Chapter 17

We got started packing right away, or getting organized to pack. We loaded the sleds first, mostly with things that had come from our time with us. I made another discovery when I was loading the ammunition Carl had bought for the Barretts.

There'd been so much extra ammo for them and for the other weapons we had in that large compartment I hadn't even paid very close attention to what everything was. Eight of the boxes I'd thought were ammo had been repacked. Carl hadn't known anything about reloading, but apparently he'd paid attention when I told him we might have time for me to give him an introduction to it while we were enjoying Alaska.

The repacked boxes contained a complete setup and plenty of powder, bullets, and primers for the fifty caliber rounds. When Carl bought in quantity he didn't pinch pennies. I assumed Chris, Mary, and I would be here for the rest of our lives and I still couldn't feature ever using up the ammunition and reloading supplies Carl slipped by me. I didn't think there was any way I'd ever shoot even two thousand rounds through both of the Barretts, but it didn't matter. The powder he'd bought thirty canisters of would work fine in every rifle we had, and it was over and above the supplies and equipment I'd brought for the other weapons.

Our supply was overkill, but it was a lot better than running short. I wished again I'd let him buy some snowmobiles. At least the deal Mecha had made ended up being the next best thing. Thanks to her bargaining we had plenty of labor lined up to help us with the hauling. I couldn't think of a thing she could have traded for she didn't get.

Two days later Jockat and his whole camp showed up just after noon. Every man woman and child had come, except for four of the oldest men who were staying to guard their camp and four women who stayed to cook for them. They set up to camp on our doorstep for the night and then the travois loading was on.

We packed up everything but enough dishes for supper and breakfast and enough furs for the night. Even after spreading the load out to make the trek easy there were still six travois that would be making the trip empty.

Our cooking was back to the old fashioned way tonight too. Mecha and the downtime women took over completely and they encouraged Mary and Chris to join me in playing with the kids until the food was ready. It was a party type atmosphere with everyone here eating together, but I was glad enough none of the tasty brew made an appearance.

By the time it was dark and everyone's kids were asleep the adults hit their furs too. Since I heard the unmistakable sounds of fucking going on I started teasing body parts myself. I was probably showing off, but I instigated a nice demonstration of how Chris, and then Mary could howl when they got their cookies and with a breather every now and then I showed off with a few of the others. I was beat before I was halfway done though and I had to give up doing them all as an impossible job.

Breakfast the next morning was a rushed affair, consisting of mostly tea and dried meat. It was like jerky, kinda, but not nearly as spicy. We finished packing up our bedding and headed off down the trail, or up the trail depending on your way of thinking.

We made the trip faster this time, probably due to the light loading. I led the bunch to the place we'd used for camping last time and quickly enough the women were setting up a camp and the men were ready to watch me do my stuff. Some of them stayed to watch over the women and the camp, but most of them came with Reela, Keela, Mecha, Kemela, Chris, Mary, and I.

We had a better plan in place this time even though I wasn't all that comfortable with it. I found a good place where I could take a rest across a stout branch of a smallish tree. It was about a hundred and fifty yards from the entrance to the first cave we needed to evacuate. I cleared other branches and basically hacked out a good stable firing position.

Reela and Keela, who could run one hell of a lot faster than I could, were going to carefully approach the cave and try to disturb and draw out bears, hopefully one at a time. Just in case something went wrong they had selected near by trees to climb within running distance. Mary and Chris also prepared good firing positions for emergency tactics. I checked to make sure I had a pocketful of loaded magazines and nodded to the bait.

Keela went first, approaching the entrance with one of my flashlights and examining the inside as she went. She must have spotted one almost right away because she threw a rock at it. Apparently she hit a sore spot because it made about half a sleepy sounding roar and then there were noises that seemed to mock what I thought of as rousing sounds. Keela yelled something at it a couple of times and then turned to haul her cute ass, trying her best to catch her sister who'd had sense enough to leave earlier.

Sure enough a Cave bear came rumbling out, no doubt looking for the perpetrator. I let it get maybe thirty yards from the entrance and then cut loose with what I hoped was a much better shot this time. It was. I'll swear it took almost half the giant's head off and he dropped like a rock, albeit a big one.

Jockat and his merry men were amazed and they weren't the only ones. I was surprised myself, but five minutes later Reela and Keela scampered down from their perches, smiling wide, and heading back to do it again.

Reela was first at bat this time and apparently the Barrett had disturbed some of the others. At least it didn't take anything but a little yelling this time before the twins were rushing back for safety. Still, only one more bear came out.

This one seemed even bigger and my aim wasn't as good either. It was still a good headshot but wasn't immediately fatal. The one I put in its upper chest finished the job though. I reloaded the magazine and waited for my nest trick.

When Keela tried her luck again she did a better job, I guess. Two bears came out as she and Reela were leaving rapidly. It took two round for one and three for the other. At least they both seemed a little smaller.

The girls were barely down out of their trees when another bear came out uninvited this time. The twins changed direction and I waited for it to get farther out of the door. When it came to the first bear I'd killed it went to all fours and sniffed around on it some. When it stood on its hind legs again I fired and one shot was enough for that one too.

We kept at it and by the time we were down to the youngsters there were twelve adults and three yearlings lying dead outside, not to mention the four small models that we had to go in after. Jockat was shaking his head and he sent a runner back to bring all the women to start skinning and cleaning. When I had Mecha ask him if he was ready for me to start on the next cave he declined politely, so I took a break while the women, and even a few of the men got to work.

The lunch break was only a little late, but in its favor was the fresh roasted bear meat. I'd come to like it a lot by now and there was damned sure plenty. Afterwards, while most everyone went back to work, Reela, Keela, and I went back into the cave to look around more closely.

It really was better than the one we'd left. It was bigger, the floor was more nearly level, and it had a small stream running down near one side and into a pool. As water overflowed the pool it disappeared down a nearby crack - leaving only a small muddy spot. We didn't find a tunnel leading off anywhere else but there was one place that was almost like a separate room about twenty by thirty. It looked like a young storage closet to me.

By suppertime the skinning and cutting up was mostly done. We had another big bear meat meal and finally settled in for the night, with most people tired. I wasn't so much, but the day had seemed long. I spent part of the afternoon gathering wood to build a good fire in the entrance to our prospective new home and piling more wood near it. None of my women snuck off without me to tend it in the night though. They took care of it, but they woke me to go with them when they did.