Chapter 11: A Bigger Fish

A small flotilla of canoes approached the riverbank at the homestead where Nita and Kuwali stood waiting. Several boys had paddled ahead with the news, and they all stood about sadly. There were tears in Nita’s eyes when she spotted her husband’s bulky frame in the lead craft. It was riding low with its heavier load. She soon saw the red fur peaking over the edge as he drew closer. She studied Marcus’ face only to find it pale and drawn. He gently edged the canoe onto the bank and stepped gingerly into the shallow water, before pulling it further up. With a sob, Nita lurched forward and fell into his arms weeping.

He held her for a moment and then turned to lift his oldest friend from the canoe. Blood caked her coat and dripped from her wounds as he settled her into his arms. A small sigh and whimper came from her bloody muzzle as he handled her.

“Hush lass,” he spoke softly, as Nita cradled the giant head, kissing Pepper’s eyes. They were sunken and listless, but she made a small effort to lick the small woman’s hand with a dry tongue. “Let’s get you back to your bed and rest, okay?”

The remaining group landed their canoes and the two adolescent pups bounded after their master, whining softly. The rest of the group carried large pieces of meat carved from the giant boar, and Kuwali directed them to the smokehouse where they began preparing it. Others were directed into the house where another large portion was placed on the spit built into the fireplace.

Nita cleared the table, allowing Marcus to set Pepper gently upon it. He had applied several quick dressings to her more serious injuries after pulling her from the staked pit. She had been pierced by several of the sharpened stakes. The most grievous injury appeared to be where she was stabbed through her hip. She also bled from several puncture wounds to her shoulder, foreleg, muzzle, and the back of her neck. She had bled a great deal before he was able to stem the flow from most of her injuries. Now as he quickly cut away her fur to examine her more closely, he realized she had lost far more blood than he had thought. After carefully cleaning and binding her injured hip he began treating her less serious wounds. Kuwali helped him by preparing poultices to ward off infections while Nita gave her small tentative sips of water to help ease her thirst. She responded eagerly to the drinks when offered which was encouraging to them all. The only wound he could sew closed was the large cut to the scruff of her neck. It was one of the worst bleeders and he was relieved once he had it closed and dressed.

“She will need good nourishment as well as rest, my husband,” Kuwali murmured as she regarded Hati warmly. The pup was pressed up against her as she sat at Pepper’s side brushing and cleaning her coat of the blood and gore. “I will make a broth of bone marrow and fat, to feed her.”

Marcus nodded and smiled at her gratefully. He patted the wolf’s head affectionally and accepted a lick from her, before stepping out to help the others with the smokehouse.

In two days, Pepper had made significant improvement. She was strong enough to limp outside, with the assistance of a sling that Marcus fashioned so that he could support her weight with the help of one of the girls. They would walk beside her as she moved about and did her business. Then she would consume hearty amounts of heavy broth with raw pieces of meat cut very small to keep her from trying to chew with her injured jaw.

One morning Marcus went out and built the pen he had planned and sent the wolf Pack off to retrieve a couple of the piglets they had captured. Once they were secured and adjusted to their new environment (the small creatures were not at all happy to be scrutinized so intently by the two adolescent wolves), he turned his attention to crafting his smithy and retrieving the anvil from the shipwreck. The Pack eagerly accompanied him as well as Kuwali and the pups. She brought a large basket with their lunch while the boys pushed and pulled the heavy cart along the rocky shore.

Marcus was disappointed to see the remains of his barge scattered about, a result of storm damage. He retrieved the pieces he could find and set to rebuilding it next to the water’s edge. The tide was ebbing, so he had to continuously push the disabled craft further down the slope as he worked. After an hour he had it rebuilt and reinforced with several sturdy ropes lashing it together as well as the spikes.

The Pack insisted on accompanying him to the midship’s hull, but he only permitted Ferret, Mouse, and Sparrow because they were the best swimmers. He decided to rig a tripod with block and tackle to retrieve the massive anvil and it took several trips to ferry the logs and tackle and set them up over the sunken hold. After testing its sturdiness, Marcus swam into the hold and tied off a heavy rope to the anvil. He was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a huge octopus. The creature had chosen the hold as its lair and became agitated at the intrusion. It made several aggressive moves towards him before darting away leaving an inky cloud in its wake.

Marcus was greeted by the excited cries of the three boys as they yelled over each other at what they saw. None of them had ever seen a creature like it before and they marveled about it, yelling descriptions back to shore to the remaining troupe. Skoll and Hati stood next to the water barking excitedly about everything, occasionally striking out to scare away the seagulls and crows. Marcus climbed out of the hold maintaining a façade of indifference, even though the appearance and behavior of the creature had shaken him badly. He was not so eager to return for his ingots.

