Chapter 12
Circle that month was eventful, Tobal had never seen eight people get initiated at the same time. The initiations started early and they continued late into the night. Everyone was tired and the party didn’t get going until well after midnight. After the initiations the drum circle began and it was party time. In all it was a good time and the night went by very fast. It was early August and the sight of naked bodies dancing wildly around the central fire was as intoxicating as the home brewed beer.
One of the wilder dancers was Zee. She beckoned him to join in the dance and on impulse he threw his robe to the ground and leapt into the circle of cavorting bodies, giving himself away to the driving rhythm. The energy in the circle was intense and the drummers never seemed to tire or stop.
Later during a break she was leaning on him with her arm around his shoulder and he felt her breast against him. She told him she was sitting out the winter and wondering if he would like to partner up with her. He was flattered and she was an inviting partner. Regretfully he squeezed one of her cheeks.
“I’m sorry Zee, I’m going to be training newbies all winter. Otherwise I would, really.”
“Fine then,” she pouted and abruptly turned back to the dance.
Kevin had been watching and came over casually asking how things were going.
“She’s really something, isn’t she?” Kevin watched her retreating rear move in time to the drums as her braided raven hair flew about like a whip.
“I think she’s looking for a winter partner,” Tobal volunteered.
Kevin shot a quick look at him, “Are you interested?”
“No, I’m training newbies this winter.”
“That’s really hard they say,” Kevin glanced once more at Zee. “I’m not even thinking about it myself. I might have to go over and introduce myself.”
Kevin chuckled and drained his mug of beer. He set it down beside his robe and disappeared into the dance slowly working his way over to Zee and cavorting his lanky muscular body in front of her.
Tired of the dance Tobal donned his robe and headed to the keg for another refill of beer. He noticed Melanie and Becca sitting off to the side. Neither of them had joined in the dance or partied much. It seemed they preferred each other’s company to that of the group. As he approached Melanie looked up.
“Hey Tobal, is it alright if Becca goes with us. We can all travel together and get to know each other better.
He muttered something about it being all right with him and made an excuse to go look for Nikki and ask how things were going with her newbie. There was a lot of tension between him and Becca and he didn’t know how to make things better, hell, he didn’t know if he wanted to make things better. He was irritated at how close Melanie had gotten with her though. It looked like they were best friends or something.
Tobal avoided Ox who was drunk, belligerent and telling stories about training his last newbie. Ox was complaining how no one could get newbies any more because some people were taking them all and not training them properly. Everyone knew that newbies needed more than a month to train before they could solo. He didn’t think the elders should have let Nick solo and he was letting everyone in camp know about it too.
The next day it was more fun travelling with the two girls than alone Tobal reflected. Even if they did tease him a lot. They seemed to have boundless energy and a sense of fun that made the trip go by quickly. He found himself laughing with them in spite of his normal taciturn self. They were both surprised when he told his first joke and pinched each other to see if they were awake or not.
Winter was going to hit the mountains and it was a pleasant surprise to find eight newbies at sanctuary. This was the last chance to get training in good weather before the winter months hit. Most Apprentices didn’t like training during the winter because it was hard enough to survive alone without trying to teach someone else He figured that was why both Tara and Zee had asked him about partnering up for the winter. He was even considering asking Melanie if she wanted to partner up with him for a month or two. The timing just never seemed right.
Two other Apprentices were already there. They had missed circle to get newbies and it was just dumb luck there were enough newbies to go around.
Early August had blasts of cold that reminded Tobal of the bitter winter months ahead. He needed to be thinking about his own permanent winter camp. During the winter travel and temporary camps were both dangerous. Winter clothing was essential and food critical to replace the heat given off by the body.
In addition the nights were longer and there was less sunlight. The chance of getting caught in mountain storms was very real and likely. Rafe had talked some about winter survival but there had not been any need to do much preparation then. Now it was time to do some serious thinking and integrate it into his training.
