood up and brushed off her rough hempen skirt. “Besides, I'm sick and tired of hearing about all the nasty things outsiders did to the world and to one another.”

Nora knew nothing she said could make Adam less fond of
spending his free time outside with Mabon and the old ones.
Adam was interested in every aspect of life in the valley. He loved the grain fields and the vegetable gardens. He loved the animals that roamed the pastures. He loved every inch of ground, every blade of grass. But mostly he just loved spending time with Mabon, who he looked up to with blind adoration.

Mabon had more than fulfilled the promises he had made to Nora almost nine years ago when he had asked her to trust him. She didn't have a single regret over her choice to follow him into the wild. Well, perhaps one. Mabon had always been good to her, and he'd been like a father to Adam in almost every way, doing his share of caring for the child and giving him all the attention and affection he could ever ask for. But sometimes Nora still felt lonely, and missed the love and companionship she'd felt when she'd been Alice's partner.

“Can Lucky and I go outside to the gardens with Mabon?” asked Adam. “I want to go down and see the new goats. I'm done my lessons for today.”

“I guess so,” Nora said, walking over to stand behind Mabon at the wooden table. He shifted over slightly, increasing the distance between them. “Just don't go filling his head with nonsense, Mabon,” she said, stepping back a step or two.

Adam and Mabon left the room like two happy children. Adam tagged Mabon on the shoulder and began to run, the big old dog on his heels. Mabon glanced back through the doorway at Nora and grinned, then ran out in pursuit of the boy and dog.

Nora watched them go, and sighed.

C
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“Where's Mabon?” Aesop asked, popping his bushy white head through Nora's open door. “I haven't seen him today.” He looked at Nora expectantly with his colorless, watery eyes.

Aesop and Mabon had become extraordinary friends in the years since she, Mabon, and Adam had arrived in Happy Valley. The rest of the old ones were used to seeing the tall young man walking slowly alongside the sun-bronzed old one with the wild hair. The two friends made regular excursions outside the valley,
checking for signs of danger. Aesop had the eyes of a hawk in
spite of their faded appearance, and the hearing of a deer. Along with Mabon's formidable strength, agility, and speed, they made a powerful team when it came to preserving the safety of their sanctuary.

“He walked down to the animal shelters with Adam,” Nora
replied. “Adam wanted to see the newborn goats.”

“Okay,” Aesop said, winking at her. “I'll come back later.” He turned and continued down the hall.

Aesop always made Nora smile. He was always pleasant and calm, but he had a quiet intelligence that commanded respect. The old ones had been right to choose him as their leader.

“See you later, Aesop,” she called to him as he left. “If I see
Mabon, I'll tell him you stopped by.”

She decided then that she, too, would like to see the baby goats. All babies were lovely, in her mind. She put down her book and headed outside.

The valley teemed with life. Goats and sheep and a dozen cattle roamed free, munching on the wild grasses. Vital areas — places like the large gardens, the grain fields, and the orchards — were fenced off to keep the livestock out, but many acres of pasture remained accessible to them, including most of the grassy area where the old ones lived and worked. There was a certain charm to this practice, Nora thought as she walked, though it made navigating the paths without sullying one's shoes a bit of a challenge.

Nora arrived at the barns and walked around quietly, keeping an eye out for Adam and Mabon. She wanted a chance to catch Adam's reaction to the baby goats without butting in. When she arrived outside the last barn, she heard Adam inside laughing happily. She stepped up on a bale of hay and peeked inside through one of the dusty barn windows. Below her in the stall, a mother goat stood while her two babies alternately poked their faces into her small udder.

As she wondered what had happened that had made Adam laugh so happily, she looked down to see that Lucky was below her, merrily wagging his tail. She stepped down before he started barking and patted his big head to keep him quiet. Lucky licked her hand for a moment and then, satisfied, left her side and returned to the barn.

Nora climbed back up on the bale and peeked through the
window again. She could now see Mabon inside. He was bare-chested, and his shirt was draped over the top rail of the mother goat's stall. Nora watched the muscles of Mabon's back ripple as he forked up the manure and straw mixture from the stall floor. She felt a fuzzy warmth flow through her and her heart started beating noticeably faster.

“Mabon,” she heard Adam say. “Did you see the goats being born?”

“I got here in time to see the second one birthed,” Mabon said, throwing a forkful of manure on the pile. “It was exciting.”

“Have you ever seen a human baby being born?”

“Nope,” Mabon said, ruffling the boy's hair. “You're my only
baby. Mine and Nora's. You were pretty tiny when I first met
you, though.”

“Mom told me about the wild dogs and how you saved us. You were very brave.”

“I did what I had to.” Mabon picked up some dirty straw and threw it out between the rails.

“You met my real mom, though, right?” Adam asked, sitting down on a bale of hay. “What was she like?”

Mabon stopped what he was doing and leaned on the handle of the fork. “She was very pretty and she loved you very much. She was a good mother.”

“Did I have a father, too? Like the baby goats do?”

“Yes,” said Mabon. “Your mother loved him. But I don't know who he was. I think he died before you were born.”

“Would you ever want to be a real father to a baby?” Adam asked, picking at a piece of hay sticking out of the bale. “Like he was?”

“I would,” Mabon said. “Very much. But it isn't possible.” He
picked up a bale of hay, broke it, then scattered it across the
floor of the stall.

“But you love my mom, don't you? The way my real parents loved each other?”

Mabon's cheeks flushed crimson and he looked away as he
pulled his shirt back on over his head. “What do you think, Adam?
”

“I think you do,” the boy said.

Mabon smiled his crooked smile, turned, and headed out of the barn. Adam followed close behind.

