The Arms of the Watcher

by r. a. Ben Miller

  Chapter 10; The First Evening

  As the evening sun touched the edge of the world, Lar stood at the peak of the rock formation. He held the horn to his lips and created the sound that the women had been waiting for. When the ram’s horn sounded over the desert, their hunting time for the first day had ended. Exhausted women turned from their hunting and shuffled quietly back to their campfires to begin supper.

  As the evening darkness grew, the torches were lit. In every tent, Bowls were filled and cleaning of jewels began. Lar moved down the worn stone steps to sit in the dark in his chair between the two eyes of the Watcher. From this perch, he feel the excitement more than he could see it. Mav came in behind him. Kal made a work area with a table. It had one chair on the watcher’s side. Mav sat in the chair. Kal walked around in the torch light as people lined up to have their jewels weighed and judged.

  On the far side of the table was a rough bench. People came into the circle by the opening nearest the Watcher. Kal handed a silver knife in a leather sheath to his wife. The polished tip of the handle flashed in the last light from the dying day. Mav, the witch, held the feet of a new lamb high. With a quick movement, she drew the sharp blade from the sheath and whipped it across the squirming beast’s neck. Warm, sticky blood spurted from opening. Soon the catch basin at their feet was full.

  Kal’s part in the cleaning was done. He left the circle, and shooing the men before him, went to his tent to rest up for the bargaining to begin. This was the best part of Kal's year. The power to bestow richness or poverty all in one moment was his alone. A family’s fortune might have been made in one fell day.

  One by one the women who had not cleaned their own stones, brought their finds to Mav. The brown stones were washed and cleaned. After being softened in the lamb’s blood, the covering softened. Mav made a small slice with the brown covering and the jewels slipped out. The pile of brown coverings grew on the floor on both sides of Mav’s chair. Moving quickly, Mav handed back each stone once the lamb's blood showed the true color of the stones.

  Squeals of joy were heard for green or red stones, or gasps of disappointment as the pale blue of less valuable stones appeared in the rinse water. Once rinsed, the women hid their treasures into the folds of their cloaks and hurried to the Tear Master's tent. Together, out side of Kal’s tent a line was forming of families waiting for Kal to fondle, taste, examine and last (this part taking forever, it seemed) to think deeply about the value of their stones.

  Soon the cleaning line was empty. All of the stones had been cleaned and the entire camp was waiting. After a few moments in the hot sun, the ones at the back of the line put their stones in bags with their family mark on them and secreted them inside their clothing. They drifted off to their own tents to begin dinner. The area around Kal’s tent grew silent as the people went home to a quick, silent meal. Which ever child was left in line to mark a space watching as the shadow of the dunes crept to the bottom edge of the Watcher’s mouth.

  Inside the Tear Master’s tent, valuations were made and recorded. Smaller gems were traded to pay the fees. The men were forbidden to participate in the cleaning of the stones, but took an active role in the valuation and negotiations. Killing time, he headed for the tent of Kiv. It was at the far side of the camp from Kal and the activities of the first night of Gathering.

  People were happy about the good harvest. The music of stringed instruments and song blew around the camp grounds in the swirling light evening winds. Laughter and stories were being enjoyed at other fire sides. It was easy to spot Kiv’s tent. Instead of cloth and bright silks, Kiv and his people’s tents were made of wild animal skins with the hair still on them. His tent bore the spots and stripes of the strange beasts that made up his work in the Great Forest.

  As he drew close to Kiv’s tent, the smells of men and cooking of wild meats grew stronger. Kiv was always hot, so all of the tent sides were put up to let in the cooling air from the evening desert. Tonight, Kiv was the lord of his domain, sitting between his two sons. Lar was given the place of honor and a large flask of juice.

  His woman, Zil, had been one of the kids that ran in their group through out their shared child hoods. She was a large woman with golden hair and a beautiful face. She knelt by his knee for a blessing.

  He put his hands on her head, “Zil, my darling friend. Thee has already been blessed. Thee has had a life time of love and children. May the Watcher give you many more children to help you care for this beast that you have married.”

  She laughed with the crowd, and kissed his hands. She wiped away a tear. “He aint so bad. I know how to keep him in line.” He swung a mock blow in her direction as the crowd laughed again. She clapped her hands. A line of girls and boys brought huge bowls of vegetables and rice and platters of some mysterious great beast that Kiv had brought from the Dark Woods just for this meal with Lar. They sat around the room filling the tent. The tent sides were flapped up to let in the cooling breezes.

