Chapter 10

It was still dark when I was awakened by a low growl from one of the wolves. The growl wasn’t the one they used when a predator was nearby. It sounded similar to the way the male pups used to growl at each other when they started trying to assert themselves and form a pecking order among themselves. The females did it, too.

The female next to me was quivering with anticipation, her whole body vibrating excitedly. However, her hackles were up, too. The position of the moon told me that it would still be a while before sunrise. I noticed all those things in the brief moment that it took me to grab my spear and peer through the gap in the rocks.

I saw two wolves near the stream. One looked to be one of my males. He was facing a female that was too small and scrawny to be one of mine. My wolves were well filled out and muscular from being fed well and from running, hunting, and playing all day. They herded the goats, chased down rabbits, and just chased and fought with each other. Even though they weren’t quite a year old, only Missimo was bigger than the male wolves.

While I watched the two wolves facing off, the female with me rubbed her face against my hand and then licked it. In the brief time that I’d had the wolves, they’d learned many commands. Some were verbal, others were whistles, and some were hand signals. I found it funny that they also taught me a command. When they licked my hand after rubbing their nose or face against it, they wanted something to eat.

Still watching the scenario below me, I absent-mindedly reached into the pouch where I kept chunks of dried goat meat. Once I gave it to the female, she took off down the hill to join the confrontation. I could tell that it wasn’t a serious threat because none of the other wolves had joined in. When the female reached the other two wolves, she walked slowly towards the new female, set the dried meat in front of her, and backed away.

After a quick sniff, the new female grabbed the dried meat and began chewing. My female wolf returned for another piece of dried meat. “Unbelievable,” I thought to myself. I always found it intriguing when the dogs coaxed another feral dog to join us. I was still scratching my head over the two bitches adopting the wolf pups and managing to tame them.

Now I was watching the wolf pups trying to coax a wild wolf to join us and I’ll admit that I was skeptical that they could do it. The wild wolf ate the dried meat ravenously and watched as the female approached a second time. This time, she set the meat down several feet away, forcing the new wolf to move closer to me to get it, although I was still hidden behind the rocks. The wild wolf finally moved to the dried meat, sniffed it, and snapped it up. While she lay there eating it, she continued to look around herself, watching for danger.

Not that she could see it or knew what it meant, but I rolled my eyes when my wolf returned for another piece of meat. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” I whispered rhetorically.

This time, she didn’t take the meat. Instead, she carefully took my wrist in her mouth and tugged on it. Okay, she wanted me to stand up, so I did. The wild wolf immediately crouched defensively when she saw me. The male came up to her and started growling at her again while the female kept pulling me until I was in front of the rocks. I could finally see the male clearly enough in the moonlight to tell that it was Karako, the alpha male.

I knelt and nervously held a piece of meat towards the wild wolf. After several moments, my female wolf took it and dropped it about ten feet away from me, standing over it as if she was asking, “Well?” Karako growled and pushed the new wolf with his nose, trying to get her to move. She snapped at him and went back to watching me.

After two more attempts by Karako to get her to move, my female came over to me and rubbed against me the way they learned to do from the dogs when they wanted my attention. I scratched behind her ears and she rubbed against me even more before she approached the wild female. She rubbed noses with the wild female, and then rubbed herself all over the wild female, letting her get used to my scent.

Finally, after several more attempts, they coaxed the female into moving. She approached warily, one cautious step at a time. When she finally reached the piece of meat, she sniffed at it, her eyes not leaving me even as she sniffed. She crouched as she chewed, her eyes glued to me, every muscle taut as a drawn bowstring, ready to bolt.

My female came back over and lay next to me, rolling onto her back. I scratched her belly, recognizing this as a sign on her part of submissiveness to me. I’d witnessed several of the fights for dominance between the wolf pups and the loser rolled over or ran off to indicate their submission. While nowhere near as violent as the wolf pups were capable of being, they drew blood several times during their bouts and we treated their wounds with tassimin.

