by Jack L Knapp
I was bloody, but the blood hadn’t come from me. I was unhurt. I glanced at Laz. He too was uninjured.
Then I looked at René.
The lion had gotten one of those huge paws onto his shoulder and raked her claws down. René’s vest hung in tatters and blood oozed from four deep wounds. As I watched, the blood collected into a pair of heavy streams and slid greasily down his chest.
“Lilia!” I indicated René’s injury. She said nothing, but moved quickly to his side. Laz and Sandra helped him to lie back on the grass while Lilia used water from her gourd to wash out the wound. I watched the grass around us; there might be another lion.
“It’s bleeding but I think that might be good. Bleeding cleans the wounds, washing out whatever was on the claws of that beast.” She spared a glance for the lioness, now looking much smaller, even a bit pitiful where she lay on the ground. “I’ll let it bleed a little more, then bandage him. But we need to get him back to cover and let him lie down. He’s going to be hurting pretty quick, if he’s not already feeling it! Wounds like this sometimes take a few minutes before they start to hurt.”
René said nothing. Was he was going into shock? Shock could kill; I knew that from my previous life.
“Let’s get him to the woods and let him lie down if we can find a place. We need to get him comfortable and elevate his feet. Bandaging can wait.”
We left Sandra with him in the trees, her crossbow re-cocked and loaded. She supported his head and gave him a drink from her gourd as we headed back across the grass to recover the bison.
We dragged the yearling back first, a heavy load for four. We left the carcass and went back for the other one.
Sandra would open the yearling's body cavity, letting it bleed out and cool, while we went back for the cow.
She had died with her legs bent and folded under; the carcass was almost upright. It took all four of us to turn her over, meaning she was too heavy for us to drag. Millie made the long cut to open the abdomen. then removed the entrails. The cow, considerably lighter with those gone, was easier to drag, so we soon got her back to where we’d left the yearling. Lilia and I moved out a few yards to provide security while the others began skinning and quartering the carcasses.
Laz and I would need to construct a lightweight sled to transport the meat to the mine. We were probably no more than six miles away from there, so the trip shouldn’t take long. The others would set up a temporary camp half a mile to the north to get away from the spilled blood and entrails.
We finished the sled and loaded it before dark. The skin of the yearling protected the quarters; laid flesh-side-up, it had been folded over the meat and secured with ties.
We left early the next morning, intending to travel as fast as possible. The night had been cool and the temperature hadn’t warmed up yet, so I didn’t anticipate any spoilage if we kept moving. The meat had cooled out nicely and the skin, hair side out, helped insulate the load.
We nodded goodbye to the others and headed north toward the mine.
Chapter 24
I turned over the meat to the head cook and asked to speak to Robert.
He came in, yawning; we had interrupted his sleep. I didn’t like waking him, but I thought he should know about René.
“Robert, we had an accident during the hunt. A lion got in close and clawed René. He’s alive, but the wounds are serious. Lilia cleaned out the scratches, made sure that none of the leather from his vest was carried into the wounds when the lioness raked him. Lilia’s knowledgeable about herbs and medical care and she’s the best we’ve got for treating injured people. She did a good job treating Lee, and he’s almost fully recovered now.
“Laz and I brought a load of meat in just now and dropped it off at the kitchen. We’re about to head back, but since René is one of your people I wanted you to know what happened. We’ll get him back to the cabin and do the best we can for him until he’s recovered.”
Matt paused for a moment, remembering.
“We didn’t see the lioness. She got in close before we knew she was anywhere around. We’d killed two of the bison; Lilia and I shot a yearling bull, then the cow charged so we shot her too. Sandra got a bolt into her spine and we had just started field dressing her when the lioness jumped us. We were lucky she didn’t maul more of us. That grass...it’s perfect cover, and she got in close before we knew she was anywhere around.”
“Yeah, they’re dangerous. It’s worse than that, too. René is more than just a tribesman, he’s a member of my extended family group. I need to go back with you, if you can wait long enough for me to let my supervisors know. I may also need to let my family know. I’ll want to take him with me, if you can give me a hand and if he’s well enough to travel. We’ve got someone in our camp, our Wise Woman. She’s been dealing with wounds, done it since before she was transplanted. I’ll decide when I see René, but if the wound looks bad I’ll need to get him back to my camp. Laz didn’t get hurt?”
“Laz is fine. He’s here with me, helped me unload the meat. He can help you get René home, and Lilia can go along and help guard the three of you while you travel. She could also help care for René while you’re on the trail.”
We got food from the kitchen while waiting for Robert to return, enough for a quick meal and sandwiches for the trail. Robert got a sandwich too, and less than an hour later, we were on our way.
I had intended to abandon the sled…they’re not difficult to make…but Robert thought it might help transport René. The skin from the bison remained on the sled, so we would use it as padding to make René comfortable on the trip. The sled barely slowed our pace back to where Lilia and the others waited.
We found them by spotting their smoke column.
They were drying meat on a rack built over a smoky fire. Sandra had remained close to René, Lilia took care of the drying meat, and Millie tended the fire.