  Kiv took the biggest platter. “This meat is your favorite, Blood Cat heart. It was killed my son’s hand. I have saved this feast for my oldest and dearest friend.” He waved his hand grandly over to Lar. He handed the steaming plate to his friend for the first piece.

  “Thank you, my brother. The Watcher has blessed your hunts.”

  “Mostly, He blesses me by returning His People home to Tear Wadi and your dear company, brother.”

  Lar raised his cup, “Bless the Watcher.”

  “And the Watcher blesses us in return,” intoned the crowd. They ate and laughed, enjoying the night and the anticipation of a good gathering tomorrow and good stories tonight.

  As usual, Kiv has set the Huntsmen’s camp at the far edge of the oasis. Kiv lived as his father had on the edge of what the People called civilized life. His job was to provide the wild meat that added to the diet of the People. He and his men spent their away time hunting while Kal took the rest of the People to the Trading time in the Great City. It made them a wild and unruly bunch. As the night progressed, the party got louder and less formal. The men spent the night telling increasingly more raucous stories of the hunter’s life in the Dark Woods.

  It was a good arrangement. Kiv and his men could not stand the crowds and closeness of the city life. And all of the huntsmen lead by Kal and Kiv understood that some one must go to the city and some one must stay outside to pursue other interests. The city markets were the only way to get the best prices for the stones. Kal did not mind leaving the huntsmen behind. In contrast, Kal hated hunting. So he recognized the value of the interesting meat flavors.

  Lar had heard the stories. He remembered how, even when they were boys, they had grown bored easily in the city. They had preferred the adventures of hunt to trade negotiations. And whenever Kiv’s men went to town, they spent most of their time causing trouble and fighting with every one they could find.

  Kiv, like his father before him, cared nothing for the jewel business, preferring the chase and gather of the hunting life. It was a solution that was good for all. Too many of Kiv’s jewels ended up in the magistrate’s hands to keep Kiv or one of his men out of jail.

  As they finished their evening tasks, the hot, tired women looked over at Kiv’s tent. They made little clucking sounds with their mouths as they returned to their tents. One said to another, “We work all day, and this is how they spend the gathering time.”

  “Ah…to be a man…”

  “Nah…Ne…they cannot find true wealth as we can…”

  The other clicked her tongue in return, “Still… Every year, it’s the same. Look at them, they’ll be at this all night.”

  The first shook her head, “I’m so tired that I don’t even care about the silliness of men tonight. For tomorrow comes and with it another day on the baking desert sands awaits us.” Nodding, they gathered their children, prepared their meals and went to sleep in the gathering gloom.

  Among the men and the older children at the Huntsmen’s tent, Kiv and Lar shared
the stage alternately recalling or creating grand stories of child time hunts with Kiv’s father, the old Beast Master. As the night passed and the drinking grew, the tales grew wilder and farther from the truth of it. Elaborate stories that Kiv held forth of this year’s hunts had the men yelling and adding details until all were spent with laughter.

  In the dark, leaning against the tent poles or on each other, young people of both genders sat and laughed quietly at the stories. This was the best of life in the plain days of toil that was their life together. The People would always be the best storytellers.

  One listener, however, cared nothing for the skill or craft of story telling. She was only listening for the one voice raised in laughter or in retort to a barb or to clarify an even wilder rendition of some bald faced lie being thrown between the stars of the evening, Kiv and Lar. The shape in the darkness was Jin, shrunken and small, in her evening robes. She had come early to set herself perfectly as to be able to watch Lar’s every move. She never took her eyes off the way the light from the fire or the lamps played off his face as he laughed and lied with his best friend.

  Her heart was on fire. The longer she looked, the more she burned within to see his face as he laughed and told his lies. Soon, listening to his voice, she could take no more. Also, she was tired from her hard day. She curled up there amongst her friends and family. She pushed a pile of the warm sand to make a pillow and pulled her wooly evening robes tight. Soon, she was fast asleep, dreaming of a tall, kind man as she lay the among the children piled around her. Her fancies were of a red headed man who might come for her Shivaree some day.

