by Jack L Knapp
“Nobody goes outside. If that thing is still around tomorrow we’ll deal with it, but not now. We’ll wait. If it goes away during the night, I’ll be happy.
“Two people keep watch. Everyone else try to sleep, but keep your weapons close.
“I’ll take the first watch with Millie. Sandra, you’ll take over the crossbow from Millie and be second watch with Lee. Lilia, sleep if you can, but you’re first on call if anyone gets sleepy.”
“Matt, I think that thing’s coming back. Maybe it’s a different one. There might be two of them!”
Chapter 16
I began removing the wooden grips from a short sword we’d taken after the fighting in the cabin. A second sword, salvaged from the men we'd killed on the scouting expedition, served as a chisel to cut the rivets holding the wooden pieces in place.
The sword would be a spear point after I got the hilt off. The socket-ended spear I’d made earlier could be used as a stabbing weapon, but it wasn’t designed for that. Nor could it be; the flaked-stone points became too fragile if they were longer than a finger, the relatively-thin darts also became too flexible if they projected more than hand-length beyond the front of the socket. The two combined to limit how deeply the darts could be inserted and how much damage they could do to organs after they’d penetrated.
There might be no opportunity to pull the weapon back, reload the socket, and create a second wound. For that matter, the lightweight spear and atlatl system was useful as a projectile weapon, but a bow and arrows had much greater range and potential accuracy. The bow could launch more arrows with more penetrating force in a shorter amount of time, and do it from a safer distance.
Still, archery depended on distance for safety; shooting arrows into a bear at point-blank range would certainly be hazardous to the bowman’s health!
The spear I was making, unlike the replaceable-tip atlatl-driven projectile, was intended for close-in use. Even during my original time, a form of spear survived as the rifle bayonet. Though rarely employed, it remained useful as a close combat weapon.
It was not the best time to begin building a weapon, the night before using it to face an unknown animal in a fight to the death! But needs must; I could always fall back on the socketed spear and hope that with assistance from the crossbow and longbows in the hands of Lee and Lilia, it would be enough.
#
I was left with a full-tang blade after I removed the wooden grips. The holes in the tang couldn’t be used, because I had no rivets to replace the ones I'd chiseled away.
For the shaft, I chose to start fresh using one of the blanks I’d roughed into shape. I’d intended to make it into a bow, but I needed a spear now more than I needed a new bow in the future. My current spear shaft could have been used, but I might end up destroying the still somewhat-usable spear, and if I couldn't complete the other one in time, I would be left with no spear at all. Time was the enemy; I might not have time to finish the project.
I set the hide-glue pot on the fireplace's apron, raked coals around the pot, and left it in place while I began working on other tasks. A long strip of rawhide went into water to soak; it would stretch while being worked, then shrink as it dried, tightening the junction between the shaft and the metal blade. The rawhide would also become rock-hard in the process, and with a coating of more hide glue and beeswax after it had dried, it should be water-resistant even if not waterproof.
I would have to split the end of the blank to accept the blade’s tang. Softening the end fibers with boiling water allowed me to control the speed. Reinforcing the shaft above the split by wrapping it with cord also helped prevent the split from running up the shaft, weakening it.
The split end would be drying while I wrapped the lower part of the spear with the stretched rawhide strip, starting some ten inches above the point where the split ended. The reinforcement was necessary; a sixteen inch blade, the amount that would project from the end of the shaft, exerts a lot of leverage in use.
As soon as the wood was dry enough, I coated the tang of the former short sword with glue and carefully worked it into the split. Adding more glue over the outside, I wrapped a damp rawhide strip down the shaft until the joint and two inches of the blade were covered, then allowed the whole thing to dry and shrink.
It’s best to use hide glue over close-fitting dry surfaces, but adding the extra glue might provide additional support. Anyway, I was depending on the shrunken rawhide to do most of the job of reinforcing the blade-to-shaft joint.
I worked fast, but at the same time as carefully as possible. The spear had to work perfectly the first time. There wouldn’t be a second chance for me if it failed. The others might retreat into the cabin, but I would be hand-to-claw with the animal, too close to escape.
I hadn’t heard anything from outside in some time, but the ordinary night sounds hadn’t returned. That worried me. Whatever that animal was, it was probably still waiting. We couldn’t stay inside forever; we would have to drive the animal away or kill it.
Based on the sounds, I suspected the animal was a bear. If we were lucky, it would be a black bear, the smallest and least aggressive of the species; but it might be a grizzly, a much more dangerous beast. There was a third possibility that I didn’t want to think about.
Whatever it was, we would find out in the morning. I kept working.
It was sometime after midnight before I could begin the slow process of drying the completed joint.
We had only a little fuel remaining in the cabin by that time. I carefully added it, using small bits first. There was a longer and heavier stick that might be useful tomorrow; I kept it aside.
I held the spear-shaft and slowly rotated it in the radiated heat in front of the fireplace. I wanted the assembly to be fully dry, with the glue set, before the morning. At the same time, I didn’t want to dry the joint so fast that it might be weakened, perhaps by cracks in the wood.
