Chapter 21

We rode out of the encampment the next morning with the best wishes of Agar. With us rode Gogra, his younger brother. In addition to our mounts, I was leading a pair of pack horses. That had been another surprise for the Horse People.

I’d spent the afternoon the day before, educating Balto and the kids on how to take care of the cattle. Agar I was showing how to hunt from horseback. Both exercises had gone well.

Balto and the kids had caught on fast. The young ladies were over their fright of the big animals as soon as they got their hands on the calves. From there on, everything was dandy. They learned to milk the cows, though that wouldn’t be one of their jobs at the moment, and they got to taste the stuff. I even made some butter for them to taste.

That had been fun. I’d had to search high and low to find a container that would do the trick for us. I hadn’t packed anything along with us as I hadn’t planned capturing cattle at all. Eventually Tisa came up with a horn container that had a stopper in it. With that in hand, some milk, a pinch of salt, and a lot of muscle power; I made a batch of butter for everyone to try. I even had some pan biscuits for them to try it on. I’d made them the night before, and we had a couple left from breakfast that came in real handy. To put it bluntly, the butter was a hit. Naturally I sent a sample off to Agar. After all, I knew which side of the bread to put the butter on!

The hunting went just as well. Tonko had made the lances as I’d asked, while I’d been rounding up the cattle that morning. He’d traded a couple of the wolf pelts for flint points similar to the arrowheads on his arrows, and he’d attached them to the lances that he’d fashioned at our campsite.

I did warn Agar that the lances would have to be improved on by his own weapons makers, as these had been made quickly for the demonstration I was putting on. When I rode out with him and his brothers, I had no idea if the lances would work. I had my bow along with me for backup, as did Tonko and Sygor. They were riding with us.

We got really lucky in our ride, coming upon a herd of buffalo grazing near the river. There were at least twenty animals in the herd, but we had only eight lances spread out between the six of us. I had one and Tonko had one. The rest were distributed between Agar and his brothers.

We didn’t just ride in and start jabbing the bison. Firstly, it would have scattered the herd; and secondly, I doubted that the lances would withstand the impact. These weren’t jousting lances like those used by ‘knights of old.’ These were more like the lances used by the Plains people of North America: light weight stabbing weapons.

I took the lead so that the others would see how it was done, before they tried it. I even split our group up. I put Agar and his brother near the head of the herd, knowing full well that once I began my attack the herd would start to run. Their initial leap to safety would take them directly towards Agar. I had Tonko follow me in, while I had Sygor sit off a bit with his bow ready to take down any animal that got by us.

I approached the herd slowly, just as I had with the cattle that morning. I knew that to the buffalo the horse wasn’t a threat. The herd wouldn’t move away until I got too close or they caught my scent and decided it was time to move along. I was almost upon them when that happened. I was approaching a young cow when the herd started to move. At that point I prodded my big bay mare into a trot. Naturally that started the chain reaction.

The cow bellowed, the lead bull snorted and the whole herd started to move faster. Unfortunately for the cow, I was already moving faster than it was. I was on it before it had any idea that I was there. I leaned out and off centre as I came up along side the animal and then I jabbed my lance into the back of the animal. The cow cried out in pain and I pulled away, swinging my mount out of the way for Tonko to make his attack.

I’d told him to go for the same animal that I had gone for in our attack. As I said at the beginning, I had no idea if the lances would work or not. I had driven mine deep into the back of the cow and left it there, marking the cow for Tonko to see. I swung away and he came in at a canter. His lance drove in a second later and the cow went down.

Agar and his brothers were just as lucky as Tonko and I was. When the herd started to move, they rode in quickly from the other direction attacking with their lances. The lead bull had turned away, but other animals in the herd didn’t get away. Agar and Gogra shared a kill; while Mondo, the middle brother, claimed one by himself using both his lances to get it. Even Sygor brought down a young bull with a pair of well placed arrows. The only drawback to the whole process was that we had to get all that meat home! It was dark by the time we got back to the camp.

