I can lead them away."
He studied me with possibly some amazement as I laid out my plan. "You have said that I have lost them this time and that they are motivated to continue to follow me. I will go back to the car and pretend that I have been unsuccessful. I will leave word with the man who contacted me that I have seen signs that the places where you could be found,are long abandoned. Then I will go to other locations where the location is isolated but I have even less chance of attracting any among you. Only when I raise the beacon fire in those places I will add other herbs whose smell is noxious and I will not burn these as completely, therefore we will lead them down a wrong path for the future. Finally after I have done this several times I will contact them and tell them that in my opinion your people have gone from being endangered to being extinct. We could sell it that you are one more victim of global warming."
He nodded, "Among my people I am considered intelligent but this is a ploy that we would not have considered, to a certain extent this is why we are talking. You are not just suited to hunting but you have to make your way among what humans call society and so you can give us your perspective. I will agree that you should go onwards and pretend not to find us, you can even sow the seeds of wrong information for any who follow you in the future, but telling the world that we are extinct that we have lost the battle of survival, this I will have to discuss with others who will decide and I expect that it will not meet with agreement."
"But if it protects you, if it allows you to live in peace without being harassed by others, it seems to be the easiest choice."
"I asked you if you would be willing to help us hunt down the persons who have lied to you, and you have told me that you are willing, partly because you want to protect us and also because you believe that these people have put you in a position where you might have been in deadly peril."
"Yes I know that your people are not threatening anyone that all you want to do is be left alone."
He hefted the war club I note with surprise that it had two ends which were weighed with a rock inset in the wood. The great rock at the large end was the size of my two fists while the one at the narrow end was likely smaller than the head of a tennis ball. As he hefted the weapon his grip changed slightly and his arm swung quickly. The smaller end whipped through the air as quickly as any golf swing and it struck the handle of the spoon where it sat above the lip of the stew pot, there was the sound like a bell as the spoon handle vanished. I had raised my arm to protect my head and the other had fallen to my pistol I was within reach of that club.
"It is only a spoon." He sat back down and pulled back the mask he coughed twice and then spit saliva and blood towards the fire.
"Forgive me, beyond the fact that I have dealt with your people before and I am used to adapting to their thoughts, I am angry, and therefore I am less willing to be patient. You think but too slowly, I give you the pieces and you do not assemble them as should be obvious, clearly you have met us but you do not know us and you accept the tales that have grown up about us. To begin we are not in fact solitary, only a few of us actually live alone although it is more common among those who are in poor health or who have suffered the loss of mate or children. Do you understand the concept of a sentinel?"
"One who watches for danger."
"So in our people we have some who act this way, and they more often than others have been seen or met with those of your people. Their responsibility is not to bring travelers back to where we live. In addition the fire we require be set before we come down to parlay is composed of smoke which should prevent infection to us and the action of the flames draws in air and heats it to kill what we will call a virus and then lifts it high into the air to land somewhere down wind, this means that the fire is not just a symbol it is a tool to protect us in the same way that we use other things to protect us."
So now I understood the fire.
"To begin this is a traveling club it as a symbol of honor among my people for thousands of years, so to treat you with respect I carried it with me when we met. You speak of modern weapons I have modern weapons as you can see."
I had noted the other weapons that had lain unnoticed at the rear of the log but naturally I was most aware of the ferocious club in his hands. "Do you see the bow and arrows that we carry we remember a meeting that you had with one of our people in the past, you conveyed by sign how your bow was made and how you fired an arrow, some of our people actually took from that and changed the way they build their bows.
"That is a great bow."
"Yes seven and a half feet in height, only a couple of inches taller than me but with a stave more than three inches thick in the centre while yours is only two, it's draw weight is more than two hundred pounds, when we need to we will build bows far larger."
"Larger?"
"Yes, now I want you to pay attention for once. When you are among my people bear in mind that you know way too little of us and our ways, it is dangerous to speak up if you have not attained the right to carry a club, especially the way you have crossed so casually into questions of honor."
"I don't understand."
"That is the problem, you do not understand so keep quiet. I have another minute so I will say this, what you have said this could be words that come from a book called the art of war is that not true?"
"Yes it is an old book on military strategy and it has stood the test of time."
"Understand this, the things that are suggested in that book might be well for humans who are willing to lie to each other and to change alliances on a whim, to suggest to one of our people that they would engage in these practises is a deadly insult to their honor. Among my people I was chosen to meet with you not just because I am dying slowly but because I am not held in high esteem. Because I have spent some time in communication with your people I have learned to say that which is not true. I have even told you something that was untrue and my companions know of this since they were listening, knowing that I lie on occasion is not the same as having heard it for themselves. So keep you silent and remember you owe no mercy to those who have stalked us."
I had smelled some others scents on the breeze and I could now pick out more information in addition I could hear something over the noise from the creek bed and the wind. I had known there was at least on other Sasquatch out there. I assumed those were low voices in the distance, coming close. That and they were coming down wind so that I could smell them. I could distinguish more than one Sasquatch by smell and I could also smell several men.
"We have time for only a few things do you understand that each person is different some seek their fellows in companionship and others are content with their own thoughts some even chose to live among you."
"Yes."
"Excellent, then understand that we believe that we are in fact the apex predator and that all others should move around us with caution. As you are about to see I lied when I told you that these other hunters had not been able to follow you." He threw some dried branches on the fire and the flames rose up again and air was pulled in from behind my back even though that direction was downwind. My nose was close to the ground as I smelled the air some things became more clear.
Rising and narrowing my gaze, I looked out I could see forms approaching. Two of them were pulling wheeled carts the third was carrying what looked like the form of a small man over his shoulder. As they got closer I could see that the carts were of a kind designed for hunters who want to go into the wilderness and then bring out the carcass of large animals such as elk or moose, they were less heavily loaded. One held a man who was struggling against the ropes binding him, as it approached I could tell that he was also gagged. The other cart was abandoned further out and that Sasquatch spent some time studying the surroundings.
The remaining one was coming forward more quickly and I could see her struggling burden more c
learly. It was in fact a large man, when she threw him to the ground I could tell that the captive had been drenched in the same kind of disinfectant as had been used on my pack. She shook off her hands with the air of someone who has found herself carrying a bag of garbage further than planned, because the other bins were full. She was far larger than the male I had been speaking with and I could tell he was being deferential. What I though was a duffle bag lying beside him had been extended to form a folding chair with the seat as high as a table and almost three feet across. She took that place.
"I am not pleased with what I have heard so far. Why have you not asked the question we need to know is it one member of this Council in St. Louis that has risen against us or is it all?"
"This man does not know for sure, but he can learn he is a skilled investigator and he has resources that are not available to us."
"Yes, him leaping into a little red light, it is not a true test of courage, but you are satisfied?"
"Yes." As he gave this answer I noted he gave a small crouch, it was not a bow but by reducing his own height is probably served much the same purpose as when we bow or when we nod our heads forwards, I was learning to see some of their customs.
The other Sasquatch had