“Okay, ladies, this is where I leave you,” Jax said. “Have a safe trip.”
“And try to stay out of trouble,” he added with a grin.
“Don’t worry about us,” Piper said, giving him a hug. “You just watch out for yourself.”
Jax took the left fork to find the Rangers at Golden Oaks, while Star and Piper took the right fork that would take them to Star’s tribe at Falling Waters.
~~~
Jax arrived at the Rangers’ lodge at Golden Oaks. As it was late evening, there were Rangers sitting
around the fire pit in front of the lodge.
Jasper quietly approached and, when he was just outside the circle of light, he shouted, “Rangers! Defensive Circle! Now!”
As one, the cats jumped up and swiveled, facing outward, holding whatever weapons they had. As they peered into the darkness, trying to locate the danger, Jax walked into the light.
“It’s good to see you haven’t forgotten all your training,” he said, trying to sound stern.
“So, what brings you back from the Valley of the Flowers?” Stony said, striding forward to give Jax a hearty hand clasp.
Jax joined the group as they sat back down at the fire.
“I’m sure you all know about us helping the Hungry Tribe relocate to the lower part of the Valley of the Flowers and how we’re starting to set up a permanent camp in the upper valley.” Jax began. “We’ve discovered things that suggest there’s something very important there.”
“We feel that it’s important enough that we intend to make the camp we have there into a permanent village.”
“We’re calling it Flower Village for now.”
“Why Flower Village?” Juni asked.
“Well, we had to call it something,” Jax replied with a shrug. “There are important mysteries to be solved there, and everything we’ve found so far centers around the violet flowers that are only found in this valley.”
Now having everyone’s attention, he continued, “If the old tales are to be believed, there’s a plague that shows up every 200 years. The last plague killed over half the cats in the territory before a cure was found. The method to make the cure has since been lost, but we think we might find the answer to that in the valley.”
“This could turn into a huge endeavor, so we need a village as a good support base. Ultimately, quite a few people could end up living there.” Jax concluded.
“I know that all sounds grand and probably overly ambitious,” he added, “but what we need right now are people to help us build cabins and possibly a lodge. Everything else will come as we need it.”
“So, what do you want us to do?” Benji asked, leaning forward with interest.
“We need to gather the Rangers and any others you think are up to our standards, and head to the Valley of Flowers.” Jax replied.
“We should leave one or two Rangers here to redirect any returning Rangers to the valley.” Breezy said, already thinking ahead.
“It wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Zelli added, “to leave word with the elders of Golden Oak about what we’re doing.”
“Both of those are good ideas.” Jax said, starting to plan.
“Okay, let’s do this.” he said. “Everyone who wants to, can come with me to the valley. Two of you will stay behind. When other Rangers return from the field, they can replace the two who stayed behind and they are now free to move on to the valley.”
“That sounds like a pretty good plan.” Stony said, getting up to pace. “That leaves a couple of Rangers here in case someone comes looking for help. The remaining Rangers would also know where the rest of the Rangers can be found.”
“Exactly right,” Jax said, with a nod.
“And now,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “have you guys eaten already? I’m starving.”