Disclaimer: Primeval does not belong to me, this is fan fiction, not for profit.
Any references to people, places, businesses etc is entirely fictitious.
3.11 Into The Forest
"…I'll be back…"
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Abby followed Percy down the stairs and through the stable. Percy grabbed a large stick from beside the door before stepping outside. In the courtyard several men from the village were gathering.
"Louis and the boy should have been back," explained Percy "by nightfall. It's not safe to be outside the village walls…"
"You keep saying that Percy," said Abby shaking her head, "but I haven't seen anything to be worried of since the last raptor."
Percy gave her a look as they approached the crowd gathered around the man speaking.
"You really don't know what it's like," he hissed "living here."
Abby recognized the man in the dark blue tunic from the day before. He was standing on a stone bench near the fountain, looking out over the crowd.
The wide front doors of the building behind him were open. Inside appeared to be a work area with a large anvil, hammers of various sizes and other tools that Abby couldn't name. Everything inside the building was centered on a huge central fireplace where a blazing fire could be seen.
The man raised his hands and began to speak. His voice carried as he gave orders. Most of the people nodded in agreement. The people started moving about, some returning to their homes, others separating into small groups.
One tall bony man grabbed a bucket filled with a black gooey substance from the open building. He was carrying a large stick similar to the one Percy held. He thrust his stick into the bucket and then held the blackened end into the fire. It quickly caught and blazed.
The man then turned, carrying the bucket and his blazing stick outside. Another man and Percy stepped forward with their torches, quickly dipping their sticks into the black goo and then lighting them from the blazing stick. Percy held the torch towards Abby.
"I'll need you to carry this," he said "so we can see where we are going."
"What are you going to carry?" asked Abby.
Percy nodded. Jean was approaching them. He was carrying two long spears. The gaunt man handed Percy one of them.
"I really wish I had my sword," said Percy. "Stay in the middle now…"
Abby nodded and started walking with Percy and Jean, following the others towards the gate. As the groups passed out the village gate, they each turned in different directions. One group, led by the man in the blue tunic, started down the hill, following the roadway. Another group, lead by the tall bony man, turned left, heading in the direction of the river. Percy, Jean and Abby turned right.
"Where are we going?" asked Abby.
"To the forest," replied Percy. "Louis wanted to check his trap lines."
Abby shivered. She had Connor's red hooded sweatshirt and her jacket over that, but it was still chilly out. The waning sunlight all but disappeared as they moved further into the forest.
"This reminds me of the Forest of Dean," said Abby "the trees are huge."
"I've been to the Forest of Dean," chuckled Percy "it's one of the few ancient woodlands left in England. This forest… it's far older… larger… darker…"
"It's beautiful," objected Abby "unspoiled."
"And dangerous," cautioned Percy "you don't want to get lost here. Stay on the path."
"What path?" asked Abby.
Brambles and brush crowded beneath the trees. The few spaces where the undergrowth was a little lower didn't look like a path to Abby. There was little room left for a person to walk. Jean pointed. The snare set underneath the small bush was barely visible.
"It's been reset with fresh bait," said Percy "that means they came this way."
They continued walking, searching each step of the way. It was another twenty minutes or so before the threesome found Louis and the boy. They were sitting upon a tree branch about ten feet above the ground. The two shouted and pointed. Abby, Percy and Jean turned to see what Louis and the boy were pointing at.
The brush began to shake. Branches broke. Hooves landed on the path, and a snorting creature with bristly hair and tusks on either side of its mouth stood in front of them for a moment. Then it charged.
Abby acted on instinct. She thrust the torch she was carrying out in front of her, anything to keep that mouthful of teeth and tusks away. On either side of her, Percy and Jean thrust their spears forward. The creature squealed and backed off. It pawed the ground with its hooves, ready to charge again.
"Hurry," shouted Percy "up into the tree!"
Scrambling and climbing, Percy, Jean and Abby soon joined Louis and the boy high in the tree. The dangerous animal squealed in frustration, lunging against the tree trunk almost as if it wished to climb the tree after them. It circled around the base of the tree, pacing, and waiting.
"Some rescue party we are," said Abby. "Now what?"
"We wait," replied Percy.
