When the meal was ready, Jax roused the kittens from their nap by giving them tickles.
“Wake up, sleepy heads! It’s time for lunch.”
They squirmed and jumped down, running to Taniki, chanting, “Hungry, hungry!”
Kikki turned to the older kids, “Who wants to beat the drum to call everyone to lunch?”
Kali timidly raised her hand. “Can I do it?”
“You bet! Do you know what to do?”
“Don’t I just beat on the drum with that stick?”
“That’ll work, go ahead and have at it!”
Kali beat on the drum, long and loud enough to call the whole valley to lunch.
It wasn’t long before all the cats started showing up.
“That was quite a drumbeat!” Breezy said, laughing. “We weren’t sure if it was lunchtime or the village was being attacked by cave bears!”
“No cave bears, but I did see a rabbit run by just before you got here,” Taniki joked.
“Well, that’s almost the same thing,” Breezy chuckled. “So, what’s for lunch?”
“We’re going to have some of that rabbit’s relatives,” Taniki said. “Rabbit stew is on the menu for today.”
Walking up, Jax said, “Give me a couple of small bowls of stew for the kittens, and I’ll get them out of your way.”
“We wouldn’t want them to get trampled in the stampede, would we?” Taniki replied, handing him three bowls of stew. “Can’t have you going hungry when you’re protecting the babies.”
“Much appreciated.” Jax said as he herded Pounce and Rowdy off to a quieter part of the clearing.
Baxter gestured to the three older kids. “Why don’t you come sit by me?”
“When these hungry cats get to eating, you could lose an arm or a leg if you get too close,” he warned.
“Well, don’t we have to watch out for you too?” Dev asked, starting to scoot away.
“Oh, no,” Baxter replied, “I’m known for being a very delicate eater.”
That brought a round of laughter from everyone.
Once everyone found their place, Kikki and Taniki started bringing around the bowls of stew. Conversation and laughter died down as the cats started eating.
“Is it just me, or does this stew taste different?” Stony asked.
“How do you mean?” Kikki asked, tasting her own stew.
“There’s some sort of extra flavor to it. It’s very good.”
“That’s because Taniki did the cooking today. She must have done something different with the spices.”
“I didn’t catch that,” Baxter said as he finished his first bowl. “I’ll pay more attention as soon as I get some more.”
“Oh, right, ‘Mister Delicate Eater’,” Stony laughed. “Somebody get Baxter another bowl before he starts nibbling on the kids.”
Baxter made a grab the kids, which made them all squeal and giggle.
“Okay, you kids, settle down and eat your lunch. And that means *all* of you,” Taniki said, pointing a finger at all the cats.
That brought a round of muttered, “Yes, ma’am, sorry, ma’am,” which brought a whole new round of laughter.
As the cats were relaxing, cleaning their paws and whiskers after the meal, they heard voices coming from the forest trail leading into the village. Stony was the first to spot the new arrivals. He squinted to see who it was. With a whoop, he leaped up and ran toward them. “Star!”.
“Stone Man!” came the reply, and a small cat in the group dropped her pack and ran toward him, leaping into the air and landing on his chest with arms and legs wrapped around him. Barely keeping his balance, Stony held onto her in a tight hug. “Star Baby, I can’t believe it’s really you.”
As they clung to each other, rubbing cheeks and purring loudly, the rest of the group came out of the forest and entered the village. Jax got to his feet to meet them, holding a kitten in each arm.
“Well, Jax,” Piper said, standing with a hand on her hip. “It certainly looks like you’ve been busy.”
“Uh, well, these,” he said, looking down at the kittens. “I can explain, really!”
“I know you can, you big idiot,” Piper said with a grin. “Now show me how much you missed me.”
By then, the rest of the cats had gathered around, and Jax was able to hand the kittens to Taniki.
“Now, I can give you a proper welcome home.” And he did just that, giving her a heartfelt kiss and nuzzle.
“Wow! Does everyone get a welcome like that around here?” Nicole said, laughing.
“Why, yes, ma’am, yes, they do,” Benji said, moving forward as if to give her a hug and a smooch.
“Whoa there!” Nicole said, taking a step back.
“Just kidding,” Benji said with a grin. “But you are certainly welcome. My name is Benji.”
“Thanks for the welcome, Benji. My name is Nicole. I’m Star’s mother.”
“It looks like Star and Piper are busy,” Nicole said with a laugh, “so I’ll introduce the rest of our group.”
“These three are from my village of Falling Waters. This is Delphi, her husband Vittorio, and their young son Kyron.”
The gathered cats responded with a round of greetings.
“As long as I’ve already introduced myself,” Benji said, “I might as well introduce everyone else.”
“The cat that Star’s wrapped around is Stony, one of our group of Rangers.”
