Chapter 11

Peregrine

“Hi, son. Thought I’d take the time to come visit you for once,” Ox greeted, standing at the edge of the pool. “See how you’re trashing the place.” He laughed cheerfully at Peregrine’s expression. “Just kidding you, don’t worry. I know you love this house as much as me an’ your Mom do. So .. how’s everything?”

Peregrine hoisted himself from the water and pulled a towel around his shoulders. “It’s good. The work we’re doing is .. different. Felt strange at first, using my hands that way, but I’m in a routine now. Nine weeks an’ my boss gave me a pay raise. Said it was because I was so productive.”

“Well, hey, good for you!” Ox congratulated.

“I won’t lie to you, Dad – it is hard physical work an’ I really need to come here at weekends to chill an’ catch up. I still train during the week but not as much as I’d like.”

“So long as you get something done every night,” Ox commented. “You heard about those kamikaze attacks? Man .. those are just young kids, younger than you. Fanatics. Have to be. Dedicated to a cause.” He glanced at his son. “Big difference. You have lots of training – they don’t – and you don’t throw your life away for nothing.”

“They throw theirs away for a cause. They believe their Emperor is a god.”

“Tradition, son. Has a lot to answer for.” Ox thought about that. “Not all traditions are bad, or wrong, you understand.”

“Sure,” Peregrine smiled. “Some traditions are worth keeping because their foundations are based in truth.”

“Right! That’s it exactly.” He nodded. “And all this physical work is keeping you in shape.”

“Upper body, for sure. I swim to get a full workout, and to relax. Helps clear my mind.”

Ox nodded again, but more thoughtfully this time. “You got problems?”

“Not really.”

That was a nicely ambiguous answer. If he’d said no, his father would have known instantly he was lying. If he’d said yes, Ox would have asked him politely, firmly and persistently for details. ‘Not really’ covered the bases. It indicated that the problems were minor and easily dealt with.

“If you need help, no matter what, all you have to do is say. You know that.”

“Yes, Dad, I do. And I will, count on it, if I find I cannot cope.” Peregrine pulled on a terry robe. “I’m gonna have a beer. Wanna watch me?”

“Sure. Your Mom’s minding the store so I don’t need to hurry back.” He followed Peregrine into the kitchen. “Met any nice girls yet?”

Peregrine flushed scarlet. “Dad! I’m not here to meet girls, nice or otherwise!”

“Hey, one day you’ll have to marry and carry on the name. Before you can do that, you have to love someone. And before you can do that, you have to meet girls. How else you gonna pick one? And San Francisco’s as good a place as any. There’s a lot more girls here than in River Sands, that’s for damn sure. It’s one reason why I let you come back to the city.”

“You’re kidding me,” Peregrine commented, reaching into the icebox for a beer. “You let .. you didn’t let me come back, you agreed to it. I’m twenty five, Dad. I didn’t really need permission. Okay, you could’ve insisted I stay in River Sands because that’s what the Legacy wanted. But the reason you agreed was war work, not .. girls.”

Ox was grinning broadly. “You’re a fine young man, Perry. I ever tell you that? How proud I am of the way you’ve turned out? One thing’s for sure, there ain’t no rulebook or instruction manual for raising kids. Any kids. And our kids are more of a handful than other people’s. Wing an’ a prayer most of the time. Flying by the seat of your pants an’ hoping for the best. I guess me an’ your Mom did okay.”

Peregrine blushed again. “Dad .. I’m grateful. You an’ Mom taught me by example and, one day, I’ll do the same for my son. I guess .. you showed me what I have to do to do it right. But not just yet! I’m too beat at the end of my shift to do anything but eat, go for a beer, an’ then sleep thru till morning. It’s why I can’t train as much as I’d like. Girls are way down the list.”

“Well .. maybe when you’re more into a routine,” Ox shrugged. “Or when the war’s over. It’s October now. They say less than a year, an’ twenty six is a good age to start thinking about settling down. No pressure, son. When you’re ready.”

He watched Peregrine crack open the bottle and take a sip.

“Heard anything from the Legacy?” Ox inquired.

“They know we’re here. They called round to visit .. oh, three weeks back.”

