Death on the Trek (8 page)

One day, more of the beasts that had been in the caves were spotted. They moved slowly and always moved away from the people. Fee Long Thrower or Ung Strong Arm, or others, could easily have speared them, but they were all growing weary of the taste of that meat. If only they could find a large herd of mammoth, or even some deer, bear, or bison. Liquid formed in the mouth of Enga when she thought about the taste of mammoth meat, cooked over a searing fire so that it was crispy on the outside, soft and moist and flavorful on the inside. With plenty of water and with the gentleness of Brother Earth, they might be able to settle near this place—if they could find a supply of meat.

Hama sent the young males to the tops of the hills sometimes, to see what they could detect in the distance. What they could see was always more of the same terrain, and never a herd of mammoth or anything else.

They speared rabbits on occasion and even brought down birds and squirrels. These were small, though, and did not feed many.

Eventually, herds of pronghorns, bison, and musk ox were seen. Stag moose were seen once. But the process to build a trap, drive them into it, and corner these for a slaughter, was more complicated than they could do and would take more time than they had while traveling. Three times lone mastodons were spotted in the great distance. The tribe was tempted to go after them, but Hama and Hapa both argued that they would be gone long before the hunters could reach them. They had always depended on mammoth and that was the animal they must find.

They still had the dried meat from the Hooden. The only person who enjoyed eating it was the Hooden female, but they all ate it.

At one dark time, as everyone was preparing to sleep at the edge of a spruce forest, Panan One Eye asked Hama if he could give a name to the Hooden female who traveled with them. Hama discussed this with her mate. Hama and Hapa were quick to reach a decision.

Hama gathered the Hamapa in a sitting circle and thought-spoke to the tribe while pointing to the strange one sitting next to Panan,
That one does not need a name. She is not one of us
.

Enga saw the puzzled look on the face of the Hooden female. She could have no knowledge of what they were discussing, but could see that she was being pointed at and that the Hamapa thoughts concerned her.

Panan countered,
We have always taken in those who come to us. We took in Bodd Blow Striker and Fall Cape Maker. We also took in Enga Dancing Flower and Ung Strong Arm.

Hapa was quick to answer.
Enga and Ung were infants. Bodd and Fall are people like us. This one is not like us. She is tall and dark and narrow. She does not follow our ways. Can she understand or send thought-speak? She probably will not ever breed or bear a child for us. What work can she do?

Panan jumped to his feet.
She is a person. She must have a name. Hama is the one who said she could travel with us and—

Hama stood, too, and raised her chin at him.
Travel, yes. But I have decided she will not be useful, not knowing our ways. She will not live with us when we reach our new place. She will have to find her own kind then. Dakadaga will not name her.

Enga watched Vala Golden Hair during this public argument. At some of the dark times, Panan set up his sleeping place between Vala and the Hooden. At other times, he was very close to Vala and the Hooden had to find her own place. But some dark times were spent with the Hooden female and Vala was left alone with Sooka. At those times, Vala was not far from where Enga and Tog slept. Enga thought that Panan and the Hooden may have been coupling.

As the days wore on and the trek continued through the same kind of land, tempers again grew shorter and shorter. One day, at a mid-sun rest under some large shrubs, Enga heard soft weeping. She pushed through the brush and followed the sound. The sobbing sounds stopped as she approached. Someone was in distress and Enga wanted to see if she could help, but did not want to startle whoever it was. Making deliberate noise as she parted and snapped branches, she kept going.

She pushed one last thick, leafy branch aside and saw the Hooden squatting on the ground, huddled against one of the thicker tree trunks. The Hooden turned up her dark, tear-streaked face and sent a plea to Enga. The female could not send thoughts, but her look conveyed a plea that was clear. Her eyes spoke of sorrow.

Tears sprang to the eyes of Enga and she knelt to put her arms around the female.
How lonely she must be with no one to communicate to.
She smelled different than a Hamapa, but not too much different. Her skin felt the same as the skin of anyone, even though it was not the same color. Since she was now dressed in Hamapa mammoth skins, given to her by Ung Strong Arm, she did not appear very much different either. Her skin was darker, she was taller, and her very short, dark hair curled up against her head, but those were small things.

