The SealEaters, 20,000 BC Read online

  At walked defiantly up to Reg and faced him. “You’re not taking Vaima on this trip! I give no permission for my daughter to go with you!”

  Reg punched At in the face knocking out two teeth and dislocating his jaw. When At fell to the ground, Reg kicked and punched him in the gut with every bit of force he had. At was for a while incapable of making a sound or rising from the ground.

  Reg glared at Elma. “I said, ‘Bring her provisions!’ Do it now!”

  Elma, At’s second wife, ran to her hut. She put Vaima’s clothes in a bladder and tied it closed. She put dried meat in another bladder, tying it tight. She was terrified and frightened witless for her daughter. She complied quickly for fear for her own life, if she failed to do as she was told.

  Reg strode over to Vaima and pulled her arm. “Stand up. Go sit in my boat. Now!” he roared.

  For the first time in her life, she glared back and defiantly dared to say, “No!”

  Reg slapped her hard and told Blad and Afte-ba, two of his sons, “Tie her up and throw her into my boat along with the provisions from Elma.”

  From the distance on the hilltop, it was a little difficult to be certain who each individual person at the Cove was. Litmaq nudged Lefa. “It looks like they’re tying up one of the girls. I can’t tell who it is. Well, whoever it is now lies in Reg’s boat. Looks like however they tied her, she cannot throw herself out of the boat.”

  “Beast!” Lefa snarled in a low voice, eyes still fixed on the people below. She wished she had far vision as clear as Litmaq had. “That evil beast! He’d have done the same with me. Just after the big fight he had with my father, when Reg saw me at the edge of the woods and told me I was going on this trip with him. I froze. I didn’t know what to think. Then, he just walked off laughing his evil laugh.”

  “It wasn’t you, Little Rabbit,” he said using his favorite term of endearment. “Any female would do. Reg just likes to show that he’s more of a man than any other. He chose you because he fought with your father. He doesn’t care how he affects others, unless he wants to hurt somebody. Reg thinks only of himself. You know that. He wants to make himself stronger, more powerful than any other man. He wanted to hurt your father. Reg knew if he took you, Mongwire would hurt terribly for fear of what Reg would do to you. That’s why I had to remove you from Reg’s reach. How he became the tallest man by far is a mystery—his strength, probably stronger than any two men or even three—prevents our fighting back. Everyone’s afraid of him. So, he achieves his desires. Reg wants to be chief and knows that’s impossible. Not being able to become chief only adds dry wood to his fearsome fire.”

  “Why can’t he become chief?” Lefa asked.

  “I don’t know,” Litmaq replied.

  Lefa circled his left bent leg in her arms and laid her head on his knee. She still had her eyes on the Cove below.

  Back down at the Cove, men who would be on the voyage were taking their leave of family and friends.

  “Blad,” Reg shouted to his son. “Bring your provisions. I need another rower.”

  With utter lack of enthusiasm, Blad went to the hut and gathered his provisions. He did not want to take this trip at all. He hoped to take Kol as wife in his father’s absence, convinced that his father would block any effort of his to take a wife as long as he was present. Blad knew his plan just died. No surprise.

  Merlan, At’s first wife, had finished wiping the blood from her husband’s face and tried to comfort Elma, At’s second wife, whose daughter still sobbed on Reg’s boat. The SealEaters walked circumspectly trying to avoid another blast from Reg. Men began to move from their family groups towards the boats. It was almost high sun. They planned that time for leaving to coincide with the outgoing tide and to provide daylight for a good part of the first day.

  Whug walked over to the boat his sons, Urch and Emuka, would take. They embraced without comment. Whug stood back looking at his sons. Each was sturdy of body. Handsome men. Men of good reputation. Sons to make a father proud.

  “It’ll be good to be away from the seal stink for a while,” Urch said to lighten the tension that surrounded their leaving.

  “It really bothers you?” Emuka laughed.

  “It does. When the wind blows the stink down from there to here, I almost heave up my stomach contents. I also need to leave for a while. It’s too hard to obtain a wife. Several of the young women really stir me, Kol most of all. It angers me that elders can have several wives, while we are permitted none. It isn’t right somehow.” He looked directly at his father.

