The Edge of the Dunes

 

Bebe found a dry spot to set up camp. Alithea drew her aside. "Watch the babes and I will get some berries from these bushes along the creek." Bebe offered to come along but Alithea stopped her. "They can't think properly and shouldn't be left alone with the young ones." Bebe looked at her questionably. "I'll be back in ten minutes."

Alithea gathered several handfuls of berries, eating some while she worked the bushes, then returned to camp. Fallon couldn't figure out how to untie the knot that held the playpen to the travois, and she was concerned. Alithea handed him some of the berries. "Crush them in your mouth to suck the liquid out of the skins, then spit the skins in your hand." She showed him.

Alpen also looked on and copied her. "Why can't we eat the skins?"

"You can later. You need to get some liquid into your stomach and some nutrients to your body, particularly your brains." After they had eaten a few handfuls, she held up a finger a short distance from Fallon's eyes. "Watch my finger." She didn't have to ask whether his vision was blurry. He wasn't tracking her finger well. She turned to Bebe. "More fluids but not too much."

"I'll get some from the creek. It's fresh," Bebe said.

"No, boil it first," Alithea said. "This is wintermelt water. It may carry any animal feces it has washed over as it came down the hills. We could get sick. It will taste better than the water we pulled from below the sand, though."

Alithea knelt beside Erthen and separated the hairs on his face to look at his skin. She inspected several other places while he sat there passively – too passively. His listlessness indicated mild dehydration but not too bad. She checked on the babes. They had been shielded from the sun and had enough water and food for their size. All three were sleeping in a huddle together. She touched each of them to satisfy herself that they were not physically stressed.

Bebe had gathered water from the creek but there wasn't any dead wood for a fire. "If we build a fire, Drindl might be able to find us," she said.

The disc of the sun had just touched the faint outline of forest on the horizon. As Alithea looked around, she felt exposed. She turned to Fallon and Alpen. "Drink water," she said as she pointed to the water skin.

"We were waiting for the good stuff," Fallon said. "This has an aftertaste."

Alithea rolled her eyes. "Drink some of that and then you can have the good stuff." She handed him more berries and he shared them with Alpen.

"I've never known Alpen to be like this," Bebe said.

"Dehydrated. Not enough nutrients," Alithea said. "They could use some protein but I'm not very good at hunting." They had to get more water and had no choice but to build a fire. Where was Drindl? "Where did you point Drindl to?"

"I can't be sure until it gets dark and I can see the star formation in the west," Bebe said.

"I'd rather not build a fire at night in this exposed location," Alithea said.

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Alithea scanned the area, still wary that there might be threats in the area. “Let’s use a cooking pod. No smoke.”

“We only have two pods.” Bebe looked back to the young ones.

“We can’t take a chance,” Alithea gave her a quick hug. “The babes won’t survive if they have bad water. The smoke from a fire. We’re too exposed out here.”

Bebe was resigned to the reality. Alithea took a pouch. “Be right back.” She glanced toward Fallon and Alpen and said in a soft voice, “They’re improving but keep an eye out.”

She worked on the edge of the dense cattails that stood along the stream, picking the more succulent plants. The vegetation of this environment was unfamiliar, and she tested each cut plant with a touch of her tongue. Disappointed that she could not find any Anschloss plants, she turned back when she had filled up the pouch. A brown and tan splash of color caught her eye. A lizard? Cautiously she parted the tall stalks and bent forward, her throat choking at the sight of the water skin. Was it one of the skins that Drindl had taken with him? She couldn't be sure. A close inspection of the ground showed the characteristic semicircular slough of hoof steps in the dirt but there were no signs of a struggle.

She picked up the skin. Partially filled. Loosening the rawhide string that cinched the soft neck, she held the skin to her nose. When she smelled nothing foul, she let a bit of the water on her tongue. Fresh. She spit it out to be safe, then looked over the cattails. Drindl might have drunk some of the water and gotten sick. He could be lying somewhere close, in need of their help.

“Drindl?” She called out in a moderate voice and turned her head to scan for any sound of movement or response in the tall plants. She heard Bebe’s voice in the distance, then called out again. She dared not yell but wanted to. Disappointed, she returned to the group.