Songs - Part 2

Shre'ka dipped a leather strip in a bucket of water, then wrapped the wet thong tightly around a bent sapling before securing it to the crux of a scaffold made of several other thin, but sturdy limbs. When she finished, she grasped some of the limbs and tried to shake them, pleased when they didn't shift.

The ends of the branches forming the roughly criss-crossed half-spherical shape had been set several feet into the ground with rocks and earth mounded about them to add support. Shre'ka speculated winds from even a severe storm would be hard pressed to uproot them.

Grinning, she crouched by the pail to get a drink, then cupping her hands, she filled them with water and walked over to Fey'qua'ri who was unrolling several bundled hides and stacking them nearby just as Zas'khan walked up carrying some more draped over one shoulder.

Her mate set the hides down by Fey'qua'ri. "That's all of them for now," he announced. "We'll have to go hunting to get some more out of So'ju'roh. Though with so many new mates building their own dwellings, I don't know if game will garner much in trade from him now."

Fey'qua'ri accepted some of the water from Shre'ka, thanking her, before giving Zas'khan a knowing look as she stepped over to offer a drink to her mate. "So'ju'roh gets not only food, but skins to make leathers from game, young Ro'at. Don't let him fool you. Game is ALWAYS a good trade for him!"

Zas'khan grinned thanks to the Sa'uuk Mo'at for his advice, then lifted up one of the hides to examine it. "These are very nice, though."

Shre'ka snorted. "Not as nice as old Su'bo's!" she retorted before breaking out into a laugh, thinking fondly of her departed friend. "And he'd be the first to tell you!"

Her mentor and mate smiled, laughing with her, then together the three of them began taking hides and draping them over the structure to attach them to the frame. It was early evening before they finished and shared a late supper. Afterwards the Sa'uuk Mo'at helped his foster daughter and her mate settle their belongings and many gifts into their new home, then went to his own dwelling nearby.

Stepping through the doorway, he looked about, a little sad to see the walls bare of Shre'ka's bow and quiver, her knife and spear, her articles of clothing. Living alone most of his life, the Sa'uuk Mo'at's dwelling had never been especially large, but it seemed much bigger and emptier now with his beloved student gone. Noticing her old bedding still on the floor, he knelt by her former sleeping place. Picking up a corner of the velvety soft leather coverlet, he held it briefly to his nose, smiling. Her scent yet lingered on it.

Letting the leather drop, he stared at it a long while, pondering. He would give it to her, but Ar'mari had already gifted the young couple with a set of much larger coverlets for Zas'khan and Shre'ka both to share. He supposed he could give it to someone else to use, but the thought wrenched his heart. He backed his ears and sighed, shaking his head. No, he would keep it for now. Perhaps Shre'ka would need it for her children one day. That was it. He would store it away until she had need of it again. Fey'qua'ri ran his hand over the coverlet, gently smoothing a slight crease in the leather, but made no move to pick the bedding up.

Instead, he got up and went to the doorway, where he stood staring forlornly out into the night for a long, long while.

To be continued...