Chapter 33

When I woke the next morning all my girls were already out of bed. No one was hanging around to give Dicky a good morning kiss or anything. I thought about calling one of them over to remedy the lack, but since they seemed to be getting ready for another gathering foray I didn't.

I got up, dressed, and went outside to water a bush. I thought of the bathroom fiasco again and was nearly mad before I could shake the last few drops off Dicky. I knew I was about to schiz off into another round of second-guessing, so I went back into the cave for something to eat. Dalia had my coffee ready, thank Bob. I told her how much I appreciated it again and took the cup.

I was wondering about Bigglieo and the others who were off to fetch our new members when Geera came over.

"Nadlo came to talk to me yesterday about mating Melieta. I talked to her later and she is willing. I must get together with all the women today to settle on his payment."

"I told him to find a mate and I will be encouraging Jonoco to do it as soon as he can. The best way to keep them from sniffing around my beauties is for them to get a woman of their own to sniff. They are the only two unmated men aren't they?" I asked, and grinned.

Geera tried to look serious. She couldn't keep up the act though and finally giggled herself.

"Yes, they are the only two men from our original camp who are unmated. They will be the youngest men to ever be mated I have ever heard of. Nadlo has only been a man for four weeks and Jonoco only three," Geera said, and laughed.

"I don't think it is ever too early for a man to be broken to a mate's will."

"What to you mean, broken to a mate's will?" Geera asked, surprised.

"Most men learn the hard way that sooner or later they must do as their mate or mates wish."

"It does make things go more smoothly. What about Nadlo though?" Geera asked.

"What about Nadlo, what do you want to know from me?"

"What do you think we should do about his payment?"

"I am not one of the women - at least I wasn't last night," I said, and reached down to squeeze my equipment.

"No, I am still a man," I said, teasing her.

"I know as well as any of your mates. Nadlo said you had told him you would pay his price though. Do you want me to make it low so it will be easier?"

"No, I want you to make it higher than it would have been before I met you. I don't think you should make it as high as I have paid but it should be high enough so that Melieta will feel very proud. Nadlo will have to pay me back for it after all. I don't think we should slight Melieta just so Nadlo can have an easy time."

"I will make it meat from hunting then. I know meat will be the easiest thing for you to get and it will also make Melieta happy. Before you came meat was the most difficult thing to get," Geera said.

"He will not have to wait until I get it all will he?"

"No, as a member of the camp he will be allowed to pay when he can. Since he had never been a strong hunter we would have asked him to pay something first before he was allowed to mate. Since you will promise it will be paid there will be no objections from anyone."

"Good. If it is agreeable with the others please call for some of the meat to be boar. I have been wanting some of their meat anyway."

"The boar meat is very hard to get John. It will make Melieta's price seem high," Geera said.

"You must do as you see fit, but I intend to hunt the boar anyway. I want some bacon," I said, finally admitting it.

"Very well, it will be hard for Nadlo to pay you back in boar meat though," Geera said.

"Can't he pay me back with whatever I want? When his mate is paid for isn't the debt paid. His debt will be to me then and if I accept something else won't it be between Nadlo and I?"

"We have never thought of things that way, but I can see it is fair. At any rate, we women will not be concerned. When the bride payment is made, it is made, and we are through with it," Geera said.

"Good. I will talk to Nadlo first though. I have watched him before and I think he can help with the horses. He seems to be interested in them and they will soon be too much work for Jonoco and Danlo. Danlo is still waiting for his manhood and yet he works hard with Jonoco and the horses every day. They need some help."

"Will we get more horses before long?" Geera asked.

"I went up canyon yesterday to look around and there are many horses, many. Some even look like they will be better than the ones we have. When we get some of them there will be more to care for."

"I will talk to the women then and we will settle on Melieta's price," she said.

"Good. Please tell me if we get any more unmated men here and please let me know how many unmated women are in our camp. I will need to keep on top of my match making."

"Once they find out you will stand for Nadlo's mate payment boys will be telling you they are men before they even tell their mothers," Geera said, and laughed.

"It will be fine as long as they know they must still prove it to their mother and not to me," I said, trying to keep a straight face.

Geera didn't even try, she laughed so hard she cried and then nearly lost her breath. Dalia came to her to see what the matter was and then all my mates were around her wanting to know what was so funny. I made them wait until Geera could recover enough to tell them. When she did they all fell into laughter. Finally they calmed down.

"What will you do about the price for all their mate's though John?" Geera asked me.

"I will help them all, all those who were in the old camp at least and all the others I can. I know they probably all want a mate and I want them all to have one, or two if it can be worked out. We will have Georgo busy if I have anything to say about it."

She left to see about talking to the other women then. My last quip had me wondering where Georgo was keeping himself now-a-days. I hadn't seen him since my mating ceremony. I guessed he would be back when he came back. I wanted to talk to him, but not bad enough to send a man out looking for him.

When I walked out of the cave again I saw Nadlo coming toward it. He approached me meekly and asked if he might speak to Geera.

"Geera is talking to the other women. They are probably deciding your fate as we speak. What did you want to talk to her about?"

"I am not a good hunter. I wanted to ask her to consider that in my mating price," Nadlo said.

"I told you I would make sure you could pay for your mate. What the women decide is what I must provide. What you owe me then will be between you and I. I will tell you already if you agree you can pay me back by working with the horses with Jonoco and Danlo.

"We will soon have even more horses as I have discovered there are many up the canyon. I intend to have a horse for everyone in this camp and extra horses too. They will all need care. If you will work with the horses for me you will never have to hunt unless you want to."

"I don't understand. When you came to me last night I was afraid. I knew I had done wrong to you. I expected a beating or maybe even to die. Now you have offered to pay my price for mating and further you will let me work with the horses to pay my debt to you. Most camp leaders would not do as much for their mate's son, much less for an unmated man they are not related to," Nadlo said.

"I am the leader of this camp Nadlo. The leader of the whole camp. When one in my camp obtains more status I also have more status. I would see every man here have two or more mates if he can find them. I wish to make all my people fat even during the winter. I cannot do it by myself, but I do not need for every man to hunt. I need some men who can do other things. If you work with the horses it will be a big help for me. I cannot do everything."

"I will be glad to work with the horses and I would like to help with the wolves too. I would have liked to do it anyway and wondered if I would ever be able to," he said.

"Good, a man will do much better if he can do things he likes. Do not worry about the payment for your mate. The higher it is, the more your mate will be proud of herself and proud of you for paying it. Come with me now and I will show you how to let the horses out to graze but not to get away."

We went to the horse cave then and I showed him how to hobble horses and how to tie others off. He asked about all the young ones and yearlings that went free and I explained they would probably stay with the older horses. I told him the youngest would not stray far from their mothers and the yearlings weren't worth the effort yet to train while we were so busy. I told him if they were still around when we had pens built for training we would start their lessons. If they were gone then we would get more.

I also got a shovel for him and showed him how to clean up horseshit which was building up in the cave. We would have to find something for bedding in there soon too. The shit can be shoveled but the urine just soaks into the floor without some type of bedding. The cave was pretty large, but before long the smell of ammonia would be much too strong in there.

I left him at it, knowing even using a shovel was a novel experience for him at this point. Maybe he would come to see cleaning up horseshit as a necessary part of things instead of a dirty job. It was both of course.