Chapter 6

The next day brought me information that set the pace for the remainder of the day and helped solve a couple of questions that had been floating about in my mind during the night. The fact came out that the other slaves didn't like Caitlin and Rory and as the eldest male, a man called Bolo told me over breakfast, while they appreciated the fact that Kola and I had rescued them the night before, the group didn't like me either. It quickly became apparent that these people all came from villages that had some kind of folktale or legend about outworlders and the evils that came in their wake. With this in mind they really didn't want anything to do with us.

In reality it didn't bother me too much when Bolo told me this. One of the things that had worried me last night was the thought that they'd want to tag along behind me as Kola and I headed south. While I had come to appreciate all the help Kola had given me so far during my trek about Game World and her companionship, I really wasn't ready to accept responsibility for anyone else. After all, there was always the danger that Kola could be killed during an attack on me. My invitation to Caitlin and Rory had been predicated on the realization that if I left them to fend for themselves, the chances were that they'd end up as slaves again in another village or worse, most likely dead. Bolo's news that he and the others wanted to pack up and leave as soon as possible lifted a burden off of my back and my conscience. However leaving would be delayed by another day.

The truth was that the group was exhausted by their time in bondage and the trek that the slave master had put them through. They needed rest and food before leaving and they needed provisions. I might be glad that they were leaving but I certainly wasn't going to rush them off without the wherefore all to survive. Fortunately the caravan turned out to be as much of a treasure trove as had the packs belonging to the three men who had attacked Kola and me weeks ago.

I recruited the men to help me unpack the possessions belonging to the caravan. That included Rory. It proved to be an interesting exercise. Barak, the leader of the slave caravan, hadn't just been trading in people. Along with all the things that he and his men had needed to survive out on the plains and in the forests to the north-west were bundles of finely worked skins and rich warm furs. I learned from Bolo that Barak traded metal knives and spear tips along with other trinkets like glass beads and pottery to the various bands for the skins and furs and for the people that he'd acquired. I also learned that the men had over heard the camel drovers speaking from time to time about the wealth that Barak expected to gain by selling the skins and furs along with the people at the market in Stone Lodge.

While the sight of the skins and furs impressed me, for I knew from my other memories that they constituted a small fortune, it was the food that we unpacked that excited me to no end. Barak had provided well for himself and his men. While the slaves had eaten a thin porridge made from oatmeal during their days of captivity, the slavers had feasted. We found woven panniers stuffed with food. These panniers had hung from one of the pack frames that had been carried by a camel. Amongst the abundance were sacks of dried beans and lentils, wedges of hard cheeses, a mix of root vegetables, and plenty of dried fruit such as raisins, currents, and apricots. Along with the food there were large water skins that held couple of gallons of water each and most of them were still full. There was even a large skin filled with a wine that had come off of Barak's horse. It wasn't to my taste but I kept it. It might come in handy down the road. We even found sacks of feed for the animals amongst all the other goods.

In addition to the above mentioned goods there were the things that Barak had brought along for himself and his lieutenant and the things that his henchmen had carried on themselves. There was clothing and weapons and bedrolls and a pavilion type tent that Barak and his lieutenant had used. There was even collapsible furniture for the tent, including canvas covered wood framed chairs and cots. There was also money. I found coin purses on several of the bodies when we stripped them. These had contained a few copper coins and a set of dice. Barak had been carrying more. He had several gold coins as well as silver and copper ones. Unfortunately no one was left alive who could tell me their value. The slaves were all from bands of hunter / gatherers who didn't trade in coinage when they needed something. Still I pocketed the coins for later. They might come in handy.

By afternoon I had made three piles of goods. One pile was for Kola and I and for Caitlin and Rory. Thus our pile included carrying packs for the two teens, clothing that we'd salvaged from the dead men that they could use, an assortment of survival gear like fire starter kits, and weapons. Rory wanted my spear and I gave it to him. While the boy was a foot shorter than me, he was still the height of a grown man on Game World and it was very likely that with proper food he would grow some more. The spear would be a perfect weapon for him. As well I made certain that he took a knife. Caitlin chose a couple of bronze knives and that was it. She had no interest in any of the other weapons that we'd taken, although I'd seen her eye Kola's bow from time to time and I had a good idea that I'd be buying her one sometime in the near future.

