joegoda | m'brain is tired tonight. BagsNPockets, continued

"Yep. That's a town." said Bags. "Or at least the outside wall of one"

The wall was made of logs, each about 20 foot tall, and each one had been carved to a sharp point on the top. They had been tied together by thick rope at one time and had been covered with and cemented together with a stong mud like substance that had eventually turned hard as stone, adding to the strength of the wall. Here and there, the evidence of the rope was still there, in shredded tatters and crisscrosses running through the hard stoney cement. The wall the trio were facing was nearly half a mile long, and there appeared to be only one gate on this side, and it was directly in front of them, big and thick and wooden. It was double door, each door ten feet wide to accomodate traveler's wagons, and reaching as high as the wall around it, and just as pointed on the top.

There were signs plastered on the front of the door, reading warnings such as "Visitors must check in at the Front Office, directly inside the Gate" and "Peddlers will have their wares inspected at the Front Office, directly inside the Gate" and "Sellers must purchase a license at the Front Office, directly inside the Gate".

"I do believe we need to go to the Front Office," said Pockets, "which I believe, is directly inside this Gate."

Bags stood and stretched, looking the massive wall down it's length. "This is more like a fortress than a town. I wonder where they got all the wood to build this wall?"

"The desert." replied Pockets.

"The desert? How could they have gotten all this wood from the desert? There were hardly any trees there."

Pockets took a deep breath and said, "The desert was got from the wood, Bags. Judging by the age of the logs here, which can be estimated by the fraying of the rope ends and the erosion of the material the logs are cemented with, this wall, or this portion of the wall is at least seventy five to a hundred years old. "

"Now, allowing that the water table in this general area has been at an all time low for at least the last thirty to fifty years, it can be estimated that the trees came from what is now the desert. The heavy deforestation caused a shift in the climate, as there was no exhalation of oxygen and water vapor from the forest that was no longer there."

"Removing the trees also caused the water table to drop precipitously because there was no root system to pull it higher due to capilary action, therefore rendering the land dry and arid. This in turn cause the other plants to wither and die, the soil to crack and blow around, revealing it's heavier side, the sand. The sand is what makes up the desert, and the trees are what makes up this wall."

"I would also guess that when you get inside, if someone offers to sell you water, don't buy it. Tell them you have your own supply"

Silence fell as Bags and Grizelda just stared. Eventually Grizelda broke the silence. "Ummm. Ok.. and where is that supply going to come from?"

Pockets looked at Grizelda and smiled a shy smile, the sort that a child who has a secret shows when he's been caught. "The water table is probably just bout 3 feet down. All we have to do is come outside, dig a hole, and fill our bags. I figure they have been scamming folks that have crossed the desert for years. I just don't want to be one of them."

Grizelda shook her head. "Pockets, how could you know all this? Have you been here before?"

"No. At least, I don't think so. Have I Bags?" He looked imploringly at Bags for the answer.

Bags shrugged his shoulders, and said "If you have been, it wasn't with me, and I've been with you for most of your life. Off hand, I'd say no." He turned towards Grizelda and said "Griz, if Pockets says there's water just under the ground, I'd believe him. If Pockets told me that there was a fire lizard sitting on my head right now, I'd believe him. When he talks like that, you know he's either right, or taking a wild assed guess at the truth, which generally is either right or pretty damn close. You've been with us long enough to have seen it happen more often than not."

Griz raised both hands in the air in surrender. "I know. I've seen it too. But usually it was something that we've been around, and all that talk about defloristation and such... well... I just hope he's right."

Bags walked up to the gate, and not seeing a handle, made a snap decision and just knocked.