Chapter 30

As Biltee and I retraced our steps through the tunnel I noticed other changes had happened along with the disappearing rock partition. There were now everlights in the cave's ceiling. They provided about as much light as the other caves had, but there were three brighter ones in the truck's garage space. I guess the spacemen thought I might need more light to work on it.

Whatever they thought, the truck was not going to stay here. One of my first moves after this exploration was over would be finding it a nice parking spot in the storage warehouse, hopefully not far from the house's door into the cave.

Don't get me wrong; the truck was a welcome addition to the things I had to work with. It would have been more welcome before we left for the horses but not really that much so. Even though I was glad to have it now, I would have been miles ahead with a Farmall Cub or some other small tractor and I'd have been even better off with a larger one. I didn't intend to start any farming right now, but by next spring I was sure we'd need to. Meat didn't seem to be that much of a problem but vegetables and fruit were going to be.

In the here and now our trip around the outer circumference of the cave didn't go far before we found water and sewer fittings. They were almost exactly like the ones in the residence cave. Unfortunately I didn't have another tub and crapper lying around. I was pretty sure I could at least rig up a shower here but cobbling up a shitter was going to be a problem. Right off the bat I couldn't think of a thing to take the place of one.

Maybe it wouldn't matter so much. I didn't envision people living in this cave, not yet anyway. The water would be welcome for the horses though and handy for the few people I intended to keep down here on a rotating basis.

The biggest surprise came as we got through looking around in the cave and decided to go back out to the pasture. As soon as I walked out the entrance I could tell that there was a barrier like the others in place. It didn't stop Biltee or me but I could feel it as I walked through and apparently Biltee could too.

"This is much better. If the horses can run inside when they are in danger from predators the barrier will keep them safe," Biltee said.

"Yes, it will be handy and it will save us from having to build a lot of extra fencing. We'll still need a good fence but I don't think we need to try and make it bear and wolf proof now."

The alien's reasons, whatever they were, for keeping this from me still didn't make sense but I was happy we'd finally found it. I don't guess it had cost us anything by only coming across it now. We'd only just secured our horses and hadn't needed it before. I was glad to have my pickup too, but we wouldn't have had a lot of use for it on our horse gathering trip.

It wasn't later than ten AM yet and there was time before lunch to get some of the men started on the fence while the rest of us led the horses to the pasture. We could hobble them for now and let them graze. I'm sure they were thinking it was about time for something to eat. Biltee and I decided to cancel the rest of our explorations for the day so we could go back to the house and get the horses headed this way.

Instead of going around the long way, as we'd come this morning, we led our horses through the newly discovered tunnel. As we came out into the big storage cave some of the horses in there noticed and whinnied at Buck and Biltee's horse, Jake.

Taachachi happened to be working with some of my other mates unpacking travois and she looked up at the sound. She spied us right away and came to meet us with Teecha and Teechi in tow.

"What have you done? That opening wasn't there when we left. I looked this cave over completely before," Taachachi said.

"I know it wasn't but when we found the big cave from the other side and looked into the tunnel it was suddenly open for us. I don't understand it but I'm going to use it," I said.

"What big cave?" she asked.

"Come with me. I'll show you," I said, deciding it would be better than trying to explain.

After more than half an hour of show and tell, Taachachi headed back to the house and started gathering help. Before long nearly everyone was with us and it didn't take much to get the horses moving toward their new home. A few of them didn't want to go through the tunnel but they were convinced without too much bother.

It took nearly an hour to hobble them all and turn them loose to graze. Jondah had been very helpful and he asked me if someone was going to stay with them.

"I think we'll need a few to at least rotate to stay with them. At least one needs to be here most of the time incase they are bothered by other animals," I said.

"Why don't you let my family and I stay in this cave. We can watch out for them and move them in at night. That way no one will have to worry about watching while it is dark."

"If you would like the job it is yours. There will be a lot of work building the fence but once it is finished we won't have to hobble them to let them out. I will see about some plumbing for your water this afternoon."

"But what is plumbing and where is the water?" he asked.

"Plumbing is what it takes to get the water out of the pipes. Like in the bathroom in the other cave. I don't have another toilet or tub but I think I can make a shower for bathing. I don't know what to use instead of a toilet though and I don't have another spare one," I said.

"That is a shame since I already like using the toilet instead of going outside. I don't know what a shower is but I do like the bathtub. We can make do, but it will be nice if you can get water in here."

"I'll think of something but it might take me a day or two. For now the job is yours if you want it. I know it will cut into your hunting time but we'll be sure to get you anything you need as far as meat and furs. I'll have Taachachi speak with your women so she will know if we need to provide something," I said.

"Will I still be able to hunt when I need to?"

"Of course. In a day or two you'll know more about how much work the horses are going to be than I will. If you need someone else I will ask others to come help, but you will know better than me by then. I don't think you need to watch them all the time. It seems to me they can take care of themselves during the day," I said.

"It seems that way to me too. They've been taking care of themselves all of their lives. I can understand watching them while they are hobbled but after the fence is finished it shouldn't be so important. We will have to learn about it as we go I guess."

"Exactly. Let me know if you need anything. I think I'll go now and see what I have for making a shower," I said, and then left him.

The shower and shitter solution hit me as I walked through the tunnel. My house was a four bedroom and since saving money hadn't been a concern when I built it, all four had their own full baths. Two bedrooms were currently nearly full of the children I'd been accumulating as I took on mothers of the men I killed.

The bedroom that had been turned into a sort of clinic room for injured people was basically unused now since Taachachi was well and the bathroom for it was not being used by anyone. We could just remove the fixtures and put them in the new cave.

Moving the crapper would be trivial but the bath/shower was a one-piece fiberglass unit. It could come out but it would take some careful work. It wouldn't really matter. I'd have to take a little care to keep from tearing it up as I removed it but I was sure I could handle the job. Not today for the tub though. Getting the shitter into its new location would be plenty for me to get done today.

Moving the crapper was easier than I'd thought it would be. Even though I didn't have time to set it in the new location before lunch I did get it over there and ready to install. My only problem was the lack of a new wax ring. I'd carefully removed the old one and reclaimed all the wax that stayed on the toilet. After lunch I warmed the ring in the oven and put it back into reasonable shape.