John and Argent by cmsix

Chapter 59

When I woke the next morning I was snuggled up to Xailieta's backside and I was pretty sure that it was Jaada who was snuggled up to mine. They both woke as soon as I moved but it wasn't a big chore to convince them to sleep a little longer. I got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. I could see Deimeta sleeping soundly in her own bed when I passed by it.

I took a quick shower and returned to the bedroom. Xailieta and Jaada were still sleeping as I dressed; leaving them at it I headed out to see about coffee.

The rest of my mates were all in the kitchen and breakfast was ready. I sat at the table and Waaya came to me with a mug of coffee; Winna was right behind her with my plate.

"What's the occasion for such service this morning?"

"We're trying to get an early start since we will have very much moving and helping to do today." Ameliea said.

"How did it go with the unmated women last night?"

"All of the women and most of their things are now in the new quarters. We still have a few of their possessions to move and we will also have to give them a little training in using the kitchen. We have enough people eating with us already." Gema told me.

"How did they like their new places? Do you think they will be happy there?"

"Everyone is thrilled with their bedrooms." Jara said.

"Good, I just hope all the others will be happy after moving across the river."

"I'm sure they will be but if they aren't can't they stay where they are?" Geera asked.

"I suppose they can. They might have to rearrange a little later this winter but they can stay on the other side of the river at least."

"I don't think that any will want to stay over there." Maia said.

"We'll see today." Merita added.

I ate my breakfast then and so did my mates. Jaada and Xailieta came out a few minutes later and they were dressed for action too. I found out that plans had already been made for Jaada to stay here and keep Deimeta entertained while Xailieta would have her hands full with Baatiea and Beetiea. No doubt that Jaada would be trying to get in a little baby holding time too.

Meanwhile I wondered what I would be doing today. When the girls headed out I was trying to get a handle on what I would work on and starting on my second mug of coffee. I heard a short shriek from the entrance and all of them came back in quickly.

"What's the trouble?"

"Snow, snow is the trouble. It is snowing outside and it is cold, very cold." Dalia said.

"I can see where that would put a damper on your plans for the day."

"It will make it harder but it will not stop us. We will probably put on our trousers though." Kateata said and they all headed to the bedroom for more clothes.

I walked over to the entrance, taking a look at my first snow in this life and it was coming down harder than anything I'd ever seen where I'd come from. Of course, since I'd lived all my life in Texas, this wasn't a big shock. We'd had snow where I lived but it was usually no more than a few inches once or twice a year. Here there seemed to be at least four or five inches already on the ground and more was coming at a steady rate. It didn't take me long to see all I wanted.

As I returned to the table for more ass time and more coffee I saw Georgo and his mates coming in. Georgo joined me at the table and Ladeliea brought us both some coffee. Georgo seemed to be in a particularly good mood and I asked him about it.

"Catteaahta has agreed to become one of my mates and my other mates and I are happy about it. We are especially glad since Catteaahta has the young boy, Barasco, and the baby daughter, Kaatea. Even though Catteaahta has been thoroughly enlightened about our customs and knows fully that she isn't being assigned to me she has still agreed. I am finally begining to believe what you have been telling me about the spirits favoring me." He said.

"I am happy for you Georgo and I know that you will be a good mate for her. She and her children will bring your family a lot of happiness I know. This morning has also proved that you are getting good weather information from the spirits."

"Then it is snowing?" He asked.

"It is for a fact and if this is a lightweight introductory snow for the coming winter, I know that I am going to hate the next one."

"How much snow is coming?" He asked.

"To me it looks as if all the snow is coming. There must be five or six inches on the ground at least and if it doesn't slow down I don't think we'll be able to get out of the caves by this afternoon."

"That could be troublesome since most people were planning to move to the new cave today." He said.

"My mates have already turned back for more clothes but they are determined to get all of the things that belong to the unmated women carried over here."

"Well there are many things to move but each family should be able to take care of their own things, mostly so anyway and after a few trips there should be a good path trodden out." He said.

"It is going to be a major thing for Daaggo though. He is planning to make coverings for the new entrances and the snow will be a problem for him."

"If the snow only last a few days he will be able to do a proper job after it has stopped. Maybe he can just put up something temporarily until the weather breaks." Georgo speculated.

"I hope so and I hope this first taste is over soon. Now that I see it I am really glad that we didn't get caught out in it during our trip."

