Snatched by cmsix

Chapter 12

I considered us through for the day, because I could tell that Denac had done enough in his condition, even if he didn't think so. He was all set to start chopping the big tree down but I knew that it would not do a thing good for his head. It wasn't too hard to convince him we needed to take the rest of the day off.

When he looked around to grab a bag to take back he was puzzled for a few seconds, since there was only the last one remaining. Shaeta and Katia had hold of it together and they looked like they meant to carry it back themselves.

"But where did it all go?" Denac asked.

"We told the other men that came to stand and watch you two working to take it back to camp as they went," Shaeta said.

"Well, it wasn't exactly us that told them. We mentioned it to mother and she mentioned it to daddy and things took a life of their own after that," Katia said, and then the two of them laughed, followed by Denac and I.

They took off with the honey bag while Denac and I looked around a little more. I showed him where the fire had started and told him I thought a falling star had done it.

"You may be right. All the ones I've seen looked to be on fire when they were falling," he said.

"I will tell you a secret about them," I said, and he looked at me with obvious curiosity.

"What?"

"They sometimes have a very hard core that can be useful if you can find it. After we have the tree down and tended to I hope to dig down and see if the core is still there," I said.

"I will help. Just tell me what we need to do," he said.

"Good, we will see after we are done with the tree, I want some honeycomb badly," I said.

"Do you mind if I asks you why?"

"No, and I don't mind telling you. My mates asked too, but I told them they would like it better if they waited to see what I had in mind. I think you will like it better if you know why I want it now.

"If we melt the comb and then keep dipping a small grass stem into it, it will harden again on the stem and begin to build up a coating. It takes time, but when you are done you will have a candle.

"You can light the part of the stem that is still sticking out from the candle and it will keep burning for a long time. The flame melts the wax and it moves up the stem and burns. It will give light for hours. It isn't very much light, but you don't need much when it is night and there is practically none anyway," I said.

"I can see where that would be a big help. I am anxious to get the comb now and see you make a candle," he said.

"I am too," I said, but I didn't tell him it was so I could have more light to see my mates naked.

We went back to camp then and ate our delayed lunch. Shata had made sure some was saved for us and Shaeta told me why later.

"Mother has always made sure to do something nice for Denac anytime he finds honey and brings it in. This will not be the only thing either. Watch and see what he gets to eat the next day or two, maybe it will even last longer. Mother likes honey better than anyone in the Calak," she said.

"Yes, even more than my mother does. That is one reason that Denac has never been chastised over much for his disagreeable behavior. Everyone likes honey but no one likes finding and getting it. Denac has always made up for his poor behavior with his excellent skills at finding it," Katia said.

"There is no telling what you will be rewarded with if you have made him pleasant to be around," Shaeta said, and then they both giggled.

"Have either of you decided what to name the calf?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"Are we going to name it?" Katia asked.

"Yes, I think we should, and we should do it before it gets big enough for everyone to see how much help it will be," I said.

"Why?" Shaeta asked.

"So they won't be tempted to call it Zakat or Matatu," I said.

"Do you really think it will be that helpful?" Katia asked.

"How much do you think others would like a man that could pull six travois by himself?"

"He would be everyone's best friend, even if he were disagreeable all of the time," Shaeta said.

"When the calf is grown he will easily be able to do that, and with the way people are treating it now it will always be in a good mood.

"I think we should name it Buttercup," I said.

"But what is butter?" Katia asked.

"It is a type of food made from milk. We won't have any butter until I can get some female calves and raise them like we are doing Buttercup," I said.

"We will just have to wait then, but I don't see any reason not to call this one Buttercup if you want to. As you told Denac, it is your calf," Shaeta said, and Katia agreed, so it was a done deal.

They went to help their mothers and the other women then, since it was about time to get supper going, even though Denac and I had just had our lunch. He had gone back to his hut to rest after he finished.

I was at loose ends for the moment so I tracked down Caloe and had to ease her away from the meal preparations. I was hoping that the newly arrived honey and my part in getting it would aid my case. I wanted some hides to make a rope from and I knew that we had gained several lately.

Even though we had the new arrivals I knew that hides were always important and I didn't know how many they'd had before they started their move. Still, I was going to ask.

I knew better than to waste her time hemming and hawing and so I just spit it out. I wanted three to four hides to make something and I asked her what I needed to do to get them.

"We have plenty but we haven't had time to tan them yet," she said.

"Excellent, I do not need for them to be tanned. I only need to scrape the hair and flesh off them," I said.

"Oh, they have already gone that far. What are you going to make," she asked.

"Do you remember the small rope I caught Buttercup with?" I asked, forgetting for a moment that she would not know the name yet.

"Buttercup?"

"The calf. We only just decided on its name and I forgot that you wouldn't know yet," I said, explaining.

"Buttercup. It has a nice sound, but I don't know what butter is," she said.

"It is made from milk and is good to eat, but mostly only with other things. It will take a while before I can catch some female calves and raise them until they are old enough to give milk. After I have we can make butter," I said.

"But how is it made?" she asked.

"It is a little complicated, but it is called churning. I have something else to make before we can churn the milk, even if we had it," I said.

"I will just take it on faith. If you want only the raw hides you can have several, especially since you seem to have little trouble bringing them in with the meat and organs still inside them," she said, and then laughed.

"I'm happy to bring them in like that. They are not fun to gut," I said.

"If you can convince the other men of that you will be one of my favorites," she said.

"Better than that, if I get a rope or two made all the men will be able to bring their kills back like that, and with less trouble than gutting," I said.

