Micah's Ordeal, page 1
Micah's Ordeal
Children of a Changed World, Volume 4
Alice Sabo
Published by Alice Sabo, 2023.
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
MICAH'S ORDEAL
First edition. February 25, 2023.
Copyright © 2023 Alice Sabo.
Written by Alice Sabo.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
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Further Reading: High Barrens
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About the Author
Chapter 1
Willow heard the arrival song and walked to the window of her office. She had negotiated an agreement with the Circuit Company to be a storage area for the wagons and horses over the winter season. Jake had been flustered by the additional responsibilities, but she’d promised to help him hire on some new people. It brought more money into the town at a time when they really needed it.
She had invested so much in this town, and they had made such little progress over the past few months. Summer had brought in a terrific harvest, and the stores were bursting at the seams. That had reassured some of the residents that it wouldn’t be a hungry winter. But there were still too many that were worried about the lack of jar food, or what they might be required to do to get what they needed to survive. Convincing this town to crawl out from beneath the tortuous shadow cast from the Washburns was still an ongoing endeavor.
Now the leaves were falling and with the change in season came a slew of other problems to deal with. She wished she could hold winter off just a bit longer to get her plans in gear, but nature would not bend to her will.
The arrival song got louder as the wagons approached. She loved this place, and the work she was doing here, but the Circuit music called to her and made her think that there might be one more circuit in her future.
Curious people were lining the street to see what was coming. When the wagons came in sight, Willow noticed that there had been another change in design. More streamlining and they were colorfully painted drawing the eye. The Silvers marched in time to the music with their bells ringing out brightly. The crew had two trumpets and a great big drum, so their sound carried for blocks. The kitchen cart had a matched pair of high-stepping chestnuts that were just as impressive.
The music got her blood up. She hurried outside to catch one of the buses that was scheduled to follow. People were watching, and she wanted them to see something fun and enjoyable. This wasn’t an invasion. It was a celebration.
Circuit Day had always been a fair day when she’d been on the wagons. They’d roll into town, and a party would start. This town might not be ready for that, but she’d do her best. It would be the last stop for this crew, and they were probably weary, but she hoped they would put on a good face for a few more days. Then they’d catch the train back to High Meadow to put in their reports. She didn’t envy them that part of the job.
After the Kitchen Cart came a long line of livestock. All of them were for her town, and she was proud to see all those high-quality animals. She boarded the bus which was already crowded and noisy with anticipation and speculation. There was a tentative air of festivity forming in the air. As with everything, the people of this town were reticent and suspicious, but the children were excited, and that drew the adults into the fun.
Out by the arena, Everett had built a staging area with a garage for the wagons, a shelter for the horses and corrals for the livestock. Since he’d been on the circuit, he knew the sort of things that were necessary. Each parking space had a sign, so the wagons could pull in without asking directions. Willow was proud of the facilities they’d prepared. And across from there, the market booths had been set up. Izzy and the bakers each had a food booth. She’d put Ellen in charge of it and was surprised to see how many new faces had set up food and drinks.
She watched the circuit crew jump into action setting up the quarters and exchange. They didn’t need to open the mail section. A few people lined up right away. She thought they might be looking for something that they couldn’t get through the exchange in town. Or maybe they were just curious.
Jake and Jane came out of the hospital to meet their counterparts. Willow greeted the boss, a man she’d met a few times, and made introductions. But it all felt a little flat. She was missing Connor. He’d taken Mitch back to High Meadow for his final test on the Judge apprenticeship. She hadn’t been surprised that Mitch wanted to become a Judge, just a little disappointed at how much of Connor’s time he’d taken up.
She and Connor were both so busy that she didn’t get to spend as much time with him as she’d like. Even if he was in town, she didn’t know if she’d have time to see him. When she wasn’t in meetings or out inspecting progress on some new endeavor, she was falling into bed so tired she fell asleep in seconds. It was putting a strain on their relationship. And it was a burden she couldn’t carry much longer. Working every hour of the day would burn her out if she kept it up.
A cow tried to escape, and it turned into a game with people chasing and waving their arms to redirect it. She worried that someone was going to get hurt when Micah came past on Smoke whistling up his dogs. Jake had trained all of the spring puppies, and they had been in high demand. Micah had two, and Willow thought they were the smartest of the bunch. They got the errant cow back into the herd.
Margo came to stand with her. “When do I get a smart dog like that?” she asked.
“You have to ask Jake,” Willow said.
“He said he doesn’t have any to spare right now.”