  Inside the center circle, the men only cared that the wine was good and the stories filled with the joy of a life well spent. Gradually, all of the men had drifted off to sleep somewhere in the night. With a start, Lar awoke and looked around surprised, “The sky has gone pink. I have wasted another night with this wastrel.” He shook the giant man next to him.

  Kiv stirred himself. “Wha… Oh! Leaving so soon, my brother? I will see Thee out.” He walked Lar out to the edge of his campsite. He stretched wide and laughed at the sleeping crowd that they had attracted.

  Lar poked his friend’s arm, “We gather many flies with our sweet memories.”

  “Ah…they were legendary, grand days, for sure, my brother.”

  Lar laughed, “Or…at least the way we remember them, they were.”

  “My memory is perfect.” Laughter came softly from the listeners.

  “Or, may be we just tell the best lies.” More laughter.

  Kiv shoved him back slightly, “Why…my stories of the purest truth.”

  Lar laughed, “Yes, my brother… “

  “I am so hurt…” the crowd is enjoying the interplay between these two great story tellers.

  Lar blew a smoke ring at his cousin, “You tell the kind of true stories where the truth is impossible to verify.”

  Kiv struck a dramatic pose, “My heart is pure as my stories.”

  Lar hugged his friend and they laughed again, pounding each other on the back, “May the Watcher always bless this tent, my brother.”

  “May you always enter it as my brother first and my friend always.”

  “Good morrow… good hunting for your mate and your daughters.”

  “Sleep well, brother…”

  “And Thee…”

  Lar picked his way among the sleeping bundles on the ground as he made his way to the stairs of his home. In the pink and yellow light of a new morning, one the bundles rose like a dancer in the mist. Her hood fell back revealing hair of burnished copper and gold. With out a word, she touched his hand. A fire leaped between them from the small, brown hand like a spark, “Good sun rise, Watch Man.” She said quietly, her voice like midnight silk.

  He pulled his hand back into his sleeve. The breaking of the connection was just as electric. He tried to speak, but the drink and the story telling had taken most of his voice this day. “Good hunting, little sister,” he croaked.

  Leaving only a golden laugh behind, she turned and walked, as only a woman in full flower can, toward her father’s tent. She felt his eyes burning on her back. At her father’s door, she turned her eyes of endless, sapphire green back at him. “I guess the blood cat’s gotten Thy tongue, Sir.”

  He stuttered but could make no retort. He only knew that it wasn’t the sun that lit the entire wadi but her beautiful gaze burning into his heart. His mouth had gone dry and his need for her exploded. He sat down in the sand with a thump.

  She laughed again and disappeared into her father’s tent to make the break fast meal. He just sat there. The memory of her eyes stayed like a scar on his mind.

  Kiv was leaning on one of his tent poles. He had seen the whole thing. He smiled at his friend. That little red headed girl was just what his cousin needed. And those green eyes! Would those eyes be the ones to bring new life to the Watcher's caves? That was the question. “I hope so…” he muttered. “ May the Watcher bless this union to full flower,” he whispered as he went off to find a place behind a tree to relieve his own needs.

  The words of the Watch man rang true. Jin went out with the other women to answer the call of Kiv’s horn. Lar closed his eyes and the Watcher’s vision took over. He saw Jin note where Mav was going. He chuckled to himself as she headed for the opposite side of the hunting grounds. She found bits of this and that. She collected them, but, now that she knew her mother was going to be well cared for, she was just going through the motions. Then, just before he got bored, he saw what she saw. Jin saw a broad flat chip of a stone. They both had heard stories of how the heat of the geiser would crack a stone. The jewelers in the Great City loved these chips as well.

  He watched as she bent to pick it up. Through their joined vision, he watched her triy to work her fingers around the edges but, she just kept feeling more stone. Jin got down on her knees to dig around it. People noticed her working. As she dug, Lar saw that a crowd began to grow around her.

  “Look…it is huge!” he heard one of the women say.

  “Careful Jin…Don’t lose it.

  The faster she dug, the more it seemed to sink into the sand.

  “Aiya…she is digging over a gas bubble. Lov ran to her and began digging beside her. Her mother went to the other side and did the same. Unable to contain his excitement for her, Lar broke the connection and began moving toward her. He no longer cared about the stone. He did not care that the more the sand flew around the women, the greater the stone appeared to be. Other widows moved forward to grasp the clothing of the three women who were digging rapidly over a growing hole in the sand.

