~~~ At Hungry Village ~~~
A few hours later, Tam and Kikki walked up to Taniki’s house.
“Hey Taniki,” Kikki called. “Are you home?”
“Hi, Kikki,” Taniki greeted her. “I guess it’s been about a week, hasn’t it?”
“And hi to you too, Tam,” Taniki said. “So, tell me, how are things coming along?”
“They’re all finished with the outer walls of the whole structure,” Kikki said. “A couple of the lady Rangers were about to start on the interior of the living quarters, but I suggested that we should let you tell us how you want it.”
“Can you make a quick trip up to the village?”
“I’d love to,” Taniki replied, “but I can’t leave the kids alone.”
“We thought about that,” Tam said. “We came up with a couple of ideas.”
“Do you think the older kids would like to come with us?”
“As long as we’re not in a big hurry, I think it would be nice to take them with us,” Taniki answered, “but that would be way too much for Pounce and Rowdy to do.”
“We thought about asking Jax’s mom, Willow, to look after the kittens until you got back.” Kikki said.
“Or, we could give them a fun ride in our backpacks.” Tam said.
“It would be nice if all of you could be there.” Kikki added.
“That’s awfully nice of you,” Taniki said.
“It’s what family does for each other,” Kikki said with a smile.
“We’re going to have to get used to that, aren’t we?” Taniki said with a shy grin.
“Okay, you and Kikki get the kids ready while I make a quick trip to see Pinky about getting some more flint chips.” Tam said. “I won’t be long.”
On the other side of town, Tam greeted Pinky.
“Hi Pinky, still playing in the dirt?”
“You bet! You never know what you’re going to find.” Pinky replied. “Yesterday, I found a fragment that shows an interesting way of refining the edge on a knife that I’ve never seen before.”
“I’d like to see that sometime,” Tam said. “But right now I’m in a little bit of a hurry.”
“Do you have any more chips to spare?”
“Sure, help yourself.” Pinky said, pointing to the pile of flint chips. “I’m sure curious about what you’re doing with them.”
“I’ll tell you what,” Tam said, “the next time I’m here, I’ll show you what we’ve been making.”
“That’s a deal. Let me help you with those chips.”
~~~ On the trail heading upstream ~~~
The kids scampered along the trail running alongside the stream.
“You kids stay close, we don’t want you getting lost.” Taniki called.
“Yeah, we don’t want to have to call out the Rangers to find you.” Tam told them.
Taniki went back to discussing with Kikki, how she might want to set up her new house.
Tam was keeping the kittens in the backpacks happy with tickles.
The whole group walked up the trail alongside the stream. Taniki was trying to keep the older kids from playing in the stream while the two kittens were riding high, watching everything from Tam and Kikki’s backpacks.
“The kids sure have a lot of energy.” Tam told Taniki.
“They’re pretty excited to get to see their new home,” Taniki said. “and they don’t normally get this far outside the village.”
“Well, I think it’s great,” Kikki said. “Being a kid should be fun.”
Suddenly, they heard a big splash and turned in a panic to see who had fallen in the stream. They saw Dev lifting another big rock to throw in the water.
“What are you doing?” Taniki asked.
“I’m fishing,” Dev said with a big smile.
“Of course you are,” Tam said with a laugh. “Did you catch anything?”
“No, they all got away,” Dev said in disgust. Then he turned and ran to catch up with Jen and Kali.
“Yeah, kids, fun, fishing, scaring the daylights out of me,” Taniki said with a sigh. “We’re having a good time, right?”
“You’ll have plenty of help riding herd on those little monsters once you get moved,” Kikki said. “Actually, Tam and his brother Shaun were quite the mischief makers in their time.”
“What do you mean, ‘in their time’?” Tam said with a laugh.
“It wasn’t all that long ago that we were known as the Terrible Two,”
“That’s right,” Kikki said, “You two will be the perfect babysitters. You know all the tricks.”
“Does that mean you’re volunteering?” Taniki asked with a grin.
“How did this conversation go so wrong so fast?” Tam said in mock dismay.
“Just kidding,” he laughed. “Knowing everyone at the village, I’ll have to stand in line to get a chance to spend time with the kids.”
“Believe him,” Kikki said. “Everything he says is true.”
Without any more ‘fishing’ incidents, they arrived at Flower Village.
Approaching the village, the kids grew quiet and drew closer to Taniki.