“And the other cat, who is similarly occupied, is Jax, the leader of the Rangers.”
“Then there’s Juni, Breezy, Zelli, and Baxter, who are also Rangers.”
“Over there is Isis, our ‘Fountain of Knowledge.’ Next to her is her mate and apparent ‘Mad Inventor,’ Cisco, who is also a Ranger.”
“Let’s see now,” he continued, looking around, “those four young cats standing next to that tree are Suki, Shaun, Kikki, and Tam. Their roles around here are varied and ever changing.”
“And finally, I’d like to introduce the newest members of our village family.” He said with a sweeping gesture.
“This is Taniki and her kids, Jen, Kali, Dev, and those two little cuties that Jax was carrying, Pounce and Rowdy.”
“Whew, that was a bunch.” Benji said, “Did I miss anybody? No? Alright then, now that the formalities are over, let’s get you guys settled in.”
A little breathless, Jax and Piper came over. “Sorry about that, welcome to our home.”
“Oh, don’t apologize,” Del smiled. “It’s wonderful to see such an honest show of affection.”
“I guess we’re going to have to up our game a little to fit in here,” Vitto said, giving her a squeeze.
“Oh, I think our ‘game’ is just fine, don’t you worry,” she said with a grin.
“Okay, I think we’ve embarrassed the boy enough,” Vitto said. “Come on, Kyron, let’s go find out where to put our stuff.”
“Oh, I’m used to how you two are,” Kyron replied, “but yeah, let’s get this stuff put away.”
Taniki walked up, “We were just finishing lunch. There’s plenty left if you guys are hungry.”
“Say yes,” Benji put in. “It’s really good.”
“I don’t know about the others, but I’m starving,” Kyron said rubbing his belly.
“Well, we have just what a growing boy needs,” Taniki said, glancing at him over her shoulder.
“I’ll make sure it’s nice and hot while you all stash your gear,” she added gathering up Pounce and Rowdy.
She smiled when she saw her other three kids were already picking up the empty bowls and taking them down to the stream to wash.
“Those are really great kids,” she thought. “I’m glad we found each other.”
She hummed a happy tune as she went to heat up the stew.
Passing by her, the new arrivals went to dump their gear. As they put their packs in the cookhouse, Kyron found himself humming a tune to himself.
“Now where did that come from?” he thought, shaking his head.
Walking back outside, he couldn’t help but smile, thinking about Taniki’s hot stew.
When all the new arrivals were comfortably enjoying their meal, Baxter stood up and said, “It would be nice to sit around and get to know you, but we’ve got cabins to build, so we’d better get back to it.” He and the rest of the build crew left for the work site.
Cisco went over to Suki and Shaun. “I was thinking that tonight would be a good time to show off our new devices.”
“With our whole group home together,” Suki said, “I think it’s a perfect time.”
“A great opportunity to wow the crowd,” Shaun said with a grin. “Let’s do it.”
“Okay, let’s set it for tonight after dinner.” Cisco said. “We can show off the rope cutters, and then when it gets darker, you can demonstrate the shiners.”
“And finally, I’ll show off my contraption.”
“Might as well leave them laughing.”
After a nice lunch of rabbit stew that left everyone smiling, Piper and Star led the rest of the new arrivals to a group of shelters.
“We set these up when we first came to the valley.” Piper said. “The ones on this end are empty.”
“The Rangers are busy building cabins, but the shelters are what we have until those are ready.”
Looking inside the shelter near her, Nicole said, “There’s plenty of room to store all the supplies I brought and still have space for a bed and a table.”
“But once we start making copies of the cave drawings, we’ll need more room to work.”
“That’s in the plans Mom.” Star said, “It just all takes time.”
“I know, I’m just anxious to get started. When do you think we can get a look at that cave?’
Piper spoke up, “I don’t see why we can’t go up there tomorrow, say, first thing in the morning.”
“Is that soon enough Mom?” Star grinned. “But for now, let’s get your supplies down here and put away.”
“That shelter over there looks a little bigger than the rest.” Del said pointing at one of the other shelters. “It should be big enough for the three of us.”
“I’m going to leave you to it then.” Piper said. “I want to go catch up on what’s been happening while I’ve been gone. I’ll see you at supper.”
“Come on son, let’s go get our stuff.” Vitto said.
“You two go ahead. I’ll stay and get this place ready.” Del said as she started sweeping leaves out of the shelter.
“So Jax, now that we have a little time,” Piper asked with a raised eyebrow, “perhaps you’d care to explain the kittens you were carrying when we arrived.”
“Oh you were wondering about that were you?” Jax said with a grin.
“Well, you know Kikki’s story and why she decided to join our group.” Jax began.
“Of course,” Piper said. “She lost her parents when the Hungry tribe ran out of food. As an orphan she started to feel like she didn’t fit in with her tribe anymore.