  “Aiya…the smell!” said one of the women. Lar was also worried. If there was an explosion, Jim could join several of her tribes women who had perished. She was too new to the hunt to know about gas pockets trapped in the sand. Jin had heard of the danger, but she was too involved in this capture to worry about a little gas.

  “What is that? . rotten eggs?”

  “The ancient writings say that the gas is the rotten remains of infidels or even of men who dared touch the Watcher’s jewels before they are cleaned.” Said one of the oldest widows who was leaning on her nieces shoulder watching the excitement.

  Finally, Jin yelled to her helpers, Hold me…I’m going in!”

  Her mother and her future mother in law grabbed her clothing. Jin jammed her hands almost to her shoulders into the sand. “Pull!!!” she cried.

  Her mother cried, “Help us!!! The other women made a chain around and behind all three women. They fanned out, pulling with all their might. Slowly, with a hiss of horrible smelling gas, a very irregularly shaped stone came out of the ground. The release of the stone caused everyone to fall backward, dragging Jin and her precious cargo away from the hole.

  Air rushing in ignited the gas in an explosion. Luckily for all involved, the gas burned out quickly. The women had fallen far enough away that they were safe. Jin was protected from most of the flame by her rock which w
as wider than she. The flames shot out the hole high into the air.

  Kiv, having been alerted to a possible problem, saw the crowd of women working. He had nearly reached the gate when the explosion rocked their tiny world. He kept running toward the commotion. He blew his horn to end the morning’s hunting. Now, men were allowed on the hunting field. Lar passed him at the gate, running full out.

  When he got there, he found women brushing themselves off and laughing. In an instant, ignoring all the others,Lar was on his knees by Jin. He placed her head gently in his lap. He brushed her hair out of her face, checking her for burns. He took several deep breaths before he tried to speak, “Are Thee well, sister?” He stayed formal because so many people had gathered around them.

  “I…I think so.” She didn’t even consider releasing her stone.

  “Aiya!!!” Screamed one of the widows, “What devilment…”

  “What are asking?” said Lar.

  “A Hand…Look at what is embedded in the crust of that cursed stone!”

  Looking closer at the stone, Lar noticed that the irregular shape indicated that it was probably a cluster stone. The super heated stones might roll around in the sand and end up together. Their molten crusts stick the stones together. This stone may have three or four or even, hundreds of little stones in its cluster. Mav would be the settling of that question.

  Then he saw that this stone had one more major difference. His mother brushed some loose sand off the far side of the stone and gave a tiny shriek. Jin threw the stone away from her. It rolled a few feet away. Her mother grabbed it to stop it from rolling back into the hole in the sand.

  Now, clearly visible was a hand and two bones of a human fore arm. The rings on the hand were definitely those of a Bed Ou.

  Lar spoke, “I suspect that these were uncooled blessings, fresh the bowels of the Watcher, when this greedy infidel attempted to break the Watcher’s Law.” The crowd nodded solemnly.

  “O main…” intoned the crowd.

  Mav arrived just then, pushing her way through the crowd. Jin sat up and grabbed her stone. “What is this disruption?” Seeing Jin, “You useless girl! What have you done now,

  Jin’s mother stepped between them. “Only found the largest stone in the Gathering. The crowd cheered.

  Mav looked around at the smoke and disheveled women, “And she, in her greed, tried to get us all killed in the process.” She wanted to stomp off, but, she couldn’t take her eyes off the giant stone in her step daughter’s grasp. Two men had pushed a small cart out from camp. They were sure that there would be bodies or at least some one injured. Several of the widows helped Jin stand and move her find to the cart.

  Mav looked disgustedly at the attention her rival was getting, “Kiv, may we resume our work now?”

  “No. It is time for mid day meal…” We are done for today.”

  “But…but…”

  For all purposes but trading, Kiv was Chief of all the People. He ignored her and followed the gay throng back to camp. She woofed out her disgust and headed for home. Without Kiv’s support, no more stones could be gathered.

  Coming into her husband’s tents, she looked about. “Where is my lunch? Where is that useless daughter of yours?”

  In a firm tone that she knew brooked no response, he said firmly, “She had quite a shock, today. She is guarding her find until sun down, when through your witch craft, we will see what we will see.”