The Mender

Chasing Eland

Nat continued his vigil over Dara. When they first arrived at Flat Rocks, she seemed to get stronger thanks to Zura's teas and ministrations. Esri took two of the bones from the antelope and carved a little face at the end of each and gave them to Fenti-Dumu to give to Dara. On days when Dara felt better, she and Fenti-Dumu played with the bones. They pretended the bones were people and made up stories with them. Esri often joined the children, singing little songs about the bone people that made Dara and Fenti-Dumu laugh. But soon, most days, Dara mainly slept, only waking to eat. She kept the bone dolls nearby, within reach of her fingers.

Nat was consumed with grief for his mate, Marim. Though Barsa tried, he found nothing that could diminish Nat's sadness. Nat hardly mixed with the people at Flat Rocks. Sometimes he spoke at the bodefire, but his words tended to be unfriendly and distant. This was not the Nat that Barsa knew, the robust, joyful boy, then young man, who for so long was Barsa's shadow. Barsa understood how Nat felt. When Barsa's mate, Nat's mother, died, Barsa wanted to end his days and be with her but Nat needed him. And then Barsa saw that others needed him too and, in time, Barsa understood that though his life was not the same, he could still find joy and feel contentment. All that Nat could see was Dara's little ailing face. Barsa could not bear the thought of losing Nat.

The Flat Rocks bode was again relying on plants and roots to eat. Though some combination of hunters went out each day, since Kai and Esri's antelope kill, no one had managed to take down any large game. A few times they spotted tracks, but the animals were elusive.

One day Grayla and Jolam, the quiet couple from Barsa's group, came running into Flat Rocks with news that they saw eland tracks that looked recent. This time, Flat Rocks would make a hunting party as large as possible, spread themselves widely, and gradually corral the animals to a place where they could easily be taken down.

Esri ran over to Nat. "Come, hunt with us this time. Dara is sleeping and Zura and Wilki will look after her. She'll be fine."

"I can't leave her," Nat said.

"We need you on the hunt. Barsa told me you are a good hunter and we need everyone. If we kill an eland, it will mean better food for Dara too. Come, get your spear." She held out her hand.

"I can't leave her for a long time."

"You can come back if we are not lucky soon."

Nat was torn. He did want to go on the hunt. He tried not to admit it to himself, but he felt restless spending so much time in the bode. Before all the misery that happened to him, he was usually the first one up and out most mornings and often the last to lay down at night. He saw that the others from his bode now talked and laughed with the Flat Rocks people. It annoyed him initially as it felt like a betrayal, but lately he realized how much he missed the camaraderie of a tight-knit bode.

He promised Marim that he would always return to her. He couldn't allow himself to become too attached to Flat Rocks, yet these were good people here. He looked at Esri. He had never known anyone who made people smile as much as she did. He didn't take her hand but stood up. "Yes, I will come."

Barsa was pleased and relieved to see Nat join the hunt.

The hunting party gathered. The only people left at Flat Rocks were Zura looking after Dara, Nagar with the pregnant Wilki, and Saba, who stayed to help Nagar and also to be a runner to the hunting party in case anything happened. Fenti-Dumu was thrilled to be a part of his first big animal hunt and promised to be as quiet as Dagan, which made everyone laugh.

Tars organized the hunting group, putting the fastest at the far ends to quickly expand the line out and forward. Fenti-Dumu stayed near Tars, as he would have the best chance of keeping the excited boy from making too much noise.

They moved out rapidly and quietly, spreading apart as widely as possible while still keeping the person next to them within sight. Except for Nat, the others had talked about and practiced how they would hunt together, and Nat quickly fell into place. Esri started out between Kai and Nat, with Kai at the far end. Soon after they were underway, she had Nat switch with her as she saw the agility with which he moved. Next time, he should be an end runner.

They picked up the eland tracks and kept moving ahead with the end runners angling forward. Esri heard Nat whistle. He pointed far off in the distance. His eyes were zeroing in on something not yet in her range of vision. Then Kai whistled. Nat indicated to Esri that the hunting line needed to alter its direction, shifting more toward their end of the line. Esri communicated this to Piram on the other side of her and she could feel the shift of the hunting line. Kai and Nat raced further out and forward, and she followed their movements. Before long, she spotted the eland. There were about ten dispersed along the savannah, slowly grazing.

Dagan was the end-runner at the opposite end of the line. By now he had spotted the herd and was racing to get his end into position. Moving silently was of utmost importance now. Esri hoped that Tars would be able to contain Fenti-Dumu's exuberance.

The eland herd was nearly surrounded by the hunting line. As Kai and Dagan began closing the circle, they crept toward the herd to nudge them toward Tars and Piram without putting the eland into full flight. Piram and Tars, with Fenti-Dumu next to him, positioned themselves behind some shrubs and would make the first spear throws when the eland were close.

Sensing the movement and smells of Kai and Dagan, the herd nervously shifted their movements back toward the middle of the hunting line where Piram and Tars were positioned. The eland did not linger. The largest one sensed something was amiss and began running. The herd scattered and ran off in all directions.

Tars shouted, "Take them!" and spears were hurled. In the end two eland came down, two of the smaller ones. The herd bolted before the hunting circle could tighten up, allowing most to dart away in the gaps. Dagan's and Nat's spears dealt the crippling blows to the two that were killed.

Fenti-Dumu glowed with excitement. Esri hugged him for doing so well his first time on a hunting line.

Nat looked up and saw Saba running toward them. He raced to meet her and she called out to him, "You must come back, Dara . . ."

"Is she dead?"

"No, but Zura thinks it will be soon."

Before leaving, Nat spoke with Kai for a few minutes and pointed to a spot slightly away from where the hunting line had circled in. Then Nat hurried back to Flat Rocks. Saba and Barsa followed him. Nat was soon far ahead. The rest of the hunting party carved up the eland and prepared them to be taken back to Flat Rocks.

Running back, Nat anguished about leaving Dara to go on the hunt. He pushed himself to his limits and arrived gasping for air. Zura held Dara, gently rocking and singing to her.

"I will take her now. I should not have left," Nat said.

"She never woke up after you left. Her breathing changed and that is when Saba went to get you. We were always with her, holding her. Nothing would have been different if you had stayed here, Nat."

Nat sat still heaving for air, holding Dara in his arms. He could not imagine ever forgiving himself for leaving her when he did. Why did he agree to go on the hunt? Not only had he taken Dara to this strange bode, now he left Dara with these strangers while she was dying. He looked down at Dara's waxen face and heard her labored breathing. Barsa and Saba arrived and sat by Nat and Dara.

Holding Dara close, Nat's heavy breathing roused her and her eyes fluttered open. He brought her face close to his, "Dara," he said, and she murmured, "I want to sleep." Then she closed her eyes again and in a short while her breathing stopped. Her body began to cool. Dara was dead.

They wept. Nat continued rocking Dara, his face a mask of grief, his anger palpable when he spoke. "I should never have come here. Dara and I should have stayed and died beside Marim's grave."

A long, powerful moan came from the opposite side of Flat Rocks. No one was alarmed. They knew what was happening. Wilki was in labor.