I finally passed the job to Lee when he took over the watch around two in the morning. Facing a grizzly with no sleep? Not a good idea; I would need my wits about me and my reactions fast.
As it happened, Lee let me sleep later than usual, so I’d had about four hours when he finally called me.
I ate a light breakfast and drank water. I used the corner to piss after that, which is what all of us had done since I made the decision for us to remain inside during the night. Again, needs must.
The corner smelled. The cabin also smelled from the hide glue I’d been working with, so the urine was just an added stink.
The blade was secure as far as I could tell. I shook the spear vigorously, but there was no sign of wobbling where the blade joined the shaft. The balance of the completed weapon wasn’t great; the blade was slightly too heavy for the shaft.
The resultant weapon was as much naginata as it was spear; it could be thrust bayonet-style or used axe-like for chopping. I tried each move in slow motion and decided it would work best as a spear.
I was as prepared as I was going to get.
“Lee, that thing may have gone, but get ready just in case. You and I will be the first ones outside.
“Lilia, you back up Lee. Sandra, you use the crossbow. Millie, I'd like you to help her reload. That torch might be useful, too.”
I had put the end of the long, heavy stick into the fire. A nice flame now extended almost halfway up the stick.
“Just be careful with the torch. We don’t need you to burn the cabin before we’re ready to leave!”
Finally, it was time. I took a deep breath, held the heavy spear ready, and nodded to Sandra to open the door.
I saw nothing. I released that held-in breath and breathed a sigh of relief.
But then, a huge furry mass broke from the tree line and came for me. Even limping, favoring a front paw, that thing was fast!
It was a bear, but not a grizzly; it was less chunky than a grizzly and the legs were longer. Still, it was powerful; it brushed aside the vegetation at the edge of the woods a
s if the plants were no more than cobwebs.
I registered all this and rapped out, “Lee! Back inside!”
The women would need him if I didn’t survive. I might have gone in too, but there wasn't time for both of us to get inside and bar the door. At least, I now had a heavy spear that extended more than eight feet from tip to butt. The long blade added length to the shaft, and the extra distance would hopefully keep the bear from mauling me.
Lee ignored me. Worse, Lilia slipped out and moved off to my left as Lee ran several paces to the right. I registered their smooth progress as Lee launched his ready arrow and reached for another.
I heard a twang from Lilia’s side and a deeper thunng sound from inside the cabin. The bolt sprouted near the bear’s left eye, but didn’t kill the animal or even blind it. I didn’t know where the other arrows had struck. The bear was so close by this time that the shafts almost certainly had hit.
I could never stop that charging mass on my own; instead, I would let the bear force the spear home and hope those long front claws couldn’t reach me. But meanwhile, I would have to stand and take the bear’s charge.
Holding the spear with my right hand near the butt, left extended along the shaft, I took a step to the side of the door. Blade pointed at the bear, butt end braced against the cabin wall, I waited. If the shaft held and I didn't lose my nerve, the long blade would do lethal damage.
If.
I never saw the blade go in. It was there, then it disappeared into the fur at the base of the animal’s neck. The shaft bent and bucked savagely, but it held. The bear roared his fury, I yelled, the others were yelling too.
The animal hesitated, then spun incredibly fast. I hung onto the spear and let the blade carve its way through the organs inside the rib cage. I was thrown viciously around before finally losing my grip and slamming against the wall of the cabin. I shook off the stars I was seeing and spotted Lee as the bear went for him.
The bear, now standing awkwardly upright with my spear shaft sticking past its head, swiped at Lee with its right paw.
Somehow Lee had gotten my old spear. The flint-tipped dart faced the bear, but Lee was much closer than I’d been while using my longer spear. He poked rapidly at the bear as that first swipe missed, then planted the dart deep into the bear’s throat, this time pointing upward so that the wound carved through the blood vessels in the beast's neck.
The second blow of a front paw didn’t miss. Blood showered from Lee’s arm and it bent impossibly; even so, he kept his grip on the spear with the other hand, pulled back on the shaft, and thrust the empty socket end at the bear’s eye before finally collapsing.
The bear roared again, then I saw something I had difficulty crediting. The door opened, Sandra came out and shot the bear behind the shoulder, using the crossbow. The two women had managed a fast reload!
Lilia appeared to dance as she moved in on the bloody, roaring bear. She had two of the short swords, both held overhead; as soon as she was in range, her body bent back slightly, then whipped forward. Both swords went in almost half their length before she sprang back.
Note to self. Do not get into a knife fight with that woman!
It’s funny the thoughts that run through your mind when you’re stunned. I finally staggered to my feet and grabbed my axe. I adopted a two-handed stance for more power and got ready.
I didn’t need to attack. The bear collapsed, the great head sinking forward first, then the body slumping, allowing the animal to roll on its side. It was still gasping for breath, but blood flowed in a steady stream from the open mouth and the nostrils.
It seemed to take a long time for the bear to die, but on reflection I decided it had only lasted a few seconds. While I leaned wheezing against the cabin wall, the great beast stopped breathing. The blood kept flowing for a few seconds more, then stopped. Maybe the heart had quit, or maybe it had simply run out of blood.
