38. Expanding (3)

Novum made a list in his head and then checked off most of the blocks. The two biggest blocks that he had left were the wood and the hunters. The problem with both of these as he knew it was balance. To many trees to fast and they would not have time to recover and if you killed to many animals to fast they could not have babies the next year. He was going to have to figure out the best way to balance everything. But for the rest of the year he did not think that it would be a problem.

The trees were coming out of an area where he planned on putting the houses so they had to come out anyways. And the animals would move away to protect themselves to an extent. And once he brought in the cattle it would be a lot easier. He also needed to think about the size of the lake and the types of fish in the lake. Since he doubted that many people managed to fish it he was not worried about hitting it hard for the next month or so. And depending on the weather they might be able to do a little ice fishing, which he had always wanted to try.

Novum grabbed Noctis since he was going all the way to the lake. He rode by the site where the trees were coming down. As he got closer he realized that these guys were a lot faster than he was and knew that was a good thing. If they cut and cleaned them today they could spend most of the day tomorrow boarding them out. He could send a few to the mines and some to start on the smokehouse and expanding the other buildings. Once that was done he would have to have them cut down more while the garden crew came out and dug up around the stumps until the horses could tear them out.

Novum gave them a wave as he rode by, they were working hard and he did not see a reason to interrupt them. He nudged Noctis who picked up the pace and headed for the lake at a fast pace. As he got closer he slowed down so as not to mess with the hunter if he was in the area. As he got closer he saw a little section of land that jutted out into the lake. The hunter that talked about fishing was standing on the end of it with a line in the water.

Novum let Noctis roam the area and headed out to talk to the man. "How is it going?"

"My Lord there are a lot of fish in this lake. I am honestly not sure that last time that someone fished it. There are also a lot animals that can be trapped as well. And the water fowl are abundant as well. As long as we don't get greedy it should be a great source of food for a while. And honestly a great source of entertainment."

"Anything else I need to know?"

"There are a lot of deer tracks in the area but also quite a few bear tracks. I know that you dealt with one the other day but it appears to be a den close by and I think you got one of the young ones. Based on the fur you have drying and tracks that I saw. The alpha is huge and I think that he needs to be hunted before he comes looking for trouble."

"That is probably a good idea. I might clear out the entire den if we can manage it. But honestly once he is out of the picture there is no rush. Tomorrow morning the three of us will go an a hunt. I do not want to rush it but I don't want to wait until it is to late."

"You might consider bringing another up close fighter or two. This thing is huge."

"I wonder if it is an mutant or something?"

"Based on the paws I would not rule that out. It could also just be big."

"I might consider taking that one into town. The tanner there is looking for a full bear to mount for the Duke and that one would make something special if it is that big. Just hope we can kill it without tearing it up to much."

"No promises on that one Baron. But we will just have to see it."

"I don't care if we have to dice it up to keep it from killing someone I will." Novum was looking over the lake thinking about the bear and the risks in waiting until tomorrow to try and kill it when a cloud passed between them and the sun. The glare disappeared from the lake for just a few seconds and Novum swore that he could see something under the water. Almost like an old lighthouse or something like that but it appeared to have sunk and not fallen over. Before he could get a better look the sun was back and he could not see through the glare. He knew that it was something that would have to be investigated but now was not the right time.

"Are you okay Baron? You appeared to go somewhere else for a moment."

"Sorry about that. I was lost in thought. I will leave you to it." Novum waked back to Noctis and was about to mount up when he saw a honey bee fly in front of him. Barely holding onto Noctis' lead Novum followed the bee. Soon it was not one bee but a dozen and then the entire area was full of bees. Novum dropped the lead and went a little further. He saw a break in the brush in front of him and saw a huge nest on the ground and it was completely covered in bees. He was not sure he had ever seen that many bees in one place. He looked around a little more and realized that a bear almost as big as the one he killed was laying beside the hive, dead. There was so many bees that they had managed to kill a bear. That was dangerous. He would have to figure out how to deal with them as soon as possible.

