Snatched by cmsix

Chapter 35

Damnation! I wondered what in the hell Nosey was up to at this hour of the night. I knew I must have been asleep for hours, but I also knew it was at least a couple more before dawn. No matter, I was awake now, and I made my way out of the furs and started on with my clothes.

As questions started flowing from my mates I finally got a whiff of what Nosey was complaining about, and I wanted to go kiss him. It was a vendal, probably about six hundred yards or so from us.

"It's a vendal, not very far away either, wake everyone," I said, to my mates.

By the time I was dressed it was obvious that they wouldn't need to wake many, and I was glad to see that Mayta and most of the other women were building up the main fire, and a couple of others. I made my way to Jalta's pallet.

"I know you want to get up, but don't. I'll have someone bring your spears for you and I want you to stay here unless the vendal makes it past me. Your job is to protect the women and children if it comes to that," I said, and he agreed but he didn't like it one bit.

It wasn't even necessary to ask anyone to fetch his spears though, because Mondaut came up with six of them in his hands a few seconds later. I could also see that others were arming the rest of the wounded men. I stood and told all them the same thing I'd told Jalta.

With that settled I found one of my flashlights in my saddlebags and turned to the group of able bodied men to give them a pep talk.

"Stay here at camp to guard the women and children. I think I can take care of the vendal, but I need the rest of you to stay here in case I can't. It isn't very close yet and it might not even come here. If it tries I will stop it," I said.

"Will you use the weapon you told me about?" Jalta asked, from his pallet.

"No. I have an even better weapon, but I can't make more of them for others. I wish I could. I have already killed a vadeesey with it and the vendal should be easier. Still, it is never a sure thing, especially in the night. You will hear the loud noise when I use it," I said, then I flicked on the light and headed for the smell.

As I left camp I realized again what a great help my unnatural sense of smell was to me here. It was too damned bad my eyesight didn't work better as well, but it didn't. I felt that I could see a little better in the dark, but it wasn't so apparent. When I was clear of the campfire's light I switched off the flashlight and stopped to let my eyes adjust.

Of course the two moons were doing a great job, but even they weren't so much help in the forest, still I could get around without tripping on things and my nose was leading the way.

I'd guessed that the vendal was somehow following our scent trail back from where we'd made our kills earlier in the day, but when I found it I knew that was wrong. It was minding its own business, scratching around under a large fallen and rotting tree, probably digging for grubs or some such. What the hell, that was his bad luck.

No matter, it was too damned close to our camp to let be. I took a rest on a low limb probably a hundred and fifty yards from it and held the flashlight alongside the M1's barrel, switching it back on again.

The light caught the vendal's eye right away and he looked directly toward me. I shined the light right in his eyes, hoping to ruin his night vision, and left it there for several seconds. Then I moved the light down toward its chest and tried to pick it up through the scope. When I managed to I shot twice, waited a few seconds and shot twice again.

He was wounded for sure, but not down yet, even though it was obvious I'd done a lot of damage. I put my eye to the scope again and managed two more shots. They must have been good hits also, because he was knocked down. I kept the light on him and waited, watching. He never made it back up, though he tried for a few minutes. Finally he slumped completely to the ground.

Approaching cautiously, I kept the light on him as I slung the M1 back on my shoulder and pulled the Glock. When I got close I could see that he was still breathing, but there was also a lot of blood running out of his mouth. I watched for nearly ten minutes until breathing got very ragged and then stopped, then I returned to camp.

"He is dead," I said, as soon as I was back.

"It is a miracle," Mayta said, right away.

"No, not a miracle, but damned lucky at that. Is anyone up for helping me load it onto a travois so we can bring it to camp?" I asked, and every man there was.

Mondaut had even paid enough attention earlier so that he could hitch a mare to the travois, put on her lead rope, and take off her hobbles. In minutes we were ready to leave to pick up our bonus meals. A loud Hello the camp from the direction of Caloe's Calak brought us to a halt before we'd even started.

It was Denac, come to see what the trouble had been and to make sure we didn't need more help.

"It was just a vendal, Denac. It wasn't even headed our way, but Nosey smelled it and woke us up. I guess he thinks it's better to be safe than sorry," I said.

"Nosey is right, and I assume no one was hurt."

"No one but the vendal. It is waiting peacefully in the woods for us to come and give it a ride to camp," I said.

"Naturally, to a man like you who had already killed a vadeesey by himself, a vendal is of little import," Denac said, and then laughed at me.

"Well, it didn't keep my ass from puckering, if that's what you're asking."

"There is no shame in that. I might as well go and help you load it," he said, and came along with us.

By the time we had the damned big thing back in camp false dawn was starting. I was glad for the meat and the big fur by now, but also glad we'd gone to sleep as soon after dark as we could. Denac had already gone back to his furs, or more likely to his breakfast. The others intended to leave nearly at first light.