“Well, as it turns out,” Jax continued, “she wasn’t the only one who lost their parents.”
“I see where this is going.” Piper said.
“The orphans of the tribe were drawn together by their sense of loss.” Jax went on, “They came together and Taniki took over caring for the kids. Jen and Dev are brother and sister, the same as Pounce and Rowdy. Taniki and Kali aren’t related to any of them.”
“They’re very much a family now though, and they think of Taniki as their Mom.”
“Much like Kikki, they started to feel like outsiders in their tribe, so at Luna’s suggestion, they asked if they could join us here.” Jax concluded.
“That’s my Jax, always rescuing orphans.” Piper said giving him a hug.
“So what else has been going on while I was gone?” Piper asked.
“You’ve seen what the Rangers have been up to, building what we call the Visitor cabins and also a communal cookhouse.” Jax replied. “When they get done with those, they plan to start working on their own cabins.”
“So they’re all planning on staying?” Piper asked.
“It seems so. Most of them have already picked out where they plan to build.”
“And have you found a place?” Piper asked.
“I’ve been waiting for you to get back.” he replied.
“Good answer.”
“So what else besides what the Rangers have been up to.” she asked.
“Isis is kind of at a standstill with her flowers until she can start collecting seeds.”
“Kikki and Tam have become the record keepers for the tribe. If you need to know anything that’s going on, They’re the ones to ask.”
“Then there’s Cisco, who, with a lot of help from Suki and Shaun has been creating some incredible devices. As a matter of fact they plan on putting on a show after dinner tonight.”
“What have they come up with?”
“You’ll have to wait for the show.” Jax said. “But I promise, you’ll be amazed.”
“I do have one more question. What was in that stew today? It was really good.”
“Oh yeah, that’s the other thing. Taniki is going to be cooking for us, and she’s very good at it.”
“So, out all the things you’ve told me,” Piper asked. “what’s your favorite?”
“Did I mention the new kittens.” Jax said with a big smile.
“I knew it.” Piper said with a chuckle.
Breezy looked around the work site as she talked with Zelli,”If we aren’t careful, we’re going to be finished with these cabins before we know it.”
“Speak for yourself,” Zelli said. “Most of them still need roofs. It isn’t like I could start on that until you guys had the walls up and secure.”
“Yeah, you’ve still got a lot of work ahead of you. Putting the roof framing up can be fiddly work, and then you still have to tie down all that thatching.”
“Well, If I tried to get up there and help you,” Baxter said, “the whole thing would collapse.”
“It takes someone small and delicate, like you,” he added with a grin.
“Small, maybe. Delicate? Not a chance,” Zelli replied indignantly.
“Careful, Baxter, she might ‘accidentally’ drop a hammer on you,” Benji laughed.
“They don’t call me butter fingers for nothing,” Zelli said with an evil grin.
“Okay, point taken. But really, what can we do to help you?”
“Just keep handing me those bamboo stalks when I need them,” Zelli replied. “And find me some more cord. I’m almost out.”
“Alright, we’re on it. You know what they say, ‘Keeping Zelli busy, keeps her out of trouble’.”
“And just who says that?” Zelli scowled down at them.
“I don’t know, I think it’s just common knowledge.” Baxter said with grin, jumping back as Zelli ‘accidentally’ dropped her hammer.
Walking through the woods on the other side of the village, Vitto and Del were enjoying some quiet time.
“It’s nice to just take it easy after the long trip to get here,” Vitto said.
“With everyone being so busy,” Del said looking back at the village, “I feel like we should be doing something to help.”
“True enough, but I think it’s important to get centered and enjoy the moment.”
“Yes, O’ wise one. Your words are true,” Del said with a grin.
“I wonder where our wayward son has gotten to?” Del asked as she stooped to smell a flower.
“He wanted to see what the hunting was like in the area,” Vitto replied breathing deeply with his eyes closed.
“Jax went along to show him the boundary between our hunting area and the Hungry tribe’s.”
“Well, as long as he’s back for dinner,” Del said. “But then we’re talking about a hungry boy and food.”
“Yeah, food served by a pretty girl,” Vitto said with a grin.
“Hey, watch yourself, old man,” Del warned.
“No, I just noticed that Kyron noticed,” Vitto came back.
“Yeah, I saw that too,” Del agreed with a smile.
~~~ Downstream from the village ~~~
As Jax was explaining where the Hungry tribe’s hunting grounds started, Kyron was fitting a spear-like dart to his throwing stick.
“Now that’s something I’ve never seen before.” Jax said, stopping his explanation to watch what Kyron was doing.
“Well, yeah, I’ve seen a spear before, but nothing like what you’ve got there.”
“It’s something my Grandpa taught me how to make.”
“It’s basically just a small spear. The feathers on the tail end keep it flying straight.”