“Put your name on a list,” Willow said idly.
“I have.”
That surprised her. Willow wondered if Jake was raising and training dogs for free. It was time for the town to start transitioning into paying for things. Since Jane’s dog, Dapple, had hunted down the raiders, and Jake’s dogs had helped find the long-toothed cats, there had been a push for people to get trained dogs. One more demand that she couldn’t easily fill.
The Boss came over to give Willow a packet. “Special delivery,” he said with a smile.
She thanked him, but recognizing Connor’s handwriting, didn’t open it. This was something private. He must have picked up the town’s mail from the train station. They still didn’t have a regular delivery. It was another service she couldn’t get organized.
“Is this place low on residents?” the Boss asked as he frowned at the sparse turnout.
“We have a name now,” Willow said. “Glasstown. And none of them have ever seen the circuit wagons. It may take awhile for people to show up.”
“Oh.” He gave her a cordial nod before going back to his wagon.
Willow felt judged by him. It was ridiculous to feel that way, but it felt like a slight. She was tempted to read him, but kept her mental barriers shut tight. There were too many strange emotions in this town for her to open herself at random. It was disheartening that she couldn’t even get her people interested in a fun spectacle. She went over to Izzy’s booth and bought the sweetest, gooey-est thing she could find.
“What’s that?” Jane asked as she joined her.
“Chocolate fudge brownie,” Willow said licking her fingers.
“I definitely need one of those.”
Willow was trying to decide if she could eat two without making herself sick when Jake came over.
“I need a word,” he said shortly.
“Brownie?” Willow asked pointing over to the booth.
Jake took her elbow and pulled her aside. “This is a lot more livestock than we ordered.”
“Why is that a problem?”
Jake rolled his eyes. “First, we don’t have a place. You can’t have cattle on this broken pavement all winter. They need grazing, water and a shelter. We don’t have any of that set up.”
“Can they stay put until we figure it out?” Willow asked. She wasn’t sure why Jake was so angry. She’d told him there were more animals coming in.
“Sure, you going to do that? Because I’ve got ten students waiting for their lesson, my clinic is full of animals that need treatment, and I haven’t even had lunch yet.”
“Okay,” she said urgently. “I get it. You’re stretched thin. I’ll find so
“Good,” he said as he stomped away.
Willow had to admit that Jake had changed a lot this year. He’d not just gotten taller and put on a bit of muscle, but he’d matured tremendously. He was running the animal hospital and teaching at the same time. She realized now that he probably needed more help than she’d given him.
Micah rode by with his dogs and turned back. “All good?” he asked.
She walked over to him. “Where’s Bernard?”
“Should be in his office,” Micah said. “I checked in case there was any problems with the new livestock handovers.”
“Thanks.” She gave him a wave and headed for the bus that had just arrived.
Chapter 2
Jake stomped back to the hospital feeling angry at the Circuit Company, and Willow, and himself for being angry. Part of him understood that Willow couldn’t guess at what he needed, but he also knew that the existing system wasn’t working. He was tired and frustrated and disappointed that his plans were in bits and pieces.
The reception area had five people, two with dogs and one with a basket on his lap. Since the other two didn’t have animals with them, they must have livestock in the holding pen. Jake detoured to the side door to avoid being caught up in any new problems.
They had quickly discovered the need for a private access that could get him in and out of the clinic without being seen. Everyone knew he was in charge of the animal hospital, and they all wanted a piece of his time. He walked into the back area ready to launch into the usual chaos but found it very quiet. His new office manager, Merrilee, was looking worried. And all ten of his students were in the glass-walled meeting room standing around the paper littered table.
“Problem?” Jake asked with a nod toward the meeting room.
“We’ve got reports of a a big cat going after sheep,” Merrilee said.
“And them?” he asked.
Merrilee shrugged, but Jake thought she looked a little guilty. He walked over to the door. “What’s going on?”
Kenneth picked up some papers. “We have a proposition for you.”
“Okay,” Jake said hesitantly. Some of his students were older than he was, and some had extensive experience with animals. Keeping them in line was turning out to be harder than he’d expected. His vision of sweet apprentices that hung on every word was definitely not the reality.
“We’ve divided the group into concentrations: small and large animals. Because those of us who want to specialize in livestock, really don’t need to do the work on dogs and cats,” he said.
Jake was going to object, but decided to let him speak. “Okay.”
Jumbo, who was tall but ironically very skinny, butted in. “But some of us still want the overall.”
