Death on the Trek (7 page)

They used only their strange words to communicate, it seemed, and no thought-speak. After many spoken words and some head nodding, one of the males came forward.

He wore a band of woven grasses wrapped around his head. Small river shells hung down in his face so that Jeek wondered if he could see well. His skin was dark, like the others, but his hair was the light color of aspen leaves as they lose their summer hue when they are going into the Cold Season. Several more of these strangers had the same light hair, but most were dark.

The male walked toward them slowly. Jeek looked at his brothers and sisters in puzzlement. Should these people not send a leader to greet them? Why were they sending a male? Maybe the female leader was away from the village, trading or exploring or scouting.

When the male got to them, he scanned their faces. Hama stepped forward. He raised his eyebrows and looked at her mate, Hapa, and at Panan One Eye. Those two stood just behind her, ready to defend the tribe if it was needed. Hapa and Panan both focused their gaze on Hama, ready to take cues from her.

Then Jeek understood. These people were led by a male, not a female. Part of the Mikino Saga, a part that was not always used, told about them having male leadership. But the Mikino were not like the Hamapa at all. These ones seemed more like Hamapa, not Mikino.

Words came from the mouth of the male, but they all sounded like, “Hoody hood hood hoody.”

As he spoke, he gestured toward the firepit. Some roasted meat lay on a rock beside it. Jeek thought he might be offering the meat to them, but no one made a move toward it. Finally, the male picked up a piece, lifted it to his open mouth, and pretended to eat it, then handed it to Hama.

She reached up, for the male was very tall, and took it between two fingers. She drew it to her nose and sniffed. Her eyes closed and a look of joy so intense it was almost a look of pain came to her face. She tore a small piece off and tasted it. She chewed and chewed. Then she smiled a huge smile and spoke to him. “Yaya. Ta.” She was telling him,
Yes, good, thank you
.

The male pointed to the meat piled on the large, flat rock. The other males and some of the females also pointed to it.

With great caution, the Hamapa stepped forward and took small pieces of the meat. As they began to eat, the others smiled and nodded. Some of the Hamapa began at a slow pace, then ate more and more. They were all so hungry.

At first, Jeek enjoyed the fresh, cooked meat intensely. After the first edge of his hunger was satisfied, he began to think it tasted strange. Almost bitter. It was also tough and stringy. His empty belly rumbled as he ate. But if he chewed it thoroughly, he could eat it. It was fresh, and better than the jerky.

When the pile of meat dwindled, the head male clapped his hands and some females ran to one of the huts and brought out more cooked meat. The Hamapa ate and ate until they could eat no more. They all wondered what this strange meat was, but they knew it had saved their lives.

Hama gestured to the ground, trying to ask if they could sleep there, in the center of their village. No one understood her, so she lay down and raised her eyebrows in question. When the males standing nearby nodded, the rest of the Hamapa tribe lay on the ground also to sleep.

Sister Sun was disappearing as the eyes of Jeek slowly closed. He heard the strange tribe moving about, but nothing seemed alarming. Most of them went into the abodes to sleep, but a few of the males stayed awake, sitting or standing near the Hamapa tribe. Jeek wondered if they were guarding them from something, or if they did not know if they could trust the Hamapa. Neither group knew much about the other one.

Chapter 10

“Jefferson’s ground sloth,
Megalonyx jeffersonii
, lived in North America approximately 150,000 to 9,400 years ago… (It) inhabited the lower forty-eight states except for the Rocky Mountain and desert regions… The ox-sized animal (8 to 10 feet long) browsed on leaves and twigs of the woodlands and forests.”

—
Ice Age Mammals
by Ian M. Lange, p.82

“
Does sloth meat taste good
? Not to people living [in] most…parts of the globe. Outside of a handful of indigenous South American tribes, there isn't much of a tradition of eating sloth meat. Researchers who work in Amazonia and have sampled the dish report that it's slimy, chewy and gamey, and most feel that one serving is enough for a lifetime.”