“One thing that makes it special is the interchangeable tips. You use different points, depending on the game you’re hunting.”
“And if the animal you hit, takes off, you don’t lose the whole spear, just the point.”
“The throwing stick is what makes it all work. See how the dart, that’s what I call the light spear, notches onto the hook on the end of the stick and lays along it’s length.”
“So the stick gives you added leverage when you throw the ‘dart’.”
“Exactly, the throwing stick lets me throw the dart farther and faster. That makes it hit harder.”
“Okay, so what are you planning to hit?” Jax asked.
“I’ve inserted a tip that I use for birds.” Kyron said pointing to the edge of the clearing. “See that quail way over there by that log?”
“I see it, but that’s an awfully long ways away.” Jax said finally spotting the bird.
“I don’t normally take that far of a shot, but it’ll show you what this is capable of.” Kyron responded.
Standing straight with one foot planted forward, Kyron held the throwing stick back over his right shoulder.
Then taking a calming breath, he smoothly swung the stick forward and with a flick of his wrist he let the dart fly.
It arced toward the distant bird with a slight flexing of the shaft. Just before it struck, the bird suddenly took flight and disappeared into the forest.
“Wow!” Jax exclaimed. “That was impressive!”
“Impressive, yes, but a miss makes mighty thin soup.” Kyron said with a grin. “To be honest, it would have been pure luck to hit the bird at that distance.”
“Never the less, it shows the potential of that thing.” Jax said, still marveling at the distance of the shot. “Would you be willing to share this with the rest of the group, or would you rather keep it to yourself?”
“I’d be happy to share this with anybody who was interested.” Kyron replied. “When I showed it to the hunters in my tribe, they said, ‘the old ways have always been good enough, why change?’ “
“I think you’ll find that this bunch of cats are much more open-minded.” Jax assured him. “We’re discovering new things almost daily.”
“We’re planning to show some of those new things after dinner tonight. Maybe you could show your throwing stick dart thing.”
“What do you call it anyway?”
“You know, I’ve never given it a name.” Kyron replied. “Why don’t we ask the group for suggestions?”
“I like that idea.” Jax said. “Let’s go find your dart and head back.”
“I know you brought as many supplies as you could,” Isis said looking around Nicole’s shelter, “but I can’t imagine this is going to be enough to sketch all the cave drawings and then make full-color paintings of them all.”
“You’re absolutely right,” Nicole replied. “We can do a quick, simple job with what we have, but I don’t think that’s what we want.”
“Trust me, Mom,” Star said, “once you see the drawings, you’ll know we want to do it right.”
“Once we get started, we’ll have a better idea of what we’re going to need,” Isis added.
“And that’s where Tam and I come in,” Kikki said. “Tell us what you need, and we’ll try to get it for you.”
“There’s one thing you might be able to help us with Nicole,” Tam said joining in. “We need paper. Not the good stuff that you use for your art. Just everyday kind of paper. We’re keeping track of a lot of projects with lists of supplies and also charts of who is traveling where.”
“I have some paper that I use to take notes on my experiments,” Isis explained, “but between that and Kikki and Tam dipping into my supply, it’s not going to last very long.”
“We need to pay a visit to the tribe of the Teachers,” Nicole said knowing just what they needed. “The families there have a tradition of teaching the reading of the ancient symbols and writings.”
“That’s right,” Star said. “They used a lot of paper, so they learned how to make their own, and they’re very good at it.”
Tam looked at Kikki. “We’re going to have to organize some supply runs.”
“Yeah, let’s go talk to Jax.”
“So, explain to me how you plan to cook for all these cats,” Piper said standing with Taniki outside the cookhouse. “It isn’t like you can just cook over a regular campfire.”
“When the Rangers finish with the cabins,” Taniki said, “I’m planning to recruit a couple of them to dig a cooking pit, right here outside the cookhouse. With the roof extension covering this outside area, I think it will be ideal for cooking.”
“And then, when we find a good source of clay, I’ll get them build me an oven right over there.”
“Okay, I guess I should know, but how do you cook that much food in a fire pit?”
“Let’s gather the kids and take a short nature hike,” Taniki waving for Piper to follow her. “I’ll show you how I do it.”
“It looks like Suki and Shaun are having fun playing silly games with the kittens so I guess they should be okay if we’re not gone too long.”
“Come on, kids,” she called to the three older kids. “Let’s take a walk.”
A short walk into the forest, Taniki pointed to a tall plant with huge leaves. “These are called Glimmer Bushes,” she said. “Notice the seed pods with the sparkly shells. Those can be crushed and pressed to produce a sweet-smelling oil.”
“But what we want is the leaves. They’re as big as Kali here,” she said, hugging her daughter. “I’d take a large cut of venison, along with a some tasty vegetables, and wrap it all in these leaves. Then I’d bury the whole thing under hot coals in the fire pit.”