Tobal found himself with his third trainee. To his delight it was Sarah. He had forgotten she would be claiming sanctuary in the late summer. When she saw him, she raised a scene by running over and hugging him. She refused to go with anyone else and there were a few tense moments. Since there were enough newbies things were soon straightened out and everyone was happy.
The days were getting shorter and travel would soon be getting harder. The leaves were turning and there was not as much ready vegetation for fresh salads. They relied on dried fruit and meat. They scavenged for herbs and nuts that would be impossible to find after the snows came and began collecting and drying them. They stayed on the lookout for Hazelnuts, acorns, walnuts and chestnuts.
Acorns needed to be roasted but any nuts were good protein for the winter months and kept well in storage. Some tubers and inner bark of trees were collected to be made into flour later on. Tobal was hoping to make some bread this winter if he could figure out how to do it.
Trapping became the most important thing since they needed furs to make clothing for the coming winter. The easiest fur bearing animals were the beaver and muskrats. They spent much time near the streams during that first week living off fish and small animals they snared. They even tried eating beaver and muskrat. Tobal decided he could eat it if needed but used most of the meat for baiting traps and snares for more pleasant tasting game.
The skinned pelts needed to be fleshed by scraping off every bit of fat, flesh and membrane from the back of the hide and then stretching it on a stretching board with the fur on the inside leaving it to dry. It was hard nasty work that dulled knives and took up most of the day.
The muskrat pelts were stretched over specially whittled and sized boards but the beaver pelts were stretched in circular wood hoops and laced into place tightly. The wooden hoops were made by steaming the wood and gently bending it into the desired shape and then lashing the wood tightly into place. This was also the way snowshoes would be made later when they had more time.
After the pelts had dried a few days they were tanned with a cooked smelly mixture of brains, bone marrow, and liver spread liberally over the hides, worked into them and left for a few days. The foul mixture was then washed off and the process of “pulling” the leather began. Enzymes in the bad smelling mixture softened the leather enough to tan it.
Pulling the leather was a process of bending it sharply and making it pliable. This was done by pulling the pelt across the sharp edge of a stone or around a small smooth wooden pole set in the ground. After the pelt was soft and pliable the last step was for the tanned side to be smoked so the leather would not become stiff after it had gotten wet. It was only then the pelts could be cut and sewn into winter clothing.
Making the stretching boards and the stretching frames took several days and Tobal knew Sarah would not be ready to solo at the next circle. There was too much to be done. By the end of the 2nd week they had trapped enough beaver and muskrat for their own use and were busy tanning and smoking the pelts. What worried him was they hadn’t had time to do much else and the weather was getting colder. They were running out of time.
He worried about Melanie and Nick. He had not taught them much about tanning leather and making winter clothing because it had been the middle of summer. Rafe had not spent much time on it because the weather had been getting warmer. But he had shown Tobal the basics of tanning leather and making winter equipment. Rafe had also shown Tobal his own finished products at his base camp. Tobal still had things stored away at Rafe’s camp and he needed to get them.
Rafe was no longer available and busy with Journeyman things. It was Tobal’s responsibility to make sure those he trained were able to survive the harsh mountain winters. Most Apprentices would simply hole up in their base camps and wait the winter out.
Rafe had told him the entire purpose and spirit of being an Apprentice was to learn and train people to survive during any time of the year, not just the good months. In fact, the reason Rafe trained six people so quickly was because he trained them in the winter when few people were willing to train. Last winter medics on air sleds twice sought out Rafe and told him there was a newbie waiting at sanctuary that needed training and they asked if he would do it. They only asked this of the best and most experienced teachers. Rafe had even talked them into giving him an air sled ride to sanctuary so he didn’t have to travel in the bitter weather any more than was needed.
In the snow travel would be almost impossible unless snowshoes were made and now was the time to be making them. The green wood needed to be steamed until it could be bent into the snowshoe shapes and then lashed together for drying. They would be laced later.
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