Little Feather

Chapter 11

I had seen the men in the village making spears before and had watched them as they made the spears long and sharp using the tools they had on hand. It was a long process and by the time, I had got a good amount of work done on it, it was almost nighttime. I stopped working on it for now and began getting a few small twigs to start a fire for the night and ate whatever berries I had saved for dinner. Tomorrow I decided to see if I could go and hunt a small rabbit in hopes, I would have a little more to eat while I made the spears to hunt bigger game with. It was a little cold that night and I didn't have any warm fur to help me keep warm other than the fire I had started. I stayed close to it, under the cover of the shelter while doing my best not to shiver from the cold and the wind blowing ever so slightly. I needed a Buffalo or otter pelt so I could make a dress or maybe a blanket for the cold nights ahead. I laid there taking in the warmth of the fire, until before I knew it, I had closed my eyes and it was morning again. The birds were chirping and frogs croaked in the distance and crickets still chirped away, making a soothing sound as if it was a lullaby.

The fire had died out and there was nothing but a hint of smoke and ash in the fire pit that morning. Dew fell from the trees and lightly covered grass as I got up and out of my shelter and stretched my arms and legs. I then ate some carrots and potatoes, before I walked to the lake and drank some water. The sky was cloudy and the sun was barely peeking through, warming bits of the earth down below. The grass under the sun's light glowed a bright golden color as a breeze came through, making the grass sway. While at the lake, I bathed in the cold water and cleaned myself of the dirt and mud caked on my skin. The water became murky and brown as the dirt and mud slid down my bare skin and into the clear water down below. Once I cleaned my body of the mud and dirt, I quickly dunked my face and hair in the water to get clean before I started making my way out onto the bank of the lake. Crows flew over head, cawing loudly as they went. As I got out of the water, I could see in the distance, a camp of women and children not too far away. I quickly gathered my clothes and hid near huge rock formation as I didn't want to be seen. I quickly put on the clothes I had with me before I slowly peeked out from behind to get a good look at the camp. From where I was, I could only see women and children with horses, wagons and other belongings I had never seen before. The men I assumed were off hunting or making sure the area was clear before moving on. They probably saw the remains of my village and assumed everyone had died or just the women and children got killed and didn't want to risk being killed by the men who were probably alive unaware of the events that took place just the night before.

I decided not to approach them for now, seeing as they could have weapons and might not be so welcoming towards me, made me go back behind the rock formation and quietly and quickly duck back into the woods towards my own camp site where my makeshift shelter and food waited for me. After finishing up a couple of spears, I decided to try throwing them to get used to them and picked a nearby tree to practice aiming. I then used a rock to mark a spot out of the tree so I knew where to aim and focus on while throwing. I grabbed a spear and began practicing throwing and aiming it at the tree. At first I wasn't very good since I had never used a weapon and usually women in my village didn't go hunting very often if not at all, so I had no one to really teach me when everyone was alive. I gave it a few more tries before I called it quits for today and decided to look for more berries for dinner that night.

But as I was looking, I could hear a branch snap in half and I quickly turned around and saw a woman standing right behind me with a few branches in her hands. We both jumped in surprise and she accidentally dropped the branches that were in her hands. At first either one of us moved and just looked at each other, waiting to see what either one of us would do next. She then quickly grabbed a few branches that were on the ground before running away, looking behind her at me as she went. I didn't know for certain if she would go tell the other people at her camp about me and have them come and kill me or even take me hostage. Either one wasn't a good choice and I decided to keep my eye on the camp for the time being, to see what they did. I waited a bit before I went to the camp hid in the tree line to see what they did, but all I saw was them setting up camp for the night and them going about their day like normal. No sign of them being aggressive or hostile in any way, so I assumed the woman either never said anything or if she had, she probably was told to keep quiet and not to cause panic among the others. I then quietly creeped back into the woods and went back to hunting for berries. As I was carrying some berries back with me, I noticed something that was in my shelter. At first, I thought a wild animal of some kind had gotten into my food or made it's home there but upon a closer look, I realized it was clothes, some beads and a knife.

I set the berries down on a tree stump and looked around the area to make sure it wasn't a trap before going through the items that were placed there. The beads were made of a bright red, yellow and green color and strung together using a single piece of thread, tied together in a knot on the back. I set the beads down next to me before I then looked at the knife. The knife's sharp edge was made of a hard animal bone which was a bit worn and tied with a small piece of rope to a small wooden piece big enough to fit in my hand. I looked at the knife for a bit more before I sat it next to the beads and looked at the dress which was the final item that was left here. The dress were a deep blue color and had colorful patterns weaved into it all over. I put the dress up against my body before trying it on. I knew it was white man's clothing but out here in the wilderness, one must do what one must to survive. If the woman had truly given me these items then I had to thank her in some way but with what?

I looked around for something I could give to show my appreciation and saw the feather I still had wedged in between a twig and a tree trunk and thought I could give it to her but to me, it was the last piece I had of my people and decided best not to. I ended up thinking the best way of thanking her, was to use the items she gave me until I could make new clothes and make more weapons in the meantime. A part of me, thought she took pity on me for being out here alone and another thought she did it out of fear. Either way, I couldn't blame her. If I was in her place, I would be the same. I put on the dress and decided to wash my old clothes of the mud and dirt that they were caked in and hung them to dry on a branch close to the ground that I could reach from a tree's trunk. Once that was done, I sat there humming to myself, as twilight began to fall upon the sky and the birds chirping and chased each other among the trees and I hear the frogs and crickets chime in as well. Then I heard a owl off in the distance, crying out as it flew off, whoo whoo, until I couldn't hear no more and all there was left me, the forest and the sounds of the night echoing in the distance.