Winds of Change Snippet 5

Like many of the stories in Winds of Change this story will have an impact on the future...

  Trailer Trash

Sibiu

 

Giaro had an air of innocence about him that he thought was good; however, it apparently wasn’t good enough. He and Jonas had been scouting the general store under the guise of playing when the shopkeeper saw them and chased them off.

The Django kids slunk away annoyed at being turfed out. They rounded the corner and ran right into the arms of the Gardia. Giaro found his left arm grabbed roughly, hard enough to bruise. He cried out, but more in theater than in anything else.

“What did you steal this time?” the Gardia demanded as his partner grabbed Jonas by the scruff and shook him.

“Nothing! We were just playing!” the boys insisted as they were forced to turn out their pockets. The pockets had some paper trash, some minor credits, some washers, and a set of jacks and dice but little else.

The lead Gardia glowered at them. The duo took on an air of sullen and quiet denial. They knew that they were in the right … this time.

“We don’t want your thieving kind around here anymore,” the Gardia stated with a growl. “If we see any of you tinkers in town, we’ll take the cane to you. Mark my words!” he snarled as he roughly pushed the kid to the road. “Now git!”

The kid shot back a dirty look but brushed himself off as Jonas was pushed to him. He caught his little brother and then moved on. The girls joined them further up the dirt road as they made their way back to camp. They were quiet and annoyed.

It was a long walk back to the camp, over six kilometers up and down some hills and across a covered bridge. The kids tried to find something to bring back but only found water crest, a turtle, and a frog to bring back. They knew their mother would be annoyed.

--*--

Mario Lupu made the rounds to the Hammerstein farmstead, hat in hand in hopes of finding more work. He was denied. Instead, he found himself meeting with the town fathers. The leader of the Gardia came up behind him, blocking a quick escape.

He knew the score but stood his ground. “It is time for you traveling folk to move on,” Mister Hammerstein stated coldly.

“I thought we still had business. You have another harvest coming up,” the Neocoyote whined.

Another town father shook his head. “We don’t want your kind here. You have been stealing. Thefts are up across the county. Leave. If you do not leave in two days, we will have the Gardia turn you out.”

“We will leave. See who you call when you need your fruits picked in the late fall,” the Neocoyote said as he put his cap back on his head. He turned and walked off without a backwards glance.

--*--

The camp was broken into three parts. The first part was the one facing the dirt road; it was the carnival of delights and oddities. Gepetto's puppet stage was there along with the acrobat ring, petting zoo, oddity show, maker’s row, and so on.

Behind them the kids passed through the vehicle park. Off to one side was an improvised pasture; it held the beasts of the traveler folk. The pasture had to be moved every few days because the beasts tended to eat up all of the grass.

Giaro checked the water with a keen eye and then waved for his little brother to get a pale and refresh it. Jonas grimaced but didn’t argue. Each wagon had three water cans to provide water if the plumbing wasn't set up. Many had brass plaques with the family name or crest engraved on it. It was the chores of the kids to fill and carry it from the water source to the wagon.

The most advanced wagons had a pump, filtration system, and hoses that could feed their neighbors.

Charity was there weaving on the family wagon, she nodded to them. “Didn’t get anywhere did you?” she asked mildly as he presented her with the cat tails and the little that they’d found along the road back. The path was well picked over from their frequent trips.

“No,” he said in disgust. “We got turfed out by the Gardia,” he grumbled.

“Figures,” she sighed.

“Think we’ll have to move?” he asked.

“Probably,” she said as her nimble fingers finished weaving the basket. She turned a critical eye on it, examining it carefully before she took out a pair of side cutters and nipped the final errant pieces of cane away. Those were gathered up to be tossed in the fire later.

“Best I check the wagon and the truck then,” Giaro said, trying to sound gruff and an adult.

“Best you do,” his older sister said. He stepped past her but couldn’t resist tweaking a braid along the way. She swung at him and caught him on the back of the thigh with a well placed swat. He snorted and kept going.

--*--

Mahler Ward finished his rounds with the local healer. There had been little work recently, a clear sign that it was time to move on. It was unfortunate; he rather liked the community.

The traveler folk made rounds all over the continent, frequently changing their route each year to keep things from getting stale. As long as the hands didn’t get too sticky fingered, they would be able to return to an area to do work in a year or so once the annoyance and anger over their antics faded into memory.

Sibiu was a terraformed agrarian world named for a Romanian city on long-lost old Earth. The colony had initially been settled by East Europeans and Irish who had paid for the terraforming project. It had been opened up to all species once they’d been established with the best lands and mineral rights.

The world was cold even during the height of summer, not many species liked the world. Only a handful of refugee ships had come to the star system during the Xeno war. Most of those had found themselves unwelcome and had moved on.

“Do you need anything from the pharmacists?” Mahler asked mildly. The healer shook his head firmly.

“I’m all stocked up. If I get anything else, it will just spoil before I need it.”

Mahler nodded. Efren had a point.

“Tell Z’ch’ll thanks for fixing the scope and the surgical tools. I think I can handle it from here,” the healer said dismissively.

Mahler nodded quietly as he saw the signs of dismissal. There was little work in the area for one healer now that they’d gotten past the rash of accidents that generally cropped up during spring and fall. If he stuck around longer, there wouldn’t be enough pay to support both families.

So, Efren was politely telling him it was time to move on.

“Well,” he said as he slapped his cap on. “Be seeing you around,” he said gruffly.

“Be seeing you, Doctor,” Efren replied with a nod.

That was another sign of dismissal. They were supposed to be equals; however, Efren had called him by the title. Mahler nodded and kept an impassive face as he took his bag and headed out to the street. He looked around and then headed to his bike. He strapped his kit bag on the back and then took off on the bicycle up the road, doing his best to avoid the ruts as he headed back to camp.

--*--