Manak-na's Story, 75,000 BC Read online

  On the way, Grypchon-na asked, “How did you find the hive, Young Hunter of Bees?”

  Yomuk smiled. He was not a real hunter yet, but he was thrilled at the epithet, Young Hunter of Bees. His eyes sparkled in a beaming face. His squared jaw gave him a visage of strength. His hair neatly combed and held back with a leather band from his forehead to the back of his head was black with a blue shine and it was trimmed to the shoulders. His tunic was new and just covered his knees. It was held at his right shoulder. “I have watched bees,” he said. “They fly from their flowers straight to the hive. They don’t curve their flights. So I watched bees when they left those yellow flowers over there. I saw them head straight for that deadfall log and the upright next to it. It’s over that hill. The honey is in the upright log near the top.”

  Grypchon-na wore an old tunic fastened over his left shoulder. He had long white hair pulled back atop his head, braided, and folded, held in place with a wide strip of leather. He was fifty-one, slightly stiff as some older people were. His hairline was receding. He preferred short hair, but said he felt stronger when it was long. He carried a torch, an ember, and a small antler to pry open the hive. He also carried a bladder to hold the honey and a piece of stiff leather that was bent down the center. Mootmu-na was sixty-three. He wore the same style tunic and had long hair that fell free and was kept from his face with a headband Amey had made and colored red. She said she could spot him in a crowd with the red headband. Her eyesight was better up close. Mootmu-na carried hunter tools that would be required to defend them, if the need arose. He didn’t anticipate a need. There had been no sighting of strangers or large animals. Yomuk carried a snake stick and his spear along with an additional bladder. All were barefoot.

  The men hiked over the hill following Yomuk. It was a sunny day and the warmth was welcome. Yomuk was savoring his first time as a leader of any kind other than of his sister, knowing as soon as he reached the site that role would end.

  “It’s just as you described it, Young Hunter of Bees,” Grypchon-na stated. There was the deadfall log with the upright next to it. “Are you able to remain calm enough so the bees don’t become enraged?” Grypchon-na asked skeptically and continued, “Even if you are stung?”

  “Yes, I do not fear a sting,” he replied more from bravery than certainty. He immediately realized with those words he was committed and would have to remain brave.

  “Then take this ember,” Grypchon-na said, “And get the torch lit.”

  Yomuk made a nest of dried grass in a scooped out area and gently introduced the ember. The grass caught and he added a few twigs. Then, he took the torch and held it over the little fire. He twisted the torch very slowly until it caught thoroughly. He gave it to Mootmu-na. Then, he carefully put out the little fire he’d started.

  Mootmu-na held the torch so smoke would blow to the upright log while Grypchon-na pried off a large section of tree bark that was covering the honey, gently laying it aside. Then he pried off a woody section and laid that piece aside, exposing the honey. Grypchon-na took the stiff leather gently placing it directly under the honeycomb. He directed the dripping delicacy and bits of comb into the bladders.

  The bees did not ignore the invasion. Agitated, many took flight to defend the hive. Mootmu-na got a sting on his shoulder and on his leg. Yomuk got a sting on his back and two on his arm. Grypchon-na was stung on his face twice and had shoulder and back stings and one on his chest. Grypchon-na was grateful. He knew that following bee stings, his arthritic pain improved temporarily.

  Yomuk’s reaction was not gratitude. He tried to remain brave as he watched the hunters appear unaffected by the stings. It was painful to him to have one of the stings but several tried his bravery. He wanted to cry, but forced himself to concentrate on the honey gathering and think of nothing else. Occasionally he’d wipe under one eye or the other as if he were doing anything but removing evidence of a tear. The men politely pretended not to notice, exchanging grins between them.

  When they finished gathering the honey, Mootmu-na extinguished the torch by covering it with dirt. Then, he shook the dirt from it when the fire was out because the torch was reusable. Grypchon-na carefully replaced the woody piece and the bark he’d laid aside when opening the hive. He checked to be sure that the hive would be protected against rain. One area was exposed, so he looked around and found a suitable piece of bark to cover it. The piece of bark needed to be held in place, so Mootmu-na handed him a strip of leather to tie the protective piece to the log. Yomuk checked again to be sure the fire starter area was cinders with no smoldering embers. Then the men checked the stings on themselves and each other to be sure the bees’ stingers were removed from their skin.

