by Jack L Knapp
The doe munched contentedly on the tender shoots, oblivious to their presence.
Lee usually tried to place his arrows into the bodies. An area behind the forelegs was best; if the arrow struck a little high, it would pass through the lungs. If it struck low, it would penetrate the heart. Either wound brought death in moments. But this animal was almost face-on; the head blocked the only other good shot, between the shoulders such that the arrow continued into the chest cavity. Such shots were also usually lethal, but might take more time to kill through blood loss. An animal this large might run more than a mile before finally bleeding out.
The only other target that might result in an immediate kill was a brain shot, and that wouldn’t be easy.
The head was moving as the animal fed. Even if it stopped moving, the target area was small, no more than a few inches. The arrow would have to go in below the crown ridge at the top of the skull. If the arrow went too low it would strike the nasal bones, and in either case the shot would not be lethal.
The tribe badly needed meat; Lee would have to try the difficult shot, lest the animal become alarmed and bolt. Taking a deep breath, he half drew the arrow back, all he could manage while crouching, and slowly rose to his feet. He was partially turned away from the stag-moose, in excellent position to launch as soon as he achieved full draw.
When he had solid footing and balance, he drew the arrow back and anchored his thumb alongside his cheekbone.
Marc and Philippe watched, ready; hopefully, the animal would present them with an easier target as soon as Lee shot.
The stag-moose might have seen Lee, but it showed no sign of alarm. It continued browsing while he set himself for the shot.
Lee had been holding his breath since he rose to his feet. Now, braced and ready, he released some of the air and loosed the arrow. His right hand automatically reached for a second from his ready quiver.
The shot went slightly high, but if it struck the crown ridge it was deflected downward. It now stuck, quivering, from the front of the animal’s face. The stag moose dropped, and as it fell, two other arrows punched into the body.
They were probably not needed, but it was good for Marc and Philippe to share in the kill.
“Marc, you give me a hand with the field-dressing. Philippe, run back and get help. We’ll turn the skinning and butchering over to someone else. Tell Robert to send a couple of those travois up too. We’ll take back everything we can use, heart, lungs, liver and kidneys too. The lungs will be a treat for the kids; let them roast sections of lung over the fire.
“And thanks, you two. You did great!”
The two smiled at the praise and Philippe turned and ran toward the camp.
#
Pavel and his three companions knew nothing of this. They’d left the camp an hour before, slipping into the forest.
Now they trotted single-file along the drag marks left as the tribe passed. Each of them carried a bow with ready arrow, and each had a spear slung across his back. A small fanny pack carried their water gourds and a supply of food.
The excitement of the kill soon monopolized the tribe’s attention; no one noticed the absences.
#
Robert brought a travois to where Lee and Marc were skinning the animal. Half the skin had been peeled back; now it served as a place to lay the removed organs. The body cavity was empty except for pooled blood that hadn’t drained out. Lee dragged the intestines away as Marc continued skinning the carcass, leaving the hide attached only along the back.
Colin had followed Robert and brought his cleaver along. He now took over the task of quartering the animal. An efficient chop split the pelvis, spreading the carcass apart. He completed the job by chopping through the cartilage where the ribs joined. The carcass splayed apart, making the rest of the job much easier. The cleaver made short work of quartering the carcass and separating the head from the neck.
Lee watched in awe. He’d butchered a number of animals, but Colin had a professional’s skill.
A steady stream of people showed up and began carrying meat, organs, and the skin back to camp. Colin soon followed them. He needed to build a fire and begin preparing the fresh meat for supper. The tribe had been living on frozen or dried food, and while those had kept them alive, they craved the fresh meat.
They would eat well tonight and tomorrow morning. If they were late taking the trail, so be it; tomorrow’s breakfast would be cooked and eaten before the tribe left camp. People needed a break from the labor of constant traveling.
#
The sun was setting as Pavel’s group trotted along. They wouldn’t be able to follow the trail much longer.
Judging the time to be right, he led them to a small hill south of the trail. The ground would be dry up there, and there should be plenty of downed wood.
“Gregor and Vlad, pick up firewood. I’ll build a fire and we’ll overnight here. Tomorrow morning we head northeast until we reach the trail, and we should find Lilia’s tracks by noon. We’ll need to slow down after that, make sure we don’t lose her. Even if we do, we know she’s going to the river; we can still catch her there before dark.
“I’ll take first watch tonight. Vlad, you’ll take second, and Nikolai will have third shift. Gregor, you’ve got the dawn watch. Wake me up as soon as you can see the ground. We’ll eat on the way.”
#
They ate their scanty meal the next morning while following the tracks and drag marks left by the tribe.
“Pavel, none of us brought much to eat. We’re going to have to find something or we’ll be hungry by tonight.”
