A look of understanding flashed around the fire.
Gennos was the first to answer, "Good idea, we can all travel in one dugout. That way we can share the poling and paddling. We can move faster and still not become tired." He thought for a moment and then said, "That makes another problem, what do we do with the other dugout? If Lomasi is following, we don't want him to have it."
"We can hide it in the woods and hope he doesn't find it," Dola said hopefully.
"I have a better idea," said Cano, "we hide it first and then burn it."
Gennos’s face lit up. "Good idea brother. We can find a place where the river bank is low, and then drag it into the woods and burn it." A shadow of thought passed across his face, "The dugout is wet from the river, and it may not burn."
"If the fire is hot enough it will dry the wood and burn," said Cano. "We don't have to burn the dugout all up. It just has to be burned enough to make it not float." Cano then added, "Lomasi may not be following, but even if he is, he shouldn't be able to find it if we hide it well."
"I like it," said Na'pe. "If we stay here another day, we can get food and weapons ready for the rest of the trip. I will gather and dry more food. If you are able to learn to use the spear-throwers we may be able to make it the rest of the way to my clan without stopping too many times."
Gennos asked, "Are we that close to your clan?"
"No," she said. "There is still a long way to go, but I keep hoping that we are." She gave a sigh and then continued. "We must travel on this river until it joins the next river. When they come together the river is much bigger. The banks of the river are higher and there are more islands in the river. Some of the islands have strange trees growing; some of the trees are very large. After we travel on that river we must go through a dark place, I don't like that place. After we get past it, we travel through a strange land, there are many kinds of animals, but there are also dangers. After this we will come to the Mother River. We will travel down it to my clan. It is not near here, but each day brings us closer."
After more discussion it was agreed that they rest for another day and gather food and work with the spear-throwers.
During the night there was a light rain, but everyone slept well. When morning arrived they found a place were the riverbank was not steep and they were able to move the smaller dugout into the woods. When they found a suitable hiding place they rolled the dugout over and attempted to pound holes in it with large rocks, but this was futile, the hull was too thick. Dola returned to the campsite and brought fire back. In the mean time Gennos and Cano had gathered grass and other tinder for the fires. They built one fire on the bottom, and one at the side of the dugout. When the fires were burning and eating at the hull, they all returned to the campsite. Cano was the last to leave the fires, and he carefully disguised the trail they had made moving the dugout. It wasn't perfect, but then maybe no one was following and it wouldn't matter. Then again, maybe Lomasi was following; we wouldn't want him to find the dugout. But then he smiled to himself; it would be nice to see Lomasi's face when he found the pile of ashes. He looked again to where the dugout burned; it should be gone in the morning.
The next morning, when Cano and Dola left the camp, each was searching for spear shafts. Cano went downriver again and Dola went upriver. They were fortunate, before the sun was directly overhead, they both had returned to camp with an armload of spear shafts. They sat around the fire scraping the bark from the shafts as they had seen Lomasi do. They examined the shafts for straightness by sighting down the shaft and slowly rotating the shafts. When they had rejected the worst of the lot, they practiced throwing the remainder of them. They met with little success. The spears were the same weight at both ends, they tended to float on the air instead of cutting threw it. They knew that if they made the points heavier they would fly better. The problem was that this takes time and they were trying to learn by throwing the spears repeatedly. What they needed was a quick way to make practice spears.
Na'pe mentioned that the men of her clan rounded and hardened the points of their spears in a fire. Then they packed mud around the points, and dried them by a fire. She said they were only good for one throw. They tried it and it worked.
They practiced until they were satisfied with their accuracy. Gennos seemed to take to the weapon naturally. Cano was good with it, but his brother was the best of the little group. Dola lacked the strength, but his short-range casts were deadly.
Near the end of daylight they started experimenting with different spear tips. The black spear points that Cano had found in the cave were the best points. The major drawback was that they couldn't afford to lose any of them. They worked with other materials to expand the number of spears they could use. They found that they could use some of the clamshells, and they could be very sharp, but the shape of the point affected the flight of the spear. They would have liked to use flint, but this area of the river lacked it. They tried using river stones. They found some that looked suitable and broke them into smaller pieces in attempts at getting good points. They tried to knap them as they did with the flint and were able to get some usable points. The problem was that the size and weight of the points affected the range and accuracy of the spear. They also found the points need not be large to be affective. If they were small they flew faster and penetrated deeper. An animal that was hit by the spear in a vital spot such as the heart or throat would die quickly. They knew that in most cases wounded animals died from bleeding to death. A hit in an important place, would kill sooner than a large wound in a non-vital area like the stomach or rump.
By the end of the day they were much better with the spear-throwers, and Na'pe had organized the food effectively. They spent the night quietly, but they were becoming apprehensive about getting started again. It rained lightly again and left the air clear and fresh.