The sun was high in the sky so Novum headed back to the house to get something to eat and saw that ladies had a huge spread laid out for everyone. It was going to take a lot of food to keep up with everyone so he would probably have to butcher the steer a little earlier than he planned. Everyone came through the line and there was still more than enough food to feed everyone again. Mary stepped over to him. "I am sorry my lord we were not sure how much everyone would eat so we made way to much. This should keep until dinner and then we will do better tomorrow."

"Thank you Mary. I am sorry to put this much of a burden on everyone." He turned to the girl who talked about the bees earlier. "I have found the biggest and I do mean the biggest hive that I have ever heard of. They even managed to kill a young bear. So I am not sure about what to do about that yet."

"That is disturbing. We may have to smoke them out and steal the queen and a small hives worth of workers. I am not sure but it might be that a mutant queen has developed in the area and claimed all the bees as her own. If that is the case then we might have to kill her and hope that we can find a young queen that has not been killed or kicked out yet."

"That is way to much information. You just need to tell me what I need to do."

"Could you take me to see it later, since we have enough food for dinner?"

"Of course. But you might want to wear the bee suit." He pulled it out of his bag and handed it to her. She looked it over and nodded her head. "So let's get something to eat and then we will go. Do you want something for smoke today or do you want to look first?"

"Let's take a look before we try to smoke them out." Novum nodded and headed for the table to get something to eat. "Emily sweetie come here for a second." Emily came bouncing over, it appeared that she was over her fear of Novum. "The bee that you saw this morning how big was it?"

"It was about this big." The girl held out her thumb.

"Your whole thumb or just the end?" Her mother asked.

"The whole thing. It was a really big bee."

"Thank you baby girl. You can go play now." She looked at Novum. "We might want to take some smoke just in case. This does not sound like a normal hive."

"Yeah I have a few things in mind. By the way I apologize but I did not get your name this morning."

"Jane my lord."

"Okay Jane. Let me eat and then we will go." The table was covered with a variety of dishes even though they only had the basics to start with but everything tasted delicious. He finished up and went to get Noctis. "Be back with the horse in a minute." She nodded and got ready. As he was grabbing Noctis he heard the cart coming and then saw a second cart coming behind it.

The first cart was Rurik and he was going to eat and then swap out for the second cart of stuff. Novum figured that he would have been done by now but he was sure that if it took that long Rurik was also doing something else that needed done. "Everything go okay Rurik?"

"Yes my lord. I thought that it would be best to be better organized since I had the help so it took a little longer."

"That is fine just wanted to make sure. You ready for a fight tomorrow?"

There was a glint in his eye that said he had been waiting on a fight. "Always my lord. What are we fighting?"

"We are going to have to clean out the bears den. They are to close and I am worried that one of them is abnormal. Go ahead and eat I am going to check out a hive with Jane and we can work the details this evening."

"Of course sir. My axe will be standing by." He grabbed a bowl and ate his fill.

The second cart was his guys returning from the town will all sorts of things. The mayor was driving the cart. He hopped down and walked over to Novum and gave him an exaggerated bow. "Baron the mayor of Three Mines is at your service."

"Don't be an ass Mayor. I did not go to the capitol looking for a title I went looking for supplies."

"Speaking of supplies I brought this wagon and another. I would like to barrow both of yours to make another run to the capitol in the next few days as well. This cleaned out our emergency stores so we are going to have to refill."

"That is fine with me. I will also send you with a list and a writ from the Duke that should speed things along. My guys can drive the wagons and pull security. They will also be in charge of picking the animals that I want. You can handle the money but they will pick the animals and bargain."

"Will I be able to use this writ to restock my emergency rations?"

"That is why I am sending the writ. I have something that I was in the middle of so grab some lunch and feel free to walk around. If I am not back before the wagons are empty I will come see you in the next few days. Dan you guys use the people that are in the area and get those tents set up for me please."