Chapter 8

Pullar was more than happy to show me where the horses could usually be found. There was a small herd of about 10 animals there. I decided that getting two was better than getting one. As I moved toward the horses, Wolf and his pack came out of the woods on the other side. They maneuvered to get the herd moving in my direction. Pullar was quickly up a tree and told me I needed to climb up or be food for the wolves.

As a horse passed me by, I laid a hand on it. It was mine. Thankfully it was smarter than the woolly rhino was. I realized it was a young stallion. I moved quickly and laid hands on two more letting the rest escape. The wolves withdrew into the woods. They had no desire to be near humans other than the ones in our pack.

"The horses don't run from you now. What did you do?" asked a pale faced Pullar.

"It is a trick I learned not long ago. I can make most animals obey me if I can touch them. It doesn't work on people though. The wolves were my first try at taming wild animals and it worked. It doesn't work on woolly rhinos or people though."

I had the three horses follow us back to the village. I took some time to make collars for the horses to keep the weight centered on their chest instead of their back. No need to be cruel to my new friends. I made three long travois out of poles I cut from a stand of hardwood trees and bound with some of the cordage I was given in my basic kit. Then I covered them with some of the more worn hides from my hut.

"He really can tame animals?" Hollie asked

"Did you think we lied?" asked Assani

"Amazing!"

"Wait until you meet our pack of wolves to be impressed," said Tammi.

When they were finished, I had the horses come to the hut. I placed a collar around the chest and neck to ensure a good fit. Each horse got a collar that I made from some rawhide and wood padded with soft furs and dried grasses and showed my mates how to attach and load the travois to keep it balanced. Based on how much time it took to get this all done, we decided to leave for our cabin the next day.

We spent the rest of the day letting the people of the camp come and touch a live horse. The women in particular were enthralled. After a while of this, the horses sent me vivid pictures and feelings not unlike the wolves. They wanted water and grass.

I let them go to graze and get some water and showed them dawn and being attached to the travois again. I think they understood that they were on their own for the night and were expected back in the morning. I also whistled and sent to them an image of the three of them running toward me after the whistle.

We had dinner of a nice stew made with the fresh deer meat. I wished for some pepper but hadn't seen anything like it around. Maybe if I could find some radishes, I could dry them to season my meals with something like pepper. They had a slightly peppery taste. I'd have to keep my eyes peeled for them.

My mates and I all retired to our hut shortly after dark. I spent a few hours mating them all in whatever way they desired. Linda, my new red head, was especially vocal when I took her from behind, dragging my full length across her g-spot over and over again. When she peaked, her arms and legs collapsed out from under her but she seemed to float for a second or two before I felt her weight pulling me forward with her. Talk about things that make you go, "Hmmm."

The next morning, I whistled long and loud. All three horses came galloping into the camp. We attached the travois and there was more than enough room on them for the goods we were taking with us. I thanked everyone for their hospitality and we moved off towards home.

It took us the entire day to get back to the cave. Nothing seemed to be disturbed. There was no sign of the wolves even though everything was explained to our new additions as we walked towards home. I wondered where Wolf and the pack had gotten off to.

We got everything stowed in very little time and my mates asked me to hunt for some fresh meat.

As I was walking towards where the big herds usually stayed, Wolf showed up. He sent me a picture of another cave and of the pack in the cave with lots of space to move around. He was basically letting me know that the rest of the pack was nearby and that they were giving us room because we had new members.

I sent back a picture of a log house in front of the cave and with all of us living together there as pack.

He nodded and moved off into the woods.

I hunted for an hour with no luck. On my way back to the cave, I heard a screech and turned to see a sabretooth cat rushing in my direction. I smiled at Smilodon, drew my bow and hit it in the center of its chest in mid stride. The cat crashed to the ground and Wolf ran over and ripped its throat out. Good to know he was watching over me but it also explained why I couldn't find any game to hunt. Between the cat and the pack, the food animals must have moved off some.

I sent a picture of the herds running to the north from the pack and Wolf nodded. He vanished quickly into the underbrush. Hopefully his pack hunting further south would push the herds back towards us. If not, I could always ride a horse to get more distance from the cave. I also thought about setting fish traps in the river. It would be nice to have some fresh fish to eat. That was a task for another day. I gutted the cat, threw it over my shoulder and headed home.

With seven women helping, the meat processing went very fast. They all chased me off and told me to go wash. A little alone time in the river sounded good to me so I went down, disrobed and left all but my combat knife on the shore in the usual spot.

I was relaxing in the water and enjoying some me time when a spear skimmed the water not an inch from my face. I dove down and came up about 50 yards upstream from where I had been. There were four men with spears standing on the shore between me and my other weapons.

I took off at a full sprint going straight for them. Unfortunately for me, the closest one saw me coming and sounded an alarm. I dove behind him, coming up from a forward roll and punched my blade into his right kidney. The other men were running in our direction trying to flank me. I used the man that I was hiding behind as a shield, picked him up and ran straight at the man on my left. He was a big brute and I figured he would count on his strength to stop me from escaping.

The big guy went down when I used the man in front of me as a battering ram. I smashed their heads into each other at my top speed. Blood was flying and I broke right. Gaining my bow, I quickly dropped another man who brought a spear to a bow fight. The last man took off running into the undergrowth. I nocked another arrow and waited for my shot. He appeared for a moment between two trees and I released the arrow. My shot wasn't perfect but it did hit him high in the back of his thigh.

He attempted to run and then tried to hold me off with his flint knife but I was done messing around and with a flourish, I disemboweled him. I made my way back to my clothes and dressed quickly. The big guy I slammed with the other guy was moaning and holding his head. Blood was running pretty profusely down his face. I walked over and used my old trick to knock him unconscious with the pommel of my combat knife.