by S A Ison
There was a massive hill of them, nearly twenty feet across and fifteen feet deep. I used my spear to rattle around in the area where I was going to dig. I was always mindful of snakes. I had my gig stick to trap its head if I saw one. I would cut its head off if I had to. I just hoped I didn’t run into them. Snake was good to eat, but it was a scary thing to find.
After assuring myself of no snakes, took my jeans and underwear off. It was now very warm and I was beginning to sweat. Before I left here, I’d put them back on. When I got back to camp, I would put my shirt back on. It was a weird feeling being naked as the day I was born. It did however, saved on washing the clothing. I knew that my clothes would eventually start falling apart after so many washes with sand. I was trying to make a kind of soap with every plant I found. So far, no luck. I know there is a plant that you can make soap from, but I have no clue as to what that plant is.
I began to dig at the daylilies. I filled my basket and was done. I picked some of the blossoms, I figured I’d give them a try, though I was dubious to do so. The basket was heavy but I was happy to carry the load. I added more to my backpack. I wanted to plant some of these tubers around our cave. It would make it pretty next year and we’d have food growing near us. We no longer ate fresh tubers, but went to storage to get the older ones. I was also drying some of the tubers, and anything else I could.
Though the cave was cool in the back, some things wouldn’t keep long. I was afraid if something started to go bad, that it might spread to the other food. I checked everything daily and was constantly sniffing the air. I was diligent. It was our lives on the line if I didn’t get it right. With all of the tubers covered in the cave, I was confident the tubers wouldn’t degrade. I didn’t think they would grow in the dark, but I was hoping that in their natural place underground, they would keep a long time. It couldn’t hurt, I figured.
I went to the river and drank from it, enjoying the coldness of it. I still didn’t like taking a bath in it. I squatted and relieved myself. Getting out, I put my underwear and pants back on, but rolled up the legs. The sun warmed my skin and it felt good. I started walking back the way I’d come, my eyes scanning around the short stubby bushes. Looking at the green things and looking for any animal tracks, especially people eater tracks.
Harper called it situational awareness, to be aware of what was in your environment. Smells, tracks, noises. The way the birds quiet down or just keep chirping. Everything was a clue and he said I needed to listen and pay attention. I saw tracks and swipes at the river’s edge, it looked like otters had been playing here, but the tracks were dry as were the swipe marks. I was learning the tracks of many of the animals, with Harper’s help. I saw no predator tracks and I was glad.
As I passed the cattails, I froze. There across the river stood a woman. She was small, maybe about five foot, if that. She had long black hair, that was unbound. Her hair was parted in the middle and I saw a crimson line down the part. Her dark eyes were framed by dark eye brows. She was naked to the waist, just like me. She had a long loin cloth made from some kind of hide, it hung down to her knees. I could see some kind of design at the bottom edge of the hide.
Her feet were bare and dusty, just as mine were. She wore some kind cord bands around her ankles. I wasn’t sure if they were strands of thin leather or grass. She had a necklace of bone or shells, I couldn’t be sure. It hung down between her small breasts. She was solidly built, with a thickened waist, but not fat. I thought she’d had children. She didn’t appear to be old, but neither was she young. I’d have guessed about middle age. Her face was calm, as though she wasn’t surprised to see me. I wondered if she’d been watching me. I set down my basket of tubers.
Slowly I lifted my hand, palm out. Her eyes were observing and scrutinizing me as much as I was watching at her. I smiled, but didn’t show my teeth. I remembered seeing a documentary about some aboriginal group explorers had found. The visitors were warned not to smile with their teeth, as it was a sign of aggression. I didn’t know if that would apply in this situation, but I wanted to make a good first impression.
I then held up both hands, keeping my face soft and smiled. Then I brought one hand to my chest and tapped it.