  The hive was a big one so both bladders were full. They returned to camp and left the honeycomb-filled bladders with the women. The women would separate the honey and wax and save both. The three went directly for a welcome bath in the river. Yomuk walked as tall as his body would stretch. He was already as tall as Grypchon-na and Mootmu-na. His father, a Mol, was very tall. Yomuk knew he had taken a significant step toward becoming a hunter. He smiled. It wouldn’t be easy, he concluded, but it would be worth it someday to be called hunter. He delighted in the idea. Surely, the stings weren’t so bad after all, he decided.

  At the camp Elemaea was visiting with her aunt, Minagle, and playing with her same-age cousin, Mona, when her brother walked by on his way to the river. Elemaea saw the bumps on his skin and on the men. She ceased playing and ran to Minagle.

  “Auntie, what are the bumps on my brother and the men? Are they sick?” she asked breathlessly.

  Minagle was startled with Elemaea’s impulsiveness. The child reminded her of her own sister, Ki’ti, when she was very young. She reached for Elemaea’s hands. She slowed her own response in an attempt to slow Elemaea.

  “The men and your brother have been gathering honey. Bees aren’t happy about having their hives invaded, so they fought back by stinging the men,” Minagle told her.

  “I got stung by a bee once,” Elemaea said. “It hurt terribly. You put mud on it.”

  “I remember that, Elemaea. Yomuk and the men will be fine.”

  Elemaea smiled and returned to play with Mona.

  Minagle looked at the children. She remembered her girlhood. She looked so different from People then. She was thin while the People were stocky. Her hair was thick and black while the People had fine hair ranging in color from red to brown. Some had hair that spiraled. Her eyes were brown while most of the People had blue eyes. She looked like the Minguat, those her People used to call Others. She had grown up with many insecurities, because she looked so different from the People. Both sets of her children had Minguat fathers, and though they all were People now, she and her family looked Minguat. Elemaea, her sister’s daughter, was part People and part Mol. She was, unlike her brother, tiny. She was thin compared to People but shorter than normal for real People. Neither she nor her brother had the protrusion on the back of the head that characterized the People. Minagle mused that standards of beauty had changed. Today—with the mixing—all children were strikingly beautiful despite or, perhaps, because of their many differences, she thought. Minagle approved.

  Somehow Wamumur had put the differences in appearance in their rightful place long ago when he proclaimed that all who remained with them were People, Minagle remembered. There were no longer Mol or Minguat—all were People. Somehow, all differences were seen as People differences. There was a new flexibility in what one saw as beautiful after that. Had she grown up at this current time, she felt, she would not have had the insecurities it took so long for her to overcome. Two Minguat left after Wamumur’s proclamation because they didn’t want to be People. Minagle shivered when she remembered both those who left had died when they ran into a bear at night. But all the rest were pleased to stay and most had already considered themselves People. She knew that the older People were concerned with the problems the original People had with child
birth. For most couples, the mixing seemed to make childbirth easier, although it hadn’t helped her sister, Ki’ti, Minagle realized. Ki’ti had been pregnant frequently, but had only managed two live births.

  With the warmth of the sun on her skin, Minagle stretched. It filled her with joy to realize how happy she was. She thought of her brother and Kai-na exploring somewhere. Manak-na loved to explore from the time he was very young. He’d taken her with him from the time he was seven and she was four. She rubbed her arms. She considered that she might be the stronger today for his leading her to new places when they were children. He had definitely taught her to examine her surroundings with care, to read the sky and the position of the sun, to tread quietly, and to listen acutely. Girls, of course, were taught these things, but not with the same intensity. Manak-na taught her, as if her life depended on it. He told her someday it might. It hadn’t saved her when Reemast had abused her. It hadn’t happened when she married Ghanya, who, she thought, was wonderful and so sensitive, but who turned against the People, thinking somehow that he was superior to them as Minguat, and ended up killed by a bear. But in the long run she’d found Sum-na, and life was better than at any other time in her life, including when she was young and exploring with Manak-na. She wondered where Manak-na and Kai-na were.