“Give you trouble?”

“They tried,” Peregrine answered. “I explained what we were doing, why we’d come back. He seemed to understand.”

Ox nodded again, a frown growing on his brow. Peregrine took another sip of beer and watched his father over the length of the bottle.

“And how’s Reuben?” Ox eventually asked.

“He’s okay. Enjoying the change of scene and pace, some freedom. Why? Did his Mom ask about him?”

“Well .. yeah, she did. She knows you come to visit an’ that I was planning to swing by the city. She’s anxious about him. He .. isn’t what I’d call a dutiful son.” Ox sighed and shook his head. “There again, Freda hasn’t exactly earned his loyalty. She isn’t a bad woman but, losing Red so soon after they married, it kinda hit her hard. She sure kept that boy on a tight leash. Now she’s paying for it.” He glanced up. “And Reuben’s really okay?”

Peregrine considered how much to tell and how to tell it. “He .. needed to get away, Dad. I mean, he’s four years older than me an’ she’d have him in short pants still if she could only figure out how. When we got here, he found it a little tough to adjust but he’s okay now. I know I said I wanted to do war work but, honestly, I could’ve waited it out in River Sands.”

“You came back so Reuben wouldn’t be alone.”

“Yeah,” Peregrine nodded.

“Flamefalls are raised to work alone. Even Freda managed to do that much. It was just everything else where she was scared to loosen up a little, cut the kid some slack. Perry, be truthful with me, okay? Would you say Reuben has the potential to be .. slightly off balance?”

“Anyone’s got potential to be anything, Dad.”

“C’mon, work with me here. I need to know. You said he found it tough to adjust. Flamefalls don’t find that tough, Perry. Comes natural.”

“We haven’t had his upbringing.”

“An’ that’s not telling me what I need to know. It’s hedging and it’s making me suspicious.” Ox folded his arms. “He’s your friend. Your best friend. I understand. No one like to snitch. But, sometimes .. being a friend is having to do difficult things. Look, let me put it on the table for you. We’re like spinning tops. Y’know, kids’ toys? We move very fast and we’re centered, balanced. But, if a top isn’t totally centered, it gets a little wobble. And, if it isn’t corrected, the wobble gets bigger until it crashes an’ stops. None of us want to see that happen. Freda Meyer is worried about her son, not because he hasn’t been to visit – that just makes her feel sad an’ disappointed. She’s worried because he always had to be pushed to go training. Always. Right from a kid. That’s why she kept him on a tight leash .. or one of the reasons anyway. And I’ve heard that no one’s seen him over at the Gorge for a while.” Ox leaned forward. “Perry, none of us like squealing on a friend but, if Reuben’s got a little wobble, we can put it right while it’s still only little. None of us want to see him crash an’ stop.”

Peregrine shook his head. “He .. hadn’t trained for a few weeks and he was getting .. irritable, snappish. I talked with him, laid it on the line. He promised me he’d knuckle down .. and he’s been a lot better since then. Maybe I caught the wobble in time.”

“Okay,” Ox said. “If you think he’s slacking again, you tell me. Maybe someone older will be able to talk some sense into the guy. He isn’t a kid now. If he goes off, he could hurt someone. And I want you to do something for me.”

“Sure. Name it.”

“Take him training. Don’t accept his word for it. It could be that his Dad being killed an’ his Mom’s overreaction to it affected him more than any of us realized. He could simply be scared of training alone. His best friend beside him could give him back his confidence.”

“Good idea,” Peregrine remarked. “I’ll do that. And I’ll let you know if I’m concerned. He really is my best friend, Dad. I don’t wanna lose him.”

“Man, that beer looks good,” Ox announced. “Think I’ll head back an’ have one of my own.” He winked, smiled, and vanished.

*****

Peregrine Gabrielli might have been four physical years younger than his friend Reuben but, in maturity and attitude, the gap was reversed and greater. Reuben had promised. Flamefalls didn’t make idle, glib promises. They never had. If a Flamefall promised, usually only death prevented that promise being kept, and, sometimes, even death didn’t stop them. Promises were serious things. And it appeared that Reuben hadn’t kept his promise. Peregrine felt hurt and betrayed. On top of that, he was hurt that he’d kept that reaction from his father. Reuben wasn’t a kid. He didn’t need protection. It seemed that he needed help. But Peregrine was his friend, and he had tried to help. He would have to try again, and harder.

