by Jack L Knapp
Robert and Colin shared a thin-lipped smile. Hard choices are easier made when no other choices exist.
#
Late in the afternoon, Pavel’s band found the drag marks left by the travois.
It was too late to go farther today. They would camp near the trail and be careful not to blunder into the tribe the next day. Judging from the tracks, the tribe might be a day ahead, but they hadn’t been moving fast when Pavel left. They might be closer than expected.
They made a cold camp that night, Pavel cautioning his men to be extra watchful. Animals were more likely to approach since there was no fire to keep them away. Three men bedded down, weapons in hand, while Pavel took the first guard shift.
He kept watch until nearly midnight, considering various alternatives, thinking over his plans for the morrow. Finally he woke Vlad and turned in.
They ate the last of their food the following morning while following the tracks left by the travois.
Two hours later Pavel stopped. There was a pile of equipment ahead but no one was around. Cautiously, he led his men up and found the travois, left beside their bedding and personal gear.
“Pavel, they’ve dumped our sleeping equipment here. Have they thrown us out of the tribe? You didn’t say anything about that when we went after Lilia.”
“Gregor, I don’t know what happened. But I’ll find out when I catch up, you can count on that!
“Sort out what you want to take, leave the rest here. We can do without the furs. The weather is warm enough now that I doubt we’ll need them. We can get new ones before fall. The tribe can’t be far ahead. You three look around, see if you can kill something. Gather greens or roots, anything we can eat. I’ll scout ahead and see if the tribe’s close. Meet me back here in two hours.
“I wish we could just rejoin the tribe, but with Lilia maybe still out there, we can’t take the chance. We have to kill her. If she gets back, we’ll have to run for it. Maybe we can join up with the mine guards. I’ve been thinking about that. We won’t have much chance of surviving, just four of us.
“The guards won’t welcome us, but if we tell them where Robert and the tribe are I think they’ll let us join them. They’ll be mad at Robert and Colin anyway, and maybe they’ll want to raid the tribe if they know where they are. Anyway, it’s only a thought. I don’t owe the tribe anything. I wouldn’t mind teaching them a lesson, especially that little bunch that lived with Matt.”
“How long do we wait, Pavel?”
“That depends on what you three find to eat, Gregor. If we’ve got food, we can trail the tribe for a few more days. If Lilia’s not here within a day or two, maybe she got killed. Lions, wolves…well, she’s only a lone woman. They’d snap her up quick. As long as she doesn’t get past us, we can wait.
“Anyway, go find us something to eat. I’ll meet you back here in two hours.”
Chapter 5
The faint pecking sound was somehow familiar. Lilia cocked her head to the side and listened. Curious…she knew the sound, but couldn’t identify it.
Not a woodpecker after all, but unknown things were dangerous. She stole forward, arrow on the string. Ahead was a small clump of willows, the sound appearing to come from just beyond.
Careful to make no sound, Lilia eased through the willows and froze. It couldn’t be…but it was…
“Matt! You’re alive!”
Her fingers involuntarily relaxed and the arrow plopped into the dirt a few feet in front of her. She didn’t notice.
Matt stood up in shock, dropping the rocks he’d been working on.
He saw a woman, holding a bow and dressed in buckskin. She carried a bundled parka tied to a small backpack and a spear was slung across her back. The bow looked familiar, the recognition felt by a craftsman for the things he’s made.
“Who are you? Do I know you?”
Lilia had crossed the small clearing where Matt worked. Experienced eyes took in the crude lean-to and the small fire beside where he’d been working. She looked at the dirty, stretched-out, baggy deerskins. No question, this was Matt; he looked different, but she knew every stitch that had gone into making those deerskins. She also saw the bump and partially-healed cut, all that remained of the injury he’d suffered.
“Matt, it’s Lilia. What happened to you?”
“Lilia? Uh, I don’t know. I woke up on a sandbar. I was wet and cold.”
Matt stopped for a moment, then resumed his halting speech.