This time, I was hardly surprised when my female wolf indicated that she wanted another piece of meat. When she did not attempt to take it, I again held it out towards the wild wolf. It took far fewer nudges and growls from Karako this time to convince her to approach me, although she approached just as slowly as last time.

I wasn’t sure which of us was more nervous since I’d never been unarmed and so close to a wild wolf before. I’m sure that she felt the same way about me. The female next to me was back to wriggling excitedly. Karako shadowed the wild female as if using body language to tell her, “I’m right here to protect you.”

Eventually the she wolf closed to within a step of my hand. This close, I could see that she was pregnant. If it wouldn’t have spooked her, I would have laughed. Instead of closing the last step, she leaned forward and quickly snatched the meat from my hand, backing up several steps before lying down to eat.

My legs were getting stiff so I stood up slowly. My female quickly moved in front of me as the wild wolf growled and crouched threateningly. I moved slowly, walking away from the wild female, heading back behind the rock where my pile of soft grass was. Shortly after I sat back down, my female wolf showed back up and lay down next to me. Everything was quiet on the other side of the rocks.

The next time the wolves woke me was just before dawn. The moon hung low in the western sky, the bottom edge just touching the far horizon. The female wolf was still near me, although she was alert and watching below us from between the rocks. I saw no predators when I looked, but a couple of deer were drinking from the stream. Since they looked to be yearlings, I strung my bow quietly and nocked an arrow, waiting patiently.

Once the yearlings drank their fill, they moved away from the stream into the slightly taller grass near the stream. Moments later, several larger deer appeared, including a pair of two-year-old bucks. They made their way to the stream cautiously, their heads jerking towards any noise. I could see that the presence of the goat had them skittish, as well as the scent of wolves, yet they continued to the water and proceeded to drink.

Taking aim at the closer of the two bucks, I waited until he lowered his head to drink and released my arrow. It caught him in the neck, and he tried to run, instead collapsing on the far bank of the stream while the rest of the herd scattered.

After my experience with the moose and the two jaguars, I waited and watched for a while before deciding that it was safe. Sticking my head into the tent, I roused Saraki who was closest to the tent flap. “I just killed a deer and I’m going down to get it. The wolves brought a wild female wolf into camp last night, although I don’t see her this morning so don’t panic if she shows back up. She ate from my hand, but she’s still skittish around me,” I warned.

Saraki was waking the others up as I turned and made my way down the hill to the deer. By now, the wolves had the deer surrounded. Karako was nosing around it, making sure it was dead. When the deer blinked, he jumped back and growled menacingly at it.

I slit the deer’s throat to finish it off and dragged it to the only nearby tree. After tying the front feet together, I tossed the rope over a branch I hoped was sturdy enough to support the deer’s weight, and high enough that the back feet would clear the ground. It wasn’t easy, but I got it high enough to skin and field dress.

All the wolves, even the wild bitch who had been almost surrounded by my other wolves, watched my every move as I dressed the deer. It was with a heavy heart that I cut up the heart and liver and tossed pieces to the wolves. The heart and liver made my favorite stew, but it would be some time before I was ready to cut off chunks of meat to give the wolves.

I tossed the pieces to the wolves in the pecking order that I thought they had established among themselves. Since she was pregnant, I gave the new female the biggest chunk and hoped that I didn’t upset the rest of the wolves.

The women arrived as I finished putting together a disassembled travois we’d brought with us. We had brought several, knowing how few trees there were in this area. The ladies evidently saw the new wolf and approached slowly. She still backed away, now hiding behind me as they approached. The other wolves went to the women to have their ears scratched. The ladies came prepared, each with a pouch of dried goat meat.

Our wolves swarmed them, eagerly taking pieces of meat, and then lying down right there to eat them. Kazani held a piece out towards the wild wolf, waiting patiently until it finally crept close enough to snatch it from her hand and retreat behind me. I found it humorous that she now hid behind me, since she was trying to hide from me before.