“When you pull it out and unwrap it, you have a juicy, delicious meal.”
“While that’s cooking, you can use the same coals or a separate fire to cook the rest of the meal.”
“I’m looking forward to seeing you cook,” Piper said. “Maybe I’ll learn something.”
The kids were busy pulling seed pods off another bush and throwing them at each other. “Careful, kids,” Taniki warned them, “Those pods will make your hands stink. Remember to wash when we get back to the stream.”
“This plant is almost identical to the Glimmer Bush,” Taniki explained. “The big leaves are the same, but instead of having sparkly seed pods, these are a dirty brown. They call this plant the ‘Ugly Sister’.”
“The Glimmer Bush and the Ugly Sister are pretty common and they’re always found growing together.”
“That’s interesting, and a little strange.” Piper thought to herself.
Later that day, Jen got her turn at beating the drum to announce dinner time to all the cats.
With a fire burning in the central fire pit, the cats found seats on the benches or stood around talking and winding down from a busy day.
“Okay, people, dinner’s ready,” Taniki called out. “Wash up if you haven’t already, or just find a seat.”
“Everything’s ready, Mom,” Dev said. “Let’s feed these guys.”
“Alright, Jen and Kali, follow Dev,” Taniki said. “Be careful you don’t trip carrying those trays.”
Taniki followed the kids as they moved around the gathered cats, handing out plates of food.
“I know you’re all thinking, ‘Oh good, another meal of fish! What a treat,’” Taniki said to the group. “I’m sure you’re too polite to complain, but just try it before you say anything.”
“Dev, if you would,” she said as she stepped aside.
Stepping forward, Dev stated, “The meal tonight consists of fresh fish cooked over a smoky fire of sweetwood. To enhance the flavor even more, please try the dipping sauce that the ladies are passing around.”
With a smile and a bow, Dev stepped back.
During Dev’s speech, Taniki and the girls had been passing out small bowls of the dipping sauce.
Taniki and the kids gathered together, watching the reactions of the cats as they started to eat.
“I like the flavor the sweetwood adds to the fish,” Baxter said.
“Try the dipping sauce,” Stony said. “It brings the flavor out even more.”
There were many sounds of agreement among the cats as they savored the tastes.
“What you’re seeing, kids, is a bunch of happy cats,” Taniki said.
Walking up behind them, carrying Pounce and Rowdy, Jax said, “Thanks for fixing me a plate before feeding everyone else.”
“Thank you for watching the kittens,” Taniki said. “I can take them now if you want to join the group.”
“Why don’t we all join the group?” Jax said. “Join in and get to know everybody.”
Taniki and the kids found seats around the fire, and Jax saw that Piper had saved a seat next to her.
As Jax sat down, setting the kittens on his lap, Piper asked, “Have these little guys eaten yet?”
“We ate while they were filling the plates for everyone,” Jax said. “They might want something to nibble on though.”
“But do not, and I repeat, do not let them get near the sauce,” Jax said with a laugh. “You wouldn’t believe the mess they made earlier.”
“I can only imagine,” Piper laughed.
“You’re getting awfully attached to these little guys,” she noted.
“I’ve missed having kittens around,” Jax said, “but the best part of it is, I get to spoil them and then give them back to their mom.”
“I do understand what you mean,” Piper said. “It can get pretty serious at times, so it’s nice to be able to relax and enjoy the simple things once in a while.”
“Did I mention how nice it is to have you home again?” Jax said, leaning over to give her a hug.
“Yes, I think you did mention that once or twice,” she replied playfully, putting a dab of sauce on his nose.
“Hey, watch it now,” he said, licking it off his nose. “That is pretty good sauce though,” he laughed.
Once the meal was done and everything was cleared away, Suki stood up to get everyone’s attention.
“Before you folks wander off, we’d like to show off some of the things we’ve come up with lately.”
“Some of you have seen some of these things,” she said, “but none of you have seen them all.”
Cisco stood up and faced the group.
“Okay, we’ll start with the simple stuff.”
“I’m not going to be shy; I’m really proud of this idea. Suki and Shaun were a great deal of help in refining it to make it practical.”
“The short explanation is that we have been and will be cutting down a lot of trees to build cabins. I wanted a better, easier way to fell the trees.”
“Here is what we came up with,” he said, holding up his cutting rope.
“This is a rope embedded with flint chips.”
“We’ve set up a log for the demonstration. Baxter and Benji, would you show how it works?”
Baxter and Benji were already used to using the rope, so they made short work of cutting the log in two.
“And now Suki will show a refinement of the rope that she and Shaun came up with.”
With Shaun holding a tree limb, Suki showed how she could make fine cuts using the smaller cutting cord.