“I got dried off and warm. I don’t know how I got there. I’ve been…”
He paused for a longer time.
“I’ve been eating fish. I’ve still got some. Are you hungry?”
“No, I killed a deer. A fawn.” Lilia paused in turn.
“If I’d known you were here and had fish I wouldn’t have shot the fawn,” she said ruefully.
“Just let me stir up the fire. We can cook part of your fawn. I’m hungry enough to eat the whole thing! But you called me Matt. Do I know you?”
“Oh, Matt. I’m Lilia. You don’t remember me? Or Lee? Sandra and Millie and Cindy? Laszlo? You worked with Laszlo, Laz, a lot. Laz and René helped you cut wood and build things.”
“I don’t remember. The first thing I remember is crawling out of the river. I was cold, I remember shivering and being wet. Since then, I’ve been making weapons and just staying alive. I should have been doing other things, shouldn’t I?”
“Matt, you’re alive. That’s all that matters. As for weapons, I’ve got your spear. I picked up your bow and arrows too, they’re almost a day’s travel behind me. But we can go back and get them.”
“My spear? Can I see it?”
Lilia handed over the spear and Matt hefted it appraisingly. There was a deep scratch just behind the point where the blade joined the heavy shaft.
“I think...I remember this. There was a bear. I remember a bear.”
“That’s right, there was a bear. We killed it, all of us, you, me, Lee, Sandra and Millie, all of us.”
“Lee…I remember Lee. He had a broken arm. The bear broke his arm.”
“Yes. He almost died, but he recovered. He’s been helping you.”
“Helping me? Helping me do what?”
“Matt, you were…you are…the trek leader. You are in charge of the tribe when we’re moving. Lee takes care of security, he’s got several helpers to do that. He has scouts too, and I’m sure he’ll be in charge of the hunting parties when we start sending them out.”
“We’re a tribe? How long…how long has it been? How long have I been here?”
Lilia thought for a moment.
“Matt, it’s been almost a week. We thought you were dead. Pavel said you drowned. He said you slipped and fell into the river, but I didn’t believe him. He had two of his men with him when he got to camp, and I thought they’d killed you. I thought maybe they’d ambushed you, but they said you’d fallen into the river and I didn’t believe them.”
Matt reached up reflexively and rubbed at the bump.
“Maybe I hit my head when I slipped.”
“No. I found a bloodstain well back from the river. That probably came from your head. Was it worse when you left the river?”
Matt nodded. “There was blood on my face too.”
“Scalp wounds, cuts to the forehead where that one is, they bleed a lot. Pavel must have hit you with something before his men dragged you down to the river. I saw drag marks where they threw you in.”
Matt thought about Lilia’s statement. His fingers gripped the spear.
“I think I’ll want to ask Pavel about that, saying I fell into the river. I want to see where they threw me in. You’re sure?”
“I saw the tracks. Your bow and arrows are still there, hanging in a tree to keep the animals from chewing on them. I can show you the tracks and the bloodstain when we get there.”
Matt looked around at his small camp. Well, he’d been thinking it was time to leave the river. He would need to pick up his fishing line
and carry the chipped stones with him, the ones he’d been working on. They’d be useful.
He had known his name because of the dream, and now he knew a lot more, though some of the memories were still just bits and pieces.
“We can cook some of the venison if that’s OK with you. I’ll put out the fire after that and we can go. Bow and arrows?”
“Yes, and a quiver for the arrows too. I made the quiver. You made the bow and arrows, mine too. You made your spear and you also made a spear for me, but it’s back at camp. I left it with Lee.”
“Lee’s with the tribe? I wonder if Pavel’s back there too?”
“I’m sure he is. He’s got a small group, five men counting himself, and two women.”
“I think we should get my bow and arrows and go to the camp. I have a few questions to ask Pavel.”
#
Lee found Robert leaning against a tree. He was eating a bowl of Colin’s stew and a second gourd held some of the sweetened pine-needle tea. Lee sat down cross-legged and waited.
