Jax and Piper appeared at the edge of the clearing, carrying an ornate box between them.
Setting the box down with a thump, Jax said, “Phew, that was getting heavy.”
“No kidding,” Piper agreed, shaking her hands to get feeling back in them.
Suki heard them and said, “Hey, guys. I was wondering about you. You’re just in time for dinner.”
“Where did you get the fancy box?” she asked.
“Oh, we stopped at Josh the box maker’s place and had him whip it up for us,” Jax said with a grin.
“Okay, wise ass. Whatever you say,” Suki replied with a disgusted look.
“We dug it up at the Hidden Village, where Jax and I found the badges,” Piper said.
“And I can tell you, it made for a long trip hauling that heavy sucker back here,” she added, feinting a kick at the box.
“It’s a fine looking box,” Suki said, giving it a closer look. “But what made it so important that you wanted to bring it home?”
“Let’s wait until everyone shows up for dinner,” Piper said. “Then we can all take a look.”
Shaun came out of the cabin and said, “Hi, you two. Dinner’s just about ready. By the time you put your stuff away, it’ll be time to call everyone in.”
Before long, the food was ready, and Shaun went to the drum mounted just outside the cabin. He beat out a rhythm that meant, “Come and eat.”
The deep drum sounds carried far up the valley, and it wasn’t long before Star walked out of the woods.
“When did you find time to make a drum?” Piper asked.
“It was a gift from Dash’s parents,” Suki replied. “They wanted to show their appreciation for taking care of little Dash when he was so sick. They had a successful hunt, so they also brought us some venison. That’s what we’re having for dinner.”
Star dropped her pack at the cabin and joined the group. “That drum must have magical powers,” she said. “As soon as I heard it, my tummy started growling.”
“I noticed that the magic seems strongest around mealtime,” Shaun laughed. “I wonder if there’s a connection?”
Looking around, Jax remarked, “I would think your helpers, Kikki and Tam, would be getting hungry too, but I don’t see them.”
“They must have gotten lost on the way in,” Star replied with a grin. “I’m sure they’ll be along soon enough.”
It wasn’t too long before the two lost cats walked out of the woods, holding hands and smiling like they had a shared secret.
The rest of the group tried to act like they hadn’t noticed. They all gathered around while Suki and Shaun brought out the meal of roasted venison.
“You know, Suki,” Jax said, “I’ll be glad when the gardens you and Isis planted start producing some veggies. I like the flavors they add.”
“It’ll be a few more weeks before some of them are ready to eat,” Suki replied. “That is, if we can keep the gophers and the rabbits out of the gardens.”
“Well, if nothing else,” Jax laughed, “the rabbits are good eating too. The gophers, though, aren’t quite as tasty.”
“I’m sure the gophers will be glad to hear that they aren’t on your favorites list,” Suki said with a grin.
Conversation died out while they all enjoyed the delicious meal.
When they were finished, Kikki and Tam gathered up all the plates and took them to the stream to scour them with sand and wash them off.
When they returned, all attention turned to the box. Jax and Piper picked it up and brought it closer to the fire as the evening light had begun to fade.
“Okay, show us what you found,” Star said.
“Well, Piper and I went up to the Hidden Village,” Jax started, standing in the firelight. “I was poking around the area where we found all those badges. Meanwhile, Piper had wandered off on her own search.”
“It wasn’t long before I heard a yelp and a yell, and possibly some very creative cussing,” he said with a grin.
Piper took over the tale, giving him a dirty look. “I was walking along, sweeping the leaves aside with each step. With one wide sweep, I whacked my toes on something sticking out of the ground. It hurt like crazy, and I might have expressed my displeasure quite loudly.”
“Once the pain subsided,” she continued, “and Jax stopped laughing, we started digging and eventually uncovered this box.”
“You’ll notice that the carvings on its surfaces are similar to what you see on the oval badges,” Jax said, kneeling down by the box.