A lot was riding on this. No Flamefall had ever ‘gone off’. They had crashed and stopped but not because they’d developed a serious mental imbalance. Reuben might have had a difficult childhood but his training had been sound. Maybe Ox had been correct in his assessment of why Reuben was so reluctant. Losing your father when you were only four and having a mother with less than six years’ experience of being a Flamefall could be a bad combination. However, Red Meyer hadn’t abandoned his family. He’d come back as often as he could, especially when Reuben was small. He’d gone training with his son. Peregrine knew all this to be fact. For a while, Peregrine hadn’t realized Red Meyer was dead – that was how much he’d been around – so Reuben couldn’t really use that as an excuse.

It seemed he was lazy. And alarm bells were ringing in Peregrine’s head. Lazy plus not training plus trying to find a way around the rules put Reuben Meyer on a decidedly dangerous course. He’d already lost his temper with James Peake of the Legacy, enough to badly scare the man. At the time, Reuben had not felt his behavior was inappropriate. It was beginning to look more and more that he had developed some kind of wobble.

How the hell do I deal with this? None of us have ever crossed the line but .. surely, at some point in our history which is .. five thousand years old now .. one of us must have stepped close. There has to be some answers to be found somewhere. One thing I am not gonna do is rat on my friend. I’ll run interference between him an’ the Legacy, and between him an’ the other Flamefalls but I won’t rat. If he needs help .. and I really believe he does, I’ll help him an’ I’ll do it alone because that’s what friends are for.

Training together .. yeah, that might do it. Might just be enough. Maybe it is just a lack of confidence. Maybe he just needs a good kick on the ass to get him going. And I can do that. They say that it takes six weeks to develop a habit. Okay then. Six weeks of training together, every night, no matter how beat we are or what other plans either of us has, and then .. well, we’ll see how he does.

But one thing’s for sure – I’m gonna find it tough to trust him again. And Flamefalls always trust each other.

*****

It was dark when Reuben came home. He’d gone to the Pacific coast to hike in the hills, leaving before dawn and taking provisions with him. Physical exercise, he’d said the evening before. Gotta keep in shape, Perry. And he’d grinned as he’d said it.

It had been a fine day, warm, sunny, no mist which plagued the city, the Bay, and much of the central coast for so many months of the year. Reuben was in high spirits as he dropped his backpack in the foyer and stretched his spine.

“Perry! Hey, man, you home? I had a great time. Really worked myself, y’know? I feel terrific. And the weather was just perfect. Any cold beer in the icebox? I could eat a steak if we have some. Perry?”

“Yeah, I’m here.” Peregrine emerged from the dimly lit library where he’d spent much of the afternoon sitting and pondering. “I think we do have steaks, yeah. And always plenty of cold beer.”

“You start with the cooking an’ I’ll rustle up some salad to go with it. Okay?”

“Sounds good .. cos we’ll need it.”

Reuben paused in the doorway to look back. “Why?” he frowned.

“Cos we’re going training together tonight.” Peregrine shrugged. “My Dad called by today. He told me about some new moves an’ they sound intriguing. I wanna try ’em out but it needs two. Well, hey, I thought Rube’s here, he goes training every night, let’s buddy up. That all right with you?”

Reuben considered. “I am pretty tired .. but, sure. Training together sounds neat. Let’s go for it.”

“Great!” Peregrine nodded, masking his surprise and his relief. “Be a first for us. Y’know, I don’t know why we never thought of this before. We could’ve kicked a lot of ass.”

“I think I would’ve enjoyed training a hell of a lot more if I could’ve gone with you instead of my Mom,” Reuben commented as they went thru to the kitchen together. “Your Dad say anything else?”

“Oh, sure! Your Mom’s worried about you. You haven’t been to visit .. but we could both understand why you would be .. a little reluctant to do that. He asked me if I’d met any nice girls cos I should be thinking about settling down. Jeez … As if I have any time for that. We talked about the kamikaze attacks on the fleet. How we were doing here on our own. Checking to see if we’d trashed the place. Just being a Dad, I guess.”