They launched the dugout early the next morning and continued downriver. Dola was in the front of the dugout with Whiteface by his side. Gennos and Na'pe were in the center of the craft with the supplies piled around them. Cano sat in the rear of the dugout and steered. The dugout rode low in the water and moved slower because of the added weight. Although they stayed in their positions, they were able to switch off guiding the craft. They made good time in spite of the extra weight. It was a comfortable day on the river and an enjoyable one. They saw many animals along the river, but there was no need to hunt or kill, they had plenty of food and water
Back up river on the next morning, Lomasi and Morf were approaching the same campsite that Cano's group had used. They were water soaked and hungry. They had been traveling day and night on the hastily made raft. It should have been made with more and bigger logs. As it was, it couldn't support their weight and was constantly shifting and water slouched across the logs. Their feet and legs shriveled from being under water for such a long time. The water had not helped Lomasi's leg wound; it was swollen and discolored. He had a difficult time with it and walked with a decided limp. One thought kept driving him, revenge. He was going to make the prisoners pay for his pain.
Morf on the other hand just wanted to go home. If he could find a way to escape from Lomasi he would be gone in a heartbeat. The only things that kept him at Lomasi's side was his fear of him, and the common sense to know that if he left, Lomasi would trail him with the same dedication that he was displaying in his search for the escaped prisoners. The only thing I can do is to wait and see what happens, he thought.
The campsite looked as good to Lomasi as it had to Cano's group. They dragged the raft ashore and soon discovered the campfire. Lomasi ran his fingers through the burnt ashes checking for heat. He didn't find any. He searched the campsite and found the turtle's shell, but he couldn't find any food.
Lomasi stood quietly in the center of the campsite and looked around. There were tracks on the ground that confirmed his suspicions about who had been here. He knew they had been here recently. The tracks were still fresh and the ashes of the fire had not settled or
blown away.
There was the smell of smoke in the air. He frowned, the fire was out and it had been out for some time, but yet there was the smell of smoke in the air. He looked inland and noticed a slight change in color near a stand of trees. It appeared to be smoke, but why a fire there?
He fitted his spear into the spear-thrower and then moved toward the trees. Morf stood quietly awaiting instructions.
As Lomasi moved toward the smoke he found small signs that something heavy had been pulled along the ground. The pain in his leg reminded him to watch for a trap. As he entered the trees the smell of smoke got stronger. Then he saw the source. The dugout was lying upside down and there were fires smoldering, one on the bottom and another on its side. He called to Morf to come quickly. He rushed forward and tried to knock the fire off of the bottom of the dugout. The wet wood had been smoldering and although it burned slowly it had created a crater about the size of his head
When Morf arrived he saw Lomasi trying to put out the fire on the bottom of the dugout. He rushed forward and kicked at the fire on the side of the dugout. Some of the burning wood broke loose and fell to the ground. He then scraped handfuls of dirt together and threw it on the smoldering wood. The damage to the side of the dugout was much more critical than to the bottom. The wood was drier on the sides than on the bottom and had burned better. A hole had been created that reached from the top edge of the dugout almost to the bottom. The dugout would fill with water if they attempted to use it.
Lomasi had finished putting his fire out and had used his spear point to scrape the last of the embers from the wood. Turning toward Morf, he examined the damage to the side of the dugout. "You should have worked faster; the damage is the worst where you worked."
Morf silently accepted the rebuke.
Lomasi stood silently looking down at the charred hull. "We must move it back to the river and then repair it."
It was difficult, but they were able to drag and push it through the brush back to the river. Lomasi made a mixture of grass, mud and small rocks, and attempted to patch the hole in the bottom of the dugout. The side of the dugout was damaged beyond repair. While Lomasi worked on the dugout, Morf found suitable saplings and constructed poles that they could use to propel the dugout. He lashed smaller sticks in a flat pattern to one end of the poles so that they could also be used as paddles when the river was too deep to reach bottom with the poles.
They found that the dugout filled with water as soon as it was launched. Lomasi decided that they would continue the chase in the dugout despite the damage. It would be difficult and even wetter than using the raft they had constructed, but it would allow them to travel faster. They were only a day behind the escapees and he was driven by his desire for revenge.
Morf squatted in the water at the rear of the dugout. The water filled the dugout and it handled little better than the raft had. Lomasi was in the water too, but the motion of the dugout caused the water to be deeper in the rear than in the front. Morf sat mournfully thinking; just when you think things can't get any worse, they do. Then he looked down into his lap as the water swirled around him. He was water soaked and then saw that things were indeed getting worse. Several leeches were having a meal at his expense. He quickly removed them using a spear point, and tossed them in the river. It was then that things started to look better. He noticed that a large leech had crawled up Lomasi's back and was feeding. He sat silently watching it feeding. He knew that if he brought it to Lomasi's attention it wouldn't help. Somehow he would find a way to blame the leech's bite on him. Morf sat silently watching the leech's body swell with blood. It was a shame, he thought, that leeches don't grow bigger. One about the size of my leg would be fine at a time like this. Then I would be able to go home.
The dugout continued to wallow its way downstream after the small group of escapees.
Much farther downstream the other dugout was fairing much better. The scenery had continued to change. There were more small islands then they had seen previously. Occasionally they saw large islands with tall trees. Some of the trees grew directly in the river. The trunks of the trees were strange; they were very wide at the base and tapered upward. There were also small rounded growths sticking out of the water around the bases. Not all of the trees looked like these. There were other tall trees that also grew in the water that had bright colored flowers growing on them. At places there were tall grasses growing and many small birds. The trees also held many different kinds of brightly colored birds. The sounds they made were pleasant to hear.