"Yes but you had fairly good information that you would have time to get back. I pity anyone that didn't foresee this. It didn't give as much warning as snow usually does and I'm afraid that some people might have been surprised." He said.

This got me thinking about the small group in Caato's old camp. They were the most vulnerable and even though we had sent them the bison a few days ago I was still worried about their chances to make it through the winter.

Raalto and a few of the others started coming in as I finished this mug of coffee and Danlo's mates came in to help Georgo's with breakfast for everyone else. I supposed that my mates had done this planning last night. I considered staying while the others had breakfast but decided to go to my office and spend some time with the video feeds. I made my excuses and left.

When I was seated the first place I checked was Caato's old camp. The huts that were in use all had smoke coming out of their vent holes in the top but snow was piling up quickly against their outside walls. None of the remaining residents were outside and I couldn't see any footprints that showed they had been out this morning.

I took a look at Grotondo's camp next and nothing was stirring outside. I decided to check on all the camps we'd just visited and it was the same at each one; nothing was moving outside. It was only an accident that I checked all the views covering our path.

About halfway between Dunto's camp and ours, off to the side of the trail by the river, a small tent had been erected. I didn't think that it was even big enough to build a fire inside unless it was just a very small one. At any rate there was no smoke coming from the top of the tent and there were no footprints anywhere outside.

The snow was undisturbed and if it continued coming down like it was now, the entire tent would be covered within a few hours. That wasn't so dangerous in and of itself since the snow would actually serve as insulation and tend to keep heat from escaping. Even though this would help it would not be enough if the only heat inside was that of a single body. I had no idea who was in that tent but I knew that they were in trouble.

I got up and went to my office door, opening it and looking out. I saw Georgo and when I got his attention I signaled for him to join me. When he was with me and the door was shut I brought the video back up and showed him what I'd found.

"Whoever is in that tent will be dead before the snowing stops. They might stay warm enough to live today without a fire but I'm sure that they are already too cold to go out and search for fuel to burn and if deep cold comes tonight as it usually does with snow, they will be frozen before morning." Georgo spoke the obvious.

"I'm sure you are right Georgo and I'm wondering who is out traveling alone, especially in this weather."

"It is probably a messenger and he might have started yesterday or even earlier." He said.

That could make sense but it didn't really matter who it was. Georgo and I were the only ones that knew about it and I was the only one that could do anything to save whoever it was. I thought about it and decided that I would make a try.

"I am going to go and see if I can help him. I can ride one of the big horses and bring him back here on a travois if nothing else."

"It will be very dangerous John, what if something happens to strand you out there. You can die from the cold just as that person can." He said.

I was betting that I couldn't; or at least that I wouldn't. I was sure that Argent wasn't going to allow any such thing to happen to me. This little adventure would be dangerous though and more dangerous if I went alone. I decided to ask for a volunteer to go with me. I was pretty sure that I would get a lot of them and I was hoping to get my pick.

I shutdown the video and Georgo and I went back into my cave. All of my main helpers were seated around the table but appeared to be finished eating and I'm sure that they would be trying to get the move from the other side of the canyon underway any moment now.

"Do not ask how I know but there is a lone traveler stranded out in this storm in a small tent. They are about halfway between here and Dunto's camp. I am going to take a horse to see if I can help them. I'm afraid that if they stay out in the small tent tonight they will freeze to death before the snow stops."

There was still a little mumbling and no doubt some of it was wondering how I knew this, no one voiced it very loudly though. All of them told me that they would like to go with me as I'd expected. I chose Danlo, of course, since he was the most familiar with the horses."

"We will take the biggest horses Danlo and one travois, if he is alive when we get there we can load him and his things onto the travois and come right back."

"If you say so we will do it but I suggest we hitch two of the big horses to Georgo's buckboard. Two of them can pull the buckboard as if it weren't there and they can both share the load. Only one can pull the travois at a time. The buckboard would also provide shelter for us if something unfortunate happened." He said.

Danlo's suggestion was better than my plan had been and I wondered why I hadn't thought of it. It was probably from the way I remembered wheeled vehicles acting in the snow. These wagons were different though. Their locomotion wasn't delivered by the wheels, of course, so if the tires slipped it didn't make much difference. The aliens had also used my original wagon as a model to determine the proportions for the buckboards and the big wagon so the tires had ended up big and wide and would probably do fine.

