Death on the Trek (25 page)

The last one that had come down, the young male, had large tusks. The baby, another male, was not as young as Enga had thought, since he had tusks also, almost as long as those of his mother.

She marveled at the amount of hide and meat they would have. Akkal and the other males would be kept busy roasting and smoking meat for many suns. All would have to help stand guard over the smoking meat so that it did not get taken by animals. Juices sprang up in her mouth at the thought of the fresh roasted meat and smoked mammoth jerky. It had been a long, long time since she had tasted mammoth.

After the meat had been cut, Sister Sun was low in the sky. They must hurry to bring the catch back before the light disappeared. Enga wished they could go straight across the water. They were nearly opposite the place they needed to be and going through the stream would be a direct path and a lot closer. But they must go around the lake water.

Walking back, she had an idea. Much of the other bank of the stream was crowded with trees, but this side was mostly grassland. There were a few long-leafed trees next to the water, but only a few. She would tell Hama her idea and see if it was a good one.

The returning hunters were greeted with shouts and joy, even though the news had been relayed to Hama as soon as the animals were slain. Those who had stayed to guard the settlement thumped the females on the arms and back.

After the meat and hides were deposited, she sought out Hama and Hapa to give them her idea of moving the village to the other side of the stream.

It would have no protection
, Hama thought-spoke among the three of them.
Would being closer to the herds and the cave be better than being here?

It would not
, Hapa answered.
If we lived on the other side of the stream, the animals would not come there to water if we were near it. They would be frightened of us. Maybe we should live nearer the mountain. That would also be on that side of the water.

We should consider this
, Hama agreed. She thanked Enga for the suggestion and continued discussing it with Hapa as Enga left them.

Jeek ran up to her. He had been trying to get through to her all day. She smiled at him and asked what was on his mind. He looked excited, but worried.

I have figured out what Tikihoo was trying to tell us!

You know what all the hand gestures meant?

Maybe not all of them, but some of them. The crying was that of a baby and the rocking was to say that a baby cried on the riverbank and was picked up and cradled.

Jeek,
called Zhoo of Still Waters.
Come help with the meat.

I need to go help Teek Bearclaw and the others finish cutting the meat
, he told Enga, and ran off.

Enga sat against a white-barked tree to think about what he had said. The only baby who cried a lot was Sooka. Whim was much more calm and did not cry much. If he did start to cry, he would run to his mother. Sooka had been on the riverbank? How had she gotten there?

Enga Dancing Flower, will you help me
?

Enga managed to keep her unfriendly thought to herself.
Not Vala Golden Hair again! I get so tired of helping her. She cannot do the most simple task by herself.
But Enga would rather help her than have Tog help her. She rose and saw Vala, beckoning from just into the woods. Bodd Blow Striker stood behind her.

Our feast will be even better with pine nuts. I love them and many others do also. Will you help me and Bodd Blow Striker gather them?

Enga suppressed a sigh, but gritted her teeth.
Why are you carrying that large knife
?

There may be a branch that we have to cut down. Bodd Blow Striker is so strong. He can cut thick branches for us if we need to do that.

Enga frowned. There were many, many pine cones on the ground. Why would they need to cut branches? She followed Vala and Bodd into the woods. Vala had something on her mind, but Enga did not think it was pine nuts.

Chapter 39

“It is intricately made with polished green stone and is thought to have adorned a very important woman… The bracelet was found inside the famous Denisova Cave, in the Altai Mountains, which is renowned for its palaeontological finds dating back to the Denisovans, who were known as homo altaiensis, an extinct species of humans genetically distinct from Neanderthals and modern humans.”

—from “Stone bracelet is oldest ever found in the world” by Anna Liesowska,
Siberian Times
, May 7, 2015

Jeek watched Enga Dancing Flower follow Vala Golden Hair and Bodd Blow Striker into the woods. He caught some of their thought-speak. Enga asked who was keeping Sooka and Vala said that Fee Long Thrower was watching her so that they could be gone for a long time.

He also caught a current of unease from Enga. He kept looking until they were out of sight, frowning and thinking very hard. He tried to read any emotion coming from Vala, but could not. Bodd did not give off any thoughts either. He was focusing all his attention on Vala, as he usually did.

