hunters laughed as well. Pell’s face turned red. He saw that even Boro was laughing! Gontra stared off into the distance, seeming embarrassed but evidently not about to intercede.
Roley strode back to where the three boys were standing and stared at Denit until even his son’s insolent grin had faded. “Hunting is serious business, for men —not for boys who play games! Do I need to send you back to the cave to play with the children ?”
Denit, stared down at the ground and scuffed his feet. “No Father.”
Roley turned on his heel and strode back to the front without another word. They started off again. Denit and Exen continued to put their heads together and giggle but no more loud taunts ensued. Pell wished that Roley had said something positive about Pell, instead of just coming down on Denit. The other time, when Roley had reminded Denit of Pell’s kill, Pell had felt a lot better.
Once they came out of the forest and onto the open flats near the great river, Roley spread them out in a wide, crescent shaped skirmish line as he had several days before. They moved forward at a steady walk and soon came on a pair of the large boars. Pell was at the left end of their line and began to surge ahead to swing their line around the boars into an encirclement. The boars didn’t seem to have noticed anything but then a great deal of shouting came from near the center of their line and the boars were spooked away. Pell thought surely someone must have been hurt and trotted toward the disturbance. So did the rest of the hunters but when they got close it was evident that Roley was trying to put them back out into their line again. No one seemed hurt. Pell asked Belk, who was next to him in the rearranged line, what had happened. Belk said that the healer claimed to have promised the Spirit Boar to spare the next boars they hunted in return for mending Gontra’s finger. Apparently it had been Pont who had shouted to spook them away. Roley had been angry at first but then had acknowledged that it was worth the loss of those two boars to have the spirits on their side.
Pell’s mind was in turmoil. Was Pell’s putting Gontra’s finger back in place really due to the healer’s ceremonies? How could that be? Why hadn’t Pont been able to put the finger back himself the first night if that was the case? Why hadn’t Exen stood up to Denit for Pell after Pell fixed his father’s finger? Just because Denit was Exen’s best friend and Denit hated Pell? For that matter why had Gontra come up with the story about falling into a bush and pulling his finger out OK?! He looked over to check his position relative to Belk. He cursed. While he had been daydreaming, the line of hunters had come onto a couple of horses. The center of the line had halted and the ends had started to curl around. Pell had missed Roley’s signals and had continued straight rather than curving around as he was supposed to. Since he was at the end of the line, no one had curved around in front of him to cause him to pay attention . He was way out of position! Roley was going to be furious! Pell was tempted to run to get back into position but, of course, running attracted attention and would almost certainly spook the horses. As quickly as he thought he could possibly get away with, Pell began slinking back toward his assigned position—if this hunt went poorly, Roley would probably beat him for his stupidity, he had beaten Bonat last fall for shouting at Boro during a hunt last fall. Beaten him so badly that Bonat had limped for days afterward. Bonat’s shout had spooked their intended prey at a time when everyone had been hungry and irritable after several weeks of poor hunting. At least this time they’d had good hunting for several days now, perhaps Roley wouldn’t be so angry—the sinking feeling in Pell’s stomach said otherwise though. He found himself trembling at a time when he needed all of his coordination to move quickly, yet
Roley strode back to where the three boys were standing and stared at Denit until even his son’s insolent grin had faded. “Hunting is serious business, for men —not for boys who play games! Do I need to send you back to the cave to play with the children ?”
Denit, stared down at the ground and scuffed his feet. “No Father.”
Roley turned on his heel and strode back to the front without another word. They started off again. Denit and Exen continued to put their heads together and giggle but no more loud taunts ensued. Pell wished that Roley had said something positive about Pell, instead of just coming down on Denit. The other time, when Roley had reminded Denit of Pell’s kill, Pell had felt a lot better.
Once they came out of the forest and onto the open flats near the great river, Roley spread them out in a wide, crescent shaped skirmish line as he had several days before. They moved forward at a steady walk and soon came on a pair of the large boars. Pell was at the left end of their line and began to surge ahead to swing their line around the boars into an encirclement. The boars didn’t seem to have noticed anything but then a great deal of shouting came from near the center of their line and the boars were spooked away. Pell thought surely someone must have been hurt and trotted toward the disturbance. So did the rest of the hunters but when they got close it was evident that Roley was trying to put them back out into their line again. No one seemed hurt. Pell asked Belk, who was next to him in the rearranged line, what had happened. Belk said that the healer claimed to have promised the Spirit Boar to spare the next boars they hunted in return for mending Gontra’s finger. Apparently it had been Pont who had shouted to spook them away. Roley had been angry at first but then had acknowledged that it was worth the loss of those two boars to have the spirits on their side.
Pell’s mind was in turmoil. Was Pell’s putting Gontra’s finger back in place really due to the healer’s ceremonies? How could that be? Why hadn’t Pont been able to put the finger back himself the first night if that was the case? Why hadn’t Exen stood up to Denit for Pell after Pell fixed his father’s finger? Just because Denit was Exen’s best friend and Denit hated Pell? For that matter why had Gontra come up with the story about falling into a bush and pulling his finger out OK?! He looked over to check his position relative to Belk. He cursed. While he had been daydreaming, the line of hunters had come onto a couple of horses. The center of the line had halted and the ends had started to curl around. Pell had missed Roley’s signals and had continued straight rather than curving around as he was supposed to. Since he was at the end of the line, no one had curved around in front of him to cause him to pay attention . He was way out of position! Roley was going to be furious! Pell was tempted to run to get back into position but, of course, running attracted attention and would almost certainly spook the horses. As quickly as he thought he could possibly get away with, Pell began slinking back toward his assigned position—if this hunt went poorly, Roley would probably beat him for his stupidity, he had beaten Bonat last fall for shouting at Boro during a hunt last fall. Beaten him so badly that Bonat had limped for days afterward. Bonat’s shout had spooked their intended prey at a time when everyone had been hungry and irritable after several weeks of poor hunting. At least this time they’d had good hunting for several days now, perhaps Roley wouldn’t be so angry—the sinking feeling in Pell’s stomach said otherwise though. He found himself trembling at a time when he needed all of his coordination to move quickly, yet
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