Laz parked the sled and we went to examine René. The wounds were red and swollen and René looked feverish to me. He wasn’t sweating, even though his skin felt hot.
Robert wasted no time. “We’ll put him on the sled. Laz, you and I will pull, Lilia comes along for guard duty if she’s willing, and we get René to the Wise Woman as soon as possible.”
We put the second hide on the sled as an added cushion and wrapped it loosely around René. I hoped it might cause the fever to break; if we couldn’t bring the fever down, René wouldn’t survive. The wound wasn’t severe enough to kill him outright, but infection and fever surely would if the Wise Woman couldn't get it under control.
I gave Robert the spear I’d made for René and they set off.
#
Two days later they were back.
René never made it home. He died on the trail about halfway to their destination.
He was likely not aware when it happened, first becoming delirious, then unconscious. Robert wrapped the skin around him and he and Laz pushed on, Lilia keeping watch. The next time they paused for a break, René’s body had already begun to stiffen.
The skin that René had been wrapped in became his shroud. They left his body on the sled beside the trail. The three had gone on to Robert’s group and told his family what had happened.
Robert’s tribe had never practiced burial or cremation; bodies were simply removed from the settlement and abandoned to the elements. Whenever possible, this was on platforms to keep the remains out of reach of land-based scavengers. Birds would soon dispose of the remains, so predators weren’t tempted to hang around the settlement and become a nuisance. Or get accustomed to eating human flesh.
#
Sandra and Millie were shocked, but we had little time to grieve. Winter was coming and we still had much to do.
We had come to like René during the short time he lived with us. His passing was a quick reminder that death could come to any of us at any time. This world would weed out the unfit, but it would also eliminate the unfortunate. We had tried to be as careful as we could, and still i
t had not been enough. There was no safety to be found anywhere on Darwin’s World.
We finished smoking the bison meat and set off for the cabin. The preserved, dehydrated meat weighed less after smoking, and the replacement sled I made worked well for transporting it.
Robert helped to pull the sled on the way back to the cabin, understandably depressed by the death of René. Sandra and Millie regained their normally cheerful disposition after a day of mourning.
We took a break at the stream when we crossed and all of us washed off, but this time it was Lilia and Robert who provided security while Laz, Millie, Sandra, and I washed up. We watched over the other two when it was their turn.
#
Robert got the unenviable job of explaining René’s death to Cindy and Lee after we arrived. I worked with the rest of the women, unloading the meat and hanging it in the rear of the lean-to for storage.
Cindy was the most upset; she had known René all her life. But soon she came out to help us hang up the meat.
Lilia wanted to layer it with salt for a day to see if that would help preserve it longer. It didn’t seem to hurt anything, but if there was any uptake of the salt by the smoked meat I saw no sign of it. It’s better to coat the meat with salt before smoke-curing it, but we hadn’t taken salt with us. It would have been an added burden, and in any case we hadn't intended to kill two bison. Once they were down, however, we had no choice other than to abandon the cow's carcass, something I was unwilling to do. Some of the meat needed to be taken to the mine, the rest was for our own use.
Robert offered to take Cindy back to the mine and send two other people to the cabin, but she shook her head. “No, Robert. I will stay here. We have to move on. He was not the first we’ve lost. There will be others. I have work to do here and more responsibility than I had when I worked at the mine. I will stay.”
#
We didn’t dwell on René’s passing. We who lived would have to concentrate on the never-pausing tasks of survival. Food, shelter, clothing, defense, we had more than enough to do. There was little time for grieving, for reflection. Danger was always present and death happened. Quick, brutal, commonplace; death was part of living in this survival-of-the-fittest dimension on the planet I’d named Darwin’s World.
Robert headed back to the mine the following morning. I offered to go with him, but he was confident he could cope with the danger. I was equally confident in my own skills, because I had survived alone for months before I found others, so I accepted his judgment.
I was concerned for Robert, but even more so for the survival of my small group. I had accepted responsibilities and was no longer as free as I’d been. So Robert went off alone, and I settled in at the cabin.
#
Lee was nearly recovered. He took the remaining bandages off and vigorously scratched the newly-exposed skin. There were numerous scars, and his arm had turned pale in contrast to the rest of his tanned body, but he could use the arm. It would soon regain full strength.
Lilia spent a lot of time that first day fussing over him. Reaction to the death of René?
I cautioned Lee about doing too much too fast and he agreed that it would be at least a week before he was ready to begin cutting and hauling firewood. I planned another trip to the grassland in two weeks, but this time I’d be much more wary of lions. They might be more numerous here in Pleistocene North America than they’d been in the Africa of my time, but we would have to face the danger; that was where the big game animals were, the ones we had to kill if we were to survive.
Still, we had a stock of food and firewood now, even though not as much as we would need, and we had a lean-to for a storeroom.
Lee moved into the lean-to with Laz and me; we spent our nights there, protected by the roof, the end wall, and a small fire we kept burning overnight. The fire was tended by whoever kept watch over the others.
Laz and I headed out the next day with the stone boat, now somewhat lighter because the wood had dried. The runners had also worn smooth while Laz and René used it for hauling firewood.
