by Lou Cadle
“I didn’t sleep,” said Dixie. “I was too scared.”
Claire said, “Sounds like you did the best you could.”
“Yeah, there really wasn’t another choice,” Ted said. “I don’t think I’d have been able to spear one of them. They kept darting forward and back, and they were fast at it. If I’d followed one closely enough to skewer it, the others would have closed in from the sides.”
“I’m glad you stayed safe,” Hannah said. She was honestly surprised that Ted hadn’t pressed it too far. They must be formidable animals to make him think twice. “How big?”
“Like wolves. Or big-sized dogs, like German Shepherds or something about that size.”
“The young one wasn’t that big,” Dixie said. “More like this.” She held her hands out. “I could have picked it up, but no way would it have let me. It was just as snarly as the rest of them.”
Chapter 18
Claire said, “How about water? A place to build a camp? Anything else you saw? Other animals?”
“Water, a decent-sized stream,” said Ted. “We have water in the bottles still. You guys thirsty?”
They were.
When they had all sated their thirst, Claire said, “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. Zach, I want you and Dixie to go back to the campfire. Mr. O’Brien will want to know they’re both okay, for one thing. Take the full bottles of water. Dixie, you can catch up on sleep.”
Zach said, “Why me?”
“No offense, but until your hand heals, you’re not much good in a fight. I wish you’d broken your other hand, but you didn’t.” Claire softened her words with a smile. “You help Mr. O’Brien and make sure he doesn’t do too much. Dixie can help gather nuts after she sleeps. We’ll all definitely be back before nightfall, no matter what it takes.”
Zach and Jodi reached for each other’s hands, held on for a moment, and then reluctantly let go. “I’ll be fine,” he said. “And I don’t worry about you at all. You are crazy good with that club.”
Hannah suspected he was lying, that he would worry. His kindness in saying he wouldn’t told her, as much as anything, how real their feelings for each other were. She felt a pang. Not jealousy, exactly, but something nearer grief. She might never get the chance to have that again.
Forget about it. Focus on today. Stay alive. That’s all you need to do right now.
Dixie and Zach went one direction, the rest of them the other. Ted was energetic and happy, like a tour guide. “Okay, we didn’t go over there, but it’s something else to look at. And we saw grazing animals up on that rise. Short legs, long heads. And the stream is down this way. I figured we should follow the land down, if we could, to find water, and there it was.”
Hannah stayed at the rear, checking constantly for danger. She didn’t want to encounter the group of dogs Ted had described, and so she was on the lookout for escape routes, protection, a means of defense. There were patches of bushes and the occasional tree. While there were rocks scattered on the ground, it wasn’t like the area of ravines. There were no rock outcroppings to climb or hide behind. She mentally marked a couple of spots where the growth thinned. She’d check those out later, on the way back, to see if the soil beneath might have a higher clay content. They had enough bowls made, but if they were going to build another brick cabin, they needed clay for that.
By the time they reached the stream, it was nearly noon. They all drank as much as they wanted, dipping the water bottles in and letting the stream fill them. The water was clear and cold. Ted said, “I didn’t explore it all the way up, so I don’t know the source of it.”
“I’m more interested in downstream,” said Claire. “See if it feeds into a lake or larger river. But we need to remember to turn back in time. So is everybody up for some jogging?”
They all were, and Hannah was glad Zach had been sent back because jogging with a broken wrist bone wouldn’t feel good. If he had to, in running from a predator, he could. But there was no reason to make him feel more pain than necessary.
As they ran, more and more patches of trees sprang up along the banks.
“Still not dense enough to serve as good cover,” Rex muttered.
“Stop!” Claire called. “Animals ahead, drinking.”
“What are they?” Nari said.
“Can’t tell. Deer?” Ted said.
Hannah caught up to the rest and looked. “Maybe, or maybe camels.”
“If so, they still haven’t invented humps.”
M.J. would have known the species in an instant. Hannah was guessing.
“They don’t look like something that would hurt us,” Rex said.
Claire said, “No, they don’t.”
“We can try and bag one,” Ted said.
“Another day,” Claire said. “I mean, if one trips over itself and lies there waiting to be killed, sure, take it. But otherwise, I’d rather keep exploring.”
“I’m hungry,” Ted said.
“We’ll cast the net later. And Jodi, keep your eye out for any of those prairie dog burrows.”
“I have been. You have to be right on top of them to see them, though. It’s not like they had dirt piled up at the entrances, not that I saw. I don’t know what they do with the dirt they excavate.”
“Everybody caught your breath?” Claire said. “Then let’s go.”
The animals, camel or hornless deer or whatever they might be, spied them from a couple hundred yards away and turned away from the water, loping off. None conveniently broke its leg to become their dinner.
The woods were getting thicker and the stream wider. Claire called a halt a half-hour later. “That’s far enough, I think, for today. Let’s try some fishing.”
Claire used the pole while Rex and most of the others helped with the net. Hannah asked if she and Ted could explore more if they stayed within sight of the group.
Ted said, “What are we looking for?”
“A place to live. Let’s cut directly away from the river, perpendicular to it, and see what’s over there.”
