Changer's Blood (Balancer's Soul cycle) (38 page)

Con
nor explained why they
waited on this
bench
.
“I chose this pavilion because it would be big enough for a party of up to thirty people.
I told the three customers to meet us here in another hour for their first lesson.”

They
were interrupted by a loud and deep voice
that came from a distance
. “Hey
,
Connor!”

A slim man in a brown Park Rangers
uniform approached
the green pavilion
. He had
a wide rimmed
,
circular
hat
clutched
in his left hand
. He was
just
starting to go bald and he had a thick mustache
keeping his upper lip company
. He was middle aged and wa
lked at a quick and measured pace as he came within conversation range.

“Morning
,
Bill. I told you I would be here this morning.” Connor stood up from the bench and shook Bill
’
s hand.
Connor towered over the
leaner
gentleman.

“You sure did
,
son. By the way
,
can you get
a
ny
bigger?” Bill stated.

“Come again?” Connor asked.

“Son
,
I just can’t believe how built you are.
These arms look like tree trunks.
You must beat women off with a stick.” He smiled up at Connor.

Mark’s
best friend laughed only twice
,
softy. “Sorry, but I
forgot to tell you Bill that
I’ve
recently
become married.
She doesn’t like me for just my build.
”

Bill’s face was stunned at this
latest
news. Moments later he started to laugh. “
We’ll if she agreed to marry you, she must be a great woman.” He scratched his
scruffy
jaw as he asked “What’s her name? Age? And what is she like?”

Connor said proudly “Her name is Sarah. She is twenty two and
quite shy usually
.” He smiled at the ranger.

“
A winning combination if I ever heard one. Good for you!
All I can say is good luck for the two of you.”
The ranger placed a fatherly hand on Connor’s shoulder and gave it a
gentle
squeeze.

The ranger turned to look at the other body
.
Mark
stood up and offered
his
hand saying “Hello, I’m Mark.”

He shook
the offered
hand saying “Hey Mark, I’m Bill.” He released
his
hand and asked “So are you here to take lessons from my friend here?”

Connor answered for
Mark
. “No Bill
,
he’s my associate. He will be working with me
.
An extra set of eyes will keep the patrons safer.
” Bill nodded at
Mark
with a proud smile.
Bill
clasped
his
shoulder as well and gave it a gentle squeeze.

The ranger got a call on his radio and turned to leave. He turned around saying “Sorry Connor
,
I almost forgot, but you know the rules.”

“Oh right!
” Connor quickly reached in his back pocket and pulled out his leather wallet. “Here you go.” He handed the park ranger a fifty dollar bill.

The ranger stuffed it in his top pocket saying “I’ll give it back to you on Sund
ay when I stop by your campsite, i
f
i
t
’
s clean that is.
” Connor nodded in acknowledgement as the ranger hurried to the call he got.

Reaching at his side, Connor adjusted
Tool as he sat
back
down
on the bench
to wait and Mark
followed his example.

Forty minutes later
the
cus
tomers started arriving.
The first to
pull in
at the pavilion was a young looking athletic couple. The man stood at
Mark’s
height and his girlfriend stood about two inches taller. They were both blond
but
her eyes were sky blue where as his were
a rich
brown. They greeted their instructors
and sat down with their bags at a bench.
The
y said
their names were
Janet and Ray.

A family of two average looking parents and two young c
hildren walked up and greeted everyone
kindly.
The parents were nice
and the young children asked Mark
and Connor
questions that didn’t pertain to the trip.
The parents names were Jim and Brittany and the young boys were Tyler and Billy.
The kids looked to be easily excited
. A
s the
boys
spotted a squirrel and tried chasing it
, it became a fact that they were. Mark
knew these kids were going to make everything about this weekend
a tad more
exciting.

The final fa
mily came up to the pavilion
eye
d
the two instructors
rather
suspiciously. The
father
easily leaned
on the husky side as
did
his wife. They had twin fraternal teenagers that followed behind their parents.
Their names were Manny, Susan, Troy and Terri.