"Then you may have every hide here," she said, and I could see that she was serious.

"I only need three or four for one rope, but I'm hoping I can get Jagbac to make one for himself also. If he does I will teach him how to use it and he can help me with other things once he has it, if he will," I said.

"I will be glad to let you have four hides, or even more if you need them, to make your rope. Once I see it I'm sure that you can have more for a rope for Jagbac too, if you need them. I wish I understood how you will make ropes out of them though," she said.

"If you have time I can show you something that will let you understand it."

"I will make time, show me please," she said.

It only took a couple of minutes to walk to the hut and find a short piece of the sash cord. I did and returned, showing Caloe how it was machine plaited. She was amazed with that, and when I told her that a much stronger rope could be made by cutting the skins into slender thongs and plaiting them like the sashcord she was more amazed.

In fact I think she was skeptical, but she led me to a kind of storage hut that had gone up without my notice and let me pick out four hides. I took what looked to be the largest four and then we left. She went back to her cooking and I took the hides to our hut.

Of course the hides were stiff since they were completely dry. I'd have to wet them so they'd soften a little, one at a time, and then cut thongs from them while they were still damp.

I had no idea how long this would take but did know it could be done. I also knew I had a couple of Xacto knives and several blade for them. Long ago I'd learned how handy they could be when camping, especially if you ended up with a thorn or splinter in your hide, your own hide.

Mealtime was too near to go off to a stream for hide soaking now. It would be pointless anyway since night was coming soon and light would be needed to cut thongs, no matter what kind of knife I had.

I set the hides to the side in the hut and hoped I hadn't put them in the way of any thing my mates had in mind. If I had it would be easy enough to move them.

At supper I found out that Denac wasn't the only one who had a few extra treats. I was a beneficiary of the largess myself and I didn't mind it a bit. It wasn't like anyone was going hungry or anything like that. Denac and I just happened to get a little something that was extra tasty. I didn't even know what it was, but it was good.

Of course my mates spied the hides as soon as we entered the hut. They put me to the question right away but at least they were gentle. If I'd had any idea what would have happened I would have told them about it as soon as I thought of it.

As I explained what I needed they told me it sounded much too complicated for a man to do. They were experienced hands at cutting thongs and let me know right away they were going to do it.

They were a little shocked that I wanted so much cut into thongs and that I wanted them to be as long as they could manage, hopefully sixty-five or seventy feet each, but they still cheerfully claimed the duty.

When I showed them the Xacto knives I'd planned on using they were thrilled with them. They'd never had any type of knife so small and so durable either. When they found out that it was simple to sharpen them after they were dull they liked them even more.

"I feel a little guilty letting you do so much work to make my rope," I said.

"Nonsense. We do things like this all the time. You're a man, go out and kill something to eat while we do it. And if you get another thaka, with a female calf this time, so much the better," Katia said, and then the two of them giggled.

They were a little frisky after I put out the oil lamp but I made them confess that they were still sore down there were most of the fun took place. They claimed that a little fun in the furs would still be wonderful, but I knew they were putting that on, so I told them that I was probably too tired to do a proper job tonight.

We snuggled down naked into our furs and I went to sleep with a beautiful head resting on each arm. Things like that can make a man happy to go to sleep and even happier to wake up the next morning.

As soon as we woke, right at sunrise, I could tell that something had my mates' attention.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Breezus has done a small job in the night," Shaeta said.

"Do you know who it was?"

"The woman is Jekaycey but we can't tell who the man is. We won't know until she finds him, and she is probably still sleeping in her hut with her parents," Katia said.

I remembered who Jekaycey was at once; she was one of the tallest women in the Calak. She was a little older than most of the other unmated females too, and I'd wondered about it from the time I first got the details. I got a little inkling of my own then, but I'm sure it wasn't any Breezus letting me in on things.

The process of elimination was what I used. She was the biggest single female and guess who was the biggest unmated male? Right in one, Denac. Apparently Breezus, or someone, had decided that he was acceptable after the braining I gave him. I just had to let my mates know how clever I was.

"I guess Denac won't be without a mate much longer," I said.

"You should not make fun of it, Carl. Mating is a serious thing. Shaeta and I both hope that Denac will find a mate soon, but he has been here a long time without one and it is probably hopeless," Katia said.

"And how long has Jekaycey been old enough for mating?" I asked.

"Longer than Denac has been with us. Caloe and mother have almost given up on her ever finding a suitable mate. Matatu even said that her intended mate might have been killed trying to find our Calak," Shaeta said.

"It just shows that men should not be spouting off when they are over their heads. He may be Matatu but he is still a man, trying to make sense of things that don't concern him," Katia said, and then they both looked at me and laughed.

I got my chance to laugh at them not two minutes later. We were barely out of the hut before we saw Jekaycey heading almost directly toward Denac's hut, just as he was coming out with a dazed look on his face that hadn't been put there by a blow to the head.

My mates both turned to look at me, open mouthed, and amazed. I acted as if nothing was happening and they finally regained control.

"Seems to me that sometimes men are not spouting off just because you think they are," I said, keeping a serious look on my face for about five seconds before ruining the effect by bursting into laughter.

"We should make him fetch his own breakfast this morning Shaeta," Katia said.

"With mother and Caloe still tasting the honey he and Denac got yesterday, how much chance do you think there can be that it will happen," Shaeta said.

"Damnation, can you believe it? We have been outsmarted by a man. Tell no one, and if he does, we will lie about it," Katia said, and then we all laughed again.