“Man, you’re lucky. Wish my Dad could be like that. I’d visit if I had a family like yours, I really would, but I just have Attila the Mom.” Peregrine smiled and Reuben laughed. “I guess I should go visit. Ain’t her fault she lost my Dad so soon after they married.”

“You want me to come with you?”

“Would you? It’d stop her nagging.”

“No problem. Tomorrow? Afternoon should be quiet.”

“Deal. He really asked you about girls?”

“Oh yeah,” Peregrine nodded. “Said it was one reason why he’d agreed to me coming back here.”

“Maybe he’s got a good idea there, Perry. Some time out, dinner, a movie. We can afford it.”

Peregrine glanced at him. “You wanna do that?”

“Midweek is kinda dull. And you do have to start playing the field before you can settle down. Sounds like a great idea to me.”

“Okay. Wednesday evening is .. girl night.”

Peregrine got to work on the steaks and wondered if he’d been worried for no reason. Reuben hadn’t offered any excuses, hadn’t hesitated, not really. He’d been very reasonable and cooperative. Maybe he hadn’t broken his promise at all. Peregrine knew that jumping to conclusions and making assumptions wasn’t good. Mistakes were made. Better to get as much information as possible at the start. It would have saved him a lot of anxious deliberation earlier if he’d followed his own advice.

“So .. where’d you hike?” he asked.

“Marin County. The hills just north of the Golden Gate. Man, it is so pretty there. And a real change from River Sands. Beats me why the Legacy shoved us out there. Flat, boring, nowhere to go. Nowhere to get any decent exercise. Here? Hell, we can walk round San Francisco. I think, when the war’s over, I’ll settle in this area.”

“You don’t wanna go back to Bakersfield?”

“I like it here. That okay with you? Won’t tread on any sensitive toes, will it?” he grinned.

Peregrine considered. “Well .. I guess that depends on whether we go for the same girl.”

*****

The Gorge was black. Peregrine built the bridge over to the other side, to the smothering, stifling darkness. It was never silent over there. Shrieks, piercing screams, the low roaring of beasts as they hunted. Peregrine glanced round.

“Ready?”

Reuben nodded. “Yeah.”

“I’ll go first. You follow.”

“Right on your heels, man.”

Despite the easy conversation over dinner and his friend’s ready agreement to this, Peregrine still felt a treacherous worm of doubt roll over in his heart. He set off across the bridge and had to resist the urge to look back to see if his friend was actually following. He could justify it in two ways – a good way and a not so good way. Maybe Reuben had frozen, or maybe he’d never meant to cross at all.

If he freezes, I can work on it and I can do that by myself. Even if it’s just reluctance, I can help him. But if it’s the other … It’ll mean I have a really big problem on my hands. Maybe I’ll be the one who needs some help.

He reached the other side and cautiously stepped off. Only then did he look back and Reuben was as good as his word. He arrived at Peregrine'’ side.

“What do you wanna do first?” he asked softly. “Warm up, then work on those moves? Or go straight for it?”

“Warm up first,” Peregrine decided. “We’ll go in a little way, do some hunting. Then come back to here and practice those moves.”

“Fine with me,” Reuben nodded. “Thirty minutes?”

“Sure.”

They separated a little and eased into the darkness. Flamefalls could see very well in the dark but this dark was almost alive. It had texture. It flowed like ink. Seeing thru this was tough but a very good exercise in working other senses. Peregrine could hear Reuben moving stealthily off to his right. Occasionally, he stumbled slightly, over a tree root invisible in the dark, but he quickly recovered. If he hadn’t been over here for a while, he would have lost the edge which peregrine still had and which enabled him to move completely without sound. But he didn’t stumble around as much as Peregrine thought he would have. Maybe he had been training recently. Peregrine felt mean at doubting him, then torn because that meant he doubted his father’s words. This was not an easy situation to be in.

