Ki'ti's Story, 75,000 BC Read online

Reemast was mortified. The People were very serious indeed. He had gone too far, but only if he could, he would go further. This was all her doing. She should have remained silent. How he would like to tear Minagle apart. His fists were clenched. The expressions on Reemast’s face were transparent. He had no idea that others could see his vicious thoughts in his face. Mootmu-na understood the evil scowling. Mootmu-na made a mind web reminder to talk to Wamumur. Mootmu-na shouted to Ermol-na, “I am taking the load to the cave.” Mootmu-na signaled with his hand in a way that Reemast could not see. The message was for Ermol-na to keep a good watch on Reemast. Ermol-na acknowledged.

  Mootmu-na walked with the heavy load. How much nicer it would have been if Reemast had been able to take the load. Why, Mootmu-na wondered not for the first or last time, did the groups of People have to be so fragile. One person could have such a huge impact on the whole group. When the group functioned as was right it could be so strong, but from time to time a person like Reemast would create havoc and weaken the whole group severely. Mootmu-na feared that Reemast might take his anger out on Minagle even though he knew what the punishment would be. He had no confidence that leaving him in the group was wise at all. Time would tell, but he would talk to Wamumur.

  When Mootmu-na arrived at the cave, he noticed that Wamumur was listening to a little child. That struck him as very odd, but he did not interrupt. It was obvious that Wamumur was deep in his mind web. What, he wondered, could a child have to contribute? He dropped the bags at the door and looked around for Ekuktu. He didn’t want to track ash into the cave living space. He waved to his wife, Amey, and she came quickly.

  “My wife,” he greeted her quietly, “I am going to dump these chunks out and ask that someone start carrying them to the storage place we talked about last night. More will follow. I have to take the carrying bags, so you will have to use something else.”

  “I will see that it is done.” She hesitated as he seemed to have something else to say.

  “Amey, what is Wamumur doing with that child?”

  “That little child has been telling the creation story and other stories all morning. As far as anyone can tell, Wamumur has not stopped her once. She sounds like a Wise One when you can hear her. She is just so tiny.”

  Mootmu-na placed his hand on his chin. “Then she may be a real blessing. None of us has been able to capture the stories right according to Emaea. She has been worried for a long time. Even Wamumur has not found good storytellers among his People. We may have to band together with a child leading us? Oh, these are truly Winds of Change.”

  Amey smiled at him. “Stay safe, my husband.”

  “And you too,” he responded.

  When Mootmu-na returned to the coal site, there were five people there. Three were strangers. This was possibly not good. To top it off the three strangers were not People. Their heads were shoved forward and they had very black thick hair. They talked in a clipped sharp manner. They wore garments that covered their arms and boots that stopped short of their knees. They carried spears. He hoped his observation skills would be helpful.

  Ermol-na saluted him. He returned the greeting. Reemast stood there as if in shock. “I don’t know what they want,” Ermol-na said and shrugged.

  Mootmu-na realized that Ermol-na was unsure what to do, so he dropped the bags on the ground and walked up boldly to the strangers. He gestured as if to ask what they wanted. The humans began to speak slowly and loud. There was no communication. Mootmu-na looked at Ermol-na. “Will you run to the cave and get Shmyukuk, my daughter-in-law. She is young, but she was a slave briefly of these Others. Perhaps she can understand them. Bring her here quickly.” Mootmu-na turned to the strangers. He gave them a sign to wait, which they appeared to understand.

  Ermol-na returned within a half hour with Shmyukuk. She had been fitted with a booted garment that was too large so the straps had been tied and even with that, the legs drooped and she had to hold them up so she walked on the soles of the boots, not the sides. She did tell Ermol-na that she might be able to understand the Others, and she was afraid of them. As they walked to the coal site, he encouraged her to hide anything that would look like fear. She needed to appear very strong. She spent the time walking to prepare herself to act in a way she didn’t feel. It was awkward because guile was not part of the People, but she felt that the People’s security was at stake.

