John and Argent by cmsix

Chapter 12

Things were a little subdued the next morning. I left the women cooking breakfast and went to check on the mare that I had left standing tied all night. From the sign on the ground around the post the mare had given it a workout. The post didn't get tired though. The mare had, she had worked herself into a lather at some point but was dry again now.

I walked up to her and she didn't even flinch when I put my hand out to stroke her neck. In fact she seemed resigned that I was going to do whatever I wanted to. I rubbed her over her shoulders, back and flanks with my hands and it didn't upset her. Her filly was in the pen with her and when it saw me around its mother it came over to investigate. It didn't seem afraid of me either. I was able to touch it lightly several times, for a few seconds each. It wouldn't stand still for extended stroking but it didn't bolt. It just walked off when I touched it.

I knew that I might as well gentle the filly and halter break it also while I had its mother penned. It was always much easier to work with young horses, especially since they didn't weigh seven or eight times what I did. That could come tomorrow though. I needed to take Dieta and Geera back to their camp this morning so I caught Sally and Jane and led them to the cave. I tied them outside to wait until breakfast was eaten.

It was much quieter during the meal this morning. I guess the end of the visit was looming. Seeing that things were this way I decided to start our trip as soon as possible. I did take time to gather a little bundle of things for Geera and Dieta to take to their mates though. I sent a hunting knife and a lighter for both Gigo and Dergo. Dieta and Geera told me that they would explain their use to their respective mates.

It was only a matter of fifteen or twenty minutes after that for the women to get ready for the trip. I opened the big door and hitched Sally and Jane to the wagon. It still had our bath water in it, so I took a few minutes to put the tops back on the wagon box. No need to risk getting sloshed before I could let the water drain.

Since the wagon was full of water there was really no place for the pups to ride. They had been running loose in the cave since we'd come back for the mating nights. Gema, Merita and Maia had been taking care of them and getting acquainted with them. I had the girls put them back into their pen to stay while we were away. The pups didn't seem to like it and one tried to climb out promptly.

It must have been the one that Maia had taken up with since when she gave it a good scolding it went to lie down on the deerskin and mope.

We boarded the wagon and headed for the camp then. I stopped after about half a mile and opened one of the plugs so our bath could escape.

Most of the trip was in silence. I got tired of it near the end and decided to stir things up.

"Why is everyone so quiet? We aren't going back to bury somebody."

"It is just a little sad. We had a very good time at your cave John, even though you did shamelessly abuse Dieta and I." Geera said, but I could tell that she was trying to tease me.

"I had a wonderful time abusing you. I would like to do it more often."

"That is the thing John. Your cave is so far from our camp." Dieta chimed in.

"It isn't so far."

"It is too far to sneak away to on a bruga night." Geera said pointedly.

"I cannot move the cave, but you could move the camp."

I was mostly just joking but I realized that it might be a good idea. I was sure that there was no real advantage in the placement of their camp over where my cave was located. There was the fact that their dwelling was already constructed though and that everything else needed for their daily lives was already built too.

I would have to study my map sometime. I knew that there were other caves in my area but I couldn't remember how close they were or how large they were. I had three mates to take care of but I couldn't shake the feeling that a shot of Dieta's or Geera's pussy every now and then could do wonders for my attitude. I had a sneaking suspicion that Maia at least, felt the same way. She had been very enthusiastic holding Geera down last night, and once I'd pushed it up Geera, Maia had ravaged Geera's titties with her hands and lips.

Yes I would have to do some exploring nearby. I already had a good setup but that didn't mean I couldn't find room close by for my mothers in law. Actually my cave was easily large enough for five or six more people to live in it with no crowding. I didn't see any need to point this out though, since Dieta and Geera had mates of their own. I didn't intend to invite any men to live in the cave with me. I would just have to look around some and study the map.

