Dum leaves his mark (Dum tales 17)

Because Dum had rid the clan’s cave of bears he was allowed to choose the bearskin of his choice. The rest of the members had to argue of who deserved the others or shared them in some way.

One side benefit of setting a fire in the cave was that the bat population had gone as well. They did not worry Dum and Yum as they had an overhanging ledge of rock to sleep under that no-one else cared for. Dum did not tend to sit up straight away when he woke. His main concern was to check that Yum and Wah-Wah were safe. Yum liked her hole in the wall too it made her feel special while the other women preferred to hear the chatter of their neighbours and listen to their secrets.

Yum would sometimes reach out when Dum was asleep and touch his face and wonder how such a strange and ugly man who thought things out rather than acting rashly should be so pleased with her. She knew she had a temper and would explode every now and then. Despite this Dum just accepted that and merely got on with his life providing for his family.

Yum was very grateful too that her man was now respected rather than laughed at. She determined to reward him in some way. Perhaps she would stop hitting him so much or perhaps there was some other way she could show her appreciation of how he looked after his family. She knew he really liked her as he always slept with his arm over both her and Wah-Wah each night.

Wah-Wah was growing too and soon would be tottering around and chasing birds and butterflies when spring came round again. His was the first bearskin garment that Yum made to see how it could be done and she was now busy working on one for herself and Dum. 

She went back to their sleeping place to tidy up. It was quite snug and dark in there. As Dum was out with Wah-Wah she swept it of out bits and pieces and so she laid her firebrand on the floor so that she could use both hands. As she brushed the debris out of their corner she glanced up to see a drawing of bears on the rock above. She knew at once Dum had done it. He would definitely get a reward tonight.