Chapter 306: Varden 8

"You’re going to Fairgate? My brother told me when he came back that there was an earthquake in Fairgate a few years ago. The whole county was wiped out. Are you sure you want to go there?"

Quincy nodded. "Yeah. What’s it like there now?"

"I’m not sure about that. I heard it’s full of bones, and the refugees think it’s bad luck, so no one settles in Fairgate. Plus, there are a lot of mountains and the forests are too dense." Langley actually wanted to persuade them to stay, but he knew it would be useless.

"That’s not a problem. The more forest, the better. After all, we have a lot of livestock to raise."

Evelyn Ford went to the backyard. Although a few suspicious-looking people were lurking nearby, they didn’t try anything, so she ignored them.

In the afternoon, she and Ronan Kendrick went to the pool out back to chisel more ice. Some villagers came over to chat, and one woman complained to her that her husband had been seduced by one of the women who provided door-to-door services.

On their way back, they came across a woman on a mobile cart. She exchanged some grain with a man and was then pulled into a wooden cabin. A few women walking behind Evelyn Ford cursed the pair for being shameless, while at the same time envying the woman’s thick, warm clothes.

"Disgusting. If she dared to seduce my man, I’d break her legs."

"Your man is so ugly, they’d have to be blind."

"Summer Lowell, what’s that supposed to mean?"

"I’m just telling it like it is. Besides, so what if she seduces him? If your man wasn’t interested, it’s not like they’d force him. Everyone says it’s a legitimate transaction. Why are you so angry? It’s not like you’re the one selling yourself."

"Summer Lowell, you’re just jealous I have a man, aren’t you? Your husband’s dead, so you can just go find a new one. Stop being so snide."

"Who’d be jealous of you having a man who looks like a wild donkey?"

"You dare call my man a wild donkey? I’ll tear your mouth off!"

"Hey, stop fighting! You two want to get sent to the coal mines? The patrol is coming."

...

Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick exchanged a look. ’So this is the ’simple and honest folk’ the village chief mentioned?’

’What an eye-opener.’

As expected, whether in civilized times or the apocalypse, wherever there are people, there will be conflict.

Back at the inn, Wyatt Vaughn and Wendy were already cooking. Officer Graham was helping Quincy cut his hair with a pair of scissors.

Except for Peter Owens and Ronan Kendrick, all the other men had grown beards. Several of them were gathered around a mirror, shaving with daggers.

"I just traded some quinoa seeds with Langley’s mother. They’ve been well-preserved and should still be able to sprout. Once we get to Fairgate, if the temperature rises to minus five degrees, we can plant them."

Evelyn Ford took the seeds and glanced at them. They were plump and full, and indeed looked like they could still sprout.

"This bag should be about five ounces. I traded her some cassava for it. She wanted to save it for planting, too."

Evelyn Ford nodded. "Put them away. Quinoa can be a staple food, and it’s very nutritious."

Wyatt Vaughn pushed the seeds into Evelyn Ford’s hands. "You keep them. I’m too careless, I’ll definitely mess it up. If they get damp, they’ll be ruined."

Evelyn Ford smiled. "Alright, I’ll keep them."

’I have plenty of quinoa seeds in my space, too. I can plant more later.’

"Miss Ford, when we get to Fairgate, will we be able to see Roy Henderson and the others?"

"Do you miss them?"

Wendy nodded. "I’m very worried about them."

"Are they still alive?"

Evelyn Ford didn’t know how to answer, because she didn’t know either.

"Wendy, the chance of us meeting them again is fifty percent. That means we might see them again, or we might not. But no matter what, they’re thinking of you, of all of us. I’m sure they’re trying just as hard to find us." Wyatt Vaughn patted Wendy’s shoulder.

"Our most important job right now is to stay alive. Only by living do we have any hope of seeing them again."

Wendy nodded. "I know. My dad told me I have to learn to endure parting, whether it was from my mom or, one day, from him. He said I can’t be sad for too long, that I have to get strong quickly. Being alive is the most important thing. The last time I was separated from you all, I told myself I would definitely see you again. And then, Miss Ford came to save us on the boat."

Evelyn Ford and Wyatt Vaughn looked at each other and smiled. The kitchen was filled with cheerful laughter, but the atmosphere outside was not so great. Quincy was wailing as he looked at his clean-shaven—and bleeding—chin. With their beards gone, the men stared at each other, suddenly finding one another a bit unfamiliar. Plus, their chins and necks felt a little chilly.

"I think I’m several shades paler," Miles Vaughn said, making faces at himself in the mirror.

Quincy snatched the mirror and studied his own face. "There’s one good thing about the cold—we age slower. Haven’t you guys noticed? We’ve all gotten a lot younger this past year or so."

"Not at all. You’ve got so many wrinkles at the corners of your eyes, a mosquito would trip and fall if it jumped on them."

"And you’re any better? You’ve got a few more scars on your face. Anyone who didn’t know better would think you’re a bandit."

Seeing that the two were about to start fighting, the others quickly cleared out, leaving the battlefield to them.

"Men are so terrifying. They’re ruthless when they attack each other’s looks." Wyatt Vaughn glanced outside and sighed helplessly.

Evelyn Ford wanted to laugh. "If Quincy and Miles Vaughn fight, whose side are you on?"

"I’d tell them to get out and fight outside." Wyatt Vaughn had no intention of indulging them.

During dinner that evening, Langley came over. He brought some dried radish, which he said had been dried three years ago and stored in their cellar.

"They don’t taste great, but they’ll fill you up," he said, scratching his head in embarrassment.

"We haven’t had dried radish in a long time either. It smells delicious. Here, take this back for your family to try." Taylor Vance poured out a small bottle of sweet potato wine for Langley, a gesture of goodwill in return.

The meal tonight was quite lavish. Staring at the cornbread buns on the table, Langley grew even more restless.

"You could actually trade that flour away. My brother told me that about a pound of flour can be traded for a lot of things. It’s a waste to eat it."

Even with a cornbread bun in his bowl, he couldn’t bring himself to eat it.

"Well, we don’t have anywhere to trade for supplies. Soon we’ll be picking leaves off trees too."

"Oh, right. My brother told me there’s a bandit lair at the border of Varden and The Southward. There are over two thousand bandits in the mountains there. You’d better go around it."

"Don’t the authorities do anything about them?"

Langley shook his head. "I heard the leader of the bandits is a powerful figure. He has a lot of weapons, so even the authorities don’t dare to go up against him."

"What’s the name of that place?"

"I think it’s called Mount Caldera."

After dinner, Langley left with the sweet potato wine. Taylor Vance took out a map to reroute their journey.

"Looks like we’ll have to go around Mount Caldera. But that means we’ll have to travel an extra four hundred kilometers of mountain roads."

Quincy’s brow furrowed. "Do you think they really rob and kill people? Maybe it’s just a bluff, a rumor spread by survivors living in the mountains to scare others away."