“Here you go. Pass these around to have a closer look,” Cisco said, handing over the cutting rope and cord.
“That’s very impressive,” Vitto said.
“We’ve all been using the rope,” Stony said, “and it’s been easy enough for any of us to use, not just the big guys.”
“It’s a heck of a lot easier than using a stone ax,” Breezy added.
“I’m fascinated by the cutting cord,” Kyron said.
“I can see where an even smaller version could be used for making fine carvings.”
“You’re right,” Shaun said.
“A smaller cord and finer flint chips would work for that,” Suki said.
“I’ll add that to our list,” Suki said.
“One thing that I wanted to mention,” Cisco said. “If any of you come up with a new idea or an improvement, don’t hesitate to share it.”
“Our next demonstration will be better when it gets dark, so we’ll have to wait a little while for that.”
Jax stood up and said. “While it’s still light out, one of our new arrivals has something to show us.”
Kyron rose and spoke to the group.
“What I’ve got is a different tool for hunting. It’s something my grandfather taught me how to make.”
“The whole idea is, instead of hunting with a regular spear, I use this much lighter spear,” he said, holding it up. “I call it a dart. It has feathers on the tail end to make it fly straighter and interchangeable tips.”
“The important part of the system is the dart thrower,” he said, holding that up.
“The dart notches into the hook at the end of the thrower,” he said, demonstrating. “The thrower basically increases the length of your arm, which gives your throw more power. The dart will hit with the same power as a larger spear and will fly farther with less effort.”
“That’s the basic concept,” he said. “Let me show you how it works.”
“Jax and I set up bundles of the grass as targets.” He pointed across the clearing and a ways beyond, where the bundles were.
“Who would like to volunteer? We need someone to throw a spear.”
“I’ll do it,” Benji said. “I’ve always been able to get pretty good distance with reasonable accuracy.”
“Do you have your own favorite, or will this one do?” Jax asked, handing him a spear.
Benji hefted the spear. “I’ve never been too particular; this one is fine.”
Kyron pointed at the distant bundle. “We pinned a square of white cloth in the center of the bundle to give you something to aim at.”
“Whenever you’re ready, make your throw.”
Making sure the range was clear, Benji took a stance, hauled back, and threw the spear with a mighty grunt.
Arcing through the air, it struck the bundle low, and a foot and a half to the left of the white square.
“That’s quite a distance, but I got reasonably close,” Benji decided after seeing where he hit.
“Now let’s see what I can do,” Kyron said, stepping forward.
Fitting his dart to the thrower, he took a stance, took a calming breath, and smoothly flung the dart toward the bundle.
The dart flew swiftly at a lower arc than that of the spear and struck the bundle, just catching the edge of the square.
“That was pretty good, and it looked like it took less effort, but it seems a little fiddly using that thrower,” Benji said.
“It does take some getting used to,” Kyron agreed.
“Could I have a try?” said a voice from the crowd.
Kyron turned to see Taniki stepping forward.
“Sure, I guess,” he replied uncertainly. “I’m not sure my thrower will fit your hand.”
“No, I just want to use one of your darts,” she said.
“Okay, here you go,” he said, holding one out to her.
She hefted it in one hand. “This is a little off; can you put a heavier point on it?”
Selecting a different point, Kyron inserted it in the end of the dart.
“How does that feel to you?”
Hefting it again and moving through a throwing motion, she smiled, “Yeah, I like it.”
Kyron and Benji backed away to give her room.
Taniki stood with eyes on the target, then turned and took three paces back.
Turning again, facing the target, she gave a little bounce and gracefully ran forward, reaching her starting point, she let fly in one fluid motion.
The dart flew straight and true, hitting within an inch of the center of the white square.
The crowd erupted in whoops and cheers.
Taniki turned with a smile and walked by a bemused Kyron to stand with her kids.
Kyron turned to the crowd with a smile, “Well, I’m certainly not going to do better than that.”
“But,” he explained, “that wasn’t the point of what I wanted to show you.”
“Look beyond the bundle we’ve been throwing at. See the second bundle farther back?”
“That bundle is twice the distance of the first one.”
“Care to try that one, Benji?”
“Not a chance,” Benji replied.
“Well, let me give it a try,” Kyron said fitting another dart to his thrower.
He stood for a moment with his head down. Then, looking up, he took his stance, and with a mighty throw, sent his dart streaking through the air toward the distant target.
The shaft flexed from the power of his throw.
It struck with a quiver just outside the edge of the white square.
Again, the crowd responded with cheers, but that was followed by words of appreciation and a solid round of applause.
Feeling a hand on his arm, Kyron turned to find Taniki standing next to him.
“You’ve got something special there,” she said.
“Do you think you could teach me to use that?”
“The one I’m using won’t fit you. I’ll make one to match your size.”
