Chapter 3

It took three days for Two Bears hands to heal enough for him to be comfortable holding a digging stick again. He used the time well though, gathering up saplings for making arrow shafts. He went to Stick's lodge and emptied out both of the quivers that he'd made to carry the flint stones. He wound up packing one in his supply pack, and strapping the other to his back. His plan was to hunt for saplings while he walked over to the area where he and Stick had stored the rest of their supply of flint stones. He figured that the saplings wouldn't weigh much anyway and he could carry them in a free hand after he had a quiver full of the flint stones on his back.

On the journey to the hunting area Two Bears had good luck finding the saplings. By staying on the path by the river, he had access to the new growth by the river banks. The further he traveled from his village, the less picked over were the saplings. He was able to fill the large quiver and still make it to the hunting grounds before darkness fell. He found the stones from another hunter's fire pit and made quick work of gathering enough dry wood to keep a bright fire going for a long time. After eating dried meat and some nuts and berries his sister had gathered for him, Two Bears stayed up debarking and smoothing the sapling shafts. He finished about half the quiver before he felt the need for sleep. He wrapped the finished shafts tightly with the leather strips that he had brought, and then he took them to the mud at the river's edge for burial overnight.

He slept through the night, awakening only when the sun started tickling his eyes. He ate the rest of the berries and nuts and went to the river to retrieve his shafts and to drink deeply of the water that flowed by. He brought the rest of the saplings to the river and soaked them for a few minutes before going back to his fire and debarking the remaining saplings. When he was done preparing each shaft, he went to the river with them and coated each one with the river's mud. This mud would keep the moisture trapped in all of the shafts for the journey back to the village. As he worked, he laid out the finished mud treated shafts in piles of ten, waiting for the mud to dry, but also counting the piles when he was done. He found that he had eighty four new shafts from his foraging.

It was the greatest number of arrow shafts he'd ever seen in his lifetime. A good hunter might never need so many arrows even for a lifetime of hunting. Eagle Claw had three quivers full of traded arrows in his lodge, but that was probably no more than forty five arrows. Eagle Claw was a collector of arrows and had been trading with other hunters since before Two Bears had been born. The arrows he used for hunting were probably no more than fifteen in number, and at least ten of those were still stuck in the tree where the turkey he'd killed had lived.

By the time Two Bears had packed up the flint stones and the quiver full of shafts, the sun was starting its descent through the sky. He walked at a good pace, knowing that he wouldn't get more than halfway to his village before the darkness came. He camped by the river and slept close to the fire he'd built on the bank. Once again he'd wet the shafts and wrapped then to lie in the mud. He felt each shaft before wrapping, testing to make sure that it still was flexible and easy to bend. He rose up with the sun and retrieved the shafts from their bed of mud. This time he soaked each wrapped bundle and put it into the quiver, knowing that he'd deliver them by midday to Stick's lodge. He walked back to his village, content that he'd made good use of the time he needed to let his hands heal from their blistering.

When Stick found out that Two Bears had walked back to the hunting ground and retrieved all of their flint stones, he thanked his friend warmly. He'd been worried about when he'd feel up to another hard journey, but he'd also been concerned about leaving them out there for another hunter to stumble across and claim as his own.

When he had a chance to see all of the shafts that Two had returned with, his excitement got greater, knowing that he had enough raw material to keep him busy through the remaining time before the cold days of winter. The two friends spent time talking while Stick separated all of the new flint stones and shafts. His eye was accustomed to making quick decisions about what kind of arrow each shaft would produce. He carefully separated the best prospects from those that contained some slight flaw that had been too subtle for Two Bears to detect. Some of the flaws were correctable, and these went into a separate pile. The flint stones he separated in much the same way, knowing that he'd work first with the best ones and then, after they were all done, he'd start in on the stones where it was harder to get a good yield.

Stick told Two Bears that his lodge poles were done and the stones for his lodge fire pit had been gathered. Red Fox and his brother were just waiting for Two to finish his digging before they planted, notched and tied his lodge poles together. Stick had examined the poles carefully and assured Two that he would be happy with what Red Fox had chosen. Happy with the progress that they were making, Two Bears left to go to the river and get himself cleaned up. As he walked back to his father's lodge, Two Bears noticed Bent Willow tending her lodge's fire. He stopped for a minute and brought her up to date on the lodge building progress. When he explained the trade that Broken Stick had arranged with Red Fox and his brother Dark Sky, Willow gave him praise for a wonderful plan. He demurred from her praise, explaining that it had been Stick who had thought of and arranged everything for him. Two excused himself, telling Willow that he needed to get clean before his smell drew the flies to the village.

That evening, as Two Bears sat contentedly by the cook fire and allowed the meal his mother had prepared to settle in his stomach, Yellow Fawn strolled by on her way to the river to gather up some water for the lodge she now shared with Little Elk. Seeing her like that, without any warning, caught Two Bears off guard. He knew that he wouldn't be able to avoid seeing her, but he'd thought he'd have more warning and time to adjust. She appeared suddenly though, and was in front of him before he even knew that she was around. Seeing her caused his heart to react. To him, she still had that very pretty face, and her body was still the one that he was most familiar with other than his own. He felt the heat rush to his face as he looked up at her, and he felt the blood rushing under his loin cloth and leggings as the sight of her stirred memories of the times they'd spent together. He was unhappy to react that way in her presence. He had hoped that she had lost her power to excite him by merely being nearby.

