Chapter 58

I said in my defense, “Well I had to try out my new mate Swendtra, and Barbara is going back up there for a few nights. I had to have some loving before she went. Besides I would bet that about a quarter of you were not out here 30 minutes ago.”

I got some very sheepish looks on that statement; especially from Valkorla and Valkerita. We all had a huge laugh over that and then many of Grunto’s and Valkorla’s tribes came over and congratulated Swendtra, Barbara and I on our good fortune. We graciously accepted their congratulations and waited until supper time.

I did call Merthar and his crew over to my table and we talked about putting the chicken wire up in the open section. Now that we had animals to keep in the pen, we needed to protect them. I thought we could start getting everything ready very early and we could work until the sun became too hot for us. I wanted to get the open area closed off soon, so predators would not find a feast in our canyon. I wanted it done before the bright time was over. I didn’t think predators would come this close to our camp, but who knew?

I asked Merthar, “How many men do you think we could use on this job? You think ten is good or should we have more?”

Merthar said, “We can probably use 15 men to build this part. We can have 3 men unrolling the wire, 3 attaching the wire to the poles. We will need at least two to stretch the wire before we tie it off. Can we also tie it off to the post tight so the fence won’t sag in the middle of the sections? The rest we can have pounding in the bottom stakes.”

“Yes Merthar, we can use my staple gun to staple it to the posts and we can tie the upright sticks to the rails to make it stronger too.”

“Good idea Bob. How long do you think we can work in the canyon in the morning? I know we could work in the late afternoon too once the sun goes down behind the canyon wall.”

“I think we can work about 3 to 4 hours before the sun gets too bright in the morning and then maybe 2 to 3 hours in the evening. We will know more tomorrow.”

“Thank you Bob, I was going to mention this, but I knew how busy you were with other problems.”

“Merthar, do not hesitate to let me know when something needs my attention. I sometimes forget about all projects we have going. Thank you. Which reminds me; I need to see how many stakes Joulnar and his men have made for us.”

I call out, “Joulnar can you come here for a moment. Joulnar, how many of the bottom stakes for the wire fence have you managed to make?”

“Bob we have made all the ones you asked for. We have even finished securing the smokers. We have gone out early in the mornings and staked both smokers and several of the huts in the welcome center. We still have sticks to make about 30 more stakes if needed before we will have to go after more wood. Do you need them?”

“Yes Joulnar, starting tomorrow morning we are going to start on closing the open fence area. We will need about 7 to 8 men to pound them in tomorrow. Merthar, who will you use for the fence part?”

“Bob I was thinking of Teague, Haritof, Ungertan, Outher, Thorf, Eriken, Olnafot, and Tocla for the part with the wire. We can use about eight more for pounding the stakes. We can use Nonatao, Mundoner, Svendson, Steprun, Threefore, Hentor, Olaffer, and maybe Svenson. But if you have some others in mind let me know. I have worked with all of these men before at least once. I would prefer that the main headmen stay in here to help, with Bob out there with us.”

“Merthar, very good thinking,” said Joulnar. “You are right, with Bob out there we need to make sure everyone stays safe in here. Do you agree, Bob?”

“Yes, both of you are right. Joulnar, you, Valkorla, Dignar, Grunto and Grojan will be here in my place. We cannot allow harm to come to our people here. I can help protect our people out there and I will know how I want the fence wire and I can keep an eye out for predators as well. In fact, Joulnar, you will be in charge while I am gone, but I want Valkorla with me to help protect our work crew. He is becoming a very good shot with his new rifle. We will take the truck and wagon. Joulnar, please have as many of the stakes in the wagon as you have finished. We may break some when we start pounding them in the ground. We can load up the wagon tonight and be ready for in the morning. Thank you all for this help.”

We dismissed the impromptu meeting and soon supper was being served. After supper we all waited for the TV to come on. Then Phil was on the screen. “Bob, I have some very good news tonight. Is Hentor there? If so please come up to the front, I have a surprise for you.”

Hentor came up front with me and looked at me expectantly. I shrugged and said, “I don’t know.”

Phil came back on with a young man and suddenly it dawned on me who he was. Hentor did a double take and cried out, “Hathor!”

Hathor spoke then, “Hentor, my brother. I am feeling much better. Doctor Phil said I should stay a couple more weeks. But I am doing much better.” His speech was slow and sometimes he fumbled for his words, but that is what he said.

Hentor was speechless, Phil came back on and said, “Hentor would you like to come and be with your brother as we try to help him some more?”

Hentor just nodded his head and then disappeared. We soon saw him hugging his brother and there was not a dry eye in either location. It was a very emotional time for all of us.

“Phil, you have preformed another miracle, haven’t you. How has this happened, or can you say?”

“Bob it was not easy, but everything was still there in his mind, but it needed a little ‘spark of recognition’ and a lot of easing his mind to get this far. It helped a lot when we showed him what happened to Brabden. Once he got over the shock of that, he started making very good progress. He should be much better when this is all over and he can go back home again. He did want me to say thank you for letting him come here.”

“Phil that is just remarkable that he is as far as he is. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to you and all your staff for yet another miracle. Now has anyone seen Dignar or Grunto? We have work for them down here.”