When we arrived at the camp there were a few minutes of excitement and then it settled down as Geera and Dieta took their things into the dwelling. Gigo and Dergo came out to slap me on the back and laugh some. Gigo told me that he hadn't heard any more about what Gembo had on his mind. I was glad since I didn't really want three more unseen mates just now. I might be missing out on a good thing but I would take that chance.

We stayed long enough for a meal and then turned the wagon back toward my cave. When we got home the pups were all still in their pen. To me it meant that they knew they were supposed to stay in it when we put them there. Any of them could have climbed out if they had made a determined effort.

I went back out to check on the mare that was tied to the post. She seemed almost glad to see me this time. I yelled to the cave and asked one of them to come help me for a few minutes. Merita came out and to me.

"Will I help you with the horses now John?" She asked.

"I would like for you to. Walk over toward the fence and when I turn to lead the horse, if it doesn't follow, walk slowly up behind it. Be sure to talk to it softly as you do."

"What shall I talk to it about John?" She asked.

"It doesn't matter. Just be sure she can hear you and that she won't be surprised by your approach. Why don't you tell her about gathering berries and discovering a stranger."

"That is good, I will tell her how Gema and I found a stranger." She said and laughed.

As she walked to the fence I hooked a lead rope to the mare's halter and unhooked the one that was tied to the post. I turned away from the mare and walked as if I was going to lead her. She didn't move of course. I didn't look back but I heard Merita start to talk and knew she was approaching. The mare heard her too and moved in my direction. The mare followed me for a few steps and then stopped. Then I heard Merita start talking to her again and when the mare heard it we were underway again.

It only took about ten minutes of this for the mare to catch on. Soon she would follow me when I led out and stop when I did. I let Merita go back into the cave then and I continued the mare's lessons for another hour. Starting and stopping and just generally leading her around in the pen.

I knew that the mare needed some water so I led her to the gate and opened it. As we started toward the stream the mare wanted to get ahead of me. We had a small altercation but I'm sure her neck was sore from fighting the post and she settled down to behave in only a few minutes. The filly was right behind us of course, but when it remembered the water it took off and beat us there by a large margin. It could learn about the halter later.

I let the mare have a good drink but pulled her back before she got all she wanted. I led her around the bigger pen for about twenty more minutes and then let her drink again. It was back to the training pen then for more leading, stopping and starting. I turned her loose in the small pen then and tried to walk up to her a few minutes later to catch her again. She didn't cooperate. I roped her and then attached the lead rope again. More leading, stopping and starting and then I turned her loose again.

She wouldn't let me walk up to her this time either so after I'd roped her again I led her to the post and tied her off. Her filly had come back into the pen with us so I didn't have to try getting the young one up. I closed the small pen's gate and went into the cave.

Sunset would be within an hour or two and I'd had enough for the day. I asked my mates what was cooking for supper and they told me it was more bison. They were having a go at frying bison steaks. They seemed to be determined to get all the use they could out of that skillet. I could see that pots and pans would be a big part of my next freight.

I went over and sat down at the computer. I brought up the map and began studying the territory around me, working my way out from our current location. I was a little discouraged at not finding another cave close to us. I decided to look around in the menus some more to see if I could go about looking for caves in another way.

I knew in fifteen minutes that I had been a dumbass for just going over the map at random, looking around. I found a search option that would let me search for caves; it would even highlight them on the map. After only twenty minutes of this I found some caves in another canyon, nearly twenty miles from me.

Almost as if they were put there on purpose, just for me, were six caves in the sides of a much larger canyon. They also happened to be near the opening to a much larger blind canyon. In fact this blind canyon branched into two others as it wandered back from the main canyon. If the area were like this one, that location would have been a much better one for me than the present one.

Searching again, for occupied campsites this time, I found that the Neanderthals that I already knew about were the closest to the site. They were fourteen miles southwest of its location. I searched for game areas and found that there were even larger herds of bison on the upper plateau near this new location. There were also scattered groupings of aurochs and several little bands of horses. There were megaceros in the area also and smaller deer in the more abundant wooded areas. If the caves were habitable it would be a much better place for us to live, if we could talk the other camp into moving there with us.

