On the other side of the river I swung into the saddle of one of my horses and let Sarah drive, our wagon was the third in line. Sarah was more than happy with the smooth ride, her bond cat was sleeping on the bed behind her in the wagon. Little One liked to ride in front of me unless she wanted to sleep, if she got sleepy she would climb into her carrier.
It was a long day, the trail across the plains was clear with few trees close to it. The caravan master stopped by a few times and we talked. He said we would be stopping at what was called Caravan Keeps every night. We saw wolves a few times but they kept their distance and large herds of what I recognized as bison.
When we came within sight of tall walls I moved to the back of the wagon and unhooked the cart. I pulled it out of the way and put the handles in the loops beside my saddle. I thought to leave Little One with Sarah but she refused to leave me. I pulled the 450 express out of the wagon and turned away from the Keep.
While the wagons headed into the gate through the high walls, I headed towards a nearby herd of bison leading my horse with the cart behind him. I only glance back when I heard Jerome the dwarf stomping after me. I stopped a couple of hundred yards from the herd and waited for Jerome. I nodded towards the horse with Little One sitting up in the saddle, “Wait here.”
I moved to the side a little ways and knelt. I had been watching the herd and picked out a bull on the edge. The loud explosion caused my horse to stir but he had at least heard it before. The herd of bison stirred and began moving away. The bull I had been aiming at had dropped to its knees and then fallen over.
I put the big rifle on safe and moved to the cart. Little One was giving me a dirty look while Jerome had wide eyes. I set the rifle inside the cart and turned to lead the horse towards the downed bull. Jerome got himself together and hurried to catch up. We didn’t take long in skinning the bull and cleaning it.
We put everything in the cart and started back towards the Keep. I glanced back and saw several wolves coming out of the tall grass to feed on the offal from the bull. The inside of the Keep was strange, the walls were six feet thick. At each of the four corners there was a raised platform for a guard.
Jerome and I took meat for our own camps and the caravan master took the rest. Jerome didn’t even hesitate in rolling the large bull hide up and throwing it over his shoulder. We had gone slow while traveling so the horses had a chance to eat some of the grass. I had walked beside the wagon several times cutting grass with a long handled scathe and dropped it into the back of the wagon.
Little One wandered off with my directions to stay in the Keep. Sarah’s grey bond cat seemed happy to curl up on her lap after dinner and purr at her with pleasure. I checked each of the horses and the caravan master came by to give me my assigned shift on one of the watch towers. I slept fitfully that night and woke with relief when the camp guard came by to get me.
Watching the area outside with my night scope showed me why guards on the towers were necessary. I saw a couple of large cats as they made their way past the Keep and knew they would have been able to leap up and climb into the Keep. As the sun rose a mist followed and slowly the camp came to life.
We hadn’t been out of the Keep long when I saw a big cat coming out of the fog. It looked like a large mountain lion and it was heading for the lead horses pulling my wagon. I brought the new rifle up and fired in one smooth movement. The lion screamed as it stood up on its back legs and then fell to the ground biting at its side.
There was a few moments of panic along the caravan and gradually things calmed. I moved forward to the downed cat as it died. The caravan master and a couple of others appeared and then moved away. Jerome got there as I began to skin the lion and he immediately took the other side. It didn’t take long to finish and we rolled the skin up.
