Civilization

by Stephen Drake

  “You don’t understand,” he said with a pouting tone when the shock wore off somewhat.

  “You’re mistaken if you think this is a conversation,” Mei Lee continued. “There are rules everyone has to follow and you will follow them. It’s called common courtesy. If you have problems you need to work out, do so, but you will be courteous to everyone in my house!” Mei Lee turned and stormed back to the cabin.

  It took Declan a second or two to get his wits about him and get off the ground. Mei Lee’s outburst had surprised him. He had thought that she was so subservient that her scolding him, or anyone, was totally out of character. He had seen her deal with the children, as brash as they were, and never need raise her voice. He was suspecting that he had grossly underestimated her. He slowly made his way back to the cabin and knocked on the door.

  “What do you want?” Mei Lee asked gruffly once she opened the door. Even though the door was open, she barred the way.

  “I wish to apologize,” Declan started with as much contrition as he could muster, “to you for my rudeness.” He saw her eyes narrow as she looked at him skeptically.

  “I neither need nor want your apology,” Mei Lee said gruffly. “Deeds show your contriteness, not words. However, you do have to apologize to Annie!”

  “Is she willing to come to the door so I can?” he asked looking down.

  “Not at the present time,” Mei Lee stated flatly as she shut the door.

  Declan stood there, mouth agape, not knowing what to do next. It took him a second or two to realize that the only thing he could do was to wait, so he sat on the steps with his back to the door and tried not to engage in self-pity.

  Annie, having heard the conversation at the door, got up from the table to go to the door.

  “Where are you going?” Mei Lee asked sharply.

  “I want to go talk to him and get this settled,” Annie explained quietly.

  “Let him stew,” Mei Lee commanded sternly, but quietly. “He needs to learn and giving in to him too quickly will only teach him that he can do what he wants with little consequence.” Then louder, so Declan could hear, “If it was up to me, I’d leave him out there all night!”

  Declan was not sitting outside more than a couple hours when Annie opened the door.

  “You wanted to talk to me?” Annie asked standing with the door at her back and facing Declan with arms crossed. She was trying to look as stern as she could, but wasn’t sure she could keep it up for long.

  Declan stood and faced her. “I had no right to talk to you the way I did,” he said contritely. “I know I hurt your feelings and that was not my intent. I’m sorry for treating you so badly.”

  Annie stood there looking sternly at him. “I wasn’t trying to crowd you,” she explained quietly. “I was concerned for your condition. I couldn’t understand why you would say anything hurtful to me.”

  “I was angry and just wanted to be left alone awhile,” Declan tried to explain contritely, looking down at the ground.

  “You should try to talk to someone about your anger issues,” Annie said calmly, still looking stern.

  “Who do I have to talk to?” Declan asked whiningly.

  “You could talk to yourself,” Annie suggested, “or you can talk to Murdock. That is, pretty much, all the options you have, at this point. I know I don’t want to hear it and I’m certain that Mei Lee doesn’t want to hear it either.”

  “I can’t talk to Murdock,” Declan declared. “He has something to do with some of my anger!”

  “What could he possibly have done to make you angry?” Mei Lee asked from the door, which she had opened quietly.

  It shocked Declan into looking at her as he debated with himself if he should tell her or not.

  “Well?” Mei Lee asked gruffly. “If you have a complaint about my husband, you can either tell me or take it up with him, when he returns!”

  “It makes me angry to think that Murdock didn’t do enough to keep Rose safe,” Declan finally blurted.

  Hearing it, Mei Lee was taken aback. “How did you come to that conclusion?” she asked finally.

  “If he’d taken better care of her, she’d still be alive,” Declan blurted again. The thought made him angry and he didn’t know why.

  “It sounds to me that you put your sister on a pedestal,” Mei Lee stated.

  Declan hadn’t thought that he had, but it was possible and said so.

