The five of them journeyed on through the forest until it thinned a bit as the trail started upward into the high mountains for the first time. But there came a point, in raids past, and one is the name of one's when Tor's father always made a choice to take the high mountain trail to their destination. But on the return trip, when they had captive virgins to trade, they always descended into Gal for celebration and trading.

Tor was not in any hurry like his father had been to get to the valley of the Po to raid and then quickly return. They had items to trade and time to do it, so when the trail branched, he had them take the downward trail to the southeast, turning right. Rather than the upward trail to the east traversing the mountains ahead.

Tor pointed to the right and called out, "We will go down this trail to the land of the Gal. They will be willing to trade with us. Watch your step! It can be treacherous in these steep parts."

Going downhill would seem to be easy, but Tsen whinnied when he saw how steep and treacherous the trail ahead was. Pawing the ground a bit, he started slowly down the trail where Shin was having absolutely no problem, Shea was stepping carefully and Thad was skipping along until he caught a rock with his big toe, stubbed it and tumbled onto the rocks sliding three lengths of his body before stopping.

"I told you to be cautious!" Tor cried out. "You could fall to your death. You are a low lander. You must respect the gods of the mountain or the mountain will swallow you!"

All that Thad could say at first was to let out a groan as he sat by the trail hugging his leg with his right big toe nail sticking straight up, his right knee scraped badly and various other scrapes on his body that weren't as bad. Some bleeding, some not.

"I was just following Shin. He was a pleasure meeting ahead happily!"

"You are not as surefooted as a dog… Remember that."

Looking at Thad's toe, Shea asked, "Are you hurt?"

"My toe is killing me."

When she examined the toe Shea could see that it was already turning blue and swelling, so it could be broken. She carefully pushed the toenail back in place and then tied a bit of hide around the big toe and the one next to it as tight as she could.

Thad stood up and started limping down the trail, being very careful where he placed every step. Thankfully, he didn't appear to have any other broken bones and the bleeding scrapes soon stopped in the cold air.

Gal foragers spotted them first, and rushed back to the village. When the chief, Pier, heard about the three people and a huge beast coming down off the mountain, he felt he needed to take two of his best guards and go see them on the trail, in case the beast might wreck havoc with the village.

But could the beast be trained like a dog? Pier wondered, as he strode away from the village with two of his best men on either side and several others following.

Tor could see them coming and thought he recognized the man in the lead. To reassure them, he climbed up on Tsen and trotted out ahead of the others holding onto a handful of his mane with his right hand and patting him on his neck for reassurance and then waving. Tsen had done this before and was not cautious even though he smelled different people from what he had before.

Shin was so well-trained that he knew not to run out ahead, but rather, followed on the heels of Tsen.

As the two parties got closer, thinking he recognized him, Pier called out, "Is that you, Tsen? You haven't aged a bit! You seem to have gotten younger! What is that beast you are on!"

"I am Tor, Tsen is dead! You may remember me, I remember you! And this is my faithful horse, Tsen, named after my father to honor him."

"I'm sorry to hear that, but you and your party are welcome here just like your father was. Do you have a young woman to trade with us?"

"No, I do not. This is my wife, Shea. She will be doing the trading. And that limping lad is Thad, an adventurous young man I brought along for the journey. And my dog, Shin that I see is already making a friendly acquaintance with you."

Shin was already jumping up on Pier as though he were smelling meat. Tor called him off, and the dog sheepishly obeyed, impressing Pier with his command over the dog.

Tor dismounted and began walking alongside of Pier back to the village where a crowd of villagers was coming out to greet them and see the great beast they had never seen before.

"That is a fine looking woman, yours. My wife, Fran was one of those your father traded with us, I believe, before you came with your father. I have missed those captives. Good womanly stock. They have strengthened our growing village tremendously with their intelligence of farming and other ways…" He nudged Tor with his elbow to indicate what he really meant.

Tor smiled to indicate that he understood even though their languages were not always easy to translate. "Yes, they are formidable women. But Shea comes from a very resourceful clan at the very source of the mighty Rine River, our home."

Suddenly thinking of it, his face dropped. But not wanting to tell Pier what happened to his clan right away, forced a smile.

"That's why Thal are always welcome with us. We will celebrate tonight after we trade. My Fran is in charge and rightly so, she is so smart. She will lead in the trading and the banquet. You and I will guard the vin. We had a very good crop last year." Laughing loudly.