And then he had to forget Reuben to concentrate on survival. This was a training ground not just to practice weapons skills. It also worked anticipation, attention to detail, and tactics, and the first step in any of these was concentration. This close to the chasm, the targets weren’t all that big or fast, not like they were farther into the darkness, but they could still kill if care wasn’t taken. He heard a muted shriek as Reuben claims his first kill of the night. Peregrine noted it only distantly and felt it would do his friend good. Minutes later, Peregrine took his first kill. There was never any element of competition in this, never any comparing scores. They didn’t feel pleased or sad about killing – it was just a job. Kill or be killed. Especially here. Remember that and it was easy not to hesitate.

After a period of time approximating thirty minutes, Peregrine arrived back at the place they’d agreed to meet. He felt a little stiff and told himself not to be stupid – his soul didn’t have substance and certainly no muscles so there was nothing to get stiff. The feeling subsided, and another feeling began to rise in its place – anxiety. He peered into the darkness for a sign of his friend returning but it was too thick to see. He listened but he couldn’t hear stealthy footsteps under the general background noise.

Is he hurt? God, what if he’s frozen in there? Do I have to go track him down an’ bring him out?

“Hi! Miss me?” Reuben said, emerging from the darkness at Peregrine’s left shoulder. He grinned broadly as he saw his friend jump. “Getting a little nervous, aren’t you? Don’t wanna let ’em see you get on edge. They’ll only exploit it next time .. and there may not be a time after that.”

“You were late. I thought maybe you’d gotten hurt an’ I was wondering whether I should come in an’ find you.”

Reuben gazed at him. “I was fine, Perry. Having a ball. Didn’t wanna stop. But .. thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. Okay. These moves.”

“We need some light, first time anyway. Once we get used to it, we’ll try it in this dark.”

The candle glimmered faintly and Peregrine was impressed at his friend’s level of control. It was just enough light to see to work, not enough to alert anything big to their presence.

Peregrine explained the moves which his father had told him about, only not earlier that day. He couldn’t have lied to Reuben, he would’ve picked it up. Reuben listened and frowned, and asked questions, and finally nodded.

They worked for three hours or more before Peregrine called it a night.

“I’m heading back,” he sighed and sounded tired.

“I think I’ll go back in there for a while,” Reuben replied, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at the blackness.

“You want me to wait?”

“Nah. I’ll be fine. Catch you in the morning. ’Night.”

Peregrine watched him vanish, swallowed up by the dark of the training ground, and he felt the worm of doubt start to shrivel. He nodded to himself, built the bridge, and crossed it. He slept well for the remainder of the night.

*****

Sunday dawned bright and warm again. Peregrine was up early, putting in some lengths of the pool before breakfast. He would have to find some time that afternoon to talk quietly with his father to put Ox’s mind at rest. Reuben had been a little rusty but, by the end of their practice session, he had been moving well, all the old techniques coming back to him.

Reuben appeared at the smell of coffee and he sat down carefully on the stool at the counter.

“Hurt yourself?” Peregrine asked idly.

“Just tired. Sore. Man, you worked me over last night an’ then some. But .. inside, y’know, I feel good. It’s a good soreness. Shows I worked hard.”

“Can’t doubt that,” Peregrine commented, pouring a cup of coffee and pushing it toward him. “Same again tonight?”

“Hell, yeah! That was the most fun I’ve ever had over there, Perry. You know any more moves like that?”

“Some. Hey .. maybe we could work on totally new ones. Stuff that’s never been tried before. What d’you say to that?”
“I say it’s a damn good suggestion. Sure, let’s go for it.”

“Okay!” Peregrine laughed. He felt good, he really did. “You still on for visiting your Mom this afternoon?”

Reuben hesitated for a long moment. “I said I would. I never promised but .. I said I would. I don’t want to but .. yeah. I’ll go. But only if you go with me. And stay with me. She always holds back when you’re around.”

Peregrine was the one now to hesitate. Then he grinned. “I said I would. I never promised but I said I would.” The grin broke into fresh laughter. “I don’t want to, but yeah. I’ll stay with you.”

“Thanks, buddy.”

“I will have to drop by the hardware store as well, but you can always head back. You don’t have to reciprocate.”

“I want to. I like your parents,” Reuben commented. “I wish we were brothers.”

