by Dakota Chase
It didn’t matter if one or both of us succeeded in getting a spear into a mammoth, as long as one of us got his hunting talisman. Whoever did was bound to get a mammoth on theirs, and we could go the hell home.
Actually, secretly I’d be more than happy to let Grant have the honor. I didn’t want to be a hunter. I didn’t know if I could actually kill anything. I hoped if it came down to it, I could man up and get it done.
All I wanted was to sleep in a real bed, not the hard ground. I wanted a blanket, not a damp, dank fur that stank of wet dog. I wanted indoor plumbing, toilet paper, and a big ol’ juicy cheeseburger, not necessarily in that order. That wasn’t too much to ask, was it? But in order to get any of those things, we had to get home, and the only way to do that was to get the talisman, which meant one of us at least had to do the dirty.
Suddenly I saw smoke curling up from both the left and the right sides of the field. The drive had started!
The rumble came soon after, a dull thumping in the ground. At first I thought it was a small earthquake, but then shapes began to loom in the distance. Big shapes. Huge ones.
They looked mostly like elephants. Asian elephants—they had small ears, not big Dumbo ones like African elephants. But they had trunks and tusks. That’s about where the similarities ended. They were covered in long, reddish-brown hair, and the noises they made, the trumpeting and snorting, the stamping feet all combined to make them positively terrifying.
And they were all running straight at Grant and me.
Chapter Nineteen
AS THE herd drew closer, the experienced hunters chose the individual animals to be hunted and cast their spears. In only a few seconds, two enormous animals—not the largest in the herd but not the smallest by far—looked like porcupines, wobbly spears poking out of them like quills.
I froze. Couldn’t move a muscle. I just stood there, watching them stampede by. There were about a dozen big ones and three or four little ones. They passed so close to me, I could smell them, rank and rangy. The air filled with dust stirred up by their huge, round feet.
“Ash! Watch out!”
I heard my name and turned just in time to see a huge shape barreling toward me. One of the mammoths was veering off and heading directly for me. I felt my bladder let go as fear twisted icy fingers in my guts.
Then I was being pushed to the side. I fell, hitting the ground hard. I scrambled to get back up, picking up my spear and atlatl, and saw it was Grant who’d pushed me.
He’d saved my life. I didn’t have time to dwell on how close I’d come to being flattened into an Ash-shaped pancake because the mammoth wasn’t dead yet.
What it was, was pissed the hell off.
It was bellowing and trying to actively stamp flat anything near it that moved. I wasn’t even aware of fitting my spear into my atlatl, but I do remember casting and watching my spear hit the big beast in the side. The spear’s flint tip slid in between the mammoth’s ribs, and the animal reared, then fell to its knees. Finally, in a flurry of movement, the other hunters finished it off.
It was over so fast. All the planning, the marching north, the arguing, and more planning, all over in a few minutes of craziness. It was almost anticlimactic.
I was suddenly really, really glad all we’d eaten were those stupid traveling cakes, because if I’d had anything more substantial, I probably would’ve upchucked as well as peed myself. Damn, that was close. Closer than I ever wanted it to be, for sure. It wouldn’t have been an easy way to go, either. I’m pretty sure getting flattened was painful.
“You okay?” Grant nudged me. He looked none the worse for wear. A little flushed from the excitement, but he wasn’t bleeding, so I figured he’d live.
“Yeah. Thanks. For pushing me out of the way.”
He shrugged and smiled. “No worries. You would’ve done the same.”
I sighed and nodded. “I guess. I think I peed myself.”
Grant laughed. “Yeah, me too. Among other things.”
“Ew. Too much information, bro.”
“Ash! Grass! I got one!” Rabbit was suddenly hugging us and pounding us on the backs. “Did you get one? Is that your spear?”
“Yeah, we both did. Good for you, Rabbit. You did well.” Grant gave Rabbit a one-armed hug. “Was anyone hurt?”
“I don’t think so. Look, there’s Musk Ox and Bear Paw. And there’s Gray Wolf over there by the big female, and Silver Water. I don’t think anyone got hurt. It was a lucky hunt.”