—from http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/explainer/2012/02/explainer_house_call_what_does_sloth_meat_taste_like_.html

Enga Dancing Flower felt good when she awoke at first sun, better than she had felt for a long time. There were no pains inside her. Some of the strange dark men sat drowsing nearby. At first, the sight of them startled her, then she remembered encountering the people who said, “Hoody hood hood,” and following them to this village where her tribal brothers and sisters all ate their fill of the unfamiliar meat.

The strange tribe members were emerging from their huts, stopping to stretch. The huts were small and there might not be room to stretch inside, Enga thought. She did not think she had to mask her thoughts from these people. She could not penetrate any of theirs, so they could not read hers. They spoke softly to one another, then several of the females walked away from the center of the community. Enga heard high-pitched squeaking noises from beyond the village. There must be animals close by, she thought. Maybe the animals she heard were the ones they had eaten. Curious, she rose from the ground and followed the females.

Three large caves yawned in the hillside behind the village. The entrances were blocked with heavy stones, heaped about as high as the shoulders of these tall people. Soft animal noises came from inside the caves. Enga sniffed for the odor of the animals inside, but could smell nothing. What creature was this that had no odor?

The females saw that Enga had followed them, but paid little attention to her. Cut grasses were mounded not far from the mouths of the caves. The women grabbed armfuls of these and threw them over the stone walls.

The noises from the animals stopped and Enga heard them crunching the dried grasses. She wanted to see what these creatures were, but could not. However, the hillside that held the caves was one of many other surrounding hills. One of these jutted out beside one of the caves. Enga climbed the small incline. As she reached the point where she could see inside, Sister Sun sent a burst of light over the stone wall and into the cavern.

There they were! One was clear to her in the rays of Sister Sun. Enga had never seen such a creature. It was about the size of a muskox, but shaped somewhat like a bear. Several more of them came into the light at the front of the cave where the grasses had fallen. Their bodies were thick and heavy. They rested on their front knuckles when they walked, with long claws pointed backward. When they rose on their hind legs to eat, they were taller than the dark people who held them captive. They grasped the hay with those front claws and stuck the stalks into their mouths. Their snouts were short, their necks and their tongues long.

She caught a few glimpses of smaller ones, probably babies since it was birthing season for many animals. She remained watching them feed, unaware of anything else around her because she was captivated by them. Gradually, she noticed the sound of running water. A small stream made its way down the highest of the series of hills that stretched behind the village. The hills held patches of large trees.

These people were fortunate to have the caves for their animals and also to have water nearby. Enga was stabbed in her chest with a pang of longing for the village they had left behind. It had been perfect. The nearby Sacred Hill had held the Holy Cave where females went to give birth. That cave was where she and Tog Flint Shaper had their First Coupling. That was where the permanent fire was kept. Also young females went to the Holy Hill when they showed the first Red Flow and were becoming adults.

And the Aja Hama had been buried on the Sacred Hill. Most members of the tribe were exposed on a large flat rock far outside the village and given back to Brother Earth and the animals. But Aja Hama had been a special leader, most wise and kind, and had been given a burial. Enga ran her thumb and forefinger over the smooth carving of her that was in her waist pouch.

Then she shook herself out of her longing for something that would never be again and returned to the village with slow steps.

Panan One Eye sat next to one of the tall females. He was letting her stroke his bald head. She wore a wide wrist band made of stone, which slipped up and down on her arm. None of the dark people were bald, as Panan was, so this, Enga was sure, had to be something new and strange to them. Both Panan and the female smiled as she stroked his smooth pate. Were these two going to mate?

The stone band on her arm was beautiful. It looked like it had been shaped and polished. No stone could be that shape by itself. Enga wondered how that had been done.

Enga was interrupted in her thoughts by Hama sending a bright red public message to the tribe.
These people should be called Hooden
.

This seemed like something that Hama would usually tell them in a Pronouncement. She understood why Hama did not want to make one here, in this place, in front of these people. So the thought-speak message conveyed the official name of these people. Hooden. Enga liked the name. It suited them and their speech.

