After they finished, Sam helped him clean up the mess, tossing the remains into the fire to prevent scavengers. She cleared a spot on one of the logs and sat down, primly folding her hands in her lap. It was time to get some answers.
Reece stirred the fire with a stick and stared into it.
“I doubt the answers are going to be found it there. If they were, they’re long since ashes.”
He smiled but didn’t lift his eyes. Instead, he stepped back and sat down next to her.
“The Outland is much like that fire. It consumes everything and everyone who happens to land in it. It leaves behind ashes.”
She turned her head and frowned at him. “That’s silly, Reece. There are, by your own accounts thousands of people living in the Outland region. It runs between every province.”
“Did you ever wonder why they didn’t just set up a province for the outcasts?”
The frown turned thoughtful. “I… I… no, I never considered that.”
“Why didn’t they set up a province to send them to so they would be separated from the rest of the population but still have a decent life?”
Samantha studied her hands. It was a reasonable question but it made not sense to her. The Outland was part of the island. It had always been there at the borders, all her life. In her mind, it was a province. It began at her borders and extended to the next province’s borders.
“Well, in a sense, isn’t it a province?”
He stood up, throwing his stick aside. He moved opposite the fire as if to place it between them and began to pace. “With no voice in government, no infrastructure, no homes, stores, inns, or schools? NO. It isn’t a province. It is a no man’s land. It isn’t even safe for those forced to live here. The same criminals that are sent here also prey on the residents. Or they did until the Green Men formed their militias. Things are better than they were in the early days… even 100 years ago it was brutal here. The population now is higher than it has ever been.”
“What do you mean?”
He stopped and stared at her and smiled at her. “You don’t have any idea, do you?”
Her face flamed and she drew back. “Well, I don’t know what you mean. I’ve only been here a few times. They don’t teach Outland history in Province schools.”
He threw back his head and laughed. When he recovered, he said, “No, they wouldn’t. That’s be counter-productive.”
Annoyance flicked at her and she stood up, hands on her hips. She didn’t like him towering over her anyway. “Look Reece. Just say what you have to say. It’s getting late.”
He straightened his shoulders, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. Returning to his seat on the log, he pointed to the spot next to him. She sat down.
“In the early days this was more or less a pest hole. There were no doctors, no medicines, and lots of dangers. Not just from other criminals, but the environment, as well. Snakes, spiders, wild animals. Never mind the injuries associated with trying to create a place to live and protect your family. Even common diseases were often fatal.”
“But even in the provinces you have those risks.”
“No Sam, you don’t. You may have seen more of it than most, positioned as your family was, on the borderland to the Outland. With nine provinces sending violent criminals into the area, there was a high rate of mortality. Many of them were single but many brought families with them, women and children. They fought to survive and protect their loved ones. That meant killing and stealing from those who would do the same to them. It was a dark period before the Green Men.”
Sam stared at him as the images began to form in her mind. She looked out, into the dark forest surrounding them, at the tangled brush, towering trees, and vines snaking in and among them.
“There were no houses, such as your aunt’s. There were no supply stores. No place to worship or educate your children. It was a jungle filled with dangers. And people were sent here to live. Initially, they looked for caves and lived in tents or build log shelters from the vegetation. Tools were a problem as well. Often a person had nothing but the clothes on their back. The Council did change that rather quickly when some families complained that it was the same as murder to send people in here without basic necessities to survive.”
“So, that wasn’t always the case?” She could hardly believe that anyone would send a person into the Outland with nothing but the clothes on their back.
He shook his head. “No. A Council member protested during a session that to send human beings into a wasteland with no means of providing for themselves was tantamount to murder and made the Council worse than the criminals they were banishing. They pointed out that the penalty for murder in the provinces was banishment to the mist.”
Sam smiled. “Good point.”
“It was.”
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