Chapter 12

It was lunch time by the time I spoke to Dawn about the three widows coming to learn how to build a fish trap. She was happy that I suggested to the elder that the women bring something to trade for the knowledge. The elder must have mentioned something to Jannock and the other men because they all came with trades as well.

Jannock introduced his brother Hannock and his friend and cousin Diannok. They gave me some beautifully cured buckskin that hadn't been cut or sewn on yet as well as a necklace with what looked like turquoise stone on it. I accepted these gifts happily and we got started.

I grabbed my axe and we went into the woods.

"Jannock, is there a type of wood nearby that stays supple and strong once it dries? I want to see if you pick the same type of wood as I used in the crossbows my mates carry. If so, we need to collect some of it and set it aside to dry," I said.

"There is a type of wood I know of that is called oak," he said.

I just shook my head.

"Then what do you recommend Frank?" Diannock asked.

"There is a tree that bears nuts," I said. "These nuts have four seams in the outside cover and are good to eat. Are there any of these trees nearby? My people call them hickory nuts. More specifically, these are called pignut hickory nut trees. Their wood is usually tight and long grained. We need to find many young straight trees about this big around (indicating with my hands about 18 inches) that do not have knots in them. We will carve bows out of any we find that have already dried and bring more back to the village to dry. The arrows will be made from another type of wood."

Jannock started laughing.

"We will find all that you could ever want if we go a few miles south along the river. There are wet areas where these trees grow in thick stands. We hunt pigs there quite often as they are good meat and easy to get once you know how," said Jannock.

"You lead," I said and we took off at a jog on a trail leading almost due south.

After about an hour, we came to the trees. Jannock wasn't joking about the number of trees there. Women with men guarding them were all over the place gathering the nits in woven bags and baskets. It was a popular place. Hannock volunteered that the people gathering there were from another village about a mile to the south. They shared this area with the other village.

There were some decent deadfalls about 10 of 15 feet tall that were about 18 inches in diameter and had straight trunks on them. The wood would be cured already and would make it easier to get started soon on making the bows. We moved to the first one and I cut it off with my axe about 8 feet in length. I would trim it more at another time. Once split and divided, we could get our four bows from this one tree but I wanted to find another if we could. I knocked all of the branches off and picked it up on my shoulder and we went looking for another one.

As we were moving west, we heard a woman scream ahead of us. My companions brought their spears up to a defensive position and I set my log down to free my bow and nock an arrow. I could tell these guys spent a lot of time together. They set themselves close together with their spears out and ready for anything.

We moved toward where we heard the scream from at a fast walk while watching all around us for any threats. After about 50 yards, we saw a woman up a tree with the biggest damn bear I ever saw trying to climb up after her. It had to be at least 15 feet tall. She kept climbing and screaming trying to escape the bear.

The men with me started moving away as if to leave her.

"Where are you going?" I asked them.

"The Hunger has chosen his prey. There is nothing we can do to help that poor woman. Her best chance is to climb high enough that the branches won't hold his weight and he will fall," said Jannock.

"BULL SHIT!" I said. "I'm going to help her if I can. I wish I would have brought my spear. It would be the best weapon for taking down that damn monster."

They all looked at me like I was crazy.

"I can kill it." I said running forward to get a clear shot and I fired at the beast's backbone.

The bear made a terrible noise and its back legs were left dangling. Smiling to myself, I grabbed Diannock's spare spear from his back and advanced on the bear. It couldn't claw its way up without the support of its hind legs and was coming down claw over claw. I knew had his ass now. I had read about a similar situation in a book about a man stranded on an island years ago and recalled what to do next perfectly.

I planted the butt of the spear in the ground to my left, nocked another broad head and stepped within 10 feet of the tree waiting for the furry beast to get closer. When his feet were about 6 feet from the ground, I released my shot. It hit just behind his skull. I jumped away and grabbed the spear just in case and heard him slam into the ground behind me.

I jumped into the air and slammed the spear straight through the chest of the monster bear from the side. He never moved so I slit his throat with my alien combat knife and walked back toward Jannock and the other two hunters. They had a shocked look on their faces.