After everyone met
,
Connor
and
Mark
stood
and addressed the gathered group.
Connor
started the show by saying
“Thank you for all coming this morning to take my class. I’m Connor and this is my
associate
Mark. We are going to show the ten of you how to survive this weekend. If anything
unfortunate
should ever happen
in your lives
and you become stranded
or lost in the wilderness
,
you will
all
be prepared to
survive in the wild
after I’m done
.” He took a breath
to ask
“Before we begin; I want to
inquire
if anyone has any questions they would like to ask us?” He looked
pointedly
at the suspicious parents.
“We will answer anything within our power.”

The husky man
,
Manny
,
stood up
and sounded as suspicious as he
look
ed
. “I wanted a
new
change in my life
,
as d
oes
my family. We saw the flier in the paper and thought it would be interesting
to
give it a
try
. We
get here and we find out that
kids
will be our instructors. What kinds of qualifications do you have
,
B
oy?”

Connor said
politely
“I have been an outdoorsman my entire life. I have survived
over
six months
by myself and lived off the land
,
and I only car
ried this with me.” He brought
Tool out to show everyone. “This is all I ever needed because to survive in the wild you don’t need more than one bladed weapon and your wits. Anything else is
useless
baggage
that
no one ever needs to carry.” Connor now addressed the man directly. “I am also a
n experienced
tracker. I have never in my life had anyone hurt in the wild that was under my care.” The man smiled at the answer and Connor addressed the group again. “Any more fears you might have?”

The
pleasant looking
mother
,
Brittany
,
of the
excited
young children stood and asked “Are
there any dangerous animals
around here
?” S
he glanced worriedly for
her children
’s safety
.

Connor said honestly and clearly. “There is always a risk when entering a forest that you might come across animals that could be potentially dangerous.
That’s life
in the real world
.
There are bears, mountain lions and snakes aplenty in this forest.
” Her eyes widened
in fear. “That is why there are two of us
here
for your safety. If anything dangerous should cross our path, I will remove the threat persona
lly. While I am dealing with it,
Mark here will take the group to sa
fety and I will catch up with the group once I’m finished
.
You need not worry for my safety either for I am well equipped to deter any threat that comes our way.
”

Mark
stepped forward and said “
Besides, wouldn’t you agree that you’d want to have Tyler and Billy to have the knowledge to survive long enough to be rescued. As they are now they are little more than fodder. If they learn the skills to hunt and not be eaten, wouldn’t you want them to live?
We know what we are doing and we can promise that you and your children couldn’t be in better hands.
”

“I can second that!” A
booming
voice said from behind them
.
Mark
turned to see Bill leaning against the pavilion post.
He
didn’t notice
Bill had shown up because he approached from
down
wind.
He walked
forward
and
put his hand over Connor and Mark’s
shoulder. “These boys here will not let anything hurt your children ma
’
am. Also
,
they are better than me
out
in the bush and I have worked out here for over twenty years.
They might be young, but don’t let that fool you.
These boys will do everything they need to ensure your safety.
Just look at them, nothing smart would come near.
”

“That’s all I needed to hear.” Her husband
Jim
said
in a calm voice
and the nice lady sat down.
Jim seemed like a calm and calculating gentleman.

“Let’s get started if there aren’t any
more questions.”
Mark
said
,
wanting
to get
a move on.
The group
looked to agree.

“Before
you
do
,
I insist that all food and cell phones remain with me. Like Connor’s flier
s
and ad
said ‘This is a Survival and outdoor seminar’.” Bill said taking his hand off
their
shoulder and walked forward.

Bill sure smoothed out
their
tran
sition, but something was off. T
he wind shifted as the
groups opened their packs and Mark smelled
food.

The only people who didn’t pay heed fo
r the no
provisions
or technology was
the husky family.
Their packs were full of
processed
food.
Bill took it all
without much fuss
and said
to them
“When I come to check on you Sunday
,
you’ll get your things
back
.”

Everyone
reluctantly
followed them
to the truck and Connor took out the wagon,
Machete
blades, flashlights, rope and the first aid kit.
He strapped the chest strap on and began pulling the wagon.
All could see than in an emergency they would get tr
eatment if anyone was harmed. They
were
well
prepared and the groups
now
knew it.