Page 37 of Fresh Flesh

Joras

I standon the tree branch, scarcely daring to breathe lest I disturb the furry, antlered creatures moving about below me. Their noses dance and wriggle as they take in scents. I hope I have climbed high enough in this tree so they cannot scent me. Maisie said as long as I was about ten feet up that would be enough, but I don’t want to mess this up.

I want to impress her, as it turns out.

I never thought humans had the ability to display so much intellect. Sure, they could make things, buildings and such. But so can a lot of the insect life on this planet. Just building things and having a language does not make one intelligent in the eyes of a Grengoran.

Now, though, I’m starting to rethink everything I thought I knew about humans and their intellectual capacity.

Maisie is up in another tree nearby. The branches would not support both of our weights at the same time. Besides, this way we can catch them in a crossfire. I was impressed that she knew of the concept, to be honest. I hadn’t thought much about human cleverness or tactical ability before.

The deer are bigger than I thought. Given how much of a percentage of the human body is composed of water and fat, it turns out that the deer appear to have a lot more food available on them than the average human.

I tense up and feel my finger curling around the trigger to the pistol. Carefully, oh so carefully, I take aim and prepare to fire.

I look up and see that Maisie has likewise taken aim. We nod to each other, and then count to three, just as we’d planned before climbing up in our respective trees.

Twin flashes of light burn through the air, a yellow beam from my pistol and an orange one from the rifle I let her borrow. Her aim is true, and the deer stiffens up and then falls over, a smoking hole in its head.

The one that I fire at is luckier. I frown in dismay as it bounds away, my shot having gone a bit wide to scorch the bark of one of the evergreen trees nearby.

The remaining deer bound away from their fallen companion, without so much as a backward glance. They appear to have no loyalty to each other whatsoever. How unlike my Maisie and her concern for her fellow human beings.

I jump down from the tree, then go over to Maisie and help her down as well.

“Nice shooting,” I say, though I’m a bit chagrined that my shot didn’t take down a beast as well.

“Yes,” she says. “Thank you. I wish I could say the same.”

I give her a look and she laughs.

“I’m just teasing you, Joras. Don’t worry one of them will be more than enough for both of us.

She crouches down with her knife and cuts the deer’s throat. I wonder why she is doing that.

“The animal is already quite dead.”

“This isn’t to kill it, it’s to drain the body.”

Next she shows me how to rig up the carcass by its hind legs and haul it up into a tree. The blood flows from its neck to pool on the ground, turning white snow scarlet.

She is the teacher, and I am the student as she shows me how to clean and dress the carcass. I’m impressed with her skills. I never would have imagined she knew how to do all of this.

We take the carcass back to the barn. I sling it over my shoulders and carry it. There, she strips some of the meat off of it, taking it from the back.

“This is the loin,” she says. “It’s the best cut of meat on the whole animal. We’ll cook the loin now and save the rest for later.”

“How will we save it? There is no refrigeration out here, and no power source to plug it into if there were.”

“Oh ye of little faith.” She gives me a wink.

Maisie shows me how to build a smokehouse. Apparently smoking the meat will preserve it for some time, without the need for refrigeration. She finds a block of salt in the barn and seems overjoyed.

“The salt will also help preserve it, and give it some flavor. Deer can be kind of gamey.”

We spend the next several days fully processing the deer. Every bit of it gets used. The hide becomes a winter cloak for her, as she scrapes all the fur off and then stretches it out to dry in the sun.

The antlers become a decoration as she hangs them on the barn wall. I can see a day when we will have many more hanging up there next to it.

A kind of peace descends on me I have never known. I love spending time with Maisie.

I could live like this forever if I were able.

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