they crept to the opening of the cave. Both wolves, however, did not budge. They lay very still, their heads resting on their paws, but with eyes wide open.
Two Sandstorm
There was no sky. There was only sand, with sand-coloured light and a complete absence of shadows. No sky, no horizon, no sun! Only wind, wind-borne sand, and unbelievable heat! Sand was everywhere. Even at the entrance of the cave it clung to their sweaty skin. It was in their mouths. Their teeth felt gritty. Nothing was free of sand. The brisk wind veered about, blowing sand that seemed to come from all directions at once. The heat was overpowering. Just to stand upright was exhausting. It was far too hot to try to cross the sand lands, even this late in the day. Besides, it was impossible to see.
They waited in the shelter of the cave. Shim redid the harness she had made for the water bags, making the straps a little wider so that they would not dig so deeply into Dedu's shoulders. Water was much heavier than they had anticipated. Sim's suggestion that they carry a smaller amount was not accepted. Dedu wanted those water bags full. Experience had taught him not to venture into the desert without sufficient water. Had the stream and pool not been so far back, they would have returned there to cool off.
By evening, the wind has lessened but continued to blow from the direction in which they planned to go, heading directly towards them. But, visibility was improving and things seemed much better. The four humans, accompanied by their loyal wolves, set out for the two-day crossing of the sands.
That night the lights in the sky could not be seen. It was very dark. Much of the time, it was only the steady wind in their faces that told them which way they were going. They plodded on. Eventually there was just a hint of light in the sky, and it felt as if it should be about dawn. To their left there seemed to be a suggestion of a huge mass of land rising up towards the sky, in the direction where the mountain should be. Dedu felt relieved. He now knew where they were —a little more than halfway across the sands. But the sun was still not seen. All around, the sky was a reddish colour and the powerful wind shifted to blowing from their right. The sand it carried stung wherever it hit exposed skin. Eevo pulled her rabbit sleeping-fur from the pack on her back to make a face covering. The others did the same, soon however, it was almost impossible to breathe.
The noise of the wind became a wailing scream, making talk impossible. No one, not even Dedu, knew where they were. Nor could they tell in what direction they should travel. Soon that did not matter. There was only one direction they could move — with the wind. The wolves took the lead, and the group, with shoulders hunched, moved slowly forward. By now it was almost impossible to see. Moving closer to Grosh, Sim reached forward to grasp her tail. He groped about for Eevo and felt her beside him. He reached for her hand, and felt Neeth's nose almost touching Eevo. Close behind, Dedu and Mother walked hand-in-hand, with Dedu's free hand holding the shaft of the spear strapped to Sim's pack.
As the strongest person, Dedu carried the large water bag harnessed over his shoulder. Shim hauled all of the food, except for the emergency portions that each carried in neck pouches. Eevo, being more sure-footed than Sim, had the smaller water bag. Underfoot were millions and millions of very fine particles of sand. Sometimes the surface was hard-packed, but at other times their feet sank in beyond the ankle. Every step was hard work.
Struggling up a very steep sand dune, Mother hit a loose section and lost her footing. Dedu tried to stop her slide, but was pulled down with her. As he fell, he lost his hold on the shaft of the spear. Sim did not know.
Mother's ankle twisted as she hit the bottom of the dune. She cried out in pain, but no one could hear her over the howl of the wind. Dedu helped her up, but Shim could not stand. He shouted to Sim and Eevo, but his words were blown back to him. In just that short time, the others disappeared from view and continued on, unaware that they were now separated from their parents.
Shim and Dedu found that the steep dune they had slipped down was created by the sand piling up against a rocky outcrop. The area behind was in the lee of the wind, creating just what Dedu needed — a little sheltered area. He helped Shim wiggle into this little space, and they took cover behind this rocky reef. Once out of the direct wind, things improved. The sand no longer bit their skin, but the sound of the wind was deafening.
Digging down into the sand, Dedu scooped with his hands to enlarge their shelter. The wind, whipping around the rocky obstruction, added sand to both sides of the nest they had made for themselves. There was, however, some danger in this. If the sides became too high, they might collapse and bury them. When the side grew about as high as Dedu, he loosened the sand on top with the butt of his spear and the wind blew away the disturbed sand. They had to do this again and again. There was nothing they could do but wait out the storm. This gave them both plenty of time to worry about Sim, Eevo and the wolves, and to wonder why they had even suggested such a journey. The great roar of the wind made it impossible to talk, so each was alone with her and his thoughts.
Shim's mind flashed back to their planning. By waiting as they did, they had thought their crossing of the sand would be at a cooler, safer time. Every possibility had been considered. Nothing could go wrong, and now this. Eevo and Sim had never been in the desert. They were going further and further into unknown territory. What would happen to them? Shim knew they were capable; their survival on their own had proven that. But being lost in a fierce desert sandstorm is something few hunters survive. They were only children. Why had they left the safety of their clan anyway?
But they had water. No one before them had. They had water because Dedu had asked, "How can we carry water?" Everyone had tried making containers out of cured skins, covering the stitch holes with the gum that came from some of the softwood trees. But everything leaked. It was a remark made in jest that gave Sim an idea. Og had remarked with a chuckle that rabbit stomachs might do, but they were too little. Sim, remembering the size of the stomach of the great elk they had killed, exclaimed, "That's it! What about an elk stomach? One of those could carry enough water for a few days." With the help of the wolves, Sim, Dedu, Ab and Og had killed an elk. They opened its belly and Sim fed most of the entrails to the wolves, but the stomach and bladder were removed with care.
Shim took over the job of making the water bags. She turned the stomach inside out and scraped off the inner lining. Then she smoked the whole stomach over a small fire for the rest of the day, keeping it well away from the fire for fear of burning it. Once they tied off the bottom bit of intestine, they had a watertight bag. When they filled it with water, it held without leaking. Once the narrow upper opening was tied with a piece of gut, the stomach bag could be carried in any position with no spillage of water. While the water did have a smoky taste, it was not bad for drinking. The same thing was done with the bladder. Now they had two water containers, one large and one smaller.
The elk meat that Dedu has brought back had been cut into thin slices, smoked over a slow fire and put out to dry in the sunlight. This was their supply of meat for the trip. Because of this food, she and Dedu were not in serious danger —not as yet anyway. The storm had to stop sometime. No, they were not in danger, but Eevo and Sim had only the small water bag and a little food. Did they know the route? Had either she or Dedu told them about the landmarks to use? If her memory was correct, she had told him. Sim would remember. She relaxed a little.
Dedu, however, sat still, fingering the new club that Sim had designed and made for him. Old Hunter had said that he was too weak now to use a tree branch club. This had given Sim the idea for a new kind of club. Dedu remembered him going to his woodpile and looking through it until he found a shaft of wood about as long as his leg and thigh.
Dedu remembered saying, "Don't you think that is too short to make a useful spear? The thickness of the shaft is one that would suit my hand. The whole thing is no longer than a club,