“Ivy.” I said, not too loud, but enough to be heard over the fifteen-foot expanse of the river. I said it a couple more times. I saw a small shy smile form on her lips and my heart sored. I’d made first contact with one of the first humans in this fragile land. She looked around a bit, as though looking for others. I figure it was about time I took my leave. I picked my basket back up and I lifted my hand in farewell. I turned and walked slowly away, I turned to look and she was watching me, I smiled again and lifted my hand. She returned the gesture.
I was glad I was topless, she could see at least that I was a woman. I was much taller than she was, but a woman all the same. I’m sure she was curious about my blonde hair, but I don’t think she could see my green eyes very clearly, but I’m sure that she saw they weren’t dark brown like hers. She could also see that my skin was very pale, though I was getting a tan. Her skin had been much darker, burnished by the sun and also her own natural color.
By walking slowly away, I wanted her to know that I wasn’t going to peruse her and by going slow. I was inviting her to watch and perhaps know where I was going. She would see that I was relaxed, though inside I was jumping all over the place.
I was so thrilled, to have seen one of the very first people. From what I knew, there weren’t many humans on this continent yet, let alone this far east. I knew that they came from Alaska and from north over the land bridge that had existed during the ice age. I learned in school that they came from the north and spread south, all the way down to South America. Even now, there were very few people on earth. I saw one of them.
I know, I know, I’m one now too, but I’m a transplant. Though as the years go by, I guess I will think of myself less so because this isn’t my time. I got back to the cave and climbed the steps into the cave. I wanted to put the tubers into the back of the cave. I no longer needed a light, after making the trip so many times, I just felt my way back and put the tubers on the ground and smoothed dirt over them.
Coming back out, I put my shirt back on and went down to the ground. I set some of the tubers aside to plant later. I had my gig and I was going to try my hand at fishing. So far, I had been unsuccessful. My mind was swirling about the meeting of the woman. I’ll name her Eve, because for me, she was my Eve, the first woman here. I smiled, she didn’t know how important she was, she would never know, but her progeny would people this land. I and my daughters have Native American in our blood as well, though it is only seven percent. I did that DNA thingy. My ancestors were Cherokee, Creek and Shoshone, so in a way, she was my many times removed grandmother. Eve didn’t know how precious she was, but I did.
I couldn’t wait until Harper came back, he was going to freak when I tell him about my meeting. I went to the water’s edge, Harper had made me a rock bridge with good size boulders. He’d rolled them out into the river, making it easy for me to stand and gig fish that came by. Like I said, to date, I’ve yet to catch anything but a floating plant.
Making my way out onto the rocks, I found a comfortable area to stand. I stood motionless for a while, and watched as the fish went by. I stood for a long time, my arm high up, poised and waiting, though my arm was starting to tingle with fatigue. “Aim just ahead of the fish.” Harper had instructed me. The time it took for me to get the gig into the water, the fish will swim past, so it was a matter of timing. I slowed my breathing, and then I saw a large fish. It was meandering along the shallow bottom, lazily, as though out for a stroll, it was in no hurry. The moving water made it look like it was wavering, the sunshine reflecting back at me. I held my breath and watched and then gigged the place where it would be in about two seconds and brought the gig down hard.
I though I’d missed but then the gig was almost ripped from my hand by the large fish. I grabbed with both ha
nds and hooted loud. I backed up, trying to lift the fish, but it was heavy. I carefully made my way back over the rocks and made it to shore. I was so very proud of myself. Pulling the flopping fish to the shore, I spotted a large rock and reached for it, then I brought it down on the fish’s head. The fish still wriggled, but not as much.
Picking the fish up, I was happy to note that it was a big fish, nice and heavy which meant good meat. Tonight, we would eat well and there would be plenty left over to dry. I might even make a fish soup. What a wonderful day, meeting Eve and now getting my very first fish, I thought. I took the fish farther downstream and gutted it, using the water to clean and wash away the extra blood. Though my small knife wasn’t the best and it did keep slipping, I did manage to scale the fish. And getting scales all over my arms and face. Once finished, I splashed water all over my face and arms, cleaning the shiny bits off of me.
