The Mammoth Hunters - Jean M. Auel [60]
Ayla slowed when she neared the area where she had seen the bison earlier in the day, but they were gone. They had sensed, or heard, the building activity and reversed their direction. She saw the animals just as she was moving into the shadow of one of the outcrops cast by the afternoon sun, and, just beyond the small herd, she saw Barzec standing near what appeared to be a small cairn.
Greener grass amid the bare slender trees near the water had coaxed the bison into the narrow valley, but once they moved past the twin outcrops that flanked the stream, there was no exit other than the way in. Barzec and the younger hunters had seen the bison strung out along the stream, still stopping to graze now and then, but steadily moving out. They had chased them back in, but that stopped them only temporarily, and caused them to bunch together and move with more determination when they tried to leave the valley the next time. Determination and frustration could lead to stampede.
The four had been sent to keep the animals from leaving, but they knew they’d never stop a stampede. They couldn’t keep chasing them in. It took too much effort to keep it up and Barzec didn’t want to start them stampeding in the other direction before the trap was ready, either. The pile of stones Barzec was standing near when Ayla first saw him was stacked around a sturdy branch. A piece of clothing was fastened to it and was flapping in the wind. Then she noticed several more stone piles supporting upright branches or bones, spaced at fairly close intervals between the outcrop and the water, and from each a sleeping fur or a piece of clothing or a tent covering had been hung. They had even used small trees and bushes, anything from which they could drape something that would move in the wind.
The bison were nervously eying the strange apparitions, not sure how threatening they were. They didn’t want to go back the way they had come, but they didn’t want to go forward, either. Sporadically a bison would move toward one of the things, then back off when it flapped. They were stalled, effectively being kept exactly where Barzec wanted them. Ayla was impressed with the clever idea.
She edged Whinney close to the outcrop, trying to work her way around the bison slowly, so as not to upset the delicate balance. She noticed the old cow with the broken horn edging forward. She didn’t like being held in, and looked ready to make a break.
Barzec saw Ayla, looked behind him for the rest of the hunters, then looked back at her with a frown. After all their efforts, he didn’t want her chasing the bison the wrong way. Latie moved up beside him, and they spoke quietly, but he still watched the woman and the horse with apprehension for the long moments it took her to reach them.
“Where are the others?” Barzec asked.
“They are waiting,” Ayla said.
“What are they waiting for? We can’t keep these bison here forever!”
“They wait for us to chase bison.”
“How can we chase them? There’s not enough of us! They’re getting ready to break out as it is. I’m not sure how much longer we can keep them here, much less chase them back in. We’d have to get them to stampede.”
“Whinney will chase,” Ayla said.
“The horse is going to chase them!”
“She chase before, but better if you chase, too.”
Danug and Druwez, who had been spread out watching the herd and throwing stones at the occasional animal that dared the flapping sentinels, moved closer to hear. They were no less amazed than Barzec,