Chapter 7

Mothers Sofala and Nykeea welcomed Howea to the family in the morning, as well as Tuirae, Kaijia, Seniki and Aliisia. Afterwards, Howea came over and hugged me, thanking me for thinking of giving my brother the new job. She whispered, wondering if Pinjae was spoken for yet. I assured her that Pinjae was still available. Then my wives and concubines all welcomed Howea and the other new concubines to the family.

Zuela decided to remain at home again. She could ride, but was starting to get morning sickness. Mother Sofala gave her an herbal tea to drink first thing each morning to help with it.

The six of us left shortly after breakfast, Bergoa, Kazani, Saraki, Mereesia, Senna, and me. We had six pack mules with us. Each of us wore a sword, a dagger, a quiver of arrows, and carried a bow. The mules carried two more quivers of arrows for each of us, as well as my two trusty spears.

The men working on the road were busy building the first bridge over a deep stream that a wagon wouldn’t be able to cross when it rained. They worked from an outcropping of rock on each side of the stream, using twenty-foot lengths of tree trunks squared with adzes and secured in cutouts in the rock. When it was finished, they would nail wood planks across the bridge to keep the trunks from separating and to provide even footing for the draft animals.

Even though we started out later than usual this morning, we made it to the valley well before midday. The men building the wall across the pass had added several more courses to the wall. In a week or two, it would be complete. I congratulated them on what they’d achieved and told them about next building a shepherd’s hut in the east valley, and then in the west valley.

Lukas and Vidar were happy to see us. Vidar said that they would be leaving to take the goats home in the morning, but they would be back in three or four days. Several young female goats were old enough for the male goats to be interested in them and they needed to get them home to add to the dairy herd.

When he noticed us, Missimo hurried over with another new feral dog in tow, another female that was damn near as big as he was. “That one showed up yesterday. Missimo came over with her the first time as if he were introducing her,” Vidar laughed. “It’s amazing how the dogs seem to train the new arrivals. They sure make it easy to watch the goats,” he added.

The wolf pups showed up then, yipping happily at us and jumping up on us. Mereesia and Senna couldn’t believe that the wolves were friendly and laughed when I told them the story of how we acquired them.

We shared a quick lunch of bread, cheese, and berries that we brought from home before heading to the east valley.

Missimo and his new girlfriend joined us, along with three of the wolf pups.

We set up two pavilion-style tents that we took from the bandits, the two with no arrow holes in them. We set them in the same place as when we gathered the poppy tears. One tent was to sleep in and the second was for saddles and supplies. Mereesia and Senna went with me to begin exploring the valley. The rest stayed to finish setting up our camp.

We rode from the campsite south, and then along the edge of the valley. From there, we could see the lower slope of the rim around the valley and the floor of the valley. My first impression held up that this valley was a bit shorter and narrower than the main valley. We made two circuits of the valley, one along the outer edge and one halfway to the center of the valley.

We found three caves, one of which was too small even for Senyo to enter. The dogs went in to check the bigger cave and stirred up hundreds of bats. Other than that, there was nothing in the cave. The biggest cave was nearly as big as the one we had in the other valley and was empty. It would easily house several people and all the goats in severe weather. We found three springs. The water from the springs ran in a southerly direction until they met near the center of the valley and joined to make a stream. One spring was close enough to the biggest cave that an oval pen could reach it to provide water for people and goats.

The grass was as tall as in the main valley and there were more oak trees scattered on the valley floor here than in the main valley. Most were single trees, but signs showed that the deer seemed to enjoy resting in two of the small copses of oak trees, as well as under two of the largest trees. There were also abundant poplar, willow, and alder trees lining the runoff from each spring and the stream. Senna suggested that we coppice the willow trees so we could harvest long, slender shoots each year to use for weaving baskets.

Overall, aside from the poppies, the valley floor was boring. We rode back to our campsite, and I set out thirty snares because I saw ample evidence that this valley was as overrun with rabbits as the main valley.