"I think that you're right Danlo, we'll take the buckboard."

My mates had come in during the discussion and I guess they had learned by now that arguing with me about such things wouldn't help. Instead they put down what they were carrying and packed some food for us. It was too bad that I'd never asked argent for a big coffee thermos. What the hell, I could probably delay long enough for him to come up with one or more.

Danlo wanted to wait until all the horses could be moved into their cave before hitching the buckboard anyway so I told him to go ahead and that we would leave as soon as he finished. I went back into the office, sat at my computer and typed in a requisition. The operator wasn't Argent but he told me that they would have it to me in a few minutes.

I went back to the video for a while and couldn't tell anything else about the situation. When I gave up looking and wondering I shut down the view and as I got out of my chair I saw that three one gallon thermoses had been placed on my desk. I took them out to the kitchen with me and since Taaheita was closest to the coffee maker I asked her to fill them with hot water while she was making more coffee and then pour out the water and fill them with coffee as she got it made.

I went into the bedroom to get my warmest clothes. Shedding my tunic I put another long sleeved T-shirt over my mail and then pulled on another pair of trousers and got back into my tunic. I pulled my Carhardt overalls on for my outer layer. A wool pullover cap and my hooded Carhardt jacket finished my preparations and I went back for my coffee. The thermoses were filled and there was a fresh mug for Danlo and I. Being no dummy, I decided to wait here where it was warm until Danlo came back.

He returned in a few minutes saying that the buckboard was ready. I told him to go to his quarters and see if he didn't have some clothes like I was wearing. He took his coffee with him to look and came back ten minutes later in his new cold weather gear. We refilled our mugs, grabbed the thermoses and headed for the buckboard.

When we got to the horse cave the buckboard was hitched and ready for us though still inside the cave. I stowed the thermoses in the box and noticed that it was about half full of furs and that there seemed to be enough food packed in there for a week's trip. My mates didn't want us to go hungry. I was hoping that we would be back home before we got into anything except the coffee. I closed up the tops and climbed onto the seat beside Danlo and off we went.

It wasn't terribly cold out but it was cold enough. There wasn't much wind driving the snow and the temperature was around twenty degrees. If you were dressed right it wouldn't cause a serious hazard but if you took off thinking you'd have autumn weather for your trip and got caught out with out enough furs, like the one in the tent surely had been, your ass would be cold fast and I was sure that his was.

I was only assuming that it was a man but chances were good that I was correct. Women weren't very likely to travel alone overnight at anytime. I would be glad to save a woman if that was how it turned out but I was sure it would be a man. Danlo and I didn't waste much breath talking during our ride and mostly when we opened our mouths it was to take in coffee. It wasn't very long after we emptied our mugs before I decided that a constant intake of coffee would be beneficial. I turned around and managed to get one of the tops open enough to retrieve a thermos and refill our mugs.

It took nearly four hours to get to the tent since the snow slowed our progress much more than I'd thought it would. The traveler was a man and he was still alive but was so chilled that he might as well have been unconscious. Danlo and I arranged the furs in the buckboard's box to put half of them between him and the floor and after we put him in we covered him with the other half and shut the tops over him. We didn't bother with his tent but we did bring the other few things that he had.

The going wasn't any faster on the way back and sunset came while we were still more than an hour from home. It wasn't a problem though since the snow reflected the little bit of light that was finding its way through the clouds and gave us plenty of illumination for traveling. Damned good thing it did too because we hadn't thought to bring either spotlights or night vision goggles. By the time we rolled up in front of my cave we were sure as hell ready to be there.

Raalto, Caato and Colonto were in my cave when we walked in and after a few words they brought the man in and took him through into the unmated women's quarters. Eileiea was hot on their heels so that she could tend to him and several more of my mates went with her. I was betting that she could find plenty of nurses for him considering the location of his sick bed. Danlo and I concentrated on getting warm and I decided that Argent and his bunch were going to have to figure out the ultimate electric socks soon. My feet were so cold.

Jara brought Danlo and I more coffee and Shelalliea was cooking for us. We hadn't taken the time to eat anything during our trip since we didn't want to spend one extra second out in the weather. I was glad that we had been able to rescue the man but the trip did make me realize that the cold weather here wasn't like what I'd experienced in my old life. This weather was serious and getting caught out in it unprepared could mean death. I was warmer now but the thought made me shiver again.

