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"Ok", he said, but was already thinking about kidding Rafe and went looking for him.

Tobal roamed the gathering spot talking and mingling with his friends and other clansmen. Everyone seemed friendlier then last month. He spent time talking with Wayne and separately with Char.

Wayne was a burly salt of the earth type that was friendly and open. He and Char had been the first one's to welcome Tobal into the clan and make him feel wanted. He always made a point to speak with them and see how they were doing. Wayne had one chevron because he had trained Char. They had stayed together over the past winter and summer but there were growing problems. They both needed to train newbies and didn't want to loose each other as romantic partners. Char wanted to leave and train someone else over the winter.

"I think she's tired of me and doesn't love me any more", Wayne complained to Tobal. "She wants another boyfriend. If she thinks she can do that, I'll rip his head off." Wayne stamped his foot on the ground in anger. "I don't want to share her with anyone else."

Tobal didn't really know what to say since his own track record with girls wasn't that good. He patted Wayne on the shoulder and tried calming him down.

"Hey, things might not be all that bad", he said. "Tell you what. I'll go over and talk with Char and see what's up. Will that help?"

"Thanks Tobal, I'd really appreciate that." "I owe you one", he said.

Tobal went looking for Char about the same time Tara walked by with Nick. She was getting him pumped up about his coming solo. Tobal thought he knew what was on her mind but it wasn't any of his business so he kept his mouth shut. He remembered going up to her one night after seeing her dancing naked at the drum circle after ritual. There was no doubt she was hot and liked to have men look at her. Under ordinary circumstances he might have been inclined to take up her offer to spend the winter. Nick was old enough to look out for himself.

"There you are", he called out as he caught up with Char at the roasting pit where she was cooking a monstrous venison roast. Char was a stout round faced blond and the best cook in the entire camp. Her cooking was legendary and this roast was no exception. It looked and smelled wonderful. A roast that size took several people to handle and there were five or six others taking turns watching the roast, turning it as needed and coating it with spices and sauces. There were three fire pits with different things cooking in each one. The cooks kept an eye on all of them and helped each other as needed.

"Need any help?" He asked with a smile.

"Sure, turn this for a quarter turn and hold it if you would. It's not balanced right and that spot never gets cooked enough."

Tobal did as directed and levered the roast around. She had been right, it was not balanced properly and wanted to fall back to it's original position.

"There's got to be a way to hold this in place", he complained. "Do you have any rope around?"

He let the roast drop back to it's original position and rummaged around for some lashing material and a long pole.