The Thinking Rocks (10 page)

Dola looked up at Cano and asked,
"What are we going to do with them?"

Cano could see the concern on the
little boys face.  He wasn't sure how to tell him the fate of the
pups.  "We will keep them around and feed them left over food and
bones.  We'll see how they act around people.  If they can be used
for anything---well, we'll wait and see.  If they don't work out—we'll see
about that too."  Dola was a little confused, but the pups were
interesting and he did need to get them to Gennos.  With a big smile on
his face, he started gathering up the pups.  "I'll get them over
there right away."

Cano saw Ceola coming across the
clearing.  Life is good, she is so pretty.

She spoke first, "I see you had
a good hunt, it looks like it was a big wolf.  Where you in any
danger?"  She had a look of deep concern on her face.

He took a breath before
answering.  He thought about making up a story about a big fight but
decided against it.  "There was little danger; the she wolf had been
in a fight and was near death.  I followed her to her den.  She was
returning to her puppies.  She was dead when I got there."  He
paused before continuing, "I would love to tell you a story of how
difficult it was to bring her down, but I will never lie to you," he took
a deep breath and looked into her eyes and added "I will always speak the
truth to you."

She smiled at him with her eyes and
said, "And I promise to be truthful with you."

Neither of them wanted to leave the
other, but they couldn't think of anything to say.  They stood smiling at
each other.

Dola came running back and called
"Gennos is making a den for the pups.  I heard Koonai talking with
Gennos, he said that all the hunters would leave camp tomorrow to hunt
mammoth.  Can I go Ceola?  I'm big now," he asked breathlessly.

Ceola looked away from Cano
reluctantly, "No, not this time.  However, you are getting to be
big.  Maybe you can help Gennos with the pups.  Would you like
that?"       He was disappointed, but the
pups where a major attraction.  Besides he knew they wouldn't let him go
on the mammoth hunt.  "Okay, I'll help with the pups."  He
turned and ran back toward Gennos and the pups.

"I must
go now."  Cano said as he picked up the meat from the ground. 
"I will bring you something special from the hunt tomorrow."

She
smiled shyly back at him "I may have something for you when you
return.  Something very special."  She turned and walked away
with a provocative sway to her hips.

The six hunters left the camp early
the next day. They carried their weapons and some water in skin bags. Moki had
found fresh mammoth tracks and was leading them to where he thought a small
herd would be feeding.  All where experienced hunters and moved over the
uneven ground and rocks as quietly as a gentle breeze moves across the water on
a pond. By the time they had reached the freshest tracks, the sun was almost
overhead. It was hot and still and they were all sweating heavily. The only
signs of life they saw were an occasional vulture or a lizard.  As they
moved down the gentle slope into a valley, the leader of the party, Hedra
motioned that he heard something. The group came to a quiet halt and they all listened.
The faint sounds of mammoths feeding soon came to their ears.

Hedra motioned them to gather around
him and he began speaking in hushed tones. “Menla, I want you and Cano to move
down and separate a calf from the herd. We will hide on each side of these
trees. You will drive the calf this way; we will kill it as it tries to
escape.”

“Bana, I want you to strike the first
blow, go for the throat and strike deep. We need to bring it down
quickly.  The herd will come to the aid of the calf.”

“Moki, it will be your job to have
fire ready to keep them away. Have a small fire on each side of the
trees.  When the calf passes, light the fires and then join us in killing
it.”

The plan was a good one and had
worked before with minor variations. The mammoths were predictable. They were
huge and a man alone stood no chance of killing one.  The calves were not
only smaller they were also inexperienced. Usually they could be separated from
the herd if the hunters were skillful and they could be surprised. If they survived
youth, they learned that there was safety in the herd. The problems the hunters
faced were how to approach the mammoths without being detected and how to
separate a calf from the herd without being killed.

Hedra, Bana, Moki, and Loki worked
quietly to gather tall grass for their fire.  They were out of sight of
the mammoths and there was no wind to carry their scent.   There were
tall trees on each side of their ambush site.  They piled the dry grass so
that it could be ignited quickly, but also it would serve as a place to hide
until the fire was lit.