“Did you already eat, Lee?”
“I did. Pretty good stew. I’m glad you brought Colin back with you. I doubt we’d have been eating nearly as well without him.”
“I agree. Did you have something special you wanted to talk to me about?”
“Yeah, I did. I’ve been thinking.”
“Uh, oh. What about?” Robert smiled as he asked the question.
“You know I’ve had scouts out ahead of us, but they haven’t had a chance to really see what we’re facing. We know there are going to be rivers to cross, maybe other dangerous things ahead of us. I was wondering what you’d think if I went on a scout? Maybe go out two or three days before I come back.”
“Getting a little tired of camp life, Lee?”
Lee smiled. “I am. It’s fine, but it’s the same old thing every day. I’m itchy. I want to know what’s ahead of us.”
“Tell you what, Lee. We need food. You take a hunting party out tomorrow morning and see what you can find. If we have food, we can stay here for a week or two. It’s worth taking the time. People are getting really worn down, and we’ve still got a long way to go.
“Get us enough food for two or three weeks and you can go. That’ll give us an extra food reserve when we move on. We’ll be sending our foraging parties too but some days we may not find much. Rain, too much wind, maybe the country won’t have as many animals. There might not be enough plants. We need a reserve.
“Who did you plan to take with you?”
“I thought I’d go alone, Robert.”
“I’d rather you didn’t, Lee. Take one of the scouts, maybe Laz or Marc or Philippe.”
“Not Laz. He’s spending a lot of time with Cindy and I don’t think he’ll want to leave. I could take Marc or Philippe.”
“I’d suggest both of them. It would be good experience; you’ve done this before, with Matt, but they haven’t. Still, I’ll need one of them at the camp. We’re pretty shorthanded. So pick one to take with you.”
“OK, but I’ll want to take all three of them hunting. I’ll let them know and we’ll leave tomorrow. We can talk about the scouting trip while we’re hunting and I’ll decide which one goes with me.”
Lee led his three hunters southwest the next morning. He planned to repeat what he’d done before when he’d gone scouting with Matt, hunt southwest, bend northwest after a day, then turn back toward camp by heading east. When they reached the stream, they could follow it south to the camp.
#
Lilia held out her hand to caution Matt while she looked over the clearing. Seeing no danger, she slipped up to the tree and found Matt’s bow and quiver of arrows, hanging where she’d left them. She slipped the quiver’s strap off the stub, handed it to Matt, then took down his bow. He already had the quiver and his spear slung when she turned around with the bow.
Taking the bow, Matt examined it for a moment. He braced a limb against his instep, then stepped across with the other leg. The practiced moves were smooth. He easily flexed the heavy bow and slid the string into its notch. With the bow in his hand, he withdrew an arrow and examined it before nocking it to the bowstring.
His expression was nothing like that of the man she’d found only a few hours before. He might not have full recall of his memories as yet but now his expression showed grim purpose. Lilia looked at him and shivered.
Matt would ask his questions. Pavel would need very good answers…if indeed he could answer at all.
“Is this where they threw me in the river?” asked Matt.
“No. That happened ahead of us, a hundred yards or so.”
“Why don’t we have a look?”
She led off, still cautious, but somehow the presence of Matt behind her was very reassuring.
“It happened here. I found your arrows and the quiver over there, and the bow was a little nearer to the river.”
“I don’t see any tracks. You’re sure this is the place?”
“I’m sure. Look, here’s the bloodstain I found. But the tracks are gone. There were tracks of three men before, and there were drag marks down by the river.”
“We’ve had a little rain.”
“Not enough to wipe out the sign, not everything I saw. I think someone’s been here, maybe swept the tracks away.”
“Well, the bloodstain’s not very big. Tracks are easy enough to hide, but blood sinks into the dirt. Who would hide the tracks?”
“It had to be Pavel. He’s been here. No one else would have a reason to hide the tracks.