  “Your sister was her own woman,” Mei Lee explained. “She wouldn’t have stood for anyone putting her on a pedestal. She wanted to be an equal and that is the way Kevin treated her. I never saw him treat her otherwise. She went out that night because she was more qualified than I and Kevin needed help.”

  Annie felt like she was intruding on a private family matter, but didn’t know what to do to excuse herself. As she looked, she could see the tears start in Mei Lee’s eyes.

  Declan could see the tears as well.

  “If there were something I could do to bring her back, I would,” Mei Lee said adamantly. “I’m sure Kevin would say the same. We did all we could to care for Rose, but we didn’t smother her or put her on a pedestal. We treated her as an equal. You’re upset because you didn’t get the chance to see her again. You need to let it go!” Mei Lee went back inside the cabin and shut the door.

  When it was almost dark, Annie and Declan entered the cabin and began the nightly routine. No one said anything else about Rose.

  #

  When Murdock, Bass Heartly, and Liz Reyes got to the box canyon, Reyes started looking around and asking questions about fortifying the entrance and food availability. Murdock spent several hours answering her questions. Bass remained quiet and learned more than he thought he could just by listening and thinking about the concerns. When the trio finished their inspection, they all headed back to the main body.

  When they were about halfway back, Murdock called for a halt and unslung his bow. As he did so, he put a finger to his lips indicating to the other two that they should be quiet. After nocking an arrow and stepping forward a couple of steps, Murdock pulled back his bow. As he did so, Reyes heard the bow creak slightly when he got to full draw. After a brief pause, Murdock let the arrow fly and then stood still watching where it went. When he was satisfied, he slung the bow and they all started off again.

  “What were you shooting at?” Reyes asked whispering.

  “You two didn’t see the deer?” Murdock asked without whispering.

  “What deer?” Bass asked as he tried to look past the other two.

  “It was about one hundred yards that way,” Murdock said pointing the way he had shot.

  “Where is it now?” Reyes asked looking the way Murdock had indicated.

  “It ran off and should be close to bleeding out by the time we find it,” Murdock explained. “I’m a little surprised we saw one.”

  “Why is that?” Reyes asked.

  “To be blunt,” Murdock responded, “you two make enough noise to scare off most game long before you get to see it.”

  Neither Bass nor Reyes took offense at the criticism and Bass was chastised.

  “Sorry,” Bass said.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Murdock said off-handedly. “It takes practice, a lot of practice, to get good at being quiet.”

  “Shouldn’t we hurry and find it before it gets too far away?” Reyes asked.

  “No, you can’t chase the deer here,” Murdock explained. “They’re the size of an elk and would easily trot faster than you can run. That one isn’t going anywhere.”

  “Why not?” Reyes asked.

  Murdock pulled out an arrow and, after finding a wide leaf, pushed the arrow through the leaf. After replacing the arrow in his quiver, he showed them both the hole left by the arrow head. Reyes and Bass saw clearly the one and one half inch hole.

  “If I hit the deer in a vital area,” he explained, “it is now bleeding internally. Shortly, it will just get tired and go to sleep and not wake up. I’m sure it
knows it was hit with something, but it has no idea that it is bleeding out. If you were to chase it, it could go miles before it would bleed out and you may never find it. The object is to harvest an animal, not chase it all over creation. To have something to eat and the hide, you have to be able to find it easily. Otherwise, what’s the point?”

  “It would seem that we have a lot to learn,” Reyes commented soberly when Murdock had finished.

  Bass nodded agreement.

  It didn’t take Murdock long to find the downed animal and gut it.

  “I need to get my cart,” Murdock said after taking a drink. He handed Bass his spear. “You two stand guard over our prize. I won’t be gone long. If wolves show up, let them have the intestines, but you should guard the meat and hide with your life.”

  Bass nodded that he understood the instructions. Reyes pulled her twelve-inch machete and stood guard over the carcass. Both watched, with some trepidation, as Murdock went over the next rolling hill and disappeared.

