The Trek: Darwin's World, Book II (The Darwin's World Series 2) (38 page)

“I saw tracks while we were lookin’ for those boats. I’m thinkin’ the buffalo and them mammoths and such from up north are gonna overwinter down here. There are already some big critters, down in the low places between the ridges. Some might go north in the spring but I’ll bet a lot of ‘em just live down there all the time, back in the canyons and the brush.”

“You’re going to have to fight, Tex. You’ll be close to where the raiders have been crossing. Lots of them, not many of you. They’ll be coming.”

“I reckon. But the feller that started that ranch, he had to fight. Comanches, Kiowas, local Injuns too. Soon as I get a few people that can ride and shoot, I’ll put them raiders out of business. Hosses can do more work than people for some things.”

“You’re smarter’n you look, Tex.”

“You too, Matt. Well, I need to get back to work.”

“See you later, Tex.”

“Later, Matt.”

Chapter 35

The tribe left the riverside camp a week later. Everyone except the people on security patrol pulled a cart. The scouts explored ahead and to the flanks of the march for a day, then swapped places with another scout, taking over the task of pulling a cart. All of the men now took a turn on security duty, even the new men adopted into the tribe after the fight near the seaway. If they weren’t yet the archers that others were, they continued to improve. The new people were motivated and practiced whenever time could be found; nothing like a spell of captivity to inspire enthusiasm for learning defense!

Tex had come through, horses and tack; Matt, Lee, and Laz were mounted now, riding in the morning but tethering their horses behind a cart in the afternoon. The system was working well. The animals rested and grazed as they followed the slow-moving carts.

José and Ernesto had gone with Tex, as had Callie; she’d made a last-minute decision to accompany him. Colin and Margrette were unhappy, but it hadn’t been their choice to make. In any case, she’d be close enough to visit the tribe from time to time. The horse Tex had been breaking to use as a draft animal, using the collar he’d made, pulled a cart loaded with supplies. Tex led this horse, Callie riding at his side, while Ernesto and José rode ahead of the small group, herding the remaining horses.

#

The tribe settled into traveling. A week passed, then another. Scouts had little difficulty killing a buffalo most afternoons and the tribe stopped for the day as soon as they came up to where the carcass lay. Occasionally they bagged a camel or llama, and twice they’d killed wild sheep.

The sheep were not like the domesticated animals of downtime; instead, they resembled Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. This variety might be ancestral to the downtime desert bighorns.

Matt wondered if the animals could be domesticated, but investigating the possibility would have to wait. First they needed a place to live, winter quarters if necessary but a permanent home if possible. A permanent settlement would include pasturage, fenced corrals and barns, all the things necessary to keep livestock. Possibly young animals could be captured? Matt schemed as he walked.

#

The rolling hills and ridges west of the river had given way to flat plains covered with short grasses and brush. Trees were smaller and farther apart, indicating less annual rainfall here than behind them to the east. Occasional knolls popped up, for no reason Matt could see. They were just there, most of them with a cap of limestone. Perhaps the knolls were the remains of what had once been level surface and the area between the limestone-capped knolls had eroded away.

Lee talked with Matt as they dismounted and tied their horses behind a cart.

“Mornings are getting cool, Matt. People are wearing their deerskins closed now instead of leaving them open.”

“I noticed. We’ve got a month at most before weather becomes a problem. I’d rather not push that long. Just as soon as I find a place where we can build, that’s where we stop.”

“People are looking forward to this promised land of yours, Matt.”

“Is that what they’re calling it?”

“Some are. Most everyone is tired of traveling. People spent last winter in houses. They weren’t great, but they were warm and they were ours. They want to spend winter in houses, not temporary shelters.”

“Lee, building more-permanent shelters will be the first thing we do. We’ll need to cut firewood after that, but we’ve got more help now than we had last time. If we can build shelters so that they share a wall or a pass-through fireplace that heats both rooms, we won’t need to burn as much wood to stay warm.

