Chapter 128

I led him to the buckboard then and after opening the tops I showed him the two fifty pound containers. When I opened one and he saw it was salt he was stunned.

"How can you have so much salt? I have never seen as much in all my life!" he exclaimed.

"Salt is very heavy, but with a wagon to carry it and horses to pull the wagon it is no trouble to carry a lot of it at one time."

Of course it was true, but it had nothing to do with the question he asked. It wasn't the way I had come by the salt. I let him draw his own conclusion though.

"I see. I can easily trade for all the women with this salt and have very much left over. I will not need but one of these containers for the women. Kartoto will be so surprised to see so much salt he will be overwhelmed.

"I will probably only even take one container there to trade. It will keep him from wanting it all. In fact, I might not trade him all of one container for the seven women. Without mates they are a burden to his camp and I think he has eight or nine young girls which will probably be women by next year and only three boys who are likely to become men."

"How did he end up having so many more females than males?"

"He does not understand it and I don't either. Of course it happened more than twelve years ago. He wasn't even the leader when so many more girls than boys were born. Some say the leader at the time gave up his leadership as soon as he thought Kartoto could lead the camp.

"He was sure he had done something wrong or he had become unlucky for his people. It only lasted for three years though. Still, there are many females there who will never have mates unless some of them leave," he told me.

"Then I want you to trade for any female he will trade. I don't care if they won't become women for two more years. If he will trade them, get them. I don't think you should take so many he will end up with boys who will become men and have no woman to mate, but do as you see fit."

"He will have to be the judge of it - he knows his camp better than anyone and I don't think he would let it happen, but I can tell you soon you will have all the unmated women in his camp and many girls also - more girls than women in fact. I will not try to tell you about your camp either though. You surely know it well. I will do as you ask," he promised.

"For your help I will give you all the salt you do not have to use in trade and if you need to use it all I have much more. I will also bring you ten whole bison for helping me, but I have one more request. I would like for you to ask Brundolo and Sarboto if they have a favorite among the women you trade for and if they do I am asking you to give them the one they want."

"I know Brundolo has a favorite, but I know Sarboto doesn't," he told me, and it got my curiosity up at once.

"How can you be sure?"

"I will tell you, but I would never tell it to any of my people. Sarboto is a good young man and he is a good hunter, but Sarboto will never take a mate. For some reason he has no desire for a woman. Please do not tell this since I am ashamed of it," he implored.

"You have nothing to be ashamed of and neither does he. The spirits decide these things and we can have no control over them. There is one man in my camp and one boy who are the same as Sarboto. Is he the only one like it in your camp?"

"Yes, and I am glad of it. I have no animosity toward Sarboto, but I feel uneasy around him. I am also a little sad for him," he said.

"Why not let him come back with us then? He may enjoy the company of one of the others in my camp who are like him."

"You would take him in?" he asked.

"Yes, I would be glad to have him in my camp. I do not think it would be right to trade for him, but I will make sure you do not want for his help as a hunter."

"We have no trouble getting meat in this place and we would not miss his hunting even though he has already proved to be one of the best at finding and stalking game. I will ask him to return to your camp with Brundolo and he may stay if he likes," Grotondo said.

"Very well, I will trade you as much salt for the three unmated women here as you want and I'm asking you to trade with Kartoto for me, for all the women and girls he will trade.

"I will make sure you have plenty of salt and the ten bison and I will give Brundolo a horse and a travois to bring back with him when he returns to you after he has learned how to use and care for the horses. I will even send four wagon loads of the grass hay we have cut so you can feed the horse during the winter."

"I had not considered it, but I can see now I will need to be thinking of it. It would do no good to have horses and have nothing to feed them. Will you tell Brundolo how it is gathered?"

"Yes and you will not have to gather as much as we do. In your valley the horse can probably find enough to eat on its own since nothing else can graze in here. You will have much standing grass and the horse can eat it except for the times when the snow is too high.

"I will show Brundolo how to cut and cure the hay for the times when there is too much snow for the horse to find it on its own."

"You are very easy to trade with, John, you should come more often to trade with me," he said, and almost laughed.

"You should have more women to trade," I told him, and did laugh.

"That is another thing, John, about Kartoto's camp. There are three women there who have lost their mates. One lost her mate this year and the other two lost theirs more than two years ago.

"They are all good women and two of them have children, but they will never have another mate in his camp and likely never have one at all. Would you like for me to trade for them also?" he asked.

I almost asked how old they were, but then didn't. Hell it was no trouble to feed three more women and even if they were old and no one wanted them I would take them just to make sure they had enough to eat, especially the two who had children. Hell if they still had young children they couldn't be very old anyway.

"Yes, by all means trade for them too. Are you sure you will have enough salt?"

"I am sure. It will need only a token amount for the three women whose mates have been killed. They are good women, but after what has happened to their mates many people feel they are unlucky. If you do not mind we might even try to kill some bison or aurochs or other game for part of the trade and keep more of the salt for ourselves," he said.

"I do not care how you do it and if you need another canister of salt tell me so and I will send it down here for you. In fact I think I will send you another anyway. I will also be bringing you a valuable gift no one else can give you. We had some misunderstandings at first, but I would like for us to be friendly. Nothing can be gained by fighting among ourselves and I have plenty and don't mind sharing it."