The Trek: Darwin's World, Book II (The Darwin's World Series 2) (33 page)

Finished, Matt headed for where the carts were being made. Puzzled, he looked around but no one was working. It was very unlike Sal to be late. Matt headed back to camp.

No one was at the cook fire and that too was unusual. Matt heard noises coming from the south end of the camp so he walked that way.

The noise was coming from people, watching a fight between Tex and Sal. Sal was clearly unused to fighting with his fists; he was getting the worst of it. Tex was smiling as he punched and as Matt watched, Sal dropped to the ground.

Matt pushed his way through the people gathered around the two.

"This stops
now
! Tex, step back or you'll be fighting me."

"By golly, I'm ready! I'm plumb tired of people telling me what to do, what not to do. This one," and he pointed at Sal where he was now sitting up, gingerly feeling of his jaw, "told me a bunch of crap about getting in a fight with that other feller. Hell, it was only a friendly fight, like. No knives, not even a head butt. Just settled it like men, that's what we done!"

"Who was the other man, Tex?"

"Hell, it ain't none of your business. Like I said, we settled it like men."

"Who was it, Tex? I won't ask again."

"Wal, it was that Dominick feller. I tried to talk sense to him but he wouldn't listen."

"So you got in a fight with Dominick, and then you got in a fight with Sal too?"

"Like I said, it was just a friendly kind of discussion. I've been in cow camps where the boys done worse than this to kind of settle their breakfast. It ain't nothin' special."

"Pack your stuff, Tex. I want you gone by noon."

"You still think you're some kind of God, and I've had about enough of it. If I don't leave, you gonna get the tribe to fill me with arrows?"

"Why no, Tex. I thought I'd just see whether you were all talk or if you still feel like a little more action. So what's it going to be, Tex? Are you leaving, or do I need to encourage you?"

Matt reached down to his belt and began untying the thongs that held his cased knife and camp axe. He handed them to Colin and turned around. Tex had watched in surprise, but then a slow grin broke across his face.

"This is gonna be a pure pleasure!"

Chapter 30

Tex was quick. A straight left rocked Matt, but he managed to take the punch on his shoulder instead of allowing it to thump into his ribs. Tex's follow-up right cross carried a lot more force, but by the time it arrived Matt was moving away so the punch lost most of its power.

But the hits brought a welcome surge of adrenaline. Training, mastered half a century earlier downtime, came roaring back. Matt felt a quick spike of joy; this enemy he could face without help from anyone!

Forced back by Tex's sudden attack, Matt quickly regained his footing. An open left hand brushed Tex's right fist, pressing it aside so that it barely touched before continuing on in the direction Tex had intended, but traveling farther. Before he could recover, Matt launched a punishing strike with the heel of his right hand, delivered straight to Tex's forehead.

Half stunned, Tex tried to stumble back and regain his footing. Matt gave him no chance. A fast step forward, right foot now leading, and Matt's left hand powered in. He was able to change the strike from a modified spear hand, delivered with the fingers folded, into a punch that struck Tex in his unprotected solar plexus. Suddenly unable to breathe, Tex started to fold. Matt's follow up right cracked against Tex's jaw and he went down, unconscious.

Matt immediately realized that Tex was unable to breathe. Dropping to his knees, he pressed down on Tex's ribs, then did it again. Tex gasped and began to breathe normally as Matt stood up.

"Elizabeth, he might need a little more help. But I doubt he's hurt bad."

"Lilia, can you give me a hand?" The two women bent over Tex. He wasn't fully awake but was beginning to stir.

Matt was still feeling the effects of the adrenaline. He turned his anger on the circle of tribespeople who'd watched the fight.

"You people stood there and watched a responsible member of your community be attacked! And did
nothing
to help him! Suppose I hadn't been available? What would have happened? The next time it might be
you
, and it might not be a man but an animal. Suppose Sal decides to just watch while a dire wolf is gnawing on your leg?

"Get your asses back to work,
now
!"

Cowed, the tribespeople wandered back to the cook-fire. Lee caught Matt's eye and winked. He understood; a valuable lesson had just been administered. The tribe would act next time instead of simply looking on.

