The Thinking Rocks (24 page)

Cano asked in
a low voice, "What did you say to him?"

Keeping her face away
from Lork who stood silently to one side, she smiled and said, "I said you
both are not very smart and can't seem to understand instructions."

Gennos spoke softly
"You are very good, but be careful. I don't want you to be hurt. There is
another thing you must remember. Cano is slow to understand."

Cano didn't look at his
brother; instead he looked over at Dola.  "Dola, later you may have company
when you get thrown in the river."

Dola kept his fingers
working on his basket as he said, "Are you coming in with me?"

Both Gennos and Na'pe
had to hide their smiles from Lork.

Cano spoke softly again,
"I think I'm trapped more than once.  Maybe I should learn to make
baskets and stay here."

Na'pe spoke sharply and
loudly to them in gibberish and then said, "Lork is trying to listen, and
we must start on the baskets, remember to work slow and make mistakes.  I
will pretend to be angry."  She gathered some long strands of grass
and sat in front of them and demonstrated how to weave the bottom of the
basket.  As she worked she spoke softly, "I don't think that they
have baskets at their clan campsite.  Lomasi seemed very excited when he
saw the basket I was carrying when they caught me."

Gennos thought that she
had a voice that he could listen to all day.  She was quite a woman. 
"We don't have baskets at our old clan either.  Having baskets like
these would save a lot of work," he said.

Lork and Morf were
working on their weapons, and Lomasi was off in the forest hunting.  Lork
was instructing Morf on how to improve his skill with the spear thrower. 
The brothers couldn't understand a word of their conversation, but they watched
carefully and were able to understand how the spears were made and how to use
them.  It was obvious that it required a significant amount of skill and
practice to master its use, but the rewards in the distance a spear could be
thrown more than compensated for the effort. Cano couldn't wait until he could
try one.

Gennos had been studying
the throwing process, "Notice how the short stick in his hand bends when
he throws the short spear.  That is the secret of the long range. 
The short stick makes your throwing arm longer.  I can make one of
those."

Cano answered, "I
want one of the first you build.  If I had known a weapon like this
existed, we could have been more careful in approaching these men."

Gennos said, "We
have to escape first, then I'll make you one.  In the meantime we have to
get some baskets made."

The process of weaving
is so simple that it was difficult to make mistakes. They had to improvise ways
to slow the process down.  Their baskets were lopsided and loose.  It
was doubtful that they would stay together, much less actually be able to carry
anything.  As they continued to work they found that their speed was
increasing and the quality of the baskets was improving.  They found ways
to make the baskets look good, but still have flaws that would cause them to
fail.

Cano, who was just
finishing a lopsided basket said, "The strange thing about this is that if
we hadn't gotten caught, we wouldn't have found out about the spear throwers.
"

Gennos picked up on that
and said, "Next time, if there is a next time, let’s try to learn
something without becoming prisoners."  He looked over to Na'pe and
said, "If any part of this experience can be called good, it is meeting
you.  After we escape I look forward to learning more about you and your
people."

She blushed before
answering, "You seem sure that we will escape, and that gives me
hope.  I was sure that I would end up in Lomasi's camp.  I didn't
want that, but I had no choice.  You have given me hope."  She
gave him a warm smile before continuing, "My clan is far from here, I will
not only tell you about it, but I will show it to you if you take me
there.  My father is the medicine man; he is powerful and will welcome
you."

Gennos looked over at
Cano, received his silent approval and said, "We look forward to meeting
him, and returning you to your people."  He paused and then added,
"I was training to be a medicine man in our old clan.  I look forward
to meeting your father."

She looked at Gennos
with a smile in her eyes and said, "I look forward to a time when I can
thank you in a more appropriate manner for all your help."

