by John Bodey
At night she walked the edge of the plain ... She lay in the cool sand, and felt his arms and his breath. And when she heard a curlew cry her heart would skip a beat, and she would sound a return mating call. A curlew might wonder at her timing. One day, she told herself, he would return.
Today the sun was sinking into the sea as she made her way to the beach. It was her favourite time; she loved nothing better than to walk in up to her waist, then sink down and let the warm water wash over her. As she stood, the evening breeze cooled her, and she felt alive and young. She was in the act of submerging herself once again when a curlew’s call rent the evening air. She froze and waited for it to come again; she knew that this was the call she had been waiting for.
When nothing happened, she panicked and worried that he might go elsewhere to seek her out. She threw back her head, knowing that she was taking a risk, and gave the cry of a mating hen into the darkening gloom, then waited again for whatever response her cry might bring.
She heard the gentle ripple of the waters and turned to face whatever was gliding in the water towards her in the gathering dark. She peered into the fast failing light and saw nothing but the darkness of the water. The ripples were flattening, the water turning cold. Then through the stillness of the calm sea, a head arose not an arm’s length from her; she stifled her cry of alarm, and rushed to clasp the apparition. Hugging him to her, tears flowed silently down her face, as she wrapped her arms tightly around him.
“Oh Dani, Dani...”
“You have some very strange birds in this neighbourhood. Whoever heard of a bird making its love call while swimming in the sea.”
“Oh Dani ... you have come back to me.”
They stayed together all that night, and early next morning, as the morning star rose in the heavens Dani left. They had all that they would ever have. Danaranni had to return to his lands to care for the wife that was old enough to be his mother, and Nunjupuni would have to take her old man and be satisfied.
As Nunjupuni watched him go there were tears in her eyes but joy in her heart; she knew that a part of him had remained within her, and would grow; One day, if he should ever return, he would see for himself why she would never mourn his passing. He would come again, of that she was sure.
The cry of a curlew out in the water had been heard by other ears that night, and Nunjupuni and Danarrani’s union had been watched by other eyes. A message was sent to the tribal elders of Nunjupuni’s transgression. Her husband-to-be and her brothers returned home to hear the accusations and allegations. They set out to get the truth from Nunjupuni. Being so young, she broke down and admitted everything, adding that if they harmed Dani in anyway, she would take her life. It wasn’t a threat, it was a promise.
The brothers dearly loved their only sister, and promised that they would do all they could to help. But Dani could no longer exist as far as she was concerned. She must marry the old man and make him happy, and forget the stranger.
Though Nunjupuni’s heart asked, she knew it was impossible for her and Dani to try and live together; to do so would only lead to more misery and possibly his death. She would have to be happy with his memory and the child she knew he had given her in their one night together.
The people of Danaranni’s tribe from the Big River were getting ready to return home when the Elders from the Crab Creek tribe, including Nunjupuni’s intended husband, walked into their camp and demanded to speak with the Elders. Everyone gathered around to listen; after much yelling and screaming, with tempers flaring on either side, Dani himself ended the arguments by coming forward. He stood before the Elders to take whatever punishment they thought fit to give him.
When the old man to whom Nunjupuni was promised saw how big and strong, how young and handsome Dani was, he could understand why the girl had fallen for the stranger. His anger became intense, and hate hurled from his mouth. He grabbed his spear and would have run Dani through where he stood, but Nunjupuni’s brothers, stood between them. The oldest brother faced Dani and told him of the pact that they had made with their sister. He warned him that they had no wish to lose their only sister to death because of the actions of a man who was no better than a dingo, sneaking around their camp and singing her to his bed.
Dani reacted as if he had been slapped in the face. He challenged the brothers to fight to the death. If he should lose, he lost his life and they lost their sister. If he won, he won his woman, but they could very well lose their own lives. He was prepared to do whatever they thought fit. The brothers laughed loud and long. They had no need to accept his challenge. It was their right. If Dani wanted to act like the man they believed him to be, he should abide by the Laws. He had despoiled their beautiful young sister. He had jeopardised her marriage; it was only the fact that the old man loved and cherished her, they said, that he was prepared to still take her as his wife.
His only need for her was as a worker, and a cook, Dani scoffed, as a slave to look after the old man and his old wife in their old age and for nothing more ... He couldn’t even give her a child.
“Don’t you believe it!” screeched the old man.
“Quiet!” yelled the older brother. “We demand payback.”
“So it shall be,” the tribal Elders decided.
“I am ready,” Dani told them.
“Then by the Laws of the Land, since you have offended both the close family of the bride, and her husband-to-be, both of whom have demanded payback stand here to take punishment. The Law requires two wounds, one from each party. Let this be a lesson to one and all that we must abide by the Laws of the Land in all issues if we are to live in peace, harmony and safety with one another.
“Danaranni, if you die from the spearing, it will be by the will of the Spirits. If you stand and take your punishment like a man, the act you have committed will be negated by your actions, and people will look favourably upon you. Now run. They have the right to hunt you and kill you like the cowardly dog that people would judge you to be...”