  “Was he serious about us guarding the carcass with our lives?” Bass asked a short time after Murdock disappeared.

  “I don’t know him very well,” Reyes responded, “but something tells me he is always serious.”

  “I think I understand that an animal of this size means life for more of us,” Bass speculated. “There does appear to be quite a bit of meat.”

  “And the hide is almost big enough to make a coat!” Reyes observed. “Did you see the arrow?”

  “Yes, it’s broken,” Bass responded. “I did notice that he kept the arrow head.”

  They both decided to be quiet and to walk around the carcass so that one was always opposite the other in the small clearing. For about a half-hour they circled and then they both heard several low growls from the trees. They seemed to be surrounded. It was starting to get close to sundown, so they couldn’t see too far into the trees. The more they circled, the longer the shadows grew, and the louder the growls became. Bass was starting to sweat, from the stress of the expected attack, but managed to keep his wits about him. Reyes asked for and got Bass’ twelve-inch machete and seemed braver with one in each hand.

  #

  After the sun went down, the gloom started to settle in faster than Bass and Reyes expected. Bass saw one of the wolves emerge slowly from the trees. It was keeping its head down, but Bass could see it was larger than a Shetland pony, but his focus was drawn to the flashing white teeth. Bass and Reyes had stopped circling the carcass so Bass was facing the advancing wolf. Murdock will be back soon, he thought and it eased his nerves a little. From Reyes’ vantage point, she could see one or two wolves darting among the trees, but they didn’t show themselves.

  Bass lowered the spear to menace the approaching wolf and had decided to advance a little toward it and it gave ground.

  “Easy, Bass,” Reyes said in a low voice and as calmly as she could. “Don’t get too far away. Let it come to you and be ready for the rest to attack, should you take out that one.”

  The sound of Reyes’ voice calmed Bass’ nerves. He and the advancing wolf locked gazes and neither blinked.

  Reyes had a wolf advancing on her as well. She tried to not focus on its size or the large teeth.

  Bass saw the wolf tense and knew it would spring soon. It was then that he heard something whiz past his ear and struck the wolf in the eye. The wolf howled in pain and scared the others into giving up, for the present, the carcass. As the wolf was thrashing and howling, Bass ran forward and stabbed it a few times with the spear. By the time it had quit moving, Murdock was at the deer carcass with the cart.

  “Come help,” Murdock commanded. “We need to be gone before the rest recover their courage.”

  Murdock grabbed the deer carcass at the head. Bass and Reyes dropped their weapons and quickly came to help load the carcass. Once it was loaded, Murdock picked up the spear and tossed it to Bass, Reyes retrieved the two machetes, replacing one to her scabbard and handing the other to Bass, who returned it to his scabbard. Murdock, in the meantime, quickly gutted the wolf, picked it up, and put it on the cart.

  “Keep your eyes open and keep up!” Murdock commanded as he picked up the front of the cart and headed off toward the box canyon.

  “Why are we going back this way?” Reyes asked as she trotted to try to keep up with Murdock’s pace.

  “We need the water to wash out the carcasses,” Murdock said tensely. “Not to mention that it is closer and easier to defend. Make no mistake. The rest of the pack will be following us!” Murdock increased his speed.

  Bass and Reyes had to increase their pace to keep up with Murdock and, not being used to the exertions, were unable to ask anything further due to being winded.

  “You two run ahead and get a fire started close to the entrance of the canyon,” Murdock commanded after a short while of forcing the other two to travel faster than they had intended.

  Reyes and Bass did as they were told and ran ahead. They both found it easier going than the fast-trot they had been doing, as they were able to stretch out their stride. It didn’t take them long to get to the canyon. Once there, both gathered the kindling and Bass started lighting it. While Bass blew on the embers, to get them to catch the kindling, Reyes gathered bigger pieces of downed limbs. She put a couple of the smaller ones on the fire and returned to gather more. By the time she had returned with the second load of wood, Murdock came trotting past her and Bass and into the canyon. It was then that Bass and Reyes could hear the wolves in the trees. Just outside the circle of light the fire had created.

