Chapter 12

It is time to hunt again before we run out of goat meat. By getting some new meat we can alternate what we are eating. We prepare by rising early and Sarbun and I leave before dawn. Nella and Algossi trail behind us with the makeshift wheelbarrow.

We cross the creek and go over that hill. This will allow us to come upon the aurochs from upwind. We are only going to take one, so Sarbun is the designated shooter and I am her backup. We choose a young bull of maybe one and a half years and start our approach. She makes a good shot and the bull stumbles around for a few moments. The other aurochs watch him warily as he drops to his knees and then falls down.

After a few minutes we slowly stand up and approach the herd. They edge away as we approach. I start dressing him right away, saving the heart and liver this time for the others. Sarbun skins the carcass and then I quarter it with my Bowie and the hatchet. I stay with the kill while the three others take the quarters back one at a time with the wheelbarrow. It's not really hard work for them, just a lot of walking. It sure beats slinking through a mob to the corner market, but they don't know that.

After we all get home at last, the women set to slicing the meat and I put a shoulder on to roast for lunch. As soon as I do that, the women take over its care. I have the distinct impression I am not welcome when it comes to cooking. Is this some kind of union?

I grab the hoe and spend an hour in the garden. I have not spent any serious time here lately and there is more that needs to be done than I expect. Everything is coming up well. The potato leaves already reach a foot high. Beans and other things are doing well. I thin out the onions and carrots and give the thinnings to Sarbun, warning her to chop off the top couple inches of the onions.

The women slice up the auroch meat and fry it with spring onions, baby carrots, and some root they found somewhere. This is really good stuff! Sarbun and I eat at the table outside while Nella and Algossi squat on the dirt to eat. I pull over a stump and ask if they would like to sit on that, but they prefer squatting. I don't understand it, but that's what they've always known to do when eating.

Hmm. All the work we do makes us quite hungry. Nine eggs a day is barely enough for breakfast for four of us. My original plan of ten chickens was based on one person in mind — just me - with an occasional harvest of a chicken for the stew pot. We need more food than that now. Except for the one stork I surprised, I have not been able to shoot any large birds since I got here. I don't think turkeys exist here. Geese are too high up for an arrow. Duck, well, I don't even like duck.

An occasional chicken will be good, but I have not planted any corn or other grain for them and it is too late in the season for any harvest before snowfall. I guess I can't let more chickens grow to maturity if I don't have enough food for them.

I have also not found a good source of calcium for the birds. OK, maybe the bones from our kills, but that's not really enough. The eggs seem to be getting smaller lately, probably from a lack of protein — and calcium. I had asked Kemon for a mixture of grains yet neglected to ask for fishmeal or soybeans in the mix. I have to think about that, too.

So maybe the source of my egg problems is in not letting the birds be free range chickens. If they are let out to pasture every morning, they can eat grasses and bugs to their hearts' content. Free range eggs have a whole different taste and texture, but someone has to run herd on them. I can't have ten birds walking around by themselves like "free food" targets for all kinds of small predators.

I tell the women that we will have to do without eggs for two days and that we are going to raise some chicks. That means watching the birds and seeing which hens gets broody - staying in the nest to provide the heat needed to hatch eggs, and only getting up for water and an occasional bit of food.

I motion Algossi to come over. "Algossi, I want you to take care of the chickens for me. You have seen how much food they have been given; I want you to feed them only this much," I signal with my hands.

"You must open the pen every day so they can eat the grass and bugs that are around here, their favorite food. Let's go find a long stick, because you will need to use it to make the chickens get closer to the pen when they try to go too far away." We find a stick in one of our piles of leftover wood, and walk back to the pen.

"Don't let them go any farther away than here, and here, and do not let them go up in the hills or out of your sight." I show him the maximum distance to let the chickens range, then I show him how to swing the stick to shoo them back towards the pen.

"What if an animal comes to eat them?" Algossi asks.

"Yell for us and we will come to get rid of the animal, maybe even shoot it. If it is small, you can try to protect the chickens, but be very careful. If a big animal comes, you are to yell loudly and run here to safety. You are more important than a chicken." I smile at him and he smiles back at me. "We can grow other chickens, we cannot grow another Algossi."

I pat him on the shoulder. "I know you can do this. It is a great responsibility for such a small boy, but you are a good worker. Go. Let the chickens out of the pen. You may have to chase them out because they are pretty stupid. Leaving the door open might not work."

"I will do a good job. You will see this," Algossi says.

"I know that. I have seen you work and you are a very serious young man. Thank you for watching our chickens. We will eat better because of it. I have told the women we are not going to eat eggs for a few days. We are going to let some hatch so we will have some chickens to eat."

"Oh, good. I think I ate bird once in my old camp. There are too many people there and bird is hard to catch. I will look forward to eating chicken." I watch him get his stick and then open the gate for the chickens. It is as I think; he has to chase them out because they are not smart enough to see the gate is open.

The rooster doesn't seem to know what to do; he is rushing around the hens and pecking them, maybe trying to get them back in some semblance of order. He eventually calms down when he sees a bug and forgets why he is upset.