We’d left the two bison skins, the remaining wolf pelts, and a hefty amount of the bison meat that Tonko, Sygor, and I had killed with Balto’s and Moya’s families. The women would see to it that the skins got stretched, cleaned and properly worked for us, in exchange for the food we’d provided them. We left them all on reasonably good terms.

The ride south to the pass took us three days. Fortunately we were well supplied, and even more fortunate was the fact that instead of dragging a travois behind our pack horses, we had pack frames with us. It had been one of the side projects that I’d worked on during the winter. I knew that we’d be riding up into the mountains and that there was no guarantee that we’d find food along the way. I had planned in advance, knowing I would have extra horses available that could carry what we needed. I’d dragged the pack frames and the associated panniers full of food and gear with us on the travois we’d brought back to Agar and the Horse People. Boy, Agar was sure surprised as he caught sight of the packsaddles when we mounted up that morning. I left him salivating with desire for one and I promised him that we’d talk when I got back.

Gogra proved to be an amiable riding companion. The man was forty-nine years old, which was old in the here and now, but he was still fit and his mind was keen. He rode beside me and we chatted freely. He was curious about everything that I did and everything I had with me that was in any way unusual to his way of thinking. He was polite about it and he didn’t push, particularly on the issue of my weapons, but he did keep me on my toes with questions.

The good thing was that Gogra willingly reciprocated. He answered my questions, in turn, taking care as he replied. Unknown to the man was the fact that he actually had very few secrets to hide from me. I’d picked Tonko’s brain and the brains of the other ex-members of the Horse People living in my cave over the winter, so I was already well informed. Even so, I quickly learned that Gogra had plenty of stories about his people to share with us and to my enjoyment I found his telling of them very entertaining.

By the third day we were off the plateau and heading up into the highlands that butted up against the dark, cold mountain peaks. The area where we were, was well forested. Our trek was a little slower, but it wasn’t arduous to the horses and we made good time.

The pass through the mountains wasn’t a high, alpine type. It started off roughly three hundred feet above the floor of the plateau. It ran from the northwest to the southeast for about ten miles and then it snaked back towards the southwest running for another twenty miles. At that point the pass was at about a thousand feet above the floor of the plateau and it was starting to go downhill once again. The stretch to the other side of the mountain was a series of zigzags and switchbacks that went on for another thirty miles.

We didn’t run into any problems along the way. For the most part we kept reasonably dry and warm at night, and we kept fed. I ran snares at night, not knowing what we’d find along the way. Gogra had told me that there was hunting in the area, but that many of the larger animals kept to the upper heights rather than risk the pass where a hunter could get them. We did drop a deer in our trek that added protein to our larder, but that was it.

I saw goats up higher on the slopes of the mountainsides and smiled. I had no idea of how I would trap a pair; but I knew that if we did move in this direction and settle on the other side of the pass, then one day I would be adding goats to our list of domesticated animals.

It took us four days to travel from one side of the mountain pass to the other. When we got to the other side I was impressed. We came out well above the tree-line, and the valley that lay below it was a magnificent sight.

We could see everything for miles from where we’d reined to a stop on a hill. We’d stopped to take our bearings and to find the best path down the slope and into the valley. From the exit of the pass we could see how the mountainside moulded itself around the valley. In manner, it was like a huge horseshoe, with the mountain forming the heel and the shanks of the shoe. To the far right, where the mountainside started to curve outward along the length of the valley stood a waterfall. It looked to be five hundred feet high. It dropped straight down the face of stone into the valley below. Once there the cascading water ran over the slopes of the hills that abutted the heights until it flowed into a large, long lake.

The lake divided the valley in two. It stretched for miles. Towards the mountain it was surrounded by steep hills, crags, outcroppings, exposed rock, and tall primordial pines. Further down the lake the land opened up in a series of terraced hills. To my eye there appeared to be ample farmland just waiting for someone to plough it. Even further on, the land levelled off nearly eight hundred feet below us into a wide open river valley. This valley was hemmed in by rolling hills, wooded lots, forests and the fingers of the mountain. The place definitely had a lot to offer.