“The bison, what Tex called buffalo, are common around here. We should be able to kill as much meat as we can cure into jerky. As soon as it freezes, we can start hanging quarters of meat like we did last winter. They’ll stay frozen until we’re ready to cut them into steaks and roasts. For that matter, there are giant sloths and mammoths around too. I killed that mammoth as much by luck as skill, but with several of us working together, we can probably kill one or two of the bigger animals. It will give us a change of diet from eating buffalo all the time. Bears too; those thick bearskins make good sleeping pads, and they’ll make good rugs.

“The carts are already loaded with dried berries, nuts, vegetables and pots of honey. If we’re short of anything, it’s sleeping robes and hides we can make into leather for boots and heavy clothing. We’re also going to need more horse tack and reatas like the ones Tex uses.

“We should be able to get all the hides we need, as soon as we have time to make them into leather, but I don’t expect winter here to be nearly as bad as last winter was. We’re quite a bit farther south, away from any glaciers up north of here. Too, the seaway isn’t far away and that might help keep the worst of the cold away.

“If we find a place we can grow food and defend from enemies, someplace with a year-round supply of game, I’m ready to stop. A good water supply is important too. The first place that meets our needs, that’s home.”

“Might be a place like that when we get to the mountains, Matt. How far away are they?”

“Well, so far we’re just seeing a smudge on the horizon that might be mountains. I’m guessing they’re less than a hundred miles ahead. We’re making fairly good time, so I figure anywhere from ten days to a month of traveling. It will depend on whether we have to cross another big river or maybe run into a canyon that would force us to turn north. We know the sea is south of here, so any canyon or river is likely to get wider and deeper the farther south we go; that likely means going north, even though it’s not what I’m hoping for.”

“Matt, the horses are standing up well to being ridden. What would you say to Laz and me riding ahead, maybe two days on horseback going out and another two days back? By then we’ll have a good idea of what we’re facing. If we find anything, we’ll cut the trip short. I’m tired of traveling too.”

“We all are, Lee. If you two want to ride ahead, you can leave tomorrow morning. We’ll look for you four days from now. Just be careful of the horses. You’re riding better, but you’ve still got things to learn. So do I. We all need time in the saddle before I’ll feel confident in using the horses. Just be careful.

“You know what kind of place we’re looking for. If you find anything promising, look around for game, a place we can cut firewood, see if there is stone available for building. You know most of what I have in mind. By the time we get there, those two engineers and I will have a building plan that we can adapt.”

“OK, Matt. Well, I’ve got to go pull a cart for a while.”

“Me too. Talk to you later, Lee.”

#

“I’ll be glad when we can stop, Matt.”

“Me too, Lilia. We’re eating better than we did last year, but people are getting short-tempered. We can all use a rest. Once the village is built and we have supplies, we can laze around through the winter. I’d like to try making music again. What are you planning to do?

“Maybe make small clothing. I’ll need at least two sets.”

“Really? I know Sandra’s starting to show, but is there another pregnancy?”

“I know of one, Matt, me. You’re going to be a father.”

“Really? Wow...I wasn’t expecting this. Wow. You’re sure?”

“I’m sure. It’s not my first time, you know. I’m probably three months along. I didn’t want to tell you until I was sure.”

“Wow. Lee is going to be a brother. He’ll have a sister or brother.”

“Half-sister or half-brother, Matt. As soon as we develop paper, we can start recording births. List the name of the mother, and the father if we know for sure who it is.”

Matt was surprised, but then realized he shouldn’t be. Lee was seventeen or eighteen years old now, and the transplanted people might still be bearing children a century or more on. Assuming, of course, the futurist who’d told Matt what they’d done to his body was right, and they’d done the same thing to the women. It would require rethinking. Absent accident or attack, people might live indefinite lives on Darwin’s World.

Would the changes breed true, he wondered? Or would their genetics revert to what they’d been before as mutations built up over the years?

Matt had no idea. Time would tell.

#

Matt raised his head and looked east. Funny; there were no clouds, but that noise sounded like thunder. Well, perhaps something was going on over the horizon.

