The SealEaters, 20,000 BC Read online

  “I suppose—a little. I just have a dread about thick, dark forests.”

  “I understand, Son. A lot of people believe that’s where the terrible sickness came from. I lived where we’re going, Op. It’s safe. The thing about thick, dark forests is that we are better prey for cats in such places. You just need to keep your hunter awareness active. Otherwise, it’s no different from anywhere else.”

  “When do we leave?”

  “Now. Let’s gather our spears and some dried seal and be gone.”

  They gathered their things and began to walk to the path that led into the hills. On the way they passed Amoroz who was pouring water over Fluga’s hands.

  “Well,” Whug said with a smile, “Reg hasn’t turned around yet.”

  The two brothers, Whug and Amoroz had a good, strong healthy laugh. There had to be more to the laugh than just what was said. Oppermatu knew he missed something, but then he had some special connections with his brothers. Oppermatu understood. He was just glad Reg hadn’t turned around. It would be very good for SealEaters at the Cove with Reg gone.

  After butchering the seals, Amoroz and Fluga carried meat to Amegulatuga as Amoroz had promised Whug earlier. With Whug and Oppermatu gone, only Amegulatuga and her three children remained at Whug’s huts. Amegulatuga thanked Amoroz and Fluga profusely for the seal. He cut off some of the meat to cook for that night and carried the remainder to the hut Whug had made for meat storage. Both Sted and Nip helped her with the meat. Cattu stood back trying not to put herself in the way of others. Cattu didn’t look like any of the SealEaters. Whug said she had the gold red hair and brilliant green eye color of his mother. It stood out, and because of it, she was often teased or shunned by other children, sometimes by adults. Reg had kicked her once.

  Behind the meat hut just in the woods, Emu, Amoroz’s son, and Tink, Reg’s first daughter, were embracing. Emu placed his hands on either side of Tink’s round face which he adored. She was short and looked just like her mother, Waywap. Waywap was strong and knew many things. She was adorably made, always looking young for her age. Her visual facial features made her physical and character strength and knowledge secondary in the thinking places of many. Without fear, Emu looked deeply into Tink’s eyes and she shared back the deep look with her own. They enjoyed a moment of freedom, of joy. With Reg over the horizon, they felt comfortable enough to do what they had desired for many years. As time passed, their bravery increased and they entered deeper and deeper into the woods.

  The woods into which they moved was the lowland just before the tallest hill. Hunters liked the area because of the occasional deer they found there. Whug and Oppermatu had made good time through the same forested area. The pungent scent of evergreen growth pleased the men. It was a scent that made them think of good, fresh air. They were about to exit it. They headed towards the creek they had to pass to reach the tallest hill from which they’d traverse a valley to the third tallest hill. Whug had the way imprinted since the time of his life there. They were doing well.

  Meanwhile back at the Cove, Momomu and Begalit, sons of Amoroz, walked the shoreline. As they’d done as children, they occasionally kicked at the salt water as they walked. They headed south from the Cove.

  “I wish I had been permitted to go on the voyage,” Momomu said, his brown thinning hair blowing about in the light breeze.

  “Not me,” Begalit said firmly. “I don’t like being at sea. When you can’t see land anymore, I become fearful of the great waves that rise up from the deep.”

  “You always did take the fun out of adventure by reasoning too much what could happen.” He poked his brother’s arm. “They’ll have various forms of sea ice the whole way,” Momomu said, repeating what he’d heard the voyagers say.

  “Have you ever tried to pull a boat up on sea ice?” Begalit asked with some irritation.

  “You know I’ve never been given permission to go. Until this trip, you always were able to go.”

  Begalit looked at Momomu. “You have a dreamer’s idea of what the voyage will bring. I would be surprised if two people return. If five return I’ll have much difficulty believing it.”

  “Five of thirteen?”

  “Yes. They risk much to find us a new land. Most of what they risk is their lives. Just suppose they find ice-free land. There may be people living there. Those people may not want us there. They could make war on them,” Begalit stated flatly.

  “I hadn’t considered others living there.”

  “If we’re considering it, don’t even give time to the thought that others haven’t thought the same thoughts before we did.”