Georgo had been in to check on the man's care but he came back to sit with us. I didn't even know whether Georgo knew anything about helping with this kind of emergency. To me it would make sense that a shaman would be up on such things but I had never asked him about it. I'd seen him treating little ailments before Eileiea joined us but we'd actually been lucky and there hadn't ever been any real life threatening injuries in my time here. Barbo and Bowto had been attacked by lions but by the time we'd arrived to try and help, Barbo was already dead and there hadn't been anything that Jalayla could do for Bowto.

Eileiea had only been with us for a few days and this was the first real emergency since she'd arrived and in fact it was the first health related emergency where there had been any chance for the victim to survive. I guessed that she was doing a good job and when I thought over things I knew that she must be pretty knowledgeable. After her examination of Deimeta she'd known of the child's former parasite infection and had also known that it had been cured. I hadn't thought much of it at the time but now realized it had been a pretty good trick.

Jara brought Danlo and I a plate then and I quit my speculations and started eating. The food was hot and good and I was in a better mood as soon as I finished eating and went back to coffee drinking. I remembered how much coffee I'd had today then and wondered if I'd be able to sleep at all. I didn't feel like I normally would after so much coffee in one day though, maybe the cold trip had let me burn off the caffeine's effects.

"I wonder what he was doing out traveling alone? Maybe we will find out if he makes it." Georgo said.

"We couldn't tell anything from what we found. It did seem that he had been traveling alone and probably surprised by the early snow. I hope he does get better but sometimes when a man gets as cold as he was they do not live over it."

"I know and he did not come to himself while I was watching. Eileiea has settled on a treatment that should wake any man though." Georgo told me and then grinned.

"What did she do for him?"

"She removed all his clothes, put him in the middle of one of the beds and then had four of the women undress and get into bed with him, telling them to get on either side of him and get as close to him as they could; then she covered them all with several furs." Georgo explained.

"If anything will bring him back that should. Maybe I should go back outside and sleep in a tent for a few hours."

"Why would you do that John, having only four naked women in bed with you would make your bed seem nearly empty." Georgo said and laughed.

"I suppose you're right but it sounded good for a minute."

Raalto, Caato and Colonto and the rest of my mates, except Eileiea, came back to the table and sat with us then. They all wanted the story of our trip and I let Danlo tell it. There wasn't really much to tell except that we had ridden for hours in the cold. Danlo gave them the details though. I was more interested in hearing how things had gone here while we were away and I said so.

"The moving went better than I would have expected. All of the unmated women and widows have found a place in the new quarters and all their possessions have been brought there also. In fact everyone has come over from the other side and found living space in the new caves. Some of them haven't moved all of their things yet but everything that is really necessary is over on this side now. Your mates have even gotten all the women started cooking in their new kitchens." Raalto told us.

"Do the women like the new things?"

"They seem thrilled and I would have expected nothing less. They don't have to worry about building a cooking fire for every meal now and that saves them much work and time. They are also excited about having so many of the new cooking vessels." He said.

"Well I hope they are happy because we will all be spending a lot of time inside the caves for a few months."

"Yes we will but it will give everyone a good chance to get used to the new situation." Colonto said.

"I'm just hoping that it will give the women plenty of time to learn more about cooking."

They all laughed at me for that, as I'd hoped they would. We were about to be locked into the caves for several months now though and learning a new way to cook wouldn't take the women all that time. I would have to come up with other diversions to keep everyone busy for part of the time anyway.

One thing that we needed to do was try to dig out a new frozen cave. We were all on this side of the river now but all of our stored meat and other food, except for what Argent had put in the new kitchens, was still on the other side. It would be easy enough to move but first we needed to dig out a place to put it.

"Were you able to cover the new entrances Daaggo." I asked him when he came in to join us.

"I have them covered with hanging bison skins and it will be enough for now. If we get a break in the snow we can build frames like those for the other entrances and if we don't the skins will do the job all winter if necessary." He said.

It was getting a little late and I was about ready to go to bed but remembered that I hadn't seen Deimeta since I got home and I wondered where she was. I asked Jara about it and she told me that Deimeta was probably in Danlo's quarters playing with Malooto. I walked through to find her and sure enough she was there. Daria was with them also and they were on the bed playing some type of game with some of the lion and bear claws and teeth that hadn't been used in my necklace.

