At dawn, when the fog was still thick, Tor rode with Borg in his finely crafted boat made from a single monstrous log so that it was twice the size of Tor's. Still, its shape and buoyancy allowed it to slip through the water faster than Tor's in the face of the onshore wind. He observed every bit of it, taking in the way it was constructed so that it could take on the sea. There were outriggers on both sides that also made it more buoyant and made it nearly impossible to tip over. A very water worthy craft.

On a boat slightly smaller, Shea rode with Mara. For some reason, Shin had decided to ride with them, perhaps the way that women smelled. Tsen, as usual, followed along the shore. But the fog was quite dense and sometimes he only had his sense of smell to keep up as he ran against the wind and its varied smells from the boats and salty air. He thoroughly enjoyed the soft sand under his hooves and the frequent water crossings. Some that he could wade and some that required swimming. Now and again, tasting the very strong taste of salty water on his lips for the first time. He knew instinctively, not to drink it. Not like a salt lick, at all.

Up ahead, in the fog, they could hear barking like dogs. Shin grew anxious as Tor grew curious. When the breeze parted the fog, it was a group of seals resting on the bank. Curious creatures, Borg explained. "Seals are our primary source of food. They are very fat to ward off the cold ocean. That fat has many uses. Their meat is very good to eat, and their skin provides us with almost everything, it is quite thin, but very tough and lasts a long time for many uses. Like our sail…" He pointed to a pile of folded seal skin in the middle of the boat.

"Seals are very awkward on land, because they only have flippers… Can you see? But in the water they are excellent swimmers, and being animals, seals have to come to the surface to breathe, unlike fish. That's when we spear them, when they come to the surface or when we sneak up on them on the land."

As they came close enough to the seals to watch them, the seals suddenly all began waddling to the water to dive in. Tsen had trotted in on them, scaring them greatly having never seen such a beast. Tor and Borg laughed loudly. And then, they heard the girls, right behind them, screaming and laughing, too. There would be no hunting seals, today.

The sun quickly drove the fog away and the onshore breeze picked up even more as they reached the point where the lead they were on tangled with the sea as the tides came in and went back out, something that Borg tried to explain to Tor but he was having trouble understanding. All he saw was the waves generated by the wind. Tides were beyond his perception. At least, for now.

Up ahead, they could see white surf from the ocean. The bottom of the river became very shallow and turgid the closer they got to that pounding surf. Borg got busy and pulled from the boat bottom a vertical pole that he quickly lashed to the side of the boat with rawhide. The pole had a seal skin sail attached to it with a cord on the end. From the back of the boat where he sat, Borg could use his paddle as a tiller and by moving the cord from right to left catch the wind in the sail any direction he chose.

Soon, without paddling, they were sailing against the wind into the surf. But when they reached it, Borg told Tor to paddle hard until they broke through the waves onto a calmer sea further out. He thought it wouldn't happen as he dug his paddle deep and the waves came over the bow of the boat, soaking him, but before he knew it, they were out on the ocean moving up and down on huge waves that had not yet broken on the shore.

Behind them, the other four boats had pulled off to the beach and not tackled the waves to get where they were. "Why aren't they following us?" Tor inquired.

"They are not strong like you and I with the help of my sail. And they have a healthy respect for the ocean. What with sea monsters and all of that here."

"Sea monsters? Have you seen them?"

"Some are very real, like sharks and whales. I will show you. But I have seen wash up on the shore, a huge creature almost as large as a whale, with many long tentacles like snakes with round suction cups for grasping like some of the smaller creatures we catch in our nets, squid and octopus. These monsters have huge eyes and a great beak like an eagle to catch anyone that would fall in the water and eat them. Why we don't swim here. Too dangerous."

"But these sharks and whales, what are they?"

"I will show you. You have seen shark skin and teeth in our home. Whalebone and teeth, too.”

"Yes, they are very large teeth. Larger than any land animal."

"Some whales have teeth, most don't. And they come in all sizes. I'll show you."

They didn't have to wait long because Borg knew where he was sailing. Up ahead, on the shore was a huge pile of bones, stretching for such a long distance that it amazed Tor. Those bones were much larger than the teeth of some huge ancient creature that formed part of the sides of his family lodge.

"What is that?"

"That is the bones of the very large whale that was beached two cycle of seasons ago that we found when it was still alive, but dying. It's great eye seemed to be pleading with us, so we killed it, hating to see it in such misery.

"And then, we called everyone from our camp to come and began carving the best whale meat. While we were working and taking huge slabs of meat and fat we call blubber from it, many eagles and vultures circled overhead and bears, even the great white ones, were closing in. We had to leave or have to fight them and the wolves who were also howling in the distance.