After dinner, we retired to the tent where I made Bergoa happy, followed by Kazani and Saraki before we went to sleep.

The angry yowl of a mountain lion and the answering roar of an equally pissed off bear woke us as dawn broke. Bare-ass naked I grabbed my bow, a quiver of arrows, and my trusty spear. I slipped my boots on and stepped out of our tent. Kazani and Saraki were right behind me, similarly attired and armed. Bergoa, Mereesia, and Senna followed on their heels.

The dogs and wolf pups stood in a line, almost as if they were in a military formation. They were facing southwest with their hackles up. Since the danger wasn’t imminent, I stopped to put my pants on to protect my legs and dangling bits from thorns, thistles, and sharp-edged blades of grass. I also slipped my hunting knife into the sheath on my belt and grabbed my second spear. The girls pulled their tunics on as well. I thought about my tunic, but the cool morning air felt good against my skin.

Each of us had dipped the tips of our arrows in the poison before we left the house yesterday, so it was dry, but worked just as well as if it was liquid. Figuring that the horses would be too skittish to approach the loud, angry confrontation, we jogged towards the ongoing racket. As we got closer, I could tell that it came from one of the small oak groves.

When we got close enough to see what was happening, we found a mountain lion crouched over the body of a young deer.

He was intent on defending his kill from a hungry bear. I had the women target the bear while I aimed for the mountain lion. I hoped that each of us would get at least two arrows into each animal before they realized we were there.

The first volley further enraged both animals, although they both seemed to think the other had somehow caused them the pain from the arrows. I stopped the girls from firing a second volley just yet. As long as the two competitors remained focused on each other, I figured that we should give the poison a chance to work.

It affected the lion first and one of his front legs collapsed as he continued to confront the bear. With that, we released a second volley at the bear. A few heartbeats later, just after the mountain lion collapsed, the bear toppled over onto his front, much like a massive tree does when chopped down.

As we approached, I had the girls remain at least ten feet away. I got close enough to kill both animals with my spear. The dogs and wolf pups sensed that both animals were dead and approached cautiously, sniffing the animals. The newest dog proceeded to bark at both carcasses, almost as if she were saying, “Take that!”

Missimo sat and looked at me as if he wanted to ask, “Now what?”

The girls knew “now what,” meant sending me back to camp to get the mules and horses. By the time I saddled the horses, put pack saddles on the six mules, returned, and then made enough travois to carry everything, the girls had the bear, cat, and deer skinned. By the time we finished filling the smokehouse in the original cave with bear meat, we were exhausted. and it was bedtime. I had remembered too late that dealing with bears was a greasy, exhausting chore and made a mental note to bring more soap with us next time. Fortunately, there was plenty of soap at the cave that we had made from part from the fat from the three bears we killed last time.

There was also a good supply of firewood in the cave, and we cooked the small deer over the new fireplace inside the cave. The dogs and wolves gnawed on the cat carcass all day. The ladies were excited that they would get to add teeth and claw from the bear to their necklaces. Kazani and Saraki now had tooth and claw from the four bears they helped with and claws from the mountain lions and wolves I had killed.

Mereesia and Senna would have a tooth and claw from one bear. This was one difference between wives and concubines. Wives could wear tooth or claw from their husband’s kills, as well as tooth and claw from any predators they killed. Concubines couldn’t wear trophies earned by someone else. They had to earn the tooth and claw themselves. Since Mereesia and Senna helped kill the bear, they earned the right to wear tooth and claw from it. Bergoa would add tooth and claw from the bear since she helped to kill it, as well as a claw from the mountain lion that I killed alone.

Zuela would have claws from four bears, three mountain lions, and the wolves that I killed or helped to kill.

That would give Lieutenant Anzekko something to stare at. Father told me that Lieutenant Anzekko had asked him about the necklaces Kazani and Saraki wore with teeth and claw from three bears and claws from two mountain lions and several wolves. In the entire kingdom there were probably only a score of men with tooth and claw from three predators. Kazani and Saraki were probably the only women with three, and now four.