  “I didn’t think of other people at all,” Momomu admitted.

  Begalit replied forgetting to keep emotion in check. “That’s what’s wrong with the voyage! Nobody ever talked about that possibility! I wanted to bring it up at one of our meetings, but father said to remain silent.”

  “Why’d he do that?” Momomu asked surprised at his brother’s outburst.

  “I don’t know,” Begalit replied dispirited.

  “Look over there near Forth’s hut. Kol is something to see!” Momomu stopped and stared. “She’d be beautiful, if she weren’t so thin. She looks as if she’d break in a strong wind.”

  “She loves Urch,” Begalit said with authority. “She started to lose her fat when she found he was going on the voyage.”

  “What if someone claims her? She has no say in selection of a husband.”

  “Brother, you need to reason more. You don’t want a wife who doesn’t want you.”

  “Well, they don’t have a choice,” Momomu said confused.

  “Do you remember when Reg took Ipsalu?” Begalit asked.

  “That was a long time ago.” He paused. “That was five years ago by my reckoning.”

  “You’re right. Ipsalu hadn’t become woman yet. Reg didn’t care. He liked the way Ipsalu looked. Her dark black hair shines beautifully—still does. Reg terrified her. She fought him for a while from fear and anger. He never was gentle with Ipsalu. She hated him and refused even to pretend she wanted him. He broke her spirit because of the way she acted. The emptiness in her spirit comes from fighting a battle she could never win. It was a battle he could have won any time, but he let Ipsalu think she could fight. Reg played with her like a cat will sometimes play with its prey. Ipsalu put up quite a fight at first. Her fight gave Reg the chance to shame her for being a bad woman and her parents for not raising her to know her place. I think he liked the fight in her in the beginning. Then Reg seemed to torture her apparently for the fun of it. He’s a very mean man. Now she just seems like an empty shell. The life is gone though she breathes air. I worry for Vaima. He’ll probably do the same to her. Reg didn’t even claim her as wife—just demanded she go with him. Taking a wife who doesn’t want you produces a woman like Ipsalu, maybe lovely to look at but utterly empty on the inside.”

  “So if I want a wife, I should talk to the woman. I should ask her if she would like to be my wife?”

  “That’s a very good thought, Momomu.” Begalit looked at his brother as if he didn’t know him at all.

  “Thank you. I’ll remember that.”

  Begalit was shocked at the conversation with his brother. How could he have lived so long and not known to ask a woman, if she’d want to be his wife? Begalit was just astonished. Yet, he realized as he reasoned, not taking the time to consider a woman’s feelings might now be normal among his people. He might be the abnormal one. Begalit and Momomu had both seen Whug and Gemu when she was alive. They loved each other. It was a real love, sacrificing self for the other. They considered each other in all things. They were gentle with each other. Their parents, Amoroz and Fluga, had a lot of consideration for the other, but not as much as he saw in Whug and Gemu. Begalit was confident of one thing: the gods approved of the way his parents and his uncle and aunt lived, not the way of Reg. He didn’t know how to supply proof of this view, but he was sure he was right. At least, he smiled t
o himself at the thought, Momomu accepted what he said without requiring proof.

  “You know who attracts me?” Momomu asked.

  “Who?” Begalit asked, surprised.

  “Belah,” his brother said with a big grin.

  “She’s great!” Begalit said, almost relieved. Belah would be a wonderful wife for his brother.

  A little further down the water’s edge, Cudmea and Kol were gathering sea weeds into a basket Cudmea carried.

  “Are you well?” Cudmea asked Kol.

  “Yes,” she replied flatly. “I just pray Urch returns home alive.” She looked carefully at her brother. “You know my secret, don’t you?” she whispered.

  “Oh, no. You don’t mean?”

  “I mean I carry Urch’s child even now.” She smiled a sweet smile just thinking of it.

  “What will you do?” he asked. “They could drown you for this.” Cudmea was horrified. He and his sister had always been close. This diversion from the norm was disturbing to him and he was trying to recover balance quickly.

  “I will ask Whug to take me as wife and give me to Urch when he returns. I just went to find him only to discover that he and Oppermatu have gone hunting for a few days.”

  “I hope for your sake and for Urch’s sake he agrees.”