“That it was.” Grant slung his arm around my shoulders, and I gave in to the urge to lean in for a minute. I needed physical contact with him to calm me as the reality of how close I’d come to a horrible death lingered.
He kept his arm around me as we walked forward toward the beast that tried to mow me down.
It was tremendous, a mountain of meat, hair, and ivory. There were at least twenty spears in it, including mine. “So, what do we do now?”
Rabbit smiled and gave a little shrug. “Now, we go to work.”
WHEN RABBIT said “work,” he really meant it.
It took everyone working together to skin the animals. I had to admit it was pretty gross too. They started by dressing the mammoth the same way a hunter would dress a deer—meaning they emptied the creature from the inside out. And really? You can’t begin to imagine how many “insides” are inside a mammoth. Its heart was as big as my head. Which, by the way, they saved to eat. The heart, not my head. Along with the mammoth’s liver and kidneys. Oh, yeah, and they ate the liver raw.
I told you it was gross.
Once that was done, they made cuts at the ankles and along the legs. After that, they more or less pulled the skin off.
Yuck.
They kept the choicest cuts of meat, the tusks, teeth, a few smaller bones like the feet, several internal organs, and sinew. The rest went into a huge refuse pile, which would be left behind. Not that any of it would go to waste. Even now, vultures were circling in the sky, and huge, spotted hyenas kept trying to dart in and steal bits and pieces. Once we left, the scavengers would be free to indulge in an all-you-care-to-eat mammoth buffet.
The meat was cut into large chunks for easier handling, and then those pieces were sliced into smaller portions and wrapped in pieces of leather. The wrapped parcels would freeze overnight, and then would be strapped to the sleds for transportation south to the Bison Clan cave, where the meat would be processed for drying. The Deer Clan would wait at the Bison Clan cave until their meat fully dried before taking it farther south to the Deer Clan territory.
It was late at night. We’d worked all day and were all exhausted, smelly, dirty, and tempted to dunk ourselves in the stream no matter how icy the water. I didn’t think I’d ever get the stench off me.
I also didn’t want to develop pneumonia, so bathing was out of the question. Instead, I tried to breathe through my mouth as we sat sipping tea and listening to Gray Wolf speak.
“Congratulations to us all. It was a lucky hunt, a good hunt. We killed two mammoths, and not a single person was injured. Rarely do we bring down the Great Ones without sacrifice. It is an occasion worthy of celebrating.” He turned to High Rock. “I am pleased we found a way to hunt with our again-brothers, the Deer Clan. It is my hope their people will suffer no longer. I have welcomed them to hunt with us again in the future if they have need.”
There was a murmur as the hunters called out their approval of Gray Wolf’s speech. Then he pointed toward where we, the younger hunters, sat clustered together. “We have several new hunters who have earned their talismans today. They showed a keen eye, a strong arm, and great courage, and their talismans will be made from the tusks of the mammoths they helped bring down. They will take their adult names and their rightful places as hunters of the Bison Clan.”
I looked at Grant and grinned. It wouldn’t be long now. One of us was bound to get a mammoth on our hunting talisman, right? Unfortunately, we’d need to wait until we got back to the Bison Clan cave
to find out. Nobody was wasting time making hunting talismans while there was still so much work to do.
On a happier note, that night we feasted on thick slices of medium-rare mammoth meat. It was tender and juicy and tasted like prime rib—although I’m pretty sure it tasted so good because we’d eaten nothing but the crappy traveling cakes for so long. Fried mammoth dung would probably have tasted like heaven by that point. Still, we thought it tasted like barbequed heaven and ate until our bellies ached.
It took several days to process all the meat down into chunks small enough to transport. The bitterly cold weather helped. The chunks froze solid, ensuring they wouldn’t spoil before we could get them back to the cave where they would be smoked and dried.
Going back took longer than the march to the great ice wall had, since we were loaded down with hundreds of pounds of meat, bones, and the tusks of the mammoths we’d killed. Plus, the hunters no longer had the excitement of the coming hunt to lighten their steps. The sleds were freaking heavy and took four men to drag—two to push, and two to pull. It was awkward and extremely hard work, and I was more than tempted to show them how much easier things would be with the invention of the wheel.
