Second Chances (22 page)

“It's shallow, through the skin and fat, into the muscle. You'll be sore on that side for a while; favor it or you'll pull the stitches. Have Doc check you over as you get warm,” John warned him. Bert nodded. John did a quick job stitching the clothes back together and then they got back to work on the carcass.

“What about the dogs?” Darion asked. “Hell of a walk home,” he said, sounding worried.

John nodded. “I'll see if they went far. You two keep working,” he said. He went about a hundred yards out and then cupped his hands to his mouth and howled. He did it again, fogging the air around him. A third time an answering howl came from about a mile away. He howled again, smiling. He turned to Darion and Bert and gave them a thumbs-up as they heard the dogs return.

~~~~~~(@)~~~~~~

When they had a brief warm spell, Loni insisted on digging out her tepee to get more of her gear. John first realized her intent when he noticed her absence. He looked around for her, then reasoned she was with the animals or in someone's cabin visiting.

When he went back to his cabin, he heard a noise off to his right and turned. He found her digging in the snow, trying to find the entrance. He frowned thoughtfully; she was digging with her hands for some reason.

He grabbed the shovel he kept by the door and came over.

She heard the crunch of snow behind her and turned to snarl at him to back off. But he was gone, and she frowned, now bewildered and confused. She looked over to her left and found a snow shovel in the snow bank.

She sat up, letting herself cool off; she knew the danger of building up a sweat. She grabbed the shovel, then looked around for him. He was gone though, and she wasn't sure if she welcomed his absence or resented it. Then she shook herself, angry at actually thinking of him.

She got what she wanted, then stored her gear in the cabin and put the shovel away. Before she could confront him, she was called off by Quincy and Miranda. It seemed some of the animals were going into heat early, so they wanted to consult over that.

~~~~~~(@)~~~~~~

John took his turn in the watch tower relieving Bull. The big guy slapped at his back, arms wrapped around him. He had a long scarf and was bundled up quite a bit. John handed him a thermos of hot stew and another of hot blueberry tea. Bull took it with a grin, saluted, then headed off to his cabin.

John sipped his own tea, drinking in the warmth as he looked out at the sea of white around the compound. He'd remembered to bring his sunglasses; the glare was horrendous.

He noted the odd sheep like animals near the base. There was a herd; about a hundred of the bipeds they'd named Tauntauns. They were short, about a meter high, with ram horns, with a mix of curly and shaggy long white fur. He liked them; they might make good sheep. They were good eating despite the bone and layers of fat. He had a dozen hides stacked in one of his sheds.

He noted the time, herd size and bearing for Bert and the other hunters to act on later. He was tempted to call Bert. They could use the meat, but the man was beat. He and Darion had mostly recovered from the demon attack, but they were both taking it easy.

He still didn't know what to make of Loni. They didn't have a friendship, sort of a mutual standoff, he thought. A truce in the bickering until spring, he thought with a small snort. He took another sip of tea then put the lid on tightly and tucked it away inside his coat.

He wished he'd had a rifle; he could hit one of the damn Tauntauns from this range. Two were close to the moat, just teasing him with their proximity. Unfortunately his 30/06 was probably not powerful enough to get through the tough hide of the beasts, and from this angle he'd most likely hit a bone.

His ruminations were cut off when he saw motion out of the corner of his eye. Along the tree line the animals were snorting and moving away he realized. Two had their heads down backing away from something.

One slipped and fell. That startled the others into a fast retreat. Their wide-splayed, three-toed feet had a lot of fur that acted as snow shoes, they crunched quickly over the snow.

The fallen animal bawled as something snarled and came out of the tree line impossibly fast. John gulped as one of the demon yeti fell on the animal, smashing it with bawled fists, then twisting and snapping its neck. He winced, then coughed.

The predator looked up, eyes swiveling about until it saw him. It blew out a long breath, steam clouds instantly froze in the cold. John held his own breath, not out of fear, but out of respect and a desire for the thing to move on. Eventually, it grabbed the kill and dragged it under one arm back into the bush. John let out a slow breath and reminded himself to cut the bush and trees back in the spring even further.

~~~~~~(@)~~~~~~

A few weeks later Miranda reported that two of the Struthomimus had gotten sick from pneumonia and died. Loni and Quincy checked the others over. Two were ill, but the others were okay. “They just aren't meant for this sort of cold,” Quincy said, shaking his head.

“We'll have to do something, a heater or something,” Loni said. “A better barn next year for sure,” she said. He nodded.

Since they had a vacancy, they caught Tauntauns and brought them back to base. Finding the animals was easy; the animals left trails behind them and were not very bright. They did react to the humans though knowing them as potential predators. Roping the animals turned out into a dangerous thing; John was dragged across the snow on his belly until his prey had tripped and fallen. He'd gotten his rope around a tree then hog tied the bastard before it had gotten up. Bert had been no help laughing at the whole scene.

Driving the animals worked a little better, as did using snares, though they accidentally injured one so severely with the noose that Bert had to put it down. But in the end they had thirty animals in the corral for the girls to deal with.

Once Quincy and the cowgirls checked them over, they decided on what to do with them. They had two rams—one young, the other older. The animals acted like bipedal sheep and hopped over the fences easily like a kangaroo, which was a problem.

They solved it by locking the beasts up in the empty stalls next to the other animals. The short animals were a pain with their head butting and nibbling, but they had curly fur like sheep and made a lot of milk. They stank a bit, but after the girls gave them a hot bath the smell abated for a while.

“And you have no idea how much fun it is to give one of those things a hot bath in winter,” Loni said, shaking her head. “I don't know what the big deal is, so they stank? I didn't care,” she said sitting in her chair. “Damn nuisance hauling snow to melt, then hot water to the animals,” she grumbled. John smiled but then hid the smile with a cough when she glowered his way.