  When she arrived at the coal site, Mootmu-na asked her to ask the Others what they wanted. Out of her mouth came strange sounds, and the Others appeared to understand.

  The dialog went something like this:

  Shmyukuk: “What do you want?”

  Other 1: “What are you doing here?”

  Without translating, Shmyukuk said, “What are you doing here?”

  Other 1 was shocked: “We are looking for meat.”

  Shmyukuk translated: “They are looking for meat.”

  Mootmu-na said: “Tell them the meat is all dead from the ashfall.”

  Shmyukuk said: “The meat is all dead from the”—and she pointed to the ashfall not knowing that word in the language of the Others.

  Other 2: “Why are you here?”

  Shmyukuk translated.

  Mootmu-na said: “This is our place.”

  Shmyukuk translated.

  Other 1: “This is our place as well.”

  Shmyukuk translated.

  Mootmu-na said: “Tell him that his leader needs to come here.”

  Shmyukuk translated.

  Other 1: “Why are you digging rocks?”

  Shmyukuk translated.

  Mootmu-na said: “Tell him that his leader needs to come here now.”

  Mootmu-na slammed his closed fist into his left hand.

  Shmyukuk translated.

  Other 2: “We will return.” And with that, the Others left.

  Mootma-na looked at Ermol-na. “Please go get the hunters here as fast as you possibly can. When they head toward us, then you go to the cave and get every one of the People that can increase appearance of our strength. And hurry.”

  The People had gathered at the coal site before the Others returned. When they did return, they had an Other with a strange basket woven head covering walk to meet them. The Other stretched out his hand to Nanichak-na and Mootmu-na. His hand was open and empty of weapons. He stretched out the second empty hand. He smiled. Obviously this was not what Nanichak-na and Mootmu-na expected.

  “I will try to speak your language,” the Other said haltingly. The People could understand. “I am Abiedelai, Chief of the Minguat people. We fled our land for a cave we used once before. We fled because of the . . . .” He lifted a handful of ash. “I suspect you did the same. We did not have time to make much provision before our flight. We occupy Cave Sumbrel. We are—how do you say forty?”

  It took a moment before Shmyukuk realized she was needed as translator. She flashed both hands fingers up four times.

  Abiedelai continued, “We are”—he flashed his fingers of both hands straight up four times—“counting all living including infants. We are not here to fight. We are here to survive this disaster. We need to agree not to fight each other.”

  Mootmu-na and Nanichak-na looked at each other. Each had been combing his mind web for anything to guide them in this meeting. They could find nothing. And Wamumur was back at the cave.

  “We will meet again tomorrow at high sun to consider this further,” Nanichak-na said. “Both of us have been surprised this day. Let us think on this and then talk after we have thought. We will talk here in the open.”

  Abiedelai raised his right hand. “That is wise counsel. We will meet again tomorrow here at high sun.” The Others returned to their cave. The People returned to butchering and coal gathering.

  When Wisdom sucked the color from the land, the People returned to the cave having made numbers of trips with coal and meat. The hearth fire gave off a wonderful aroma of roasted meat. The men salivated automatically as they removed their booted garments and shoo
k them outside. A call had to go out throughout the cave for all to assemble for the evening meal. Some of the women were still transporting coal and some were taking meat to the smoking place. Other women had begun to prepare skins. Young children had been called on to help prepare the evening meal. They were bursting with happiness at being called to help. Lamul looked with disdain on his brother who was carving again. Give him a home guard duty and he’d carve is what he thought as he scratched his head.

  Ki’ti had just completed another story and Wamumur called the storytelling to a close for the day. He complimented her and she blushed profusely and lowered her head as far as possible. For Wamumur and for her, time had stood still as she recited story after story. She even had the stories in the proper order. Neither thought to eat or drink or pass water while the storytelling progressed. Wamumur wanted to go through the entire set of stories before he told the People what he had found. He wanted to know how vast her memory was. What also amazed Wamumur was that Ki’ti had no apparent realization that there was anything unusual about her ability. She seemed totally devoid of pride in her accomplishment. She appeared to take it for granted that she could do this. They had not discussed the meaning of stories but were simply at this point going through the basic memory function of the Wise One. Wamumur was stiff and when Mootmu-na walked by, he noticed and gave Wamumur a hand up.

