Chapter 5

After breakfast was over and we'd had a couple of cups of tea Chatako wanted me to go with him so he could give me a sort of tour of our area. It was fine with me and when we left I was carrying two of my spears, both with killing points attached and Chatako carried his normal spear. He also carried the one from Rayene's former mate. It had come to me from that, like Rayene had, but Chatako carried it so my hands would be free for throwing.

My best guess was I'd found my companions by moving generally south. The cave they were using was blocking our way east so we headed nearly due west, or that's what I thought anyway.

We traveled nearly four miles through forest and came out at the edge of a very large plain. It was easily a thousand acres or more and there must have been thousands of bison grazing along. Luckily we stayed within the woodline.

Looking things over carefully, it didn't take long to spy a group of Cro-Magnons trying to hunt. There were nine men, a couple of boys and six women. The men were trying to work their way around to cut out a suspect and the women had started a small fire. No doubt they'd make tea or something for refreshments after a kill was made.

I was concentrating on the hunter's methods and watched them closely for more than an hour before they spooked something that took my attention. They weren't trying to hunt the horses they disturbed, but I would damn sure be trying to catch a few soon. We'd have plenty of work to do getting prepared, but I was excited to get proof positive horses were near us.

When I returned to watching the hunters they had finally cut out a large bull, but he was obviously a young one. They directed all their efforts toward him now. This was a hell of a lot of work as far as I was concerned. They finally got it done, but there was another hour of chasing and it still looked pretty damned dangerous right at the last.

When the bison was dead the work was only beginning though. Of course the women took over the last of it. Hell, they had to because the men were worn ass out from all the running. They still had to jump up every now and then to chase wolves away.

Fuck 'em was what I thought. It was possible they weren't all like the three we'd had to kill, but any that weren't would have to prove it to me, or at the least Rayene would have to vouch for them. Chatako and I headed back to the cave finally. Katala, Chalala, and Rayene had kept some stew warm for us and we ate as soon as we arrived.

Choto must have been hard at it since we left because he had four more throwing spears cut out and was working on knapping some points for them. He'd also cut out a bow as a first trial, but he couldn't figure out what to use for a bowstring.

For a few minutes I couldn't either, then I remembered what I'd first thought of when I saw the horses and considered catching them. I took the time to explain it to everyone.

They were all clearly amazed about horses and I'm sure they hadn't swallowed it as a divine revelation. It was completely outside their experience. Katala and Choto did listen closely to my description of making a lariat though and I told them if we could cut thongs small enough and keep them very close to the same size we could make bowstrings from them too after they were plaited.

They had a sort of understanding of plaiting, but it was rudimentary at best. Chalala was pointed out as the best at cutting thongs and Rayene claimed she was sure she could do a good job too.

Choto thought the bowstrings should come first and I did too. Katala, Chalala, and Rayene sorted through the available skins and then I helped them get started cutting thongs to plait bowstrings from. We examined the skins carefully for possible weak spots they'd need to cut around and then the two of them trimmed a skin each into a more regular piece and began working their way around the outer circumference.

They had plenty of material ready within an hour and then the lessons started. I was fairly proficient at plaiting, but getting a proper loop for attaching the string to the bow was a bitch to figure out at first. I knew the general plan but I wasn't an expert in practice. Once I had a reasonable method I started on the actual bowstring.

Keeping the plait tight and regular was foremost in my mind, but both girls showed quickly they could do a much better job than I could, after I showed them how it was done.

After an hour of trying we took the bow Choto had finished and measured to estimate how long the string needed to be. Our determination was all by gosh and by golly and the first try ended up too long. Thankfully we were able to undo some of the plaiting and put another loop on the end. It isn't as easy as it sounds since the loops I'd figured out were made by plaiting the end back into loosened strands of the bowstring.

We almost got it right on that try. We were able to string the bow and even pulled it back as if to knock an arrow. A tiny knot in the bow's wood brought out a crack when we put it in a real bind though, and then it broke completely.

It surprised me that instead of being angry Choto was excited now. Apparently he'd realized the amount of power a successful bow would have. He started on a new one right away, assuring us he was going to do a lot more inspection of what he had to work with before he spent any time carving.

Chatako was impressed now too. Sometimes it's hard to visualize the potential in something that has only been explained, but much easier after you've actually seen it demonstrated, even if the demo fails, sorta.

Katala had also selected a skin for herself and was cutting thongs now too. When I estimated they had already cut plenty of bowstring material I asked them to stop and let me show them how to make a lariat.

We'd only used a four-plait for the bowstrings, but I showed them sixteen-plait for the lariat. It was different and more complicated, but they caught on right away.

We didn't stop until time for supper and by this time there were four finished bowstrings and the women had six feet of a lariat completed.