I finished the travois and dragged the carcass back to our campsite on it. Once there, I grabbed some bread and cheese to munch on while I went to get the branches we brought to use for making drying racks. By the time the drying racks were ready, the women had finished cutting up the deer.

Two of the wolves accompanied Kazani and Saraki as they rode home, taking most of the deer with them, as well as the hide and antlers. Uncle Mazrobar would appreciate the antlers to use for knapping flint. Mereesia, and Senna had a stew started for dinner, and started hanging strips of venison on the drying rack. I guessed that the wolves were full since none of them now showed an interest in the remains of the deer. The new wolf was lying in the shade of the tent between Karako and the female who helped recruit her last night. She was asleep, oblivious to everyone as they moved around the camp. I was still shaking my head in disbelief.

I cleared my snares, collecting twenty-two rabbits, one fox, one stoat, and three wild turkeys. Three snares had been tripped and held only part of a rabbit. Something ate the rest, probably a fox or stoat I surmised. I needed to make a goatskin tent that I could use as a portable smokehouse when we were out like this. I also needed sturdy racks that I could tie together inside the tent to hold crosspieces to hang meat on while it dried. The tent would have to be slightly taller than usual and I’d need to keep a supply of dry hickory available to take with us.

Kazani and Saraki were back by lunch, bringing fresh bread, cheese, and a fresh supply of fruit and vegetables. Everyone at home was happy to get the venison. The clan had plenty of goat meat, beef, pork, fish, and chicken for everyone, and most of the clan had meat three nights a week. It used to be four or five nights. Even with the additional fish we were now catching, our meat production hadn’t yet caught up with the number of new mouths we had to feed. Still, having meat three nights a week was better than the average for people in Mokoko, except for the fishermen.

Some poorer families were lucky to have meat once a week. Father kept the priest supplied with meat and other food for the widows and families where the husband was hurt badly enough that he couldn’t work until he healed. Father explained that part of our responsibility as a wealthy clan was to help the less fortunate. Any man who simply couldn’t find work could always work for us to earn enough to support his family.

I’d seen a few families who took us up on the offer, usually during the rainy season when they couldn’t do their usual job. I’ve been told that several families have joined ours in the last thirty years after working for us, although I only know one. They proved their willingness to contribute and asked Father if they could join the clan.

The priest presided at a ceremony that was almost a marriage ceremony. The family accepted Father as their Patriarch and accepted our clan name as their own. Father accepted them as equal members of the clan and I suddenly had a new aunt and uncle and several new cousins. One of the new cousins had joined me herding the sheep until I became the goatherd. Now he’s older and responsible for the dairy goats. One of his younger brothers now helps him. I noticed the other day that they both carry a long staff/spear like mine, and one of the new crossbows, in addition to their usual sling.

Mereesia and Senna rode with me this afternoon as I scouted for game trails, checked creeks and streams for tracks of dangerous predators, and looked for our next campsite. I found a good spot two hills south of our current campsite. The site also overlooked the same creek at the foot of the east side of the hill.

Back at our old campsite, I reset my snares, adding extras in the same area where I caught the stoat and the fox. Since we had plenty of rabbit meat for the wolves, I wanted to snare foxes and stoats for their fur.

The she wolf watched the other wolves interact with us all afternoon and evening. When Senna handed out rabbits to the wolves for dinner, the new she wolf was right there to get hers and licked Senna’s hand.

After supper, we retired to the tent for our almost nightly fun. Kazani was excited because it was her turn to get pregnant. She wouldn’t drink the bekar clover tea again until after our baby was born.

When we finished, I slipped back outside to watch over the goat I was using for bait. It wasn’t even fully dark tonight when a different herd of deer showed up to drink. The girls were still awake, but naked. Since we were alone, that didn’t matter. Rather than string their bows, the girls each grabbed their crossbow and worked the lever that drew the bow and loaded a bolt.