The trek downward into the valley was steeper on this side than it had been on the plateau side. We rode down a track, away from the waterfall and towards the other shank that helped form the valley wall. It stretched for about a mile before switching back upon itself for another couple of miles. In total the path dropped a good three hundred feet before hitting the forested hillsides.

It was here that we encountered our first adventure in the new valley. We’d been in the forest for a while, winding our way along an animal track that meandered here and there amongst the trees when we rode out of the trees all of a sudden and into a highland meadow. The meadow was covered with a blanket of wild flowers, sweet grass, and bushes of berries. It was a couple of acres big and entirely surrounded by trees. To our surprise, at one end of the meadow was a big old bear.

It was at least a hundred plus yards way from us as we rode into the valley. It wasn’t as if we were a direct threat to it, but the bear didn’t see things that way. It let out a challenging bellow the moment it spotted our movement.

I didn’t even bother with my bow. I didn’t have it with me, anyway. It was tied to my pack horse that I was leading behind me. Instead I went for something a little closer at hand that I knew would take down the brute with relative ease. My sniper rifle was in my saddle scabbard and I pulled it out, ignoring the fact that I had a shotgun slung across my back. I brought the weapon up without hesitation and I chambered a round. As I brought the rifle into my shoulder, I flicked on the range finder and took aim. By then the bear was charging us. When it was fifty yards from us I fired.

The shot startled all the horses including mine. The report echoed like a cannon off the mountain side. Birds took flight out of neighbouring trees, and I found myself on a horse that wanted to dance. It took me a moment to get the animal settled. We were lucky though; my shot had dropped the bear before he’d travelled another pace.

I slipped my rifle back into the saddle scabbard before dismounting. Once on the ground I checked to see how everyone else was fairing. My two young companions were startled, but reasonably fine. Gogra looked like he was about to have a heart attack. I ended up having to help him off his horse.

“Boom!” Gogra muttered in a questioning tone once I’d looked him over and asked him if he was well.

I didn’t answer him. I left him to Tonko and Sygor who were more familiar with my weapons than he was. I would let them explain what had just happened. Instead of speaking to him, I slipped my shotgun off my back and I chambered a round into it. Armed and with an eye out for more trouble, I slowly strolled over to what was left of the bear.

The bear had no skull. The big round had blown it clean off of the animal. It was a grisly sight. I just shook my head.

Gogra was more than impressed. He was scared. I tried to reassure the man, but the sight of what the weapon had done to the bear didn’t help settle his nerves. It didn’t help settle Tonko or Sygor either. Both men had seen me use a weapon before, but never the big rifle. I’d brought back kills before that I’d taken down with the weapon. There hadn’t been many, but there had been a couple. However, by the time they’d seen the kill it had been skinned and butchered. This was the first time they’d gotten the full impact of what my rifle could do. Even when I’d killed the bastards who’d gone after Gabby, it hadn’t clicked in their minds that the rifle was really powerful. All I’d shot with it were men. Men were fragile by all standards of the here and now. A great, huge bear was another matter, altogether!

I really wasn’t in the mood for babysitting the guys through the process of accepting the fact that my rifle was big and bad. I knew it wasn’t fair of me to think like that, but all I wanted to do was to get out of the meadow as quickly as possible, knowing full well that where there were berries, there would be more bears, eventually. To me, killing one bear was more than enough.

“Enough,” I told Tonko and Sygor, slipping into the common tongue. It was the first time I’d used it in a while. We’d been speaking the Horse People dialect throughout the trek. “I want that bear skinned, and I want some of the meat for supper tonight. I’ll stand watch while you do it. Now move.”

It was a little gruff and a bit rude considering Gogra couldn’t understand me, but it was effective. Both Tonko and Sygor got to it, while I took a walk around, leaving the older man to stand and hold the reins of everyone’s horses.

I did grab a handful of berries before we left. Most of them were far from being ripe. I discarded them with a shrug of my shoulders and a glance back at the bear that had been eating them. With a sigh of regret I went back to standing guard, trying not to think too hard on the bear or what I had just done. There wasn’t much I could have done.