The early morning vendal killing seemed to give the whole Calak a new confidence, especially in me. I didn't mind, but also didn't fail to tell them all that Nosey was the one who spread the alarm. No doubt the concept of a watch donkey was new to them, but it was apparent Nosey had gained quite a few friends anyway.

Breakfast was good and the early start had me ready for it. We didn't have the handy logs for mealtime here, but I found a nice big rock that let me sit and hold Lanita in my lap. We enjoyed our meal and then went to visit with our stock while the women were cleaning up.

I spent most of the time before lunch meeting, greeting, and getting to know the people. We'd soon be joining Caloe and Shaton's Calak but it would be better on these people if they were familiar with someone. I also happened to make a great discovery of my own.

Jocato exchanged names with me as soon as I approached him. I had been wondering what he was up to, and he was happy to show me. Jocato had discovered some iron of his own. When I asked he said that it had fallen from the sky. When I told him that we'd done the same thing he wanted to know if we'd been able to make anything from the metal.

"We haven't yet, but we collected very much of it. We are going to set up a special fire to heat it in at our new location," I said.

"I have tried heating it, and it does help a little, but I have only been able to pound the smallest pieces into anything useful. It seems that the material would help in many ways, but it is difficult to work with," he said.

"You will get plenty of time to work with it and some good tools too when we get to the new site. I will also teach you how to make a much hotter fire. When you can get the metal to glow red from the heat it is easier to work."

"Doesn't that make it too hot to pound on. Won't it burn your hand as you strike it with a rock?" he asked.

"It would if you used a rock, but I have some hammers made of similar material and they have a handle attached to them. You can pound the metal without the need for your hand to get near it."

"Yes, that would work, I should have thought of it myself. I am anxious to try this when we join the others," he said.

Lanita was waiting patiently on the rock when our lunch was delivered and I was glad to have a chance to talk to all my mates. I had been paying more attention to what they were up to this morning than they thought I had been.

"I saw you gathering the teeth and claws from the vendal, are you perhaps planning to enhance a certain necklace?" I asked, and they all blushed.

"You have caught us," Katia said, finally.

"I think we should discuss this before you get any farther along. I wouldn't mind wearing a necklace with a few of the teeth and claws, but with all of them it is just too big. It is already too big even before you add more," I said.

"But with more it will be even more impressive," Nita said.

"And who is impressed when it stays in the hut because it is already too big and cumbersome to wear?"

"He is right. He hasn't worn it but the one time," Shaeta said.

"It just so happens that I now have something that will make the necklace much easier to make. I will show you how to use it, and then you can make a necklace for all of us from both sets of teeth and claws.

"Don't you think it will be even more impressive when I provide a necklace for all my mates and children?" I asked, and I could see the light shining.

"That is an excellent plan," Katia said, and they all grinned and then came over to give me a little impromptu petting.

"Now, when will you show us the new way to make the necklaces?" Nita asked, after they'd all given me a couple of kisses and patted my ass a time or two.

"As soon as we get to the new caves. It would be to much of a distraction to start on that now," I said.

"Well, we can wait," Shaeta said.

They all went back to work but Lanita and I decided to take a ride, so we saddled Jeffry and Red, called Nosey and took off. We went to the main trail we'd been on first and sure enough the others were gone.

We kept exploring but didn't find anything worth mentioning, and we headed back to the Calak about two hours before lunch.

It was a little odd for me, but I was bored. Lanita and Nosey joined the other children. They were still enthused with the calves and even happier when Nosey and Lanita came to join them. For me though there wasn't really much to do.

More hunting would be senseless, since with the late night vendal hunt we now had more meat than we could possibly use during the few days we'd be here. The vendal would provide a little variety, but was really just overkill for our supplies. I could see that most of the men were sitting around without much to do either.

What the hell, I walked over to the closest one and asked if he'd check with the others to see if any of them wanted to get started on learning to work with the cashda, and he started asking around right away.

If I'd thought far enough ahead it would have been nice to have kept a couple of saddles that would fit the mares the others had left with us. I hadn't though so it would only be training them to lead. Still, it was better than nothing.

Every man showed up to watch and learn, every damned one of them. They even carried the pallets of the two with the worst wounds and Jalta, who couldn't really walk without doing damage to his stitches.

Using my head for something this time, I realized that Red and the girl's mares could do fine for leading practice, and even Jeffry seemed like he wouldn't mind training a few men himself. So we had a respectable number to work with.

It turned out better than I'd first thought it would. These men didn't know anything about it after all, and they were anxious to learn. It was mostly talking and giving hints for me, but I enjoyed it, it passed the time until lunch, and I could tell that the men appreciated my efforts.

After the break for lunch we got right back to it, and this afternoon I showed them how to attach a travois and we let Jalta and the other two non-ambulatory patients take a ride on it. Hell, they'd have to make a real trip on one in a few days, so they might as well find out what it was going to be like.

After supper that night Katia asked if I was going to start teaching the men to ride also. I explained that the saddles for Gertrude and Matilda had gone along with the others, to our new camp.

