What this? Mi wonders as she approaches the caves to see the tribe gathered together dancing in the moonlight. Dance? Why dance? And then she realizes that the tribe is performing a ritual for the God of Death. Death dance for Lu. The faces of the people are sad, and as they dance Bak chants in a deep voice. As she watches, the pain in her heart grows. Mi had hoped it was all a mistake, that Lu wasn’t really dead, but now she cannot escape the truth.
Lu dead. My Lu gone. She feels the tears welling up again and her body shaking with grief. Lu not see Wu. Lu not chief… Lu gone. How dead, she wonders again . . . How Lu dead?
Turning away from the dancers, Mi hurries to the cave where she knows his body has been placed. She doesn’t have much time. The others will be here soon to take him away to the special place of the dead, and she needs to find out how he died. Lu’s body has been laid on a mat made from woven branches. Hurrying over, she falls to her knees and starts kissing him, holding his body close as the tears begin to flow again. At last, as she grows calm again, Mi sits back and searches for a wound. It does not take long to find what she is looking for. As she checks the back of his head, she discovers two deeps cuts, cuts which might at first appear to be made by some wild beast, but as she touches them Mi is certain they are the marks of an ax. Only a man could have done this, and there was only one man it could be. Though it brings Mi no comfort to be right, her suspicions are confirmed.
Zo kill my Lu! A mixture of rage and fear boiled inside her and she clenches her fists. “Zo!” she says, spitting the word through gritted teeth.
“Mi,” says a voice behind her and she spins round to see Zo standing outside the cave, staring fixedly at her. As he catches Mi’s eye, he smiles at her, not a friendly or comforting smile, but one of satisfaction. He points to her and then to himself and the message is clear. “Zo take Mi!”
She backs away, shaking her head, but knows there that no one can stop Zo from taking her. He will take the leadership of the tribe and then he will take her. “No,” she breathes, the word barely a whisper. Other members of the tribe gather in the entrance and Mi looks away, her heart heavy and filled with an icy dread. And in that instant she knows what she has to do. Mi go! There is nothing else for it. She must leave the tribe. She must find a new home.
Ka is sitting in the mouth of her cave watching over the sleeping Wu. As Mi approaches, she stands up and places a comforting hand on her shoulder. Mi turns to point back towards those involved in the death ritual.
“Zo,” says Mi, the fear causing her voice to shake. “Zo bad.”
Ka nods to show she understands. Zo does not have a good reputation among the tribe’s womenfolk, many of whom have experienced his aggressive advances, forcing himself on them in their caves at night or cornering them in the forest when no one else can hear their struggles or protect them. Last summer, one young woman, a girl called Ru, was found dead in the forest, her body bloody, her neck broken, and although no one could be sure, everyone believes Zo was behind it.
“Mi go,” says Mi, pointing away across the hills.
“Go?” Ka sits up, looking at her with concern.
“Mi go,” she repeats. “New home. You keep Wu. Wu safe. Mi come back. Take Wu new home.”
Ka does not try to convince Mi to stay, but simply assures her that she will take care of Wu. Other women in the tribe have young children and can provide him with the milk he needs.
~
It is with a deep sadness that Mi feeds Wu early the following morning, knowing that breasts other than hers will nourish him in the days to come.
“Mi come for Wu,” she tells him, when he has had his fill. “Mi love Wu.” She passes him to Ka and gazes at him briefly, before taking up her bag, filled with fruit and dried fish for her journey.
“Wu safe,” says Ka. “Mi be safe!”
Mi nods, blinking back the tears, and turns away. She peers out of the cave and looks around carefully, but it is early enough to ensure none of the tribe has yet arisen. Even the Sky God has yet to reveal himself fully above the distant hills. Quietly, and without a single backward glance, Mi hurries away from the caves, towards the place where the Sky God travels at night.
She chose this direction after recalling stories she heard as a small girl. Her father had told her about another tribe, who had travelled this way many years before, people who seemed to be very different from those in his own tribe. Their skin was lighter, their bodies less hairy and instead of being covered with pieces of animal skins these people wore clothing they had made themselves, something he had never seen before. They had also exchanged strange sounds between each other, words which Mi’s father had found impossible to understand. As this is the only other tribe Mi has heard about, she heads in the direction they took all those years ago.