After supper it was fur fun time. Rayene and Chalala were ready for me to do my duty and I was ready myself. I wondered if this was torture for Chatako, especially with the noise we made, but I couldn't think of a thing I could do about it.

Everyone but Chatako and I went right back to work the next morning after breakfast. Actually, we went to work too, but in a gathering sort of mode. We headed out with our spears, but we weren't hunting food. We worked all morning gathering arrow shaft material. I also picked up every suitable feather I found lying around.

Chatako thought I was nuts at first, but after I explained about fletching he looked for feathers too. It wasn't that we'd need so many feathers, but I knew only a small percentage would be useful and I didn't want to try sorting them out now since they were so light and easy to carry. We could put off the sorting and trimming until we got back to the cave.

The bow and arrow design and construction project went on for nearly three weeks. It wasn't the fact Choto wasn't a good wood carver which caused delays. His second try worked and would actually shoot an arrow. It wasn't nearly as powerful as it could be though.

The bowstrings were the main culprits. As Choto came up with more powerful bows the bowstrings started stretching after repeated use. Finally I wised up and gave up on plaiting the end loops back into the main string. We settled for tying a bowline type knot at the ends and then as the strings stretched we could shorten them more easily.

We also changed to wider thongs and then to more. When we first started using the larger strings they gave problems knocking arrows, but as we broke them in the problem went away. Of course it meant they soon stretched until they broke.

I knew all along I was forgetting something, but we made do while I hoped for the mystery fact to come forward. All of us had our own bows and arrows by the time I'd been with them for about sixty days. We'd all become familiar with them if not expert. Any of us could take down a deer if we could get within fifty feet, but that was about the extent of our range.

Of course this was more than enough range for defending ourselves against other humans whether they be other Neanderthals or Cro-Magnons. Frankly, attackers wouldn't have a chance at all.

We'd also done a workman like job with the slings I'd introduced them too after we were well started on the bows and arrows. Probably I should have revealed this trick right away, but I hadn't thought of it since bows were much better for hunting medium and large animals.

All was fine now though and Choto was pleased with the slings too. They were easy to make and finding ammunition for practice and use was a snap. Even though we all had bows and arrows and could use them well, we didn't slack off on the slings either.

Slings were easily powerful enough for small animals and varmints and they'd be fairly annoying and painful against humans too. The Cro-Magnon's potential threat never left our minds, but at least I felt we had them seriously out-gunned by now even if we were still out numbered. Choto often brought them up and we all wondered why they hadn't come around searching for their missing members.

By now it was getting seriously cold out. For the last three weeks Chatako and I had spent most of our time gathering firewood. Knowing about a travois had helped us here too, since even a modified version helped move felled trees. It let us put one end on the travois and keep from having so much surface area dragging against the ground. Of course I kept thinking how much easier it would be with a horse or two, but we didn't try to get ahead of ourselves before winter.

Chatako and I had also done well with our hunting. We'd taken sixteen more deer since our first hunt and we'd been able to get six small bison. Taking fully mature bulls was a cold bitch and we'd only done it once. We killed it finally but it took nine arrows and after that we concentrated on the younger ones. Their meat was more tender anyway.

I didn't see how things could be any better for me. I was well fed and well fucked every night. My mates had even made me some cold weather clothes and now I had well made and warm moccasins and a heavy bison skin coat.

Chatako asked me one afternoon if I'd come with him when he went to trade for his mates. I agreed even before I got the whole story. It was a good one though and well worth waiting for.

He'd had his eyes on a pair of twins for a couple of years. They lived with a larger group Choto and Katala had once belonged to. He'd already spoken to their parents and this was the year he'd agreed to come for them. He explained we'd need to deliver three or four bison or an equivalent amount of meat as a bride payment.

"Will we have to take them with us or can we hunt them from their camp?" I asked, dreading the need to make many trips dragging bison carcasses on travois.

"No, there is a place near their camp with a large bison herd. There are also plenty of deer nearby and the deer meat would be more than acceptable. They have the same difficulty hunting deer we did before you came," he said.

"How far is it to their camp?"

He explained as best he could and I thought it was probably sixteen to twenty miles. Probably twice as far away as the place I'd been put down. I was still lamenting my thoughtless abandoning of the fool's gold anyway and I figured we could go right back past the place I'd found it. Even though I'd looked carefully I still hadn't found any more near us.

My only worry was leaving everyone else here mostly unprotected, but when I mentioned it he and Choto showed me the cure. They unveiled the door they'd made for the cave's entrance.

The door was no such thing as modern people would have considered it. We had thick fur curtains for keeping the cold out, but the door was designed to keep people out. It was a sort of oak grate. Eight-inch oak tree trunks were lashed together and could be held in place over the entrance by wedging them solidly against small cutouts in the cave's rock floor and ceiling. Most of the cutouts were natural, but several of them had been strategically chipped out with other rocks.