It took Samuel an hour to bag a rabbit, and he came back with it just before Young Antelope brought a woodchuck out of the forest with him. Neither of our hunters cleaned the game or skinned it. They thought we might want to see them up close before we readied the meat for the firepit. They were inordinately large.

"Big," Running Horse said.

I thought of the bear we saw earlier. I thought of the drawings on the cave walls.

Samuel and Young Antelope took the game quite a ways down the tree line to clean. We didn't want any uninvited guests coming to eat while we slept. It was no different in Underworld than It was on the surface.

"Rabbit is ten pounds," Samuel said. "Biggest rabbit I ever bagged."

"Woodchuck is at least ten pounds," Young Antelope said. "Maybe more."

"It's not bigger than the rabbit," Samuel protested.

"Is bigger. Look at this thing. It's big."

"Not as big as the rabbit," Samuel said.

"Boys, Boys, they're both big, and as long as it tastes like something we want to eat, doesn't matter which is bigger. You both did well," Running Horse said. "You can clean them over along the tree line."

Once they were both cleaned, there was enough meat for a couple of hot meals, and a little fresh meat to nibble on once we started walking the next morning. It was a good sign. Both our best hunters got game.

The rabbit was bigger than the woodchuck, but Running Horse settled it without any further fussing.

Didn't matter much which was biggest, the taste was as good a meat as you could have. We had walked all day nibbling on cold dried meat, and having a hot meal suited me fine. There was plenty to go around, and there would be plenty for the next day or two. It would appear there was no shortage of game.

It was fairly quiet while we ate. In spite of its size, the rabbit tasted flavorful and juicy. It tasted just like rabbit should. By the time we ate our our fill, darkness began to set in. We kept watch for varmints that might smell the cooking meat, but nothing came close while there was still enough light to see around us.

It was the first eating we did that we hadn't brought with us. The point of the journey was to see if people like us could live in a place like this. If there were devils or demons here, we had yet to see one, but as the fire burned down, Young Antelope stood up.

It wasn't late, but we started before dawn to get to the new land just after first light. By the time it was getting dark, we were all tired. We weren't accustomed to walking all day, and a good night's sleep would have us fresh in the morning, but before we slept, Young Antelope had something to say.

"It was a killer rabbit, bigger than any rabbit you ever saw, and it had its eyes on us."

Of course, there were no killer rabbits and Young Antelope had us rolling on the grass with laughter. How he thought such tales up, I don't know, but after he finished, we turned in feeling a warm glow about us.

We probably should have set up a watch, but we simply fell asleep, and the subject of keeping watch didn't come up that night. I slept fine and we all woke up none the worse for wear.

There was no fire in the morning, and it was chilly, so walking right away helped warm us, and we entered the forest and made our way toward the river. The forest reminded me of the forest I was lost in when I went to hunt my griz, I don't know why. Maybe it was because of being on ground we hadn't been on before.

We all had a bit of rabbit and some woodchuck that joined the dried meat we carried. The fresh was always more juicy, and so when I nibbled, I nibbled on rabbit first. I made sure I got my share of rabbit, but woodchuck was okay when I was hungry. We had plenty to eat, but not everyone did.

When we came out of the forest a couple of hours later, Barking Dog was holding up his hand, as he looked off toward the left. We eased out of the trees to take a look.

"Deer," Samuel whispered, although it was more than a hundred yards away.

"Biggest damn deer I ever seen," Barking Dog said. "You see the size of him? That is a big deer."

The deer looked up, hesitated for just a second, and he was gone that fast.

"How big?" Samuel asked to have what he saw verified.

"Two to three hundred pounds," Barking Dog said. "That was a killer deer if I ever saw one."

Everyone laughed, remembering Young Antelope's tale of warning about a killer rabbit on the loose.

We heard the river before we saw it. We knew what the sound was as the water rushed over the rocks it flowed around. The sky was blue, the ground was green, and we stood on the near side of the river, looking at the far side. We sure couldn't cross there. It was moving too fast. No telling how deep it was.

I didn't remember it moving that fast the first time we were here.

"Let's walk a ways. We'll find a place to cross," Running Horse said.

It took a half hour to come to a waterfall, and just beyond it were rocks placed in a way we could use them to cross the river if we were careful not to slip and fall. We stopped to rest once we crossed, and Running Horse built a fire to finish eating yesterday's kill. We all got a good share of meat before spreading the fire out on the ground to be sure there was nothing left of the fire to burn anything.

