Chapter 27

The halves of the former spear flying off to the side and the short burst of sawdust were a big surprise, both to the one who'd held the spear and Growwta. He gave me such an odd look for a minute and then asked me something. Sahnay translated.

"He wants to know why you attacked Jolat."

"Because Jolat was about to attack Missy for doing her job. Tell him the wolf watches over our things and the one on the ground was snooping around to steal something. Go ahead and tell him I know about the way his people like to steal," I told her.

"He won't like that. He knows it's the truth, but they get offended when someone lets them know they know it."

"Let him know even though we are busy we have time to go back to their camp and gather up the mates of any men we have to kill," I said, setting the chainsaw down and pulling a Glock and a Wildey.

Growwta didn't miss my actions and when his men voiced their displeasure at what I'd said after Sahnay translated he silenced them right away. Since only one of them started toward me I didn't shoot, I just called Missy and leveled my pistols. I also heard Mary and Chris jacking shells into the shotguns.

Apparently the one intending to attack me to salvage the pride of the band had forgotten about Missy already. He remembered fast when her teeth clamped into his ass. He dropped his spear at once, but Missy didn't stop right away.

Another one started to lift his spear then, probably intending to help the one on the ground by dealing with Missy once and for all. He was standing near Growwta and he received a backhand in the mouth for his trouble - it was from Growwta. When he hit the ground the ass chewing was on and Missy stopped what she was doing to watch, so I guess he did help his buddy out after all.

"Growwta is telling him if he's fool enough to attack the wolf he has to go to the side away from everyone else because you will surely kill him for it," Sahnay said.

Growwta punctuated his lecture with a kick to the offender's ribs and then he spoke to me while Sahnay translated.

"It is true that many of my men are thieves and many act without thinking."

"I don't mind, but it would be easier if they brought their women with them when they came to bother me. It would save me a long trip back to your camp to pick them up. You would probably be better off too, since if I come to your camp and see a woman I want I might go ahead and kill her mate and take her away too."

I could tell Sahnay had a hard time keeping her composure when she gave him the word.

"I started the day trying to keep from hurting any of you, since I felt you might come around. After the way some of you have acted I don't care anymore. Cheetal and Sholou are with us. You can stop trying to find them now. They are to be my mates. I don't believe in bad luck."

Sahnay had an even harder time getting over this translation, but it didn't seem to bother Growwta at all.

"They were good workers and they will be missed, but I will not fight you over them. Some of the men might want to, but if they are that stupid we'll be better off rid of them as soon as possible."

"Why don't you and your men go to our camp with us. I will be glad to kill all the meat you can carry back for you?"

He smiled when he heard the translation and then after he finished his part Sahnay told me what he said.

"He wants to go back to his camp and bring most of his people in case you are always as good a hunter as you were last time he saw you."

"Tell him to bring them all and all their things. Tell him there is a nice big cave they can all live in and there is plenty of meat if they like bear."

My women all gave me a look when I said it, but Growwta did seem pleased. He talked it over with his men and asked one to go with us and then come back to show everyone else the way. He and the others headed back to their place right away. I noticed he gave the young one who was going with us a long talk before the others left.

It was a couple of hours nearly wasted, but I thought something good would come from it. Growwta seemed like he had good sense, and if the rest didn't I figured I could thin the heard until only the ones smart enough to learn some manners survived.

We dealt with the tree that was in our way and then left ourselves. At least Cheetal and Sholou didn't have to ride in the helo any longer since their cat was already out of the bag. They even seemed to be extra happy after hearing they'd become my mates. I was looking forward to them thanking me tonight.

I'll admit it wasn't true love that made me do it. Then again it hadn't been with any of the other local women I'd cabbaged on to. Still, I was pretty sure I would come to care strongly for all of them since it never seemed hard to do.

Mating here and now was a lot different than marriage had been back in my original time. Men seemed a little like meat gathering pets here. They acted as if they were running the show, and they dealt with things concerning hunting and protection. The truth of the matter was the men would be lost without the women.

It was obvious the women were the ones who encouraged banding together. Left to their own devices the men would end up hunting alone sooner or later and most likely dying alone.

My reasons for asking Growwta and his group to join us were selfish also. There was more than plenty of meat and shelter in our valley and the over flight had showed me there was three or four times more space than I'd thought at first. We needed the bodies to help us get things sorted out. Especially when it came time to put up more hay or to clean kills.

I was probably going to ask Jockat to bring his group closer too. I was pretty sure there were plenty of caves and more. My guess was we'd have enough meat to last all summer and probably all winter too just from evicting the current residents.

We kept a good pace for the rest of the day and were up and moving with the sun. We were damned near home by sunset and we didn't stop. With our flashlights and Missy keeping a good nose-out I felt safe enough moving on in the dark. We were all riding anyway and I knew damned well the horses could still see where they were going.

Traveling after dark upset Gacto a little. He was the younger man Growwta sent with us to return to camp later and lead the others. He was the only one walking and he didn't like doing it after the sun was down. I offered to let him ride in the helo and it made him come to his senses. No doubt he was more afraid of having it told around that he was afraid to walk after dark when none of the women were bothered about it at all.

We made it back to the caves with no trouble. It was a hell of a job moving the logs out of the way so we could get in for the night though. Gacto was amazed by our barricade and seemed even more surprised by the door behind it. The three electric lights we had to provide at least a little illumination inside the cave nearly did him in.

Most of the women went on into the cave to unpack a little and I hoped to cook a lot. A few of them helped me strip the tack and travois off the horses and put them into the cave for the night. Usually I let them stay hobbled and outside, but we still had plenty of hay and I wanted them cooped up for this night anyway. I don't mind admitting I was nearly done in by the time we were done with them.

All the fatigue took some time off after we went back into our residence and I smelled the food that was ready. It didn't take me long to find my chair and my plate and I let the others explain the eating arrangements to Cheetal, Sholou, and Gacto. They didn't have much trouble catching on after the food started appearing. Christy sat in my lap again and I got to enjoy feeding her once more.

The next morning Gacto was anxious to be off, but he was no more so than the women seemed to be to have him gone. They had breakfast ready almost before he was dressed. I knew there hadn't been any trouble spring up during the night and so I wondered what it was all about. After he was gone they clued me in.