Matt watched the two women working on Tex. Finally Elizabeth stood up.

"No real serious injuries. He might have a couple of teeth loosened, but there's nothing I can do. They'll either reseat themselves or he'll lose them. Maybe it might cause him to rethink the 'friendly fighting' he mentioned. You didn't spend a lot of time, taking him down."

"Elizabeth, that's as friendly as I know how to fight. Two of those blows could have killed him if I'd changed them just a little. I don't know if he's aware of that."

"We'll point that out when he wakes up. We'll get him back to the campfire, Matt. Do you really intend to force him to leave? He's probably not going to be in shape to defend himself for a day at least. He's got bruises already forming, and he may have a concussion."

"No, let him stick around until he's recovered. After that, it depends on his attitude. If he uses his fists on another member of the tribe, I won't take it easy on him. He'll remember the next lesson a long time...if he survives it."

"I'll tell him, Matt. Now let me take a look at your face."

"I'm all right, Elizabeth."

"I'm sure you are, but I've got a wash with some herbs in it to clean scratches and scrapes. You've got a good one on the jaw and cheekbone. Looks like the skin is split over the cheekbone."

"OK, I might have a bruised shoulder too. Nothing much. Go ahead and wash the cut and I'll get back to work."

#

Matt left the kitchen area with Sal's crew. They were soon at work, some sawing wheel disks and others splitting boards from a log. Two men were whittling pegs from a dried oak branch. The pegs, used in the boxes that held salt, nuts, and a few other things, had proved durable. Similar boxes would keep cargo in place on the carts.

The boxes would be needed. Some of the pottery being turned out now resembled ancient Greek amphorae in shape. Unlike an amphora, these vase-like containers didn't have the ring-shaped handles molded in to the neck. Instead, the containers had larger flat bases for easier transport in the carts. They now held dried fruits and vegetables, sealed against insect or rodent damage by carved plugs. The plugs in turn used rawhide and beeswax for a gasket, keeping the contents of the jug dry and safe; this also kept the wooden plug from cracking the container by absorbing moisture and swelling. Usually.

Some of the dried material was already being used. Breakfast now featured pancakes made from acorns.

The acorns were shelled, then placed in boiling water to remove tannins. The water was poured off...at some point, it would be used to tan leather...and the nut-meat dried and ground into flour. Served with honey, the pancakes made a welcome addition to breakfast.

Dried persimmons and mulberries also filled some of the containers. Matt recalled the tasty hot drinks that Lilia had prepared from dried berries and honey. They'd be very welcome during the next winter!

But the accumulating fruits and nuts added a concern; summer was ending; the tribe needed to move on. Hopefully the carts would be finished by the time Lee returned. The men were working as fast as possible. The real limit on cart manufacture was the lack of available steel tools. The few they possessed needed frequent sharpening and were now showing other signs of wear.

Perhaps they could find iron ore, even coal? Some of the former captives they'd rescued professed to know how to smelt and refine iron. Even if coal couldn't be found, it should be possible to extract iron from the ore by using charcoal.

But it would have to wait. For now, the priority was getting to a place where they could build defensible structures. They would need shelter, food, a dependable water supply; there was still so much to do. And winter would be on them soon, whether people were ready or not.

#

Lee arrived that afternoon and brought a group of a dozen people with him.

"What happened, Lee?"

"Matt, the slavers are back. Not those we fought, but the ones they were selling to. They've been sending out their own raiding parties, taking one or two people at a time. They usually snatch young ones, sneak in and are gone before people can react. But one bunch ran into a group of hunters from a small town south of here and there was a fight. A few of the people I brought in escaped, the others are the ones who fought the slavers. The escapees joined the hunters and they were heading north, away from where the raiding party had been going, when we found them. There were still raiders alive when they broke off contact, and the ones who'd escaped just wanted to get away without leading the raiding party back home.

