The Adventures of Pocahontas and John Rolfe: Book I

Chapter 20: The Old Codger and the Young Stud

The Adventures of Pocahontas and John Rolfe: Book I

Chapter 20: The Old Codger and the Young Stud

NOVEMBER 3, 1613

Pocahontas, John Rolfe, Meeko, Percy, and Flit traveled northeast for three days before they ran into another river system. Fortunately, their water supply had lasted long enough. They refilled all their skins when they reached the waterway. They had traveled through forests and meadows as well as over wooded hills and bluffs. Now, they once again built a small watercraft to keep their supplies dry as they crossed the river. They followed the river on the northern side for two days until it began to dip south into Duchi territory.

NOVEMBER 5, 1613

Not knowing how long it would be until they came upon freshwater again, they filled up all of their skins and headed northeast using the sun as their guide. To their great delight, they came upon numerous streams and tributaries that fed into the river as they traveled. The forests grew dense and then sparse again, dense and then sparse.

NOVEMBER 6, 1613

After another day, they had run out of bear meat. Now, all the food they had left was powdered corn, nuts, dried fruits, and dried meats and fish—the original supplies they had started out with at the beginning of the journey. Siwili's hunting had assisted them in preserving their critical food supply but now they would have to rely on it.

Wanting their food reserve to last as long as possible, Pocahontas had taken up the practice of hunting with Siwili's bow. It was awkward to use since Siwili was taller than her but she was still able to shoot moderately well with it. She became conscientious about not losing arrows after she had shot at a hare in tall grasses. It had taken her and John Rolfe thirty minutes to find the lost arrow. Sometime after that, they had come upon a sounder of wild boar in the forest. Rolfe did not take kindly to the sheer size of their tusks and he asked Pocahontas to hunt them from the trees if she was going to hunt them at all. It was pointless to risk a serious injury on the ground. Pocahontas had found an enormous tree growing out of the side of a six foot bluff near a stream. The trunk was severely bent over, nearly parallel to the ground over which the feral hogs roamed.

Pocahontas camouflaged herself before climbing the tree stealthily. At least fifteen hogs foraged in the dirt below her, including one big boar and two or three sows with piglets. The Powhatan woman got in position to aim her arrow directly at the large male. Just as she was getting ready to shoot, however, the boar froze as if it sensed something. Not wanting to miss the opportunity, Pocahontas unleashed her arrow. The boar flinched out of the way and the arrow hit an oversized piglet instead right smack between the eyes.

Pocahontas gasped as the piglet fell dead, its mother and siblings gathering around it. They nudged the little pig with their noses, trying to revive it. "John!" Pocahontas cried, tears welling in her eyes. The sounder fled, leaving the dead baby behind.

John Rolfe had been setting up camp nearby. He came running when he heard her call of distress and stood at the edge of the bluff. "Pocahontas, where are you?" he called out.

The devastated huntress hopped down from the tree and stood by the dead piglet. "John, I killed a baby! I didn't mean to kill it!" she blared, immediately bursting into tears.

John Rolfe raised a brow and slid down the bluff to meet her. He glanced at the piglet. "Looks like it should make a nice meal. Why are you so upset, love?" he inquired. She appeared to be shaking, so he pulled her into a warm embrace. "It's okay, Pocahontas."

"It's not okay! I killed a baby!" she sobbed. "I'm a baby-killer."

John Rolfe sighed. "Pocahontas, it's not a child, it's an animal. I can't claim to have never eaten baby animals before. Roast piglet is considered a delicacy in England. Veal and lamb too. You should be proud of yourself that you actually caught something. We must eat to survive and this is your first successful hunt with a bow," he remarked, rubbing her lower back in circles. Meeko and Percy ran to the edge of the bluff, sniffing the air. When Percy saw the dead piglet, he licked his lips and yipped happily. "Looks like we're having ham tonight, boys!" Rolfe announced, pulling back from Pocahontas. He picked the piglet up from the ground by the shaft of the arrow embedded in its skull.