Chapter 78

I needed some time to myself for planning. Not days, but I thought I should take an hour or two at least.

"Georgo, would you be offended if I used you meditation chamber for a while?" I asked.

"Of course not John. I wouldn't have a meditation chamber if not for you," he replied.

"I didn't make it."

"I know you didn't, but if you hadn't offered me a permanent home I'm sure it would have never come to be. Feel free to use the chamber. I will make sure you are not disturbed."

"Thank you."

I hadn't been in the chamber since the first look we'd taken at it after it appeared. It was much the same as then when I entered. There were some furs on the floor now and some sort of shrine on one wall. I hadn't come to meditate or contact the spirits though - I had come to think.

My first realization was the horses, while they would be worth any effort, were now not merely a big job. Cutting and storing enough hay for them would be a Herculean task. I estimated they would need probably a ton of hay per day during the winter, maybe more.

If we did it by hand we would need to work on it regularly from now until the weather made us stop. Many of us would have to work on it. For some reason I hated the thought of getting machinery from Argent to do it. I knew I would need to though.

The freighting of my new member's possessions was going to be a big project for the next few days too. We had to get Caato's camp, Colonto's camp, and Raalto's camp moved here. Moving Raalto's camp would relieve the necessity of sending Racaato to kill the bison for Baahaya's payment, but it was overshadowed by the task of moving the largest camp, by far, to join us.

Racaato still needed to go to Barbo's camp to start paying for Dalia, Shelalliea, Shallea, and Shaala. Barbo had voiced no interest in moving his camp to join us and being honest with myself I could understand his point.

If they decided to join us later it would be better on me at least, but aside from having nice bathrooms, I didn't see any attraction for Barbo. Even though I knew Jara intended to make it happen I doubted Barbo could be convinced.

After the winter I would have to introduce the camp to the delights of agriculture. As plentiful as food was near us it would still be picked over and depleted within a year or two.

With the horses to help we could range farther to find food, but I knew growing it ourselves would be much more efficient if not absolutely necessary.

I still thought the sawmill idea was a good one, but there just wasn't time to get it started this year. I would try to get it going next summer after we had plants in the ground. We would have to close the cave's entrances with bison skins this winter and wait until next year to discover walls and doors made of lumber.

I was back to fretting over the hay when I felt a familiar tingling and slipped into a nap.

"John," Argent said, as he slipped into my nearly immediate dream.

"Yes."

"When you went into the shaman's meditation chamber I wondered what you were up to. You seem distressed, and since we do not pry into your thoughts I felt the need to call on you for a visit," Argent explained.

"I am trying to get a handle on the things I need to get done. After thinking about it a while I now know everything will pretty much work itself out except for the horses.

"It is great to have them, but I know we have more than we can feed this winter. I'll probably have to turn many of them out to fend for themselves," I said.

"I don't think it will be necessary. We can easily provide you with some horse drawn machinery to help with harvesting the hay."

"I just don't want to do it, this year at least. These people have seen enough miracles for a while. We need to give them some time to adjust."

"I see. Then we can do it with smoke and mirrors, as some on your former planet were fond of saying," Argent said.

"What do you mean? How do you use sleight of hand on hay?"

"It can be fairly simple, extremely simple in fact. All you need do is teach a few men to harvest the hay by hand and they can teach a few others. When you have a respectable crew working on it let them continue until they have enough hay," he said.

"I understand the process Argent, but I'm practically sure we won't be able to get enough hay for all our horses in the time we have left."

"It will be enough. As they are harvesting we will add to it. We can cut and bundle the hay from here and the bundles will look the same as those your men make. As they gather it the wagon will just seem to get full faster than they would have thought.

"When they stack it in one of the caves we can add to it while they are gone to harvest more. We will be careful to monitor them and make sure they don't notice. When winter comes, if needed, we can replace hay as it is fed. It will not be a problem," Argent assured me.

"It will solve my biggest problem without noticeable magic. It is a big relief."

"I will let you go back to your thoughts now," Argent said, as the dream disappeared.

After waking I was so relieved to have the hay problem work out so nicely I couldn't get my mind on any more planning. I went back to my cave and returned to sit beside Georgo. He probably hadn't left his seat while I'd been gone.

"Your meditation didn't take long."

"I wasn't really meditating, I was worrying. With the large increase in our horse herd I've been wondering how we were going to feed them over the winter. I did receive a sign from the spirits though - they assured me everything would be fine and so I will do what I can and count on them to help."

"It is always the best course John," Georgo said, sagely.

I sat and talked with Georgo until lunch began appearing. Racaato and Raalto were still practicing so Erieta sent Failiela to fetch them. Jareena came to me with a plate and more coffee and I couldn't resist sneaking a little feel of her ass while she was bent over pouring my coffee.

She didn't move away when she finished and actually looked into my eyes smiling while I took the time to squeeze both her delightful cheeks. After I let go she winked at me when she left. Figuring I was pressing my luck I decided to try and eat without getting into any more trouble.