“I don’t see anything. I mean, there’s not going to be a cave or whatever.”
“No. I just want to see. Maybe we can find clay. Or something useful. If so, Claire might decide to set up in the trees right here.”
“I’d rather the trees were thicker. I mean wider. No, I mean both.”
“Yeah, I agree. We might have to move farther downstream. But let’s check things out here while they’re fishing.” She spied a bare patch of ground ahead. “That way,” she said, and made in its direction.
She was almost there when she stepped in a hole. She let out a curse as she fell. “Sorry,” she said, as Ted helped her out. She stomped with that leg twice to make sure she hadn’t hurt herself. Luckily, no. She saw she’d fallen into an animal burrow. “No, strike that. I’m not sorry at all.”
“You okay?”
“Yeah. If this is a burrow of the same animal we ate last night, I’m glad I fell in this. The stew was so good. We all agreed, the best red meat we’d eaten.”
“Really? I’d vote for that.”
“Yeah, and not something that will try to kill you when you try to kill it. Of course, me falling in there like a blind elephant probably scared them away.”
“Will there be other exits from their burrows?”
“Have to be.”
“Let’s look for them.”
“Okay.” The lure of the tasty meat made her push aside all interest in finding clay.
For a half-hour, they ranged out from the hole she’d tripped into, keeping close enough to render assistance to the other if needed. Hannah had to remind herself to keep an eye out around herself for predators. It was too easy to fixate on the ground.
“Psst,” Ted said. He was waving his hand. When he had her attention, he pointed down. Then he held his hands up: what now?
She mimed holding her spear up and staring down. Probably the only way to get one was to wait for it. She made a bet with hers
elf that Ted wouldn’t be able to manage waiting for longer than fifteen minutes. She continued hunting for other openings to the rodent burrow. Sure enough, right on time, Ted came jogging over. “Nothing’s happening.”
“Jodi was lucky, she said. Otherwise, we might have to stand over one for a couple hours. Or all day.”
“Low probability for success,” he said. “Probably a waste of time. I’d rather chase down a herd of something.”
“This might be a job Bob could manage. If not now, in a couple weeks.”
“He could fish too. Or make more small blades. Is he okay?”
“Yeah, better. I’m not going to let him overdo this time, and he doesn’t want another incident any more than I do. Wherever we settle, I’m sure Claire will get us walking back in plenty of time to get to the timegate and without stressing him further.”
“Maybe we should keep the camp we have.”
“Too far from water,” she said. “That’s all we’d do. Hike here every day, hike all the way back to get water. A lot of wasted calories that way.”
“You think a lot about calories.”
“Survival is always a calorie game. I mean, for anyone not living in the cushy comfort that we came from, with a convenience store on every corner. We have to catch more calories than we spend in catching them. I’m glad it’s fall.”
“Why fall?”
“Nuts, for one thing. We found some that seem good. That’s a lot of calories for little effort—just a climb up a tree and shake limbs and peel the covering off the nut.”
“I like hunting,” Ted said. “I never knew I would. And I don’t think I would with a gun. But running something down? That’s great.”
She nodded, not agreeing that she felt that way, but meaning she understood the appeal. To her, fishing and gathering nuts and roots was better. Safer, for one thing. No one would get hurt doing that. Less drama. But she suspected it was the drama that Ted liked. “We should get back to the others,” she said.
They had caught fish, but less than a dozen small ones. It’d be fish stew again to make the catch seem more filling.
Claire made them leave in plenty of time. “I don’t like us split up like we were last night.”
By the time they made it back to the woods, they were doing it under a glorious sunset. As the sun fell, so did the temperature.
“Going to be a cold one,” Claire said. “The sooner we build a permanent shelter, the happier I’ll be.”
“But where?”
“Let’s sleep on it. We’ll discuss it tomorrow morning,” Claire said.
In the dark of the woods, they made up a quick fish stew, cleaning and chunking the fish with stone knives. While the others did that, Hannah finished the splint she’d started working on the day before, a sturdier version than the one Zach had now. She fitted it to his wrist and rewrapped it. “How is it feeling?”
“Aches a little. It’s better.”
“Don’t use it too soon, and it’ll heal more quickly,” she said.
“I can’t not use it,” he said. “I won’t sit here doing nothing while everyone else hunts and works.”
Bob said, “Now you know how I’ve felt.”
“You work,” Zach said.
Hannah said, “You both contribute, and you will all this month. Don’t fret about it.”
Claire looked up from heating rocks and said, “I won’t let either of you slack. We need every person doing something, believe me.”
“From each according to his ability,” Bob said wryly. “To each according to his needs.”
“Exactly.”
Hannah and Bob exchanged a smile. None of the others would know the source of the quote. Then her smile faded as she thought of what they would miss if they never were able to return home. No university, so no cultural literacy.
Of course, there was no culture here, so it wouldn’t really matter. But still, it seemed a terrible shame. There had been six thousand years of literacy and accumulated wisdom in humanity, and if the young people never returned to it, they lost it all, lost all the interesting history and art and ideas.