“I found your bow and quiver and hung them in the tree before I went south. That was a day ago, yesterday about noon. It’s after noon now, so Pavel could have been as much as a full day behind me. I followed the river south and killed that fawn just before I found you. Pavel must have wiped out the tracks while I was hunting.”
“Lilia, I wonder if he’s still around? Could he have been tracking you?”
“Matt, it’s possible. I didn’t tell anyone but our family group where I was going, but there aren’t many people in the tribe and my absence would be noticed. Pavel would have realized I was gone when I didn’t show up for rear guard. That’s what I had been doing, follow along behind everyone else so I could help stragglers and make sure nothing dangerous caught us from behind. I helped around the camp too, whatever needed doing; he would have noticed that I wasn’t around.”
“Would Pavel come alone? You said he had two men with him before when he came back to camp. Maybe he brought the others with him this time too.”
Lilia thought for a moment.
“He’s part of a group. He’s the one they look to for answers. Two of them are women, and there are four men plus Pavel. He could have brought all four of the men but not the women. They have friends among the rest of us. He wouldn’t have told them what he was planning for fear they’d tell someone else.”
“So; maybe five of them. Well, we’ll just keep our eyes peeled. How far ahead do you think the tribe is?”
Lilia thought for a moment.
“They’d have been going west while I looked for you. For your body,” she said ruefully. “But they weren’t moving very fast. I think we can catch them in two days, maybe three at the most. We can cut across country until we pick up the drag marks.”
Matt nodded. “We’ll need to be careful. If Pavel’s out there waiting, we don’t want him to see us before we see him.”
“I thought about that, Matt. You’re quiet, so am I. Pavel’s bunch are like mammoths, they just blunder along. Unless they’re hiding and waiting, we’ll see or hear them before they see us.”
“OK. We’ll stop early just to make sure we see them before they see us. We don’t have much to eat, though. If we see a deer or maybe a pig we should stock up on food.”
“Let’s go ahead, Matt. We’ll stop after lunch, eat the last of the fawn, then you hunt while I pick a few greens. I’ve seen dandelions, wild onions too. I’m sure there are other things.”
> “Sounds good. Let’s go.”
Matt glanced at the sun to establish direction, then looked where the wind was blowing. He adjusted his course slightly to move across the westerly breeze, which barely stirred the new leaves on the trees. Moving with his usual caution, Matt led and Lilia followed.
#
Pavel found the tribe where they camped by the stream. He slipped closer and watched as the tribespeople prepared for a long stay.
He took care to remain well concealed as he slipped away and went to find his men.
“They’re having supper. For some reason, they’ve decided to camp here. Some are already putting up shelters.”
“You think they’ve had trouble, Pavel?”
“I don’t know, Gregor. But Lilia’s not with them.”
“Maybe a lion or something got her?”
“No telling, Nik. We’ll watch the back trail for a day. We’ve got enough to eat now, so we just wait and watch. If Lilia’s not here by tomorrow, she probably won’t be coming at all.”
#
Matt spotted a small horse late that afternoon. Slipping closer, he tried to approach for a killing shot. He was still some fifty yards away when the horse raised its head and sniffed the wind.
The horse, now nervous, was across a clearing where only a few brushy plants grew. Matt decided he was unlikely to get a better chance for a shot. He drew back smoothly and launched the arrow.
The arrow hit but not where he’d aimed. Whether he’d flinched slightly or perhaps the arrow had ticked off a branch, he didn’t know; but it struck the horse too far back for an immediate kill. The wounded animal jumped and bolted northward.
Matt realized immediately that he shouldn’t have tried the shot…but he had. He searched the area where he’d seen the horse and found dark blood splashed on the ground. Not an artery hit, then.
It might run for a few yards, or it might run a mile. They would need to track the wounded horse. Matt didn’t like the thought of leaving an animal to die in agony. Darwin’s World did enough of that already; he didn’t need to add more.
He went back, found Lilia, and brought her to where the horse had been standing. The sun was already low, but maybe they could find the horse before dark.