Once they hauled in the slack in the rope, they were able to raise the anvil easily until it hung just above the lip of the hold. It took much grunting and swearing to swing it over to the deck and lower it back down before they could reposition the tripod and repeat the whole process once more. Finally, it was set onto the barge raft, and they made their way back to shore. Kuwali called them all over for a big meal and they ate ravenously, devouring everything she had brought. The waterfalls along the cliff refreshed them as they rested between efforts to drag the iron giant up the beach on runners.

As the afternoon grew longer the tide once again ebbed and Marcus decided on a whim, to venture out to the larger wreck to inspect it once more. He gathered a long rope and tied it off to a nearby tree before poling the raft out to the hulk. Once he had it secured, he took the rope and tied it to the closest stanchion on the deck. He pulled it as tight as he could before tying it off, allowing him to pull himself back and forth to shore.

Diving into the forward part of the wreck he found that the mangled hold had been breached even further. He spotted several large cannons and several crates along with multiple lockers he had not been able to reach before. They were far deeper down than he had ever swum before, but he felt confident that he would be able to retrieve most of the items eventually. The cannons were cast iron because they were far less expensive than the lighter bronze guns used in naval warfare. Several were still secured to their wooden cradles. The open sea beckoned to him as he surfaced and climbed back onto the deck. Looking around he heard the excited cries and barks from the audience onshore. He waved to them, and they all began jumping up and down waving frantically. Even Kuwali seemed excited despite her pregnancy. He grinned and waved once more before opening the aft hatch and climbing down into the cabin. Holding his breath, he swam down to the passageway and resurfaced. It was lighter than he remembered, and he noticed a current sweeping past him. Curious, he dove back down and noticed several more breaches in the hull. The outside light dimly illuminated the passageway as he went to explore the galley.

Seeing the galley stove again, he decided on the spot to retrieve it even if he had to cut away part of the ship to remove it. He was able to see more clearly with the scattered holes in the ship’s hull and he found several more pots and utensils that seemed sound enough to salvage. The light failed several times as shadows passed overhead but he managed to retrieve his items and examine both cabins before returning to the deck.

The wind had picked up and his raft was rocking as he delicately set his items in the center, before climbing aboard. He ignored the distant hoops and cries from his audience as he began ferrying himself back across the water to shore. He was startled out of his reverie when the raft suddenly shuddered violently and spun about nearly 90 degrees. At the same time, he realized the tone of fear and alarm in the voices that were shouting at him. He staggered to maintain his footing as he glanced back to the shore to find the boys and Kuwali waving frantically at him once more. The two wolf pups were barking hysterically towards him, and he looked back toward the shipwreck to see what they were excited about.

He turned just in time to see the gigantic head of the shark burst from beneath the waves and strike his puny raft like a colossal battering ram. He cried out in shock and fear as the monster flew at him. All he saw was the enormous mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, before falling backward into the sea. Panic struck him as his mouth and nose filled with water. His only thought was to get to the shore as fast as he could, knowing he would never make it before the nightmare monster reached him and swallowed him whole. It seemed to take forever, as he floundered trying to determine which way was up, then his head finally broke the surface. He drew a deep gasping breath and choked, as his lungs took in the caustic seawater as well. Turning, he saw the shore only a dozen yards away and he made for it, stroking like a madman, fleeing the devil himself.

He couldn’t hear the hysterical screams before him or the desperate barks. All he knew was that he was seconds away from drowning or being eaten, and neither appealed to him much. He could feel the shark coming at him from behind—a powerful sinister presence bent on ending him quickly and terribly. His terror and panic drove him to new measures of desperation as he kicked and flailed at the water which seemed to taunt him by stalling any of his progress.

He couldn’t understand what was holding him back when his arm struck a rock and sent a sharp pain through his shoulder. He choked on his scream as he found himself being grabbed by several hands, and jerked from the water.

“Hel’s tits!” he gasped in terror as he looked back and saw the beast sliding back into the water from the near-sunken raft. The dorsal fin knifed through the water directly towards them causing the wolves to renew their vicious snapping and snarling. The napes of both their necks were raised as they stood protectively before Marcus. It came to within 12 feet of the shore before turning and gliding away. The tip of its tail also rose above the surface and Marcus estimated the distance from dorsal to tail at about 12 feet. “Bugger me!” he breathed as Kuwali hugged his back and sobbed into his neck.

“Cariba,” Badger whispered fearfully, “that monster is bigger than our biggest canoe!”

“Aye lad,” he agreed, climbing to his feet, and stumbling over to his clothes, “that is a man-eater.”

“And it almost ate you!” Hawk replied excitedly.

“Even worse,” Marcus grimaced as he watched it swim about, “it took my raft.”

In light of the day’s excitement, they all decided to head back to the homestead, leaving the anvil where it lay on its skids, near his old campsite. At home, the wolf pack excitedly talked over each other as they described the shark attack to Nita. The first wife grew pale as she regarded them while she touched Marcus and squeezed his arms and hips, ensuring that he was well and whole.

“And Cariba swam so fast he nearly flew across the water!” Ferret was yelling in his excitement. He had a gleam in his eye. “You’re going to go back and kill it aren’t you?”