"I can't imagine that much food from one animal. Does it eat fish and taste like fish?"

"No, it's huge mouth is covered with thin bones that allow only very small creatures to enter and that's what they eat. Their stomachs are full of it. It is good to eat, too, makes good soup. And whale like this tastes very much like other animals but the meat is very fat and nourishing. You ate some at our welcoming feast."

"You mentioned a great white bear? Is it like a cave bear?"

"No, it is very large but not that large… Still very dangerous on land or ice in winter will. We have only been able to kill them in the water and they are very fast swimmers. It takes many arrows. Sometimes they sink with our precious arrows. When they wash up on the shore, they are not good to eat, spoiled. But we can get our arrows back." He chuckled.

With a strong tack, Borg was sailing their craft rapidly toward a rocky point ahead that jutted out into the sea. In the distance, Tor could see large bodies moving and many seabirds flying about. But before they got there, they saw some familiar creatures just ahead.

"Those are sea otters. They have wonderful fur, but we hate to kill them, they are so playful."

"I have seen them on the river. You are right, they sure are playful."

"I have taken you this far so that you can see the walruses. They are very large, belligerent and ugly creatures, but their meat is also good if we can kill one. It is very difficult because they are so strong and can be dangerous. Can you see their long white tusks?"

They soon approached so close that Tor could see the huge lumbering bodies, hear them grunting, belching and roaring at each other as they seemed to all vie for a space to lie in the sun. Amid them were smaller female and babies who seemed in peril of being rolled over on all the time. Some were seen entering the surf, while others were returning.

But something over his left shoulder caught Tor's attention… Dorsal fins!

Tor yelled over the loud walruses and the wind, pointing. "What are those huge beasts! Are those sea monsters?"

"That's another kind of whale. Smaller than the one whose bones you've seen. We call them orca which means, "killer," because there is no other animal in the sea, not even the greatest of sharks, that compares to their killing ability. But they will not attack us… fear not.

"Can you see that they are black-and-white and beautiful. They love to play with their prey… Look! Can you see they are playing with a seal they are going to eat right now! You are very lucky to have seen this. We have found them dead on the shore and have tasted their meat as well, but different from the other great whales. There are so many, sigh."

Borg turned the boat around and reset the sail so that they were returning the way they came.

Once again, up ahead, Tor saw dorsal fins. These were smaller.

"Borg, are those fins up ahead? Your sea is filled with wonders, not monsters…"

"Those are sharks. They are also here for the seals or fish that swim in the surf. Once in a while we spear one and eat it. A very good fish to eat with a lot of meat. There are some that swim up the river all the way to our camp. They are very dangerous and we have to watch our children swimming. All good things come with some risk."

"I agree. I thank the gods for the bounty of the earth. But I can't believe the bounty of the sea. The gods have blessed you greatly! I can see why you want to live here with year-round provisions like this."

All of a sudden, Tor saw the dorsal fins again. This time, they came in close that he could see the creatures jumping alongside with their eyes on him as they did.

"What are these! More sharks?"

"No, Tor, they are our friends. Sea gods. You are so fortunate to see them today. They must like you and your visit. Can you hear them talking with clicks and squeals? Sometimes they help us when we are in danger chlorine fog and we can't see."

As quickly as the dolphins came, they disappeared.

Soon, they were back at the place where the river met the surf again and the onshore breeze quickly took them upriver to the point where the other boats were dragged on up on the beach. The men and women were returning to the boats with what they found.

Mara showed Tor what they had already gathered…

"The shorebirds, geese and ducks are laying their eggs now so we have many today. Also, many young birds that can't fly. There were many turtle eggs and some small turtles that are a wonderful delicacy. The guys even caught a large turtle returning to the sea that we will make a banquet from tonight when we return."

Moving to another boat. "The storms have washed ashore many shells and we have picked the very best, as you can see here, for trading and making things. There is also lots of new driftwood that we are taking back to the camp."

And onto another boat. "Today we found lots of new clams, and some oysters. We have speared some fish in the surf and netted some shrimp. It's the best time of the year for all of these things. Here are some octopus, starfish and sea urchin. What do you think?"

Tor was flabbergasted. "I think you have the best place in the world to live. What wonders I have seen today." He turned his eyes to Shea standing close next to him and reached for her hand.

Shea smiled. "Yes, Tor, today opened me to a whole new world and makes me want to see more and more, cook and taste more."

Setting sail, the boats, all laden with their findings lazily moved upstream with the wind on their backs to the camp and another celebration fueled by the finding of the great sea turtle and all of its wonderful meat and fat.

Copyright 2021 © Ronald W. Hull

6/7/21