The female trembled under the touch of Enga. Was she afraid of Enga?

“Tiki hoo,” Enga murmured. The words had arisen unbidden from her mind. They meant, “large one.” The woman grew still and drew her head back to look Enga in the eyes. Enga said the words again out loud. “Tiki hoo.”

The female smiled, showing a row of even white teeth, large, like the rest of her. She pointed to her chest and repeated the words Enga had said, but making them sound like one word, “Tikihoo.” She tapped her chest again and again and said, “Tikihoo.”

Finally, Enga understood. The female thought her name was Tikihoo. Maybe it was. Dakadaga had to pick names for the Hamapa, but not for this one. Hama had said that would not happen.

Enga tapped her own chest and spoke, “Enga.” She left off the rest of her name, not wanting to make this too complicated.

The other woman nodded and tentatively repeated, “Enga.”

Enga took the hand of the female as they stood. Together they brushed through the branches and returned to the tribe.

Enga, still holding the hand of the female, raised both their arms into the air and sent out a public thought-speak message:
Ba Tikihoo
. The heavy stone band that the Hooden always wore slipped up her arm. For emphasis, Enga spoke the name aloud, “Tikihoo,” still holding up the arm of the Hooden female.

Panan One Eye rushed to them. He hugged Enga, then hugged the female.
Tikihoo
, he greeted her, then remembered that she did not receive thought-speak, so he, too, spoke the name aloud, “Tikihoo.”

Enga saw many smiling, nodding faces. But not all smiled and nodded.

Chapter 12

“The Sawatch Range of the Rocky Mountains was formed around 70 million years ago during the Laramide Orogeny (mountain building). A trough of late Paleozoic sedimentary rocks running through central Colorado was uplifted as a massive dome to create this mountainous range. Drainage off this range, then, created streams; these began flowing eastward, forming valleys. The Arkansas Valley is the northernmost of these valleys and conclusive geologic evidence establishes that this valley was formed no earlier than 29 million years ago.”

—from Origins and Geology of the Arkansas River, http://salida.com/salida-best-of/best-of-arkansas-river.html

Both Hama and Hapa stood back, frowning. Enga Dancing Flower observed the Hooden female beside her, regarding each member of the Hamapa tribe. Tikihoo ended by staring in the direction of the two high leaders, Hama and Hapa, and a look of fear crossed her face. Her smile returned when some of the Hamapa swarmed around her and gave her gentle pats on the arm and the shoulder.

Panan One Eye came to stand beside her and she seemed content with that, so Enga slipped away and confronted Hama.

Are you angry that I have named the Hooden female?

Hama did not answer. She pursed her lips, raised her eyes to Mother Sky, and looked like she was thinking about whether she was angry or not.

Enga was frightened that she had done something wrong. She tried to explain.
It was not what I meant to do. She wept and wept and I comforted her. When I spoke those words, I only wished to communicate. She is lonely here. She has no one to speak with. No one can understand her and she cannot understand us.

The expression of Hama changed. Her dark eyes grew kind and her mouth relaxed.
Ah. So you were comforting her and called her “tall one, large one” and she thinks you gave her a name.

It made her so happy.

You are a gentle person, Enga Dancing Flower. It will do no harm to call her Tikihoo. Dakadaga will understand.
Hama touched the mind of Enga with softness and warmth.

Her mate, Hapa, heard the conversation, but did not quit frowning. He thought-spoke with harshness to both of them.
Dakadaga will not understand. And that female will become part of our tribe. We will run out of food in less time. This is the fault of Panan One Eye. He did not make her understand that she could not come with us when we left her tribe. No good will come of this.

Hama ignored his thoughts and approached Tikihoo to give her a soft pat, as the others were doing.

For the next few suns, Panan slept near Tikihoo and even mated with her openly. Vala Golden Hair wept often. Her green eyes, so pretty at most times, were ringed with red. She ignored Sooka, her child, and the others had to take care of the helpless infant. The males were the ones who did most of the dragging of the heavy loads, so the females usually watched after Sooka. Some of the males were taken with the child and liked to tend her also.