"They know a lot more about the country south and west of here than I could have found out, so I brought them to you. They're pretty hungry. My scouts shared what food we had but it didn't go far. I figured it was better to bring them here rather than go hunting to feed them. There's no telling where that capture party went after the fight, and only a few of these folks still have spears. The rest aren't armed at all."

"We can feed them, Lee. Why don't you see Margrette and get enough for them and your guys? I suspect you're hungry too, since you gave the refugees your food."

Lee nodded. "I could eat. But they needed the food more than we did."

#

Matt visited Piotr's work location. He was there now, patiently crafting arrows. If he'd even been present during the fight, it hadn't taken him long to resume work.

Piotr had accumulated a stock of large feathers from tribe members and several flint chunks for raw materials. He now spent his mornings finding suitable arrow material, straightened the shafts in the afternoon, then chipped points before assembling everything into arrows.

"Piotr, you need a couple of assistants."

"I like the work, Matt. I get out in the mornings and the arrows I'm building now are good quality. Bows, too; I've built quite a few and I've got a supply of sinew for bowstrings."

"Nothing wrong with your quality, Piotr, but we're going to need more than you can turn out working alone. Lee just brought some new people into camp and they'll need weapons. I think we need a larger reserve, too. It looks like we're going to be in a fight. The slave raiders are gone, but the people they sold to are back. They're sneaking in and picking off a few here and there from towns and the only way to stop them is to make it really expensive.

"If they lose a few raiders every time they come north, they'll understand that it's not worth it. So we're going to need a lot of arrows. Maybe you could do the chipping and let someone else bring in raw materials, maybe do the assembly for you. Could you do that?"

"I guess so, Matt. If you can find me a couple of people, I'll do what I can."

#

The newcomers were waiting at the cook-fire. Margrette and Colin were slicing fresh steaks from a bison that had just been brought in. Callie and a few other women were roasting the meat on skewers. Two loaves of bread, produced from flour made by grinding ripe grain seeds and nuts, were waiting.

The first meal would be simple, meat and bread. The strangers wouldn't complain.

Some of them could help Margrette prepare the next meal. As for the rest, Matt would see where they could be most useful.

Some might not fit in, but the people they'd rescued from the slave raiders had proved valuable additions to the tribe. Hopefully, these would too. Eventually. For the moment, hunger was uppermost on their minds.

Matt quietly got the attention of Colin, Lee, and Lilia. Motioning, he walked away from the campfire. The others joined him in a few minutes, Colin wiping his hands on a ragged piece of deerskin as he came.

"Didn't have time to wash, Matt. That soap works but it's pretty harsh. Maybe the next batch should have less lye, more fat."

"We can pass it on, Colin. But right now I wanted to talk about the people Lee brought in. We've had good luck with the others that joined us after that fight with the slave raiders. I think we should try the same approach with the new ones.

"I'll talk to them about the area they've come through. Lee, we need to work up a route to follow if they have enough information, otherwise you're going to have to put out extra scouts every day. They'll need to bring us information about camping spots, water, hazards, whatever we need to know so we can plan the day's travel. You're the one in charge of scouts so I want you in on those discussions. You'll also need to assess the new people’s weapons skills, if any. They'll need replacement weapons and training whenever we can find the time.

"Colin, see what jobs they can do. You'll know better than I what needs doing. If any of them can help Piotr, he could use a couple of assistants. I don't know if Sal needs help, but an extra pair of hands is always welcome. You can ask him what he needs to get things moving faster. It may not be possible, but you can at least ask.

"Lilia, find a place for them to camp and see if we can get them bedding. Put up temporary shelters, but don't spend a lot of time on it. I want to be away from here as soon as possible.

"Plan on every trained bowman, and that includes the women, being armed all the time now. Pass the word about what happened, tell everyone to be careful. If the capture parties decide to travel up this far, I don't want them to grab any of our people."

"What happens if they do, Matt?"

"I don't know, Lee. My first instinct is to go after them. At the same time, I understand that my responsibility is to the tribe. I can't leave them undefended. It could take a week, two weeks even, to catch up to the snatch party. There's no guarantee of success either; we could waste a lot of time and never catch them."