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The Piney Woods, Decehth year of the Kurian Order: East Texas is covered with tiland The pines stand as straight as Baptists on Easter Sunday, their evenly spaced branches ascending the trunk like ladder rungs

Texas saw its first oil boom in this part of the state, but before that a tiht white men to sculpt the land with its first roads and towns Afterlandscape went fallow, and vigorous young forests have sprung up again from the old ranches and farms scattered around Lake Texoers are active here, as well, raising hell all along the inforth of the Neches River and along the road-and-rail "Sabine Corridor" the Kurians maintain from Shreveport to Dallas The Lifeweavers are present to help the Texans in this part of the country The Rangers have organized their own tea h the network of Logistics Coion, between the Red and Sulphur rivers, sees the least guerrilla activity There is little human habitation to speak of Southern Co the Red River A few hunter-gatherer communities-usually Native A up stakes every few months to avoid the depredations of the Reapers

and Quislings raiding out of the Dallas Para, a wet, muddy hush falls over the land Snowstorms are not unknown to the Piney Woods, and man and animal both retire deep into the woods to wait out the cold

The pines smelled like home The crisp aroma in the chill breeze of an East Texas Deceht back memories of winter camps in the Ozarks and Ouachitas It marked his first breath in the lands of the Ozark Free Territory in over two years

Half his wagons ground along al since been eaten up, and with the ratbits of "Batch Fiveteen" having taken better than a wagonload of quickwood to fight their oar against the Kurians, the re the Ranch was not as easy as entering it They had fought two nighttis in the borderlands and hurried into the eers turned southeast to confuse the pursuit, and the Batch Fifteen rodents did their best to muddle the trail

Valentine had some of the quickwood lumber turned into spearpoints and crossbow quarrels anticipating an attack froan They broke into the cattle-drive routes running up from Texas and into the plains without incident Valentine put acattle, so fro beef and trade north to the railheads in Oklahoma and Kansas for shipin with this close to the Free Territory, seeh their ene out the winter: they did not send patrols or Reapers to trouble the when some riders observed them from a hilltop They did not stay to identify theers on

their worn-out horses could catch them But as this area could be considered no-man&039;s-land between the Free Territory and the Kurian Zone, they could have been anything frolers to robbers to scouts fro for nothingto get back?" Valentine asked Zacharias as a tea northeast out of the ghost town of Paris, checking for signs of human habitation Valentine hoped to find one of the Southern Coarrisons or a Wolf patrol somewhere near the Red River

"We&039;ll head south Hell with the wagons-there&039;s plenty more where they came froers They&039;ll fix us up with reh somewhere between Houston and San Antonio Won&039;t be that hard this tiets written, this&039;ll ic trees"

"Don&039;t forget the elephants with two trunks"

"The elephants we&039;ll never forget"

Valentine laughed tiredly It was good to be able to laugh again Just a few more days to tote the weary load-the line froh his iven and the risks you&039;ve runCaptain," Zacharias said, froe difference of five years, "you wantyou use the quickwood on is a caun and every cannon that&039;s got a shell, and hit Dallas froers come in from the southeast, and we&039;ll hit &039;e things there Once we&039;ve got Dallas cleaned up, the rest of Texas will be pieces just waiting to be picked up Then

we&039;ve got enough country to really live Hell, old Kirby Sainst the whole damn Union that way, till the surrender I expect we could do the sauys at the bottom of the totem pole, Major," Valentine said "The idea sounds fine to me, but it&039;s for men and women above on train go by Narcisse waved to them from the back of her horse, and Valentine moved to put himself between the trail and a fallen tree trunk A Texan aded a saddle so she could put her stumps into a pair of cut-off rifle-sheaths, and Ahn-Kha fixed a quirt to her "short arm" Sissy had turned into an admirable neck-reiner in the last h often she ended up pluripped with her teeth Valentine wanted her to arrive in the Free Territory with neck intact

Zacharias stripped a handful of pine needles as he rode "We gotta start winning soood a place as any" He handed the needles to Valentine like a bouquet

"Southern Co It can resist pressure as long as it&039;s evenly distributed from all around But if you rap it too hard in any one spot, it cracks Your plan would mean all yolk and no shell for us in Missouri and Arkansas I&039;ll tell the brass-the Lifeweavers, even-everything I can about the state of things in Texas I&039;ll let them know you&039;re ready Napole&039;on once made a cos Maybe they&039;ll follow his advice"

"Yeah, I heard about that guy Confederate general froht? Rode under Bobby Lee?"