"Surely our saddles will do for a day or two," she said.

"Of course they would work well enough, but your new Zakat was too stupid to think of them. He was also too dumb to see about teaching some of the women to ride also," I said.

"You can't think of everything Daddy. You even forgot to ask Jeffry and I if we would teach the children that are large enough to learn," Lanita said.

"Well, at least we will have something useful to do tomorrow," I said, and promptly laid down to sleep.

I was the one who had to be roused out the next morning, but Lanita didn't wait very long. She began tickling me from her perch on my chest as soon as all my mates were gathered around to watch my eyes open.

"What a nice way to wake up in the morning," I said, "The only thing better I could think of would be breakfast in bed."

"Oh, Daddy, even you aren't that lazy. Get out of the furs and put your clothes on. We need to check on our stock," Lanita said, so I did.

While my mates headed for the cooking fire Lanita and I found bushes to water and fertilize, then we headed for Nosey and the three calves. We weren't even bothering with hobbles for the calves, since Nosey was easily capable of keeping them in line. A donkey that wasn't afraid to bite a full grown Clydesdale mare on the ass for encouragement wasn't afraid of three young thaka in the least. Besides, from the way the children had been petting the calves since they'd come here, we probably couldn't drive them off if we wanted to.

Apparently there'd been some discussion about the difference in the way this Calak usually prepared food and the way Caloe's did, because this morning the difference was more noticeable and also changed a little too. I asked my mates about it while I was stuffing in all I could.

"They use some different herbs and spices and do a few other things differently too. We are having vendal this morning and, to me, they do a better job with it than I've ever tasted before. It's also more tender," Katia said.

"It is very good," Lanita said, "and not as hard to chew."

The leading and riding lessons were on again after breakfast. We now had two saddles for the men and three for the women and of course Lanita and Jeffry provided the equipment for the children. The time seemed to fly by and lunch arrived sooner than I'd expected.

We had more vendal for lunch, and this time there was a type of vegetable that I didn't recognize in with it. I started to ask what it was but it was all so tasty that I didn't bother. Hell, I wasn't going to do any cooking and who knows, it might have been on a strictly need to know basis. I didn't need to know, I just needed to eat.

We went back to the riding lessons after lunch, and by the end of the day everyone here, except the three that were too badly injured to try it and the two babes in arms, had taken several turns.

About two hours after lunch Denac and Jekaycey rode up to camp, and I was a little surprised they were back so soon, but happy to see them.

"Did we get back sooner than you expected?" Denac asked, after dismounting.

"Yes, but I'm glad to see you anyway. How did you make it so quickly?"

"I owe it all to the quick thinking of my mate. When we arrived at the caves yesterday just shortly before dusk, everyone was too excited to start unpacking yet, they all had to explore. Jekaycey did some of it too but she mentioned to me that if we were up and gone before breakfast that I wouldn't have to help with all the unloading.

"Of course I was all for that, not that I wanted to get out of work or anything, I was just worried about you. Anyway, Jekaycey suggested to Caloe that we would volunteer for the arduous duty of leaving at first light the next morning and coming to make sure everything was going well here. Caloe gave her blessing and here we are," he said, and couldn't help from grinning like a fool.

"Caloe told me she'd send Caltort and some others tomorrow, with plenty of cashda, travois, and both the wagons so we can move your Calak to join our new site," Jekaycey said.

"Aren't we going to be a day or so late making it back for the others and the thaka?" Nita asked.

"Yes," I said.

"Won't they run out of food?" she asked.

"They will probably run out of what we left, but surely they won't starve with eighty or so thaka hanging around. If they go hungry a day from not slaughtering one it is there fault," I said.

"You are right and I didn't even think of that. I'll bet I would have if I were in that spot though," Nita said, and laughed.

Denac asked if I could use he and Jekaycey's mounts in the practice, but I declined. Buster and the mare had done their part today already and no doubt needed a little breather, besides our rotation for training was doing well as it was so we left things as they were until supper and then we ate and went to bed, or to furs.

The next morning we were having vendal again and Jekaycey and Denac both raved over it. It wasn't that it was so much better, or not to me anyway, it was just that it was good and it was different. I guess that did make it better, for a while anyway.

We laid off any equestrian practice today and spent most of the morning making things ready to pack up. We expected Caltort and the others to arrive near sunset today and we'd want to start packing early in the morning.

Caltort and company threw us a curve just after lunch, when he came riding into camp leading both wagons and fifteen men riding and leading fifteen travois Clydesdales. It was overkill for hauling this Calak but I was glad of it anyway.

"How did you get here so soon?" Denac asked Caltort when he dismounted.

"We started after lunch yesterday. Almost everything was unloaded by then, even if it wasn't put away. Caloe asked us to get started and we did. We slept on the trail last night and left at first light," he said.

"Well, it will save a day and that can't hurt a thing