Chapter 36

We had plenty to do for the rest of the day, but none of it was arduous. Mostly packing things we wouldn't need for our next few meals and making travois. We had supper well before the sun set and then were in our furs as it did.

The next moring I was surprised when I woke. Most of the women, including my mates were already cooking. Lanita and I found some convenient bushes and then greeted Nosey and his calves before sitting down to join Denac and wait for food.

We had it soon enough and I watched the others as I ate. I was glad to see that most everyone from Caloe's Calak was mingling with and eating near those of my Calak. It seemed they also realized that these newcomers would need some extra attention to help them feel at home.

Though I'd worried about it a little, loading the three wounded men turned out to be almost no trouble. They could all move under their own power if they were just careful about it. A smart move by Caltort came in very handy too.

I guess he'd assumed that I'd teach the others to ride as quickly as I could, and they had packed a saddle for every travois cashda in the wagons. Since they'd brought so many cashda, and the wagons, no one had to walk. I'm not sure those that were riding in the wagons would ever want to again, but at least they didn't have to walk. We made excellent time.

In fact the women had made sure we would make better time than normal. They had traveling food made up for us and we had lunch without even stoping. Our only breaks were one at midmorning and another at midafternoon and they were just to give the stock a breather. Since Caltort and the others had brought so many cashda, they were all lightly loaded and the pace didn't seem to bother them at all.

Still, there was no chance we'd make it in one day's travel, so we stopped while there was still plenty of light and had a normal meal at suppertime. By going to sleep early again we were well rested for breakfast, and were on our way quickly, reaching our new home about an hour after noon.

I for one was glad to be here, even though I knew I'd be leaving again the next morning, but looking around I saw that no one had moved into the cave yet, and I wondered about it. Caloe clued me in when I asked.

"No one but Matatu has chosen a spot in the new cave. We decided it was his right for first choice since his vision led us here. We also decided it was your right for second choice," she said, smiling at me.

"No, I will not make that choice. My mates can assume that duty," I said.

"You see how smart he is mother? Not only smart enough to get out of being Zakat, he is also smart enought to know his wives know best," Katia said.

"Then his wives should rustle their leaves into the cave and decide on the place they want. Everyone else is waiting on them," Caloe said.

"Yes mother, but we need to know where the cooking fire is going to be. Have you picked out a place for it yet?" Katia asked.

"I'm afraid we'll have to put it outside. If we don't the cave might get too smoky," Caloe asid.

"I don't know. I think there might be a way for the smoke to get out through the top. I don't remember it getting smoky when we were here before, and we built a fire inside," I said, interrupting but not minding if I did.

"I guess we should try that first then. We can make a fire and then pile some leaves on it to make a lot of smoke, that will let us know for sure," Caloe said, and with a few instructions from her it was underway.

As I'd expected, the smoke went nearly striaght up and disappeared. I couldn't tell where it was going but that didn't matter, as long as it left. With that decided my mates convened a pow wow and soon enough they'd make their choice.

It was more of the same for the others after that. I was glad to see that my former Calak wasn't slighted in the choosing order. Mayta was already working well with Caloe, straightening out such details.

While my mates spent the rest of the day getting our new area arranged, I spent my time getting prepared for the trip back to the old campsite tomorrow. We wouldn't be taking any travois with us, since it was senseless to freight empty travois, but we did need to make sure we took enough harness, saddles, and tack - both for the hauling and for the extra people that would be riding back with us.

During supper Lanita had a big decision to make. Of course she wanted to ride Jeffry and go back with me, but she was torn by what she considered her duty to make sure the new thaka calves and the new children were assimilated into the fold here.

"I hate to send you off without me Daddy, but I'm afraid I should stay here and help all the new children get used to their home," she told me, from my lap.

"I understand, cutie pie. Sometimes we must make choices between two things we want to do," I said, and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

Katia and Shaeta had also decided they needed to stay at the caves to help get things organized, but Nita was going with me in case some medical emergency came up. Nita gave Lanita copious instructions about minding Katia and Shaeta while we were gone. We all heard "Yes mother" from Lanita several times before we went to sleep.

We didn't have to worry about sleeping late in the cave the next morning. Nosey had assumed the duties of alarm donkey. He had walked into the cave, nudged me awake and then done the same for Lanita. We were all up and dressed in a few minutes.

"Daddy, how are you going to be able to do without Nosey on the trip. Remember he is very good at watching out for us while we sleep," Lanita asked, once we were seated on a rock and eating our breakfast.

"Believe it or not, that is something I've been worrying about. We'll have to do the best we can though, because I want Nosey to stay to watch over you, Katia, and Shaeta," I said.

"It's too bad the baby wolves are still so small. They might be able to do things like that later, but they are still too young," Nita said.

"I haven't even checked on them. In fact, I hadn't even thought about them again," I said.

"They were one of the first things I looked for when we got here. Jaylea and Katita have taken over caring for them. They seem to have grown already, but they are still to young to be trained to do anything," Lanita said.

"We'll just have to do the best we can on our own I guess," I said, just as Nosey and two of the other donkeys came up.

I'll swear it seemed that Nosey was introducing us to them, and to make it seem official I named one Wilbur and the other Orville. They actually seemed pleased somehow, but I figured I was making that up.

"I think Nosey has picked them to go with you Daddy," Lanita said, and it did seem like he might have.

Denac, Caltort, and the others that were going joined me shortly and we started hitching the wagon teams and then haltering the cashda that we would be taking along. The wagons were already loaded and after saying a few goodbyes we were off. Damned if Orville and Wilbur didn't follow right along.