  After parking the cart close to the end of the canyon, by the water fall, he walked back to the fire, bow at the ready.

  “Bass, help Reyes gather more wood!” Murdock commanded once he reached the fire. “I’ll cover you both! Take a brand with you!” Murdock moved between the fire and the trees and watched intently as the other two darted amongst the trees in the dark trying to find more wood. Once they both returned, each with a load of wood, he retreated to have the fire between him and the trees. “I’m impressed,” Murdock said as he re-slung his bow. “You two know how to take orders. Those that give orders should be able to take them as well.”

  “I, for one, was very glad to see you when the wolves were about to attack!” Reyes said excitedly.

  “So was I!” Bass said emphatically. “I was startled, a little, when that arrow came whizzing past my head. That was a hell of a shot!”

  “Either of you know how to skin an animal?” Murdock asked, ignoring the compliments. Both shook their heads to indicate the negative. “Bass, you stand guard this side of the fire!” Bass nodded that he understood and grabbed up the spear before taking up his position.

  “What do you want me to do?” Reyes asked.

  “You’re going to help me skin out these two,” Murdock said indicating the two carcasses. “This is going to get messy,” Murdock said as he took off his leather shirt. “You may want to remove your shirt to prevent it becoming permanently blood-stained,” he suggested to Reyes.

  Reyes blushed and hesitated a little before she complied. She was expecting the two men to stare at her, being as well-endowed as she was, but was relieved, and puzzled, when they didn’t.

  #

  It took some time to skin the two carcasses. Reyes did the wolf, copying Murdock’s movements and taking his instructions. When Murdock was about half finished, he told Bass to find a few sticks and called him over to take a couple of pieces of the venison from him after he washed them in the falling water. When Bass came to take the chunks of meat from Murdock, he was instructed on the cooking. When Murdock and Reyes had finished skinning the animals, they both washed off the blood that covered them in the cold water of the falls and put their shirts on, before walking over to the rather large fire to eat.

  “Why did you harvest the wolf?” Reyes asked between bites.

  “I was hoping that the wolves wouldn’t have attacked,” Murdock explained between his own bites of the hot meat. “Si
nce I had to kill it, I wasn’t going to leave the hide. I don’t particularly like wolf-meat, but I will eat it, if pressed to it. You’re going to need all the hides you can get. Come winter, you’re going to wish you had a lot more!”

  “It gets cold, then?” Bass asked while he ate and watched.

  “Very,” Murdock responded emphatically.

  “Are we going back to the main camp tonight?” Reyes asked.

  “I would say we make camp here tonight,” Murdock said. “If you insist, we can, but it will be like coming here. Being pursued the entire way. I could find my way, but you two would get lost and become easy prey for the wolves.”

  The carcasses were packed on the cart, covered with their hides, before the three started to settle in for the night. Murdock was retrieving the hides he used to sleep on, while the other two were talking by the fire. As he turned toward the fire, he saw the opening of a cave. By the position, Murdock could see that it was hidden because of the rocks and the way the light hit the inside of the canyon. When he investigated, he found the entry was large enough to accommodate the loaded cart.

  After retrieving a brand from the fire, Murdock inspected the interior of the cave. The floor raised two feet in the first six feet of the cave and was spacious enough to hold the cart and all three of the humans and enough wood to last quite some time. The ceiling was ten feet off the highest point of the floor. There appeared to be no other chambers off the main one. Murdock wasn’t so sure, but decided to leave it at that. He exited the cave and put the cart inside it and then signaled the other two to bring wood and get the fire transferred inside the cave opening.

  “Where did this come from?” Reyes asked as she wandered around the interior in awe.