RED DEER'S CHILDRENS ADVENTURES ( PART SIXTEEN )

The dust storm having died down, left Two Feathers
with a daunted feeling, he felt fearful of what was
out there lurking in the Canyon.

Picking himself up, he attempted to scramble out of
the crevice, he was half way up...when his foot
slipped, having nothing to grab a hold of, he fell
backwards into the crevice.

His head fell hard against some sharp rock, causing
him to blackout. As he lay there unconscious, darkness crept over the canyon, the creatures of the night, preparing to stalk their prey.

Back at the cave, Four Bears had conferred with Viho about Red Deer's disappearance. The chief was
angry, that the boy had managed to escape. "He has
to be out there somewhere," declared Viho, "you are
responsible for the boy, so you will search for him."

The chief was about to turn, to leave, then he turned back to Four Bears, "we will be heading up
to Burro Spring, to hunt Deer, I hope by the time we return, you will have found the boy."

Four Bears was just about to speak, when the chief
put his hand up saying, "no more! just find the boy."

Four Bears collected everything he would need, his
spear, water pouch, some dry bread, his flint. On
leaving the cave, he ventured out along the path, he felt annoyed that he was being treated in such a
way by the chief, 'after all,' he thought...'it's
not my fault the boy disappeared.'

He took a swig of water from his bottle pouch, his
eyes now accustomed to the dark. The moon was high
in the sky, revealing shadows that silhouetted the
great rocks. He could hear the scurrying of rats, he knew lived close by.

After walking quite a distance, he heard a moaning
sound, he thought it was a bear, so he took out his
spear, ready for what he might encounter.

As he leaned over the edge of the path, he was
surprised to see a man laying down in the crevice.
Four Bears called out, "hey! you down there, are
you okay?"

Two Feathers had become conscious, when he heard the voice calling from above. "Please! help me out
of here," he cried...feeling very strange. He touched the back of his head, where it hurt most, it was really painful, then he noticed that the wound was moist and bleeding.

Four Bears lay flat on his stomach and held his
spear over the edge, "here grab this spear, I'll
try and pull you out."

Two Feathers grasped one end of the spear, with all
his might, he pulled himself up. Four Bears came up
into a kneeling position and pulled the man from the crevice.

Once out, Two Feathers lay sprawled out on the path. "Please! can you help me, I'm bleeding?"

"Can you walk?" enquired Four Bears.
"I don't know, I feel so woozy," Two Feathers sat up.

"What is your name?" Four Bears asked.
"My name is Two Feathers, I come from a camp, outside of the Canyon."
"Well at least you haven't got concussion," said
Four Bears, "it's quite away back to my camp...so
if I help you back, you have to give me your honour that you will tell no one of my camp."

"I give you my honour, all I want is to get back
to my own camp," said Two Feathers.

"Then I'll help you," said Four Bears.

To be continued ...........