Peregrine felt warmed by that. “If we were, we’d probably fight like cats an’ dogs. You know what they say, Rube – you can choose your friends but your family is what you’re born with. Look .. don’t take this wrong, but .. if you’re having real problems with your Mom, why don’t you go visit your Dad an’ tell him? I’m sure he’d speak with her.”

Reuben sipped at his coffee. “I never told anyone this, Perry, but my Dad and I .. we don’t get along. Remember when I was seventeen and I rebelled?” Peregrine nodded. “My Dad said .. some things to me. Just the two of us. I won’t repeat them but they hurt. Basically, he told me not to look for him, not till I got my act together.”

“But, Rube, you have gotten your act together! Jeez .. it’s been twelve years. You’ve escaped your Mom. You’re making your own decisions. Doing vital war work on top – an’ that as your idea. Holy cow, you’re training an’ doing good stuff at the Gorge. You’ve matured a lot in twelve years, and a hell of a lot these past three weeks! C’mon, think about it. He’s your Dad.”

“Okay. I’ll think about it. No promises.” Reuben sipped his coffee again. “You didn’t hear what he said to me that day.” He pushed upright. “Think I’ll hit the pool for a while.”

*****

Peregrine decided that Reuben visiting Ox was better than Peregrine making a report. He trusted his father implicitly and knew Ox wouldn’t say a word about his misgivings. But he would use his eyes and his ears and make a rational assessment. Peregrine would get Reuben to talk about the training they’d done during the night, and he could support his friend by nodding and staying in the background.

They set off after a leisurely lunch by the pool – their bodies remained on the deck loungers – and materialized in the shade of the alley between the grocery store and the diner. Reuben straightened his shoulders, stiffening his backbone and steeling himself for the ordeal. Peregrine cast a glance all around to make sure the Mortons hadn’t seen them arrive.

“Backdoor?” he inquired.

“I guess. Store’ll be closed today.”

Peregrine led the way, Reuben not so close on his heels this time. As they stepped from the thick shade into the light, the heat was oppressive but bone dry. The sun was glaring after the gentle light of the city. He walked up the steps and pulled open the screen door.

“Mrs Meyer? You home?” he called as he opened the backdoor. “I brought someone with me to visit.”

“I can’t do this,” Reuben said behind him.

Peregrine turned. “The hell you can’t. Don’t bail on me, man. C’mon. You faced worse at the Gorge last night!” he hissed. “We got thru that, we can get thru this.” He reached out an arm and clamped a hand on Reuben’s shoulder. “Get your ass in here. Now!”

Reuben stumbled forward and entered the kitchen. A second later, Freda Meyer appeared at the opposite door. She stared. He swallowed. She shook her head. Reuben took a step away.

“How long can you stay?” she asked.

“It’s just a visit, Mrs Meyer,” Peregrine said, blocking the escape route.

She nodded. “You’re looking great, Reuben. Really. Well, come on thru.”

“Thanks.” Peregrine prodded his silent friend in the back to get him moving. “We’re working very hard in the city, aren’t we?”

“Yeah,” Reuben agreed quickly. “Making bombs .. it’s more physical than I imagined but I’m sticking at it because – ”

“It’s needed,” she cut in. “I’m so proud of you.”

“You are?” Reuben sounded astonished.

“I would’ve told you before but .. you’ve never come back.”

“Ox said you’ve been worried about me.”

“Sure! I’m your Mom. Moms worry about their kids, no matter how old they get. But .. I realize you’re a man now and you have to make your own way. I should’ve cut the strings long before now. So, yeah, I’m proud of you an’ the way you chose to go back despite what the Legacy said. Sit down, Reuben. You too, Peregrine. I wanna hear all your news,” she smiled. “Have you met any nice girls yet?”

Reuben grinned. “Not yet, Mom, but it’s on our list of things to do.”

*****

After a couple of hours, they made their farewells and Reuben hugged his mother. He promised to visit again in a couple of weeks. She said, if he couldn’t make it, she’d try to get to the city. They parted on good terms. Peregrine was pleased as he felt it was another building block in his friend’s rejuvenation. Then they crossed the road to the hardware store and let themselves in thru the backdoor.

“Guess who’s come to visit?” Peregrine called.

Ox smiled when he saw Reuben. “Well, hello, stranger. Been to see your Mom?”