Despite his initial reservations, the idea made Jake switch gears. “Okay. Let’s do a month at a time. Half of you do small animals and the other half do large. Then we switch over the next month.”
“But—” Kenneth began.
“No,” Jake said firmly. “You never know when you will be needed, or for what. To get the complete overview, you have to treat all kinds of animals.”
That got a few nods, but Kenneth looked annoyed. Garden and Sasha both nodded. He knew he could count on their support since they had been with him the longest. Jake split the class at random into the two groups and made a list of who would be doing what. “I’ll ask Merrilee to organize the patients, so we see small animals in the morning and large in the afternoon. You will be required to attend your group for the month. For the other half of the day, you’ll be doing your chores and studying the books.”
“What about today?” Sasha asked.
“Today is still first come, first served, so we see them in that order. Check with Merrilee about who’s next and if you’re in a different group you can sit it out.”
Jake went back to update Merrilee. She agreed easily enough and promised to make a new sign for walk in patients.
“It won’t always work,” she warned.
“We’ll stick to it when we can,” Jake said. “Emergencies happen.”
“There’s a sandwich on your desk,” she said.
“Thanks. Give me five minutes and then call in the next one.” Jake hurried into his office. Silky was lying across the top of his desk, scattering papers as she stretched. The sandwich had only been partially unwrapped, so it apparently wasn’t something she was interested in. His dogs were all in their beds. He got a chorus of tail thumps as he arrived. He finished the sandwich in too few bites, but it made him feel better to have something in his stomach. Then he hurried into the main exam room to deal with a lamb that had been cut when it got tangled in barbed wire.
The room was large enough for all the students to observe. He called Sasha over to do some stitching because she’d had more experience than the others. She was coming along well. And he had Kenneth clean some shallow wounds and bandage them. They sent the lamb home with some spare bandages and salve and a promise to stop by in a few days.
The next patient was a chicken that had been badly pecked. Jumbo had a surprisingly gentle touch, so Jake had him hold the bird while he inspected the injuries.
“She’s one of my best layers,” the farmer said sadly. “I don’t know what got into them. Never had trouble before.”
“She has a growth on her leg,” Jake said, showing the farmer. “Sometimes the flock can sense an illness, and they try to get rid of it.” He gave a lecture on what the growth might be and assigned Jumbo and Ella to research it. Then the bird was cleaned up and isolated in one of the quiet rooms. One room had kennels and cages for the smaller animals and was specifically for the ones who needed to rest.
The day became a blur as he dealt with sick and injured animals and taught lessons on the fly. By the time they’d finished with their last patient, he was exhausted. “I need to take the dogs out,” he told Merrilee.
“Take your radio,” she reminded him.
He grabbed it off the desk and whistled his dogs up. They bounded out the door eager to go. Silky followed and Freckles came in from the other direction. “Okay guys, let’s go,” Jake said, as he opened the door.
He’d forgotten about the wagons in the lot. The dogs looked up at him, but he turned toward the river. He’d rather take the trail along the water than talk to anyone right now. After a day like today, he felt totally talked out.
Chapter 3
Micah took Smoke back to the city stable then went to check in with Bear to see how the newspaper was going. She told him about the rumors of a big cat going after sheep.
“It’s always something,” Micah grumbled. Bear was nearing her due date, and he had to admit that he hadn’t been as strict with his duties as usual. A lot of things were getting shifted over to Mason as he prepared for the arrival of their child. He tried to find a reason to check in with Bear a couple of times a day. Her pregnancy had taken over their lives lately. But he wouldn’t have it any other way.
He fetched a snack for her from Izzy’s cafe. A cold front was coming in, and the biting wind made it feel even colder. It was early in the season for snow, but he thought the lowering clouds promised some before nightfall. There was always a day or two of freezing temperatures and storms before winter settled in for good. This town was further north than High Meadow, so he assumed the cold would come in sooner.
When he got back to the office, there were three farmers waiting to complain.
“It’s big!”
“Killed a sheep and ate half of it!”
“You have to do something!”
Micah assured them he would take a look. Since no one was in the office, he left a note on the board about where he was going. Then he whistled up the dogs and headed back to the stable. Smoke was restless when he saddled her.
“I know you don’t want to go back out in the cold,” he murmured to her. Once mounted, he called to the dogs, Digger and Dawdle. They were gray, like Smoke, and he thought they looked good together. She didn’t seem to mind them, and they seemed comfortable around her. Micah didn’t doubt that Jake would train the dogs to be familiar with horses. They were trained to voice commands and stayed close as he headed out of town.
