Nagar and Zura were alarmed. What was happening? Was someone attacking them? Zura stood up. Saba held up her hand, "No, it's all right. We found antelope tracks! Kai and Esri are going after them."

This was indeed hopeful news if the large animals were coming back. They would have better supplies of meat and bone marrow again. They were trapping some small animals but they only provided meager amounts of meat.

Fenti-Dumu was anxious to go, "I want to hunt too!"

Nagar told him, "Not this time, Fenti-Dumu. Your time will come. If the large animals are back, the hunters will start taking you and show you what to do."

Kai and Esri were experienced hunters. And though the two had never hunted large animals together, they often talked about it and practiced using their spears and working together should the opportunity ever come. And now, here it was. They could not contain their excitement. If they could start finding and killing large animals again, it would make everyone stronger and happy to have bigger, satisfying meals once more.

It would be difficult to make a quick kill with just the two of them. They could possibly run down one of the antelope, but that might take days and bring them too far away from Flat Rocks. They worked out their plan as they ran back to where they saw the antelope tracks. They followed their traces. It appeared to be 4 or 5 antelope feeding on some of the new plant shoots growing by the river. The small herd would likely be following the river for a while. Esri and Kai split up. Kai circled away from the river and ran as fast as he could. Esri kept moving behind the tracks.

Their best opportunity would occur if Kai could get ahead of the herd to the large tree that hung over one of the well-worn animal paths coming up from the river. The tree was a favorite hunting spot from the days before the Ash Rain. The track was narrow and rugged at the point where it passed beside the tree. Even an agile antelope needed to slow slightly, allowing a skilled hunter hiding in the branches of the tree the opportunity to thrust a spear into a fatal spot.

Kai raced to position himself in the tree and wait for the antelope to navigate the track underneath and, hopefully, be able to thrust his spear into one of them as they ran by. Coming up behind, Esri's job was to encourage the herd to go in the direction of the tree and be there to finish off the kill if need be.

The tracks were fresh and if the herd moved quickly, it would be difficult for Kai to get far enough ahead of them. Hopefully, the antelope would continue to stop and feed. Esri moved swiftly and silently. She needed to come close enough to spot them, follow them, and, at the right moment, startle them up the narrow path, running under the tree where Kai was perched. The antelope could easily decide to move off in many directions that she would not be able to control. This would be far easier with a larger hunting party.

Esri slipped over the next rise and stayed low. There below stood the herd. Four antelope, two adults and two calves, were grazing near the river. They looked small and underfed but, still, far bigger than any animal she had seen in a long time. She was sure Kai would try for one of the adults if she could steer them up the path. The wind was in her favor. The herd did not notice her and kept eating.

On several of their pretend hunts, Kai had shown her the tree over the path. Esri knew exactly where it was and how long it would take him to get there. If only the antelope would keep eating a little longer.

The adults took turns looking around. One started to move away from Esri. They didn't seem alarmed, just wanting to move along. She watched them go up and over the next rise before she moved away from her cover. If she startled them now, they might take off in the wrong direction. Creeping along, she was relieved to spot them again when she crested the next hill. A little farther and they would have few options but to go up the path by the tree. The herd moved on, still ambling. When they turned away from her, she moved quietly from one bush to the next, making her way closer to the river.

Esri took a small stick and broke it. The antelopes' heads and ears went up and they began trotting along faster. She wanted to keep them in sight. It was time to make her move. If Kai had not tripped or fallen, he should be up in the tree by now and the herd was very close. Esri no longer tried to conceal herself and came up from the river toward them.

The antelope went on high alert and began racing off. Esri could hardly breathe watching them go. The first adult sprang up the path followed by the other three. Esri was pumping her legs as she scrambled up the hill after them. She looked up and saw Kai poised in the tree. The herd was nearly under him. She gasped, as he let the first adult go by, but then realized the other adult was bringing up the rear and would have to slow down for the two young antelope ahead of her. Kai hurled his spear and managed to thrust it deep into the back haunch of the last antelope. He and Esri were both yelling. Kai jumped down and Esri kept coming as the antelope struggled to get away.

The antelope stumbled. Esri thrust another spear into the mid-section and Kai pulled up the antelope's head and ran a sharp flint across her neck. It was over quickly. Kai and Esri looked at each other, gasping and laughing. They were dirty and bloody. They looked at the motionless antelope and placed their hands on the still-warm body.

Kai said, "Let us thank this beautiful antelope for sacrificing herself for us. Do you have a song, Esri?"

"Yes, I do. This is what we used to sing for the animals we killed who gave themselves to us," and she began to sing.

They did what they could to prepare the antelope. She wasn't large. Esri carried one of the hind quarters and Kai hoisted the rest of the body onto his back and they walked back to the bode. Esri sang all the way. The others heard her, and Zura knew from the song that the hunt was successful.

Everyone at the Flat Rocks bode worked on the antelope, skinning, carving meat, extracting marrow from the bones. They roasted some of the meat, and used some of Esri's finely wrought sharp flints to cut thin strips to be dried and eaten later. There was almost no waste, even the bones were cleaned to be used for tools or objects carved for the Thinking Circle. By late afternoon, they were nearly done with the most urgent tasks, preserving the meat, and finishing the most satisfying meal they had had in a long time.

Fenti-Dumu wanted Kai and Esri to show him where and how the kill happened. He was urging them to go by standing on top of one of the ledges above the cave when he started to yell, "They're back! They're back! And they're bringing many others."

Kai and Esri rushed up to Fenti-Dumu. Saba helped Nagar get to her feet. Zura stood and the three women joined the others on the ledge. Coming from the far-away hills, they could see a line of people walking straight towards them. They were moving slowly. It looked like Tars was leading, then Piram, and after them it looked like strangers. From the angle they were looking, they couldn't see everyone in the line. Hopefully, Dagan and Riga were bringing up the rear.

Nagar, whose eyesight was the worst said, "How many are there?"

Kai responded, "It looks like as many as the fingers on my hands." Ten.

Nagar said, "Go get your spears."

Kai went back to the cave and brought spears for Esri, Saba, and himself.

Fenti-Dumu asked, "Why are we getting spears? Can't I run to Tars and see who he has brought?"

Nagar told him, "Let's wait. It was different when Zura, Dagan, and Esri came. There were only three of them, the scouting party was not gone for so long, and Kai came ahead and told us they had made gestures of peace, offering to bind their hands. We do not know who these new people are and if they too are coming in peace or what has happened to them. We will keep watching."

The six of them, even Fenti-Dumu, stood quietly as the line approached. There was a dip in the trail and when the scouting party re-emerged they were closer and walking at more of an angle. As they appeared one at a time over the rise, Nagar and the others could see the rest of the individuals following Tars and Piram. First came a young woman who looked to be pregnant, nearly at term, then a young man and woman, and another young man, who appeared to be carrying someone, it looked like a child, and then an older man. Finally, Riga and at the very end came Dagan who was smiling broadly.

When they saw Dagan, everyone at the Flat Rocks bode relaxed. With a woman close to giving birth and perhaps a sick child it would explain why they were moving slowly. Nagar was about to tell Fenti-Dumu that he could run and meet them when she saw Zura half-running toward the group with her arms spread wide. "Barsa, Barsa," she repeated over and over.

The older man broke away from the group and came toward Zura. He grabbed her and hugged her, then pulled back looking into her face and began laughing. "Zura, my shining sister, I have missed you so much."

She hugged him tightly, "And I have missed you, loving brother."