We were on our way again and this time we crossed a field of flowers, and the bird noises were loud and appreciative, as birds flew in and out of the garden that grew wild beside the trail we were on. There were more animals, but they kept their distance, and except for the deer on the edge of the forest, few stood still for us to get a good look, but there were prairie dogs, a couple of coyotes, and one lonely looking wolf who saw or heard us, and he hesitated before taking cover.

When we came to the next forest, we once again decided to call it a day early, and we wouldn't go into the forest until daylight the next day. There was still plenty of meat to heat, but we would be out of meat in another day. Even the dried meat would be gone, and if we didn't find some game, we would need to turn back and hope for the best. We had gone hungry on trips before, but we didn't like it much. We could find more game.

Even reheated, it was surprising how good the meat tasted after another day of walking. The grass was lush and comfortable and no one needed to invite me to sleep. I fell right off with the warmth of the fire making the night comfortable. I had sweat some the second day, and the cool night air was a welcome change.

It was quiet where I slept. If there were noises in the night, I didn't hear them. Once I shut my eyes, I drifted away to a deep sleep without dreams. It was cool and I was tired.

"What's that?"

Young Antelope sprung up, letting his knees bend to keep him closer to the ground as it shook.

We all remembered the earthquake, and if this wasn't one, it was too close for comfort.

We were shaken out of a sound sleep a little before dawn. I had no idea where I was or what I was doing here, but I knew what an earthquake felt like.

There was just enough light to see. We were all awake and staying close to the ground. The shake was more a tremble, and there was an unconclusive sound that went with the motion.

It took a minute to know where I was, and such a rude awakening wasn't a good way to start a new day.

I saw the forest and the sound was coming from there. It wasn't as loud as a roar, but it was loud enough to come from a big wind. The morning was otherwise still, except for the quiver in the ground under us,

Looking to the sky for my answer only showed me the early morning light with few clouds evident.

When I looked around me, we were all standing and looking as if we had been startled out of our rest. There was nothing to fear as far as I could see, and I gathered my water skin and food pouch, picking up my bow and arrows.

"What is it?" Samuel asked, holding his bow and quiver of arrows.

"We go. Come this way," Running Horse said.

I fell in behind Running Horse as I checked myself to be sure I picked up all my goods. My mind still wasn't clear once we moved. I still had no idea what the shaking was, but it shook less in among the trees, and I looked back for Samuel, Young Antelope, and Barking Dog, and there was nothing out of place as far as I could see.

We weren't walking fast, because it was dark in the woods, but the first light began filtering through the trees. The earth shook less as the sound became louder. It was more a roar than a clatter. It was more like rolling thunder that got louder the further we went.

Whatever the matter was, we were going toward it. I wasn't certain that was such a good idea.

We were moving too fast to consider what else we might be doing, but as Running Horse led the way, we reached the end of the forest and stepped out into some kind of turmoil. The lightly shaking ground was more distinct and harder to ignore. The roar became a steady thunder as I moved behind Running Horse, and I needed to pick up my speed to stay with him.

Then he stopped on the top of the rise we went up, and I saw the trouble right away.

Samuel moved up beside me, Young Antelope beside him, and Barking Dog beside Young Antelope.

The one word that described it all was lost in the racket.

"Buffalo!"

It wasn't a buffalo. It was thousands of buffalo running below the hill we stood on.

It was a sight I didn't think I would ever see, and here we were, looking at thousands upon thousands of buffalo. When you think something good is all but gone, you accept you might never see it again, but the buffalo were all but gone, and here we were in the presence of more buffalo than I knew had lived.

There was no point in talking but Running Horse swept his arm up over his head to indicate we should follow him. He took a lateral path across the hill as we headed for a pile of rocks a few dozen feet from where the buffalo ran. Once he reached the rock formation, he climbed to the top.

We followed him, and now we stood so close to the running buffalo that we could reach out and touch them.

We stood in stunned silence. What a magnificent sight. I doubt I was ever so surprised to see anything. I thought back to when we stood in the window of the Window cave. We were looking out at dust rising in the air far from the cliff we were in, and Joe uttered that one word.

"Buffalo."