“I couldn’t bring much either, Gregor. I got all they’d give me yesterday morning, but it was supposed to be for one meal only. If we don’t catch up to Lilia by this afternoon, we’ll need to hunt. It’s warm enough now, the animals should be back. Maybe we can get a deer. We can catch fish when we get to the river, too. It’s going to take her another day to find where we dumped the body anyway, so I think we’ve got plenty of time. But if she turns back before she gets to the river, we can just let her go. She won’t have found anything, and we can keep going until we get to the spot and dump Matt’s bow and arrows in the river; his spear too, if we can find it. We can brush out the tracks where we tossed the body in just to make sure there’s nothing to find, then catch up to the tribe. If anyone asks where we went, tell them we just went hunting because the tribe was short of meat. Everyone got that?”
He got three grunts in return, all the trotting men were able to spare.
They continued along the track. Pavel would have to call a break soon. If not, some of his poorly-fed men wouldn’t be able to keep going.
By midday, the small column had slowed to a walk. Pavel’s followers now showed signs of balking even at the slow pace.
At least, the river was now close, only a few hundred yards ahead. Something might have come down to the water to drink; their water gourds needed refilling anyway.
#
Lilia’s tracks had left the trail half a mile back and none of the exhausted men realized it.
She had recalled that Matt had said he and Pavel would go south; that’s where Pavel and his followers would have come from when they rejoined the tribe. She reasoned that she could save time by taking a more-direct short cut and picking up their trail nearer the river.
As it happened, she soon found their trail. The tracks showed that three men had traveled northwest together. She realized immediately that this didn’t jibe with what Pavel had said, that Vlad had remained behind to look for Matt’s body. So Pavel had lied.
The first thing she found while following the footprints was Matt’s steel-bladed spear. There was no mistaking it; that spear had stood beside the cabin door and she’d watched Matt use it a number of times. If Matt had indeed fallen into the river, how had his spear come to be left here? Unless Pavel’s men had ambushed him here? But there was no bloodstain on the ground and no sign of a struggle. Curious; the tracks didn’t make sens
e. Why carry a spear this far, only to drop it beside the trail?
Lilia picked up the spear as she thought. She slung it over her shoulder and followed the trail to the river.
The next unusual thing she found was a disturbed section of ground, perhaps thirty yards back from the river. Searching carefully, she found where a small amount of blood had sunk into the dirt. Circling, examining the ground for more evidence, she found several arrows where they’d fallen out of Matt’s quiver. A short time later she found his bow, still strung, lying with the quiver containing the rest of his arrows.
She unstrung the bow…it took all her strength to bend the limbs…and hung it across her back with the spear. Picking up the spilled arrows, she replaced them in the quiver and added it to her burden.
Lilia soon found a second trail that joined the one she’d been following. This one had been made by two men; could it have been made when Vlad and Gregor joined Pavel?
Other tracks led to the river. Two men had made them, and the depth of the tracks showed they carried a heavy load. They had stopped briefly near the river; the tracks were muddled from their moving about. From there, the tracks lay alongside twin drag marks, but all of the tracks stopped well back from the water’s edge.
So; the two had likely been carrying Matt’s body, perhaps after he’d been shot from ambush. The small amount of spilled blood likely meant he’d died instantly.
She glanced back at the bloodstain and felt a tear spill down her cheek. Angrily she wiped it away. There would be time enough to weep for Matt later. As for the accomplices, arrows would do just fine for them, but she wanted to see Pavel’s face when her spear went into his guts.
No tracks led downstream. She wondered briefly why the drag-marks had stopped where they did, then realized the river had been much higher when they passed three days before.
Perhaps Matt’s body had hung up on driftwood? Lilia looked downstream and decided she could spare a few days to look for the body. If she had no means to give him a proper burial, at least she would find closure.
But she had no need to carry all of his weapons; they were heavy and would slow her down. She found a projecting limb stub a hundred yards downstream from where she’d found the bloodstain. She would keep the spear; her own, lighter spear, had been left with Lee for safekeeping, so Matt’s spear would be welcome. She hung the bow and quiver over the broken-off limb and headed south.
Not the same thing, of course; but having that heavy spear slung across her back made her feel as if Matt walked with her as she set off down the river.
#
Pavel and his small gang surprised a foraging raccoon near the river. Two of the three arrows launched struck the small animal and killed it. The third arrow missed and was lost in the river. Nikolai never got a shot off.
They broiled the raccoon over a hastily-built fire, then ate their fill. The leftovers got divided up and put into their packs. All were tired and sleepy after eating; Pavel wanted to push on, but he faced a near-mutiny and finally backed down. They gathered more wood before bedding down and left Pavel sitting by the fire as the others went to sleep.
#
Lilia slept as she’d done the night before, stretched out on a limb. The live-oak tree had great limbs that spread more than twenty feet from the main trunk. Wrapped in her parka, weapons beside her, she listened to the murmur of the river while falling asleep.
#
Matt had crayfish for appetizers and fish for supper. A few memories had returned, although he still had no idea what had made the knot on his head.
Clouds were moving in from the north, so he looked about for shelter. Finding nothing available, he decided to build his own. This was a good location; he had the river to his front, a large tree to his back and a fire for warmth and protection. A lean-to would help shelter the fire if it rained, and reflected heat would keep him warm.