  “After the evening meal, I would like a word with you, Wise One,” Mootmu-na said.

  “Come to me when you are ready,” Wamumur said smiling.

  The superior hunters were served and then the hunters. Wamumur was served after the hunters. The women and children followed. There was a quiet that passed over the People while they ate the evening meal. Enut ate little and still wheezed. She was not remembering the leaves. Enut thought it was good to feel tired from doing something rather than nothing. It was good to eat when really hungry rather than just because it was time. She wished it applied to her.

  After the evening meal, Mootmu-na and Wamumur walked to the cave entrance and Mootmu-na shared his concern about Reemast.

  “It would mean certain death for him if we banished him while things are as they are. What would he eat? Where would he go? If more ash fell, he would die,” Wamumur said while his fingers threaded through his beard.

  “I understand, but I also have read his evil intent toward Minagle. She should not be required to suffer again for his evil. Reemast hates her. It shows. We already have enough trouble increasing the size of our People because of problems with childbirth; we certainly don’t need to have women afraid of men.”

  “I agree, Mootmu-na. Do you have any suggestions?”

  “I have swept my mind web and can find nothing. I was hoping you would have alternatives. I am seriously concerned that if he cannot hurt her, he will hurt someone else. The anger in him is extraordinary. I’ve never seen anything like it. Is there a way to extinguish anger?”

  Wamumur slowly shook his head from side to side. “Why don’t we consult with Ermol-na. He saw today what you saw, didn’t he?”

  “Yes.” Mootmu-na caught Ermol-na’s eye. He signaled him to come.

  The two discussed the situation with Ermol-na. Ermol-na traveled through his mind web systematically. He frowned; he murmured; he wrung his hands. He stood first on one foot with his primary weight and then shifted the balance to the other. He equalized the weight on his feet and looked at the other two men. “What I see is that he has demanded of the entire group that we split our efforts to watch him, something he doesn’t want and seems to resent. It takes up too much valuable time. He also has a continued desire to do injury to one of our members. That is clear. We cannot confine him. We are too far from the ocean to trade him as a slave. My only conclusion is that he must meet with an accident for the good of the People.”

  Wamumur’s visage clouded over for a split second. “You have stated the obvious, Ermol-na. I will do the job myself.” Wamumur did a strong palm strike.

  Mootmu-na held up his hand palm outward. “I offer an alternative.”

  Wamumur nodded.

  Mootmu-na continued, “A Wise One is not the person for this duty. This calls for a -na hunter. Grant permission to me and to Ermol-na to take care of this. Both of us have seen the problem and know how serious it is. Both of us are very strong and have fought in combat successfully. No one need know what happens except the three of us.”

  Wamumur nodded and the three made very strong palm strikes. Mootmu-na and Ermol-na walked over to the water and drank many full gourds. Then they retired to their sleeping mats early. When the water they drank had coursed through their bodies, Mootmu-na and Ermol-na waked and while Mootmu-na went to signal to Reemast to come, Ermol-na distracted the guard. Ermol-na had hidden a hammer stone under the ash just outside the entrance. While the guard was distracted, Mootmu-na herded Reemast outside and around the curved wall of the cave entrance. While Reemast was still confused from sleep, Mootmu-na hit him very hard on the back of the head with the hammer stone. Reemast fell silently to the ground. One dog whined imperceptibly and the group of dogs shifted and resumed their sleep positions. Ermol-na joined him and they ran to the privy to relieve themselves and returned to pick up the body of Reemast. They put the hammer stone on his belly while they carried him to the coal site. Once there, they dug out a place where there was a deposit of sand. Ermol-na took the hammer stone and with all his force, hit Reemast’s head with it just to be sure he was dead. They dug furiously, put his body in the sand, and covered him. This was at the bottom of the place where they had piled up the ash they had cleared from the coal. Nobody would be digging there for a long time. Once they had put the ash back, it was some six feet deep and looked just like it had the previous day. Afterward, they looked grimly at each other and did a strong palm strike. They quietly returned to the cave, very relieved that the guard had nodded off. Ermol-na put the hammer stone with the tools and went to his sleeping mat. A few people coughed, some snored, but none was awake, Mootmu-na noticed. Once Mootmu-na was on his sleeping mat, he took a tiny pebble and aimed for the wall by the guard. He threw the pebble and the guard waked and shook himself and walked around. He would be alert for the rest of the night.

