NOT EXACTLY some sex, sci fi, magic humor

"A map?" asked whatever.

"Yes, a map. Do you have one?"queried the Cheese.

Whatever mumbled for a minute and said, "Not exactly."

"Not exactly?" asked Vickie.

Whatever seemed to apologize, "It's not something I may show you." Whatever mumbled again, as if speaking to a secondary presence. "Can you describe what you want to see?"

"Sure. It's west and south of here. Two large rivers flow together. One river is muddy, the other is clear. On the West side of the conjoined river are limestone bluffs that rise in a series of steps to a massive grassy plain. The plain is well populated with large mammals that will be a good source of meat for protean and hides for clothing and shelter. Farther west there are mountains, past those is a great prairie, and more mountains. Eventually there is the ocean. Where I am suggesting we go, there are numerous extensive caves in the limestone. The limestone bluffs are one of few geologically stable sites on the continent. The land below the bluffs is floodplain and very fertile due to the replenishment of the topsoil by seasonal flooding. That will make for a good supply of vegetables and those will insure a reasonable supply of smaller mammals. Can you show us a general view or map of such a place? Close your mouth,Vickie."

Vickie slapped her forehead, "Just what is the deal with you and Jo? You aren't what you seem!"

"Vick, said the Cheese, "there's times for kicks and giggles and there's times for serious living. Life just got serious. Whatever is not going to let us go back."

Jo said, "Vick, degrees don't make people smart. Practice makes perfect."

"That didn't make a bit of sense but I Feel what you mean."

Whatever added, "what you're learning at your University, someone else learned through life. Education did NOT come first."

"Yup," said the Cheese. "Life's lessons are learned by the survivors."

Kurt said," I don't know how many times I've heard you say that, is that a quote?"

"No," said Whatever. "That's one of the reasons you four are here."

Jo, with an inscrutable oriental look, turned to Vickie and said, "Ah So, Missie. Some teach. Many listen. Few hear. Fewer learn."

Whatever cracked up. "Vickie. Have you ever seen David, the Cheese, without a book?"

Vicky and Kurt both had an epiphany, a revelation, so to speak. "He's always reading, but it's just fiction."

The Cheese reached in his back pocket and flashed a western. He opened it up at random and read, 'When you only have two shots and hungry family to feed, you better not miss.' He turned a few pages, 'Take good care of your horse, he might pull your ass out of trouble.' Thumbing fifty or so pages farther on he read, 'The man forced his way into the center of the thicket. Choosing a willow he drew a knife from his boot. With his knife, he cut a clearing about 8 feet across around the willow. He pulled up the willow stumps. He wove the cut willows into the uncut willows from the ground to about hip high, making a wall around the circle. Then he bent one down and, using a thong cut from his fringed leather jacket, reached up and tied the willow to the center one. Then he stripped several small slices of willow bark and pulled down more willows. Tying them to the center willow he soon had a circular hut. Kneeling down near the center willow, he took a stout branch fallen from the trees and dug up a 2 foot square of dirt, and piled rocks in a circle, gathered fire wood and soon had a small but comfortable fire. This took the man about an hour. He went to the stream and pulled up grasses and made three beds. "This'll do. They'll not find you here." The woman looked searchingly at the mans face, "You only made three beds. Where will you sleep?" "I'll not be sleeping, ma'am. I'll be getting your horses back." His face turned black, "and cutting down the odds against us"'. He closed the book. "Do you see?" he asked Vick.

Whatever sighed, "you don't need me at all. You can do this alone."

The Cheese looked up, "oh, we need you. You want us to live and prosper. We need you to save us from our failures until we learn. Those who you are going to bring to help us, we have to trust you to choose wisely."

"I might have been wrong about you outties. You have the wisdom."

"Jo and I, we were born with the Old Ways. From birth, she has known. My mother denied them. She refused to learn from her Finish mother and derided my Irish Grandmothers teaching. I have learned much but I'm still learning."

"We need to know the herbs that are here NOW and their properties," said Jo. "There's babies coming. We need the skills to keep them alive."

"There will be others coming, we need to be able to speak with them or defeat them if we must. Friends would be better than enemies" said Vickie. "Our technology must be more advanced than those who are coming."

Jo commented, "We carry diseases in our bodies that those who will come have not. They will have some we have not. You need to protect us, those who WILL come and we who are here."

"If you can't or won't, your project will fail and you can kiss your funding goodbye," said Kurt.

"Yup," said Vickie. "Instead of publishing a successful experiment, you'll be a footnote for failure."

Whatever sighed, "You guys play rough."

"Exactly!" exclaimed all four together, High Fives all around.