Fourteen deer were standing and drinking from the creek or just lying on the far bank watching the goat. On my mark, each of us shot at the deer. I had a second arrow handy and tried to hit one of the does that had been lying down. I wounded it so I knew that it wouldn’t get far before paralysis set in. Otherwise, it would have gotten away.

While the women dressed, I headed down the hill with one of the mules. First, however, I used a long stick and pulled the banked coals from our fire out of the ashes, added some kindling, and put several pieces of wood on the fire.

Once I got to the deer, I made sure each was dead and not suffering. I had to track down the doe that bolted, a job made easy when Karako raced past me and found it. It wasn’t difficult to zip past me since I had a mule and my travois in tow. Darkness had arrived well before I got back with the doe. Once I got back, I cut an area of grass with my knife, gathered rocks, and made a fire pit.

By the time I finished making the fire pit, the women had brought the rest of the mules, along with a supply of firewood and a dry branch they had caught on fire. I quickly had a good fire going in the fire pit to help keep predators away, even though we were hunting those predators. It also helped us see what we were doing. Rather than hang the deer to field dress them, we did it with them lying down.

Instead of making a travois for each deer, I used two of the long drag poles we brought for the travois. One end of each pole was tied to a rear leg with a shorter piece tied between the poles to hold them apart. The other end crossed behind the head of the deer and the head was tied to it securely. The result looked like an “X.” Several feet of the two drag poles extended beyond the deer’s head so we could tie it to a mule to pull back to camp. When we reached the stream, we filled the chest cavity of each deer with cold, clear water from the stream.

Once we reached camp, I added a third pole, making a tripod to hold each of the six deer upright. I hoped we didn’t need any more drag poles as I’d just used all we brought with us. The third pole held the travois upright, kept the deer off the ground, and drained the remaining water from the body cavity. Once we washed off in the creek, the ladies retired to the tent, and I took my position behind the rock watching over the goat.

The purplish light of early dawn greeted me when I woke next. I was surprised to find the new she wolf next to me. She was looking towards the stream and growling a low, guttural growl that was barely audible. Oh yeah, there was one of the predators we were looking for. “Too bad it had to be a bear, and a huge damn bear at that,” I sighed silently, remembering all too well what a greasy mess they were to deal with.

The bear looked at the goat before checking out the smell of blood from where we dressed the deer last night. That gave me time to aim and let the first arrow fly. When it hit, the bear roared angrily and swatted at the arrow with its massive paw, snapping the shaft.

The roar brought the groggy women out of the tent, each naked and carrying her crossbow. We quickly added one more arrow and four bolts to the collection annoying the bear, really pissing him off. By then, the wolves showed themselves, surrounding the bear while staying back far enough that they were out of harm’s way.

The bear’s defense against the wolves got sluggish quickly and then the bear collapsed. It was big enough that it had to be a male, so I wasn’t worried about any cubs showing up. I hurried down the hill with my bow and spear and used the spear to finish the bear off. Only when it was dead did I realize that it wasn’t a black bear like I was used to seeing. This one was light brown with white tufts of fur on the tips of its ears. When I had watched it rear on its hind legs and roar, I saw that it was huge, but now that I was close, I saw just how huge it was. This bear was probably at least half again the size of the big black bear we killed.

I also checked on the goat to find the poor thing blissfully passed out from fright.

Well, shit. I sure didn’t feel like spending the day wrestling with this behemoth. Instead, I sent the ladies to get reinforcements. Mereesia and Senna dressed and headed for the mining site to borrow men and wagons, as well as a couple of portable cranes to help load the bear. Kazani and Saraki would ride home to warn them and took the poor goat along; he’d already been traumatized enough. They’d bring back a different kid to use as bait. Four of the wolves went with them leaving Karako and the alpha female, as well as the wild female with me.

While everyone else was gone, I fed the wolves with yesterday’s rabbits and started clearing the snares that I set out yesterday evening. I didn’t catch any more foxes, but I caught three more stoats, three more wild turkeys, and twenty-three rabbits. One snare hadn’t been tripped.