Chapter 5: Of Women That Hunt & No Cooking Please

The following morning I found Sheel had remained in bed with me and I made good on my promise to make it up to her for yesterday morning being spent with Roya.

After breakfast we continued with target practice. As expected, I was very effective with the spear and atlatl. Unexpected, both girls were not bad with the spears and atlatl from the very start and they improved very quickly.

After an hour or so, the girls went back to the bow and arrow practice and I went off to hunt.

Once I was out on the plains about a mile south of me I spotted a fairly large herd of bison, and a small herd of horses. With winter ending the herds were migrating north once again. I didn't want to take down any game as large as a horse or bison knowing we would be leaving soon to search for Treeya, and because we had no way of preserving that much meat (I would have to solve this problem) it would be an unforgivable waste.

I had been looking for hare, but not spotting any I turned west moving away from the grasslands toward the denser growth that skirts the vast plains area. Thirty yards ahead of me, I spotted a small warthog ambling among the brush. The hog was moving slowly, it hardly gave me more than a glance, because its species had never been in the slightest danger from a man at that distance.

I loaded my spear into the atlatl then hurled it toward the unfortunate pig. The spear flew true and penetrated the animal through the chest just behind its left front leg. The warthog gave one amazed, indignant squeal, and then collapsed in a motionless heap.

After cutting out my spear I hoisted the dead animal across my shoulders and headed back to camp.

When I arrived, both women regarded me silently, standing proudly with unabashed expressions of joy on their lovely faces.

"What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?" I questioned as I dropped the hog onto the ground.

Still they didn't respond, but if anything their smiles broadened, with two pair of eyes, one pair blue, and the other pair green, crinkling right up to the soft, recently brushed hair around their ears and making them look... even more beautiful than before.

I didn't get it. "Hey, you two don't just stand there, tell me you missed me or something." I said looking curiously at them, and then I saw it. The girls had started a fire outside the hut and much to my astonishment, cooking over that fire on a wood spit were two cleaned and plucked water fowl!

"What is this?" I exclaimed with wonder, looking at the birds. Then they were all over me. They pranced gaily into my arms hugging me, both women excitedly chattering at once so that I couldn't understand a word.

"One at a time, please. I can't understand a word you're saying." I laughed as I hugged them back.

Finally Roya calmed down enough to make herself understood, "We did it Dac! Sheel and I... Sheel and I each killed a water fowl with our arrows! We hunted Dac! We hunted!"

"And... and just like you taught us Dac, we used the correct size arrowheads and we did not lose or damage our arrows!" Sheel exclaimed happily between excited breaths.

"Wow!" I shouted with excitement of my own, "You truly are the women that hunt! Wow!" Still holding them in my arms, I picked them up and danced around with them turning us in circles.

Once some of the initial excitement wore off, they told me how they had wanted to surprise me and went to the small lake just southwest of the camp. After selecting two fowl swimming close to shore, they shot their arrows simultaneously, so they would not scare off the other bird, and both targeted fowl fell immediately.

"We played two fingers to see which one of us had to take off their clothes and wade into the cold water and retrieve the birds. I won this time." Sheel related happily.

"So, you had to get naked, did you Roya?" I asked jokingly.

"Why... yes Dac... but only so I could get the water fowl." Roya explained unsure of my meaning for asking.

"What if another hunter had come by?" I continued with the joke, "I do not want any man but me to see you naked."

"I'm sorry Dac... I..." Roya started to apologize.

"I was just joking you sweet little thing you." I interrupted her laughing aloud. Then I kissed her deeply on the lips and told her I loved her.