Chapter 12

As russet dog accepted the old man so well, we decided to do the same. His name was Quah Nockt, and he had been left without tribe when illness had swept them away, and had been wandering the barren lands seeking his own path to join them when he had caught his leg. The prospect of dying alone and unregarded had changed his resolve, the more so when I and russet dog had appeared to carry him away. He had suddenly found the will to live on, the last remainder of his people, when forced to consider the answer to my question. He guessed he would live on, and see what else there was to see until the Fetch came for him for real.

He knew the lands and seasons about, and refined our course accordingly, our path easing by his knowledge. We encountered no other people, the land emptied by the deaths. The direction we took seemed an endless autumn as we went Southward, it seemed, at the exact speed that Winter did, but managing our Easterly drift as well as we were able. At length we came upon the rolling valleys of the Louisiana, a vast country as large as any of the other colonies, even all together. We held Northward as much as we could, to avoid the dangerous men said to dwell to the South, on the shores of the Southern Sea. I had seen the ocean before, but the waters of the West Indies were known to be the home of violent tribesmen.

So far I had been lucky in my travels, and the worst of men I had encountered had been those murdering savages who had killed the rest of my resupply party, sparing only me by oversight, and those brutal Spaniards on their incomprehensible mission. Quah Nockt was a savvy old soul, and he seemed to know much about the lands about, directing Kodaco and I on successful hunts without scouting for sign. I suppose any direction might have produced successes, with the country being so empty of men. He also was full of old stories of the 'old times' but I couldn't really tell what was very different about the times he recounted over the times we were now in. Except for the creatures he described- there were certainly no sudden death dagger-teeth, and no tall as trees shaggy flop eared tuskers, that I ever knew of. For which, I thanked My God, as I had no desire to meet such.

The spirit bears were more than enough of a danger to face, armed with arrows and spears. We managed to leave them behind though, when we entered the land of yellow and red leaves, leaving the brown plains astern. The sledge slid nicely over the fallen leaves, and it seemed that Winter when it finally overtook us, was much spent in its power. The frosts were mild, and the sun warmed the days again. At last we came to a wide river, so wide the further side was mostly only a suggestion more so than a known fact. We had seen a few signs of settlement, mostly abandoned, but a few thriving behind stout walls. I didn't want to chance myself and my group against robust frontiersmen while looking like a heathen savage, not trusting them to not be too sudden for my civilized tongue to stay their hands. I thought if I could make it to a city of some size, the gentle folk would be more likely to listen before acting. I was coming to realize there was no place for me any more in civilization, my wife Dora would not be accepted, and all society would shun us, turning their backs. I had no livelihood beyond ship's carpenter, and being no captain, couldn't emulate the good Captain Barkely, and bring Dora shipboard with me. Balked by this great river, I reconsidered.

As we turned and headed for home, or at least, a place to winter over first, I noticed the lightened moods of my companions, which I had been too focused and preoccupied before to note. Russet dog was most visibly excited, prancing and hopping as we moved back into the unclaimed lands.