In the mean time, Menla and Cano had
moved off to the entrance of the valley where they could see the mammoths
grazing.  Cano liked Menla, because not only he was Ceola’s father, but
also because he was treated like an equal when they were together. He was an
effective hunter and understood the way of the woods and animals.  When he
talked people listened. If he did not have anything to say, he kept
quiet.  Some said he should lead the clan, but he showed no interest in
becoming its leader.  He cared for his family and provided for its needs
with a quiet competence.  Since his mate Tayla had been killed at the
river, he had lost his ready smile.

“Cano, if we are to separate a calf
from the herd we must be careful.”

Cano knew he was not talking to hear
his own voice.  The message was clear, move like a shadow and make no fast
movements or noise.

They crawled through the tall grass
at the edge of the large meadow. It was a large area, which was mostly grass,
but with a few small bushes scattered across it.  The herd of mammoths was
at the far end of the valley, almost as far away as a man could see.  The
leader appeared to be a huge female. The animals were too far away to be
certain of their sex or their status in the herd. However, the biggest was
usually a female.  They were spread out over a large area as they grazed.

Menla motioned Cano to move closer.
Speaking in a whisper he said, “They have poor eyesight, but their long noses
can pickup our scent easily.  To get close to them we must not be there.”

Cano looked at him questioningly.
“Are you saying that we must be there, but not be there?”

Menla smiled, “Yes, I’m glad you
understand.”

Cano was bewildered “Understand? I
feel like Loki in a turkey fight.  Please tell me how I can be there and
not be there.”

“If we are there and they know we are
there we are in trouble.  If we are there and they do not know we are
there, then we are not in trouble.  What we must do is to appear not to be
there.”

Cano slowly began to smile and to
understand. “I think I know what we must do, but I’m not quite sure how.”

Menla nodded “Our problem is not with
the mammoths, but with ourselves. We must understand what is to be done, and
then determine how to do it. Tell me what you think and if you are on the right
track, I will help you with how to do it.”

Understanding was a faint glimmer in
Cano’s eye, but it was getting brighter as they talked.  "They cannot
see as well as we can, but their sense of smell is better than ours. We must
not let them see us. That will be the easy part. Next, we must not let them
smell us; that will be more difficult."

Menla smiled “You are right on both
points. Now let us break the problem down. How can we have them not be able to
see us?”

Cano was enjoying this process. “The
easiest way not to be seen would be to look like something they are not afraid
of, something that they know is not dangerous.” An idea came to his mind, “Like
a bush.”

“Very good, we can cover ourselves
with small branches and leaves. This will solve the first part of our problem.
But what of the smell? How can we get rid of a smell?”

Cano thought about it but could not
see a way to get rid of something that was always there. He shrugged his
shoulders, “I don’t know,” he confessed.

“Good” Menla said.  “You will
make a great hunter; it takes a good man to say ‘I don’t know’. It is good to
look at the problem and try to determine the best course of action. Usually it
is plain to see what must be done, but sometimes you must ask for help. 
Today I am here and I can help.  Sometimes you will think you are by
yourself and there is no solution to the problem. Nevertheless, remember there
are many ways to do anything. Some are better than others are. Even if you
cannot see a way to solve a problem that does not mean there is no way to do
it. Look at the different ways there are to do a thing and let your mind look
at the different ways it can be done. But, and this is important, the perfect
way to do what we need to do may not be practical.”  Menla paused and
surveyed the positions of the mammoths before continuing. “The perfect way to
get that calf would be to have it walk back to our camp and die at our
fire.  We know that’s not going to happen. We must look at another way to
get the food we need. We hunt and kill. To do this we must get closer to them
without them knowing we are there. You solved the first problem about hiding
from their sight.”  Menla continued, “We can’t get rid of our scent, that
is a problem.  However we can cover up our scent with one that is
stronger.” A smile crept over his face.  “Any idea of how we are going to
do it?”