“Are you guys nervous about meeting a bunch of new people?” Taniki asked.
“Yeah, kinda,” Jen answered.
“Well, why don’t we find Uncle Jax first?” Kikki suggested. “Then, you can meet the others when you want to.”
“I guess that would be okay,” Jen said.
The other kids nodded in agreement.
Tam moved next to Kikki and said quietly, “I’ll go ahead and find Jax.”
Kikki just nodded.
When Kikki, Taniki, and the kids entered the village, Tam and Jax were there to meet them.
“Hi kids, it’s good to see you again,” Jax said with a welcoming smile. “Come to see your new house?”
“Hi Uncle Jax, are you going to show us around?” Dev asked.
“You bet,” Jax said. “That’s my job for the day.”
“Let’s see… I remember Dev, Jen, and Kali, so I’m guessing that this is Taniki.” Jax said.
“Hi Jax,” Taniki said. “Thanks for meeting us.”
“There are two more,” she said, waving for Tam and Kikki to turn around. “Meet the backpack kids, Pounce and Rowdy.”
Jax’s eyes lit up at the sight of the kittens. “It’s going to be so great having kids and kittens around.”
“Finally, someone to listen to my stories,” he added with a grin.
Noticing Pounce squirming around in Kikki’s backpack, Taniki said, “Oh, oh! It looks like our little girl needs to go scratch some dirt.”
“What does that mean?” Tam asked.
“It means she needs to go pee, silly,” Kikki said. “Help her get down.”
“Thanks, guys,” Taniki said. “Let’s get Rowdy down too.”
“So, tell me, kids, does anyone here want a treat?” Jax asked with a grin.
“Don’t be shy, kids,” Taniki said. “I’ll bet Jax has something you’ll like.”
“Okay,” Jen said, “let’s go see what Uncle Jax has for us.”
Following Jax, they all gathered around the fire pit in front of Isis’s cabin. Once they were all situated on the benches, Jax went inside and came back with a tray.
“Here is what we call Honey-Glazed Rabbit on a Stick,” Jax said, passing the tray around.
Once everyone was busy nibbling on their treat, Jax launched into one of his tales of high adventure. When he finally brought his story to an end, he said, “Okay, okay, I can see you’re anxious to see your new home. Just throw the sticks into the fire pit, and we can go.”
“Now, follow close and don’t get lost,” he said as he led them across the clearing and a few steps beyond.
“And here we are,” he said with a flourish, gesturing to the new cookhouse. “Come on inside.”
“Come on, Taniki, we want to hear what you think,” Kikki said.
“This is the main communal area of the cookhouse,” Kikki said. “We’ll have a big table or two and some benches set up in here, but people might still want to eat outside. We haven’t built a cooking pit or counters yet. You can give us some advice on that.”
“Of course, as long as you’re here,” Jax said with a grin. “You might want to take a look at the living quarters.”
“Oh, I suppose so, as long as I’m here,” Taniki said with a laugh.
Jax led the group through the doorway at the far end of the main room.
“This big empty area is what we built for you. I hope you can do something with it,” Jax said.
“This is wonderful. I do think that I’ll want to divide it into smaller areas,” Taniki said.
“We thought of building walls, but then we thought movable panels might work better,” Kikki said.
“We can build a framework on the ceiling so the panels could be tied wherever you wanted them. And you can move them around as the kids grow or you just want a change,” Tam said.
“As far as beds and other furniture goes, make a list, and we’ll pass it on to Juni and Breezy. They’re the ones who are going to make this place a home,” Jax said.
“Well, they’ll make it a nice house,” Kikki said. “It’s up to you, Taniki, to make it a home.”
“This is all wonderful,” Taniki said, “but I have to ask, where am I supposed to do the cooking until the cookhouse is done?”
“Don’t worry about that,” Jax said. “You just work on getting your house set up and getting the kids settled in. We’ll handle the cooking duties like we have been until you’re ready to take over. And even then, we’ll always be here to lend a hand.”
“I want to make it very clear, Taniki,” Jax said in a serious tone, “we didn’t invite you here to be the camp cook; we wanted you here to be part of our family. If you want to cook for us, great, if not, you’re still one of the family.”
“Oh, thanks, that’s such a nice thing to say,” Taniki said. “But no matter what you say,” she added with a grin, “you *will* have to suffer through my cooking.”
