Chapter 12

By the time we got back with the last load the camp was swarming with activity. I hadn't really thought about it, but this was probably more game than they had ever dealt with at one time.

The women were doing most of the work with the fresh meat, but some of the men had been pressed into duties they didn't normally have to bother with. For instance five men were down stream a few hundred feet and one woman seemed to be directing their efforts at washing and cleaning out the intestines from my kills.

Men were also doing most of the lifting and carrying and some were erecting racks for drying meat. Others were putting up temporary stands near smoky wood fires and later larger portions of meat would be hung on these. The rest of the men and most of the older children were working on the hides, scraping them and getting them prepared to be put onto racks for stretching.

Gema and Merita were with a group of women busily slicing meat to be dried. As I watched them working with Geera and game flusher's mate I noticed resemblances between Geera and Gema and also between Merita and game flusher's wife. The resemblances had to be familial since they were too pronounced to be coincidence.

It was odd to me no mention had been made of it before now. Just then a younger girl, probably about fifteen, joined them. Her hair was the same color as Merita's and I could tell they must be sisters. She was only a little smaller than Merita and it had to be because she was younger. I would have to ask Geera about it, but not now.

Helping with skins looked to be the best place for me and I fell in with those working on it and was soon covered with blood and tissue like everyone else. We worked well after sunset until Gigo had us all find a stopping place so we could eat a light meal and get some rest. Being busy with the hides I hadn't noticed some of the women had quit working on the bison and cooked supper.

After going to the stream I washed off what I could. When I returned near the fire I saw Gema and Merita were seated on the rock ledge. They'd saved me a spot between them and there was a hipbone plate of food for me.

"John, Merita and I are so proud of you. We will soon be mated to the best hunter anywhere. Most of the women didn't think you could kill one bison and surely not ten. Then you went onto the plateau alone and killed fifteen. Not to mention you carried them all to camp with your wagon and horses and then killed three cave lions. Is it true their skins are for our sleeping furs?" Gema asked, and I could almost feel her excitement.

"It is what I intended, but if you would rather another type of sleeping fur tell me what you want and I will get it," I said.

"The lion furs will be wonderful John. When the men who skinned them told us you said they were for our sleeping furs I was so proud I thought my heart would burst," Merita said.

"John, almost no one has a cave lion fur. They are vicious and the men never hunt them. The only ones ever killed are those which attack to take a kill from the hunters. Hunters will only kill cave lions if they don't think they can get away without being hurt. Many men have been killed by the cave lions," Gema said.

"The men who skinned them also brought us their claws and teeth. I have never seen so many cave lion teeth and claws in my whole life. There are more than enough for a powerful necklace for all of us if it is acceptable," Merita said.

"You will be my mates. All this has been done for you. You may do with them as you please."

I could tell by the way they were talking and by the looks they were giving me I was a big hit. Gema and Merita both seemed to glow and were practically vibrating with excitement. I had a suspicion I could do no wrong in their eyes, for a while at least.

The younger version of Merita who had been with them earlier came over and approached us shyly. Merita saw her and welcomed her, and then she introduced Maia and told me they had been sisters once.

"I don't understand Merita, if you were sisters once are you not still sisters?"

"We are, but after we became women we were no longer seen as sisters. We still feel like sisters though," Merita said, quietly.

"You surely look like sisters. I don't want to be rude but who is your mother?"

"Dieta was our mother when we were children. She is Dergo's mate," Merita said.

I was beginning to get an inkling now. Apparently they were sisters and had a mother while they were children, but after they grew older they were referred to as women and no longer considered sisters. Merita confirmed it for me.

"Yes. While we were children we lived with Dergo and Dieta was our mother. When we became women we moved to our own beds with the other unmated women," Merita said.

"And Geera must have been your mother Gema," I said.

"Yes, how did you know?" She asked.

"I can see her beauty in your face as I can see Dieta's beauty in the faces of Merita and Maia."

I had said the right thing again. All three faces lit up with smiles and blushes. I did notice Maia's seemed tempered with a sort of sadness though and as I looked more closely her eyes looked slightly red as if she might have been crying. At least I had sense enough not to ask about it now. I decided I would ask Gema or Geera about it later if I could get them alone.

I was feeling a little odd about my new information. Of course I was transposing my former life onto these new people in my new life, but it made me wonder why Geera had not told me any of this and why I hadn't been introduced to one of my future mothers-in-law, namely Dieta. I would have to quiz someone on this point.

When we finished eating Gema and Merita took me inside and led me to a nicer sleeping place. It was larger and the furs seemed even nicer than those I'd been using. For a second I thought I might be about to get a taste of my new mates, but they explained I was now being given one of the places reserved for visiting hunters instead of one for a guest. Whatever the reason I appreciated it and after looking around for prying eyes Gema and Merita both stole a kiss on the cheek before they scampered off.

It was up and at 'em early again the next morning. I went back to work with the men on the bison skins. Today it was mostly putting them onto racks for stretching. More racks had to be built and while I knew I could make better racks faster with the saws, axes, and hatchets at my cave I was glad to keep them secret. After all, Georgo told me there was no need to show everyone all my magic.