Chương 142: Chapter 153 — Someone Out There

Mark kept watching the map for some indication of movement, and then he saw it: the explored area closest to him expanded a little farther. Whoever it was, they were moving. Mark zoomed in and saw a stream heading southeast, with someone following it downstream. Finally, he decided he could reach them before dark and maybe even make it partway back with them. Either way, he would have at least one more person to join him. Mark saddled his horse and started upstream at a slow trot, following the stream.

From the map, it looked like the stream the other person was following either joined the one beside him or was part of the same system. He did not rush. He was on unknown ground with no paths or roads, and he did not want to lame his horse in a stupid accident. Even so, he was still moving faster than the other person. Mark rode north to where he had stopped a couple hours ago. The stand of trees was to his east. He continued following the stream north until he found a small branch stream joining the one he was on.

It headed northwest in the direction of the person that was moving. He crossed the stream and followed its northern bank, as the other side had trees almost up to the stream and would have been harder to ride the horse through. The stand of trees on the south side of the stream was huge. As Mark looked at them, an idea came to mind. Declan had mentioned using his horse to drag logs down the river in Silvermere to the planned lumber mill.

Later, Mark could come back, cut trees here, and drag them downstream the same way to his new outpost for fencing, cabins, and other construction. He stopped to take a good look at the trees. They were tall and straight and would make good lumber. The wood would need time to dry and season, but that would not take too long in this world. He finally shook his head, stopped planning for tomorrow, and continued northwest upstream.

He rode for a while longer before reaching another stand of trees, this time on the north side of the stream. Looking at his map, he could see that he was getting close. The person was on the other side of the trees and was still slowly moving downstream toward him. Mark decided to go around the stand to the northeast, hoping he could cut back west on the other side. If not, he would return to the stream and wait for them to reach him. Mark lucked out. The trees ended, and he turned west.

Only about fifteen minutes later, he found the traveler. It was Malcolm, the Quartermaster. Mark rode up, stopped, and got off his horse. Mark said, "Long time no see, Malcolm." Malcolm said, "It seems like weeks ago, but it was only hours ago that we ate that wonderful breakfast in the inn. I sure am missing the hot food already." Mark said, "Did you open the pack Dale gave you on the way to the gate?" Malcolm said, "Nope, just tossed it in the inventory like all the other items."

Mark said, "If it was like mine, you might regret that the bread probably isn't warm anymore." Malcolm said, "On the map I saw you circling an area. Did you find something useful?" Mark said, "Unless anyone objects, I think that is where I would like to build an outpost." Malcolm said, "I won't object; we just need one more to do it. The question is, do we head northeast and find out who that other circle is that's not moving, or do we head back to the place you found and start making the camp there?"

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. Mark said, "I thought about that the whole way here. If they are not moving, they might have found a good place they want to stay, or something else is keeping them in that area. Since we will need more than one outpost, I think we can leave them there for now unless we see them moving this way. Then we go find them. We still have at least seven other Frontier Representatives somewhere out here to find."

Malcolm said, "Okay, I second your plan; we can head back to the location you found. I assume you left your gear there that was stacked on the horse this morning?" Mark said, "Yep, and maybe that pile of gear can be your first job as camp Quartermaster." Malcolm said, "I think I walked right into that one." Mark said, "You have been walking for a while; if you know how to ride a horse, you can take the horse for a while, maybe scout out a bit when I head downstream toward the camp spot.

We can trade off in a couple hours." Malcolm said, "I have ridden before; I think I can manage it." Mark handed him the reins and then started downstream, following the stream. The next couple hours flew by as he followed the stream and looked around. He found a number of plants he recognized and a few he did not and picked them up and stored them in his inventory. Maybe he could figure out a use for some of them and finish off his Herb Identification.

He was just passing the stand of trees that he had seen earlier that might be his future lumber when Malcolm caught back up to him. Malcolm said, "Riding your horse was fun. I think I am now regretting the offer you guys had of an animal; maybe I should have gotten a horse after all, but it's too late to worry about that now." Malcolm pulled a tent out of his inventory and handed it to Mark.

"How about you ride the rest of the way back to our new camp and set up my tent? If I hustle, I should be there before dark and crash into bed after eating dinner." Mark put the tent into inventory, got back on his horse, and headed back to camp. The ride went quicker now that he knew the way and knew the path he had traveled was safe and free of anything that might cause his horse trouble. He stopped at the first stand of trees on his route and tied up his horse. He wanted to make a bonfire that night.

Maybe someone else was out there and would see it. He gathered enough wood to put himself just under the encumbrance limit, then continued toward camp. Mark unloaded the wood into a pile. He would chop and split it for the fire in a bit. First, he needed to choose a location and build a rock ring. He headed down to the stream, followed it downstream a short way, and collected rocks. It took two trips to gather as many as he wanted. He found the perfect spot and built a good-sized ring.

Then he got a shovel out and dug it down into the ground so that the bottom of the ring was about a foot below the ground. He used the remainder of the rocks to line the outside edge of the ring just under the soil level and then went over to start cutting wood. Looking at the sky, he had about an hour until it would be dusk. Mark spent that next hour cutting and splitting the wood he had gathered. It was enjoyable doing this.

The last time he chopped wood was back when he was at Forest's Rest, so this was kind of fun. He was sure by day three the fun would wear off and it would be back to being work again, but for today he was just going to enjoy the exercise. As Mark started the fire, he thought about the Fire Starting lesson he had helped Sarah teach. The fire caught quickly, and he sat down on the ground to watch it. Once again, he added a chair to his mental list, but for now the ground would work.

Then he suddenly realized he had forgotten to set up the tents. Looking around, he found a good spot out of the smoke but close enough that they would feel some warmth from the fire when they first went to sleep, until it burned out during the night. He was about to sit down when he received a System message.

[Regional Notification] Settlement influence has expanded Outpost recognized Bracken Hollow regional development has begun ◈ ◈ ◈ Mark was happy that at least three people had gotten together so far, though a little disappointed that he had not gotten the first outpost set up. Not that it was a race or anything. It was an hour after dark when Malcolm walked into camp. He had almost reached the fire when he noticed his tent, waved at Mark, and went straight to bed.

Mark sat there another hour until the fire burned low, then went to bed as well. He was sure it would be an early morning.