Father had assured the good lieutenant that the trophies were legitimate. The number of arrow holes in the bearskins attested to that. Wearing trophies you weren’t entitled to wear was the same as lying. Someone caught doing that would have a difficult time getting people to believe anything they said in the future.

We all felt lazy in the morning, not wanting to get up. Only the urgent need to pee finally got me moving. After a quick breakfast, we loaded the three skins, three brains, paws, and jaws of the bear and mountain lion onto the travois and set out to our camp.

When we arrived, our camp was untouched. I helped unhitch the travois, unsaddle the mules, and unsaddle three horses. Despite feeling a bit lethargic from the exertion of dealing with the animals yesterday, I was here to explore, and the horse would be doing most of the work while I explored. Kazani and Saraki insisted on going with me.

Bergoa, Mereesia, and Senna intended to keep their bows handy while they rendered the bear fat and worked on the three pelts. I spoke with them, and we decided, like last time, to make soap with half of the rendered bear fat and to keep half for our oil lamps. We would keep whatever soap they made with us.

Shortly after we began exploring the slope around the valley, we found a monstrous patch of honey vine, twice as big as patches usually grew. I assumed that two or three patches had grown together into one. Unfortunately, there were no seedpods. It expanded the way most of them did--the vines took root anywhere they contacted the ground.

Three quarters of the way around the valley, we found another huge patch, but this one was bekar clover. When I looked closely, the puffy seed heads (much like a dandelion) were intact, and the seeds were mature. This was huge. Mother Sofala doled out her limited supply of bekar clover to the women of the clan when they wanted to prevent pregnancy. “Bekar” was a foreign word for “barren.” When a woman drank the tea, she wouldn’t conceive for one to three months. When the goats ate some of the plant, the female goats wouldn’t conceive for up to six months, not something we wanted to happen unless the female goat had a problem.

I carefully cupped each flower in my hand as I cut the stem, and then slipped the flowers into one of the small pouches Mother Sofala gives me to hold herbs when I find them. The girls and I picked well over a hundred mature flowers, each with dozens of seeds. Once we finished picking flowers, I took a larger cloth bag and, using my knife, started cutting the clover plants near the ground, making sure to leave any flowers that hadn’t opened yet. The girls helped by holding the bag where I could reach it easily.

By the time we finished, we had the bag literally stuffed. The bag would hold a full basket of grain. Since we were practically done with our exploration for the day, I emptied my skin of water on the remainder of the patch to help it regrow.

When we finished our exploration, we rode over to the chalk quarry. I slipped the bag of seeds into the bag of cut bekar clover and gave it to Mirikar with instructions to give it to Mother Sofala as soon as they returned home tomorrow.

With that done, we headed back to our camp. Kazani and Saraki pitched in to help prepare dinner and render the bear fat. I made sure that everything was ready for us to break camp tomorrow. Exploring the west valley should only take two days. We should be done the day before Lukas, Vidar, and their wives returned with the goats.

They would leave behind the females that were now mature enough to attract the male goats for mating. They were probably pregnant already. Those would join the dairy herd so they could be milked every day after they delivered and once the kids were weaned. The two men would also leave about fifty of the older male kids to provide meat for the Clan’s tables. They would bring back any young male and female kids that were now old enough to walk to the valley.

I wasn’t as tired tonight, and Mereesia and Senna had another turn with me.

We struck camp in the morning while we ate cheese and fruit for breakfast and then made our way back to the cave. Once everything was unloaded and the tent for the supplies was set up, Mereesia, Senna, and I headed for the west valley. We each led a mule that carried empty baskets we could fill with berries, as long as we didn’t find another bear there.