The dugout was moving along swiftly in the strong current. They had been taking turns guiding it, while those that rested ate the dried turtle meat, or dozed off.
Na'pe's voice was soft as she spoke, "Soon we will come to a big place in the river that I don't like. After we pass this place it will not be too much farther to the Mother River. Then you will see a real river. It will not be long after that, we will reach my Clan."
Gennos asked "This bad place, why is it bad?"
"You will see; it's dark and dangerous. The trees block most of the light and it's easy to get lost. The current gets slower and it is harder to follow. The current seems to go into places were it ends, and then you have to try and find your way out. There are strange animals and big fish like the gar that killed Hopi. There are turtles bigger than the one Cano killed." She hesitated and then said, "And big gators, very big gators. Some are longer that this dugout." She paused again and her shoulders gave an involuntary shudder, "But the things I hate the most are the snakes. We must be careful of them; they are in the water and in the trees."
Cano clenched his mouth shut. Not more snakes, he thought, I've had enough of them, but he said nothing.
Gennos said, "Do you think you can remember how to get past this place?"
"I hope so. Lomasi didn't like the place either, but that was because he became lost there. I didn't try to help him. I was hoping that my people would have come after me. My people know of this place and the ways of the river. I will try to show you its secrets," she said.
The river wasn't deep in this area, but it was wider than it had been. Cano noticed another island coming up. "Let’s stop here and get out and stretch. I need to feel solid ground under my feet."
They all thought that it would be a good idea if they stopped for a short while and got out of the dugout. As soon as the dugout reached the bank, Whiteface jumped out and started exploring the shore. They all climbed out and walked around to loosen up the stiffness in their arms and legs.
They hadn't been on the island long when the stillness was shattered. Whiteface's frantic barking could be heard coming from the tall grass where she had disappeared. It was follow by a loud hissing cough; it was a strange sound, almost a bark. Whiteface came flying out of the grass and rushed to the dugout and jumped in. She turned in the direction she had come from and bared her fangs.
A large black shape parted the tall grasses; it stopped and then rose to its full height. It was a black bear that was taller than Cano. It stood looking with its beady eyes at the small group, trying to decide if they were a threat or not. It twitched its nose, trying to scent these strange creatures.
Gennos broke the spell by saying in a soft voice, "Everyone move slowly back to the dugout, don't move fast or turn your back to the bear."
After a few moments hesitation, all except Cano were slowly moving away from the bear and back to the dugout. Whiteface was silent; she seemed to sense that now was not the time to be noticed.
Cano slowly turned to face the bear, the muscles in his shoulders rippled as he straightened his back and then he smoothly drew his Canohawk. He balanced its weight in his hand easily, and then he shifted his grip from the throwing position to a chopping hold. He stood silently looking at the bear. He didn't want to fight the bear because he knew what the outcome would be.
When the others were in the dugout, Cano moved over to it slowly. The bear stood watching and then raised its head higher and then co
cked its head to the side, and gave a coarse roar. Cano could feel the roar in his bones. He moved smoothly toward the dugout and then stopped. Now comes the hard part he thought, I will have to turn my back on the bear. I really don't want to turn my back; he may think I am afraid and then attack. Cano knew that animals attack when they have the best chance for a clean kill. My problem, he thought, is that I can't launch the dugout without turning away from the bear. He stood facing the bear and working up his courage, he had to turn away. He heard sounds of movement from the dugout. Slowly he turned his eyes away from the bear and toward the dugout. He had to turn his head to see what was happening. The sight he saw warmed his heart. Both Dola and his brother where crouched in their position in the dugout. They had each loaded spear-throwers and their arms were cocked and ready to cast their spears.
Softly Gennos said, "Come Cano, I think it’s time to leave." His eyes were locked on the bear.
Cano turned slowly, laid his Canohawk in the dugout and then pushed the dugout into the feeble current. When he was waist deep in the water he pulled himself smoothly into the dugout. The bear stood watching as the dugout drifted away. It dropped down to all fours, tossed its head and snorted. Then it shambled back into the tall grass without looking back. After they had drifted around another bend in the river and everyone was breathing normally again, Gennos said, "Next time I get to pick out the place we rest. That last place was a real bear." Cano didn't argue.
Later that day when the light had just begun to fade, Na'pe said, "We should camp soon. The night will be dark and we are close to the dark place.
Gennos picked a small island near the center of the river. They spent a quiet night, but no one slept well. They all wondered what the next day would bring.
Black Bayou
The next morning they pushed off from the shore as the sun rose. As they drifted along Na'pe spoke, "My people are of the Mother River. There are places where the river flows into strange places. Some are good and others are bad, sometimes it is hard to tell which is which. We call these places that are by the river, but not the river, Bayou. Where we are headed it is called Black Bayou." She paused before continuing, "As I said before this is not a good place, my people stay away from it. Sometimes people that go there don't return."
The Thinking Rocks Page 28