Cano looked over at his
brother and was surprised to see that he was blushing. He was beginning to
understand what was happening.  He smiled; his brother needed this. 
He had been alone for too long.  Abruptly his smile had faded and he felt
a spear of guilt stab at his heart.  He had not thought of Ceola in
days.  He tried to shake the feeling off, but it would not go.  The
fault was not his, it was hers, and she had rejected him. But why did the pain
come when he thought of her? The spear of guilt was embedded too deep to be
removed by placing blame on another. His mind seemed to be in a jumble. 
Did his not thinking about her mean his love was dying? He did not like to
think about these things, he needed to stay busy and think of other things.

Dola looked at Cano's
face and then over to where Gennos and Na'pe where looking at each other. 
At first he thought that Cano wanted Na'pe.  But the look on his face told
a different story. What he wanted wasn't near, although the memory of it was.
He still thought of Ceola, but she had made a choice and walked a different
path.  His sister had made up her mind when she should have followed her
heart.  The thought brought confusion to Dola.  If Ceola had followed
her heart then she would be a prisoner too.  She was safe where she was,
and we aren't.  Maybe she was right after all.  Well, he thought,
there isn't much we can do about it.  He returned to his basket weaving.

They worked all day on
the baskets.  Na'pe showed them how to fit the baskets together so that
they wouldn't take up so much space. This also allowed them to put the worst of
the basket inside others that didn't look as bad.

It was near dusk when
Lomasi returned from his hunt, he had killed a small deer.  After
inspecting the pathetic baskets, he shook his head and then he spoke to
Na'pe.  It was obvious that he was angry, but then he was always
angry.  He dropped the deer at her feet and walked away to speak with
Lork.  Na'pe dragged the deer over to the fire and began to gut the deer
with a cutting stone.  She seemed intent on her work, but she was watching
for a chance to do something she had been planning for days. When no one was
watching her, she took the cutting stone and hit it a glancing blow against one
of the large stones that held the fire.  She was in luck and the stone
flaked.  Quickly she wrapped it in some leaves she had for starting the
fire and hid the jagged piece of stone in her breechcloth. 

Lomasi returned with
Lork and spoke with Na'pe.  She sat and listened quietly until he was
finished and then nodded her head.  Turning to the brothers she spoke in
gibberish and made strange motions with her hands and arms and then said,
"He wants to take you out on the river so that you will know how to use
the dugout," she shifted her eyes from Gennos to Cano, "You will be
next.  I'm sorry, but this is going to be painful, He is not a good
teacher. It is best if you appear to be slow to understand."

Gennos stood and placed
his hand on his shoulder and pointed the other hand toward the river.

Na'pe spoke gibberish
angrily before saying. "That was good, but watch out now, I have to do
this," she moved close to him and slapped his head. She spoke in gibberish
again and then turned away.

Lomasi yelled in
frustration and then picked up the wood switch he used for
"Training".  He walked down to the river and they all helped
launch the dugout.  Lomasi sat in the rear of the dugout and used his
switch to lash their backs as he shouted instructions.  A long pole that
was flat on one end and straight on the other end propelled the dugout. 
When the water was shallow they used the straight end to pole it along and when
the water was deeper they used the flat end to paddle it.  The dugout was
heavy and slow to respond, but it was a great improvement over their raft and
much faster. As night fell, they were ordered to shore by Lomasi's yelling, and
his well placed blows. It was a painful lesson for both brothers.

Lomasi was pleased. They
wouldn't have much trouble going upstream and he had enjoyed hurting
them.  He preferred using the pole to inflict pain, but he had better
accuracy with the switch.

After the dugout had
been dragged up on the bank, Lomasi motioned with his spear for Gennos and Cano
to return to the fire.  When they got there Lomasi again surveyed the
baskets that had been completed.  He was less than happy with the
results.  He screamed at Na'pe and threatened Gennos and Cano.  He seemed
to ignore Dola.  Finally he took some of the food that Na'pe had prepared
and moved away from the fire. He did not sit with Lork or Morf.