The second pile of goods was for the other slaves. I gave them the camels since I had no need for them and I made certain that they had plenty of supplies to take with them, including food and some furs and skins. I even gave them most of the weapons we'd taken from Barak's henchmen, keeping only what Caitlin and Rory had wanted and the weapons of Barak and his lieutenant. Those weapons were finely crafted and probably worth something in a place like Stone Lodge.

The last pile was stuff that none of us wanted. This pile was the smallest and it included mostly the blood clothing of the men that I'd killed that couldn't be salvaged and Barak's furniture. While the furniture was impressive and functional, it required animals to drag it about and it was impractical for people moving about on foot.

With the separating of the goods taken care of and much of the day still with us, I decided to take the men out hunting for some fresh meat. I took my longbow and quiver while Bolo and the two other men in his group, and Rory carried spears. With a good-bye to Kola and Caitlin and a water skin thrown over my shoulder, I led them off. We headed up the hill in the direction that Kola and I had come from and after a steady jog of a couple of hours, we found ourselves back out on the plains. Then while we all paused for a drink and a catching of our breath, I dug out my spy glass and had a look around. As it turned out luck was with us still and I was able to spot a herd of bison about a mile away. It put a smile on everyone's faces when I pointed them out.

The hunt turned out to be anti-climactic for the men with me. Once we got within bow range I told them all to wait and watch. Of course Rory was the only one amongst them that knew what a bow was and all he did was smile when I brought my bow up and took aim on a large male that was grazing at the periphery of the herd. With a twang I let the arrow go and then nocked a second one. To my delight the first arrow drove in to the bull behind its front foreleg and sank deep enough to pierce something vital. The bull dropped with the one arrow. Having a second arrow nocked I quickly picked out a cow and dropped her as well. The three other men just stood there stunned at what I had done.

That night we ate a feast of bison and told stories and then went to bed. I had divvied up most of the kill with the group of ex-slaves knowing that the three men would have a hard time feeding all those women. I also gave them the skins much to Kola's chagrin. The woman was getting tired of leaving behind the proof of my skill as a hunter. That night Kola and I kept everyone awake once more and then in the morning, after a delicious breakfast, our two groups parted.

We waited until they were out of sight and then headed out ourselves. We walked leading the three horses that I had claimed.

Our trek took us towards the water that Kola and I had seen before we'd run into the caravan and the slaves. Having no idea where Stone Lodge was or even if I really wanted to go there, it made sense to pace ourselves. Besides I needed to talk to Caitlin and Rory and I needed to teach them a few things. While Rory might like my spear, I doubted whether he'd ever handled one before and I knew that in a fight, inexperience could cost lives. Like I had trained Kola on the bow and in a little self defence, I intended doing the same with the kids. However first I told them the facts of life.

"You're kidding?" Rory bellowed as we walked along side by side and chatted in English.

I'd chosen to speak to them in our shared tongue so that anything spoken about parallel universes and travelling between them and about Game World in general would remain between us. While I cared for Kola I also felt certain that this was a topic that she would not understand. Still before getting into it with the kids, I had forewarned my mate that we'd be speaking our own language and then explained the need to do so. As I said, I didn't share with Kola the secrets that I knew but I made it plain that what we spoke about would be like discussing the secrets of the spirit world. I used this analogy as I knew that most hunter / gatherers, while respecting the spirits that they believed to live about them, also feared them and the world they lived in and that only shamans delved into those matters. When I told Kola this she quickly accepted that I wasn't trying to exclude her, for by now she understood that I wasn't really of her world and that implied that I had come from the spirit world. I didn't bother correcting her thoughts on that matter.

Rory didn't take the news that his mother and father had died for the entertainment of bored humans in another universe. Caitlin wasn't happy either, although she wasn't as expressive about it as her brother had been. He raged against the network managers who controlled Game World and then against everyone who was probably watching us right that very second. I just let him get it out of his system. It was Caitlin that ended his rant by asking me a simple question.