  “I also.” She smiled and continued cutting meat and greens into pieces the right size for the stew that Forth wanted for dinner that night.

  “Does Urch know?”

  “No, I didn’t tell him. He knew there was a severe risk in the trip. He hoped I’d become a wife, since he fully expects to die on the adventure.”

  “How awful! He didn’t have to go, did he?”

  “Reg asked him to go because of his navigational skills. How does anyone refuse Reg? He feared that if he refused, Reg would do to me what he’s done to Vaima. And he was probably right.”

  Cudmea looked to the west. Still he saw no evidence that anyone had turned around. He was unsure that he could feel relief until it had been days that they’d been at sea, and then, they could still return.

  Far, far to the west the little boats were edging along the sea ice. They were not tied together, but they were very carefully steered in order to stay together. Reg was the most concerned, because he could not travel as fast as the little boats. His boat also lacked agility.

  Out on the water, Reg stopped rowing for a short time and untied Vaima. “Sit here,” he said, “You’re going to row, now,” he declared. “Do your best job. I want to see effort.”

  Vaima sat where he told her and rowed hard. When she began to tire, she forced her thinking place elsewhere and continued to row despite the burn of her muscles.

  Maber and Blad, Reg’s sons both breathed a sigh of relief. They had feared what would happen if Vaima fought Reg out on the sea. When Urch noticed it from his boat, he was surprised, but tried to hope that all would be well. He knew it would be a long voyage.

  Urch’s thoughts were back at the Cove. He and Kol had let their passion have freedom before he left. He wondered whether anything had come of it. He was certain if they produced a child, his father would take Kol as wife to protect her. He groaned to himself just thinking of her. He hated the way they lived. It had to change. He decided if he made it back, he would do everything he could to make change so he could take Kol as wife. Nothing else, even his life, mattered. If he had to fight Reg, so be it. He thought back to the beauty of the hills that surrounded the Cove. It looked so peaceful. Under the way it looked on the outside, it wasn’t peaceful in reality. The way they lived produced needless misery. It could no longer be tolerated. It had to end.

  Back on the same hills that filled Urch’s thinking place, Whug and Oppermatu had made it to the valley and stopped by a stream to drink water and eat a bit of jerky. Both men had pushed as hard as possible to reach the rock shelter before night. As far as Whug knew, this path was the only one that led from the hilltop down. It was an animal trail and from the low land it was hard to find, unless you knew it existed.

  Quietly they ascended the path to the near top of the hill.

  When they reached the rock shelter, it was clear that the two young people were presently in the area, but were not in the shelter. Both he and Oppermatu had made as little noise as possible. Whug signed for Oppermatu to be very quiet. Oppermatu was astonished to see the rock shelter. In quality it surpassed their huts. He took in every detail.

  Whug called out gently, “Litmaq and Lefa, it’s your chief. Come to the shelter. All is well.”

  Lefa was startled and jumped at the sound. Litmaq took her arms and pulled her up. “Come, let us talk.” He took her hand and they returned to the rock shelter.

  All sat on skins around the tiny hearth.

  “How did you find this place, Litmaq?” Whug asked.

  “One day I decided to track you, Chief. I wanted to know whether I could. I had been working on my tracking skills, and I know you try to leave no trace. When I found this place, you had already left. I don’t know how we missed each other. I was stunned, when I saw the stone structure and put the place in memory. It’s a special place.”

  “It is a special place,” Whug admitted. “My first child, a girl, died while we hid here from the terrible sickness. We buried her over there under that ledge.”

  “That was during the time of the terrible sickness? That was long ago!”

  “Yes it was. This place is in such a secluded forest and such a thick one, Gemu and I thought we’d be safe from others who might carry the sickness. No one ever found us here. It was a lonely time, but we were saved by staying here. I see you know the voyagers have slipped over the horizon.”

  “Yes,” Litmaq replied, “We watched from the wall. I was wondering whether it was safe ever to return to the Cove.”

  “It’s safe. That’s why we’re here. I feared you might flee, and we came as fast as possible to let you know things will change. By the way, how did you know when Lefa should meet you?”

