Chapter 51

Jonoco rounded the bend with Georgo not far behind then. They pulled up and stopped close to us. As Georgo came over to talk I had Jonoco, Danlo, Nadlo, and Galto begin rigging the travois onto the horses that had never pulled a load. Then I returned to Georgo, Barago, and the others.

"Barago, we will need some fairly thick skins to finish making the travois for the horses to pull. Do you have any?" I asked.

"We can use the hides that are part of the huts. We will not need the huts any longer and there should be plenty of hides that we can salvage for other uses," He told me, after thinking about it for a moment.

"Is there a hut that no one is using now, that will not be needed tonight?"

"Not really. You will need the hut of the unmated women and Georgo will need Darbo's former hut," he said.

I was about to speak up and tell him I could stay in the wagon when he spoke again.

"We have three large hides that we were going to build another hut with though and we can use them if you need some now," he said.

"We should rig as many as we can tonight so we can let some of these horses practice before the sun sets. Would you bring the hides please?"

He left to do it and I asked the others to bring some things that they would be wanting to take tomorrow, I urged them to bring things that would be able to take a beating if it came to that, such as skins or furs.

While they were gone to bring them I helped the men with the horses. I made a point of introducing Sahto and Talvo to all of the men and instructing them to teach the two boys all they could.

We had all of the horses that had never pulled a load rigged with a working travois before the first of the practice freight arrived. We began loading, distributing it among the horses. After a while we had at least enough to practice with and we began walking the horses out and back and getting them accustomed to a load. It all went more smoothly than I'd thought it would. I guess the constant handling had prepared the horses for their work better than I had thought.

We quit after about an hour. Barago had brought the skins and we spent the rest of the daylight rigging out two more travois with them. That would only leave us one to rig in the morning so I felt that we would do fine. We hobbled the horses that we could and tied off the rest on long leads.

That reminded me I needed to ask for more hobbles in my bonus freight. The Blackberry had arrived before I had mounted Ben today so I knew I could add to my order after I went into the hut to sleep.

With everything more or less settled for our journey tomorrow, those of us who had been working with the horses went back to the main camp and found a mini feast being prepared. I suppose the women had decided it would be easier to cook the food tonight than carry it tomorrow. I found a place to sit and was just beginning to lament not bringing at least one of my mates to see to my care and feeding. I needn't have worried.

An older woman, perhaps in her early thirties, but still attractive came to me with a large plate piled high with food and a large cup of tea. She introduced herself as Talieia and as she handed me the plate and tea, just as I was taking a drink, she told me that she was Talvo's mother. It was a trick, but I managed not to choke.

"I want to thank you and also bring my mate's thanks for the restraint you have shown in dealing with Talvo. We know that he has acted foolishly and it has not started lately. He isn't even a man, yet he hasn't listened to my mate or me for months.

"When the lightning killed Darbo we were glad and then when you killed Jarendo and later Harto we thought that Talvo had seen what was waiting for him if he did not mend his ways. He seemed to know that he had done wrong and he told my mate, Barago, and I that he would change and would go with us to your camp. When he ran today as you approached, and you chased him on the horse and made the magic thunder, I thought that he was dead.

"I was heartbroken. I knew he had brought it on himself, but a mother never stops loving her child, even if his actions are not what she had hoped for. I was so happy when you made him get up and come back to camp that I could barely stand.

"I will never forget your kindness to Talvo. Never! I must tell you that Taahrausa, Sahto's mother, and her mate know that you have done as much for him also. He has been just as willful as Talvo even though he didn't run when you came back.

"When we saw you accepted their word they would try to be good members of your camp and put them to work with those horses we were so relieved. With those swaggering fools dead and a strong leader like you to show them the way I think they will both grow to be good men and if it hadn't been for your visit they never would have," Talieia said.

I thanked her for her confidence in me and said I hoped that I could live up to it. I told her I would not tolerate trouble making from either of them, but I remembered what it was like to be a boy waiting on manhood and I promised to do my best to help them see how they should conduct themselves.

She started thanking me again and I endured it for a while, but finally had to ask her if we could talk of something else. She agreed and she spent some time telling me about the members of her camp.

According to Talieia the camp had done well until Darbo had mated Ladeliea and later started hurting her. It started slowly and though Barago had thought it was shameful he hadn't demanded it stop.

When it became much too much Barago had asked them to leave the camp, but Darbo wouldn't leave and he defied Barago. Things got worse afterward and first Jarendo and then Harto began to plot with Darbo.