  “Well, you’ve tried to change that,” Emuka said defensively of his father.

  “That effort falls on ears that refuse to hear. They all have to agree to our taking a wife. As long as Reg lives, we’ll have none, while the elders can take as many wives as they choose—anyone as long as she’s not already a wife, simply by demanding it. Even fathers of the girls can’t prevent actions of the elders,” Urch said, looking pointedly at Whug again.

  “I know,” his father replied. “I hope to try again while Reg is gone.”

  Urch said quietly, “My fragile hope is that we find women where we go. Maybe another way of living.”

  “Urch, what a thought! Do you really think it’s possible?” his brother asked.

  “I said, fragile hope.”

  “Yes, you did.”

  Cattu, their half-sister ran to the boat and threw herself at Urch. He hugged her. Then Emuka hugged her.

  “Be good and helpful at home while we’re gone. Promise?” he asked her, his beard tickling her neck.

  Cattu nodded, choked up, not wanting them to leave.

  “Now, go back to Amegulatuga,” Urch told her. “It’s too busy out here. You could be in the way and be hurt.”

  With tears in her eyes, Cattu turned and walked back to where her mother stood.

  “Pretty little thing, if you like red hair,” Urch said, smiling at his brother, teasing. They adored Cattu.

  “She has the most expressive eyes of anyone here—green as new spring leaves,” Emuka said. “I hope when she becomes a wife, her husband will be kind to her.”

  “Me too.” Urch moved away to a large log where he climbed up and stood, stretching his arms wide to the sides.

  “Attention,” he called in his loudest voice. “Attention.”

  The SealEaters with the exceptions of Vaima and At moved toward the log.

  Urch stood straight and tall. At forty-four, he was still a good looking man. There was no gray in his long, thick curvy brown hair. His body looked like a man much younger. He had never broken a bone. “You will remember us! By Mother Earth’s provision and Father Sky’s life-giving warmth, you will remember us! With the love of the Pale-Faced Moon, you will remember us. By the Water that always moves and the Hearth Fire that keeps us warmly circled, you will remember us! Be here when we return in the warm time of the year—not next year—but the year after that. Continue your loyalty to our chief. Whug leads you well. Care for the elders who remain. Be loyal. Grow stronger. We hope to find a better land for all of us. Wish us well. Remember us. We are SealEaters!”

  Three times those who would remain at the Cove replied, “We are SealEaters! We will remember you!”

  The voyagers turned and headed to their boats, pushing the watercraft into the water.

  “I need help—over here!” Reg called out.

  Urch, Murke, Torq, and Wapa helped Reg push his heavy, wooden boat into the water. The men boarded their boats and headed to sea, not looking back. Most of the SealEaters stood very still watching them leave.

  At continued to lie on the ground in severe pain. His snow white beard bloodstained, still brilliant red in stripes that continued to drip. Merlan, his first wife, and Elma, his second wife, were beside him trying to comfort him and decide how to take care of the damage.

  “Is his jaw broken?” Waywap, Reg’s first wife, asked. She had left her watching place to come to help.

  At gave the hunter’s hand
sign signifying “no.”

  “Do you want me to try to put it back in place? By Mother Earth, I’ve had to do this more times than I can count!” The ever present smile in her happy round face put Merlan and Elma at ease. How Waywap could be such a happy person as wife to Reg was a great mystery to all the SealEaters. For her it was simple.

  The two women gladly concurred and moved aside. Waywap looked at At’s tortured face. “This will hurt worse for a moment, but then it’ll feel better.”

  He simply looked at her, accepting the inevitable.

  “Bring some soft leather strips. His jaw needs to be tied in place for a while,” she told the women. Elma ran to the hut to gather some soft leather strips long enough to place under At’s jaw and tie over his head. Merlan stroked At’s hand which she’d already been holding.