Nora, her green eyes moist, jumped off the hay bale and hurried to get out of sight. She didn't want them to see her right now. She hustled around to the end of the barn and hid behind a hay wagon with banded wooden wheels.

“So you'd like to go and get more books someday,” Mabon said.

“Yeah,” said Adam, “but my mom doesn't want me to.”

“Your mother is smart. We can't risk it. We can explore closer to home, but we'll have to be careful.”

Nora had something to say about venturing outside the valley
for any reason. But now wasn't the time. She waited until the
boy, the dog, and the man had disappeared from sight before she ventured out on the path that led back up to the main building. The day was pleasant and the uphill climb was a joy.

“Mom!” Adam called as he came running up behind her a few minutes later. “Are you and Mabon going to get married, like the insiders and outsiders in my history books did?”

Nora stopped him and put her arm around his neck, pretending to put him in a headlock, and laughed. “Where did that come from?” she said.

“I think Mabon loves you,” Adam said, his dark brown eyes as sincere as she'd ever seen them.

Nora didn't want to make light of his question, but she wasn't sure how to answer it.

“Don't you love him?” Adam asked.

“I guess I do, in a way,” Nora said carefully. “We're good friends. I'm very fond of him.” She was aware that she wasn't telling the exact truth. She didn't know about marriage. That seemed like a foreign idea to her, but it was one that warmed her heart when she thought about it.

Nora sat down on a grassy knoll beside the path and Adam collapsed on the ground beside her.

“What if you and Mabon had a baby?” Adam asked. “You'd like to have one of your own, wouldn't you?”

“I don't think that's possible,” Nora said, running her fingers through Adam's curly brown hair.

“That's what Mabon said,” he answered. “How come?”

“I can't say,” she said.

“Why?”

“You'll understand when you're older. Run along, now.”

Adam hugged her and ran back in the direction of the main building.

Nora continued on her way, thinking about what Adam had just said. Until she had left Aahimsa, the idea of loving an outsider as a partner would never have occurred to her. But here in this place, where wild things and farm animals had these relationships, it seemed almost like a natural thing to do. She blushed to think about it.

She passed by one of the huts where grains were stored and several of the old ones, including Aesop, were inside loading wheat and other grains into buckets to carry to the kitchen. She waved at the old ones and they waved back. She wondered if they would be surprised to know what she had been thinking as she'd walked toward them.

“Did you find Mabon?” she asked Aesop.

“Yes, just a moment ago. I told him I'd seen you earlier. How were the goats?”

“Exciting,” she said. “Come on, and I'll tell you about it.”

Aesop picked up his bucket and joined Nora on the path. Nora told Aesop all about the adorable baby goats as the two of them followed the walkway up into the main building. As they navigated their way through the corridors toward the kitchen, they passed the village infirmary. This was where community members were taken when they were ill or approaching their final days. It was always warm, both physically and emotionally, and it was kept spotless. It smelled of clean floors, clean walls, and clean bedding
and laundry. Nora had been a regular visitor to the infirmary
during her time in Happy Valley, reading stories to the old ones or helping them pass into the next world with dignity.

Today as they walked by, they found Adam and Mabon inside with Brin. Brin was doing something with a light socket while Mabon and Adam worked on a carpentry project. Mabon had one knee on the end of a pine board and was sawing it while Adam struggled to hold the other end steady.

“Hi, Mom,” said Adam. “Hi, Aesop.”

Mabon looked up from what he was doing and grinned, pleased to see them. The gold specks flashed in Nora's eyes when they
made contact with Mabon's, but this time they didn't appear
out of anger.

“We're making a shelf to hold sheets and stuff,” Adam said.

When Mabon finished sawing the piece of wood, he carried
it across the room and applied glue to both ends, then held it
in place between two uprights. He handed Adam the hammer, and winked.

The boy's brown eyes sparkled as he tapped four finish nails in place.

Mabon inspected the shelf carefully when he had finished.
“Good job,” he said, roughing up Adam's brown locks.

“We'll leave you men to your work,” Nora said, waving and
continuing down the hall.

“Mabon and Adam have a good friendship,” said Aesop as they
walked away. “Mabon is a good father to the boy. He teaches
Adam things.”

“Yes,” Nora agreed. “Mabon's taught him things that I never could. Even after all these years here with you, I still don't fully understand the ways of the outsider.”

“I wonder if Mabon truly does, either,” Aesop mused.

“What do you mean?” Nora asked.

“It won't be too many years now before Adam comes of age,” said Aesop. “When that time comes, he will have many questions, questions about what it is to be a man. I'm not sure Mabon will be equipped to answer those.”

Nora blushed and lowered her eyes, but Aesop continued.

“Have you told Adam how special he is?” he asked. “Does he know that he's different from all the other outsiders? That he has a special…ability?”

“No,” said Nora. “He's still so young…”

“But he will grow up, faster than you think,” Aesop said. “And he needs to know why he's so special, what he could do with his gift.” Aesop's voice was becoming more intense, more passionate with every word he spoke. “He's our only hope for the return of the old ways, where man and woman lived together side by side. He's the last chance to save our world, the world as our ancestors knew it… He's the last wild boy.”

Aesop stopped and turned to Nora, his glassy white eyes boring into hers. When he spoke again, his voice was calmer, but heavy and serious, almost pleading. “You know they've never stopped looking for him, Nora. You've heard about all of the ranger sightings over the years, about Dr. Ueland's reports from the Manuhome. Blanchefleur hasn't given up on finding him, and she never will. One day, those rangers of hers are going to show up on our doorstep, and we're going to have to get Adam away to safety. We have to be prepared for when that day comes. And so does Adam.”

And with that, Aesop turned and headed off to the kitchen, bucket in hand.