Tor awoke with a renewed urge to get back on the trail and find his mother. His companions were eager, too. They made good progress that day and the next. But once again, the smell of burning mixed with rotting flesh in the hot summer heat had attracted flies, and predators of all sizes ranging from wolverines, wolves to bears, all gorging on what was left of the clan of the three surviving youngsters that Tor recently saved again. The sky above filled with eagles and vultures.

Since the settlement was set back from the river some distance, the trio was able to pass by without going through it, dealing with the carnage left behind. Tor had seen it before and didn't wish to see it again. He called out loudly, his voice bouncing off the trees and nearby cliffs, but got no answer, knowing that there probably were no other survivors who hid and got away. At least not any that stayed.

But there was evidence of how the marauders may have arrived and left. Their tracks were all over the muddy riverbank and it was obvious that they took the boats that the clan may have had and left by water. One, rather large, dugout boat was left there with five paddles, indicating that it was for the two men that he had killed and the youngsters. Meant to transport the trio to wherever the evil ones had gone. Tor was tempted to take that boat and try to find the clan but he was pretty sure that they hadn't taken his mother and he wasn't capable of dealing with a large force like that without help of some kind, other than his faithful steed and dog. How would I take Tsen?

Instead, Tor quickly decided to continue on his meticulous search of the river Rine and its tributaries for clues to where she might be… Perhaps a field of wheat or other planting that she was famous for. Something she learned as a girl from her childhood on the Po. Or other signs of her cooking or crafts. He was always looking. Wished he could have looked in that devastated camp. But the gods, the pestilence and the predators forbade it.

The Rine was much smaller now and so were the tributaries, but it still was a formidable river and there was much to search. After following one major stream to the end with out finding anything and coming back to the main river, Tor noticed something changing. Something sinister…

The trees were getting much older, much larger and the little animals that thrived in the sunshine were absent. So were the deer and other grazers because the huge trees that had never seen the wrath of a destroying wind or fire. Had not been cut down and burned by men like him. This was a place where the gods dwelt. He passed through on a narrower trail along the river for nearly a moon.

At night this dark place shed bats more than he had seen in the caves. Deep in the dark recesses he heard roaring that made Shin whimper and Tsen whinny. He shivered. They were deeper sounding than those of any forest creature and he never knew what those animals were because they never came close where the campfire could reveal them. Tor barely got any sleep worried about what else might be creeping up from the darkness.

There were more mushrooms. Some of them that Tor did not know could have been deadly. He didn't eat them. He was glad when he saw the forest open up again. And, on the next tributary, find a settlement. By then, the leaves were already turning and he would have to find a place to stay for the winter. No one he knew could travel through the winter and survive.

Once again, Tor's companions showed excitement as the sight and smell of wood smoke filled the air accompanied by the smell of food being cooked. Wanting to take a closer look, he once again tied both of them to trees so that he could get closer and decide whether or not these people were friendly enough to approach.

Using the dark forest on one side to hide his movement, he came upon the camp making an evening meal. There were only about 15 people in sight and they were mostly young people and children. He saw no white hairs among them… Strange. But they appeared very domestic and not at all warlike, so he returned to his worried and eager companions, freed them and walked into their camp, once again waving his hand in a universal sign of greeting.

Tor saw great curiosity in the eyes of the children who populated most of the camp. They couldn't believe his horse because they had never seen one. As they crept ever closer, a bit fearful, Tor gave reassuring words, but they did not understand anything of what he was saying. Their language was entirely different and only hand signals made any sense to Tor. But he got names. They called them out to him. As if to request something of him.

The oldest man who appeared to be only a few notches older than he stepped forward and raised one hand while pointing to himself with his other, indicating, "I am Alt."

Tor grasped his hand, pointed to himself and said, "Tor." He pointed to Tsen while patting his horse on his neck just below his ear. "Tsen." Then he pointed to his faithful dog, jumping up on him to give him a lick in the face for finally recognizing him. "Shin."

Immediately, as he looked over the clan, he noticed there were no dogs. And no white hairs. No elders at all. He took a piece of birchbark he used for starting fires from his bag and put it up under his hair and pointed, lifted his eyebrows and shook his head up and down as if to say, "Yes, you have elders?"

Alt responded by pointing into the dark woods and gesturing painfully, "Black Forest… Evil place. Takes our elders from us."

By that time, the children were coming up and petting Shin and fearfully touching Tsen to see what kind of animal he was. Tsen stood dutifully and endured it. He was getting experienced at this kind of adoration.

Tor pulled some meat from the back pack of Tsen and they all returned to the campfires where the evening meal was cooking. Tor noticed that the food contained mostly things gathered from the fields and small game. There were also two or three different kinds of mushrooms from the dark forest that he had not eaten for fear of poisoning. Is that why there are no elders… He wondered. Through much hand gesturing, he got his point across to Alt.

Again by hand gesturing, Alt basically told him that when his clan members started to have white hair, they were drawn to the Black Forest and would enter on a sojourn there, but would never return. He could not explain their need. He did not feel it, yet. And… they had a bigger problem.

Because of meager resources for fire, even though their encampment was next to the forest, they could not cut the big wood, so they spent their winters in a nearby cavern where they did not have to burn so much wood to keep warm. They did not have to deal with the ice and snow either. Only smoke, bat dung, snakes and bugs and little light except when they went out of the cave on nice days to hunt and obtain more wood.

But there was a problem this year in the cavern. Alt described it by standing up hulking over with his hands extended like claws and growling fiercely. Tor discerned that a bear had taken over their winter residence and they could not go there. Somehow, two of the previously eldest men died because of that bear. Alt asked another young man to play the part of a man while he played the part of the bear, scratching and biting him in mock fashion to show how those two men were killed.

Shown a hut to sleep in, Tor lay there with Shin, but couldn't sleep because his brain was processing the horror stories and trying to figure out what was going on, what was wrong with this clan where there were no elders and problems with staying alive through the winter and living next to the Black Forest.

And there was another problem. All of the women capable of having a child, and some even not old enough, were creeping into the hut to have sex with him. Once again, feeling obligated to the tribe, obliged some, the oldest, and sent the others away with slap on the butt. Still, once again, finding the comfort of a warm young woman on a cold night irresistible. But when they changed every hour like having some kind of an agreement for sharing him, he found it a bit irritating. He expected there might be squabbles over him.

But more explanation was needed to ease Tor's mind. He stayed in bed longer than he wanted, recovering from his night of trying to understand and fulfilling the need of these women to have healthy children the following spring or summer.

While eating the meager breakfast that the clan had to offer, he observed salmon coursing the river by the encampment to spawn. Gathering the young women around, he showed them how to weave a sinew net. They need not pass up this wonderful way to get a lot of food for the coming winter.

After that, he went to the dark forest and begin chopping on an ancient tree arm with his copper ax. By late in the day he had dropped that limb from a mighty tree. Enough wood to carry them through half of the winter. He showed the other men how to cut up that limb into manageable pieces of firewood. The gods were not angry with him, yet. A good sign, but he dared not venture beyond the forest edge where he was cutting.

When Tor asked about the bear, Alt gestured. "I will take you there but I will not go in. I value my life."

That night while Tor endured the women again, his thoughts were far from them, he kept wondering why this bear was any different from the several bears he had already killed in his young life.

Copyright 2021 © Ronald W. Hull

4/23/21