Chapter 12

I considered us through for the day, because I could tell that Denac had done enough in his condition, even if he didn't think so. He was all set to start chopping the big tree down but I knew that it would not do a thing good for his head. It wasn't too hard to convince him we needed to take the rest of the day off.

When he looked around to grab a bag to take back he was puzzled for a few seconds, since there was only the last one remaining. Shaeta and Katia had hold of it together and they looked like they meant to carry it back themselves.

"But where did it all go?" Denac asked.

"We told the other men that came to stand and watch you two working to take it back to camp as they went," Shaeta said.

"Well, it wasn't exactly us that told them. We mentioned it to mother and she mentioned it to daddy and things took a life of their own after that," Katia said, and then the two of them laughed, followed by Denac and I.

They took off with the honey bag while Denac and I looked around a little more. I showed him where the fire had started and told him I thought a falling star had done it.

"You may be right. All the ones I've seen looked to be on fire when they were falling," he said.

"I will tell you a secret about them," I said, and he looked at me with obvious curiosity.

"What?"

"They sometimes have a very hard core that can be useful if you can find it. After we have the tree down and tended to I hope to dig down and see if the core is still there," I said.

"I will help. Just tell me what we need to do," he said.

"Good, we will see after we are done with the tree, I want some honeycomb badly," I said.

"Do you mind if I asks you why?"

"No, and I don't mind telling you. My mates asked too, but I told them they would like it better if they waited to see what I had in mind. I think you will like it better if you know why I want it now.

"If we melt the comb and then keep dipping a small grass stem into it, it will harden again on the stem and begin to build up a coating. It takes time, but when you are done you will have a candle.

"You can light the part of the stem that is still sticking out from the candle and it will keep burning for a long time. The flame melts the wax and it moves up the stem and burns. It will give light for hours. It isn't very much light, but you don't need much when it is night and there is practically none anyway," I said.

"I can see where that would be a big help. I am anxious to get the comb now and see you make a candle," he said.

"I am too," I said, but I didn't tell him it was so I could have more light to see my mates naked.

We went back to camp then and ate our delayed lunch. Shata had made sure some was saved for us and Shaeta told me why later.

"Mother has always made sure to do something nice for Denac anytime he finds honey and brings it in. This will not be the only thing either. Watch and see what he gets to eat the next day or two, maybe it will even last longer. Mother likes honey better than anyone in the Calak," she said.

"Yes, even more than my mother does. That is one reason that Denac has never been chastised over much for his disagreeable behavior. Everyone likes honey but no one likes finding and getting it. Denac has always made up for his poor behavior with his excellent skills at finding it," Katia said.

"There is no telling what you will be rewarded with if you have made him pleasant to be around," Shaeta said, and then they both giggled.

"Have either of you decided what to name the calf?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"Are we going to name it?" Katia asked.

"Yes, I think we should, and we should do it before it gets big enough for everyone to see how much help it will be," I said.

"Why?" Shaeta asked.

"So they won't be tempted to call it Zakat or Matatu," I said.

"Do you really think it will be that helpful?" Katia asked.

"How much do you think others would like a man that could pull six travois by himself?"

"He would be everyone's best friend, even if he were disagreeable all of the time," Shaeta said.

"When the calf is grown he will easily be able to do that, and with the way people are treating it now it will always be in a good mood.

"I think we should name it Buttercup," I said.

"But what is butter?" Katia asked.

"It is a type of food made from milk. We won't have any butter until I can get some female calves and raise them like we are doing Buttercup," I said.

"We will just have to wait then, but I don't see any reason not to call this one Buttercup if you want to. As you told Denac, it is your calf," Shaeta said, and Katia agreed, so it was a done deal.

They went to help their mothers and the other women then, since it was about time to get supper going, even though Denac and I had just had our lunch. He had gone back to his hut to rest after he finished.

I was at loose ends for the moment so I tracked down Caloe and had to ease her away from the meal preparations. I was hoping that the newly arrived honey and my part in getting it would aid my case. I wanted some hides to make a rope from and I knew that we had gained several lately.

Even though we had the new arrivals I knew that hides were always important and I didn't know how many they'd had before they started their move. Still, I was going to ask.

I knew better than to waste her time hemming and hawing and so I just spit it out. I wanted three to four hides to make something and I asked her what I needed to do to get them.

"We have plenty but we haven't had time to tan them yet," she said.

"Excellent, I do not need for them to be tanned. I only need to scrape the hair and flesh off them," I said.

"Oh, they have already gone that far. What are you going to make," she asked.

"Do you remember the small rope I caught Buttercup with?" I asked, forgetting for a moment that she would not know the name yet.

"Buttercup?"

"The calf. We only just decided on its name and I forgot that you wouldn't know yet," I said, explaining.

"Buttercup. It has a nice sound, but I don't know what butter is," she said.

"It is made from milk and is good to eat, but mostly only with other things. It will take a while before I can catch some female calves and raise them until they are old enough to give milk. After I have we can make butter," I said.

"But how is it made?" she asked.

"It is a little complicated, but it is called churning. I have something else to make before we can churn the milk, even if we had it," I said.

"I will just take it on faith. If you want only the raw hides you can have several, especially since you seem to have little trouble bringing them in with the meat and organs still inside them," she said, and then laughed.

"I'm happy to bring them in like that. They are not fun to gut," I said.

"If you can convince the other men of that you will be one of my favorites," she said.

"Better than that, if I get a rope or two made all the men will be able to bring their kills back like that, and with less trouble than gutting," I said.