I no longer thought about it, but every few minutes, I looked up and around. Situational awareness. I could hear baby blue jays somewhere near. Their parents were scolding me and I had to smile. I sniffed the air around me and didn’t smell anything but the water and the fish. My eyes searched the far bank of the river. All was normal. I watched for any creatures, big or small. I knew my life depended on me becoming aware of everything around me.
Lifting the cleaned fish, I smiled with pride. I thought it was a river trout, but I wasn’t sure. Sorry folks, fish all look the same to me, unless it is a gold fish, or a shark, and this was neither. We had no more of our modern-day food left. All that was left was the plastic bags, which we kept and reused. One day, those would wear out as well and the last vestiges of our time would be gone.
I did put the large plastic bag that held the trail mix aside. That is for this journal, which once I’m finished, I will bury it. I know in my time, someone somewhere will dig it up, either as they build a home or a parking lot or a mall. It is my hope that one day, this will be found. And if someone knocks on my door before the day I came to this place, then I will stay home that horrible day and remain in the future. If not, then perhaps my daughters will know what happened to me. I know I keep saying the same thing, but please find my daughters and tell them I’m okay and I didn’t abandon them.
Back at the cave, I hung the fish and began to build a fire. It was getting late afternoon. I wanted to start the fish soup. During his scavenging in the woods and surrounding area, Harper had found another piece of concave bark, we had scrubbed it smooth. It wasn’t as big as our other bark bowl, but this one was deeper and held more water. I used it to make our soup, though I wasn’t making a hell of a lot. It would be our dinner and breakfast.
I also decided to set a drying rack up in the mouth of the cave to dry the fish strips. It was too late in the day to do it safely down here on the ground. Once I got the soup going, I’d cut the fish in strips. It was nice meat, I just wish I had a bigger knife. My small one did the job, so I guess I shouldn’t complain. I looked toward the river and saw green growing by a small inlet as well as around the ground by the cave.
I had taken the seed puffs from the dandelions and I’d scattered them all along our stretch of ground some weeks back and thankfully, my little weeds were popping up all over. I’d done the same with the broadleaf plantains. Those were growing, but were slower. I had transplanted some of the small wild chive plants, and so far, they were growing well. I was hoping they would seed themselves into the area. I did the same with the watercress, transplanting it over to our area. I went and picked a good handful of dandelion leaves, only taking one or two leaves from each plant. I needed them to flourish.
Taking the bowl to the river, I filled it. As I waited for the stones to heat, I sat with my back to the tree. Harper had promised to make me a lean back chair, so I could sit comfortably and weave. My mind kept wandering back to Eve. To me, she almost looked like an Alaskan, or Chinese. A heavy Asian influence stamp to her face. That would make sense, since her people had originated from that far away place.
The melodic human melody of whistling reached me and I looked up. Harper was making his way to me, in his hand he carried a mass of fur. I got up from the ground grinning, and walked toward him. He was shirtless, as I had been, and his jeans hung low on his hips, the legs of the jeans rolled up to his knees. He was barefooted. He was losing weight as fast as I was and every muscle on his abdomen was becoming defined. His skin becoming a burnished bronze.
“I can’t believe it, we have meat. What in the world do you have?”
“I can’t say they’re rabbits or hamsters, it’s something in between. They are massive and I think and hope they’ll be good eating.”
“Oh wow, that is wonderful. And we now have furs. I can make pillows.” I said, extremely thrilled, my backpack just didn’t do the trick.
“Yeah, and I’ll teach you how to scrape and tan the hides.” He grinned.
“Great, more work.” This I said with a laugh, I didn’t mind, since I would eventually be making clothing for us.
“I caught a fish, I was going to make fish soup, but I think I will make a rabbit-ish stew.”
“That sounds great.” He said, dropped the two carcasses on the ground.
“You’ll never guess what I saw today.” I said in a sing song voice, grinning up at him. He squatted down and grinned back.
“What?”
“I saw Eve, I saw a woman, across the river.”