In the village the tables were quickly set up for trading. Tor had copper, seashell, shark's tooth, seal skin, obsidian, carved whalebone and walrus tusk to trade. And, of course, honey. Pier had his fabulous vin, truffles, eggplant and other crops and seeds along with weaving of fine clothing from the sinew of plants that was much lighter and cooler in summer than skins, yet durable enough to be washed by beating on rocks. There were also cooking utensils and pots to trade.

The trading went lively and everyone was satisfied with their trades. Gradually the traders left to prepare for the celebration that Tor and Pier had already started with the very finest of his vin from seeds that originally came from the valley of the Po.

The banquet began with Shea sampling all kinds of fruits, vegetables, cheese and wine that she had never tasted before. Tor, drunk on the vin, overate and soon found himself having to leave the company of Pier to find that terribly smelling place where he threw up his guts, only to come back and overdo it again.

In the meantime, telling stories to everyone in earshot of his adventures that amazed the listeners who lived their quiet agrarian lifestyles to the end without ever venturing into dangerous territory and encountering dangerous situations like bees, great cave bears--that Shea had to verify to make it more believable--whales, dolphins and sharks, most proven by items they traded like walrus tusk carved into a drinking horn. As if Tsen wasn't evidence enough that horses and other creatures like them existed.

When the drink overwhelmed them both, Fran led the way to their palatial abode filled with very well-crafted furniture like a giant bed with a straw mattress. Sated, they all fell asleep. But sometime during the middle of the night, Pier awoke feeling a woman next to him and began reaching for her. Finding that it was not his wife, Fran, did not stop him.

Awakened by his caresses, Shea, knowing that he was chief and that she had been raped many times, just relaxed and enjoyed what this man from Gal had to offer. Their lovemaking awakened Fran. Seeing what her husband was doing begin to touch Tor in a way that not only awakened him, but made him want more. Realizing what was happening to Shea, he gave Fran what she was looking for and she let him know how pleased she was when she involuntarily dug her fingernails into his back.

Morning came with them all hung over from the vin and sex that followed. It took them a while to emerge from the chief's home into the bright sunlight of mid day.

Suddenly, Shea realized that they had lost track of Thad. And then, she saw him, still giving rides to other youngsters off in the distance on Tsen.

She asked Fran, "Do you know where he was last night?"

"I have a good idea."

"What do you mean?"

"While your husband was telling tales last night, I saw him sneak off with two of my daughters."

"Are you worried about them?"

"No, or the other girl I saw go with them, one of Lena, my oldest, best friends."

With what was left of the day, Fran took Shea and showed her the Gal way of women's work.

Likewise, Pier took Tor on a tour of their vineyards and of their winemaking process. Filling great containers of fired clay. They also toured the grounds where young Gals trained to hunt and go to war.

The second evening began like the first, but Tor, this time avoiding getting so drunk, told his host that he would be moving on in the morning.

"I have enjoyed much and learned much from you, but we have other places we need to stop where I promised that I would return before we reach our destination. I hope you understand. I find your wife very charming, beautiful and wonderful to be with."

"That's why I married her. There was no equal here. I envy you for all you have experienced in your young life. I may venture out someday before I'm too old. But this place needs me to keep vital. Since you told me there will be no more hostages from you to trade, I will encourage some of my own people to travel to other clans to find husbands and wives."

"I hope that I have given you a son."

"Your Shea is lovely. Perhaps she will give you a son? Only the gods know."

"Only the gods know." Have they forgotten me? Tor thought, but didn't say it to Pier.

When they were packing up in the morning to leave, Shea questioned Thad.

"I worried about you when we neglected you. Were you okay? She slyly asked.

"I was off with two daughters of the chief and another girl, a friend. I don't want to go. That Lena is like no other that I have known. I want to be with her. I want to stay, but I want to go. I'm confused."

"Let me see your toe."

Thad sat down on the ground and lifted his right foot to her lap where she sat. Removing the hide, she saw that the toenail was gone. But the swelling was also gone and there was no bleeding except that where the bleeding was, was now black."

"Who cleaned it," she asked.

"Lena. I think I'm in love with her."

"You are too young and inexperienced to be in love. Continue on your adventure with us and then come back in a couple of cycles of the seasons when you have grown older, wiser and will be of great service to this clan."

Thad thought for a minute. "I see what you mean. She will love me even more if I come back experienced like Tor. Thanks for deciding for me. I'll go tell her now."

Before they left, many girls crowded around Thad for hugs and kisses. There was a tearfully exchange between him and Lena, but in the end, he rejoined the caravan again with everyone waving and yelling their goodbyes as they headed up the trail towards the mountains once again.

Copyright 2021 © Ronald W. Hull

7/21/21