Chapter 25

God damn mother fucking shit! God dammit! I was pissed. That shitass Gembo had caused all of this and now I wished I could kill the little bastard again. Twice more.

"When did it happen Jonoco?"

"This morning. Gigo and Dergo went hunting. I guess Braato and Gordo were waiting for them. They came up behind them and threw spears in their backs. I don't know if it killed them, but they cut their throats while they were down. Then they brought their bodies back to camp to claim Geera, Dieta, Waaya and Winna and all of Gigo and Dergo's possessions. I ran to find you as soon as they started packing, but they are probably on their way by now," Jonoco said.

Everyone was quiet except me. I went on another cussing rant, aloud this time. When I settled down I saw Gema, Merita, and Maia were close to tears.

"We will never get to see mother again. I hope they are not cruel to her," Merita said, and finally started crying.

"Poor Dergo and Gigo. I will miss them," Gema said, chiming in and nearly wailing as she cried.

Maia didn't say anything, like Jesus, she only wept.

"Cry for Gigo and Dergo since I can not help them. Do not worry about your mothers. They will not spend one night with their new mates," I said, as I climbed down from the wagon.

"What do you mean John?" Maia asked.

"I mean it seems I will have four more mates before dark. I am tired of this killing for mates though. Who are Braato and Gordo? Are they from Jabo's camp?"

"Yes, they were unmated men in the camp. They were disagreeable and I would call them lazy. It is why they were unmated. They were too lazy to gather a bride payment," Delia said.

"Then they will probably be happy since they will never have to do anything again after today," I said, boasting but not really meaning to.

I was so mad I could hardly think. This was all so useless. It was also mostly my fault. I knew Gigo and Dergo would not be dead now if I had taken on my full responsibility with Waaya and Winna from the start. If I had taken them as mates when I should have Gigo and Dergo would not have been involved in my fight.

If didn't count for shit though, it never had. I was ashamed of myself, but I intended to take out my mistakes on the two opportunists who had killed my friends. I also intended to let the rest of their camp know I was tired of this and would do something about it if I had to.

I switched the saddle and bridle from Dolly to Ben and then untied him from the back of the wagon asking Delia to drive it on to Gigo's camp. Delia told me the best way to reach her old camp from here and I told them I would be back as soon as I could.

I put Ben into a slow lope. It was a little dangerous for him on this unknown ground, but he would have to do the best he could. I was at the camp within an hour. Seeing a woman, I asked her where Braato and Gordo were. She told me she hadn't seen them today. She would have known if they had arrived with their new mates. I turned toward Gigo's camp and let Ben walk this time. They were coming to me now.

I tried to get in mind what I would do when we met. I thought of just riding up to them and shooting them both before they even knew what was happening. When we met I didn't.

I saw Waaya first and then the others. The women were all heavily burdened but the men weren't carrying much. I rode up near them and dismounted. Both of the men came to me.

"Who has the new mates now stranger John?" One of them said.

I suppose it was because not much cunning and sophistication could have come about this early in man's development. It continued to amaze me these men seemed to want to boast, argue, and taunt in life threatening situations.

Maybe they didn't see this as life threatening. I knew they couldn't verbally bait game this way. If they were still alive they had to know when you were going to kill something you didn't stand around and argue with it first.

These two had already demonstrated they knew better because they had attacked Gigo and Dergo silently from behind. The lesson hadn't made much of an impression I guess.

I gave the one who had spoken my best straight right hand to the tip of his nose. The other one was a little smarter and pulled back his spear trying to ram it into my middle. The mail shirt made sure all he did was break off the point and deliver a stout blow.

I had been ready for it though and I grabbed the shaft of the spear with my right hand pulling him toward me. His momentum helped and I let him have a round house left that caught him flat on his right ear. He fell to the ground also.

No doubt kicking has always been in man's repertoire while fighting. The disadvantage to the ancient ones was since their footwear was moccasins, at best, they were every bit as likely to hurt themselves as they were to hurt their opponent. I didn't have that concern.

I was wearing a pair of strong leather boots with rounded toes and thick soles. I gave the first one a solid kick to the forehead and then I showed the second one what it felt like. They were through fighting. I wasn't though and I kept kicking first one and then the other in the ribs until I got tired.

"John, oh John where did you come from?" Geera asked rushing to me.

"Jonoco ran to find me and he met us on the trail to the other camp. He told me what these two did," I said, waving at the assholes on the ground.

Dieta was by me then and Waaya and Winna were approaching. Dieta just came up to me and wrapped her arms around me.

"They have killed my Dergo and Geera's Gigo John. We are to be their mates now," Dieta wailed.

"Only for a few more minutes. You must all be my mates then. I am going to kill both of them. Which one is which?" I asked.

They told me the first one I'd hit had been Gordo and the other was Braato. I looked at them closer and gave them each another kick to the ribs for luck. I am not one of those who dosen't believe in kicking a man when he is down. What better time is there to kick one? I certainly didn't think these two ambushing assholes deserved any better.

"Do any of you have any strings or twine?" I asked.

"I have some cords made from megaceros tendons in my pack," Waaya said.

"May I have them please?" I asked.

"If you are to be my mate anything I have is for you if you want it. I think the cords will help you become my mate so I will hurry to get them," she said.

I did intend for the cords to help in the matter. I was not only going to kill Braato and Gordo, I was going to punish them as I was killing them. The time and place I'd come from put high praise in humane punishment. For what? If someone needed punishment why did it need to be humane. Time and millions of dollars worth of fucking around should have taught the world humane punishment didn't do a fucking thing to slow criminals down.

If a man was such a turd he needed to be in prison I was all for giving his ass a whipping every time he was healthy enough to take another one. That way he'd probably be less likely to get in trouble if he made it out alive.

These two weren't going to get much punishment though since they definitely weren't going to make it through the day alive. When Waaya brought the cord I rolled them face down into the grass and tied their hands tightly behind them. After they were tied securely I rolled them back-to-back and tied all their hands together then we waited for them to come to.

I asked Dieta, Geera, Winna, and Waaya to put all their bundles in a pile that might be safe for a while and then asked them if they would mind walking back to their camp while I dealt with Braato and Gordo. They all said they would love to. I asked them to have Delia come with the wagon for their things and told them I would probably be waiting for her on this spot. They agreed.