The sun had completely set, and the moon had been up for quite some time when Abby heard the first sounds of humans. The man in the blue tunic was accompanied by the men who had gone to search the roadway. The tall bony man from the group that went to search by the river was with them too. Percy shouted a warning in the language of the time.
The group of men suddenly appeared to be bristling with swords and spears. The creature that had been settled at the base of the tree rose and began to paw its hooves. The men charged, penning the creature against the trunk of the tree. Stabbing and slashing with their weapons, the creature was soon overcome by the four armed men. Abby turned her head as the beast gave one last final cry and fell to the ground.
Percy, Jean and Louis quickly climbed down the tree, joining the other men. Behind Abby, the boy also began to climb down the tree. The boy left to search the ground, finally returning to the men with a long heavy tree limb. Abby watched from her seat on the tree branch as the men gutted the animal. Then, they lashed the creature's legs together with twine from one of the snares, and ran the limb between its legs.
"Come on Abby," called Percy "we need to get going now."
Abby slowly climbed down the tree, careful not to step in any of the signs of carnage spread across the forest floor.
"Would you hold the torch in front of us," asked Percy "then when we get it lifted, lead the way back to the village?"
"You're bringing that poor creature with us?" asked Abby.
"Yeah," said Percy "roast boar is good to eat."
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Connor, Henri and Agneta were in the main room of the home. Abby could hear the sound of their voices as she followed the boy slowly up the stairs.
"Abby," exclaimed Connor "are you all right? Where are Percy and Louis?"
"They're across the courtyard," answered Abby "they're cooking a wild boar… turning a spit… I don't think they will be back anytime soon."
She looked at Connor in confusion. Beside the fireplace, Henri, Agneta and the boy were talking quickly and quietly in their language.
"When I left you were laying down in the other room," said Abby. "How did you get in here?"
Connor gestured towards the big man and the auburn haired woman.
"Henri," he explained "he helped me."
Abby nodded, and then shivered. Connor looked at her in concern.
"Abby," he asked again "are you all right?"
"I'm just cold Connor," she replied as she moved closer to the bench where he was sitting.
Connor reached for her wrist, pulling her across the last few inches separating them into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a quick hug.
"You're freezing," Connor agreed. He then picked up a mug off the table and held it out towards her. "Here, take a sip."
"What is it?"
"Henri's wife made some hot mulled wine," Connor urged "drink it. It will warm you up."
Abby sipped the warm fragrant drink gratefully. When the mug was empty, she set it back on the table and leaned against Connor.
"We really aren't in London," whispered Abby.
"Yeah," agreed Connor "but we'll get back home."
"I doubt it," sighed Abby. She shivered again. "We don't have a way to open an anomaly, and you heard Percy… he's been here over ten years and ours was the first anomaly he's heard of in all that time."
"Abby, we'll get home," promised Connor "but right now, let's get you into a warm bed and stop your shivering."
Abby smirked. She stood up from Connor's lap and turned to face him. He was struggling to stand, one hand braced against the wall, the other hand holding the staff. Connor leaned on the staff, balancing carefully.
"Can you walk leaning on me?" Abby asked.
"Still can't put much weight on me left ankle," Connor replied "but I can put weight on me right leg now… should be able to manage, if we take it slow."
Abby moved to his left side and ducked under his arm. He brought his arm down and leaned upon her shoulder.
"We've got over a thousand years or more til we get home," she replied. "No rush."
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In London, Sarah watched Jess. The young woman had arrived early at Abby and Connor's flat. Jess was booting up her laptop. Becker, Jamal and Stephen had left to pick up the take away for this Tuesday night. None of the other team members had arrived yet.
"Were you able to get into Connor's tracking program?" asked Sarah anxiously.
"Well yeah," replied Jess. "I'm a pretty good hacker, and as soon as you mentioned that he had a thing for Abby, his password was easy to figure out."
"What was his password?" asked Sarah. Her eyes twinkled in amusement.
"Abby_Maitland," answered Jess. She pressed a button, maximizing the program so the image filled the computer screen.
"His tracking program has some links between anomalies," continued Jess "that we don't have on the anomaly research model."
"We should probably add the new links in," said Sarah. She was looking intently over Jess's shoulder. "We want to show all connections."