"Daddy, I didn't know you were back." Deimeta said and rushed to me.

I picked her up and hugged her to me, telling her that I had missed her today and asking if she'd had fun.

"Malooto and I have played a lot today but we had to help with the moving too. We didn't go outside though. It is very cold out in the snow. Did you and Danlo get cold on your trip?" She asked.

"Yes we did and I am glad to be home. I'm glad that you didn't go outside and get all wet and cold."

"I didn't but I wanted to a little. The snow looks so pretty and I wanted to play in it for a little while at least." She told me.

"We'll go out and play in it tomorrow maybe. Have you ever built a snowman?"

"What is a snowman?" She asked.

"I didn't think you would know about snowmen. I'll help you build one tomorrow but now I think I'm going to sleep. I'm a little tired after my trip."

"Ok Daddy, Geera told me that one of them would come and get me when it was time for bed and so I guess I'll stay here with Daria and Malooto." She said.

"Goodnight then, I'll see you tomorrow."

I went back to my bedroom then and once again went to bed alone. I'd have some company before the night was over, I was sure of that.

Since I'd gone to bed early I woke early the next morning and I managed to get out of bed without waking anyone. Deimeta was sleeping in her bed and the babies were still asleep too. I headed for the shower and spent a lot of time under the hot water, enjoying it pounding against my back. The best thing about Argent's plumbing was the never-ending supply of hot water.

After I was dried and then dressed I went out to the kitchen, expecting to make my own coffee. Taaheita and Kateata were already there with coffee ready though and Taaheita was in her naked service uniform; returning to a more normal routine felt good and so did Taaheita when I pulled her into my lap. Her kisses welcomed me back and her wiggling hips woke dicky. I kept to the normal plan though and only fingered her to a cum, leaving dicky throbbing. It served him right and though it would be distracting I decided to just let him throb for a while.

After I'd let Taaheita escape Kateata brought me some breakfast to go with my coffee. I pulled her into my lap for a few kisses too but didn't give her a good workout. There was no need for me to be the only one that was horny this morning and I concentrated on my breakfast after letting her up.

Raalto and Racaato came in before I'd finished and while they sipped coffee we talked.

"We will finish all the moving today John, do you have any ideas about what to start on next." Raalto asked.

"I promised to take Deimeta out to play in the snow for a while but I don't have anything else in mind. I want to start some planning for a mammoth hunt though. Georgo says that we should have a little more good weather after this snow is gone and I want to try for some mammoth during that time."

"It will probably be a good time for hunting them and most likely rhino too. They move north for the winter and if we travel to the face of the glacier we should be able to find some easily. It should be much easier to hunt them with the rifles." Racaato said.

"It will be even easier with the wagons to carry them back but since they are usually so large we will probably still have to process them where they are killed." Raalto added.

"I'm sure that you're right and it will also be easier to get there with the wagons and horses. Raalto, I would like for you to ask among the people here to see if any of them want to go along."

"I'm sure that many will want to go but I will ask and get a count. It will be a new experience for them, going on a mammoth hunt without having to travel the long distance on foot and not needing to carry the meat home on their backs." He said.

Eileiea came in from the new entrance of the unmated women's quarters then and came over to sit by me. I hadn't realized that she had stayed all night with the sick man but I should have.

"How is your sick one Eileiea?" I asked her.

"He warmed up during the night and wanted to get out of bed just now but I told him to stay where he was for a while longer." She told us.

"Did you find out anything about him?"

"Yes, he was a messenger and Dunto sent him with a message for you. He left their camp before noon the day before the snow but he didn't know exactly where to find you. He went and asked at Jadatako's camp first but Jadatako couldn't tell him the way. He found out where our camp was from Kodontolo finally but he was far behind schedule and night caught him where you found him. He said that by the time he woke the next morning there was already too much snow for him to try and travel with only the light clothing that he had so he tried to bundle up in his tent and stay warm." She told us.

"It is a good thing that we found him then since he was not able to stay warm enough." I said.

"No he wasn't, he wasn't so near death by the time you got him here but he was near enough and I'm sure that he is in much better shape now than he would have been if he'd stayed in his tent. He is young and only became a man this year. If he'd been older he would have probably known better than to try and stay where he was with no fire. Even a small fire in his tent would have probably saved him." She said.