The dogs come out to see what the fuss is about and they decide to play chase with the chickens. We yell at them but they don't listen. Luckily, the chickens are fleet enough or maybe the dogs are not hungry enough; in any case Algossi smacks Jake across the ass, and the yelping stops the fun as both dogs run towards the house suitably chastened.

"You will have to watch those two. They are probably only playing, but they can catch one of the chickens and hurt it. Birds are easy to hurt," I explain to Algossi.

"I notice the chickens are softer than other animals and their skin is thin like ours," Algossi says, and I nod.

I grab some tea and a chair and watch Algossi watching the chickens in the yard. They are much happier out here in their element. They have not gone far from the chicken yard, and there is plenty of grass and bugs to keep them happy.

My main concern is predators. I know foxes abound in Europe, but have only seen one at a distance while hunting one day. I always make sure the bow is propped by the door, but now I feel the handle of the gun on my waist for reassurance.

Well, this holster is not like any other I've ever seen. It is not leather, but it feels like the woven fabric parts on tennis shoes, a kind of woven nylon or dacron canvas.

The holster has a flap and a catch, but the catch is magnetic. The gun can not fall out, but it is easy to sweep my right hand up against the flap and draw the gun out. The holster color is similar to the blue jeans I wear most of the time; I guess that's part of how I can keep the gun secret.

Well, anyway, if the chickens eat free range they will get more protein from the grasses and the bugs. They also will get more grit in their diet, but they still don't have enough calcium. I get up and go to fetch a couple of old bones from the trash pile, digging around to get some older ones. I want them, uh, bone dry.

I get two river rocks and dry them off so I can pound the bones between the rocks. One of the rocks has a depression, so I use it as a poor mans mortar and pestle. I grind the bone shards to smaller pieces and then to dust. I pour the bone dust into the chicken feeder. The birds will take it in with tomorrow's serving of feed.

We put the chickens up at supper time. We don't take a bath tonight. Nella and Algossi have been sleeping in their new house. They do not want a platform to sleep on, and I wonder about the space in there. It is a few feet wider than my house because of the food shelves in the larder. With no beds, they have a lot of floor space.

With Nella and Algossi in their own space, that gives Sarbun and me more room. I wonder if I can ever get Nella and Algossi interested in sitting to eat. Should I make a larger table and chairs to go in their room?

The next morning I break out the flavored oatmeal packets for breakfast since we've stopped eating eggs for a short while. It is midsummer so the chickens should hatch out quite well.

"Nella, I just love this oatmeal," says Sarbun like a chatty advertisement. "It is the best thing I have eaten. I like it better than chili. That reminds me, I should show you how to make chili tonight. We still have some carrots and glukcha root left over from yesterday. We can have that and jerky for lunch, and you and I will make chili for supper. It is easy to make so we can rest today."

"Did you ever have rest days at your old camp?" Sarbun doesn't stop, but Nella is enthralled. "We didn't, but here we do; I like some of the ideas that Steve has." "I'm sorry to bother you ladies," I interject, "but I just want you to know that I am going to work on the chicken coop today. I will mix up more daub and make the coop as airtight as I can."

"I am going to herd the chickens today," Algossi announces to anyone who would listen. The women chatter with him about how proud they are of him. When he can't take it any more he runs off to take care of the chickens.

We had gathered so much dung, quite a load of it, that we need more clay, water, and straw. I put dozens of dowels on the inside of the coop and tie them off with the string. I take one small piece of log and split it until I have a one inch thick board about six inches long. I put a big dowel in the back of it; this is my trowel for laying the stuff on.

I cut grass for a while before I fetch a load of clay and a bucket of water and start mixing. When I get it to the right thick consistency, I start laying it on. I wonder if a large skin covering the outside might cut down the draft from around the door.

When I finish daubing, I take the auroch hide inside the coop and close the door. When I hold the hide up on the wall and I can not see any daylight coming through, then I know that it's good enough for me. If I squeeze all the birds onto the bottom shelf and hang another hide over that, they should be able to keep each other warm in winter.

I get some jerky and carrots and share some with Algossi, and then I go inside with the women for lunch.

I hear Algossi outside calling me. He says there is a big bird flying around. I get my bow, but I don't think I will be able to get a bird of prey on the wing with a bow. I see the bird through the trees flying just above tree top level. It is too big to be a hawk. I know that most owls are night hunters and he doesn't have that rounded body shape. This has to be some type of eagle. His body is brown and the head and neck are a light off-yellow color. He is big, and he is eyeing our chickens.

He probably doesn't attack because Algossi is making such a racket. Just the chickens by themselves would have been an open invitation to dinner. I have to figure a way to take care of this eagle, especially now that he knows the chickens are here.

He will be back, and he will take any opportunity he can get. An eagle will come in fast and the only time to shoot him is right when he picks up his prey. That's the only time they are slow. For small prey he will just about pause in flight to catch it in his claws. For bigger prey he must catch it in his claws and take it to the ground to kill it with his beak.

For these grown chickens, the eagle would probably have to stop on the ground to make the kill. A club is not enough protection. Algossi needs something real that will be effective. He needs a spear, but it must be a good one, not one of the local products. How am I to make something that will work for him?