“Well, okay then,” Kikki said. “We’ll leave you with the kids to decide where you want the dividers and what you want where.”
“It looks to me like the kittens are getting a little tired.” Jax observed. “If you want to look around the village when you’re done in here, I’d be glad to watch Pounce and Rowdy while they get a little nap time.”
“You’re right, it’s been a busy day for them.” Taniki said. “A nap is just what they need. I’ll take you up on that offer.”
“Come and find us when you’re ready to head back downstream,” Jax said gathering up the kittens and heading outside.
After pacing wall to wall to get an idea of the size of the room, Taniki started drawing lines in the dirt.
“Okay, kids, what do you think about this setup?” Taniki asked. “We can have the main room here, and the sleeping area behind screens over there.” She pointed to the outlines on the ground.
“I think we can separate that area in the corner for storage.”
“Do we want solid doors to the outside, or just hang curtains? What do you think, Kikki?”
“Well, if you’re worried about keeping track of the kittens, I’d say go with solid doors,” Kikki replied. “But the curtains would give you better ventilation.”
“They did leave the area at the top of the wall open up to the peak of the roof.” Tam pointed out. “They figured you’d hang woven panels up there that you could open or close, whatever you wanted.”
“Okay, let’s go with the solid doors.” Taniki decided.
“Good,” Kikki said. “Let’s go find Juni and Breezy. You can tell them in person what you want them to do in here.”
“They’re working with the other Rangers on the rest of the cabins,” Tam said as they walked outside. “You can hear them from here. The village isn’t all that big yet.”
The Rangers stopped work long enough to meet Taniki and the kids.
“What do you think of the cookhouse and your living area? Is that going to be alright?” Baxter asked.
“It’s going to be just fine.” Taniki replied. “Of course, it’s going to need some more work, but you already knew that.”
“Did you decide what you wanted in the living quarters?” Juni asked.
“We scratched lines in the dirt where we’ll hang the wall panels,” Taniki told her. “Beyond that, it’s pretty much just beds, a counter, a table, and benches. That stuff is all movable, so there’s no worries about what goes where.”
“That’s simple enough,” Breezy answered. “I hope you aren’t expecting anything too fancy. We’ve got skills, but furniture building is near the bottom of that list.”
“We’re just grateful to get to live here,” Taniki said. “Anything you do will be great.”
“Okay then, let’s get back to work, Juni.” Breezy said. “These cabins won’t build themselves.”
“Words of wisdom. You’re full of it,” Juni said with a grin. “I mean, your full of them.”
“Okay, let’s let these guys get back to it.” Kikki said. “Come on, I’ll show you what the area around the village looks like.”
“When you’ve got more time, we’ll show you what makes this place special.”
They did a lot of walking and talking while the kids explored all over the place.
“I think it’s time to go see how Jax is doing with the kittens.” Taniki said, looking back toward the village.
“Okay, let’s head back.” Kikki said.
They found Jax near the fire pit, leaning against a tree. The kittens were both sleeping on his lap, and he was sleeping too.
“Now that’s a sweet scene.” Taniki said. “They usually aren’t all that comfortable around grown-ups.”
“Well, you’d have to know Jax.” Kikki said. “He has a special connection with kittens.”
“I hate to disturb them.” Taniki said.
“You know, you might consider staying here overnight and heading back in the morning.” Tam said. “It’s already been a long day. The kids are going to be exhausted by the time you get them back home.”
Taniki mused. “But we didn’t bring any bedding or anything for an overnight stay.”
“No worries, you and the kids can stay in Isis’s cabin with me, Suki, and of course, Isis, for tonight.” Kikki told her.
“I won’t even argue, I think that’s a great idea.” Taniki said.
Looking up at the sun, Taniki said, “Wow, it’s just about lunchtime. I really lost track of time.”
“The work crews are going to be hungry. We’d better get a meal ready.” Taniki said. “Hey kids, you can go play if you want. Don’t go too far, though, we’re going to be eating soon.”
With Jax and the kittens still sleeping, Taniki and Kikki went to get the meal started.
“I think I’ll just hang around and keep an eye on the kids.” Tam said.
“Thanks, Tam, I appreciate that.”
“I’m already liking this place.” Taniki said with a smile as she walked with Kikki.
“I told you, didn’t I.” Kikki said with a grin.