“Don’t go to too much trouble,” she replied. “It looks like I’m going to be too busy to go hunting anytime soon.”
“So the lady hunts. I should have known, the way you threw that spear.”
“My parents were two of the best hunters in the tribe,” Taniki said a little sadly. “They taught me everything they knew before I lost them.”
“That must have been hard, to lose both of them,” Kyron said.
“Yes it was, still is.” Taniki replied with a slight quiver in her voice.
“Oh, by the way,” he said to change the mood, “I’ll be traveling with you and the kids when you go back home in the morning. Jax wants me to meet the hunters from the Hungry tribe so they won’t think a stranger is hunting in the area when they see me.”
“Good, that means you can give one of the kittens a ride on the way back. That is, if Jax will let you take one.”
“I guess that’s just his nature,” Kyron laughed.
“Let’s set it over there close to the fire,” Cisco told Shaun, as they carried a table down to the fire pit.
“By the time we have everything set up, the fire should have died down to coals.”
Putting down his end of the table, Shaun said, “That should make it dark enough to put on a good show,”
“Should we give the cats the full story on making the shiners, or just show what they can do and move on to your contraption?”
Cisco thought for a second. “Just start off with the simple shiners, explain those, then move on to the fancy stuff.
“I’m sure they’ll have questions, but ask them to keep those until after the presentation. Otherwise we could be here all night.”
“By the time you finish with shiners, I should have my contraption ready to go.”
“All right, that’s what we’ll do.” Shaun nodded. “Let’s go get the other table and tell Suki to start bringing out the shiners.”
Suki met them carrying an armload of shiners. “We should grab a bowl and grinder to show them the simple way to make the blue light.”
“That’s a good idea. I didn’t even think of that. I guess that’s why I keep you guys around.” Cisco chuckled.
Once all the shiners were set out, Suki tried to get everyone’s attention. Some of the cats had wandered away, and others were in deep conversation.
“All right then,” she thought to herself, “it’s time for a drum solo.”
Walking over to the cabin, she picked up the padded drumstick and beat out a sweet, mellow rhythm on the drum. It wasn’t long before everyone was gathered again.
“Now there’s an idea. We should have a weekly village dance,” Star suggested as she coaxed Stony into a slow dance.
Many of the cats paired up to sway to the drum rhythms, some in a sweet embrace and others in a more joking mood.
“Okay, okay, save it for later, folks,” Suki laughed calling for their attention, then walking over to join Shaun at the tables.
“First of all, Shaun will show you how we first generated the blue light.”
“We originally learned this method from Isis,” Shaun told the group as he picked up the bowl and the grinder.
“There are two minerals in the bowl that give off a blue light when you grind them together.”
As Shaun started grinding the minerals, a soft blue light began to shine from the bowl. Suki took over the narration as Shaun walked among the cats, letting everyone see the blue light as he continued his grinding.
“As you can see,” Suki explained, “this produces a pleasing light, but it will start to fade and die out if you stop grinding.”
“When Piper first discovered the drawings in the cave, they were barely visible. As a matter of fact, Jax said he couldn’t see them at all. But when we used the blue light to light the cave, the drawings radiated with beautiful, bright colors.”
“Star started the job of making copies of the drawings while Kikki and Tam had the job of keeping the blue light going. They did a good job of keeping the light going, but I think they were actually happy when they finally used up all the minerals.”
Suki continued the story, “With a new supply of minerals, Cisco came up with an idea to make producing the blue light much easier.”
“Cisco, would you please show us your device?”
“This is what I originally built with the help of Suki and Shaun.” Cisco said holding up his device.
“It turns out that it was way over-designed, but it did prove the theory,” he chuckled.
“Let me demonstrate.” He shook the device and pointed it off to the side. Even though they weren’t directly in the beam, the cats reacted in surprise.
“Yes, we were surprised too.” he told the crowd. “It was much brighter than the original blue light.”
“We’re still trying to figure out exactly why that is.”
“Another benefit is that it takes less effort to produce a usable amount of light.”
“After our first tests, Suki and Shaun took over refining my design and coming up with new ideas. I’ll let them take it from here.”
“Our first idea,” Suki explained, “was to make a smaller, simpler version of Cisco’s device that could be carried in a cat’s standard kit.”
As Shaun handed out small shiners to everyone in the crowd. Suki continued. “These are yours to keep so be sure everybody gets one. Make sure the kids get one too.”
Speaking a little louder to get their attention. “If you would just hang on to those until after we show you all our other stuff, we’ll show you how to use them.”
The cats reluctantly stopped ‘playing’ with their devices and turned their attention back to what Suki and Shaun we’re getting ready to show next.
“If you were wondering, we decided to call these things ‘Shiners,’” Suki continued. “I think you’ll agree the name seemed to fit.”