I started by riding around the outer edge of the valley. The dogs and two wolf pups bounded ahead of us, running off into the brush and deep grass covering most of the valley floor. The valley was about the same size as the east valley but was more triangular than oval. Like the other two valleys, lone oak trees and a few chestnut trees were scattered across the valley floor. There were two small thickets in the valley. To the northeast was a thicket of oaks, but to the southeast was a thicket of sweet chestnut trees. Like the other two valleys, poplar, willow, and alder trees grew abundantly and lined the creeks.

This valley had even more springs than the main valley and small brooks ran throughout the valley. Unlike the other two valleys, this one didn’t slope to the center of the valley. It was more or less flat but sloped slightly to the southwest. The brooks ran towards the southwest corner of the valley, occasionally joining with another brook as they got closer to the corner. They finally joined into a single stream less than a hundred feet before the stream disappeared into a small cave with an opening that was too low for me to crawl into.

Aside from the stream exiting the valley, I noticed a good-sized patch of remma root. “Remma” was another foreign word and meant “blood.” Mother Sofala would love these. The plant grew like a huge carrot with waist-high feathery leaves. After two years, it produced one flower stalk with a single flower. That flower produced a seedpod with fifty or more tiny seeds. Each year after that, the flower stalk regrew. Once the seeds were mature, they were dispersed by the wind and the flower stalk died and dried up, but the plant remained green year-round in our climate.

The blood red two-year-old root was about the size and length of my hand and forearm. Mother Sofala grew about a hundred of the plants in her herb garden along the south wall of the house. It was fortunate that the roots were large as a great many women in Mokoko used the root monthly to build up their blood. Remma root was one of the herbs Mother Sofala gave me while my wound healed.

I broke the mature seedpods off the twenty plants, saving them in one of the smaller pouches Mother Sofala sent with me. Then I dug up the twenty roots and filled two bags with them. I left at least twice as many of the plants to continue growing. Once I loaded the bags onto the mule, we continued our exploration.

There were four caves around this valley; one was at least twice the size of the largest caves in the other two valleys. It seemed as if it took forever for the dogs and wolf pups to return from checking it out. When I finally went in, it was easy to see that this cave had been home to a bear, probably the mother bear and two cubs we killed.

We managed two circuits of the valley before returning to camp. One circuit was along the outer edge of the valley and one about halfway to the center of the valley. We did see two herds of deer, each with ten to twenty members. We also saw the herd of mountain sheep with a dozen or so sheep in it. Having just hung the bear and half of the small deer in the smokehouse, we didn’t hunt today.

We stopped and filled three large baskets with ripe berries and found no evidence of bears visiting the berry bushes more recently than our last encounter here. There was also plenty of evidence that this valley, too, had an abundant population of rabbits. The pelts we didn’t use to cushion our sleeping mats had been welcome at home. While rabbit pelts were hardly rare, to collect so many rabbit pelts would require traveling at least half a day from home. The rabbit population in clan lands had markedly diminished over the years, although I bet the new land we bought would yield a significant number of them over the next couple of years.

Mirikar and Torkelar had already left for home when we stopped by the chalk quarry. I tied the seeds inside one of the bags of remma root and left both bags of remma root inside their cave.

When we got back to the main valley, we found several tents erected inside the rock wall and thorn bush hedge. These were for the men Father sent to build the two shepherd huts and then to finish the rock wall for the pen. I warned them about the thorn bushes planted outside of the wall and outside the area where I had planned to continue the wall. The new thorn bushes had already sprouted and were as tall as my hand.

It was easy to tell that the men appreciated having the women cook dinner for them. It was also easy to tell that they knew who the women were as they were very respectful towards them.

The men had also noticed the remains of the mountain lion outside of the pen and the head and paws of the bear that the women worked on today to extract the teeth and claws. The fact that two of the three women wore necklaces with three sets of teeth and claws wasn’t lost on them either.

We talked through supper with the men asking me to tell about the most recent adventure with the bear and the mountain lion. Things like that weren’t something a man asked a woman except his mother, wife, sister, or daughter. Women talked about anything amongst themselves, but not around men besides immediate family members.