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The nation Chapter 104
They were about to cross the river; the sun was cresting over the mountain’s peak but they remained in its shadow. They had eaten breakfast and talked about what they would do to cross the river, Rollins reiterated how dangerous it was, even in this place where the buffalo cross. Gorman was sullen at breakfast, Lorne was upset with the dog’s gas, Talia slept in and Kaya helped Rollins cook the meal. The horses and cart would go last, Erek wanted to be across the river with a rope tied to them to help guide the horses across, Rollins liked that idea and suggested that they cross using the wedge. When everyone looked at her in ignorance, she explained.“Erek is the strongest so he will be first, we will all be tied together with the rope,” she held it up for emphasis, “the next person will go but position themselves ten steps downstream from Erek, then the third person will go and they will be ten steps behind the second person and so on.”Rollins went on to explain that everyone should
The nation Chapter 105
Erek watched the rest of the party as they carried on, he didn’t see the dog get up, he felt the dog though, the dog bumped him sharply just above his knee. The one dog got up and was anxious to get going, he knew that it was time and wanted to get this over with. The big two-leg was watching the others chatter again, so the one dog bumped the big man with his hip, it was a little harder than he thought so he turned and smiled at the man. Erek stumbled and almost fell over when the dog bumped his leg, the rest of the group stopped talking when Erek yipped.“You alright with that dog?” Asked Rollins.“Yeah, I guess I have to carry him. Besides he looks as eager as I feel about getting this over with.” Said Erek as the river flowed bye at nineteen kilometers per hour.They were all in the water now, they were in the formation that Rollins had described, Erek out front, now burdened with the dog, then Lorne, Talia, Gorman, and Rollins. Kaya would have to watch them cross first, as long a
The nation Chapter 106
“Oh fuck!” Yelled Erek, “Percy is too scared, pull, everyone pull hard.” Even Gorman pulled.Erek watched as the horses teetered on the edge of losing it, Percy bucked next to Gerard who bucked back in response. He saw Kaya, who’s hair was growing back now, she was frantic with fear. The river flowed by uncaring. Erek pulled, he felt the rope behind him as the others pulled with him, he couldn’t let anything happen to this girl, he didn’t know why he felt this way about her but she was special and he was to help her any way he could. His heart told him to pull harder. Percy came back down to all fours, Gerard followed him, then Percy pushed hard with his back legs and Gerard followed. Kaya could see Percy trying to move the cart, she knew that he would have made it across easily without the cart but it had all of their gear and supplies, they couldn’t leave it. The cart moved forward again, it crept behind the struggling horses, her companions pulled from the bank. As the cart got goi
The nation Chapter 107
“Hold tight to the rope.” Said a hunter to his wife, word had come back across the rope, the way was dangerous but passable with caution. “I’m scared, I don’t want to go, can’t we wait a bit? Please.” She pulled her husband, trying to get away from the river.“My Eesh’ta, what is wrong? They say it will be ok if you just hold tight to the rope.” He wanted to get this over with, his eyes were on the mountain beyond, the mountain that called to him in his dreams.“I want to wait; I will cross this river but my heart says to wait.” She had the look on her face that said this discussion was over.The hunter loved his wife, he tried to make her happy by not aggravating her, the face that she was showing him was a face that said, this is over! if you want to remain happy shut your mouth. “Ok my Eesh’ta, we can go and wait over there.” He pointed to a spot that looked comfortable, then he shut his mouth.The walkers went into the water holding tightly to the rope, they went in one after ano
The nation Chapter 108
The remaining travelers on the west side of the Domea watched the horror with shock, they could do nothing and they knew that they still had to cross this river. Oscar was glad that he was not on that first raft, he felt remorse at the loss of life, but he did not feel regret, he instead ordered smaller rafts to be built. Rognvald would not hear of this tragedy right away, it would be a few hours, Rog would not get the full details of this devastatingly ill planned river crossing until he was well into his beer. Lilly cried herself to sleep after their shelter was erected, she had smoked the greenleaf to try to quell her mind, she was in such a state of denial that she told herself that none of this was real. Claudia was helping for the first time on this trip, she was helping herself to some of her father’s beer, and she was eating more than she should be. Nobody looked for Oren.After Rognvald’s wagon made it across the river, Oren had jumped out and climbed a tree, he had grown str
The nation Chapter 109
“Kaya,” Bram the big blacksmith said, “it is good to see you. I was concerned when you left, how did you get across that river?”Kaya saw the blacksmith Bram in the road, Percy stopped on his own next to the big hammer wielding man, Bram rubbed the horses nose in greeting. Percy seemed to relax a bit after the touch from Bram, he stood quietly next to Gerard as Kaya responded.“We went north of here to cross where the buffalo cross.”“The buffalo? How do you know where they cross at, or if they even cross?”“This is Rollins,” Kaya pointed to the girl sitting next to her in the cart, Rollins kept her eyes averted from the blacksmith, “she knows of the wild and where the buffalo go.”“She does?” Questioned Bram.“Yes she does, she knows many things that we have forgotten.” Announced Kaya.“Where did she come about all this knowledge?” The question made Rollins squeeze Kaya’s hand to try and stop her from talking, it didn’t work, “from Morgan, they met in the wild. Ouch, why are you squ
The nation Chapter 110
They had made their camp nearest to the trees, to avoid some of the bitter cold winds that blew down from the mountain, it was several dozen meters from the main camp of the travelers. No one wanted to give Rollins a chance, save for Bram, he was kind enough to listen to her speak, he watched her to. Kaya had seen him watching her, when she asked him about it he simply said, “I’m waiting to see if she is the curse people say she is.”Rollins worked hard to help when she was allowed to, she was given some of the worst tasks to do, digging waste holes and burning them when they were full. She was hunting when she was not gathering wood or splitting logs, she worked to impress upon the people that she was not a curse. The animal attacks started back up with in nine days of Kaya’s return, a big cat was killing livestock, it was not like the dogs that were killed before, this time the kills were partially eaten. Sometimes the only evidence was the bloody trail that led off into the trees,
The nation Chapter 111
The cat bothered him, he knew it was with them, and he knew that he had smelled that cat before. Had the cat followed them across the river? He thought. He could not know, but he could feel the cat watching the camp, he knew the cat was stalking the two-legs. He did not know the cat was stalking his two-legs. Scanning the trees to the east, he searched for signs of the cat, he got back up to move around in the frigid air. He made a circuit near the trees, sniffing and looking for signs of the cat, he kept himself between the camp and the trees he patrolled. He didn’t see the feline itself but he did find tracks in the snow, a little blood as well, one dog felt the sting of winter again. He gave the trees one last look, then he headed back to lay near his stove.Erek had begun to remember things from his past during this trip, it was as if his mind was injured and now it was healing. He could learn things faster, he communicated better, and his critical thinking ability had improved dr