Running Horse stepped around me to yell in Samuel's ear.

"Pick one. I want you both to shoot the same buffalo. Can you do that?"

Samuel could and would, and after Running Horse yelled the same message into Young Antelopes ear, they stood together, drawing back their bows at the same time, and when Samuel let his arrow go, Young Antelope let his go an instant later.

I watched this, seeing them hit the same buffalo, but the buffalo didn't know he had been shot, until he passed the pile of rocks, and his head dropped and he tumbled head first, sliding to a stop a few dozen feet beyond the rocks.

The other buffalo altered their path only a little to avoid the buffalo that had gone down.

We stood for a long time, but the buffalo kept coming, and growing impatient, Running Horse went down to ground level. I followed him as he went up between the buffalo's legs, as the beast shook from deep breaths that came irregularly. With each breath, the four legs shook as the beast struggled to get enough air.

Running Horse turned to Samuel and drew the edge of his hand across his throat.

Samuel took an arrow from his quiver, and he got his bow ready for the kill shot. I could tell that Sammy Boy was not thrilled about shooting game that was already down, but he pulled the arrow back as he aimed directly into the beast's chest.

Death interrupted his shot. There was one mighty breath that shook the beast's entire body, and he died.

Samuel eased back on the bow before putting the arrow away.

I was paying close attention to the scene when I noticed how big the buffalo was, they all were, as Running Horse moved up to start removing the hide, he could not see Samuel and Young Antelope walking around the animal a few feet away. Lying on its side, the buffalo was higher than Running Horse was tall. I saw dead buffalo in a field one time. I was guiding a wagon train through Nebraska Territory, and the trail took us past hundreds upon hundreds of dead buffalo.

Some of the men on the train got down to walk over to one, and those buffalo were big, but they were miniature compared to the buffalo we now stood near. A full-grown buffalo weighed from a thousand to fifteen hundred pounds. The buffalo we stood next to had to be two thousand to three thousand pounds.

After Samuel and Young Antelope walked around it. I took my turn, watching the buffalo running a few feet away, but they didn't alter their course except to move a little bit further from the downed buffalo.

In no time, we all had our knives out, and we began to butcher the beast. We couldn't ignore what was going on a few feet away but, being involved in cutting thirty-to-forty-pound roasts off that buffalo, the herd kept on running. Death did not distract them from the will of the herd. They ran on.

What were we going to do with all this meat? The thing was huge. I could imagine filling a dozen sleds full of meat. There weren't going to be enough of us to take the meat back, but I had to think that's what Running Horse had it in mind to do. It was the ultimate proof that there were buffalo in Underworld.

It took a couple of hours to butcher it, and sometime during the butchering, the buffalo passed and were gone by the time we took notice. I couldn't see where they went, but the ground looked like my Paw's fields after being plowed. Looking in the direction they went in, I wondered if I was still asleep. Was I dreaming?

The morning air was calm. We noticed the silence at the same time. We were too busy to pay attention to the herd of running buffalo, and when we did look, they were gone.

Had there been buffalo? Was I still asleep dreaming such a wonderful event. Would I wake up to find out it was all a dream? I could smell the animal. Running Horse had the skin half off the buffalo.

When Running Horse spoke, he was yelling,

"Barking Dog, you and Young Antelope go into the forest and get branches to make sleds. Get limbs filled with leaves. We'll need to make five sleds to take back as much meat as we can carry. Once we build the sleds, we'll load the meat and start back. Don't want to waste any time. We want to start back before noon."

"What are we going to do with all this meat?" Samuel yelled. "We can't possible get it all back."

"No need to yell," I said.

Sammy Boy laughed.

We all talked too loud.

It was as quiet as it could be. A few minutes before it was chaos. Now, it was perfectly quiet.

"We'll spread the meat beside the buffalo run. Predators will come once we leave. They'll have a fine feast."

One thing we didn't do was let food go to waste. What we didn't take with us, coyotes and wolves would eat.

This wasn't like Running Horse at all. I would have bet against him killing an animal we couldn't use most of the meat from. We all hated wasting food, but it was a buffalo, and we all wanted to stop work, build a fire, and start eating our way through it, but we didn't stop work. We didn't eat buffalo, and by the time the sun was high in the sky, we were loading the last sled with fresh killed bison meat.

