Free Beyond the Valley of Mist by William Wayne Dicksion

spear, which flew directly at the deer; the stone tip
penetrated the deer’s heart, and the animal died almost instantly.
Zen and Jok could hardly believe what they had seen.
    “ Will that tiny spear kill a
man?” Jok asked.
    “ Oh, yes,” Lox replied.
“We’ve used bows and arrows in battle for many years.”
    “ Will it kill all animals?”
Zen wanted to know.
    “Yes, but some animals are
very hard to kill, and you must make the arrow strike in just the
right spot. Sometimes it takes more than one arrow.”
    “Could I use a bow and
arrow?” Zen asked.
    “ Yes, but we will have to
make a bigger one for you; this one is too small. You are bigger
and stronger, so you’ll be able to pull a larger bow, which will be
more deadly. I’ll teach you how to make and use your own bow and
arrows.”
    “ Is it hard to learn?” Jok
asked.
    “ No,” Lox replied. “It’s
like learning to throw a spear. It takes a lot of
practice.”
    “ Then let’s make one for me
and one for Jok, and we can begin practicing right away. Won’t the
girls be surprised!”
    “ I have a wife and two sons
waiting for me,” Lox said. “I’ve been gone for two summers, and I’m
sure they think I’m dead. They will thank you for helping me to
return to my village.”
    “ Then show us how to make
bows and arrows so we can get started.” Zen was eager to
learn.
    “ We can make the bows right
here. We have everything we need. We will remove the tendons from
this deer and use them to make the ties for the bows. We have to
find just the right kind of wood to make the bow, and then small,
straight pieces of wood to make the arrows. We’ll have to make
arrowheads from rocks and place bird feathers in the ends of the
arrows to make them deadly and fly straight.
    “ To make good bows and
arrows takes a long time. We don’t have that much time, so we’ll
have to make do with what we have. We can age the wood by heating
it over the fire to make it strong. We’ll also smoke-dry the deer
meat, so we won’t have to hunt for meat each day, and we can travel
faster. Then we have to make a raft to float down the river. We
have a lot of work to do before we start to the sea.”
    “ How long will it take to
make the journey?” Zen asked.
    “ It’s a long way. It took us
many moons to make the journey up the river, but we can travel much
faster floating down the river. We should be there before the north
wind blows. I’m eager to see my wife. Before you found me, I had
given up hope of ever seeing her again. She and my sons will be
pleased to greet the people who saved me. The village will hold a
celebration in your honor.”
     
    ***

Chapter 12
    Taking Lox Home
     
    The river flowed steadily,
and by the end of the first day the raft was approaching the base
of the snow-covered mountains that Zen and his father had seen in
the distance.
    “ Father,” Zen told himself,
“here I am standing beside the mountain we looked at. It is not a
cloud—this is for real!”
    The base of the mountain
came almost to the river’s edge on one side, and then there was a
gap. Just before the river passed between the mountains, another
river almost as large flowed down a valley along the range of
mountains that extended off to their right. The two rivers joined
just before they went through the pass and then flowed on together,
forming a much larger river.
    The valley where the two
mountains joined was beautiful beyond belief, with tall trees and
green meadows, and grazing animals in countless numbers. Among the
animals was a type that Zen and his friends had seen before but
knew very little about.
    Lela said in an excited
voice, “Wouldn’t this be a wonderful place to build our village?
The animals would provide all the meat we need, the rivers would
provide the fish, and there’s lots of fresh, clean water for
drinking and bathing.”
    “ Oh, yes! And what a
wonderful place to raise our children,” Ador added.
    “ Zen,” Lela asked, “May we
go