During the day when she
wasn't being watched closely, she had removed food, a little at a time and
given it to the brothers and Dola.  Now with Lomasi not watching she gave
Gennos a generous piece of venison.  She moved closer to him and said,
"I have something for you here," as she reached down into her
breechcloth to retrieve the flake of cutting stone, she noticed Gennos had gone
pale.  She handed him the wrapped sliver of stone.

He looked at her and
started breathing again, "Oh, I thought that you were going to, ah I mean,
I thought you, never mind.  "What is this?"  He said as he
hid the small packet.

She realized what she had
done and what he had thought was going to happen.  She smiled in spite of
their situation, and she said, "It's not what you thought, but it's
important.  It is a cutting stone, when the time is right we can use
it.  Hide it somewhere near, don't let them find you with it or there will
be trouble."  She moved back to her work at the fire.

Lomasi had finished
eating and looking over toward Lork, he shouted a command.  Lork in turn
turned toward Morf and shouted to him.  Being the low man on the chain of
command he got the jobs that no one else wanted.  Consequently, he rose
and motioned for Cano and Gennos to return to the gnarled tree where they were
to be tied for the night.  The brothers rose and started to walk over
toward the tree with Morf following them, but were stopped by a yell from
Lomasi. He walked toward them angrily carrying a spear. The brothers stood with
their eyes downcast. They weren't sure what they had done wrong, but were sure
they would soon be punished for it.  They were surprised when he motioned
them to sit.

Turning to Morf he spoke
harshly and then struck him with the shaft of the spear. The blow landed on the
side of Morf's head, and knocked him to his knees.  Lomasi stood screaming
at him and pointing toward the brothers.  He struck him again and then
grabbed him by the hair and twisted his head at a painful angle until he was
looking up into Lomasi's face. The leaders voice became very soft, anger
dripped from each word, as he spoke he pointed toward the brothers. Then he let
go of Morf and stepped back.  Painfully, Morf rose to his feet; he didn't
make eye contact with Lomasi.  He stood there waiting for the next
onslaught of anger. It was very quiet.

Lomasi didn't speak; he
stood looking at Morf for what seemed a long time before he slowly handed him
the spear. He turned slowly and stood with his back toward Morf.  It was
plain that he was giving Morf the chance to redeem himself in his own eyes by
attacking him while his back was turned and he was unarmed. Tension was heavy
in the air as Morf shifted the spear in his hand.  Lomasi had not moved.

It was obvious what
Lomasi was doing, he was demonstrating who the leader was.  If Morf
challenged him and won, the group would have a new leader.  If he failed
the group would be smaller by one.  If the attack were successful, it
would be the chance for the captives to overpower Lork and Morf and
escape.  There was a silence in the forest that could almost be
felt.  No one moved or spoke.  Then an owl spoke with a soft
"Who? Who?" The call faded away, unanswered into the forest. The call
seemed to break the spell. It was Morf who moved first.

Two things had kept Morf
from striking with the spear, common sense and fear.  If he failed in his
attack he knew he would die.  He could kill him with a single thrust of
the spear. He could see the spot that he should strike, just below the ribs, in
the lower back, to the side of the backbone and above the hip. He knew the spot
and he had the weapon.  What he didn't have was the confidence in his ability
to defeat Lomasi.  He didn't want to be a leader; he just wanted to live
an ordinary life. His decision made, he lowered the spear.

 Lomasi was no
fool; he had been watching the faces of those seated around the fire.  He
was waiting for an indication from them that an attack was coming. He was ready
to roll away and then attack.  The faces around the fire relaxed and he
knew the threat was over.  He smiled to himself; everyone here knew who
the leader was.

 Morf turned toward
Gennos and motioned him to rise.  When Cano started to also rise he
shouted and motioned with the spear that he was to stay.  He prodded
Gennos roughly as they moved off to the gnarled tree.  When he had secured
him he returned and motioned Cano to the tree. After tying him to the tree for
the night he returned to the fire.  He followed the same actions when he
took Na'pe and Dola to the tree.  Not once did he look toward Lomasi.