Chapter 6

I slept until noon the next day. After crawling out, dressing and stumbling outside to piss I went to check on the pups. They needed water and food. After filling the water pan I hand fed them one at a time. They were accustomed to me now and would actually play a little. They gained confidence daily and I knew I would be able to start training them within a week.

Finishing with them left me free to go check for horses. As I left the cave I saw them about a mile and a half up the valley. I went right back inside and closed the door. I wanted them to drift up the blind canyon and there was nothing I could do outside to hasten them into it. The only thing I would accomplish would be scaring them off.

Things would have been different if I was behind them already, but I wasn't. Getting behind them from where I was now would require climbing up the canyon wall, circling around on the plateau, and then climbing back down. I could use my time more effectively another way. Hell, practically any other way.

I spent the day unpacking the wagon and putting my things into reasonable order against one of the interior walls. There was plenty of room to spread things out for easy access. I assembled the custom made ultra light desk and chair and put the computer system into operation.

Later I spent some time going over the map again to see if I'd missed anything important when I'd studied it before my departure. I didn't find anything of much interest that I didn't already know about. I wanted to go take a look at the camp of the Neanderthals but I knew I should get hold of some horses first since they were close by now. If I managed to get them stranded up in the canyon this time I would be tied up with them for several days. If I missed out again I could think about exploring then.

I worked with the pups again later in the day and then went to bed shortly after eating. I intended to be well rested and up early the next morning. If I were lucky with the horses I would have a big day.

I was up well before sunrise. Tending to the pups and then making my breakfast still let me leave the cave just as the sun was thinking about getting the day started. With the night vision goggles and the thirty ought six in hand I walked over to the mouth of the blind canyon. I spotted the horses before getting half way to the back of it. This sent me in the opposite direction to begin building a fence.

Building fence was one of my least favorite things to do. It was worse this time because I'd had to cut and trim all the post and rails myself, but the ground was relatively soft here. This made postholes easier to dig but also meant I had to sink them deeper to make them stable. I was getting wound up to bitch about it, but managed to change my mind. I was building a fence on free land to catch free horses. I didn't have a bitch coming

These horses had never seen a fence though and wouldn't have any idea it was meant to hold them in. They would probably crash into it to get through and if I didn't make it high enough they might try to jump over it. At least they were on the short side and should have limited jumping ability.

By the hardest I managed to get all the post in place and one string of rails across them before darkness was approaching. Knowing this wouldn't hold the horses if they headed back out I decided to build a couple of fires to keep them from approaching. This meant I would have to sleep outside to make sure the fires were fed through the night. Not a pleasant proposition, but not exactly a chore either.

After clearing two spots for fires I got them started and brought more wood to add later. There was plenty lying around from my fence post and rail cutting and trimming. The sleeping bag and air mattress were next after some attention for the pups. I set up my bed close to the nearest fire where I prepared for my first night sleeping out doors in this world. I'd been camping hundreds of times on earth but this felt different to me. I assumed I had a much better chance of encountering curious or even dangerous wild life tonight.

One thing I hadn't considered hit me when I lay down. It had been a clear day and it seemed like an even clearer night. With no real light from earth and practically no air pollution the stars were brilliant jewels in the sky and I kept my eyes open admiring them until the moon made an appearance, and it was even more impressive.

The night passed without other incidents though and I was up before the sun again the next morning. I built the fires up again and then went into the cave to fix a little breakfast and tend to and play with the pups for a while. Then it was back to work.

The fence was done just before noon. Not bothering with a gate yet I had completely closed off the canyon. Now the horses were confined until I let them out. All I had left to do was build a capture pen and start some real wrangling.

The pen was going to be on the same side of the canyon as my cave. The canyon's wall was high and steep and there was a fairly large overhang which would give some protection from the weather and would also make it nearly impossible for any predators to get above the pen and jump down into it among the captured horses. Nothing would piss me off more than to spend all this time pinning some horses and then have some animal jump in with them for an easy meal.

The capture pen turned out fairly large, about one hundred and fifty feet square. Using the original fence as one side and the canyon wall as another left me with only two sides and a gate to erect. It was still a lot of work and I wasn't finished by dark. Since the canyon was closed off completely now I didn't need to sleep in the open again tonight.

I knocked off and went into the cave around sunset. I spent a couple of hours with the pups tonight. They were not afraid of me in the least anymore. I even started teaching them to come when I called or whistled. It wasn't a big test since they were still in their pen but they did all right at it. Of course they were still doing a lot of youthful playing. I didn't mind since it meant they were accustomed to my presence now.

The two days of fairly strenuous manual labor had put a little soreness in my newly restored body and I was in the wagon and asleep early. I was also up and at 'em early the next morning and I finished the capture pen before noon. I'd put a large gate into it at the corner where it met the cross fence which closed off the canyon. I was hoping to haze the horses out of the valley slowly to let them find the cross fence blocking their way out. Then I intended to approach them carefully and see if some or all of them would enter the capture pen.

Catching them was for tomorrow though and I spent the rest of the day covering the outside of the capture pen with electric fence wire and setting up the other charger. This wasn't for the horses it was to discourage predators. I put plenty of contact wire on the outside of the fence on all three sides. I wasn't going to all this effort to make the horses easier for something to eat.

After another few hours with the pups it was off to bed for me. I could see the end of the horse capturing construction now and was glad of it. I was hoping this would be the last of my fencing for a long while.

Before sunrise the next morning I was up again. After fixing breakfast and feeding the pups I slung the rifle over my shoulder, strapped on the Glock and headed outside. Crossing the fence I checked to make sure the charger wasn't on at the pen. I didn't want to chance the horses getting a shock. It would probably panic them and I surely didn't need any more excitement for them than I was going to provide.