I studied the caves then. The map let me see the insides of the caves and a right click gave me their dimensions. All of them were larger than my current cave and two of them were very large, over ten times larger than the one I was now calling home. There was no mention of anyone or anything occupying them. I couldn't tell if they were all actually livable but I did notice that they were also much higher above the spring flood's high water mark than this one was. I'll have to admit that was a detail I had neglected before my arrival. I didn't think that the flooding would reach my cave here but it would probably be a close thing during some years.

I had to go and see the place for myself. I would spend another day or two with the new mare and then the girls and I were going to load up the wagon to go check it out.

Supper was ready by then and I went to eat. My girls had done an excellent job on the first meal they'd fixed for me without their mothers. The bison steaks were cooked rare and tender and what ever they had cooked for vegetables were delicious. When we went to bed later I made sure to show them how much I appreciated their efforts.

I woke the next morning feeling good. I had rested well and was at peace with the world. I did need to take a big piss though so I tried to slip out of bed without waking the girls. No chance of that so I gave them all a peck on the lips as I crawled out.

I pulled on some jeans and stepped into my boots, sitting on a small stool that I had made, mostly just exactly for this task of lacing up my boots. I pulled on yesterday's T-shirt and since the chain mail was where I'd dropped it last night I put it on and then buttoned up a shirt over it. The mail really surprised me. It was actually comfortable to wear and it weighed almost nothing. It gave me a secure feeling too, since I knew that there were no weapons around in this time that could penetrate it.

I grabbed my web belt with the Glock and holster and buckled it around my waist as I was heading for the door. It seemed funny to have to take this precaution but it was necessary. I hadn't heard anything more about Gembo since the day of my mating and the Glock wasn't really in anticipation of seeing him. There was the more likely chance of encountering a hungry predator outside. I would hate to go outside to face a lion, bear or big cat empty handed.

I'll be damned if I didn't see Gembo, Jabo and Jenbo as soon as I opened the door. They were about a hundred yards off sitting on a deadfall near the edge of a very small wood. They rose as soon as they heard me open the door. I pulled the Glock out of its holster as I stepped out. This didn't faze the three since they had no idea what it was.

This just pissed me off. I wasn't the cause of Gembo's troubles. Hell I hadn't even heard of him before the mating with Gema and Merita was planned and partially paid for. One look at him though, told me that he was serious about this. His face seemed to be scowling. He was armed with his spear and he was a well-built and nicely developed young man. He was short though. Jabo and Jenbo were both at least six-one. Gembo was only about five-nine. Apparently he couldn't shake the feelings that came with it. Oh well, he wouldn't be worried with it for long. I continued to approach them until I was within about seventy feet.

"Where is your spear stranger? Go back and get your spear. We didn't come to kill you while you were empty handed." Gembo said nearly roaring.

"Why do you want to kill me? I have not troubled you." I said in a calm and quiet voice.

"I have come for your mates. I will kill you and they will be mine." Gembo said.

That was enough for me. Apparently Gembo wanted to stand around and argue a while first but I wasn't in the mood. He said he had come to kill me and take my mates. I raised the Glock and tried to put a one hundred and eighty grain, nine-millimeter hollow point through Gembo's pump. I must have given the trigger a little jerk because the round went a little high and to the left, catching Gembo right on the bottom of the sternum. Making solid contact like that of course it knocked him over backwards. I'm sure it made a hell of a mess in his lungs and pulmonary system as it tore through, expanding all the way.

Jabo and Jenbo were just staring at me and then looked at Gembo. He was kicking his legs a little, reflexes I suppose. His mouth was open wide like he was gasping for breath, but every time he tried, blood flowed up out of his mouth and there was a horrible sucking and then hissing from his chest. There was also a wide frothy pool of blood coming from the entrance wound.

