Back to the Past. Chapter Five. -- Scribbler's Corner

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Date Posted: 12:48:31 03/28/02 Thu
Author: Beth Brownell
Subject: Back to the Past. Chapter Five.
In reply to: Beth Brownell 's message, "Back to the Past." on 06:21:34 03/28/02 Thu

The next morning, Tari woke realizing she had overslept but what woke her was the sound of two men quietly arguing within the house. At first, she reached for her dagger that she kept in her nightstand but then remembered they were Aragorn, her grand sire and Legolas. She quickly dressed in the same clothing she wore the day before, brushed her hair making sure that they were still hidden and headed out of her bedroom to see them discussing what they needed to do with the deer that they hunted.

�Morning, Aragorn, Legolas. I can tell by the sun�s light that I have overslept and we missed the best time to hunt deer.� said Tari.

�Yes, but we�re trying to figure out where to put the meat from the buck we got,� said Aragorn. �We skinned and gutted it. Legolas dragged the guts away so no animals would come followed by the smell of the kill.�

�A buck�? Did he happen to have three points on one antler and five on the other?� asked Tari, rushing for the door.

�No, five points on each antler. Why?� asked Legolas, following her out to the carcass.

Tari picked up the skin and checked for something on the deer�s head. She lowered it and smiled gently. �I feared you had hunted and killed a deer that I healed when he was young. I saw him three days ago near here. His right antler has two of his points broken off in a duel he had with another buck. He came to me near death. I think another buck gored him and now he comes here on deer season to flee the hunters. He has a black star upon his forehead.�

�I saw that deer when we were hunting. He saw me and was walking towards me when he stopped and looked attentive at me and then bolted away. I found another deer soon after that and took him down,� said Legolas, looking at her and the deer.

�Well, I better get my gear out and start to tend to the deer meat before it goes bad. That deer will handle us for at least a week,� Tari said, as she hurried back to the house to get her deer cutting equipment out. She came out a few minutes later carrying a small bag by her side and holding Gandalf.

She sent him off into the air, which he circled them for several minutes before flying off to the east. Tari watched him vanish before she turned back to the carcass of the deer and knelt next to him. She whispered, �With your death, my friend, my friends and I can live a while on your flesh.�

Tari then, started to cut into the flesh, skillfully cutting the meat to the right size that they needed. Aragorn and Legolas help stack the meat on the deer hide. They knew she would either get it smoked or salt it when she was done with getting all the meat off the bones. She finally got up off her knees from where she was cutting the last of the meat off the bones.

�So what do you do with the meat, Tari?� asked Aragorn, as she started to pile the meat on the hide better.

�I�m going to cut it thinner for the jerky and grind some of it for the sticks but smoke one of the flanks for today�s meal but freeze the rest,� Tari said, as she hauled the hide into the aviary where she went to a white long box. She opened it up to reveal white colored smoke billowing out of the container. �This is my freezer; it keeps meat in the state it is in right now without making it go bad in anyway. Some of the deer meat will go in and some will go into the smoker outside.�

As soon as she was done placing the meat into protective bags, she took the meat and placed it within the freezer and closed it up. She then, walked into the house with the hide behind her. There she started to cut the meat up into thin strips which Aragorn and Legolas helped with grinding the meat in the meat grinder, which they pushed the meat through for it to grind it into a paste like form for the sticks.

During that time they asked questions about things. One most importantly was that waterfall was called in the shower/bath that was upstairs. Tari chuckled when she heard that.

�No one ever called the shower a waterfall before. But the name most people use for that is a shower,� smiled Tari, as she looked at Aragorn and Legolas.

�So that�s what it is called. What is sham po o?� asked Aragorn, putting it to memory.

�You mean shampoo?� asked Tari, looking at him as she started to work on the sticks.

�Yes,� Aragorn said, putting to memory the word shampoo.

�That�s like soap for your hair,� said Tari, she looked at him as he smiled and nodded.

�I thought it might be that. What is the name of the other bottle revital hair?� asked Aragorn, looking at her.

�That is called conditioner. It makes your hair shine like it has been alight by an inner flame. Right now, Aragorn, your hair shines like you took a shower last night,� said Tari, as she washed her hands and dried them.

�I did take a shower last night and tried out the water�the shower. Are we done here?� asked Aragorn, looking at all the cut up meat that was on the counter in front of Tari.

�Close, we need to get the flank and the strips into the smoker and in about three hours; the strips should be ready to be removed. Then about five hours after that; we should have a nice smoked deer flank to eat this evening. After the meat is in, we are free to do whatever we want. Usually, I would go and practice my daggers or my archery skills in the field,� said Tari.

�Let�s get the meat into the smoker and go practice the daggers,� spoke Aragorn, looking at her.

Tari looked at both men and smiled as she shook her head, �You two are plotting something aren�t you?�

�No, just helping you practices your skills. If your skills are as good as we saw before, it won�t be too long before you have us on the ground,� Legolas said, as they picked up the meat and headed outside where they stopped at a small smoking building.

Tari opened the building up and pulled out part of the rack. She turned for the flank and placed it all the way in the back of the rack. She then, placed the strips not near the smoke and stirred the coals to produce some more smoke as she lowered the lid and locked it up. She turned two timers on one for three hours and another for 8 hours. She also explained about how the heat from the coals would cook the meat at a slow time and also adding a smoky flavor to the meat. �That�s done. Now the rest of the day is practice time.�

�So we will be practicing or just talking about the weather?� asked Aragorn, with his Ranger smirk on his lips.

�We will be practicing all right, Aragorn�if you want to. I know I�ll be practicing,� Tari spoke as she entered the house once again and then a few minutes later, returned wearing a sword on her waist and carrying her bow as her quiver was on her back but hanging on her side was a brown bag that didn�t reveal what was within it.

Legolas quickly helped her with the bag only to find many daggers within it. He smiled as he looked at the daggers all in protective covers. He walked by her side, talking about how to use the daggers either for throwing or stabbing. He learned that as good as she was with the bow; she was great with the throwing daggers. He placed the daggers on the ground; he helped her set the targets up for throwing the daggers and the target in the field for the arrows.

Aragorn helped as well, but he was noticing the clouds in the sky before he went to help Tari and Legolas put the targets up for the daggers and the arrows. He placed one of the targets down and yelled, �Is this far?�

�Farther out�till I yell, Aragorn!� yelled Tari, as she looked at him in the field. He took another ten paces when Tari yelled out. �Perfect! Come on, Aragorn, daylight is burning away!�

Aragorn trotted back to their sides as Tari withdrew the daggers from the bag Legolas had placed on the ground near to where she was standing at. Tari had very good and very sharp looking daggers. Legolas picked up a pair and checked for any chips or anything abnormal. He smiled as he looked at Tari.

�Shall we�practice daggers or would you rather learn sword from Aragorn?� asked Legolas, looking at her.

�I want to learn how to wield a sword first then archery only to learn from an expert archer like you, Legolas, and then daggers,� spoke Tari, as she unbuckled her sword from her belt and withdrew her sword from her scabbard. She glanced over at Legolas and said, �If that doesn�t bother you not being first to teach me, Legolas?�

�No, not at all,� smiled Legolas, realizing she had figured that he was upset with not being the first one to teach her.

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Back to the Past. Chapter Six. -- Beth Brownell, 12:50:44 03/28/02 Thu