  With some twisting and tugging and much groaning on her part, Waywap managed to put the jaw back into its proper place. She was a very strong woman, and it was clear she had experience doing what she just did. Merlan began to tie the first strip.

  “Make it tight so he doesn’t have to clench his muscles to keep it still,” Waywap told Merlan. “Then, place him under your canopy. He won’t be bringing home a seal today. He should rest. I’ll tell my son, Afte-ba, to bring you a seal.” She looked at At. “Afte-ba knows what you’re feeling, At. I can’t count the times . . . .” Waywap muttered turning to head to her hut.

  Whug stood with his walking stick in hand. He looked after the boats which were beginning to disappear over the horizon. Whug could not eliminate from memory the sound of Vaima’s sobs from where she had been tied up in Reg’s boat. What Reg did was so wrong, yet their way of living permitted it. Whug was alarmed, convinced that what they did violated the spirit of Mother Earth and the strength of Father Sky. He was powerless to change it for he’d tried, but with Reg there, young males were forbidden wives, while the elders had as many as they chose—wanting fewer than they had. Whug knew many men wanted to take wives. He did not know how many women wanted husbands. It was, he realized in a flash of understanding, not a good place to grow up female. Whug was glad he was male—and an elder. Shading his eyes against the sun, he turned and the third tallest mountain caught his attention.

  “Forth,” Whug called to his brother, the fourth son and also an elder.

  Forth came at his bidding. “What is it, Chief?”

  “I think I know where Lefa is. I think I know why she was not here today.”

  “Why didn’t you say something?” Forth replied dumbfounded.

  Whug looked away. He turned and looked directly into Forth’s eyes. “She loves someone, deeply loves someone,” he replied.

  “That gives her no right to ask Reg to take her on a voyage and then run away. She should be punished for all the effort she’s caused us.”

  “Forth,” Whug said aghast. “Reg lied about Lefa. She wouldn’t ask to go with him. Reg was trying to hurt Mongwire for arguing against him several days ago. She’s Mongwire’s favorite daughter, so Reg decided to take her and use her on the voyage. You know what he’d have done to her, if she’d been here. So did Lefa. Lefa’d be facing the same fate as Vaima.”

  “Yeah. Reg does lie. It just sounded like fact to me.” Forth was feeling a little discomfort.

  “I rarely believe anything Reg says,” Whug stated, drawing with his staff in the sand at his feet. “It’s best with Reg to look for proof of what he says. Reg is not worthy of trust. On a different subject, you’ve never had any interest in Lefa, have you?”

  “Me? By the power of Father Sky, Whug, I have three wives. Do I want another? Not at all. I have trouble keeping peace at my hearth as it is. I only took Nomamat as my third wife because Quapiti, my second wife, said Nomamat was pregnant and needed to have a husband before people discovered it. That’s the same way I obtained my second wife. It’s crazy.”

  “That’s all Reg’s fault. I have some thoughts, but I need to check a little more before I share those thoughts,” Whug said quietly. “I need to find Amoroz.”

  “I saw him heading to the Seal Beach,” Forth said trying to be helpful and wondering at Whug’s strange comments.

  Whug headed towards the Seal Beach. He held his walking stick tighter than he normally did. His knuckles were pale from the stress. From time-to-time Whug glanced toward the hills. He was certain where the two young people were.

  “Chief,” Amoroz, the second brother, also an elder and Whug’s closest friend, called to him. “All have disappeared over the horizon. It seems to be a fair start.”

  “It does,” Whug agreed, though he expected difficulty on the voyage because of Reg. “I have a strange question for you, Amoroz.”

  “Ask,” Amoroz replied.

  “Have you any interest in another wife?”

  “By the gods, no! I only took Tone to protect her, because she would give birth. You know she could have been drowned for being pregnant while not a wife. I’d prefer to have one wife, not two. Why are you asking me that?”

  “I’m doing some thinking and will share when I’m a little clearer about what to do.”

  “Sounds interesting. I’m eager to hear.” Amoroz turned his attention to the seal he’d just killed.

  “Do you want help carrying that seal?” Whug asked.