Jabo and Jenbo rushed to Gembo and knelt down beside him. I approached more slowly. They were both trying to ask Gembo what happened at the same time. He was in no position to tell them. I thought he probably had twenty or thirty seconds of consciousness left. He sure as hell couldn't get enough wind into the tattered remains of his lungs to speak. Jabo put an arm around Gembo's shoulders and tried to raise him.

I was only about twenty-five feet from them now.

"Gembo will be dead soon. You cannot help him. You should probably stand up and try to save yourself." I told them both.

They looked at me then just as Gembo coughed up a huge gout of blood and lung tissue. Jabo laid him back down then he and Jenbo stood up. When they stood I saw Jabo flex his arm to pull back and hurl his spear. My aim was better this time. Jabo got his through the heart, Jenbo was releasing his spear as I shot him, also right through the heart. When the spear struck me I was glad that his aim had been true and had been at my chest. I felt like I'd been hit with a small club and I had to take a step back to keep from falling myself. The flint point broke against the mail but didn't begin to penetrate.

Apparently the girls had been watching from the door for most of the little shindig. They came running to me now crying and moaning, when they reached me they tried to find the wound that they knew Jenbo's spear must have made.

"John, oh John please don't die." Gema practically screamed.

"Do not worry, I am not hurt."

"But we saw the spear strike you and Jenbo had a powerful arm." Maia cried.

"Now you know why I wear the shiny shirt. Remember never to tell anyone of it."

They unbuttoned my shirt then and examined the mail. I could see that the spear hadn't even bent any of the tiny rings.

"Is the shirt magic John?" Merita asked.

"No, it is not magic, it is just strong. It is made of the same thing that the wagon is made of, but it is many tiny rings locked together. I was not afraid of the spears with the shiny shirt. I am just glad that Jenbo aimed for my chest and that his aim was true."

They looked over to the three dead men then, and then walked over to get a closer look.

"There is so much blood John, especially from Gembo. The lightning is powerful. They were stupid not to believe what a hunter you are." Maia said.

"Well they are not stupid now, they are dead. Georgo says I must take their bodies back to their camp and gather their mates and their belongings."

"Yes you must. Delia, Waaya and Winna will suffer and starve if you do not take them." Gema said.

"If you don't no other man would dare mate with them since you have killed all their mates and do not even have a scratch." Merita told me.

"What will their mates think and what about you. You are the mates I chose. I will not have them causing trouble for you."

"They will not cause trouble. They will know that their mates are dead and that they are now your mates. They do not want to live alone with no mate to protect them and to hunt for them. Even though none of them have children now they would still have much trouble if they had to hunt for themselves." Gema said.

"Then none of you will mind that they are coming to live with us?"

"We will not mind John. It will be better, you will see. Delia, Waaya and Winna are all good women and they will be obedient to you. They are hard workers too. Delia, Gembo's mate is very pretty too. In fact they are all pretty. They will be so surprised when they see the bed and Gema, Merita and I will get to hold them down, at least the first time." Maia said and her eyes were shining with excitement as she did.

"It is a good thing that I haven't released any of the extra horses that I captured. I will have a lot of horses to train. We will have more help gathering hay and grain for them though."

"Yes, we will have more help for everything. Waaya, Jabo's mate and Winna, Jenbo's mate are also very good cooks and very good gatherers. They know where almost everything grows and when it is ready to gather." Gema told me.

"I do not think any of them will be very sad about this. Jabo, Jenbo and Gembo were good hunters but they were usually very disagreeable men. Always boasting and swaggering, they were very fond of the bruga also." Merita said.

"They must learn to be fond of the grave now."

"It is what they earned. They came to kill you and take us. Now they have their reward." Maia said, matter of factly.

I picked up Jenbo's spear and walked over to him. He was basically flat on his back and I punched the spear into the entrance wound as deeply as I could. I went to Jabo and picked up his spear. He was mostly on his left side so I looked at his exposed back. No exit wound was evident. That wasn't unexpected with hollow points. I rolled him to his back and forced his spear into his wound. Then I went over to Gembo and preformed the same service. With the bullet hitting his sternum I knew damned well he had no exit wound.