Sal was inspecting the carts as he did every morning.

“How are things looking, Sal?”

“Not bad, Matt. Wheels are holding up reasonably well, but we may yet have to go back to dragging stuff. At least we’ve got the horses now and they can carry a lot more on a travois than a human can. Did you hear that thunder?”

“I heard something, off to the east. But I didn’t see a cloud, did you?”

Both men looked across the trees. The sky had been clear, but now there was a thin line of condensation.

Sal looked at Matt. “That’s a contrail, Matt. Condensation forms after an airplane flies through supersaturated air. I think we heard a sonic boom.”

“I guess you’re right, Sal. So much for the futurists leaving us alone.”

“You think somebody else might have been here long enough to develop jets or rockets, Matt?”

“Maybe. But that’s not the impression I got from the futurist I talked to. The others, those miners, might have brought one here, but I doubt they’d have turned it over to transplants. Maybe they’re expanding their mining operation? They sent their own security force with modern weapons, at least a lot more modern than anything we had.”

“No way to tell. I guess we’ll just keep on going. I got to liking the idea, that this was our world to develop in our own way.”

“I hope they leave us alone, Sal. We’ll soon find someplace we can settle and build a town. Maybe we can start trading with others, barter what we make for what they can provide.”

“I agree, Matt. Long as they come peaceful, I’ll be glad to trade. Maybe even welcome a few more people into the tribe, but I don’t know if I ever want to see a city again. Maybe let the tribe grow, but as soon as it gets big enough to become uncomfortable we split off and start a new tribe somewhere nearby. I guess that’s what Tex is already doing. Sooner or later he’ll pick up another person or two.”

“Yeah. Well, I guess we just wait and hope for the best. Still, that aircraft worries me.”

“Me too. Well, I’ve still got a few spare wheels and none of these need replacing yet. That mix of wax and grease has worked well. Glad you thought of it.”

“See you later, Sal.”

Matt went to find Colin. Lee and Lilia would also need to know about the aircraft.

#

Discussions added nothing new. A single sighting provided too little information. Lilia simply nodded and went back to what she’d been doing. Lee briefed his guards to watch for strangers, but not to overreact unless they proved hostile.

Lee departed with Laz the following morning. Futurists or no, Matt needed information about what lay ahead.

Colin began keeping the campsites smaller and closer together when they stopped for the day. Whenever possible now, shelters were located under cover of trees and the cook-fire was doused as soon as everyone had eaten. Breakfast was cold food, most often leftovers from supper.

If the futurists wanted to contact them, the new tactics might make it difficult to find the tribe, especially from a fast moving, high-flying aircraft.

Even the carts left little evidence they had passed because people were careful not to follow in the tracks of the cart ahead. Of course, if the futurists had sufficiently advanced technology, the efforts might be in vain. Colin and Matt thought it worthwhile.

Time passed and Matt relaxed. Perhaps the futurists weren’t interested in a small, obscure tribe.

#

Three days later a scout returned to the tribe in late afternoon. He brought with him a man wearing an unfamiliar uniform and carrying a heavy rifle slung over his shoulder.

Chapter 36

“I met this fellow about half a mile back. I figured I should bring him to you.”

“Probably a good idea, Dominick. He cause you any trouble?”

“Not so far. He had some questions, but I decided you should be the one to talk to him.”

“Good enough. You can head back.”

Dominick nodded and turned away.

“So. Who are you and what do you want?”

“You can call me Chief. That’s my title, and it’s what people call me; I’m Chief of Security for Mine 23. You’re Robert, correct?”

“Robert’s dead. I’m Matt.”

“Sorry to hear that. You’re the one Robert hired to bring meat for the mine crew?”

“I did that for a while. Were you there when I brought in meat?”

“I was hired afterward. But Robert left records, and I’ve accessed them. A lot of people ended up being fired over that transaction and some others. The manager was passing out steel weapons and tools without permission, and no one ever accounted for the stuff. We can overlook that, except for the rifle. You’ve got that, and we want it back.”

“What makes you think we’ve got it?”