Some of the Hamapa were discussing whether to stay here or to journey on. Hapa and Panan One Eye, the male advisors, called Hama to them. After some private discussion, the three Elders decided they should stay one more dark time, then continue. During that day, most of them rested, still being tired from the long journey with so little food. Once again, as dark time approached, the Hooden shared much food with them.

Enga saw that other females wore the same stone bands she had seen, and many males wore feathers and shells in their hair. This was new to Enga. The Hamapa often braided shells into their hair, but had never used feathers.

At first sun, Hama sent a message that they should go soon.

Enga told Ung Strong Arm and Lakala Rippling Water, who were near, about the stream she had seen, sending them a picture of the water flowing near spruce and hardwood trees on the hills.

Ung gathered some others and they climbed the hill to fill the water gourds in case there was little water where they were going.

The Hooden seemed to understand that the Hamapa were leaving. Their females scurried into their huts and emerged with animal skins. They thrust these at the males.

What is inside
? asked Enga of Tog.

He unbound the thong that held the new parcel closed.
It is much more of the meat we have been eating. It is dried, but it smells the same.

When they all realized they were being given such a precious parting gift, Hama told Tog to give them some of his finely shaped spear heads. But the Hooden did not know what they were and gave them back. Maybe, since they ate the caged creatures, they did not hunt any other animals. Hama then reached into her own pouch and produced some thongs strung with river shells and tiny bird bones. These were extra of the ones she wove into her hair for ceremonial dances. The male Hooden leader accepted this gift with a wide smile, showing his large, white teeth.

Then the Hamapa departed. Enga was sad to leave such a comfortable place. She thought they were probably going to face more hardship.

Chapter 11

“[The Wisconsinian] glaciation radically altered the geography of North America north of the
Ohio River
. At the height of the Wisconsin Episode glaciation, the
ice sheet
covered most of
Canada
, the
Upper Midwest
, and
New England
, as well as parts of
Idaho
,
Montana
, and
Washington
.”

—from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconsin_glaciation#Stages_of_the_Wisconsin_episode

“The Mississippi River…was formed in the most recent Ice Age… This last Ice Age ended approximately 10,000 years ago, which makes the Mississippi about 10,000 years old as we know it.”

—from http://www.4rivers.com/mississippi/info.html

They had not gone far before Jeek and Gunda, who were traveling in the rear, thought-shouted for them to halt.

Enga Dancing Flower looked around to see one of the Hooden females running after them. It was the Hooden female who had befriended Panan One Eye. When he saw her, Panan ran out to greet her. He took both her hands and they stood like that for a moment. Then, holding hands, he led her to the tribe. The step of Panan looked like that of a much younger man. His limp was gone. He had not had a mate, had not even mated with any female, since the old Hama, Aja Hama, had died. Vala Golden Hair might have wanted to, but Enga was almost certain they had not coupled.

Hapa frowned greatly when he saw them. He sent a thinly veiled message to Panan.
We may not have enough food for us. If this one travels with us, how can we know that we will have food for her?

We are saved because of her people
, Panan countered.
I am old and do not require much meat. I can share my portion with her.

Hapa sent some private thoughts to Hama, who returned them, both of them frowning. It turned out that Hama was disagreeing with her mate. She sent a public thought-speak message,
The Hooden female stays with the Hamapa. She looks strong and we can always use another strong female.

Enga had doubts about that. She kept the thought to herself that the Hooden females did not hunt. She was not sure this female would be useful. But Hama had made up her mind. The Hooden female journeyed with them.

The land they traveled through held many small streams, some rolling hills, and the spruce and hardwood forests Enga had seen from the hilltop. The next few days were pleasant. They had plenty of meat and could drink their fill of water whenever they got thirsty. Sister Sun was shedding more and more heat on them, but they could cool off in the shady groves. Even Sooka, the fussy infant of Vala, seemed more content, although Vala herself shot looks of poison at Panan as he traveled with the Hooden female.