His dark brows shot up high, nearly to his hairline.
“No way, oh man, that is so cool. Did she run screaming?”
“No, I was very careful. I smiled, but didn’t show my teeth. I held both hands up and then I pointed at myself and told her my name. She was on the other side of the river, about a mile or so down river from here. So, I think we might have visitors one of these days. I hope we do. She seemed very nice, she smiled back at me and waved too.”
“Wow, do you know how rare this is? I mean, I’m pretty damn sure there aren’t many people in this whole country, especially this far east.”
“I know. I’m so happy.” I grinned.
“Me too. I’m going to take these down river and skin them and then when I get back, we can talk some more about your Eve.
EIGHT
As it turned out, we didn’t see Eve or anyone else. Though I was disappointed, I wasn’t surprised. As for the skins, that is another story. It took me a long time to scrape the skins of the rabbit creatures.
“You have to get all the connective tissue off.” Harper had instructed. The animals appeared to be rabbits, but they had shorter ears and a bit of a longer tail. The meat was wonderful and our stew turned out great and tasty, it was a nice change from fish. I used the small shoulder blade of the animal to scrape the skin. It was a sticky mess, but I did it. Harper helped me, he’d staked the skins out to keep them taut.
After we scraped them, we washed and then rubbed sand into them. Now this is the gross part, and I puked. He took the brains out of the skulls, and he mixed with some of the wood ash. We then rubbed it into the skin side. Yeah, he made me do it and I puked. It smelled horrible. But I did it. We let it sit, but we did bring it into the cave. We were afraid something would come by to eat it.
Once that was done, we washed them again, and then Harper set up a rack to smoke the skin. We worked the skin in the evening and after a while, the skin was soft and pliable. I was amazed. Each skin was big enough to make its own pillow.
“I love that this feels so soft. Your pillow is almost finished.” I said, my legs hanging off the edge of the cave mouth.
“You’ve done a great job. I like your pillow, so I know I’ll like mine.” Harper had rocks in his lap. He was knapping them with what he called his hammer rock.
“How does that look?” He asked, holding up what looked like a spear head.
“Looks good, nice and sharp.” I admired.
I was nearly finished with his pillow, I had stuffed it with the cattail fluff. It took quite a bit of it and I was glad I’d collected
a lot of them. Grabbing some of my fronds, I used my small knife to make small holes into the pelt, and then wove the fronds in. It was nearly closed, so I shoved and stuffed more of the cattail fluff into it. Then closed it.
“Thanks for the idea about soaking the palm fronds in hot water, that has really helped make them more pliable. So much easier than fighting it.” I sighed and looked out over our valley. I was beginning to think of this valley as ours. We were getting to know our animal neighbors. The mastodons were weekly visitors, though they kept their distance. They did in fact have fur, though not as thick as the wooly mammoths, least ways I think so.
“It works great with the rope you make, I’m surprised at how strong it is. I’ve been able to catch more in my snares.”
“Our pelt pile is growing nicely.” I laughed. I caught the trumpeting of the mastodons and looked up.
“Here they come. Bertha is leading them closer to us.” We’d named them, Bertha was the matriarch, Matilda and Harriet were her grown daughters, and Jack and Jill were the small ones, though from this distance, we didn’t know if either baby was a male or female.
“Jack and Jill are feeling frisky.” He laughed and we watched as the two young ones chased each other, slinging their heads from side to side. Bertha took it all in stride, ambling in a slow, unhurried pace. I smiled softly, I won’t say they were like pets, more like companions that came and went.
I am pleased that my ropes were able to snare the animals. Many did break, I won’t lie, but we were starting to get more and more small animals. Some were hamsters, others, gofer-like creatures and other rodents. Harper made more drying racks, and we had a lot of meat drying almost on a daily basis. With each animal he brought back, was more food in our larder. At night, we took all the meat and racks up to the cave. We didn’t dare leave any food down below.
“I like my pillow, it will feel great to lay my head on something soft.”
