Free Off Center (The Lament) by P.S. Power Page A

need
anything."
    The
way she said it was matter of fact enough, but Pran had to feel a bit out of step.
She'd never actually known any of that at all. To her it had always seemed like
everyone just worked all the time. School had been seven days a week, with only
a half day for religious services, and at the Grange... Well, you did what you were
told and it wasn't much fun, so things like days off went without notice. They'd
been schooled occasionally, and worked in the gardens. They could play too, skipping
rocks or whatever, at times. Mostly they tried to work, since it made things better.
    Even
the youngest quickly learned that being useful got you better food and a chance
to survive without trading your behind for scraps from the older boys. Most of the
time. The girls were worse. The boys would stick it in you, and be done with it.
It would hurt, but they got enough that way that no one was really raped. You had
to eat, and if you just let them do it, they mainly wouldn't force you. The older
girls were animals to the younger ones though. Some would torture the little kids,
claiming it was a game. Not letting them breathe until they passed out, or burning
them with the ember ends of sticks. Then there were the Keepers...
    She
shuddered and made herself not even think about it, but Mara noticed and looked
like she was going to say something. Luckily Sam Milner limped out of the building
they were standing by, wearing a warm, but old looking, fur coat. Behind him in
the doorway was an equally old woman, who hadn't been in the mess the day before.
She closed herself outside, and was bundled well enough that it was clear she planned
to come with them, wherever they were going.
    "This
is my wife, Mildred. She handles most of the store keeping records and actually
knows where everything is. I figured it would save some time. Besides, she told
me she was coming along, and you know how women are, right boy?" He winked
at Pran, who nodded, back, even as Mara smirked a little.
    "Some.
Are we ready to start?" She didn't actually have any knowledge of how this
was done at all, but it turned out not to be that hard.
    They
were led to the main storehouse, which was filled with barrels, bins and sacks,
and then Pran had to climb around and verify that each thing had what was claimed
on the label in it. The inside of the place wasn't well lit, and it was decent sized.
Still, Mara seemed happy enough with what she was finding.
    "Given
the population here, of two hundred and seven, this is enough for winter. You have
three storehouses?" No one had mentioned that, but the older man nodded.
    Then
he walked toward the front, with his wife looking a bit annoyed for some reason.
    "This
way. How did you know it was three, and not two? The third is a ways back into the
woods."
    Mara
smiled and followed along, going slowly, since the man had an obvious stomachache.
He was still occasionally holding himself there at least.
    "We
saw them from the air when we came in. It's normal for us to do an aerial assessment
before we land, when possible. You'd be shocked about how many places try to lie
to us about what they have. It's foolish of course, because we aren't the
tax assessors. I guess they think it will net them more from the emergency supplies?
Sometimes it probably does, but taking more than you need doesn't help anyone, does
it?" She sounded almost innocent as she spoke, rather than like an adult woman
in her thirties. Pran got it and smiled a bit, turning away so that the others wouldn't
see her doing it.
    Mildred,
the old woman, still got it and frowned at her.
    She
didn't say anything, because sassing a Guardian was poor form. So she left that
part to Sam the old man, as they went to the next warehouse set-up. This one had
mainly grains and potatoes in sacks, but a section of dried fruit as well. The last
section held odds and ends, and meant Pran was all over the place by noon, when
the old woman finally looked at them all bitterly. She