Valentine just chuckled again

The scouts ca that the road was clear The ons one more time

Valentine would always associate his return to the Free Territory with the old Shell Oil ele blocking the road a few miles out from the Red River The tankers had been turned into hollow forts, firing slits carved into the sides and sandbags mounted on the top It was a typical forward post for Southern Command: easily created, transported, defended, and abandoned

The watchpost stood on the reverse slope of a hill in the old highway The road cut across the countryside; a long, straight ribbon placed over the hills and hollows as a testaraphy as if it did not exist The garrison s, for they did not wait to greet the along the road Valentine watched five or sixtheir heads down, appearing and then disappearing in gaps of the brush running along the road

"So much for the valor of Southern Co from deep in her chest and spat

"If only the rest of our s were so simple," Zacharias said "It would have been a faster trip Perhaps your tall cohtened them off Shall I run them down?"

"No, spare the horses," Valentine decided &039;They&039;ll be off calling on higher authority Suits us either way But I&039;d better ride ahead from here with just one or two I hope they don&039;t shoot before trying to identify us Interested insome animals from Arkansas, Baltz? They&039;re a unique brand of razorbacks"

"Sure, son I&039;ve done ot you across most of Texas If I catch a bullet, it&039;s no loss"

"Ahn-Kha," Valentine said, "better take your Gray Ones and sit in the wagons They ht take a shot if they see you"

"Understood, htened soldiers do strange things It would be ironic, but undesirable, to have all your efforts end with one of Southern Couard of the coluanized itself Valentine and Baltz, with Ranson a horse-length behind, holding a white flag, rode a half-ons Groups of Texans rode before, interspersed with, and following the tea alongside the rattling wagon wheels, alloxen

Valentine looked at the rusting rew in the rotted tires; rust ran down theinside the fort-they had caught theeven crackled in a pan

"Ride Ride like hell!" Valentine shouted, thu his spurs into the horse&039;s flanks His horse leapt down the road, and the others caught its panic and joined in the flight

A flash lit up the Texas countryside, followed by a boos and shivered him in his saddle Valentine looked over his shoulder and saw one of the tankers rear up on its back axles, and another rolled forward into the ditch at the edge of the highway The base of the triangle, facing the rear of the fort, stood intact

"They fired whatever they had in their arms locker," Valentine said

"Must have been underground Looks like most of the blast went up Dyna or sabotage Just as eren&039;t in the fort at the time," Valentine said "That&039;s not like the Wolves Usually they&039;re cleverer with booby traps"

"New standing orders,to fall in the eneht next to an old marker that indicated the state-line border was a an just after sundown Valentine sat underneath a tarp in front of the shielded cooking fire just off

the road, part of the farthest-forward pickets with the convoy He listened to the drops evaporate against the fla wood He felt drained, utterly and completely empty Just a few more days, he told himself, and he could finally lay down his responsibilities and rest His young body seemed as old and battered as the fadedtheir time on the other side of the river," Ahn-Kha said The Golden One had wrapped himself into a horse blanket When wet, Ahn-Kha&039;s fawn-colored haira precious layer of air in between the wet hair and his skin

&039;They&039;re watching us There are two men with their horses about five hundred yards off, just east of here I heard the the ca the other way, or you could s tomorrow- maybe they&039;ll have worked up the nerve to talk"

The rain grew heavier Valentine considered returning to the wagons, but it would be crowded enough under the beds He had slept out in the wet before It wouldn&039;t hurt hiain He threw a blanket over his head and did his best to ignore the rain

He aith a sneeze A Texas-size cold had coum out of his eyes One of the pickets had a fire with a pot of hickory-nut coffee going under a piece of corrugated tin The ranger handed hiratefully and passing another cup to a second ranger on watch, and looked down the road It was a sunless dawn A sea-gray sky washed the landscape of its color

Two uns across their shoulders like yokes A few Texans recognized the attitude In this part of the country, that ray uniforms, mottled with streaks of pale yellow and brown, the winter camo of the Southern Coeant&039;s stripes on his arm

"You with Southern Coh His throat felt like it had a rough ball of twine lodged in it

The sergeant narrowed his eyes "You all slers?"

"No Identify yourselves, and I&039;ll do the saed looks &039;Third East Texas Regiade, out of Texarkana"

"I&039;o"

"That so?"

"You call eant"

Valentine cocked his head, and the man with the stripes added, "Sir"

"Code naraph contact with Southern Command GHQ Can you assist?"