  Morning came and the People became animated. There was much back and forth to the privy and when Ermol-na passed Wamumur, there was an instant eye contact and a nod that said all that needed to be said.

  As time passed, Blanagah became agitated. She had no idea where Reemast was. He had never been missing from their sleeping mat. She quickly scanned the room and noticed Minagle sitting on her mat stretching. She kept telling herself he’d appear any moment. Maybe he was spending a lot of time at the privy. When the morning meal was finished and there was no sign of him, she went to Wamumur and lowered her head.

  “What is it, Blanagah?” he asked.

  “I cannot find Reemast,” she said. “He was not on our mat when I arose. Has he been sent on some assignment?”

  “No,” Wamumur said, and then he announced, “Reemast seems to be missing. All hunters, please search every inch of the cave and you two, please check outside.” All searchers returned with no news. One searcher came back with the surprising information that there was an additional set of rooms at the far reaches of the cave, maybe more. “Who was guard last night?” Wamumur asked.

  Slamika stepped forward. “I was on first shift. Then Kai followed me.”

  “And did you see him leave?”

  “No. I did go to the privy so he might have gone out then.” There was very quiet laughter.

  “Well, let us see what the day brings,” Wamumur said flatly.

  When the hunters put on their booted garments, they were very solemn. A hunter was missing. Without understanding from their stories or information from their collective mind webs about times like this one, they had no way to deal with the confusion. Could one simply disappear? And then they were about to confront the Others. They were wary but not anxious. The same was true of the Others.r />
  The hunters left the cave and followed Mootmu-na and Ermol-na to the coal site. There was total silence, except for the quiet squeaking sound of their boots on the ash. Wamumur and Ekuktu remained with the women and children at the cave. There grew an air of expectation and a little anxiety in the cave as not only was there something new in this encounter, but also, Reemast still had not returned.

  The Others were not there when the People arrived. Nanichak-na raised his eyes to the sky. “We are early,” he said. Despite the heavy cloud cover, the sun was clearly not quite overhead. Ermol-na and Mootmu-na looked at each other, realizing that they had done a very good job of disguising the burial site. Nobody would suspect it was there. It would be unlikely that anyone would walk there, because the land began to slope steeply upwards above the body.

  “Ho!” Abiedelai shouted from the top of the hill. The Others descended quietly and orderly.

  “What have been your thoughts?” Nanichak-na asked.

  Chief Abiedelai took off his hat and raised his own tunic over his head. “We are not here to bargain. We are starving. Our food has run out and we are becoming weak.” He nodded to his group and each showed the condition of their bodies.

  The People were appalled at the sight. The ribs were prominent and the hip bones of the Others were protruding. Their bellies pressed to their spines. The People had not been able to read their faces, which were hollowed more because they were starving than because they were different.

  The People looked at each other, saying nothing but understanding. Nanichak-na said slowly, “Go now. Bring all your people and a bowl apiece to Cave Kwa. We will feed you. Do you know where it is?”

  “No. We do not know where it is.”

  Nanichak-na said, “Manak will stay here. He will lead you.”

  At that, the People turned and headed toward their cave. The Winds of Change were huge.

  Back at the cave, things became very busy. There was no time for anxiety or concern. To feed forty extras required a lot of effort when it was unplanned. The women worked furiously and the men were gathered discussing the possibilities. Girls sped down the cave to fill all available gourds with water.