~~~~~~(@)~~~~~~

They knew winter was nearly over when the herds started to vanish, heading north once more. Bert and the other hunters watched them go longingly; knowing they now had to survive on what meat they had on hand.

Four men and one woman had been killed over the winter, either hunting, getting water, gathering wood, or just trying to stay warm. Russell Jordan was killed by a widow maker while attempting to cut a tree down. He left a very pregnant wife, Wendy, behind to grieve in his absence. Alif Shakir Numar slipped and fell while getting water. He broke his leg and spine in the fall. He died after a week. He left behind his pregnant wife, Nahib Numar. She bonded with Wendy in mutual misery. They moved in with each other to care for each other.

Eleven-year-old Chet Thompson lost both his parents in a single two-day period. His father, Brady, disappeared hunting; his mother, Adrienne, disappeared looking for him. Their bodies were never found, but John found tracks leading to a large blood pool. He was fairly certain a predator had gotten Adrienne, most likely one of the demon yeti. Young Chet was heartbroken and bewildered when he heard the news. Pat took the boy in and adopted him. Kevin was kind to him, sharing his room with the kid and treating him like a little brother.

Inran Sahid had been killed when his roof had collapsed due to the heavy burden of snow. He had built a lightly slopping roof, not a high peak since he hadn't wanted to climb. The decision and the decision not to the clear the snow regularly cost him his life.

Chapter 12

Spring time had them rushing about in the mud and drizzle to deal with put off repairs and flooding. Their clothes were baggy; John, Loni and others who had survived the terribly long winter had lost weight as had everyone. Fortunately, John and Loni hadn't lost as much as others; they'd been better off. Most of what John had lost had been muscle from not having to work out so much he judged.

A round of haircuts by Pat took place the first day they saw the ground again and not the white blanket of snow. Pat ran her fingers through Chet's hair, teasing him about looking like a girl. When she realized the boy was self-conscious about that she stopped.

Doc reported she'd had to amputate two fingers and six toes over the winter due to frostbite. They had lost two horses, two dinosaurs and half their chickens.

Two people had died in the last month of winter due to pneumonia. Sharif and Aadila Gupta died together. Both had come to America from the India/Pakistan border. Aadila had been a just, honest woman, a paralegal who helped immigrants. Both had been young and proud. Sharif had been a quiet unassuming man, rakish thin but hard working. He had refused help many times and had been hard to converse with. Now no one would get the chance ever again.

Doc Brown was even more bitter about Aadila's death. The quiet young woman had been pregnant when the illness had struck her down.

Harry's body was found when the sun warmed the back of his shelter. He'd disappeared one day. They had joked about it, and a few had thought he'd ended up shacking up with one of the ladies. When no one had admitted to having taken him in, John had led a search party only to come back empty handed and dispirited. They had resigned themselves to his having been lost in the wilderness.

Now that the kiss of the sun had warmed the area and the snows had melted, they found out the horrifying truth of just how close his body was. He was found curled up on his side, frozen to the ground. Apparently he'd frozen to death getting water or wood. It had taken several days for the sun to thaw the ground around him so they could extract his body and burn it. The bodies were burned, and the ashes scattered into the wind.

Victor wanted the belongings of the dead. Eric put a stop to that. He brought it up at a community meeting. Those that needed materials were given them including parts of the shelters, but they had to use them. The clothes and other things were either given to those who could use them or given to Victor to store and later sell. The vehicles, parts, fuel, and weapons were given to the community as a whole to use.

A dozen of the women also turned up pregnant. That was announced at their first bonfire dinner together to much applause. Apparently, they had found interesting ways to pass the time during the long winter. Doctor Brown checked each lady, then had her husband check her since she too was pregnant. They pronounced that all were healthy though slightly underweight and malnourished. They needed vitamins, including vitamin D that came from sun exposure.

“And I am so looking forward to the end of the morning sickness,” Doc grumbled. “I so wish we had some Saltines,” she said wistfully.

“I've got one box left. How badly do you want them?” Victor said, eyes lighting up. “Heh, we could have bidding war between you pregnant ladies!” he said. Doc just shook her head.

There were some questioning looks to John and Loni. But her cold shoulder told the community that either the two hadn't gotten over their differences, or they had but then broken up. Doc had delicately asked her if she was pregnant and had gotten her head handed to her as a response.

When it was warm enough, Loni moved back into her hut. John didn't say anything in protest. He went back to work, setting his place and the community to right again. She found herself in a bit of a dilemma as she worked on her sad hut. She wasn't sure if she was angry about his indifference or not. And she wasn't sure why she cared one way or the other.

She dived into the shearing project. It was hard work wrestling with the beasts, getting them down onto their sides, bawling and generally having three shades of a snit fit. But the job had to be done, and eventually all thirty of the animals had been sheered to their bare skin. The fur was judged as excellent wool, so it was stored for later weaving.

While the women and some of the men were doing that, Adam and others harnessed the Hadrosaurs and horses to the carts and plows and got to work on the fields. The muck that had piled up in the compost piles was spread all over the gardens and fields.

When that was done Loni pitched in to plant the farms and gardens. She showed her worth with knowing plants and how to handle them. She was gentle and as knowledgeable as Wendy was. Both women had them use plastic sheets and spare glass to form greenhouses for the babies to give them a bit of a better head start.

She was good at weaving and had woven many things in the previous year. Her long fingers danced quite aptly when she had the right material for them; she'd regretted not having anything all winter. Loni made reed mattresses, also baskets, mats, and other things. She helped Miranda and Yung Lin make paper when the spring rains kept them from outdoor activities.