This was not going to be a nice casual trip back to the cliff we came out of. It wasn't as warm as in Paradise Valley, but it was too warm to let meat stay out for longer than necessary. The nights were plenty cool, and that would help keep the meat fresh, but it was a long way home, and we had seven or eight hours of sunlight left in the day, before it would get colder in the night.

We made the sleds on the hill over the buffalo run, and we carried roasts up to load each sled.

After the sleds were loaded, we put what was left along the buffalo run. Every ten or fifteen feet was another pile of buffalo meat for the coyote, the wolves, the buzzard, and the insects would devour. It didn't thrill me to leave so much meat behind, but there wasn't any way to take it with us.

This was totally out of character for Running Horse. Yes, a few good meals with buffalo the main course would excite everyone, but we left two or three times the meat we were taking with us. I thought of the hungry Lakota and Northern Cheyenne. I thought of people starving, and we could have fed hundreds of them, but what was done was done. We needed to get the meat back to the cliff before it had time to go bad.

We had already done a day's work, but our day had just begun. Not only did Running Horse carry the most meat on the sled he was pulling, but he also used the buffalo hide to put the meat on. He had to be pulling three or four hundred pounds, but when he began moving slowly, it took a minute for the sled to do what the sled was supposed to do, and by the time Running Horse was trotting and pulling, we were looking at each other wondering if we were going to run all the way home, pulling our precious cargo.

Whatever Running Horse was going to do, that's what we were going to do, and so we each started off trying to get the hundreds of pounds of meat going good, and we followed Running Horse into the forest and through the trees. Running Horse led the way, I followed, Samuel followed me, Young Antelope followed him, and Barking Dog brought up the rear. My thighs began to burn halfway through the forest, and my lungs burned while I gulped air. I kept my eyes on Running Horse, and I let him pull me along.

My mind went blank as I thought of nothing but how to keep my momentum going. The last thing I wanted to do was stop and need to get the sled going from a dead stop again. I didn't think I could do it a second time.

The trip back was going to go faster that we went coming out, but it did take a bit more effort pulling sleds with hundreds of pounds of meat. Once you got it going, you didn't want to stop for anything. It wasn't that hard trotting along with two or three hundred pounds of meat on a sled, once you got it moving.

I figured we made it halfway to the river from the buffalo run the first time Running Horse came to a halt.

"Eat and drink plenty of water. We'll rest for a time. Let our muscles relax. Then, we'll go to the river. We won't stop until we reach the river. If we can get there in daylight, we'll cross and rest on the far side. If we can't get there before dark, we can't cross until morning. The meat will be okay tonight, but if we can't start later this evening, we have another day of heat to worry about. I want to cross the river today. I don't want any meat spoiling. Once we get it to the cliff, Joe and the warriors will get it to the surface while we sleep. We'll go to the surface in time for tomorrow night's feasting."

Once we got underway again, I thought I might die trying to get the sled moving. Every muscle in my body ached. We had rested, and I felt somewhat better until it was time to get moving again. It took all the strength I had to get it moving at a trot, and I followed the pace Running Horse set for us. I wasn't going to complain, but I wasn't sure I wasn't working my way into a heart attack.

I understood we would be feeding Running Horse's clan on buffalo for some time to come. That was about as good as it got. No one mentioned buffalo, and certainly, no one thought we would be bringing back buffalo meat. It would be a complete surprise, if we didn't kill ourselves getting it there.

It was late afternoon when we came out of the forest that we went into after crossing the river, and we knew we would get there while it was plenty light, except we picked up some company we didn't bargain on. We had to stop to get our bows off the sled and keep them within easy reach.

The wolves were there when we came out of the forest. They were moving along at the same speed we moved, and they were off to our right as we trotted along. There were four of them, and we kept our eye on them as we pulled the sleds full of fresh meat.

As we trotted along, determined to reach the river as soon as possible, the wolves began matching our pace as they angled their trot to intercept us before we could cross the river. I could see the plan, and I'm sure Running Horse knew they would make a run at the meat before we could get it all across the river.

I thought of Demon. I thought of how we met, and how helpless he had been, and how he kept close to me to assure he would eat. I can't say what happened to his mother, but when I found him, he was starving. None of these wolves looked anything like Demon. They were gray wolves and Demon was black. They looked every bit as hungry as Demon looked when I found him. They looked to be half again Demon's size.