Lifting the lid, he said, “And this is what we found inside.”
Reaching into the box, he started bringing out objects that he handed to Piper, who arranged them on the bench near the fire.
Pointing to the objects, he said, “There’s everything you’d need to create the oval badges that you’re all carrying.”
“There are these blank oval shapes and a few half-finished ones,” Piper said, pointing to each item in turn.
“And here are all sorts of small tools they used to carve the designs,” Piper continued.
“And look at this,” Jax said, holding up a tool. “This is a small pump drill that I’ll bet they used to make the holes in the oval shapes so they could be worn as amulets or sewn onto an armband.”
“Finally, there’s this,” he said, lifting a large slab of alabaster. “You can make a lot of ovals out of this.”
“The box itself is covered with intricate designs,” Piper went on. “We thought the whole thing was made of alabaster, but looking closer, it’s actually made of soapstone. It’s still quite beautiful, though.”
Stepping back and looking around the gathered group, Piper said, “We seem to have found what could be the central building of an organization dedicated to flowers, specifically, the violet flowers.”
That statement sparked excited comments from the group.
“I know, I know,” Piper said, holding up her hands. “This valley is steeped in mysteries. So far, we aren’t solving any of them, just finding more.”
During a lull in the conversation, Star spoke up. “On a similar subject, we need to talk about how to proceed with the cave drawings.”
“I thought you had that handled,” Jax replied.
“So did I, but we’ve run into problems,” Star said. “We’ve run out of the blue light minerals. Until Isis and the boys get back with more, there’s nothing we can do.”
“While we did have light,” she continued, “I managed to make rough sketches of a section of one wall, and that brings up the second problem.”
“Now that I’ve seen the extent of the cave drawings, I realize that it’s going to take a very long time for one person to copy everything.”
“Which brings up the third problem,” she added. “The way we’re generating the blue light is really a lot of work. There must be a better way than grinding minerals in a bowl.”
“Mind you,” she added, “I’m not saying that Kikki and Tam didn’t give it their all. I just think there must be a way to get the same results with less effort.”
“I see,” Jax mused, looking around the group. “Does anyone have any ideas?”
Star immediately spoke up again. “There’s not much I can do until we get more minerals, so I thought I would pay a visit to my family. My mother is an accomplished artist. I’d like to ask her to help me copy the drawings.”
“That could work out really well if she’ll come,” Jax said.
“Would you mind if I go with you to see your Mom?” Piper asked, “I’ve wanted to visit Falling Waters for a long time but haven’t had the chance.”
“Of course you can come along.” Star replied, “You’ll love Falling Waters. It’ll be fun showing you around.”
“About the blue light,” Suki said. “Cisco said he had a few ideas, but I’m not sure what he had in mind. I’m sure he’ll want to work on that when he gets back.”
Shaun spoke up. “There are a few other things that we need to consider, not about the cave drawings, but general village business.”
“Right now, the food supply is holding pretty steady, with the stream for fishing and setting out snares to catch small animals.”
“But if we start bringing in more people, we’re going to have to increase the amount of hunting we do, and also think about hunting larger animals.”
“That brings up another related subject,” Tam said. “If we’re bringing in more people, we’re going to need more cabins, and we’ll need help building those cabins.”
“Well, as a matter of fact, Piper and I have been talking about that,” Jax said. “We think we need to round up any Rangers who aren’t busy on other projects and bring them to the valley to get this place set up as a fully functioning village.”
“We’d better have a solid plan in place before all this extra help shows up,” Kikki stated. “Otherwise, it could end up being a big mess, with a lot of wasted effort.”
“Point taken,” Jax said. “Give it some thought, and any ideas that any of you have, let Piper or myself know. We’ll try to get a plan going. I’m sure Isis, Cisco, and Baxter will have some ideas too.”
Star settled back with a sigh. “A good meal, good conversation, and good friends… it’s been a good night. I love you guys.”
“Absolutely,” they all agreed.