  The two men traveled swiftly. They had been unable to locate the path, but they had already made wide, sweeping searches across the area where they assumed the path should be. The sun was almost overhead when they stopped along a creek. They ate some of the dried meat sticks they carried and drank from the creek instead of from the water bladders they carried. Fresh bubbling water was always better. With his few burdens laid on the ground, each man carefully studied the area.

  “Look at that spider!” Kai-na said. “I think it’s called a wolf spider.”

  Manak-na looked at the spider and smiled. “I think you’re right. Don’t let it bite you,” he laughed. Both were aware of its potent bite. “There’s a lot of game here,” he continued. “Out here I noticed numbers of antelope and deer. It would be good to harvest for winter, if we were going to stay. I also think those hills are worth exploring for shelter. Agree?”

  “Agree!” Kai-na said enthusiastically, gathering his burdens from the ground.

  Manak-na, too, gathered his burdens. They crossed the creek, headed into a treed area, and walked toward the hills, despite the fact that this was a distinct deviation from their planned extended arcs to seek the continuation of the path. The sky was clear and the cool air was perfect for their quickened pace. They reached the hills and could see that, in fact, there were some caves in the hill. Some were at ground level; some were mid-way up the hill. They crossed a swift creek. Very carefully they examined the area. It appeared that no people were around or had been for a very long time. Few traces of animals were visible on the hill side of the creek, though they could see many when they looked back across the creek. Scarcity of animal life was a curiosity to the men. Regardless of the apparent lack of life in the area, the men approached the area stealthily with extreme caution. Both used every sense available to them.

  Kai-na pointed to the cave that appeared larger than the rest. It was at ground level and appeared to slope downward. Kai-na pointed to himself and then the cave, signaling that he’d enter the cave first. Manak-na, concealed in the brush, raised his spear as an unseen protection against anyone who might harm Kai-na. The effort was not required, for there was no one in the area.

  Kai-na whistled the signal that the cave was unoccupied. He followed that with the whistle that meant no scent of living things. Manak-na checked again all around him outside the cave, lowered his spear, and joined Kai-na in the cave. The men were no less surprised by this cave than they had been when they saw the caves with the images of animals on the wall long ago.

  This cave gave them the impression they had shrunk. The cave was huge by any standard. A few tools lay about. At least Manak-na concluded that they were tools. But they were much larger than tools they used with similar shapes. Tools looked like the ones made by the Mol. Fire pits were larger than any they’d ever seen.

  “Mol giants?” Manak-na muttered the question, holding what looked like a spear tip, a spear tip at least four times larger than his own. A spear tip crafted of opaque flint that was beautiful, a little like the ones the Minguat used years ago to kill the man with the green bag. The man with the green bag was a Mol they’d found near the caves they just vacated. When they found him he had been dead a very long time. Manak-na’s mind web was evaluating what he was seeing, but it kept stopping without answers—unless giants had inhabited this cave. That was just too incredible. He returned the spear tip to the place he’d found it.

  Kai-na went outside. He wanted to explore the cave higher up the hill. He found what seemed to be hand and foot grips on the hill face, but they were too far apart vertically and horizontally. Kai-na had begun to dig out additional grips for hands and feet when Manak-na came out. Manak-na noticed a crack in the rock face off to the right where another raised cave could be seen.

  “Kai-na,” he said, pointing, “Do you think that one might be easier to explore?’

  Kai-na looked at the other raised cave. He laid down the tool he’d been using and went to the cracked wall. He wedged himself into the crack and moved himself upward with his legs and feet first, and then he used his back and arms. When he reached the level of the cave he could see large hand grips, but he had to strain hard to reach them safely.

  In a matter of moments after Kai-na entered the cave. Manak-na could hear Kai-na’s voice tinged with anxiety, “Oh! Oh! What’s this? Wisdom—protect us!” It alarmed Manak-na.

  “Kai-na, are you well?” he apprehensively called to his friend. Manak-na didn’t take his eyes off the cave entrance.