By the time we reached the rise overlooking the river, the wolves were no more than a few hundred feet away.

"They aren't going to cross the river," Running Horse told us as he panted from the pace he set for us.

We all watched the wolves as we prepared to get the sleds down the hill to the bank of the river. It would take two of us to carry each sled across, and we needed two men to keep the wolves at bay. I hated to see one killed, but we weren't feeding them the meat we had spent most of the day getting it closer to home.

We were all dog tired. We hadn't stopped moving since we were shaken awake that morning. The entire day had been hard work. We needed to take a break, but we had to cross the river before we could stop. The wolves weren't smart enough to go across the rocks we would use, and the river moved too fast except for the one spot below the waterfall where it flattened out to go over the rocks.

We had to rest before we carried the sleds across. We would use the rocks, but they were slick and while the river was lower there, it did move right along, picking up speed after tumbling over the waterfall.

As we caught our breath, the wolves had moved to within a hundred feet of us. Three lay down, and the leader of the pack stood ten feet closer to us. He did not take his eyes off of the sleds. There was a feast there, and he intended to have his share. They could have had all they wanted back at the buffalo run, but the wolves didn't catch smell of the raw meat until after we passed through the forest.

We wanted to get a closer look at the game and the predators in Underworld, and I was getting as good a look at wolves as I wanted. They reminded me of Demon, and putting an arrow in one of the beasts would be like shooting my dog, but they weren't going to get so much as I bite of the meat I was pulling.

They made up their minds they were going to eat, and the odds weren't that off center. If they could take a couple of us down, the prize would belong to them, but wolves are cunning creatures, and no matter the beast, they would think twice before trying to bring someone our size down.

The meat was enticing, but they hadn't made a run at it, and they knew where the river was as well as we did. Once we cross, they would be out of luck. They might not be able to think it out, but they knew the meat would be out of reach if we got across the river.

"Let's go. We're shooting for the rocks below the waterfall. Let's get the sleds there, and we can worry about the wolves once we are ready to cross," Running Horse said.

Stopping with the sleds on the downhill side of the hill meant it was much easier to get going. Running Horse was moving at a good clip, and I fell in behind him as we headed for the river.

Pound for pound, we might have a fight on our hands, but all meat eaters weren't equal to others. Some of us came with bows and arrows. If need be, we could take down one or all of them in a flurry of arrows. None of us wanted to kill the wolves, but it was up to them. We weren't giving up the meat.

When we stopped, all five sleds were lined up on the riverbank, and the wolves weren't that far away. Three lay down, the same leader of the pack stood ten feet closer to us. He was standing.

All five of us held our bows. How we would get the meat across hadn't been decided yet. We needed to consider the wolves. If we made the wrong move, they just might attack. They hadn't given up the idea of getting some of that meat, but they hadn't gotten any yet.

We sat to catch our breath. The wolves moved closer, always three laid down, the one stood watching us.

"We've got to go. The river will stop them, we will need to carry the sleds across one at a time. When we separate to carry the first sled to the other side, that's when they'll come at us, if they're going to come."

We all stood staring at the wolves, the leader of the pack stared at us.

"Samuel, can you hit him?" Running Horse asked.

It wasn't even a hard shot. The leader of the pack made a fine target as he stood staring at the sleds.

"You want me to kill him?" Samuel asked, standing up with his bow in hand.

"You have a better idea," Running Horse said. "They aren't getting any of this meat. We throw down so much as a pound they can fight over, they'll dog us the rest of the way back. We can't let them have a morsel."

The leader of the pack reacted to Samuel standing up, as the rest of us lounged around the sleds. He sensed something was about to happen, and it wasn't going to be good. He stood staring at Samuel now.

Samuel wasted no time, and he shot his arrow into the air, it landed two feet in front of where the leader of the pack stood.

The wolf hadn't missed what Sammy Boy was doing, and he walked to the arrow and sniffed it. He looked our way, turned his back, and trotted on down the river bank with the three wolves falling in behind him.

We didn't need to kill any of them.

"Smart wolf," Young Antelope said. "You missed him, Samuel. Not like you to miss."

"Figured if I gave him a warning shot, he might realize he is in over his head. Besides, it would be like shooting Demon if I killed one. I'm glad a warning shot worked."