“Now, for the different ideas we tried.”
“Shaun, let’s start with the Gourd Shiner.” Shaun held up a large gourd with a big, round window in the side.
“We built this Shiner to illuminate a large area, which it did very well,” she explained. “But we found the light to be quite harsh. We solved that problem by covering the window with a thin piece of white fabric. That made it much more usable.”
“Okay Shaun, shake it up.”
“Yes ma’am.” he said giving the gourd a few good shakes. Suddenly the whole group was bathed in blue light. “This just never gets old.” he laughed as he played the light around to show how well it lit the area.
“How do you turn it off?” came a question from the crowd.
“I’m glad you asked.” he said.
“Of course, if you don’t shake it again, the light will die down after a few minutes. But if you want to kill the light quickly,” Shaun said, dropping the gourd into the leather bag that Suki was holding. She closed the bag and the light was gone.
“That’s how we do that,” Shaun said with a grin.
“We plan to make leather caps for the Shiners we handed out earlier, but we haven’t got around to that yet.” Suki added with a shrug. “Feel free to make your own if you like.”
“You can imagine the different shapes we thought of, but we’re only going to show one more,” Suki went on. “We’re not sure if there’s a real use for this one, but here it is. We made this using only the window material.”
Shaun held up a Shiner that was a transparent cylinder with the minerals and pebbles inside. It had a leather loop tied near the top and a long cord hanging down.
Shaun held the transparent shiner above his head. “Okay, imagine I’m a tree or a rafter in your house.”
When Suki walked over and gave the long cord several quick pulls, the bright blue light beamed out in all directions.
“I’m not sure any of us need a light like this in our houses,” Suki said. “but maybe you could set it up to go off when somebody hits a trip wire or something like that.”
“We came up with lots of ideas for these devices, but most aren’t all that useful.”
“Yes, they have a thousand uses.” Shaun said with a grin. “Buy some for all your friends.”
That brought a laugh from the crowd.
“But now, we’ve got one last thing to show you.”
“Cisco has built a contraption that has something to do with the blue light, but only he knows just what it’s supposed to do.”
Cisco walked to the front of the second table, “Okay, folks, I’m sure you’ve seen quite enough already, so I’ll try to make this quick.”
“When Star and Nicole are at the cave making copies of the drawings, they’re going to be there for quite a while.”
“They won’t want to have to use individual Shiners like you all have. And they won’t want to have to stop what they’re doing to shake the Shiners when they start to dim.”
“With this thing that I built, they should have continuous light for hours at a time.”
“Let me show you how it works”
“The heart of the contraption is this light tube,” he said, pointing to the Shiner mounted on a swinging platform near the bottom of the framework. “It has a heavy, round stone inside that will roll from one end of the tube to the other when this platform tips. When it rolls, it will crush the minerals in the tube, making the blue light.”
“Now, if you look at the top of the framework, you’ll see a leather water bag with a spigot at the bottom. When I open the spigot, a small stream of water will run down onto this wooden vane that will direct it into a trough on one side.”
“The trough is angled upward, so the water won’t run out right away.”
“At some point, the weight of the water in the trough will cause it to drop down, which will cause two things to happen.”
“First, when the trough drops down, it will cause the platform with the light tube to tip, which will cause the heavy ball inside to roll to the other end. The weight of the ball will keep the platform in that position.”
“Second, when the trough drops down, the water will run out into a container on the floor. Also, the wooden vane that was directing water into that trough swings with it and is now directing water into the trough on the other side, which will fill with water like the first one did. When that trough fills to a certain point, it will drop, the heavy ball will roll, crushing the minerals, making more light. The water in the second trough will pour into a second container, and the wooden vane will be positioned to direct the stream of water into the first trough, starting the whole sequence again.”
“When the minerals start to get used up, you can either replace the light tube with a fresh one or change out the minerals in the tube you’re using.”
“The same for the water. Either hang a new bag or refill the one you’ve got.”
“By setting the water stream to match the timing of the light in the tube starting to dim, you should have a continuous source of light.”
“Well, there you have it,” Cisco concluded. “Now I’ll let Suki and Shaun show you how to use your Shiners.”
Many of the cats came over to get a closer look at Cisco’s contraption.
“So that’s what your secret project was,” Isis exclaimed. “I couldn’t be more impressed.”
“That’s incredible, Cisco,” Nicole said marveling at the workmanship. “I can’t wait to see it in action.”
When beams of light from individual Shiners started to shine in all directions, everyone headed that way to find out how to make their own Shiners work.
“Well, that went pretty well, don’t you think?” Cisco said, standing next to Isis, giving her a hug.
“It sure did,” Isis said, hugging him back. “I’m going to keep you around just to see what you come up with next.”
“Then I’d better start thinking up new ideas,” Cisco said with a grin.