Worries for another day. Without Laina, though, she had no idea how they’d get at all close to the 21st century again. She hoped Rex was thinking about it. He had understood Laina’s explanations better than anyone.
The fish soup was fine, if not nearly enough food to satisfy their hunger. Dessert was roasted chestnuts, if they were indeed chestnuts, and they were really good.
“We’ll eat more tomorrow,” Claire said.
“You can’t promise that,” Dixie said.
“I just did,” Claire said matter-of-factly. “I’m going to bed. Don’t anyone stay up late. Big day tomorrow.”
Hannah crawled into the hut early and dropped off quickly. She was awake before sunrise. Trying not to disturb Nari, she crawled from their shelter, flashlight in hand. But someone had been up before her and built up the fire, so she had light enough to lead her there.
Claire sat at the fire, mumbling to herself.
“Morning,” Hannah said softly.
Claire held up a finger. After a moment, she said, “Hi. Sorry, I was working things out in my head.”
“You were doing it aloud.”
“Yeah, I talk to myself sometimes. Supposed to mean you’re crazy.”
“No, that’s nonsense. Everybody does it. It helps us keep things straight.”
“Yeah, that’s why I was doing it.”
“What were you keeping straight?”
“What we need to accomplish today. We’re moving up to the river. Where we fished was okay for a temporary shelter while we range out and find something better. But there were fewer downed leaves in the woods, so I think we should shove some of our debris shelter material into the big baskets to make rebuilding them there possible. I’ll assign Rex and Zach to pull Mr. O’Brien, and the rest of us will move faster without them.”
“Because they’re all injured in some way?”
“Rex’s hearing seems to be much better, and he can defend them okay in case of attack, is my thinking. Rex can pull and repair the device when Mr. O’Brien can’t walk any more. Zach can carry the dried leaves on his back and with his good hand. The rest of us will take all the heavier things, like the hand axe and bowls and hides and chestnuts we’ve gathered, and we’ll leave at first light.”
“Sounds like a good plan.”
“And then someone will fish all day. Mr. O’Brien and Zach. Rex can build shelters, and when they’re done they can hunt along the stream together for clay or other resources. The rest of us will explore in two groups for a better home site. I think that’s all of it.”
“Great,” Hannah said.
“Sorry I’m rejecting your plan of finding a rock ledge to live on.”
“No, don’t worry. It was never workable in this landscape. We need water.”
“I like the idea of having rock on one side, though. It’d make building faster. So I think in exploring we’ll go straight up the nearest hills, see if we luck into something. There might even be a cave somewhere.”
“They can be hard to find. Often as not, there’s only a small hole in the ground someone slips into, and that’s how a network of caves is discovered. That first one we had, in the Oligocene, was unusual in how obvious the opening was.”
“I don’t like the thought of being too far underground anyway. If flash floods in a ravine could kill us, then why not in a cave?”
“I suspect if they were dangerous in that sense, they’d still be damp from the last rain. But the chances of finding a cave aren’t great.”
“Then we’ll need to find clay and build bricks again. Or haul stones. There seem to be stones all over, but scattered widely. I’m not sure how you could build with them. You’d still need clay for mortar, right?”
“I guess.” Hannah wasn’t sure. They might be able to use any dirt that wasn’t too sandy, and it’d last for a month. They didn’t need to build for the ages. Jus
t for twenty-odd days.
Claire asked the time, and when Hannah told her, she said, “Let’s wake everyone up. I really don’t want to miss a minute of daylight. I’ll get the females, you get the males.” She grabbed up a burning stick to use as a torch and was up and gone, back to her debris shelter, in a flash.
A half-hour later, the first group was packed and ready to go. Claire hadn’t allowed any dawdling.
“It’s barely light,” Dixie said.
Claire said, “It’ll be easier to see once we’re out of the woods. See the three of you guys later.”
Again they followed the route Dixie and Ted had taken the first day. Claire had explained her plan of setting up a new temporary camp right by where they had fished the day before.
Animals were out on their morning visit to the river to drink. It wasn’t like at the lake, where a number of them arrived near the same spot. They were split up along the length of the stream. As the humans walked along, they startled some animals from their drinking. Others were big enough that they barely gave the hikers a glance. They must know that their size kept them safe from all but the most ferocious of predators.
“It might be best to take water from upstream of here,” Hannah said. “For drinking, I mean.” They had already drunk their fill the instant the water was deep enough to dip the bottles in.
“Want to try for one of those deer things?” Ted said. As he asked, the deer heard him and splashed across the stream to put more distance between them.
“We’ll probably get enough fish to eat tonight,” Claire said. “I’d rather spend our daylight finding the ideal place to set up permanent camp. Tomorrow is soon enough to hunt again.”
“Unless I can club another prairie dog,” said Jodi. “That was so good, and I’d love another.”
“If one leaps up and begs to be clubbed, do it,” said Claire. “Otherwise, we can go hungry all day and hope for a big bunch of fish tonight.”
Nari said, “And chestnuts. I hope there are more nut trees wherever we settle.”
“Shh,” said Ted. “Get down, everybody.” He squatted where he was.
Chapter 19