Chapter 67: The Hilltop Refuge
"There’s no time to waste," said Kellar, cutting through Krag’s laughter. "Their health comes first. Bring them along."
The hunters and the families grabbed the sled’s ropes once more and set off toward Kellar’s property on the outskirts of the settlement, near the frozen lake. As they approached the body of water, fear seized several members of the group; many halted, terrified of the tales about beasts lurking near the shores.
"It’s dangerous to be this close to the water!" said Brak’s wife, hugging her son nervously.
"There is no better place for them, trust me," said Kellar, pushing forward with a steady pace.
Clearing the final treeline of pines, the crowd came to a dead halt at the sight of the house Kellar had built. The structure possessed a strange design by their standards, yet it was imposing. Awe-filled whispers spread through the hunters and families, marveling at the sheer scale of the building.
In the tribe, the Clan Leader’s residence might have seemed larger at a glance, but only because it was a conglomerate of small tents made of wood, hides, and thatch—each room being an independent hut connected by cloth passageways. Upon closer inspection, it was not a true single structure. What Kellar had erected was a unified building.
Beside the yard, the hunters looked with intrigue at a wooden tub that seemed to float in the air. It was suspended and held firmly by thick wooden posts that raised it off the ground, leaving enough space underneath to build a large bonfire. They exchanged confused glances, wondering what on earth such a structure was used for.
"Mila, Meli, fire up the tub system, we’ll need plenty of hot water," said Kellar, opening the perimeter fence.
"Right away!" said Mila, running over to the structure alongside Meli to lay the firewood beneath the tub.
"Krag, help them fill the suspended tub to the brim with snow," said Kellar, pointing to the wooden frame. "Marty, bring them inside and fetch clean clothes for all four of them."
Stepping across the main threshold, the visitors’ astonishment doubled. The interior was vast with high ceilings. One of the hunters couldn’t help but reach out and rap his knuckles against the reinforced wooden wall, marveling at its solid build. It was so sturdy it could easily withstand the fiercest winter blizzards without a hitch.
The group was equally mesmerized by the central stone fireplace, whose ventilation chimney kept the space warm and completely smoke-free, as well as the clever system of copper piping wrapping around the base of the hearth, designed to heat and channel drinkable water straight from the fire.
The hunters’ wives felt the suffocating heat filling the room all at once and began to sweat profusely, shedding their fur coats. Kellar knelt beside the wounded men and, with swift motions, sliced through the improvised bandages using his knife.
Exposing the lacerations, his worst fears were confirmed: the edges of the flesh were swollen and oozing a yellowish discharge.
"Damn it, damn it..." said Kellar under his breath, gritting his teeth. "I need penicillin, but that requires cultivating mold and I don’t have time for that. I need to distill high-proof alcohol urgently, but that’ll take too long as well... Damn it!"
Kellar stared at the warriors’ pale faces, well aware that he lacked modern medical supplies.
"I’m sorry, I hope your bodies can take this," said Kellar, weighing his options.
Cauterizing with red-hot iron would destroy too much healthy tissue across such wide gaps. The only viable path to keep the cuts from bursting back open and allow them to fight the infection was to stitch the skin edges tightly together.
Kellar turned to Krag with a sharp, intent gaze.
"Krag, do you have anything similar to a needle?" said Kellar, mimicking the shape with his fingers. "A very fine bone or metal awl with a hole at the tip, and the thinnest, strongest thread you have, like animal gut or braided sinew."
"We have bone awls for stitching thick fur coats and deer sinew filaments," said Krag, quickly rummaging through his hunting pouch. "They’re thin and won’t snap for anything."
"Bring them to me right now," said Kellar.
"Mila, Meli, bring bowls of warm water and clean cloths," said Kellar.
The girls rushed over and set the basins beside the wounded men. Kellar turned to the hunters’ wives, whose hands were shaking at the sight of the deep gashes in their husbands’ flesh.
"I need you to help me clean the wounds before we do anything else," said Kellar, pointing to the water bowls. "You have to scrub and remove all the dirt, dried blood, and pus."
The women knelt down and began the task in sheer panic. Upon contact with the water and the friction of the cloths against open flesh, the four hunters violently spasmsed. Despite being semi-conscious from the alcohol and trauma, they writhed in pain on the furs, letting out muffled shrieks that made everyone’s skin crawl.
"We are torturing them, we’re hurting them more!" shouted Brak’s wife, pulling her hands back in tears as she watched her husband suffer.
"You have to be strong if you want to save their lives!" shouted Kellar, holding the hunter’s shoulders down firmly to stop him from thrashing. "If you leave the filth inside, the flesh will rot and they’ll die in a matter of days!"
The warriors’ children watched the gut-wrenching scene from a corner, weeping inconsolably, terrified by their fathers’ screams.
"Marty, get the children out of here right now," said Kellar. "This is going to get much worse and they don’t need to see this."
Marty nodded in silence and quickly ushered the children outside. Meanwhile, the cleaning turned increasingly bloody; as they scrubbed hard to remove the damaged tissue, several lacerations burst back open, soaking the wives’ hands and clothes in crimson fluid.
"Please, they’ll bleed out again, stop!" shouted another of the women, trembling in horror.
"If we don’t clear everything down to clean flesh, there won’t be anything left to save!" shouted Kellar, keeping a steady glare on the swollen edges. "If you want to see them alive tomorrow, keep scrubbing without stopping!"