Grant put the kibosh on it, of course. “We can’t change history, remember?”
“But they’re going to invent it sooner or later, right?”
“Later rather than sooner.”
“Come on. It’s just a freaking circle. It’s not rocket science, Grant.”
“No, Ash. You know what Merlin says—if we mess with the course of history, it’ll fight to fix itself, and we might not like what happens to our present when it does.”
“God, you’re such a spoilsport.”
He grunted and refused to argue with me anymore. He just ducked his head and pushed the sled.
He was right, of course, but I wasn’t going to admit it. I got in the last word, so I counted it as a win.
The people we’d left behind must’ve had someone watching for our return, because the minute we reached the forested hills near the cave, we were met by most of them. Their looks of shock at the sight of the Deer Clan marching alongside us were positively priceless and explained why they skidded to a stop before actually reaching us.
Everything ground to halt as questions flew through the air like quick, sharp darts. It finally took a bellow and a few stern words from Gray Wolf to silence them. I couldn’t blame him. He was just as tired and cranky as the rest of us, and he told them in no uncertain terms they could wait until we reached the cave to have their questions answered. I don’t think they were happy about it, but they obeyed him and stayed quiet as they took over pushing the sleds the rest of the way to the cave.
When we filed into the area in front of the cave, the people we’d left behind went to work unpacking the sleds. Some started food cooking and water for tea boiling; others began unwrapping the mammoth meat to thaw. The rest of us, sore, tired, and ready for about a week of sleep, went inside the cave.
Rabbit was positively bubbling with excitement, and I couldn’t see him sitting still, let alone taking a nap. He’d been looking forward to proving his manhood on this hunt for so long, and it meant so much to him that he was too overwhelmed to rest. He bopped back and forth between our fire and Gray Wolf’s, yammering on about the ceremony the Bison Clan would hold tonight.
“It’s always held the first night after the hunt, but because we had to travel, Gray Wolf wanted to wait until we returned home so everyone could participate. There’ll be a ceremony, and Snow Owl will call the spirits, and we’ll be presented with our hunting talismans. Look! Badger is already cutting the mammoth tusk into slices.”
Speaking of Snow Owl, the look of absolute rage on his face when the Deer Clan marched into camp alongside the Bison Clan was frightening. At first I was sure he was going to ignore Gray Wolf’s order to stand down. If he attacked High Rock, I had no doubt about what would happen. There would be war after all, most likely, and it sucked. Especially not now, when there was finally peace between the two tribes.
“You bring our enemies into our cave?” Snow Owl snarled at Gray Wolf. “Have your senses taken wing like a flock of quail?”
“I have made peace with them. They are brothers-again with the Bison Clan.”
“No! This cannot be. They cannot be trusted! You are a fool, Gray Wolf!”
The camp gasped and gaped at the confrontation. It was evidently a serious breach of protocol. I could tell Gray Wolf was holding on to his temper by only a thin margin. When he spoke again, it was through gritted teeth.
“Do you question my fitness to lead?” Gray Wolf lifted his chin and glared at Snow Owl. “Do you challenge me for leadership of the Bison Clan?”
For a minute it looked like Snow Owl was going to say yes, he was. I could see a muscle jumping in his jaw, and his hands were clenched into fists. But when he glanced around and saw the shocked looks on the faces of the rest of the Bison Clan, he seemed to rethink his position.
“No, I do not, but heed me, Gray Wolf. Nothing good will come of this. The spirits will be angry and leave us. The Bison Clan will die!” He backed down and stalked away, murmuring under his breath.
Gray Wolf turned to High Rock. “Excuse our shaman. He feels strongly, although I fear his hatred is misplaced. He wants our lives to remain as they have always been, our traditions intact. He has not learned that life itself demands change. We must change and grow or die.”
High Rock nodded and clasped Gray Wolf’s forearm. “My new friend is wise.”
