Chapter 8

Up before sunrise again, I fixed breakfast, fed and worked with the pups, and then got dressed for a wagon ride. I opened the new big door and pushed the wagon outside without too much of a strain. It wasn't easy, but it wasn't really very hard either. Even as large as it was the wagon weighed less than seven hundred pounds due to its titanium construction.

I attached the tongue and then single trees to the wagon and then got Sally and Jane, leading them through the main cross-fence gate and to the wagon. Leading them right up to it I let them sniff around on it a little. Tying Jane off to the back of the wagon I put the harness on Sally then tying Sally I put the harness on Jane.

It was a little tricky getting first Sally and then Jane hitched to the wagon but afterwards I ran the reins up to the wagon box on the front, climbed in, and sat on the padded bench. When I made my normal little clucking sound I'd used every time I started leading them, they remembered and after a few false starts we were headed up the valley with the wagon.

It was awkward for them at first, but soon enough they learned to turn at my signal with the reins and with a little help from the wagon's brakes they soon learned what Whoa meant. All in all it was a productive start. I let them take me about four miles up the valley and as they were walking along I picked up the 22 rifle I had brought to start their firearm training. I put it to my shoulder and fired. They both tensed and were surprised by the small caliber's crack, but they didn't miss a step and better yet they didn't try to run.

After a few more shots they were not bothered at all by the 22. I put the rifle down and pulled the Glock from its holster. They were surprised again and Jane wanted to bolt, but couldn't figure out how to since she was harnessed to the wagon. Sally's calm acceptance helped Jane and at the next shot she hardly flinched. They'd done so well I wished I'd brought the thirty-ought-six too, but it could wait until next time.

Turning them around we headed back to the cave. When we arrived and after setting the brake I went to fetch Ben. Putting the bridle and saddle on him I left the halter on also. Tying him to the back of the wagon I boarded the bench seat again and when Sally and Jane moved out Ben just stood his ground until the rope jerked his head. He started following the wagon at once and when I stopped and started again he was paying attention and didn't even get his head jerked.

The 22's surprise was next and though Ben snorted when he heard it he didn't shy or pull back on the lead. After a couple of repetitions he was accustomed to it and later I repeated with the Glock. They all passed with flying colors and by the time we were a few miles from the cave I stopped the wagon, set the brake and got off to get Ben and mount. I had the 22 in hand and after riding Ben for about twenty minutes I gave it a try. Ben didn't even flinch and later the louder Glock didn't bother him either.

This was excellent progress in my estimation so we turned around again and headed back to the cave. When we arrived I untied and unsaddled Ben and returned him to the large pen, then I came back to the cave and opened the big door. This next little feat was the hardest part all day.

Sally and Jane couldn't see anything except a big black hole I wanted them to walk through, but I'm sure they could smell the wolf cubs in there. They didn't want anything to do with it and after messing with them for about an hour trying to get them to pull the wagon inside I finally put a couple of rags over their eyes for blinders and was able to lead them into the cave with the wagon. I had them circle it around until it was headed out and then unhitched and unharnessed first Jane and then Sally, and afterwards I removed their blinders.

They were nervous when they could see again but settled down enough I could lead them both out without a fight. I took them over and released them into the big pen with Ben and all three of them nickered and then went flying around the pen. I guess they just wanted to work off a little of their anxiousness from the day's new activities.

The rest of the day was for working with the cubs. Today I took them, one at a time, outside the cave to work with them. I let them each run around a little to sniff things then I called them to me and I was glad to see they all came as soon as I whistled. I repeated this with them three or four times each and then called it a day.

Going back into the cave and putting up the last pup I looked around in my supplies and found some nylon collars I had and fitted one to each cub. They were all males and as I put on the collars I decided to name them. Soon Prince, King, and Rover were back in their pen worrying at their new collars and waiting for their supper. I brought it soon enough and then warmed up some venison and some beans for mine. I went to bed early thinking of doing a little more exploring tomorrow.

Up before sunrise again I dug out my high tech titanium skillet to check out how it would cook. I cut off some thin strips of venison and fried it. I had only ordered four-dozen eggs in my supplies from Argent and I had them in ultra-light and ultra-strong egg cartons of Alien design.

They had been irradiated like the Salisbury steak and Argent had assured me they would last indefinitely and that I wouldn't be able to taste the difference between them and real fresh eggs. I fried three of them over easy and though they definitely weren't fresh eggs they tasted remarkably like them. I was happy with them. I loved eggs but had asked for these more as a novelty than anything else.

After breakfast and plenty of coffee I dressed to go exploring. This time I remembered my custom made titanium chain mail. I'd had trouble at first describing what I wanted to Argent's engineer but when I got through to him he researched it a little on the net and got a good understanding of what it was for. Modern day bulletproof body armor wasn't necessary in these times but the chain mail would protect my torso and upper arms from any weapons of this day and age.

The Aliens had outdone themselves on this project. The chain mail fit me like another skin and they had even put a zipper type arrangement down the back. Instead of having the normal zipper teeth which interlocked, somehow they had designed a mechanism which interlocked the tiny rings making up the mail. I slipped it on over a T-shirt and zipped it up. It wasn't bothersome at all and after putting a denim shirt over it the chain mail was hardly noticeable.

I slipped on some alien made lightweight long underwear bottoms Argent had promised me would never shrink and then put on a pair of Carhartt type overalls, finishing up with woolen socks and high top hiking boots. I strapped on my Glock and then my backpack with enough emergency food for two days, picked up my thirty-ought-six, binoculars, and night vision goggles then locked the cave behind me as I left.

I still kept close to the canyon walls as I headed down river again. When and if I met any other people I wanted to know about it first and be able to decide whether or not to approach. I had serious misgivings about trying to communicate. I knew the Cro-Magnons talked, but I had never gotten close enough to them to even decide if it was similar at all to any language I'd ever heard. Stupidly I hadn't bothered to even ask Argent about it and even if I had I don't know whether or not he would have told me anything.

I still had no idea why they went to all this trouble to put me here and I couldn't think of a single thing they could learn from all of this. I was pretty sure they weren't really interested in capturing wolf cubs, building rail fences, or even horse capture and training. I had to do what I thought was best for me though and they would just have to get what they could out of it. I'll admit I was glad about the physical modifications I'd received in the deal and they had been very cooperative about furnishing what ever I had asked for.

While easing down river I thought I should have tried harder to get details out of the map software I'd been given. There were probably indications on it telling which areas the different groups near me commonly used for hunting. After all, it had shown the locations of wolf dens in the area and I'm sure the Aliens knew exactly who hunted where since they knew so much about where they all camped. I would have to try again when I got back to the cave.

Today I'd been moving faster even though I was still staying close to the walls and mostly out of sight. I knew I was within half a mile of the camp I'd watched earlier. I'd just stepped into the little copse of woods I'd hidden in last time when I saw two of the females I recognized from my earlier spying trip. They were heading up river, but didn't seem to be moving with any purpose. Shortly they moved to the side of the canyon to some low bushes growing there and seemed to be inspecting them. Berries, they were checking the berries growing on the bushes and they were picking a few of them, probably looking for and picking the ripe ones.

I stayed still and out of sight until they'd finished. When they turned to leave the bushes they seemed to be heading back to their camp. I decided to show myself and stepped out of the trees.