We spent a night in the forest. I chatted with Gogra after our meal in an attempt to reassure him that all was well in the universe, but the old man wasn’t too certain about that. I blamed that partly on Tonko who’d spouted off about me being the cave shaman and that I controlled great magic. All I could think of doing was to remind Gogra that I was his friend, and the friend of the Horse People. The magic I controlled would never harm him or them. He had my word upon it.

The bear turned out to be a little tougher than I liked. That had to be expected given the time of year and the fact that it had probably just come out of hibernation. It still provided us with a meal or two. We didn’t take much with us, leaving most of it behind for whatever animals eventually came across it in the night. From the sound of it, it must have been wolves. We heard them howling at the moon for much of the night.

The next day took us further to the left of the valley and through the forest. The whole time, we rode with the long shank of mountains to our left. I kept my eye on the range the whole time we travelled, looking for potential caves. I spotted a few, but from the distance they looked awfully small.

I wasn’t a fool. While I intended to move my cave to somewhere safe where I could build a home for them (and when I say build, I mean build), I also knew that having a cave nearby would be a godsend, if construction took longer than planned. Of course I wasn’t going to pick just any old cave for us. Spending a winter melting snow for water hadn’t been fun. I would definitely plan better for next year.

We eventually rode out of the forest and into an area of rolling, tree covered hills. To my amazement I saw that many of the trees about us were in bloom. In an instant I knew we were in some sort of orchard. There wasn’t any fruit on the trees as of yet, and whatever had been on the ground from the previous fall had either been scavenged by animals or it had decomposed leaving no evidence behind. Still, I was excited by the find. While I couldn’t tell you anything by looking at the leaves and the bark of the tree, I had a feeling I was looking at either apple or plum trees. Either would add greatly to our diet. I pointed them out to the others, but they had no idea what the trees were. Tonko suggested that maybe the women would know. I just shook my head at that.

By noon we were through the hills and out on the wide expanse that formed much of the left hand side of the lake. The ground was covered in short grass, clover, wild flowers, and the occasional clump of brush. To my eye it looked to be at least several hundred acres. It stretched for a couple of miles in one direction and several miles in the other.

We stopped about midday near the shores of the lake. Where we were the shoreline was quite open. There were a few thickets and some brush here and there, but a person could get down to the shore with little or no trouble. There were also large boulders jutting out of the shoreline and into the dark depths of the lake. We picked one to stop on and have a look around.

I did my looking with a pair of binoculars that I had found back at the compound, when we’d been packing up and cleaning the place out. I hadn’t really had a good opportunity to use them, before. Now I was getting a good look at where I hoped my new home would be. What I saw through them was amazing.

The valley we were in stretched on for what seemed like forever. The most rugged part of it was towards the mountains. There it was rocky and heavily forested. The further down the valley you went, the flatter the valley bottom became. I looked in that direction and I saw herds of animals grazing just as the animals had grazed in our valley. I had a good feeling about this place.

I did note that the right side of the valley seemed to get more sun. It also seemed to cover twice as much landscape as the left. My only problem was how to get across to it to check it out. The river coming out of the lake flowed deep. We’d have to find a ford.

We kept riding southeast for much of the afternoon following the course of the river. The river was relatively narrow where it left the lake and flowed out towards the valley floor. At first its course was relatively steep and the water in it flowed rapidly along, but as the valley floor widened and levelled, the river slowed and the course became windy. It followed the contour of the land rather than simply slice through it. It added time to our ride, but it couldn’t be helped. However, with each mile travelled the river grew wider and shallower. Regrettably, by the time it did, dusk had fallen on us and it was time for us to find shelter for the night.

The next morning brought us luck. We found a ford a few miles down from where we’d camped the night before, where the river had become much shallower. At that point it was about a hundred yards across. The banks, although broken down considerably on both sides by animals using the spot as a crossing, and eroded by spring flooding, were still steeper than I liked. If we came here, we’d have to do something about that.

Once on the other bank, we turned back north and rode for most of the morning. The land was sprawling and filled with life. As we went, we even did a little hunting. An hour into our ride I spotted a pair of does standing on a nearby slope nibbling at some green shoots growing on bushes that lined the edge of the hillside. I let Sygor take the shot and he dropped one without any problems.