The Trail From Camp-home

https://1000days.douglasblaine.com/20090211/the-trail-to-camp-home/

I’m coming back to this as best I can.

“Why didn’t you come by The Trail? Why would I come by the trail? Why didn’t you; why would I?”

“Why didn’t I?” Ron asked aloud.

“I don’t deserve the priviledge Dan,” he answered himself. And he didn’t. Ron fell in love with a Wolf-runner girl at the Summer Gather. Not a bad thing in Summer; not a good thing in Fall. They met in secret several times in to winter that year. When Ton discovered the lingering romance he called Ron to end it. Ron found Neri sobbing at their favorite rendezvous. Mothers had spoken; nothing more would pass, but Ron and Neri resolved to be together regardless. They left directly for Gordawn, the nearest city.

Their families’–and tribes–reaction planted a seed of doubt. The hardship of tribers living in the wall filled city compounded their guilt. Neri’s germinated quickly and she betrayed Ron the next Spring. Instead of a teary note she left a burning handprint on his cheek then hopped a trade wagon back to the mountains.

Ron caught work with a hog-cutter and stayed in Gordawn all through the fetid summer. In fall, the hog-cutter hired him out to the Mayoral Hunt. The young triber chaffed many of the veterans in the crew, but his tracking and knife skills impressed the only person on the hunt who mattered: Capt. Tantamout. Without going into more detail, Ron earned workless pay till the next full dark moon.

260 words on day 521