Chapter 9

How hard could it be to kill an armadillo, even a big one? Pretend you have a bayonet Williams. If it is anything like a modern armadillo, it is as stupid as the day is long. When he was a Boy Scout, Rod caught an armadillo by sneaking up behind the dumb thing and grabbing its tail. This should be a piece of cake. The armadillo was oblivious of what was going on around it.

It must weigh 100 kilograms. It was 50 meters out from the trees, digging at a rotten log like a back-hoe. It could dig, really dig. Rod checked the wind, it was out of the East-southeast. The armadillo had its head buried in the log with its body facing pretty much East. Rod circled around to the West. Rod glanced back at Atlala and Otatl, they made encouraging signs to him. He was beginning to worry that this was some kind of joke. When Rod looked back at the armadillo, it was jogging towards him.

I guess this is good. The armadillo paused briefly to sniff at something, then continued on a path that would take it within two or three meters of Rod. Rod slowly brought his spear tip down and waited. When the enemy was within three meters, Rod shuffled forward and thrust the spear into his enemy's neck, withdrew the spear and repeated until the armadillo was dead. At least that was what the plan was. The armadillo had another plan.

As soon as Rod moved, the animal pulled its head back. Rod's spear went in at the junction of the neck and fore-leg, not the neck. Not all that bad, the brachial artery is in nearby, but Rod didn't make a second thrust. Like modern armadillos, this one jumped straight up, but about one and a half meters, and hit the ground running.

Otatl and Atlala were laughing their asses off. By the time Rod got his shit together and grabbed his spear he was 20 meters behind and losing ground. The armadillo had 30 meters on Rod when it hit the trees, and it hit brush without trying to dodge any that were under 10 or 20 millimeters. It was easy to follow, just listening would do. The loud noise stopped and Rod slid to a stop. He could hear the armadillo when he wasn't running. He walked toward the sounds and found the armadillo. It was slowly sinking into the ground. All that was showing was its armored back.

"I would have left the spear in," Otatl said as he jogged up behind Rod. The armadillo was still sinking albeit more slowly.

"I agree," Atlala chimed in. "If you leave the spear in and armadillo, he can't dig into the ground."

"I hate both of you," Rod said in a quiet emotionless voice. "How do we get him out of the ground?"

"I don't know," Otatl said. "You speared him."

"Have the two of you been spending time with my wife?"

"She said to keep you busy or you would think too much and then you would get sad," Atlala said. "I don't know if it works for you but Otatl and I enjoy it." Otatl was laughing so hard that he had to bend forward and rest his hands on his knees to keep from falling down.

He knew it was stupid but something in Rod didn't like leaving an animal he had wounded. All over this world animals were slowly dying to the delight of predators and scavengers. He didn't want to wait until it died from the wound, if it died from the wound. Since he had only fired 5 rounds of the 9 mm, he had 45 left. God I hope I don't have to kill 45 more people. He decided to use one on the armadillo.

The butt of the rifle made a poor shovel but Rod was able to remove enough of the soil with the rifle and his hands to see a little of the armadillo's head. One shot to the head and the armadillo was no longer wounded. It took four hours of digging to uncover enough of the armadillo so that the three men could pull and shove the carcass out of the hole. Once it was upside down, Rod undressed to cut the meat and viscera free from the armor plates. Atlala took the claws, they were half-again as long as a man's fingers and as thick as two fingers together.

Travlo joined Rod while he worked on the armadillo carcass. She used a scrapping tool made by Atlala that removed the flesh from the skin easier than Rod's knife. Once they had removed all the flesh that was practical, they rinsed the shell in the stream in the valley and washed themselves. It was dark by the time they were finished and both were shaking from the cold. The two ate a quick meal then slipped into warm furs.

"Travlo," Rod said. "What do we need to tan the skin?"

"Salt and brains."

"It's been a long day," Rod said. "I'm tired, I'm in a bad mood. Just tell me what we need."

"We need half a kilogram of salt and two deer brains," she said in a husky voice as she threw her leg over his. "Melk brains will work but deer brains are better." She rested her head on his shoulder. "We need salt within three days but I need something tonight."

oOo

Atlala had wanderlust, he always had. This was the life he was made for. Marlo needed status before Atlala was killed. Those with wanderlust had exciting but short lives. She had been betting that he'd live long enough to father children and give them status. More and more she began to realize she could have status just by being a friend of Travlo. Marlo was a shrewd politician in a society in which status sometime meant life or death for your family.

From his travels, Atlala knew of a village one or two days walk to the West-southwest. Rod could trade for salt in the village.

"What do you have to trade for the salt?" Atlala asked.

"What is the most expensive thing in your village?" Rod asked him.

"A wife," Atlala said. "Because you must pay them over and over." He received a dirty look from all three women.

"My world too," Rod said. "What is the next most expensive thing?"

"Salt."

"And the next?" Rod said wearily.

"A beaver pelt."

"Now we're getting somewhere. "How much salt could you get for one beaver pelt?"

"Maybe two tenths of a kilogram," Atlala said.

Rod held up an empty 9 mm casing. "This is worth ten beaver pelts."

"Why?" asked Atlala.

"Supply and demand."

"What are you talking about?" Travlo asked.

"Would this look good on a necklace around your neck?" Rod asked Travlo.

She thought for a moment. "Yeah. Give it to me."

"No." Rod smiled. "You see, there is a demand for it. Men and women would want one."