  Moments later Kai-na staggered to the cave entrance with a skull he was holding. The sight of Kai-na with the skull, framed by the gray walls of the cave entrance was a sight for which Manak-na was totally unprepared. It took a moment for his mind web to comprehend what he was seeing. The skull had long red hair and some skin attached. What was truly awesome was the size of it. Kai-na held the lower jaw in place. The skull and jaw were equal in height to the distance from Kai’s waist to the top of his head. Kai-na turned and placed the skull back where he had found it. He returned to the cave entrance, looking somewhat pale to Manak-na. With great care, but as quickly as possible, Kai-na returned to the ground.

  Manak-na asked, “Are there more of them up there?” He wasn’t certain he wanted to know the answer.

  “It’s filled with them,” Kai-na acknowledged quietly.

  Manak-na looked at the ground, seemingly conflicted. “I don’t want to do this Kai-na, but I think we must cut short our adventure to go back. I think the Mol should see this—maybe Ki’ti.”

  “You’re right, of course. My first instinct is to flee this place, but it’s probably due only to the size of the dead. Do you think there are live ones nearby?” Kai-na adjusted the shoulder strap on his tunic. His eyes narrowed as he looked off into the distance. He ran his hands over his arm muscles distractedly.

  “There has been no sight of fire at night. My mind web persuades me this is something from long ago. Long, long, long ago. I don’t think any living giants are here. At least not in large numbers. Think what it would take to feed those giants! Think of the number of animals we saw over there earlier. Nobody’s been eating them.” They walked to the creek where Kai-na automatically washed his hands and arms.

  “Straight from the mind web of a good hunter, my friend,” Kai-na replied. “Let’s go.” Kai-na and Manak-na gathered their burdens and retraced their route from earlier in the day.

  As Wisdom began to suck color from the land, back at the camp, Tongip-na and Ermi-na climbed again the path to the huge boulder. They looked for camp fires. They could spot their own, but nothing else.

  “We should be able to see Manak-na and Kai-na’s fire. They’d have one by now,
” Ermi-na said in a voice touched with concern.

  “I agree, Ermi-na, but look over there in the distance between those two clusters of trees. The two spots there seem to be moving. Could that be the explorers returning already?”

  Ermi-na finally found the two moving spots. “That was fine vision, Tongip-na. Fine vision! Let’s get down there to hear why they returned.”

  Both moved quickly down the hill.

  At the camp the evening meal was almost ready when Tongip-na and Ermi-na arrived from one direction and Manak-na and Kai-na from another. People rushed to Manak-na and Kai-na to hear why they returned until the booming voice of Likichi rang out that the evening meal was ready, and Manak-na and Kai-na could share their adventure at the council after eating. The adventurers laid down their burdens, washed the dust from their hands and faces, and happily went to eat whatever it was that smelled so good. Manak-na took a moment to smile at Domur from a distance and Ki’ti a little closer. Kai-na greeted Mitrak with a hug.

  After the evening meal, the men’s council began. Ki’ti nodded initially to Nanichak-na.

  Nanichak-na stood. He said quietly, “Humko, please come here.”

  Obediently Humko rose. He stood before the old man wondering what help Nanichak-na would need.

  Nanichak-na put his hands on Humko’s shoulders. “No longer will your name be Humko. From now on your name is Humko-na.”

  Humko had not anticipated the honor. His face turned bright red in confusion and he lowered it as far as possible. When Nanichak-na released the hold on his shoulders, Humko-na returned to his seat still dumbfounded. He guessed it had something to do with the snake episode but was unsure. He just didn’t expect anything like this.

  Neither did the young People who had teased Humko earlier in the day. They learned another lesson that night, after having learned several earlier from Ki’ti.

  Nanichak-na nodded to Ki’ti indicating he was finished. Ki’ti nodded to Manak-na.

  Manak-na began. He told of their plan to travel in expanding arcs to look for the path. He told of their inability to find it. He told of their distraction and subsequent visit to the hill where they found caves. He asked Kai-na to stand in front of him. He put one hand at Kai-na’s waist and one on the top of Kai-na’s head.