Bonesetter 2 -Winter- (33 page)

Gia stood and walked to the fire, holding her little lamp high in the air. Silence fell over the crowd as it became obvious that a ceremony was in progress. Gia knelt before the fire and dipped a long splinter in the flames. She used that splinter to light her lamp, then waited calmly until it was burning well.

Gia stood, turned slowly, and gracefully walked back into the depths of darkness on the far side of the cave. There, Yadin could tell from the flickering glow outlining her in the light of her lamp that she’d knelt again. She stood, holding something in her left hand, and walked slowly back out into the main cave stopping at the edge of the sleeping area. She stood, straight as an arrow, lit by the glow of her lamp while silence continued to reign in the cave.

Just when Yadin thought his curiosity would burst, Agan intoned a brief chant. Then she said, “We ask that the new members of the Cold Springs tribe move over to stand with Gia.” After a moment’s pause when nobody moved, Agan began calling out names. She’d started with Ontru who stood and moved over to stand by Gia. Eventually she’d called out, one by one, all of the people who’d appeared mystified when Yadin had been looking around earlier. Yadin took his place, standing a couple of people down from Gia. He glanced to see what it was that Gia had in her hand and realized she held a couple of aurochs shoulder blades, like one might use for digging. Next he looked around to see if anyone appeared to have any better idea than he did about what was going on. They all appeared completely bewildered.
I can’t believe they’re wasting time on this crap when we’re all about to starve!

Agan said, “Gia?”

Gia stepped out in front of them and took the two scapula shovels to the person on each end of the line. “We’d like you to dig down about a hand’s depth along this line,” she scraped a line in the dirt with her toe.

There were some spluttered, “Whats,” and “Whys?”

“A little ceremony, welcoming you into one of the secrets of the tribe. Trust me, you’ll be happy you did when you’re finished.”

There was a moment when they all stood stock still, but then they all knelt and began digging. Most worked with their hands while waiting their turn with the scapulas. Haida couldn’t do a lot with just one hand, but he did what he could.

To his astonishment, when Yadin got his turn, the scapula quickly hit something hard. When he scraped at it, it proved to be a log. Looking to the right and the left he saw that everybody was uncovering the ends of logs, a long row of them. Glancing up, he saw excited looks on the faces of those who’d been Cold Springs members for a long time.

It didn’t take terribly long to clear the dirt off of what appeared to be a buried raft, though Yadin couldn’t fathom why anyone would have buried a raft, nor why they would think it an important ceremony to dig up a raft in the middle of winter when no one could ride it on the river anyway. Then they heaved one end of the raft up out of the ground and Pell propped it there with another log.

Gia moved in with her lamp, shining light so that they could see down into a large hole beneath the raft. At first, Yadin had no idea what he was looking at, but then he recognized stacks of baskets. The same kinds of baskets that the Cold Springs tribe kept their grain, beans, and roots in! Yadin couldn’t know that they’d buried it against the possibility of a raid by another tribe, nor that they had other hidden stores.

Pell stepped down into the pit and handed a large leather bundle up to Yadin. At first he wondered what it could be, but then he saw a stick of spirit meat poking out of the corner.

Pell handed him another bundle.

Realization dawned then as Yadin wonderingly surveyed the wealth of food that the Cold Springs people had buried in the pit. It was a wrenching moment when he realized he wasn’t going to go hungry this winter after all.

Donte stepped around the pit to hug him—hard. She leaned up to give him a kiss.

A glance at the others who’d helped him dig up the raft showed glazed looks all around.

Several were wiping at tears of ecstatic relief.

The End

Hope you liked the book!

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This is a comment on the “science” in this science fiction novel (many would consider this “prehistoric fiction,” but as an important part of this story is the discovery of new—to them—technology, I think it also fits into science fiction). I’ve always been partial to science fiction that posed a “what if” question. Instead Bonesetter 2 -winter- poses “maybe” and “how” kinds of questions in regards to how things might have been worked out in ancient times.

Surely geniuses like Einstein, Newton, Galileo, Da Vinci and Pythagoras have not merely graced the human race since the onset of recorded history. What innovations might such a brilliant mind have been responsible for back in prehistoric times?

When most of us think of fishing, we think of lines and hooks, but many primitive peoples use various fish traps. Even now, most shellfish are caught in traps.

In the Stone Age, hand axes were plentiful. Adding a simple thing like a handle allows you to strike harder. Much harder. It must’ve been an innovation that would have brought expressions of “eureka!”

Preserving food had to have been a huge advancement for primitive people. How did they learn to do it?

And of course, humans have always looked for ways to help the sick and injured. Unfortunately, all too often they’ve been unsuccessful or fastened on things that didn’t actually help (bloodletting etc.).

I would like to acknowledge the editing and advice of Nora Dahners, Elene Trull, Gail Gilman, Mike Alsobrook, Hamilton Elliott Kat Lind, Jan Mattei and Abiola Streete, each of whom significantly improved this story.