The Trek: Darwin's World, Book II (The Darwin's World Series 2) by Jack L Knapp Page B

little nearer to the river.”
    “I don’t see any tracks. You’re sure this is the place?”
    “I’m sure. Look, here’s the bloodstain I found. But the tracks are gone. There were tracks of three men before, and there were drag marks down by the river.”
    “We’ve had a little rain.”
    “Not enough to wipe out the sign, not everything I saw. I think someone’s been here, maybe swept the tracks away.”
    “Well, the bloodstain’s not very big. Tracks are easy enough to hide, but blood sinks into the dirt. Who would hide the tracks?”
    “It had to be Pavel. He’s been here. No one else would have a reason to hide the tracks.
    “I found your bow and quiver and hung them in the tree before I went south. That was a day ago, yesterday about noon. It’s after noon now, so Pavel could have been as much as a full day behind me. I followed the river south and killed that fawn just before I found you. Pavel must have wiped out the tracks while I was hunting.”
    “Lilia, I wonder if he’s still around? Could he have been tracking you?”
    “Matt, it’s possible. I didn’t tell anyone but our family group where I was going, but there aren’t many people in the tribe and my absence would be noticed. Pavel would have realized I was gone when I didn’t show up for rear guard. That’s what I had been doing, follow along behind everyone else so I could help stragglers and make sure nothing dangerous caught us from behind. I helped around the camp too, whatever needed doing; he would have noticed that I wasn’t around.”
    “Would Pavel come alone? You said he had two men with him before when he came back to camp. Maybe he brought the others with him this time too.”
    Lilia thought for a moment.
    “He’s part of a group. He’s the one they look to for answers. Two of them are women, and there are four men plus Pavel. He could have brought all four of the men but not the women. They have friends among the rest of us. He wouldn’t have told them what he was planning for fear they’d tell someone else.”
    “So; maybe five of them. Well, we’ll just keep our eyes peeled. How far ahead do you think the tribe is?”
    Lilia thought for a moment.
    “They’d have been going west while I looked for you. For your body,” she said ruefully. “But they weren’t moving very fast. I think we can catch them in two days, maybe three at the most. We can cut across country until we pick up the drag marks.”
    Matt nodded. “We’ll need to be careful. If Pavel’s out there waiting, we don’t want him to see us before we see him.”
    “I thought about that, Matt. You’re quiet, so am I. Pavel’s bunch are like mammoths, they just blunder along. Unless they’re hiding and waiting, we’ll see or hear them before they see us.”
    “OK. We’ll stop early just to make sure we see them before they see us. We don’t have much to eat, though. If we see a deer or maybe a pig we should stock up on food.”
    “Let’s go ahead, Matt. We’ll stop after lunch, eat the last of the fawn, then you hunt while I pick a few greens. I’ve seen dandelions, wild onions too. I’m sure there are other things.”
    “Sounds good. Let’s go.”
    Matt glanced at the sun to establish direction, then looked where the wind was blowing. He adjusted his course slightly to move across the westerly breeze, which barely stirred the new leaves on the trees. Moving with his usual caution, Matt led and Lilia followed.
    #
    Pavel found the tribe where they camped by the stream. He slipped closer and watched as the tribespeople prepared for a long stay.
    He took care to remain well concealed as he slipped away and went to find his men.
    “They’re having supper. For some reason, they’ve decided to camp here. Some are already putting up shelters.”
    “You think they’ve had trouble, Pavel?”
    “I don’t know, Gregor. But Lilia’s not with them.”
    “Maybe a lion or something got her?” 
    “No telling, Nik. We’ll watch the back