“Yes, sir, I have .. and it wasn’t half as bad as I believed it was gonna be. How are you?”

“Oh .. bored rigid, I guess. I kinda envy you two, being able to do whatever you want. But I’ll stay put right here unless and until I’m told to go someplace else. So .. what you guys been doing?”

“Well, I haven’t met any nice girls since yesterday,” Peregrine replied.

“But it is on our list of things to do,” Reuben added. “Wednesday night is girl night. We’re gonna see who’d like to have dinner an’ go to a movie with us.”

“Good for you!”

“Last night, Rube an’ me went training together,” Peregrine continued. “We worked on those joint moves you told me about.”

“Really? Wow. How’d it go?” Ox asked.

“I felt like he’d put me thru a wringer when I woke up this morning,” Reuben replied. “You sure didn’t raise no weakling.”

“No, I surely didn’t,” Ox agreed amiably.

“We started off easy enough, going on individual hunts. It is like trying to walk an’ see thru molasses over there,” Reuben continued. “I was concentrating so much, I was late meeting up with Perry an’ he was getting concerned. But then we got down to it an’ I learned a whole lot. We’re going again tonight an’ we were thinking of trying out some new stuff. See how that works out.”

Peregrine looked to his father for an indication of his thoughts. Ox was nodding, his expression both absorbed and enthusiastic.

“Hell, yeah, that’s a great idea. If you two are open to a little well meant advice ..?”

Peregrine’s gaze slid to Reuben who was also nodding. “Always,” he said.

“Go over the bridge, warm up like you did last night, then come back over the bridge to this side before you start working on anything untried. You don’t wanna be caught with your pants down on the dark side, okay? Not when you’re still working on the angles. When you feel comfortable, try it out on the other side of the bridge. And, when you think you’ve gotten all the wrinkles ironed out, come put on a demonstration in the big shed on the edge of town. We’ll all learn from it, and that damn great monstrosity will be put to some good use.”

“That is good advice, thank you,” Reuben commented.

“And, sure, we’ll do a demo for the others,” Peregrine added. “Be glad to.”

“Hey, Thelma! Come hear what the guys are planning!” Ox called. “She’s doing inventory in the store. I tell you, we are getting some serious carpentry skills in River Sands. Everyone is bored of being cooped up here and woodwork is, it seems, the only thing they’re willing to do to pass the time. Paradox, huh? We’re just as sick of it yet we’re rushed off our feet getting in the supplies.”

“Look, why don’t I go do that an’ let Reuben talk with you an’ Mom?” Peregrine suggested. “Just, please, no home baked cookies. He’ll only ask me to make some when we get back to the city. Steak an’ fries, yeah. Cookies .. no. Not my thing.”

He rose to his feet just as his mother came in and Reuben said, “You don’t have to stay here, Ox. Just cos the Legacy says you have to doesn’t mean you gotta obey. This place is like an internment camp. Do they honestly think we’d go do something stupid?”

“Well .. they might,” Ox replied.

“After so long keeping our existence a secret? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“No, but, sometimes, the Legacy, while being able to work in a much wider sphere of operations than us, takes a very narrow view of events.”

“It’s just being selfish,” Reuben remarked.

“Yes, it is,” Ox agreed.

Peregrine went into the store and started work. The discussion going on behind him boded well, he thought. Reuben wasn’t getting beet red in the face and clenching his hands into fists, as mention of the Legacy tended to make him do. He was debating it in a reasonable voice, and putting out reasoned arguments.

He worked for ninety minutes then went back in, considering that had been more than enough time for his father to assess Reuben’s mental state.

“Time we were heading back,” he said in a lull in the conversation. “We got training to do tonight and, before that, we gotta drive back to San Bruno.”

“Don’t remind me,” Reuben groaned. “I am gonna pay for all this tomorrow.”

“You an’ me both,” Peregrine smiled. “You’re no weakling either.”

Ox hauled himself out of the armchair. “You come back again, y’hear?” he said to Reuben.

“Yes, sir. Count on it.”

Ox then turned to Peregrine and smothered him in a hug. “I’m proud of you, kid,” he whispered. “You done good.”

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