24 Chen Hao Yang, second son

 Xian and I made our way back to camp. After our encounter with that young woman our plans melted away. We both wanted to get as far away from there as possible, and once she had stood and defiantly put both of us in our place, we bade her farewell and pushed off back to ... safety? 
My, she was fierce and her image remained clearly in my mind as though it had been etched with fire. 
I remained pre-occupied all day, thinking of her and our exchange. It was that ferocity in her eyes, that sting in her words, that inner strength which oozed from every pore of her.
I had to see her again.
I cleared it with father and took the following day off. I would return to that clearing and see if she was still there. I didn't know what I would do when I got there, but at least I would see her again.
I slept fitfully that night and rising before dawn I headed to the dock and took out a sampan to scull down the lake.
 
I had not enjoyed the exchange, but it was just detritus on the bank of life snagging at my world; I let it go. 
Returning to the important thoughts of the day, I gathered the bow, the bolts, the knife and a muslin cloth. I was determined to get something I could cut at and perhaps hang some strips so as to have when I moved on. I was well aware of game out there and the two men had commented to that effect so I was eager to explore.
The deer had started just down river from me so they would have gone deeper into the undergrowth to remain camouflaged. I needed to track them. Find recent tracks, poo piles, this would tell me where to look.
I spent some time hunting the back tracks spotting poo piles from various animals, but up until then, nothing. In the corner of my eye I spotted movement. I froze. My hair acted as camouflage, flanking the back of me. I kept my eyes squinting so as to disguise the whites of my eyes and slowly turned. There in the undergrowth was a doe. She was scenting the air but would sense nothing to fear, just garlic. I silently giggled and thanked the lice.
Raising my bow away from her sight, I waited until she lowered her head to graze.
I fired and the bolt caught her in the heart. She dropped to the floor. I lept over the undergrowth towards her as fast as I could and bringing out my knife, slit her throat. From bolt to throat cut it had been a matter of seconds. She hadn't suffered.
I knelt by her side and thanked the spirits of the forest for a good kill, then tying her feet together I lifted her onto my shoulders and walked back to the camp.
I would eat well tonight.

 
 

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