Chapter 159

Danlo had kept moving while Deimeta and I talked and now he was turning around and heading back to the horse cave. Deimeta, now she'd made her request and had her say, led Darta back into the parade and continued the lessons. When the buckboard was back in its place Danlo stopped Big Mother and began taking off her harness as I got down off the seat.

"Have you made any progress thinking of a way to guide Big Mother without leading her?"

"No, I haven't even had the slightest hint. I'm sure there must be a good way, but I haven't discovered it yet," he said.

"Maybe you'll just have to ride her and guide her with your feet and legs."

"Maybe, but it will be inconvenient to be up on her back. There would be no way to use the wagon's brakes. It would mean whenever we were headed down hill someone else would have to operate the wagons brakes to keep it from rolling into Big Mother's back legs," he said.

"I know, but it may be the only way."

"It may be. Did I hear you and Deimeta talking about a wagon for Darta?" he asked, changing the subject abruptly.

"Yes, now that she has seen Big Mother pulling the buckboard she wants a small one for Darta to pull. I'm hoping Mundo and his woodworking friends can make one for her."

"There is no need for it. This morning, while I was looking more closely at the wagons without wheels I found another wagon I hadn't noticed before. I'm sure it is for Deimeta because its size is perfect for she and Darta, I'll show it to you," he said, and led me over behind the sleighs.

Sure enough it was a small buckboard. It looked almost exactly like the ones for Dotallto and Georgo but it was much smaller. It even had a let down tailgate and a pair of doors to close the top of the box.

I was sure Deimeta would be thrilled with it. I decided to keep it a secret until we got back from our visit to the other camp and told Danlo my plan.

I had some misgivings about giving it to Deimeta - since I knew possibly it would be taken away later when and if Argent returned. That was no reason to deny her the fun of having it now though.

I was also touched Argent had obviously thought of Deimeta during what must have been the turmoil of his last few hours here, and I knew whatever was happening, Argent was doing the best he could for us.

It was already later in the morning than I intended to start for our trip so I asked Danlo to hitch one of the big wagons for me. I went back toward my cave, telling Deimeta and the others it was time for the trip. Since none of them were going, they decided to keep working a while longer.

In my cave I found Georgo, Dotallto, Ladeliea, Geera, and Dieta waiting for me. They were all having a cup of coffee and when I sat down Shelalliea brought me one also.

"Is everyone ready to go?"

"I think we all are," Geera said, looking around for confirmation from the others.

"When I've finished my coffee I'll get my rifle and then we can leave."

"Oh, I'd forgotten about my rifle, do you think we will need them?" Dieta asked.

"Probably not, but if we do we will feel really stupid for leaving them here."

"I see what you mean. Maybe we should all take our rifles," she said.

"I think we should and we should all be wearing our mail too. I know that you, Geera, and Ladeliea have the new larger rifles now, but if you haven't sighted them in yet be sure you take the others you have sighted in."

I knew it was probably me just being overcautious, but with Argent gone and no hope of help we didn't bring with us it would be foolish to leave our camp without being prepared.

While the others went to put on their mail I went to the practice cave to get my M1. I saw Racaato there and decided to ask him to come with us. He said he would and I asked him to bring my rifle since I thought that I should go and tell Raalto we would be leaving.

After I found and informed Raalto I headed for the horse cave. Everyone was there and Danlo had a team hitched to one of the big wagons. Just in case a need came up I caught and saddled Red, tying him to the back of the wagon. I didn't know what had my mind on trouble and things I might do about it, but it was a feeling I was having and I did what I could think of to head it off.

I got on the seat, took the reins and gave the team a slap on their giant asses. They stepped out smartly and we were on our way. Even with the crowd we were taking there would probably be plenty of room in the big wagon to carry all of the other group's belongings if we could convince them to move to my old cave.

It wasn't a long trip and the trail was familiar enough I didn't have to pay too much attention to where we were going. We made good time and I spent a lot of it looking more carefully at the surroundings than I usually did.

All the trees, except for the evergreens, were naked of leaves now. The sky was overcast today and looked a little forbidding. What breeze there was seemed chilled somehow and I asked Georgo when he thought we would get our next snow.

"If my nose isn't deceiving me we might get it today, can't you smell the snow on the wind?" he asked.

"Not really, can everybody else smell it?"

Most agreed they could and I wondered what smell I was missing. I was sure my nose wasn't as sensitive as theirs, but still, if they could almost all notice the smell it seemed I should be able to. As the trip proceeded I could tell it seemed to be getting colder and the breeze was picking up.

We got a discouraging shock when we arrived. There was no one left alive in the camp. All four of the men were here and dead, killed by spears. The women were gone and everything of value had been taken from the huts.

Racaato started examining the perimeter of the camp at once, looking for sign to tell us something about what had happened.