"Hello Two, I haven't seen you in so long. I hope we can still be friends even though I'm now Little Elk's woman." Two Bears looked at her. Her direct words required him to speak, He didn't know what he should say.

"Hello Fawn. Yes, it has been awhile. Of course, you've been busy getting settled into your new home, and I've been busy trying to get my lodge built so that I'll have a place to bring my new woman before the snows come down. I'm sorry I missed your joining with Elk, but Stick and I had been planning a long hunt for some time and we needed to go while there was still time before my lodge poles went up."

"You have a woman? I hadn't heard about that."

"Really? I thought that everyone knew that Bent Willow and I had grown closer in the past six moons or more. As a matter of fact, that was one of the reasons that I was so happy to hear that you had found Little Elk and I could quit being troubled about your future prospects."

"You worried about my prospects Two? I have to laugh at that. I knew that I would be the Chief's woman someday. I can't believe you ever thought that your finding another girl would trouble me in the least."

"Chief's woman? I don't think that's very likely Fawn. I know Elk's father is chief, but all of the hunters that I know are saying that the tribe needs a leader who hunts and brings in his share of food for the tribe. Does Elk even own a bow?"

Two had the satisfaction of watching Fawn stomp off in an angry huff. He knew it was unlikely that she believed what he'd said about the hunters, but, the more he thought about it, the less he liked the idea of having Little Elk as his chief someday. He looked over at Willow's lodge and saw her staring over at him. He stood up and went into his father's lodge looking for something he could do inside to keep him safe from the gaze she had been throwing his way. He knew he would never understand the way a woman's mind worked. Willow should be pleased with him that he had tweaked Fawn's nose, and had gotten her mad and thinking that people wouldn't care to see Little Elk as their chief.

It was before the midday meal and Two Bears was putting the finishing touches on the space he'd dug for the new lodge. He had only the tamping down of the floor to do, and that could and would be done slowly, as time permitted. After he ate, he and Stick would go over to Red Fox's lodge and help him to carry the new lodge poles back to his lodge. He had a good meal, made better by watching Willow working at her fire and smiling over at Two whenever their eyes happened to meet. Two welcomed this turn of events, but he wondered what had occurred to account for her change in attitude. They hadn't spoken since he went into his father's lodge to hide from her baleful looks the previous evening.

He got an answer soon to his unasked question, when his mother asked him who he'd had in mind for the new chief if he didn't want Little Elk.

"What do you mean?" Two Bears had never discussed tribal politics with any of his family before.

"Yellow Fawn stopped by the women's fire and was asking questions about you and Willow. She claims that you are trying to undermine Little Elk out of your jealousy that she became his woman instead of yours. I told her that the only girl I'd ever heard you mention as wanting to be your woman was Willow, but she seemed insistent that you had been interested in her. So please tell me who did you want to replace the chief if not Little Elk?"

"I don't know. A real hunter I think. Someone who will see to the needs of the tribe. Little Elk seems interested only in Little Elk, and in the young girl's berry harvests too." His mother laughed at that, and even his sister thought it was funny. Little Elk was known to frequent the berry patches more regularly than the busiest girls.

"Well be careful of who you share such thoughts with. It is seldom a good idea to make enemies of chiefs, future chiefs or their wives. Maybe, especially the wives. Yellow Fawn is a determined girl. She won't tolerate people that think they should deprive her of her due."

After the meal, Willow came over to their lodge and told him that she hadn't known that he'd been interested in her for so long of a time. She laughed at his confusion and left him in peace to contemplate his dawning understanding of who really ran things in the village. Always in the past, he had heard whispers from the hunters that it was the women who really controlled tribal destiny. He thought they were referring to a woman's ability to have babies, but perhaps, they had meant it more literally as it referred to daily tribal activities. He had been at the hunter's fire many times, and knew that nothing of importance was ever discussed there that didn't concern hunting, fishing or trips of exploration. He wondered if the women's fires dealt with weightier matters, rather than just the tribal gossip that he'd always assumed.

He went and got Stick soon after, and they spent the afternoon bringing over the lodge poles and carrying the stones for the fire pit. That evening Two Bears put the finishing flourishes on the new quiver he'd fashioned for Red Fox's arrows. He had used his best skins and materials, and he'd included a new strap design that let a hunter carry the quiver either at his waist, or over his back. He examined it closely and thought that the result had been worth all of his time and effort. In the morning Red Fox and Dark Sky would come over an erect the lodge poles and place the stones to build up the fire pit. He had watched Dark Sky digging the good clay from the turn in the river that morning, so he knew that his fire pit would be of good quality, and would serve his lodge for many seasons to come.