"That&039;ll be for Captain Murphy to saysir He&039;s on the other side of the river What&039;s this cargo? Hadn&039;t heard logistics were out on a raid hereabouts"

"I&039;ve got a dozen wagons back there that need guarding once we&039;re over the Red What&039;s Captain Murphy&039;s command?"

"We&039;ll let him talk to you, sir, once your bona fides clear"

"Are there any Wolves around?"

"Not for us to say, sir Even if we knew, asking your pardon"

"I hope you have more to say when your captain tells you to talk Please inforet across the river Thank you, Sergeant"

Valentine went back to the fire and let the Guards return to their coon-train to the river, at least, and turn it over to Captain Murphy and his Guards He had asked for a lot of supplies, but filling the Rangers&039; saddlebags was the least he could do before they parted He took his shivering horse froon train, saddle-soreat the effort

The crossing went slowly Every bridge on the Red was down forsouth to Texarkana that would eat precious days, they would have to cross at Two-Skunk ferry

Valentine was sure there was an a story behind the ferry&039;s name, but he was in no ical safety of the river behind hi Reaperscolu to cut his convoy off from the Ouachitas The ferry was a ss of an old bridge, and it could on and unhitched tea labor they had little enthusiaset the colu a cold on onto the timber float

"Zacharias, you&039;ve helped work a o back south once we&039;ve crossed"

"Texas is as grateful to you as you are to her, Captain Valentine Mission accomplished once you are across the river?"

"Yes I&039;m told the captain of this company is finally arrived Let me speak to hi you e to have feed for the horses and rations for the men sent back on the ferry There should be some supplies available here"

"Thank you, Valentine I&039;d be grateful"

Valentine stood, idly scratching the ears of one of the oxen as the ferry pulled him across the Red River The winter rains had raised its level

"What kind of priority-one cargo is this, suh?" the ferry cheek "All&039;s I sees is plants"

Valentine tightened his jaws in frustration If a laboring ferryons, then ould spread to every housewife and postman in thirty miles in a day or two

"New kind of food crop Like the heartroot"

"Heartroot?" The ferryman looked at one of the Guards

"That mushroom stuff Not too popular around here, sir," the Guard said

Three years ago, Valentine and Ahn-Kha had brought the Grog-staple from Omaha, and Valentine was surprised Southern Corowth It grew a breadloaf-big hunk of protein, fats, and carbohydrates out of any wet garbage from a pile of leaves to a slop pail, and it preserved well if properly dried

Valentine stepped onto the east bank, nursing a headache that spoiled what should be a feeling of triumph He had done it He was finally to the Free Territory hat he set out to get nearly two years ago He looked around A few Guards stood at their posts around the ferry, watching the teaet rehitched

Ahn-Kha joined him "My David, I made a promise to Captain Carrasca When ere back in the Ozarks, I was to give you this" Ahn-Kha extracted the flute she had given him from between his football-size pectorals and untied the leather thong that kept it around his neck He upended it and gave it two vigorous taps A waxy envelope appeared "It is a letter for you"

Valentine tre

Ahn-Kha withdrew and left hi down the back of his neck and soaking his shirt, he could hear the creaks and groans of the ferry ropes in their wheels, the calls of the rivermen, and the wet pot-iron smell of the Red was in his nostrils And he&039;d remember it all for the rest of his life

He opened the seal and took out the sheet of Captain Saunders&039;s stationery

Dear David,

If you&039;re reading this letter it ratulate you You have two things to congratulate yourself about, actually The first is the success of your journey The second I kept a secret so the first would be completed I&039;m sorry you have to find out about it this way, but the fact of theto be a father

David, deep breath and keep your perspective I&039;ll be fine I&039;m not the first woman to have a baby, and I&039;m in a better position than most We have a wonderful hospital with all the equipment, and what passes for trained doctors these days Jamaica will be a safe place for our child (and many others) thanks to you I hope it&039;s a boy with your hair and eyes, but I&039;ll take whatever co that he or she &039;ll be pointed out as the child of a braveyou, you &039;re thinking about how soon you can get down here Put this letter away and read the above again when you&039;ve had a few days It would be good for me to have you here It would also be very selfish They wouldn &039;t have put you in charge of the quickwood if they didn&039;t think a lot of you, and I doubt your Southern Co down here Someone like that loudmouthed fool Hawthorne would probably replace you up there

If the war ends, corow old, coether under the palms But don&039;t coh that I know you have a more important duty you must be true to, or you will never he happy