  “The clouds. When they look like bird toes to the northwest. The way the clouds formed made it clear that we’d have a big storm within a few days. I told her that when the rain began to come down hard to slip away unseen. We had another plan if it didn’t rain hard, but fortunately it did. I had her meet me by the meat keeping pond in the rain. I had another way of going to the creek. We took that way. I led her to the shelter through the forest. That was some storm! Now, I have a question. How did you know we were here?” Litmaq asked.

  “Gemu and I lived here. I knew about this place and am aware of no other place where you’d be safe in this area. So at night I’d look for smoke and heat waves. It was very tough seeing them. You must have had a very small hearth.”

  “As you can see,” Litmaq used the hand signal for look.

  “I noticed that as soon as we arrived. You reason well, Litmaq. Lefa, are you well?”

  “Yes, Chief. I am saddened to know that Reg took another girl. Who had to go with him?”

  “It was Vaima.”

  “Why? She’s not even woman yet.” Lefa wrapped her arms about herself.

  “That matters not to Reg. He argued with At and, suddenly, Vaima was tied and thrown into his boat.”

  “Poor girl. I think At must be feeling awful.”

  “He feels that what happened to Vaima is his fault. Of course, it’s not. It’s Reg’s fault. At hurts for two reasons. He stood up to Reg. Because of that, Reg dislocated his jaw.”

  Lefa and Litmaq winced.

  “Father, tell them your plan,” Oppermatu said with some excitement.

  “Of course. That’s why we’re here. My plan is to gather the elders and others and let it be known that any who want to take wives may do so. Reg is not here to interfere. What we’ve done is wrong. It’s time to change. If Reg makes it back, he cannot change what we do in his absence. Litmaq, you’ll be able to have Lefa as your wife as soon as we have the meeting.”

  For a moment all were startled as Lefa leapt into the ready ar
ms of Litmaq, burying her head in his shoulder. Then, there was laughter among them all.

  Lefa said quietly. “Chief, it’s always said that the man takes a wife. Can you not make a change that gives the woman some say in the matter? Suppose someone else claims me before Litmaq does. That would make my life unbearable. I am here because I love Litmaq. I have loved him since we were children playing together.”

  “Agreed. That’s also how I knew you were together. I have watched your love for a long time. It’s the same love I shared with Gemu. I will propose to the elders that we restore the right of refusal to the woman. Before the terrible sickness women had the right. They lost it when some didn’t want a husband after losing theirs to the sickness. All remaining elders will agree to restore the right. I’ve already asked the remaining elders; not one of them wants another wife. I certainly don’t. Vaima’s sobs still fill my thinking place. What we do tomorrow will prevent that from happening again.”

  “How wonderful!” Litmaq said, looking at Oppermatu. Is anyone hungry? I have a roast of deer under that skin. Cut some to please yourself. There’s plenty.”

  Each person cut off what they wanted and ate silently. All but Lefa went back for more.

  “We go black here tonight and tomorrow we return to the Cove,” Whug said with authority.

  Lefa curled up on the skin toward the back of the rock shelter. There were evergreen branches under the skin that softened the sleeping place and gave off a special fragrance. She thought she’d never been happier in her life, until she remembered the thirteen year old girl on Reg’s boat. She looked up into the pale face of the full moon. She whispered, “Moon above, through your love, keep Vaima safe and whole. Do not allow Reg to do to her what he did to Ipsalu. Intervene on her behalf, I beg of you.”

  Litmaq put his arm around her and drew her to him. “Moon above, I ask the same.”

  “So do I,” Whug added.

  “I, too,” Oppermatu said.

  Silence fell upon the group and they went black. Dreams were about to be realized.

  Through the darkness and from the land of dreams, dawn rose with a shaft of light aimed at a hut at the Cove. It entered At’s hut, awakening him when the light moved to his left eye. A spider lowering itself over his head climbed rapidly back up the strand when the light hit it. At’s instant thought was the absence of Vaima. That was a living nightmare to him. His eyes watered. Pain stabbed his jaw muscles. He raised up on his sleeping place and prepared to arise. Another day. His movement awakened his wife, Merlan, who stretched beside him. At stood, wrapped his elk skin around his shoulders, and went to the woods. Merlan would soon follow.