Once we reached the far side of the river, it was getting dark, and Running Horse began making a firepit. We knew what that meant. Our meat was all but gone, and he was going to cook buffalo meat. There was no need to hunt for our supper, and he cut one of the roasts up from his sled, and a few minutes later he had buffalo roasting over an open fire.

I kept falling asleep as we waited for what we had all had our mouths watering for since Samuel and Young Antelope brought that buffalo down.

My mouth was watering and I drifted off, opened my eyes to check on dinner, and drifted a bit longer. I don't think I had ever been more worn down than I was after we crossed that river.

To say it was glorious is inaccurate. It was more glorious than glorious ever was. We were all beat and hungry, and we ate and ate, and then, we ate some more. I fell asleep with only a little light left in the sky. I still had a piece of buffalo meat in my hand. When I woke up, it was still there, and I went back to eating, but this wasn't an eating wakeup call. This was a pulling wakeup call.

"Time to get on the move," Running Horse said.

Oh, no.

I heard of people falling asleep standing up, and I don't know if I slept, once the pulling started a new, but I wasn't really doing the pulling. I had the sled moving right behind me, but I didn't feel it. I couldn't feel my legs, and I kept my eye on the back of Running Horse's head, and I kept moving.

I have no way of knowing how long I slept, but it wasn't long enough, and my aching back cried an alarm as I got the sled back up to speed, following Running Horse away from the river and toward home. The sky was full of stars and a big moon that lit the way, and so we trotted on into the night.

It was cool, but pulling the sled for hours had me sweating, and the coolness of the night was pleasant relief after pulling during the heat of midday, and we had quite the light show overhead. I distracted my painful muscles by searching for constellations I knew. I found none, and I specialized in being able to pick out star formations Paw pointed out to me on dark clear nights. I knew a dozen. I found none I knew.

The idea of looking for constellations turned into doubtfulness on just where we were. I knew where we were had a lot of buffalo, but other than that, what did we know? I knew there were starving Indians. Should they get the chance to come here to get buffalo to eat. They would knock the cliffs down to get at buffalo.

Everyone knew the stories about starving Indians all over the plains. No Indian would turn down a chance to go to a place where the buffalo roamed by the thousands, maybe by the millions. It didn't matter what else was down here. There were buffalo, and that alone made it a good place to be.

We were the hunters returning from the hunt with a thousand pounds of buffalo on our sleds. It was enough bison to have many feasts, and when the people found out that there was a valley with plenty of buffalo, they wouldn't need to be convinced to go there. They would want to know, "When do we go?"

Running Horse wouldn't need to do much selling to sell this move.

I won't say I was worn out by pulling my sled. By the time we stopped halfway from the river to the cliff, I was beyond tired, but I was mostly numb. My body ached, but I didn't need to use all of my strength to keep the sled going. It wasn't nearly as hard going the last few miles as it was going the first few. When the cliffs came into view the first time, I smiled. I don't know how long we had been pulling the sleds, but before noon on the second day, we stopped at the lake to soak our feet, and some of us just let our whole bodies submerge.

We were fifteen minutes from the cliff, and we deserved a good soak. The meat was still plenty cold from the cold night air, and Joe would have the meat moving double time to the surface while we slept. We did a man size job getting the meat home while it was still fresh.

We were serenaded by the wolves and coyotes the rest of the night. The wolves had found a way to cross the river, and they were howling off to the right. They never got close enough for me to see them. I could hear them along with what sounded like coyotes.

"Let's get the sleds to the cliff. I have half the buffalo roast I cooked beside the river last night. We'll turn the meat over to Joe. He'll get it the rest of the way home. we'll fill our bellies with buffalo and then sleep until it's time for the evening meal," Running Horse said. "It will be quite a feast on the surface."

It was afternoon when we looked up at Joe who was looking down at us. A big smile filled his face.

"Glad to see nothing ate you. That is the same number you started off with, isn't it, Chief?"

There were faces looking out at us as we brought the sleds to the opening in the cliff. It took a couple of minutes for them to come down from the opening above the ground to be on the ground with us.

"Saw your fire last night. Figured you'd be here sometime this afternoon. What did you bring with you?" Joe asked, looking at the sleds we brought home with us.