"How soon do you think he will be able to get up?"

"I told the women that are keeping him warm that they could let him get up as soon as their presence made his member rise. When that happens he will be warm enough to get up and get dressed." She said and giggled.

"I guess that will mean he is mostly recovered." I agreed.

More of my mates came out of the bedroom then and Deimeta was with them. She smiled when she saw me and came over to take a seat in my lap.

"Have you already eaten Daddy?" She asked.

"Yes but I did manage to leave a little for your breakfast."

"Good, I'm hungry this morning. Will we go out so that you can show me the snowman soon?" She asked.

"We will have to build the snowman before we can look at him."

"Then you will have to show me how it is done." She said.

"I will show you after you've eaten and then put on warmer clothes. I don't want you to get too cold."

She was satisfied with my answer and when Shelalliea brought her plate she started eating, never leaving my lap. It was fine with me and it gave me a pleasant feeling inside somehow.

When Deimeta finished her breakfast Winna took her back to the bedroom to help her put on warmer clothes. Apparently my favorite alien had added to her wardrobe while we were having breakfast because she came out with a thicker pair of trousers, which on closer inspection turned out to be insulated. She was also sporting a nice insulated jacket with an attached hood and she had a pair of warm gloves.

I went to the bedroom to put on my coat and Jaada, Winna, Jara and Taaheita came with me to do the same. It looked like Deimeta wasn't the only one who wanted to see a snowman.

When we went outside it was still snowing but not as heavily as yesterday. There was plenty on the ground though, probably twelve to fourteen inches. It didn't take long to turn a handmade snowball into something bigger and soon we had the base of Frosty in place. We repeated the process for the torso and as we got it done I saw that others had come out to join in and that several snowmen were in progress.

We made the head then and after we had it in place I went to the horse cave to get a few pieces of the dried bison dung to make eyes and a mouth and I found two long sticks for arms and a shorter, thicker one for the nose. Going back to our creation I installed these final pieces and proclaimed him done. Deimeta was delighted with our handiwork and the fun and when I told her his name was Frosty she laughed and wanted to build him a mate so we did it all again.

By the time Mrs. Frosty was done we were all as cold as we wanted to get so we went inside. Frank must have taught my mates to make hot chocolate at some time in the past because they had some ready. I stuck with coffee but Deimeta had a serving of the sweet chocolate brew in her smaller insulated mug. She loved this too and she looked so happy that it made me happy too. Of course she hadn't looked really sad at any time, even when I first found her she had only seemed resigned to her fate. Now her fate was considerably improved and it made me feel good and worthwhile.

Playtime was over for a while now and we were relaxing, Deimeta in my lap, drinking our warm drinks. Deimeta put hers down suddenly and looked up at me.

"John, can you teach me to ride one of the horses, it looks like fun." She asked me.

"I'm sure that I can and I think that there is one of the horses that is small enough for you. When the snow is gone we will try it." I told her but it brought to mind another type of children's horse to me.

When we'd finished our sipping I let Deimeta down and she went to find Malooto while I went in search of Mundo. I found him in his new quarters and had a little talk with him that included a few drawings made with a stick on the dirt floor. After he agreed that he and his friends could probably make what I wanted I told him that I would be back with better drawings and a few tools he might be able to use.

Back in my office I contacted the Aliens and though Argent wasn't there the operator said that he thought he could help me. I idly looked through the thumbs and then checked on Caato's old camp while I waited.

At the camp I could see that some of them had been outside today. It was easy to see that they had been out trying to find something but I couldn't tell what they had been after and before I could study them very closely I got a tingle and looked up.

My request had been filled and there was a twenty-four-inch square piece of paper with two views of a rocking horse on it. On the floor beside my desk was an open top wooden toolbox with a handle. It was filled with chisels, knives and a few hammers and mallets. There were also some smaller handsaws in sizes that would be better for woodworking. I grabbed the toolbox in one hand and the drawing in the other and headed back to Mundo's place.

When I arrived I showed him the drawing first; it had no measurements since they didn't have any way to use such things yet. I held my hand about two feet off the ground to give him an idea and it would have to do. Showing him the new tools next brought a smile to his face and after a little more discussion I went back to my cave while he went to find his friends.

I sat at the table beside Georgo and Waaya brought me some coffee. I asked Georgo what was happening with him this morning and he told me that he was concentrating on staying out of the way.