We also had the lightweight sled now that we’d used to bring the smoked bison meat back. The sled would work better and could carry even more after snow covered the ground, but for now, we left it leaning against the cabin wall.
We worked as fast as we could; we wouldn’t have much more time.
The nights were already cool. The skins we’d taken had been fashioned into parkas and gloves in anticipation of need, and the women worked now on making a kind of tall moccasin with the fur side turned in.
Lilia was still my preferred hunting companion, but Lee would resume that role soon.
Millie had resumed paying attention to Lee, but now she had to contend with Cindy’s efforts. I didn’t know what Lee thought about it and didn’t really want to know. It was their business, so long as it didn’t become a problem for the rest of us. Still, he was a teenager with two females attempting to attract his attention. I doubt it ever gets better than that on Darwin’s World.
As for Sandra, she also had me. Whether Lilia would also become involved with us, time would tell. I thought it likely; the two of us were together whenever she wasn’t busy working with the other women.
The weather continued to change. Leaves turned from green to reds and yellows, then began to fall. Nights grew colder and days were much cooler than they had been. We enjoyed the cool days and kept warm in our furs at night.
We managed two more hunts to the grasslands as fall progressed toward winter. Thankfully, the hunts went smoothly. Even so, I avoided going very far away from the trees. I wasn’t ready for a deeper grassland foray just yet, but I noticed that the tall grass had begun to dry and some of it had blown over. Many of the stems had broken off. Visibility was better, travel through the grass was easier.
Robert had not managed to get us a replacement for René, but we continued to send meat to the mine. Sooner or later, we would need help from the people there.
We killed two more camels during the following weeks, plus something I decided was a llama. We also bagged another giant stag-moose, this one with even bigger antlers, and once again it took a lot of effort to kill it.
We would avoid those in future if possible; there was easier game to be had. Not even the bison had been that dangerous as individuals. Laz told me that people in Robert’s camp had killed a bull moose and he had been almost as dangerous as our stag-moose. Considering the quality of the spears they’d had at the time, I could well believe it.
The weather was windy from time to time and we had occasional rain as summer changed to fall. Still, the weather never got bad enough to prevent us working around the cabin or in the lean-to. If there was nothing else to do, I could always sit near the small fire we kept burning at the lean-to's doorway. It was a good place to work at flaking arrowheads. My skills grew with practice; my points were as useful and aesthetic as those left behind by the Folsom and Clovis peoples of Earth-prime.
Lee was fully recovered now and took an equal part with Laz and me, cutting wood, hunting and trapping, and processing meat and skins for storage.
The rear of the lean-to now sported a heavy rack I’d built; we used it to hang quarters of meat, off the ground and out of the reach of rodents. The long, cold nights and shorter cool days kept the meat from spoiling. We used fresh meat when possible and saved our prepared meat for when we couldn’t hunt. I hadn’t trapped around the cabin for several weeks, and I now saw rabbit droppings often as well as sign left by large birds in the vicinity.
We also made another trip to the bee tree and collected more honeycomb. During our hunting trips a second bee tree was found, then a third one. We raided those too. We now had all the honey and beeswax we could store. The jugs of honey were stacked on shelves pegged to the outside of the cabin wall, protected by the lean-to roof overhead.
A huge collection of dried firewood, cut, split, and stacked, stood against the other three cabin walls. More was stacked along the side and rea
r of the lean-to and even more was further away from the cabin. The stacks against the walls were ready fuel if snow made it difficult to reach the rest of the wood. For now, we carried in daily loads of firewood from the distant stacks.
I had used my makeshift froe and a billet of wood to split a number of thick planks. Crude, they were still usable as boards. I fashioned them into a large, square box using pegs; we brought back enough salt to fill it during our frequent trips.
Lilia took the lead in gathering the nuts, berries, and edible plant products. Sandra, Millie, and Cindy took turns accompanying her during the first two weeks. They learned enough that soon Sandra and Millie went out foraging on their own, while Cindy became Lilia's usual companion during her trips. One pair worked around the cabin while the other foraged, then the pairs would switch jobs the next day. All became adept at supplementing our food supply with turkeys and another kind of large grouse, hunting or trapping them two or three hours travel away. We also had quail and small mammals from time to time, captured in my pyramidal traps; I usually set the traps, hunted for a few hours, then collected whatever had been caught on my way back.
It was usual for the foragers to leave early and not return until late afternoon. All of us now had spears, some with metal blades, others using my flaked obsidian or flint points. We had bows and a plentiful supply of arrows, and we had all gained considerable skill in their use.
We saved the furs we collected, now much thicker as the animals also prepared for winter.
One morning I took a gourd to the spring and there was a rime of ice around the edge.
Chapter 25
The weather remained cold for four days, then a warming trend set in. I didn’t expect it to last.
The freezing temperatures were followed by winds. While it was never quite strong enough to strip limbs from the trees, the cold northwest blast was quite able to finish dropping the leaves from the deciduous trees. One day, the leaves had been green but turning to red or yellow, then they began falling like colorful snow. The colors soon faded to brown and the remnants of summer piled up wherever something slowed the wind.