Chapter 24

It was hard to believe, but Denac seemed like a natural. He wasn't doing everything perfectly but he was learning fast and when I mentioned something he should do differently he usually wanted to know why. This kind of attention to detail could only mean he was intent on doing a good job. Practice is always helpful, but practice with constant striving to improve is always a better way to do it.

We rode around the large canyon for about an hour and I decided it was time to make our exit and see some new places. I was wearing my Glock on my web belt, but if we were going far I wanted to take my M1 too, and I wanted to take most of the rest of the afternoon to ride and look around. I called to one of my wranglers and asked him to let us out.

We rode to camp first, since I wanted the rifle and also because it was getting time for the noon meal. Jekaycey's face was the first one I noticed when we got there, and it was because she was smiling so wide at seeing Denac up on Buster. My mates, all three of them, put a little strut in their step too from our showing out, and Lanita made her way to us at once.

"Can I have a ride Daddy?" she asked.

"Of course you can, in fact, I think it's time for you to solo."

"What is solo?" she asked.

"I think you can ride Buster by yourself, though I should probably lead him while you do it."

"That sounds like fun too. Let's try it," she said.

I let Denac hold Candace and I took Buster's reins and led him off a little. When I put Lanita on his back I had her grab two hands full of mane and then I led Buster around camp. Most of the people were clearly amazed and I could almost see it dawning on them that if Lanita could do it, they probably all could.

I gave Lanita a nice long ride, about fifteen minutes or so, and then let her down. Denac and I hobbled Buster and Candace then and let them graze. It was time for our lunch too. Denac and I barely made it to our sitting logs and I'd just pulled Lanita into my lap when the women arrived with our food.

"You two aren't wasting any time learning to ride the cashda," Jekaycey said, as we began eating.

"Why would we? The sooner we get the people and horses trained the easier it will be on everyone. Which of you four want to be the next to learn?" I asked.

They were strangely silent for a few seconds, mostly looking at each other, and then Jekaycey spoke up and said that she would try it.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Jekaycey, but you aren't going to try it. You are going to learn to do it. You have to, this is something no one can get by without learning," I said, and then grinned at her.

"All right then. I will be the next one to learn it," she said.

"Good, now that's settled we can get onto the important part of noon, the food."

After we'd eaten I asked how we were doing for thongs and got a big surprise.

"We are doing very well. Matita has been cutting away since you made your first ride over to camp. She also said to thank you for showing us about gloves. We all thank you for that, since they are a great help for almost everything," Shaeta said.

"Yes they are. Mother loves them," Katia said.

"Everyone loves them. It is so nice to be able to work without ending up with your hands raw and chapped," Jekaycey said.

I wondered to myself if I'd have to teach them about manicures next. I wouldn't mention it to them but I wouldn't shy away from helping if they thought of it themselves.

After the meal was over I fetched my M1 and Denac brought two spears out of his hut. As soon as I saw him on Buster's back, holding his spears in one hand and the reins in the other I thought of Ayla, from "The Clan of the Cave Bear," but it wasn't because he resembled her.

It made me think of what she'd called her spear thrower. It was what most people called an atlatl. They would be easier to make than a bow and arrows but I didn't know whether they could be as effective. We could find out later though, for now we were going exploring.

The next decision was which way we should go. Finally I decided we should go back across the river and check on our wranglers and the cashda first.

All seemed well when we arrived, and I was surprised to see several of the guys leading horses. Well four anyway. The rest were getting acquainted with the one currently occupying the chute. One of them had seemed to become their leader and so I called him off to the side and introduced myself by name.

He was shocked, or nearly so, that I would reveal my name to him, and he stared openmouthed for nearly a minute before he remembered what was happening and told me he was call Jortah.

"Jortah, I want you to take command of all the men that came with you. You are not to drive them to work harder but merely give them any instructions I give you. You have earned this position because I see that they already pay attention to what you say, and that you are the hardest worker.

"I can't tell you yet that you will be allowed a place in the Calak, but I will speak up for you if it comes to discussion. I can tell you though that the women who were your captives will probably have the deciding voice," I told him.

"We all now realize that what we did was terrible, and I'm sure most of us knew it all along. All we can do now is try to make amends by working as hard as we can," he said.

"That is an attitude which will serve you well. Denac and I are going exploring north of here. If you hear my rifle fire three times close together, send someone to see if we need help. Remember, it is three shots that is the signal, not two, four, or any other number. I will probably repeat the signal with time if we do need help, mostly to aid whoever you send in finding us."

He agreed that they would all listen for the signal. I told him to keep working on gentling the horses and teaching them to lead, but warned him that they should be especially gentle when the time to deal with the younger ones came.

Denac and I mounted up then and left the cashda's canyon. We went back east and then north again, heading the way I'd gone the first time I found this group. We kept our eyes mostly on the ground, looking for more tracks.

We probably covered five miles to get three from the canyon, but finally I spotted some tracks that were moving north. I had a decision to make now and I pulled up so Denac and I could discuss it.

"I think I should go on alone Denac and that you should go back to the canyon. By moving a little farther to the west and continuing to go north I believe I can get on the other side of this group and start them moving toward the canyon we used to capture the others," I said.

"It might be difficult for you, but I understand that they can sense me much sooner than they can sense you. Do I need to do anything else?" he asked.

"Have the leader I appointed tell all the men to put the cashda we have back into the catch pen, and then all of them need to go back to camp, all of them. They should also open the canyon's gate as wide as possible when they leave. I'm going to try moving any cashda I can find into the canyon, even if I have to stay out all night to do it," I said.

"I will do as you say, and I will tell your mates and Lanita what you are up to," he said.

"Be sure to listen for the signal and have someone pay attention all night. If I can get them in the other canyon I might need some help and I will signal if I do," I said, and he agreed he'd do that also.

We swapped horses before he left. Candace was doing fine by now, but Buster would be an asset with other horses simply because he was a stallion. If he seemed to be getting into a pissing contest with another herd stallion I'd just shoot his foe and be done with it.

One of the things I really liked about Margata was that there was very little brush in the way of things. There was some, but it never seemed to get too thick. I had little trouble moving about a quarter mile to the west and then turning north.

An hour later I knew that I was north of the small band. The hoof prints had already let me know that they were more of a normal sized horse than these giants we'd already captured. Another thing I'd noticed was that some of the prints looked like they were made by donkeys, of all things.

I'd only seen the group once, and that was from about five hundred yards as I passed them by. There were many more of them than I'd thought and the tracks Denac and I had picked up must have been from a smaller group heading this way.

It was probably around three o'clock or a little later before I felt like I was in position to try to start them moving. I was within four hundred yards of them, almost directly north of where they were grazing. I pulled out the Glock and fired one shot then put it back in its holster. It got their attention for sure.

Every head, both horse and donkey turned toward me. When I headed their way they did exactly what I expected they would, they headed away from me, after that I kept moving and they did too.

This wasn't as remarkable as it might seem. I didn't get close enough to them to cause panic and they were obviously heading in a direction they'd traveled before. The river and the terrain practically funneled them the way I wanted them to go. Of course I could scatter them by pressing too close, but I wasn't going to do that.