Cano thought for a few moments before
shaking his head.  Menla pointed to a nearby pile of mammoth dung. 
Cano looked at the pile and then back to Menla before shaking his head no
again.

Menla’s smile got bigger as he nodded
his head, yes.  Menla crawled slowly over to the pile and motioned Cano to
follow. He reached in, scooped up a handful of the dung, and began rubbing it on
his skin. “Don’t worry; I’ll leave plenty for you.”

The scent was so strong that it made
Cano’s eyes water.  As he moved up to the pile of dung, he looked over at
Menla and said, “I was enjoying this hunt up until now.”  He thought for a
moment before adding, “You know, there is a lot to be said for ignorance.”

Menla gave him a smile and then a
long look before answering. “Most animals like things that smell good. The
problem is that different animals like different smells.  It is true that
if you didn’t know about rubbing dung on your body, that you would smell better
to us, but not to the mammoth.  Today we fool the mammoth with his own
smell, and in return, we get to eat.  We trade one thing for
another.  We can choose to smell better to ourselves, but then we do not
eat. This is not one of the fun parts of being a hunter.”  He stuck his
hands deep into the dung and brought out a handful, which he rubbed into his
hair and face, then to the bottoms of his feet. Next, he applied it to his
knees and arms.  Cano thought he was done, but he reached in, got another
handful, and applied it to his armpits.  “Now I smell like a mammoth and
should not frighten them with my scent.  He smiled at Cano through a brown
stained face and then said, “Your turn.”

Cano held his breath as he applied
the dung as Menla had.  When he was done, he noticed his companion’s smile
had grown.

Menla motioned him closer, “Another
suggestion, before you see Ceola again, take a trip to the river. I don’t think
she would agree with the mammoths about what smells good.”

Cano could not help himself; his
smile grew to match Menla’s.

Menla said “We must now cover
ourselves with some branches that have large leaves.

They crawled around and shortly Cano
found what he thought was a suitable bush.  He held a branch up for
Menla’s approval, but Menla shook his head and gestured for Cano to crawl over
to him.

“The bush you picked is good, it
would hide your shape, but it is the kind of leaf the mammoth like to
eat.”  He pointed to another bush, “This has a strong scent and the
mammoth don’t eat it.”

Menla used his hand ax and Cano used
his new cutting tool to quietly cut some branches and tie them to their bodies
with strips of rawhide.  Cano also had a strip of braided snakeskin that
Ceola had made for him.  He used it hoping it might bring him luck.

As they worked, Menla continued to
explain his actions. “We must not look like danger; we will be out there when
they see us.  They should not see men, only bushes.”

After they had disguised themselves,
they slowly crept toward the herd for a better look.  Cano had to smile to
himself as he followed Menla along the edge of the meadow.  This is not at
all what he had in mind when he was younger and dreaming about being a great
hunter. The smell of the dung was so strong that he had to breathe through his
mouth. A swarm of small flies seemed to enjoy the stench and Cano had trouble
keeping still when he swallowed some.  They moved only when the mammoth on
watch duty was looking away from them.  Soon they were close enough to
determine the makeup of the herd.

The leader was the huge female they
had first seen. She was at least double his height at the shoulder and had
yellowed tusks longer than he was tall. There was a large slow moving male with
a broken tusk and a smaller male whose tusks had just started to push out from
beneath his trunk.  Another female appeared to be about the same age as
the young male. Most important of all, there were two calves that appeared to
belong to the big female.

They moved down the gentle slope
until they were in a shallow hollow at the edge of the meadow where the herd
was grazing. From their vantage point, they could observe the entire herd.
There were as many animals in the herd as he had fingers on one hand. He
touched Menla’s leg, when he turned to see what Cano wanted, Cano held up one
hand and pointed toward the animals.  Menla shook his head slowly and then
held up one hand and one finger. Cano frowned and then looked at the herd again
and saw the last animal, which had been behind the large female.  He
nodded and held up one finger and then his hand. Menla smiled and made a motion
like a snake crawling forward and then started creeping forward again.