"So?" she said.

"How many beaver pelts are in this world?" Rod asked.

"Why do you keep asking me questions when I ask you a question?" Travlo wasn't used to being confused.

"It is a way of teaching in my world," Rod said. "I'll give you the answer this time, millions of beaver pelts. That's thousands of thousands. How many spent 9 mm casings are in this world? Don't answer, it was rhetorical. There are 5 spent 9 mm casings. The demand is much more than the supply so the casings are very expensive. In fact I would make it more than 10 but I don't think any one has more riches than 10 beaver pelts, unless it's salt."

"Give me the casing," Travlo said. "I'll make a necklace and wear it until you need to trade it for salt."

"Ok, you'll need the knife to make holes in it."

The walk was more than one day because they didn't reach it the next day. They pitched camp on the edge of a clearing filled with a tall shrub that looked familiar to Rod, then it came to him, it was cannabis. Some of the plants were nearly 2 meters high. Now that is a truly useful plant.

Travlo finished her necklace that night. He was convinced that she could get 10 beaver pelts for it. Did the village have 2 kilos of salt? Salt was always a rare commodity in hunter-gatherer society, chocolate too. What I would give for chocolate or a pizza, any pizza. I would kill for either. Rod didn't sleep well.

When Rob walked into the village late the next morning, he was a celebrity. Some of the villagers were upset that Rod had threatened the Elders, but this village had been on the losing end of too many decisions made by the Elders. The travelers began to pitch their tent near the center of the village after being welcomed by the chief. Before they had finished, parents were queuing with sick children.

Most children were sick with illnesses that Rod was helpless to treat. For those pitiful children, he said a short prayer. For some there was hope. The parents of the dehydrated children were shown how to make Gatorade. Rod said a prayer for those children too.

There wasn't 2 kilos of salt in the whole village but not that much was need to preserve the armadillo hide. When Travlo finished bartering, she had nearly a kilo of salt and 5 beaver pelts. The village chief had one very nice necklace. Both sides were happy.

Over the next 4 days, the girls worked on salting and drying the armadillo hide along with checking on the children. Rod had his own project. Rod had collected as large a load of cannabis stalks as he could carry. The three men set the stalks in the sun to dry. Only one day was lost to rain. The stalks and the armadillo hide stayed inside the tent on that miserable day.

Once the cannabis stalks were dry, Rod carefully stripped the outer fibers from the pulp centers of the stalks. The process was tedious and made him want to scream, to scream at someone. If he was patient, and he was, the fibers were up to half a meter long. Now he needed to learn how to turn the fibers into thread. The people had thread and Travlo told Rod how to make it.

The girls had finished preserving the armadillo hide and they had finished caring for almost all of the children. Most of the dehydrated children had improved, those who hadn't improved were dying. The deaths took a toll on Travlo. There wasn't much Rod could do, his children would be facing these same odds.

Travlo described how to make twine from the bark of trees. The whole process sounded doable but wouldn't work with the fibers Rod had. Rod was going to make a hemp rope. On his world, cannabis was grown worldwide to product rope, rope with excellent qualities. Rope that would be needed when horses and bison or oxen were domesticated. Rod would make rope once he had hemp twine. He'd worry about it in Atatl's village. The travelers left for Travlo's home village after 6 days among people who were sad to see them go.

Rod didn't expect Travlo to be as excited as Trelo had been upon returning home, but he did expect her to show some emotion as they traveled to her village. "Travlo. What are you thinking?" he asked.

"I'm thinking about where to put my feet."

"Don't give me that woman bullshit of every little thing you're thinking about," Rod said with disgust. "What is the major theme? Why is there no expectation showing in your face? You're going home. You should be happy."

"What do you know?" she asked but she didn't have her heart in it. "I don't know what to think about going home. My life there was hard. My family is dead and my first husband was a beast. Yet I have happy memories and friends. That life seems so long ago, as if it were a dream. You came here only two years ago, but the world has changed so much. Have I changed that much?"

"Yes," Rod said. "You've changed completely. How could you see what you have seen and not been changed? All the changes I see in you are changes for the better. I love you more now than I did then, I like you more than I did then."

"Men," she said the word as if it explained all that was wrong with the universe. "You'd love a bear if you could fuck it."

Sometimes Rod did know when to keep his mouth shut. A moment later Travlo said, "Can I have your child in my village?"

"Of course," Rod answered. "But first we need to see the Elders and we need to bring Trelo and sigh Kalo to your village. We can't leave Trelo alone when she has my child."

oOo

Atatl's camp was familiar even if its location was different. The layout of the camp was the same, made more so once the travelers' tent was erected in Rod's customary location. Travlo was happy to be home, her mood buoyed by the respect she received. Travlo spoke with Atatl and his advisor Ateel at length about health matters and began treatment of children.

Rod also spoke at length with Atatl and Ateel. He explained why the Peoples needed to be united and asked for their support. He explained who the rulers of the people would be and how they would be selected.

"How do you expect the Southern People's Elders to react?" Rod asked Atatl.

"Will you threaten to kill them as you did the River People's Elders?" Atatl asked.

"Yes," Rod said. "If they treat me the same way then there will be trouble but if they are courteous, I will be respectful. They must realize that unification is God's plan. They can be the Elders of unification or there will be new Elders. They will still have power, some will have more power than ever, but they must change to stay in power."