The Babes

 

They divided up the food and ate. Bebe and Alithea retired for the night while Fallon and Alpen sharpened the stakes. Fallon set them beside the fire and took first watch. Alpen helped Drindl into his overnight bag. Throughout his watch Fallon heard rustles and noises but saw nothing. At home in the mountains, he was familiar with the nightime sounds. Here they sounded different. Was it different animals or just his imagination? After several hours he awoke Alpen and climbed into bed with Alithea.

Alpen shook him awake in the early dawn. He whispered, "See if you can help Drindl. We have a boy and a girl! Bebe is huddled with them now. I need to get some water." The babes were blind for the first few days but had big mouths and needed water to swallow their food.

Fallon struggled awake and gave Alithea a tender lick. "You hear?"

Alithea smiled half awake. "Won't be long for us. Maybe today."

After helping Drindl get up, Fallon waited while the young warrior went behind a tree. When he returned, Fallon asked him if he had slept most of the night. Drindl said it was better than the past few nights. Drindl's eyes weren't as glazed. Maybe yesterday had been the peak.

Alpen and Bebe took turns huddled in the sleeping bag to keep the young ones warm. In mid-morning, they set up the tents so that the babes would be protected from the heat of the overhead sun but facing the warmth of the morning sun. Coated to resist rainwater, the tents were fairly heavy. "It has not rained since we started the journey," Bebe remarked. "How I wish I had my maps!" They were accustomed to short rains in the afternoon at higher elevations. "I'm sure there will be more moisture once we get to the southern highlands."

Drindl had a smaller bivouac tent which they set in the shade to protect it from the rain. His coat no longer glistened in the sun, another sign that he might have passed the peak of his musth.

Alithea closely guarded her and Fallon's egg. She wanted "first punch" when the baby used its elbow spur to punch through the egg casing. Fallon carried Erthen in the sling and followed Alpen along the river to gather plants and small stones. Erthen was curious about everything and had access to the plants in Fallon's side pouch. To keep him occupied, Fallon found an Anschloss leaf. The boy chewed and sucked on it while he studied Fallon's every movement. They returned to camp and Alpen made up a grass paste for the little babies and gave it to Bebe.

"Oh, no!" they heard Alithea cry out from inside the tent. Fallon rushed to the opening. Alithea was cleaning their baby. "It's a girl! I fell asleep and missed first punch." Fallon took a bit of the grass paste and brought it inside the tent. He and Alithea surrounded their babe as she fed.

"This is good that we can both stay with her. She will imprint on you as well," Alithea said. Although she was blind, she imprinted on the initial smells around her. They argued over the babe's name but Fallon gave in and they named her Alamea, a variation of Alithea's mother's name.

The next day, they were able to bring the young babes together. Alpen and Bebe had named their two babes Darden and Bella. Their eyes had opened but were unfocused. At first they stumbled into each other. They made sharp squeaks and jabbed each other with their elbow spurs as they navigated the small space. The first two days, Alithea and Fallon got little sleep. Erthen had to be kept away from the babes for the first week. Alithea examined Drindl on the third day and felt comfortable leaving Erthen with him. Bebe untied the stones from Drindl's feet and they used these to heat the tents in the evening.

"It's like two different people," Fallon said as he smoothed Alamea's new fur.

"It's been almost a week since his battle," Alithea said. "I'll test his knowledge today. After that, you and Alpen should talk up his deeds so he has a memory of them. He will act like someone with status. He will tell his son."

Fallon felt Alamea's elbows. "Her spur is starting to shed."

Alithea felt the babe's hooves. They were firming up. "We'll work with her in a day or two. Let her kick at our hands to build her leg muscles. Then we can let Erthen play with her. If he does get rough, she can defend herself."

"I wish I had been with Erthen this much," Fallon said.

"Yeah, you were busy on the end of summer campaign last year," Alithea reminded him.

"That's right," Fallon said. "Now that I think of it, the Ibik herds were smaller last year. That's why we needed another good hunt before winter set in." He watched as Alithea pushed lightly against Alamea's chest. "Balance?" he asked.

"Yeah, testing her core muscles," Alithea said. "She's a day younger than Darden and Bella. Just want to make sure she is safe around them."