Lee lay crumpled where he’d fallen against the cabin door. He looked dead.
Lilia got to him and crouched, looking at his face. As she watched, I saw a small movement of his leg. Was he still alive, or was this a dying reflexive kick?
She reached for the mangled arm and Lee gasped. He was alive then, but I had no idea for how long.
I limped over to where Lilia was examining his arm.
Lee appeared to have passed out. He had a claw mark that started near the elbow and extended to just above the wrist. The skin had been flayed back as if by a knife, simply ripped free of the muscle, and the wound wept droplets of blood.
“We must get him inside. Matt, help me please. If you can carry his shoulders, I will carry his feet. I will fold the injured arm over his chest. I must set the bone before he wakes up.”
That was almost the way it happened, except that Sandra and Millie helped with the shoulders. Lee was heavier than I expected, but we moved him inside as carefully as possible. Lilia set his arm while I held his shoulder, then she bandaged his wound with cloth ripped from Sandra’s dress.
I surrendered the rest of my clothing, as did Sandra and Millie. The three of us were naked when we went out to work on the bear’s carcass.
I gutted it; it had indeed been skinny. It might have been close to starvation, due to the mangled front paw. Hunger forced it to hang around, because it smelled us inside and had no other source for food. I dragged the heavy guts as far away from the cabin as possible, then dropped them. Something would take care of the offal, hopefully not something that would then decide to come after us; but there was nothing else I could do.
Millie and Sandra had done a hasty job of skinning back the bear’s hide. Almost half the animal’s flesh now stood revealed, and the skin had been pulled flat along the ground.
I began dismembering the animal with my axe. The head and neck would be left complete, except for removing arrows or bolts. We didn’t need the meat on the neck; as it was, some of the meat would likely spoil before we could preserve it.
I hacked off great chunks and we carried those inside the cabin. We would get as much as we could, in case some other animal decided to challenge us for the kill. We were in no shape to fight off anything larger than a rabbit; if something bigger wanted that skinny bear, it could have it!
We got most of the shoulder, chopping off the lower parts of the forelegs and throwing them into the forest. I might salvage the claws later, but not now. We then chopped through the ribs and discarded them too, leaving the upper ribs attached to the spine. We would eat the heavily-muscled part that lay along the spine. There was also a slight hump over the shoulder, so I got as much of that as possible; it was mostly fat, the only fat I’d seen on the bear as I chopped the carcass apart. I took the exposed hindquarter too, although it took two of us to lug it into the cabin.
Lilia stopped us at the door as on the way back out.
"I would like to have the skin, but it may not be possible to finish skinning the bear. We will cut off the skin that has been stripped back. It’s less weight to drag, anyway.”
That’s what we did.
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The meat was tough and a little gamy, but I ate some later, a supper that was mostly roasted bear with a little bread, then stretched out and fell asleep. I think Lilia may have slept too. I saw Sandra and Millie watching out the open window and one of them closed and barred it as I dropped off. I hadn’t gotten a full night’s sleep the night before, and it had been a stressful day.
Lee hadn’t stirred after his mother set his broken arm. He had lost a considerable amount of blood before she set the arm, bandaged the wound, and protected the arm with splints. Now she simply waited.
Lee would wake up naturally, given time.
Or not.
Chapter 17
Our plans to trek northwest were on hold. For the moment, Lee had lost a lot of blood, so we'd have to care for him as best we could and wait to see what happened.
The women had shown courage and more fighting ability than I expected, but physical strength would a
lso be a factor on the trek. Lee and I had it; we could carry more of a load and do it longer before we needed to rest. We’d also have a better chance of surviving encounters with the huge animals I expected to find or attacks by hostile warriors. If we blundered into either, we wouldn’t have a cabin to fort up in, maybe not even a tree to climb. We might be forced to fight on the ground, outnumbered, if the enemies were human.
Only the winners get the prize on Darwin’s World, survival for a little while longer.
As for animals, the bear had been injured before the fight started. Despite our combined efforts, Lee had been badly wounded before it finally succumbed. Killing the scimitar-toothed cat had also required luck as well as teamwork and skill. Had the animal not landed in the river, the outcome might have been different. And we hadn’t yet faced a large, healthy predator on its own turf.
Could I keep us fed by hunting and trapping? If I couldn’t, we would starve. Gathering edible vegetation would help, but as the season progressed such opportunities would diminish.
Dire wolves might be there too, where we intended to go; they were larger than gray wolves and probably hunted in packs. If they caught us in the open…
I had named this world after Darwin for a reason. By almost any measure other than intelligence, those wolves were better suited to survive than we humans were. The same was true of all the other top predators. This was their world, not ours.
Technology had made us the top predator downtime. Here, we had no technology other than the most primitive kind. We were prey. The facts spoke for themselves. This world would eliminate the unfit, the unready, and the unlucky.
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Meantime, I had more important things to do than muse about the future. Regardless of whether we left the cabin or remained through the winter, I needed a stronger bow and arrows matched to its draw weight. I also needed better arrow points, and I had not yet mastered the art of flint knapping. My stone points were usable, but they would become much better with practice.