Rootlets would serve to tie the crosspiece between trees, and weight would hold the roof in place. While collecting materials for his shelter, he also brought in more downed wood for the fire. This he stacked at the end of the lean-to, a wind deflector and shield against blowing rain.
He had earlier found a number of cobbles along the river and brought them back to the lean-to. It wasn’t yet dark and he had nothing to cook as yet, so he cracked the cobbles into blanks for weapons, then began chipping the blanks. The flakes of stone soon took on an edge; he had a replacement now, should the flint knife in his emergency kit break.
If his recent memories were hazy, the knowledge of how to work flint and build a shelter was there. Matt wondered vaguely why that should be, but the thought was fleeting.
There might be another fish in the morning, or perhaps a few more of the crayfish. If all else failed he would resort to eating grubs again. The fire sank low and Matt added a dry limb to keep it burning. Soon it was too dark to continue; he watched the flames for a moment, then curled up under his lean-to and went to sleep.
Chapter 3
Each small herd of deer consisted of a buck and three or four pregnant does.
The bucks began to shed their antlers as the winter ended, sometimes just one, sometimes both. Irritable, they left the harems and wandered away. Most soon joined with other bucks in pairs and trios. The small bachelor herds moved north toward their summer range.
The does remained together after the bucks left. They too began drifting north, driven by instinct and the promise of food. Fresh tender leaves sprouted on trees and bushes and the deer browsed as they traveled north, bedding down in a different place each night.
The doe sought privacy when her time came. Lying down, she delivered a fawn just before daybreak. The full moon lit the scene as she licked the small form. In a short time, it stood up on long shaky legs and moved close to its mother to nurse.
The doe ate the afterbirth; it contained a number of elements and minerals that would help her recover from the birthing process. This practice also removed much of the evidence that there had been a birth here. Coyotes and wolves would otherwise find the afterbirth and begin looking for her fawn. This was one among several survival mechanisms that deer had adopted over millions of years.
The doe began feeding away from the fawn before morning. The tiny creature crouched in the cover of a clump of grass and froze in position. It was virtually scentless; a predator could pass close by and never realize that a helpless young deer hid nearby.
She returned after a time and held still while the fawn nursed. The tiny head butted against her small udder and sucked at the teat until it had drunk its fill. The two then cuddled together under cover while they digested their respective breakfasts.
Later in the afternoon, the doe got to her feet. Testing the air, she led the way down to the river to drink. The fawn nursed again. After it had finished, the two walked cautiously north toward the summerlands.
#
Lilia woke early and washed her face in the river. She ate the last of her meat and bread and drank; refilling the gourd, she replaced the wooden stopper. Matt’s heavy spear would be awkward to carry, but she slung it across her back after shifting her small pack to make room. When both hung as comfortably as she could manage, she picked up her bow, slung the quiver over her shoulder, and headed south.
She found a number of tracks. Deer and other animals had passed this way not long before. Always quiet, she slipped forward with renewed alertness. She would need to find a target for her arrow soon or stop and set out a fishing line.
There hadn’t been enough food this morning to assuage her hunger. Soon, she wouldn’t have a choice. Hunger was no stranger. Still, it would get worse, and if she couldn’t find food soon she would begin to weaken. Like the rest of the tribe, she was thin from short rations and long days of work. There was little spare flesh left on her body.
She listened, slipped forward a few paces, listened again. From time to time she went down to the river, looking for any sign that Matt’s body had washed up on the bank. Her pace was
slow, but if there was an animal ahead she might see it before it discovered her presence.
It was during one of her pauses, while she listened, that she heard a distinct tapping noise. Cocking her head to the side, she listened carefully, but the tapping had stopped.
Well, there were woodpeckers around, even if the rhythm didn’t sound like an animal. She resumed her slow pace forward.
#
The clouds began dripping rain just before dawn. The cold rain woke Pavel and he soon had his small group moving. Some grumbled, but in a short time they were on their way. They ate some of the remaining raccoon meat while heading south in single file.
Pavel looked back at the men and passed on instructions.
“We might come up on her at any time. Make sure you’re ready and that you don’t fumble with an arrow. If we see her before she sees us, we can try to work in closer, but if she tries to run, take the shot. Just don’t let her get away. If she sees us, she’ll know why we came back.
“That place we dumped him, it can’t be much farther. We’ll just stay close to the river, and when we find the place we can look for his weapons. If she hasn’t been there yet, we brush out the sign and dump the weapons in the river. Look for her tracks. If she hasn’t found the place, we can head back as soon as we clean up. She can look all she wants after we get rid of the evidence.”
“We should have done that before we left, Pavel.”
“Yeah, well, you were just as glad to leave that place as I was, Gregor. Anyway, we get rid of the sign, brush out our own tracks, and the rain will wash away what we don’t get.”
#
Half an hour later Pavel paused and looked around.
“Gregor, come up here. Doesn’t this look like the place where we dumped the body?”
“It could be, Pavel. We can look for sign and pick up the weapons; if it’s the right place, they’ll still be here.”
“OK, everyone spread out and look. Find those weapons. We left them lying on the ground and some of the arrows had spilled. We’ll need to find those too.”