Gray Wolf smiled. “Be our guests. We will have a ceremony tonight, and a feast worthy of the occasion.” He turned toward the people. “Go, rest, and ready yourselves. Tonight, we feast!”
Grant and I settled back down in our little corner of the cave. I was bone-tired and stretched out, not bothering to light a fire. “Think it will be tonight? It will, right? Tell me it’ll be tonight.” I wanted to go home. I was tired of roughing it, tired of pretending to be a hunter, a warrior, when all I wanted was to be a teenager again whose most difficult decision was whether to have french fries or Tater Tots at lunch.
“I sure hope so. I’m ready to go back.” Grant lay down on the other side of the hearth.
He closed his eyes, and I closed mine, and we both pretended to be asleep the next time Rabbit came bouncing over to our hearth. After a while I didn’t have to pretend.
Chapter Twenty
BY THE time the sun began to set, delicious smells filled the cave. There was a huge roast of fresh mammoth meat spitted over the main fireplace out front, along with vegetables baking on the hot coals or simmering in skin pots.
Not having clocks, there was no precise time for the celebration to start. Instead Gray Wolf climbed up onto a log and waited until he had everyone’s attention. Word spread quickly, and within a few minutes, all of the Bison Clan and their guests, the Deer Clan, gathered around him.
“We have much to be grateful for today. Our mammoth hunt was a great success. Not one person was injured, and we killed not one, but two of the Great Ones. We have restored our brotherhood with the Deer Clan and in doing so, have gained strong allies. Several of our young people have achieved the status of adult.”
There were shouts of congratulations and words of encouragement, and some backslapping of the young hunters, including Ash and me. I was beginning to feel excited. I noticed Badger standing off to one side and knew he’d been in charge of making the hunting talismans. I wanted to know what he’d painted on mine and Ash’s, and had to force myself not to run over and beg to see them like some little overexcited kid at Christmas.
Gray Wolf welcomed High Rock to stand beside him. Then he motioned to Bear Paw, who took the talismans from Badger and returned to the log where the two leaders stood. He handed the first one to Gray Wolf.
“Rabbit, come forward.”
Rabbit was grinning from ear to ear, his joy completely apparent as he dashed up to stand next to his father. Gray Wolf nodded at
him, pride shining in his eyes. I guess it was a big moment for the both of them.
“Rabbit, my son, you have proven your manhood on this hunt. You are now called Dire Wolf. May the spirit of the Dire Wolf guide you.” He slipped a thong over Rabbit’s head. An ivory medallion hung from it. Rabbit happily showed me the wolf painted on it.
Gray Wolf called the other young hunters up, one after another. None of them received a mammoth on their talisman. I was beginning to get worried. What if none of us got it? What if we were wrong and had to go to another tribe to find the hunting talisman we needed to go home? We’d have to wait until spring to leave. We’d be stuck here all winter!
“Silver Water, step up.”
We watched as she stood tall before Gray Wolf and her father to receive her hunting talisman. High Rock slipped the medallion over her head.
“Daughter, you have proven yourself a strong hunter and wise woman of the Deer Clan. From this day on you will be called Falcon. May you always be as fierce and fast as the hunting bird whose name you now carry.”
She beamed with pleasure as she held up her medallion and grinned at us. I noticed when she looked at Rabbit, her cheeks flushed red, and there was a sparkle in her eyes that wasn’t there for Ash and me. There was a definite attraction there. If I was right, maybe there’d be an even stronger tie between the Bison Clan and the Deer Clan before long.
“Ash, step forward.”
Ash cast a worried look at me, then walked up to Gray Wolf. He seemed nervous, although he hid it well. I only knew he was anxious because I knew him so well, I picked up on the tiny clues, like the way his fingers kept tapping the side of his pant leg.
“Ash, you came to the Bison Clan a stranger, but you have proven both your friendship and your manhood to us. You are now a member of the Bison Clan, one of us, our brother. From now on, you will be called Bull, because you have the fearless heart of an aurochs bull. A little headstrong, but protective and brave.” He slipped a thong over Ash’s head.