Under the Shadow of the Plateau: Frontier Forever by Benjamin Krieger

Author:Benjamin Krieger [Krieger, Benjamin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-08-19T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

False Start

Rhodes had barely been with the Starrletts for a month but was already feeling guilty about it. Not only was he neglecting his search for Pathos, but he was starting to feel like a detriment to the herd. No one had said or done anything to make him feel that way, in fact, many animals had been going out of their way to make him feel at home, especially the gorillions. Nevertheless, he found himself with strong personal reservations about being included in animal society.

Once, when he was much younger, Marion had said that humans were like snakes, as dangerous as they were beautiful. At the time, Rhodes had been proud to be compared to the seductive creatures, but humanity’s insidious nature seemed much clearer to him now that his human family had cast him out. Snakes, lizards, spiders; anything that was poisonous usually lived alone, not within a herd or tribe. He was proud and appreciative of the fact that Marion said he could stay, but if he had been in her position, he didn’t think he would have taken the risk. If she knew half of the horrible things going through his head, he was sure that she would have thrown him out too.

Rhodes had readied himself to leave a number of times, but something always came up. Whether it was helping with migration, hunting, new litters, weather, it felt like the closer he got to departure, the better a reason he found to stay. It didn’t help that life within the herd was so pleasant. Even though the semi-nomadic lifestyle of the Onondaga was similar in many ways, there was a rhythm to living in the wild that was soothing. Every day they would get up under the jungle canopy, move to where the best food was, and start all over again. Eating and sleeping patterns varied between species, and although Rhodes had yet to spend a night in the pile of cubs, he generally did whatever Lincoln did. Never having to worry about the day of the week or month, he was free to make his own schedule, which was liberating in a way he did not expect.

There were times when he missed living with the Onondaga, but Rhodes felt more at home with Lincoln and his animal family than he did climbing Grand Mesa. Equality was a totally different concept for humans and animals. Onondaga were supposed to treat every member of the Dakota with the utmost respect, whereas the Starrletts made no pretense about treating everyone the same. Even though animals ate each other, they acknowledged the importance of their diverse roles within the herd; some were hunters and others prey.

Ever since Pathos had gone missing, Rhodes’ sleep had been plagued by nightmares, but now he was having occasional dreams about being an animal. When he was younger, he had dreamt about being a gorillion, but these dreams were a lot less enjoyable. More than once, he had found himself in the form of a giant wolf, taking down game without difficulty.

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