Chapter 15

Day two. We woke up and made slow love. Then we got up, ate breakfast, and headed out on the ATVs. We had brought along several Ziploc bag to put things into as we were hunting for herbs and veggies today. We wondered around by the stream and across by the stand of woods. We did find several items we could use. Barbara had the local flora implanted in her brain so she could spot the good and bad plants and such. She had found what looked like potatoes, turnips, wild onions, and a root that looked like a carrot but was purple. We also found a tree with a beehive in it. The tree had been struck with lightning and was split at a y. The bees had made a home in the large branch that was split from the rest of the tree. The branch was hanging down to the ground and we had easy access if we wanted to try for it. I said we would save it for later.

We drove down to where the stream met the river and there was a medium sized swampy area in the trees where the river backed up in the spring. I could hear hogs rooting around in the area. Most of the trees were hickory and walnut trees with a smattering of oaks as well. So, there were lots of nuts for the hogs as well as mice and other small varmints living in the area. I also heard squirrels chattering in the trees. Because it was so marshy there were several trees down, probably due to rot, but I thought I could get in and maybe get us some pork for food.

We circled back towards the box canyon and explored a bit of it too. As we were going back, I noticed the rock that our cave was in went back about half a mile and then sloped down to the next hill, but the hill was mainly dirt. But the dirt covered the rock so that it stayed almost level with the plateau but in the canyon you could see where the rock tapered off into the ground. There were a few trees back in the canyon, but most of it was grassland. I figured that to the back of the canyon it was about 2 miles from the entrance by our home. There were three other branches off from the main run but all of those had fairly steep cliffs. There was one spot where the slope was not as steep as the rest, but it still went up about 100 feet but only went back about 60 feet. It was really too steep for an animal to go up, but they probably could have come down if the slope wasn’t shale. That stuff is slippery. It wasn’t all shale. It was mixed with dirt and other rocks as well. It looked as though it was a one-way trip only; down and you only hoped you didn’t break your neck. So, our canyon looked to be a perfect place to capture and hold livestock.

We returned home again with time to spare so we could eat our supper and watch the sun set again. I had gotten some rough measurements of the canyon opening so I drew up a plan for our fence across the opening. I could use some of the hardwoods across the stream for posts or rails, but I could also use some of the trees in the mouth of the canyon too. I would try those first, before dragging trees across the stream.

For the next week I cut trees and Barb dragged them to a central location so we could de-limb and trim them. Next I got my big saw and put some wheels on it and dragged it down to the trees. I got the tractor and saw set up for cutting and after cutting to length and splitting the logs into quarters; I started to cut my fence posts and rails. I went with twelve-foot posts that I dug in 2 feet and then pounded in with the post hammer another foot. After digging the post holes, I sure was glad I had added 10 pairs of work gloves for each of us. If not my hands would have been blistered to the point I couldn’t have lifted a finger.

At the end of two more weeks, we had over half of the fence done. We had started at each side of the canyon and worked our way toward the center. We now had an opening of about 50’. Once we got some horses inside, I could finish the fence with another gate, we had made a small 8’ gate on our side of the fence. I also had one post already set about 10 feet from the last post in the fence on each side. So, it was a matter of putting in the last 30’ of posts and running the rails and adding the gate. I had already built the gate and there was one tree we were going to use as the main gate post. I had trimmed the tree up about 15 to 20 feet and swabbed the cuts with some tree sap and ashes mix I had made up. I also put a bolt eye into the tree so I could hang a wire from it to help hold up the 10’ gate. I ran 6-inch screws into the three hinges the gate would have. It was just a matter of sliding the hinge pins into the hinges once I got to the point of installing the gate. I would then run the wire down to the open end of the gate and I had a couple turnbuckles to tighten it up.

As we were sitting in the glow of an evening sunset, we saw some people walking along the bank of the stream. It looked like a woman and three youngsters. They looked tired and so I yelled over to them hello in their language, I hoped, as I had not used it yet and I thought they looked like Cro-Magnon people. To say that they were startled is an understatement. They immediately dropped down for cover and the woman popped her head up and looked around. I stepped out of the cave and yelled again, “Over here!” and waved my arms. “Please come over here, I have food and shelter for you.”

The woman yelled back, “What tribe are you? You do not look like the others, and you are not of our people.”

In for a penny, in for a pound; I spoke again, “We are sky spirits, come to help your people, we mean you no harm and we are here to help you.”

She ducked down into the grass again and conferred with her companions. Barbara had come to be beside me and with her long hair and small stature, she did not seem as menacing as I was I guess. There were furtive glances in our direction and then the youngest stood and came in our direction. We slowly walked down in his direction. I guess they picked the youngest as he could run the fastest if this was a trap.

As we came closer we could see it was indeed a boy of about 8 to 10 years old. When we got to about 15 feet apart, he asked, “Are you really sky spirits? I have never heard of seeing sky spirits. Are we dead?”

“No son, you are not dead. I will show you we are sky spirits.” I reached in a pocket and removed my lighter and flicked a flame. I then pulled my Colt from its holster and fired into the air. The thundering boom of the pistol made the child drop to the ground holding his ears.

“Now, do you believe that I am a sky spirit? No harm will come to your group from us. Please come to our cave and you can eat and sleep after your long journey.”

By now the woman and her 2 young companions had approached closer and heard my invitation. She spoke, “How do you know of our long journey? Who told you this?”

Barbara spoke now, “There are no camps of your people close to this place. So, you had to have traveled far to get here. You are alone and have no spears, so you are traveling alone with no man to protect you.”

The boy jumped up brandishing a flint knife and said, “I am their protector!”

The woman shouted, “Halou, you put that knife down, these are nice people, we accept your hospitality.”

We led them up to the cave and I retrieved some leftover chicken and salad we had for supper. I heated the meat in the microwave before I brought it out on a tray for them. We sat them at the picnic table I had made, gave each a plate of food and a mug of lemonade. I had brought several cans of that instant mix stuff. Some of it had been in the cupboard for some time but was still good.