“I won’t run. I place my life in the hands of the Spirits of my Ancestors. So let’s get on with it,” Dani replied.
He stood out in the open and awaited his fate. Each of his accusers would throw their spears, until finally one of the family put a spear through Dani. How or when was up to the men seeking revenge. They could throw their spears from anywhere at anytime. The closer the miss, the better to put fear into the victim, and the greater pleasure they gave the onlookers. The more fear the victim suffered, the deeper the lesson burnt into the memories of those onlookers. It was the one way to keep the Laws of the Land sacred to young and old, and this incident could not have come at a better time or place, with tribes from all over the land still gathered after the ceremonies.
Meanwhile, an argument had broken out between the old man and the brothers. The younger brother had seen the glint in the old man’s eye as the Elders had granted him his right to wound, and had noted his smirk of satisfaction when they warned the boy that the wounds inflicted could cause his death. The younger brother knew then that the old man had every intention of inflicting such a wound. This was the reason the old man had refrained from dancing and throwing his spear. He didn’t want to jeopardise his chance with a miscalculated throw.
“Old man, be warned. If by some accidental mishap, a slip of your old fingers, a lack of strength in your old bones, you misplace your thrust and the boy dies, then you yourself will not walk away from here, nor live long enough to see the sunset.”
“You threaten me? Me? Your Elder, soon to become your older brother?”
“I warn you,” the younger brother said. “If you see it as a threat, so be it. You are not marrying me, and you are not yet married to my sister. If I were you I would walk very carefully, and speak carefully too.”
“Aim cautiously, Old Man” said the elder brother, “or else his might not be the only spear you feel, and Danaranni might not be the only one sung to the Spirits this night. As far as I am concerned, the boy has
proved himself to be a man worthy of my sister.—Come, it is time.”
Dani stood out in the open ground, legs slightly apart, arms dangling loosely at his sides. The spears began to fly. They came so close to his body he could feel the wind of their passage. They landed between his legs and all around him, but none so much as touched him. As the brothers came to retrieve their spears to cast again and again, he faced them squarely and looked them in the eyes. No fear lurked in him. But he noted, that not once had the old man cast a spear, and he wondered at it, for when the argument between the Old Man and the brothers had broken out, he understood the peril his life was in.
Without warning a spear hissed and buried itself into the heavy muscle of his upper leg. The impact spun him around and dumped him on the ground. It wasn’t until he bounced that he realised he had been hit. There had been no pain, just a ripping, tearing sensation as the blade had buried itself and protruded out the other side. He lay as he had fallen, and waited for the inevitable ... the old man’s thrust.
The old man took his time. Gathering the attention of the crowd to himself, he glorified in his moment of fame. He stood poised above Dani in the dirt, then kicked the wounded leg to humble the man and hear him scream as he lay.
But Dani stifled his scream, and waited for the end as the old man walked around, prodding him with his spear tip, but never hard enough to penetrate the skin; to draw blood would have qualified as satisfactory retribution.
Dani watched the broad blade of the hunting spear and steeled himself each time the torment began. The brothers had used slim pointed hunting spears, but it was evident the old man wanted to inflict as much damage as his one legal stroke could provide. With each prod, each kick, Dani smiled up at his tormentor, hiding his pain. He would show this stupid old one no fear. While he lay in the sun waiting for the old man to finish his game he thought with smug satisfaction of the ridicule that could await the Old Man, that would be a living sore until his death; he wished fervently that the love-making between himself and Nunjupuni had produced a child, and that the child should have his likeness.
The old man could feel the mood of the people changing; he had nearly overplayed his part, he would have to do something drastic to redirect their interest and regain their attention. A quick jab to the place that ran close to the skin near the groin ... an accident ... the blood would jet and squirt then pump and pump in spasms until the life-blood ceased to flow and this animal would be no more.
He looked around ... He wanted to see the faces, to watch the fascination and horror as the onlookers realised there was nothing they could do to save this dog who had beaten him to his bone. He wasn’t afraid of the brothers ... to spear him down without just cause would be murder, and they could die for the act. One last look, and he would jab ... Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the younger brother’s spear aimed straight for his heart ... the wrong move, murder or not, and the old man knew he would be dead before the blood stopped pumping from the boy’s body ... he would beat the boy to the home of the Spirits.
The old man circled once more to position himself near Dani’s good leg, then with one swift thrust he shoved the spear downward, and as it entered the skin and flesh, he twisted the blade, sawing it in and out of the wound. Then he yanked it free, and forced his way through the crowd. He had shoved the broad-bladed spear between the calf muscle and the shinbone, severing as much of the muscle as he could. Then as a final act, the blade had been wrenched to the heel; it was only his lack of strength that stopped him severed the tendon of the heel. His bride’s lover would never walk again. As for the brothers, they would pay dearly for that threat and his wife-to-be would be a sad and broken woman long before he journeyed to the land of the dead. If that dog had given her a child, its life would be hell on earth.
Payback had been achieved. Satisfaction was guaranteed.