"Why did you do that John?" Merita asked.

"So the others will not know that I didn't kill them with spears. Georgo told me that the fewer that knew about the lightning the better off we would all be. Now the main question in the minds of the others will be how I took their spears away from them and killed them with their own spears. I believe I will say that I killed them with my spears but then took them back since they are surely better than the spears they used against me."

"Yes Georgo told all in our camp not to speak of your lightning and thunder. I'm sure that no one has. I didn't know that you had thunder in the pistol also. We were all very afraid before you killed Gembo with it." Maia told me.

"Well I had better get Sally, Jane and the wagon. It looks like we will be traveling today. I hope one of you knows the way."

"We all know the way but you might want to ask Gigo and even Dergo to go with us. They will be happy to. Even though you are not a member of their camp, we were and this will reflect well on them. They will gain respect by association." Gema, ever the politician, told me.

"I will be glad if they will come with me."

I caught and harnessed the team and then hitched the wagon. Gema, Merita and Maia intended to help me with the bodies but I told them I didn't want them to have to touch them and they were just as glad to fetch the pups. After I'd thrown the dead meat into the wagon box I lifted up each pup and put them in too. I locked up the cave and we all climbed into the seat and headed off. The pups were sniffing around on the bodies and then started licking some of the blood. I didn't see any reason to stop them.

We hadn't traveled more than a mile before I saw two figures coming toward us at a trot. I was about to get the glasses and take a look at them.

"It is Gigo, and Dergo." Maia said.

They had dropped into a walk when they saw the wagon. Soon enough we met.

"Good morning Gigo and Dergo. Were you coming to se us?"

"Yes. We heard this morning that Gembo, Jabo and Jenbo were going to kill you. We came to warn you and to help if you will let us." Dergo said.

"I can tell you that I am very glad that you came. Luckily I did not need the help but I thank you for trying to help me. I have their bodies in the wagon. We were coming to your camp to see if you would go with us to theirs so I can return the bodies."

"They have already attacked you?" Gigo asked.

"They tried. I killed them. Now I must return the bodies and gather their possessions and their mates. I do not know what I am going to do with six mates."

A thought flashed into my head just then. I asked Gigo and Dergo to get aboard the wagon and then turned it around and headed back to my cave.

"Why are you going back John?" Gigo asked.

"I have something to ask of you and Dergo. If you agree we will need to arrive at your camp later than if we went there now."

"What will you ask us? We will do it if we can." Dergo told me.

"I want one of you to say you helped me by killing Jabo and I want the other to say he helped by killing Jenbo. Then each of you can take one of their mates and I will only have to take Gembo's mate. You will help me by each taking one of the mates and their possessions."

"But you killed them John. You should get the possessions and the mates." Gigo said.

"Yes but that will be too many mates for me and I do not need their possessions. I don't want to have so many mates that I don't have enough time for each one. Both of you only have one mate each."

"Yes and that is the way my mate likes it. I do not know if I can do this for you John. I will ask Geera what she thinks of it but I can not tell you yes if she doesn't like the idea." Gigo said.

"It is the same way for me John. I would like to help but I will not do it if Dieta doesn't agree. I do not want to anger Dieta." Dergo told me.

"I understand that. I would not think of asking you to do it unless they agree. I do not want to cause any trouble. Maybe they will like the idea of someone to help them."

"We can always hope. Why do we need to get back to camp later then?" Dergo asked.

"Everyone in your camp knows by now that you have come to try and help me. They will also know how long you have been gone. If we get back too soon they will think that something is not right. We will also need to decide what we are going to tell the others about how the fight went."

"You are right. They would know it was not right if we came back too soon and if we told different stories of how the fighting went. We should prepare in the hope that Geera and Dieta will allow it. We must tell them the truth though. They would know it soon anyway and it will be better if we tell them what really happened from the start." Gigo told me.

He was smarter than I had been giving him credit for being. I was sure that they could not keep the truth from Geera and Dieta.