Vala had to have been close by when Panan One Eye died. She must have followed the others to the shore when they went to rescue those who were stranded. Tikihoo had told him and Fall Cape Maker that a person with long hair was there and that a crying baby was on the riverbank. Since no one else knew that Sooka had been there, Vala must have been the one who picked up the baby and soothed her. Tikihoo had feared the person. She had feared Vala.

Yes. It made sense now that he had fit it all together. Tikihoo knew that Vala had left her baby, had waded across, and had killed Panan. That is why she feared Vala. Vala found out that Tikihoo knew of this, so it had to be Vala who pushed poor, scared Tikihoo off the cliff. And now Enga had gone into the woods with Vala.

Bodd was also there. Would he keep Vala from doing harm to Enga? Or would he do whatever she wanted him to? He had caught a gleam of something shiny in the hand of Vala. An obsidian knife?

He must get help.

* * *

Enga had followed Vala and Bodd deep into the woods. Now she stopped.
Vala Golden Hair, we have passed a lot of pine trees and pine cones. Why are we not picking up the cones?

Also, Enga wondered how they were going to carry the tiny pine nuts. None of them had brought any pouches. Just the unneeded knife.

Vala had been walking ahead of Enga and Bodd behind Enga. Vala turned and faced Enga. There was no expression on her face. Her green eyes looked hard. When Enga tried to touch her thoughts she met a cold barrier. It surrounded Vala like a cape made of rock. Enga felt that she might not even be able to reach out and touch Vala through such a solid wall of thought. Vala tightened her fingers on the knife. The shiny blackness of the blade gleamed in the dark of the deep woods.

A flock of small birds took off from the tree nearest them. No birds sang. The forest was as quiet as death. Not the slightest breeze stirred the pine boughs or the leaves of the other trees.

Like a flash of blinding lightning in a storm, Enga saw the whole picture. She saw Vala, her pale body white in the mist, holding Panan One Eye under the water, picking up her crying baby, threatening Tikihoo, pushing her from the cliff. Too late, Enga realized she had not cloaked her thought.

The barrier of cold that had surrounded Vala broke away, and dark, hot, hostile waves of anger burst forth.

Bodd gripped the arms of Enga from behind.

In the next moment Vala leapt at Enga, the knife outstretched to cut her neck. The leap gave enough warning for Enga to raise her foot and kick the knife from the hand of Vala. The knife nicked Enga in the leg as it flew in an arc into the needles beside the deer path.

Enga had more strength than Vala did. She had always had that. That was a good thing now. With Bodd still holding her arms, she kicked at Vala and struck her midsection, knocking the breath from her.

Enga jerked her head back and cracked her skull into the nose of Bodd. He loosened his grip on her arms and fell to the ground, clutching his nose. Red flowed down his face.

Before Vala and Bodd got up, Enga sent a distress call to Tog and to Ung and to the whole tribe.

By the time Vala was trying to rise on one elbow, Enga heard many brothers and sisters crashing through the trees, snapping twigs and crushing leaves and pine cones. Large flocks of birds fled from other trees and they now all started to give out cries of alarm.

Tog reached his mate first. He glanced to make sure she was not harmed, then grabbed the hands of Vala. Vala had gotten up and shaped her fingers into hooks and her face into a picture of rage, ready to claw at Enga. Tog held her wrists behind her.

Others came running behind Tog. Hapa grabbed the arms of Bodd from behind, just as Bodd had done to Enga. The Red from the nose of Bodd streamed down his face and dripped to the ground.

Tog gave everyone a picture of what he had seen when he arrived, Enga being held by Bodd and Vala trying to attack her. He pointed out the obsidian blade, shining from the bed of pine needles, and Enga added a vision of Vala attacking her with it.

Hama broke through the crowd and stood in front of Vala and Bodd. Her sadness drew wetness from her eyes to run down her cheeks. Enga knew that her pain was because Vala was her own birth-sister. Enga felt her eyes sprout wetness also, thinking of how much she loved her birth-sister and of what great sorrow it would be if such a person as Vala had been the sister of Enga.

Anger and hatred continued to flow from Vala, almost turning the space around her red, the angry red of a flaring sunset or a devouring fire. Her breath came in short, noisy pants and she still struggled against Tog.