They carried Dani inside and dressed his wounds. The one through the upper leg had been small and clean and would heal quickly. But the damage done by the old man’s spear would be slower to heal, harder to mend. Dani would be a cripple for the rest of his life. Unable to take the boy’s life, the old man had done the next best thing, taken away Dani’s ability to hunt and run and excel at what a man was intended for, to provide for his family. Now he was only as good as a child, just another mouth to feed; from this day he would be a handicap to his family and the tribe. They would soon tire of looking after a cripple.
One day Dani would walk and run, and hunt, but it would take him a couple of years to get about as he wanted. All the time he lay recovering, all the time it took to get himself on his feet, all the time it took to learn to walk again, he listened to the people and heard their thoughts and their words.
At first it was about the payback system. There were no rules that in pay-back the weapons had to be thrown, or that there should be a particular type of wounding for a particular crime. If you were lucky you lived. People spoke of the severity of the wounding the old man had given Dani. It was something that one day the Elders should get off their arses and do something about. If one of their own kids were speared and killed, then something would be done about it, but while it only happened to others ... too bad. Maybe a couple should be killed, one from each tribe, then there would be some action.
He listened as the people talked. At first they felt sorry for the young man they had admired, but in time, he heard the change come into their voices. The sadness turned to pity, pity to resentment, resentment to dislike, then bitterness, and in time, bitterness would turn to hate. Even those close to him were changing. He listened and learned about human frailty, and tried harder to get himself on his feet and out of their care. Long before he was ready, he made moves to get out, to become independent, to do what they thought he could never do. A fire filled him.
And Nunjupuni? Her image was with him from the moment of his waking, to the moment that sleep overtook him. At night she invaded his dreams and became alive and vibrant and with him once more. As he got better, he thought a lot about his life and hers. He thought over what she had told him, about how her life would be, that she was being married, to look after the old man and his first wife, as a virtual slave. There would be no children, no life, no love.
As time moved on Danaranni made plans to leave his family, his friends, his home, the place where he grew up, the land he loved. He would go to Nunjupuni, take her, and elope. Together they could start a new life in a new land, have children and grow old together. As his strength and mobility returned, he began to move off by himself, slowly learning to walk again. He would do it: it was a promise he made to himself and a silent promise to Nunjupuni.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t stay awake, Grandad, but tell me, did Dani ever go back to see Nunjupuni?”
“No Grandson, at least not yet.”
“Will he go and see her? What happens to their love?”
“Well now ... are you ready to hear the rest of the story?”
“Yes, Grandad. This time I’ll try to keep awake to hear how it ends.”
“Now let me see...”
Dani had decided that once he was able to walk and hunt enough to be able to look after himself, he would leave his people and the few friends that still greeted him. He began by withdrawing into himself and going off alone.
At first his disappearances would last for a day, then two days, then three ... and one day he just disappeared. It took him more than a month to reach Nunjupuni’s lands. Once there, he searched along the foreshore until he found a secluded spot where he could leave his few belongings without the chance of them being found, then he began to watch the camp, waiting his chance to see Nunjupuni, for the opportunity to get close enough to catch her attention. Then they could meet and make plans.
He had been watching for a week or more, when one evening he came across a woman walking the foreshore near the camp, her arms folded as she strolled along in the shallows watching her small daughter run and laugh and playfully splash her in passing. The
mother gave chase and splashed her back, laughing and frolicking, playing with the small one in the darkening, cooling waters. She turned about and made to return in the direction from which they had come, calling to the girl and bidding her return.
The sound of the woman’s voice stabbed at Dani’s heart. The voice was Nunjupuni’s and the child was her daughter. Was she his child?
He sank down beside a clump of sandhill grass, his heart thumping. His chance had come. He had planned and waited for this moment. He took a deep breath and as low as he could he emitted the mating call of the sand-curlew, then coughed as he was finishing it. He watched as her form froze. She hushed the child, frantically calling it to her. Then, with the child in her arms, she turned towards where she thought the sound had come from.
He filled his lungs, but the sound died on his lips as another voice sounded. Someone was coming through the scrub to the beach, looking for the girl and her child. The voice was harsh and unfriendly. Nunjupini turned and retraced her steps in silence, going to meet whoever it was, turning them back before they could reach the shore.
The next evening Danaranni and Nunjupuni met and very late in the night they were reunited in their love. They sat again in the dew-drenched sand and talked and planned. Yes, she was ready to leave, as soon as he thought it was possible. She had had enough of being the fetch-and-carry-all. The old man had indeed made her life a misery. He was particularly bad when her brothers were around forcing them to witness his complete authority. There was nothing they could do about it; the marriage had been arranged by their father and the Elders. The law stood.
As much as Nunjupuni loved her little daughter, she could see the wisdom of Dani’s words when he said that the child would be a terrible burden, the greatest of all handicaps. They would be pursued, and would have to move as fast as his crippled leg would allow him. They would need all the skills they possessed to throw off their pursuers. He couldn’t carry the child, not over any distance, and she would wear herself out trying. They couldn’t stop to rest for long; the child would soon weary and there was no way they could stop her once she began to cry for warmth and comfort. No, she would have to stay.
