Chapter 11

The village was a happy place for the next few cycles of seasons for Two Bears and his family. The winters were mild and the hunting and gathering continued as before, yielding a plentiful supply of food, and all else that the village required to prosper. Through all of that passage of time, Two Bears worked diligently and assembled together all that he could find in order to make the metal for his tribe. Had he been more willing to leave the village for longer periods of time, he could have completed most of his goal in a far shorter time.

Except for Broken Stick, Two Bears shared his knowledge of metal making with no one. He had been warned repeatedly, even before he left from Konil and Reckil's foundry, that the knowledge of metal working was something that needed to be hidden until everything had been built and the necessary material was already at hand to complete the cycle from rock to finished arrow point or knife.

He had located several promising sources of iron ore close by, just by finding the red stained rocks in several nearby streams and then following backward to determine the source. As he had suspected, the river stones that his people used to shape the bone and antler, worked with the metal honing as well. His experimenting with stones had greatly reduced his supply of the yellow sand that Mattik had given to him. Charcoal was already known to the tribe and the hard woods that Konil had recommended were growing in abundance. Coal, while more difficult to find, had been located by Tall Tree, the medicine man, after Two Bears had described it for him. Limestone was another ingredient that was in abundant supply.

Two Bears had sought out Red Fox and Dark Sky, the two brothers who had helped with the building of his lodge. It was shortly after his return from his journey. He described to them both how he wanted the foundry constructed, including the several openings for adding coals and coke to the furnace. In a part of the forest close by the village, and very near to the river, the two brothers had built carefully with huge quantities of river clay. As they worked, Two Bears would come out to see to their progress and suggest minor changes from his earlier design. Dark Sky had worked with clay kilns in the past, and he had suggestions that made emptying the spent ashes far easier than it had been using Two Bears design. It was also Dark Sky that took one look at the bellows that Two Bears had fashioned and offered several ideas that improved that design.

Once everything had been built to all three men's satisfaction, Dark Sky made a fire inside the foundry, and baked the clay walls for one complete moon. Night and day, the fire burned, and people came by to see the smoke and to find out what was being burned. There was polite speculation over what the foundry was for. Some concluded that Red Fox and Dark Sky were preparing a new type of housing, while others believed it was a storage place for the smoking and curing of meat and fish. After the fire was allowed to die out, and when it became obvious that no one was making any use of the new house or storage place, it ceased being such a curiosity to the people. Tribal members were too polite to tease the brother's about all the time and effort they'd put into building their useless structure. The brother's didn't care what others thought about it anyway, they had seen the knives from the hairy faced people, and had each held one of the arrow points that Two Bears had returned with. For a metal knife each and three arrow points each as well, they were well satisfied that they were making an excellent trade for their skills and labor. The fact that their payment had to be put off until Two Bears was able to make the metal didn't trouble them much. Two Bears was a person that had always been fair and reliable when they had traded with him in the past. If he said that he could do it, then they believed him.

Two Bears was lying with Bent Willow. They had both enjoyed a relaxed and unhurried joining that had been made possible because their children were both sleeping in the new room of the second part of the lodge that Two Bears and Stick had built together for that sole purpose. Two had first gotten the idea from the Iglu's of the northern tribes. As a family grew, they would simply fashion another dome and weave it into position with all the other joined domes. Two Bears had discussed the idea with Broken Stick and the two hunters had built it together in less than half a moon. Every member of the tribe had come by to watch and observe just what it was that Two and Stick were getting up to. After it was finished and Two and Willow both reported how much more convenient it made things, Stick and Two started fashioning one just like it for Stick and Still Shadow's lodge. Red Fox had told Stick and Two that he couldn't keep up with the sudden demand for new lodge poles. There was a brisk increase in trading for suitable furs for lodge coverings as well.

"Willow, I need to find the yellow sand for making the paste for putting the edges on points and blades. I've looked everywhere that's close to the village and still haven't been successful. I've shown the sand to Tall Tree, and he doesn't recognize what it is, or where it can be found. I may have to journey back to the North to find and bring back a supply."

"I don't think I could stand to be without you for such a long period again. Is there no other way?" She treasured the time that she had now with her man. He was a good father to his children, and a fine helpmate who provided her with fresh game, and was warm company for her at the cooking fires. She had grown used to needing him inside her often, and with their new lodge room, she was finding that their joining gave her a far greater pleasure whenever they expressed their love on top of or beneath their sleeping furs.