One very warm day the task fell to Enga. The girl would not stay content for more than a few moments. Enga watched Whim dart and dash on his chubby legs and wished Sooka would learn to walk. What if she never did? Whim saw a bird and jumped to try to catch it. He was younger than Sooka, but had been walking for several moons.

The skin of Sooka was light, even more light than that of Vala. The beaming of Sister Sun made her glow with the color of sunset. Blisters had formed on her face and arms at the beginning of the trek. Now the females covered her arms with skin wrappings, which she tried to pull off, but her face still suffered.

The day Enga had charge of Sooka, Gunda, the oldest birth-daughter of Hama, spotted a small peccary and managed to spear it. At dark time, the children gathered sticks from the ground of a copse nearby. With the permission of Hama, Akkal took a bit of his fire and lit the branches to roast the meat of the peccary. There was only enough for a few bites for each person. Enga closed her eyes to chew and sensed the joy of the whole tribe at the taste of fresh, familiar meat.

When they were finished eating, Zhoo of Still Waters, the Healer, collected much of the fat from the animal and put it in her pouch. Next she rubbed some on the sore face of Sooka, who smiled and cooed when the fat relieved her pain. After that, Zhoo smeared some on Sooka’s face every night. In the morning, she renewed it and also patted some dirt on the fat. That kept most of the fiery fierceness of Sister Sun from burning the baby.

For some time after Enga had given the name Tikihoo to the Hooden, Hapa went from one brother and sister to another, complaining about Tikihoo being with them. He would not use the name Enga had given her, but called her the Hooden. He laid much blame on Panan. He even blamed Panan and “the Hooden” for the fact that they were not yet in a place where they could settle.

Enga was alarmed that Hapa did not try to conceal any of this. She could tell that feelings were growing against Panan in some of the brothers and sisters. That was, she thought, caused by what Hapa kept repeating. She heard mutterings about Mootak Big Heart being made the official Storyteller, the Hava, and taking the job away from Panan. But Panan continued to give the Saga most of the time when they stopped walking at early dark.

In the mind of Enga, there was a worse thing than Hapa spreading the ill feelings. And that was the role of Hama. She did nothing to counter the division in the tribe. Some were deciding to mutter against Panan, as Hapa did, and others defended him. Hama could have stopped the arguments and dissension, but she did nothing. Enga thought that Hama must be as weary as they all were.

But this was not proper. Panan had been an Elder of the tribe for a long, long time. He was the mate of Aja Hama when she was alive. He was the seed giver for Lakala Rippling Water, for Fee Long Thrower, and for Tog Flint Shaper. These three were all important members of the Hamapa. After the Aja Hama had left Panan and had mated with another, Panan remained one of her trusted advisors until her death. He deserved respect.

It was most important that the tribe be in agreement. If they did not stay together, they were not likely to survive. Their numbers would be too small and they would not have enough people to do all of the tasks of the tribe.

So why, Enga wondered, did Hama not stop Hapa from spreading bad thoughts? Was she too tired? Was her spirit worn out?

* * *

One day the two birth-brothers, Teek Bearclaw and young Jeek, were sent to the top of a nearby hill to scout the land. Jeek was proud to be chosen for the mission. They scaled the hill in a short time and looked in every direction.

Jeek was agitated about what they saw, jumping up and down when they spied it, although it was not good news. They ran down the hill to tell the tribe. Teek said Jeek could announce it.

A very large river is ahead
, Jeek thought-spoke.

How large?
Hama asked.
Is it wide? Deep?

Teek answered.
It looks wide. I cannot tell if it is deep. But it does not look like there is a way around it. It flows across our path and blocks us for as far as we could see in both directions.

Both Teek and Jeek sent out pictures of what they had seen.

How wide do you think it is?
asked Hapa.
I cannot tell from your pictures since you were far away from it. Can we build something to take us over this river?

I think we cannot, but I do not know
, Teek thought-spoke.
It is wider than either Fee Long Thrower or Ung Strong Arm can throw a spear. It may be that we can wade through it.