"You were right Joe. We found buffalo. Get the bison meat up top and have them prepare it for tonight's feast. Once we get a few hours rest, we'll go to the surface," Running Horse said. "I'll have something to say about this meat this evening. I'll say enough to tell them where we found thousands of buffalo."

"I'm not tired," Samuel said. "I can help get the meat to the surface."

"You are tired. You've done more than your share. Let someone else take a turn," I told him.

Samuel looked at the sled he just parted from, and two warriors began unloading it.

Joe got busy making bundles each warrior could carry on his back. It would make it easier to get to the surface by breaking the sleds down. Once the first bundles reached the surface, they would send more men down for the meat, and preparations would begin for tonight's feast.

The amount of meat would immediately alert those who took care of our food supply to begin smoking and storing meat in the cold cave. Some meat would be salted and stored, but a goodly portion would be cut into the size to fit on several firepits that would go into action while we slept a few hours before going the rest of the way to Paradise Valley. If we timed it right, and Running Horse had excellent timing, the feast would be ready to start as soon as we reappeared on the surface.

We passed a pile of rocks about fifty or sixty yards from the bottom of the Window cave. I looked it over and figured it was rocks that came down off the cliff during the earthquake. We walked beyond the pile and picked out a particularly soft looking spot next to the pasture. We were far enough from the cliff to not hear the work being done getting the bison meat up top.

We each got a hunk of buffalo, and for the second time I fell asleep with the juiciest most delicious meat I ever tasted in my hand. I knew better than to waste buffalo meat.

No one was in the cave when Running Horse woke us a few hours later. We used the torches carefully placed in the cave to offer us light on our journey to the surface. We weren't well rested, but we were rested well enough to get the rest of the way home with visions of bison meat fresh in our heads.

When we came out of the Window cave, we were surprised by how light it was on top. There were fires burning on our way to the central firepit. The smell of bison cooking was in the air. Everyone had a bison roast and was cooking it for the coming feast. They were preparing dishes to go with the buffalo meat, and those would be passed around until everyone got their fill, but buffalo meat stood alone as the centerpiece of this meal.

Even the children were startled by getting fed buffalo. Most had seen one or two buffalo along some trail they were on, and when they pointed them out, they were told, "That animal fed the Pawnee for next to forever, but they are almost gone now."

"Where did they all go?" was a frequent question from a child told about how important the animal was.

"They went away," was what children were told.

Next to firepits next to lodges, the Pawnee sung and danced and ate buffalo. There was singing and dancing all over Paradise Valley. Each cluster of huts had their own fire, and the people who lived in the lodges danced and sang together. There were so many fires it didn't seem to be dark, but it was dark.

With the fires came dancing and singing, as the entire village was alive with motion, sound, and the glorious smell of bison roasting on an open fire. It was like a wedding feast or the sendoff we gave to our dead.

Everyone took part, and as tired as I was, I ate and I drank. I laughed and I ate some more. This was the kind of feasting we did in Chief Lone Wolf's days. When we went to hunt on the mountain, the mountain I once fell off of, when we returned with enough meat to feed us for months. We feasted for days and we celebrated having wonderful lives, and being Pawnee.

When we got to the main firepit, Joe was standing by an open pit with burning coals in the bottom. Once he tossed an inch of dirt on top, he tossed in two forty pound roasts and covered them with dirt. The heat was amazing, considering the coals were at least two feet underground.

"Saw Sargent Tooley do this once. Tomorrow this meat will be as tender as warm butter. The meat continues to cook even once the red-hot coals begin to cool. You'll see, Chief."

We would see, and it as tender and enough meat for the evening meal the next day. Joe added chef to his many talents, and he sang and danced with us.

It was about the biggest celebration I could recall. The excitement over fresh bison meat was in the air, and everyone was delirious over what had come back from Underworld. Just the reaction to the meat told Running Horse what he was hoping to find out. He might or might not talk about it tonight, according to how long the feasting went on. He knew there would be excitement over the bison, but no one expected this.

The celebration went on long after we had our fill and went to our lodge to sleep. I could hear the singing as I drifted away from Paradise Valley for a good night's sleep. Even my aching back and feet didn't stop sleep from coming to me. We would have all day to soak tomorrow, and that thought was the last thing on my mind the night we brought the bison meat back from Underworld.

On to Chapter Sixteen
"Valley Low"
Back to Chapter Fourteen
"Buffalo!"
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