"Can we help you succeed in your mission?"

"Yes," I told Caitlin in a low voice, smiling my thanks at her as I did and then glancing towards her brother who'd stopped shouting when he had heard his sister's question. "To be honest with you, I have to say that this next year is going to be long and hard and very dangerous and you'd probably be safer away from me, but if you want to help, I would appreciate it. Of course I'll do everything to help you as well. The last thing that I want is for either of you to get hurt helping me. I'd regret that for the rest of my life."

"Will it mean a chance to revenge our parents?" Rory wanted to know. His face was stern and his shoulders were squared and his voice was very serious and I knew that the boy wanted blood. Still I had to be honest with him.

"I don't know," I replied solemnly. "What I know is that if I survive the year, the other Earth will sign a treaty with the Earth that is home to Victoria and her people. The one's currently running Game World will stop sending people here like they sent you and your parents. The impression I got from Victoria was that taking people from worlds that knew nothing about parallel universes and dropping them ill equipped or unprepared on Game World was their biggest concern, so the chances of you getting blood revenge is slim at best. I think that if I win and I'm planning on doing that, Game World would continue but with new rules. How that plays out in the future, I'm not certain about and I'm also not certain what will happen to me if I win. My impression from Victoria was that I'd get to decide what I wanted to do next. I could stay here or go with her to her world. Unfortunately that is all in the future and we can only focus on today."

It wasn't the answer that Rory wanted but in the end he accepted that it was all that I could offer him at the moment. Besides I did say that stopping the kidnapping of people from other worlds and bringing some kind of regulation to Game World was a kind of revenge, if you looked at it in the right way. For the time being Rory tried to do that and from what I could see it helped.

We arrived at the lake two days later. The lake was a long finger of water that had formed in a depression situated between slopes leading up to the plains towards the north and the foothills to the south. The lake was no more than a mile wide at its widest point but it appeared to be fairly long. Even with my spy glass I wasn't able to see the far end of it. Where we'd halted was the eastern end of the lake, where the lake turned into a broad river that flowed south-east along the southern hills. In this area the land fell gently towards the water's edge, making our descent to it quite easy. The shoreline was bracketed by reeds, tall grasses, and an abundance of edible plants. We made camp on a small knoll overlooking the lake, dropping our gear and picketing the horses before going out to search for firewood, kindling, or anything that would fuel our campfire.

It didn't take us long to set up camp or to gather the needed fire wood and when we were done I decided that Rory and I would go off and track down some supper. We left Kola and Caitlin with Tok. While we were out doing our manly thing, the women were going to walk the shoreline and see what they could gather to help supplement the meat we would be bringing home. With promises that we'd be careful, we took off. I took my longbow and quiver with me and Rory brought the spear.

We headed west along the shore for a mile or so and then turned north-west in search of anything that we could spot. As we ran along we kept an eye out for any possible problems. Our route north-west took us up a rise and back out on the plain. The land here was rougher and more broken than it had been further east. I spotted several dry gullies here and there that ran towards the south and the lake. We kept to one of them for a bit in hopes of spotting something to put in our cooking pot. We did but I decided not to try for it. As we ran along, I spotted some movement in the gully below us. Unfortunately, what I saw was a snake and while my memories told me that I'd eaten snake before I wasn't in the mood for it tonight, especially since I needed to feed three other people. I waved Rory off and then we headed onwards again, this time away from the gully and more out into the open plain.

Eventually we spotted a small herd of wild cattle. They were just slowly moving along heading away from us. I slowed our pace to a walk upon seeing them and then slowly led Rory around them, keeping a far distance away so that we'd be walking into the light breeze when we finally moved in for the kill.

The kill was as quick and as easy as it had always been for me. We worked our way to within four hundred yards of the herd and then I picked my target and let fly with my first arrow. Even before the first arrow had struck, I had nocked a second one and fired it as well. Both arrows struck their mark, one hitting just behind the head of the cow and the other striking just behind the near side foreleg of the beast. The cow dropped almost instantly. We just stood in place and waited and watched.