The fleet of ten boats sailed and paddled east and upstream with Tor and Huk's boats in the lead. It was quite a sight to look back and see all of the joyful faces on the heavily laden boats filled with smoked fish and meat from the sea and some heavily sea-salted foodstuffs as well. Meant as a surprise for the landlocked adopted Thal clan.

By midmorning, they reached the main body of the Rine and stopped to rest a bit and eat. Everyone was keeping up quite well in spite of some of them being quite young. They were all experienced mariners from their trips to the sea.

Sundown put them close to their other camp, but a storm was brewing and it was too dangerous to be on the water at night when the gods could be treacherous to travelers. Improvised shelters made from sails from the boats did little to keep the rainwater and cold off so that most were happy when  the wind had died down late in the night until the sun rose to warm and dry their shivering bodies.

Once again, by midday, they arrived at the encampment of the rest of the Danis, five strong. Two adult males, one adult female with a boy baby and one teenage girl about Tia's age with the baby girl. There was a great outcry and hugs all around as everyone got reacquainted and Tor and Shea were introduced by Huk to the eager residents. Of course, Tsen came galloping in to liven up the party a bit. By nightfall, everyone had been given a ride.

The next two circuits of the sun and moon were spent on the beach gathering more sea food and animals to take upstream for the winter and the Thal clan. Two boats would be towed containing only driftwood. Both for firewood and for carving implements and art pieces for trade and enjoyment. Two boats would be filled with additional food and would be towed. And two boats would carry the last five members of the Danis clan. As always, Tsen would follow on land.

And then, the next two circuits of the sun and moon were spent preparing the seafood, fish and meat, for packing and smoking or salting to preserve it for the trip. A bonfire was made each night and stories were exchanged between the residents and the newcomers to everyone's delight. The star of the evening was Tor with so many stories that seemed to be almost mythical after they had been heard and enhanced many times. The young people looked up to him in awe.

Humbled, Tor insisted that anyone could have done what he did. All they would have to do is be willing to travel and experience. But when others countered by saying, "But you had a horse and a dog to help you. Would we?"

"No, but you've had boats to explore the sea. Inland people will marvel at your experience with sea creatures like I have in the brief time that I have seen what you do."

Once again, everyone rose early and the camp was left abandoned but not destroyed. Thoughts of returning were on every Danis mind. But they were also up for an inland adventure to a place they had never been before. Reassured by having Tor lead the way safely. All were doubly pleased to learn that the evil ones were gone and would never return again.

Tor and the elders inherently knew better, but they wouldn't speak of it to the youngsters. The gods of evil were always present and evil seemed inherent in some, regardless of their lineage. Evil could never be completely stamped out, even by selective pestilence. It was best not to set up circumstances where evil would return. Anger the gods.

There wasn't always a favorable wind, and towing other boats became quite difficult for some of the youngsters who didn't have the strength and endurance of adulthood. Going upstream was very much harder because they had to stop often and use the power of Tsen to pull some of the boats along when the current and the wind were against paddling and sailing.

It took nearly a moon to reach home. Alerted, Shin began barking and whining when he smelled familiar scents before they saw the smoke of the Thal encampment ahead. Everyone, reenergized, began paddling harder, yelling and cheering, alerting those in the camp who came running to the bank, and seeing the skull of the great bear, began celebrating as well.

The reunion of the Danis was the most tearful, everyone hugging over thoughts of being together again. After another celebration that lasted well into the night, stories were told that filled in the gaps of time when the Danis clan had been separated for so long. One elder was obviously missing.

Huk asked, "Where's Conie? I don't see her? Tor said she was here, but I don't see her in this crowd."

Alt heard him, and in his best Danis, tried to explain with tears in his eyes. "She was heartsick over the loss of Dupree. Soon after Tor and Shea left, she became sicker, wouldn't eat, wasted away and just died. There was nothing we could do to cheer her up. We tried. But the gods willed that she join Dupree in the afterlife. We sent her to that place after him according to her wishes."

There was a lot of scurrying to prepare huts for the newcomers. Once again, Tor and Shea chose not to stay in the lodge, leaving that crowded, smoky place to the elderly and mothers with babies. Growing since they left. Shea found herself sick in the morning with the familiar something growing in her stomach. Tia was also growing a child. The clan was growing in a very good way. More babies.

The celebration over, Tor and Shea oversaw gathering and harvesting of the wheat and oats. For those who never ground grain before, it was a new, difficult experience. After all the grain was harvested, much of the clan dug up the roots and placed in the soil, small fish that they did not eat but caught from the river with nets. With each salmon run, there were so many fish caught or speared, they were even burying those beautiful eating fish in order that the gods of the harvest would be fruitful again. Once that was all done, Tor showed them how to plant the seeds for the winter harvest.

With the crop in and the grain for soups and stews made available to the delight of even the seafaring Danis who had never tasted such food, the idea of farming rather than having to find wild crops to harvest was the legacy of Nila. It was only Nila that brought the original seeds from her home on the Po. Tor in his nightly stories, made sure that everyone knew that and would never forget. Ensuring Nila's place among the gods of the harvest.

But there was hunting to do as well. Both Shea and Tor led hunting parties along the riverbank and into the forest. Sometimes together, and sometimes separately. And of course, Shin and Tsen were enlisted wherever they could do the most good. As a result, a great quantity of meat from many animals and birds was gathered with occasional feasts through the fall that alternated between being beautifully sunny and warm, and cold, dark, windy and rainy.

With winter stores preserved and stored away from predators, the gathering of firewood told Tor that the encampment was too large, doubled by the arrival of the Danis, to continue to sustain itself without moving the camp to somewhere else. He understood. It was the way of the hunters and gatherers to move if they did not have any other way of life than gathering resources within easy reach of their camps. The grain crops helped, but that was not enough.

Copyright 2021 © Ronald W. Hull

7/13/21