  “I’d appreciate your help. Take some to share with your family. It’ll feed you and yours for two days at least, now that you’re missing two sons, that is.”

  “I’m grateful, Amoroz.”

  “Well, I thank you for your help transporting.”

  The two men carried the seal to the Cove. It had been gutted and they’d finish up back where it didn’t smell quite so awful.

  When they arrived at the Cove, Amoroz and his wife, Fluga, set about skinning and butchering the seal. Whug headed toward At’s canopy over the entry to his hut. The canopy consisted of six seal skins, a barrier to the sun and weather just outside the hut opening. It provided the only protection from the sun, short of entering the hut or going to the forest.

  “I’m so sorry to see the damage done to you today,” Whug said to At, knowing he could not reply.

  “I was crazy,” At hunter signed to Whug.

  “It’s more that we have a serious problem with Reg,” Whug said, leaning on his staff.

  At nodded.

  “I pray that Vaima will do well,” Whug said, not at all certain that the prayer would reach any of the gods or receive a favorable response, if it did.

  “I was crazy,” At signed again.

  “Don’t blame yourself. It’s Reg who’s crazy, not you. I have a strange question for you, At. Have you any interest in another wife?”

  At signed, “You are crazy!” to which Whug laughed a little too long and loud.

  Whug headed toward his hut. He noticed his son, Oppermatu, was down by the water’s edge. Whug joined him there.

  “Greetings, Father,” Oppermatu said with a large smile.

  “It will be strange with your brothers gone,” Whug said standing tall and straight, his eyes shaded with his free hand against the sun.

  “I already feel the loss,” his son replied.

  “Will you go with me to the hills beyond?” He used his hand to indicate which hills.

  “Of course, Father. Will you tell me why?”

  “You must discuss this with no one.” Whug gave him a knowing look.

  “Very well,” Oppermatu said quietly and with more seriousness than usual.

  “I think I know where Lefa is. I think she is safe with Litmaq.”

  “You mean they ran off together?”

  “No, Litmaq left long before she did. He claimed to be going on a hunt.”

  “That’s right,” Oppermatu replied, remembering.

  “I think Litmaq prepared a place for her. He must’ve known Reg’s plan to take her. I suspect Reg boasted to Lefa that he’d take her on the voyage, just to make her tremble with fear.”

  “Sounds like Reg!” Oppermatu spat out the words. H
e hated his uncle.

  “I have a plan,” Whug said, “First, I want us to go to where the young people hide, before they do something such as leave the area.”

  “You think they’d do that? It’s not safe. There are fights and wars among the peoples of this land.”

  “That’s why I want to leave as soon as possible. While Reg’s gone, I want to make it possible for all you men who want wives to take them without our approval. None of the elders who remain want another wife. That frees up all who are here. We need to make changes while we can.”

  “That’s wonderful!” Oppermatu said, almost overjoyed. He had waited so long. Was it possible, he wondered, that he might finally have a wife? “Father,” Oppermatu murmured, “How do you know where they are?”

  “When we had the terrible sickness . . . you were not yet born . . . some of us fled to the hills.”

  “But, we were never hill people. We’re told thick forests were predator nightmares and full of evil spirits of sickness,” Oppermatu said.

  “True, that’s why a few of us fled to the hills. We didn’t believe what we were told and felt safe there, because others feared it. All of us who fled there no longer breathe air, except for me. There’s a rock shelter up on that third largest hill. It was not natural but rather constructed by people before we came to this land. Rocks aren’t placed like that by the gods when they made the earth. Whoever placed the rocks were strong people, much stronger than Reg. The rocks are huge. It served us well during the time of the terrible sickness. It was in the thickest part of the forest.”

  “It still sounds like someplace I’d prefer to avoid.”

  “Well, that’s where we’re going to go to find Litmaq and Lefa. Litmaq must’ve found it during some of his times of hunting alone. I’m sure I’ve seen smoke and heat waves rising above the place, even though it was almost invisible. We’ll find them there, if they haven’t already returned or fled from us. Aren’t you the least bit curious to see this rock shelter?”