I did not kill Panan One Eye
. The thoughts of Vala were strident.
Bodd Blow Striker killed him. Look into his mind—you will see that this is true.

Bodd looked at Vala with his eyebrows up and his mouth open.
Vala Golden Hair, you are the one who killed Panan One Eye. You asked me to tend to Sooka after you took off your clothing, while you waded across the water. You said you would get rid of him so that we could be together.

Bodd Blow Striker does not give the truth! That is not the truth!

Hama raised both arms.
Silence
, she commanded.

Hama led the way back through the trees with heavy steps, her head bent and her shoulders slumping low.

When they emerged from the woods, Enga wished that Hama had a wipiti she could go to, so she could close the flap and be alone. Hama must have caught that thought from Enga because she touched the shoulder of Enga with tenderness. Then she turned to face the tribe, and Vala.

Vala had continued to pull against Tog on the march, but now stood facing her leader and birth-sister with her head up and ice in her green eyes. They had never looked so much like the eyes of her mother. Bodd, with Red still flowing from his face, looked as defeated and discouraged as Hama did.

All the tribe stood around them. Sooka, in the arms of Fee Long Thrower was, for once, quiet and calm, sucking her chubby thumb.

The council was held immediately, while Sister Sun was still a little bit visible.

No one could tell what the truth was, but Enga thought that it was possible Bodd killed Panan when Vala told him to. That is what he eventually told them, although Vala was encouraging him to tell them that. Enga thought it might be true and it might not be true. After Fall Cape Maker told his Gata brother about the gestures of Tikihoo, and Bodd realized that Tikihoo knew what they had done, Vala had pushed her from the cliff.

It was decided that it did not matter which one killed which person. They both helped murder Panan in the beginning. Vala would be held responsible for Tikihoo and Bodd for Panan.

Hama looked like she would weep at any moment when she lifted her arms to proclaim that Vala Golden Hair was banished.

“Hoody! Yaya, Hama vav.” Her voice broke, then she continued. “Vala Sha Doh Tikihoo tza. Poos Vala Sha Doh.”

Listen! Yes, the Most High Female speaks. Vala Golden Hair slew Tikihoo. Vala Golden Hair is banished.

Hama then continued. “Bodd Cho Akk Panan Oh Zee tza. Poos Bodd Cho Akk.”

Bodd Blow Striker slew Panan One Eye. Bodd Blow Striker is banished.

The voice of Hama quaked as she continued. “Dakadaga sheesh Hamamapapa.”

Mother Spirit of the Sky, Dakadaga, bless the Hamapa.

Enga repeated the plea to Dakadaga in her own mind, adding a private one to Aja Hama.

Hama walked to Fee, who still held Sooka, took the baby and handed her to Enga. Now the tears of Enga flowed onto the baby, who looked up at Enga, her new mother, with wide, shining eyes and a gummy smile.

After the knife was returned to her, Vala walked away, heading upstream into the woods. Bodd followed with the same equipment. They were banished with only the clothing they wore and a knife for each one, as was the tradition. No one knew how long it would take, but they all knew they both would probably perish. Without a tribe, no one could stay alive.

Chapter 40

“Scientists…at the annual meeting of the American Assn. for the Advancement of Science said the most tantalizing signs of human presence are what appear to be human palm and finger prints on clay found in a 28,000-year-old layer of earth, and a number of hearths in various layers that go back perhaps 38,000 years… The prints, verified as human by police forensic scientists, were on clay that had been shaped to serve as a fire pit.” [Found in Pendejo Cave in New Mexico.]

—from “New Clues Put Humans in New World 28,000 Years Ago” by Boyce Rensberger,
The Washington Post
, February 10, 1992

Hama told Enga Dancing Flower and Ung Strong Arm to go through the pouch that had belonged to Vala Golden Hair. Enga and Ung squatted with their shoulders touching, taking things from the pouch and laying them out to see if they could be of use to anyone else. When Enga found the stone bracelet, she had to stop what she was doing. She straightened her back and squeezed her eyes closed, picturing Tikihoo, her tall stature, her curly brown hair, this stone band always on her dark-skinned arm. When the vision of the broken body under the cliff came to her mind, she tried to think past it.