"Yes," agreed Jess, "but the anomaly projections really get's interesting when you correlate the geophysical map of magnetite deposits with Connor's tracking program."
"How so?" asked Cutter.
The two women turned in surprise. They hadn't heard the door open. Cutter, Claudia and Stephanie had entered the flat.
"You're here early," commented Sarah.
"I wanted to see what you'd come up with," replied Cutter.
He stepped closer and looked at Jess's computer screen. His eyes widened. The tangled overlay of connecting lines of various colors showed several prominent intersections.
"It would seem there is a connection," the Professor said "between magnetite deposits and anomalies."
Jess pointed her finger to the screen.
"This is the Forest of Dean site," she explained. "There's been mining in Clearwell Caves since Roman times… mostly for iron, but magnetite deposits have also been found."
Cutter nodded. Claudia stood beside him, jiggling Stephanie on her hip. Sarah was staring at the computer screen. She was pinching her bottom lip between her thumb and forefinger.
"What's this?" asked Sarah. She pointed at another spot on the map.
"Oh, sorry," said Jess. She typed in a command on the keyboard. The map appeared with country and city names. "The connections between archeology, paleontology, history, myth, and magnetite seem to be self-evident."
"The sites with the most frequent intersections appear to be Kiev, Draguignan," said Sarah "and the Forest of Dean."
"Maybe," replied Jess. She typed some more keystrokes. Dates now appeared on the screen. "If you factor in dates, the most recent anomaly openings appear in the Forest of Dean, London, and Vancouver Canada."
The sound of the front door opening and shutting almost drowned out Jess's quiet statement. Lester and his wife had arrived.
"Canada?" asked Lester "Good Lord, please don't tell me we have anomalies in Canada."
"Anomalies do not only occur in England," reminded Sarah. "We know the Egyptians knew about anomalies… remember Ammut?"
Lester snorted.
"Don't remind me."
Lester's wife was staring at the map, not saying a word. Sarah looked at her curiously. The woman was still as much of a mystery to Sarah as she had ever been.
"I remember you saying once," said Sarah "that Abby, Connor and Danny had gone through the racetrack anomaly in at least twelve known timelines. Where did they return from?"
Vivian looked startled at the question.
"Why?" Mrs. Lester asked. "What difference could it possibly make?"
Danny had entered the flat right after the Lester's.
"What's this?" the lanky red head asked. "You know about twelve different versions of us?"
"Not exactly," replied Vivian "but the library has some unusual books… from very different timelines."
"What library?" asked Danny.
"People!" exclaimed Sarah "Can we focus? We're trying to find connections, overlaps on the map, so we can find when Abby and Connor have gone."
"Yes," agreed Danny. He turned to Vivian. "But later… I want to know more about this library of yours."
Vivian glanced at him. Her dark eyes didn't seem to promise an answer to his question. She then turned to face Sarah and Jess, and proceeded to answer Sarah's original question.
"In my timeline, Abby and Connor returned three days after they went through the racetrack anomaly in Hyde Park."
Jess started adding datapoints to the map.
"In another timeline," continued Vivian "they returned a year later in the middle of London. Thank goodness it was early on a Saturday morning… not much traffic, just a garbage truck or two in the streets."
"What street address?" asked Jess.
"I don't know," replied Vivian "Is it important?"
"London's a big city," replied Jess "the mapping program would work better if I had exact coordinates."
"All I know is that it was near Temple Avenue," said Vivian.
Danny laughed. "Seriously?"
"Do you think I could make this up?" asked Vivian. She glared at the former copper.
"Closer to Fleet Street or Victoria Embankment," asked Jess.
"I don't know," replied Vivian. She lifted one hand up and brushed it through her hair, pushing the dark tresses back from her forehead.
"It helps that you narrowed the location down," said Jess as she typed additional coordinates into her program. "Next?"
"Dublin and Riga," answered Vivian shortly, "and I don't know the street address for either city."
"Okay," replied Jess. She added the new locations. "Next," she said expectantly.
"What do you mean next?" asked Vivian.
"That's only four return locations," replied Jess. "What are the other eight returns?"
"There weren't any other returns," whispered Vivian. "In the other timelines, they went through the racetrack anomaly… and no one returned."
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