"Now we can make plans on how we're going to find our friends" replied Amber "But first…"
She held a hand out a hand to Trudy, who stood and took her outstretched hand. Jack in turn stood next to Trudy, Salene stood at the other side of Amber and took up her other hand, looking over to Lex and offering her hand to him. The rest of the group followed, a few, a little tentative at first. Ruby still looked unsure but stood by Gel and took her hand, her other taken into Slades familiar touch. Ebony gave a slight eye roll but stood by Slade and felt Rams cold touch in her other hand. Eventually they stood in a circle, with the Speleos leaders looking on.
"This circle represents our allegiance to each other. A few years ago I stood in a circle like this, and now a lot of the faces from that circle have gone, replaced by new ones. At one point I forgot what this represented, and I gave up on my Tribe. But my Tribe still welcomed me back with open arms" said Amber quietly " I want to find those faces I've lost, I want to find people we held dear to us, that we gave up hope on too easily. As of this day, all who join hands are bound as one, Brothers and Sisters to the end. I didn't realise how haunting those words would be when Tai San first spoke them, yet here I am five years on with them meaning more to me now more than ever before. I'm a Mallrat, I will always be a Mallrat…WE are the Mallrats"
"To the Mallrats" said Lex in good humour
"Mallrats" agreed Trudy with a nod
A murmur went around the group as each took in Amber's small speech and spoke the name as if in a spiritual mantra.
"Now" said Amber, slowly loosing her grip from Salene and Trudy's hands, before she turned to Stealth "Onto business"
She sat down on the soft ground, the others followed suite, sitting on the ground or on boulders in the circle they had formed. Stealth looked slightly un-nerved but stepped into the circle and took in a few faces before kneeling and looking over to Amber.
"If you know any information about where people could have been taken it would be a real help" started Amber, as Sully and Storm, the other Speleos leaders, joined Stealth, showing their support and showing warning that anything said against her wouldn't be taken lightly.
"The Gulls were mainly a trading tribe, they, …, we would take slaves from the boats, trade them onto travelling slavers. Equally we'd take them off the travellers and trade them onto transports to the mainland. We did have links with the Chosen."
"So do you know where they were traded onto?" pressed Amber
Stealth shook her head
"No, like I say, we would take the slaves from the boats. They'd be kept at the base for a day or two at most, then be taken by Gull packs to be passed onto Travellers. Phantom ran a tight ship, no one knew anymore than they had to. It was one of his many ways of keeping everyone in line, if people didn't know how he operated things…"
"His power couldn't be questioned" interjected Ebony, familiar with the power play from her involvement with Zoot
"Exactly, Phantom knew how to manipulate and keep control. And he knew I wasn't happy when we started trading slaves, so I was kept out of the loop with a lot of things"
"What about names of the slaver tribes?" asked Jay, from behind her
"There's the Dirt-hogs…" said Storm who was crouched close to Stealth
"And the Skulls" added Sully
"And I wouldn't advise anyone even trying to go up against them." Said Stealth
"We can't let them get away with what they are doing" said Amber
"Are you here to find your friends or fight against two very dangerous, very lethal tribes you know nothing about?" replied Stealth "Look I can help you, I can take you over the Island, I know people, I know contacts. I can help you find information, and maybe, just maybe we can find some of your people. But I won't help if it means that in the end you want to lead a suicide mission against either of those tribes. You'd be leading yourself and your tribe into a very dangerous situation"
"Okay" said Amber, taking heed to the warning and noting the seriousness in which Stealth spoke "So how do you propose we go about finding out what we need to know"
"Like I said, I can take you to people I know or know of. We have contacts who will help us along the way." Replied Stealth
"It wouldn't be safe for you all to travel together as a large group" added Sully "It would make you a clear target for the slavers, best to travel as a smaller group. Of course whoever you choose to stay behind is welcome to stay with us until your return."
"Thankyou" said Amber with a grateful smile
"That includes your children," added Sully, looking from Amber to Trudy
Trudy nodded in understanding before casting an eye over to Amber. Trudy would be willing to stay behind to look after the children as well as the rest of the Tribe who stayed behind. But she wasn't sure if Amber would be willing to leave Bray for whatever length of time, or if Amber would be prepared to stay behind and let others go and look for people.
"When would we have to leave?" asked Amber after a short moment
"We'd need to gather up supplies, enough to keep us going for at least a week. We'd be able to top up on supplies as we go along, but its best to be safe. It will take a few days to make preparations"
"Your best going on a market day" added Storm "The boats can drop you on the east beach and you can find out what you can from the traders there"
"That would be four days from now" said Stealth in agreement "Plenty of time to get prepared and for you to make decisions on who goes and who stays"
"Well then I guess that decided then," said Amber with a deep breath "We leave in four days"