She has no idea how long this journey might be, and she is still weary from Wu’s birth and the shock of Lu’s death.
Must find home, she thinks, determined to find a new tribe so she can have a life with her son.
That night, as Mi travels through a forest and can no longer see to find her way, she sleeps in a large tree. The next night, finding herself in open land, she digs a hole to hide herself for the night. Thankfully Mi’s father taught her well and she knows how to recognize predators and to hide from them. She knows which plants are safe to eat so she can supplement the two-day provision of food in her bag. And she needs it as two days soon become three, and then four, each one marked by cutting a notch in her bag with a flint.
On the morning of the fifth day, she arrives at the wilderness, an endless terrain of sand stretching away into the distance. She stands and looks at it, the Sky God blazing down overhead, and wonders what to do.
“Bad land!” she whispers. She has heard of such country in the stories of her tribe, a land so barren that nothing can grow on it or live in it. A land that blinds you with light, burns you with heat, freezes you in the darkness and drives you mad with hunger and thirst. “Bad, bad land.”
Could she really expect to cross this desert land? Wouldn’t it be better to return and take her chances back with the tribe? But Mi knows she cannot return and, shielding her eyes from the glare and bracing herself against the heat, starts out across the sand.
“Bad land make hurt,” she says, as her head and shoulders begin to feel the searing pain of the Sky God’s gaze and her feet ache from walking across the constantly shifting ground. “Hurt and hungry.” Her hand goes increasingly to the food in her bag, and while the pieces of fruit give her the energy to continue, they are already beginning to dry out and fail to satisfy her growing thirst. As night approaches, she is glad of the relief from the heat, but it is not long before the cold sets in, seeming to reach deep into her body. She tries to dig another hole, but it is too difficult for her shaking fingers and instead she lies down in a shallow depression and draws the sand up over her body. Despite the chill, her exhaustion finally gets the better of her and, resting her head on her bag, she drifts into a deep sleep.
When she wakes, it is already light and she can feel the coming heat of the day.
Quick, she thinks. Go now. Sky God burn soon. Weary and aching, she climbs to her feet and, ignoring the sand clinging to every part of her body, she continues her journey across the wilderness. It is not long before the heat becomes almost unbearable and, reaching a hand into her bag, she discovers it is empty. Her lips are cracked and her head aches horribly. In her desperation for water she begins to dream about waterfalls and rivers filled with fresh water, about her lake and the refreshing summer rains.
“Water!” she says, almost shouting with excitement as she begins to run towards the horizon. “Bad land make trick!” she says, when she eventually arrives at the place and there is nothing there but the endless sand. She looks again to the horizon and spots what appears to be a distant lake. “Water!” she cries, all thought of the trick forgotten at this new promise of water. Keeping her eyes fixed on the lake, she doesn’t spot the thing sticking up
from the sand and trips over it, falling heavily to the ground. With a great effort she turns her head to see what it was and spies the skull of some large animal, the bone bleached white by the Sky God. Death, thinks Mi, staring at the eyeless holes. Bad land bring death!
She tries to get back up to her feet, but she simply doesn’t have the strength. Instead, she begins to crawl across the dunes, but it is not long before even this is too much.
“No move. Hurt.” Her body feels so heavy and sleep seems such a beautiful escape from the pain and the thirst.
The last thing she sees, as she finally gives in to the darkness, is the vast lake shimmering on the horizon. “Water,” she whispers. “Water.”
Chapter Six
In Mi’s dream, she is swimming in the lake outside her cave. Lu is with her and together they are enjoying playing in the water with their son. She holds Wu in her arms as he splashes happily and she laughs as the spray gets in Lu’s eyes. He splashes them back and, thirsty, Mi tries to catch the water in her mouth, but somehow none goes in. The thirst grows and Mi ducks down under the surface to drink, but still she cannot catch any in her mouth. She breaks the surface of the water and is alarmed to see that Lu has vanished. Looking down she finds that her son has also disappeared, and in his place she clutches her empty bag. The thirst is almost unbearable and she tries once more to drink from the lake, only to find that the water has also gone. Instead she is buried in the hot sand of the desert, trapped, alone and dying. She opens her mouth to cry out, but her throat is so dry she only manages a hoarse rasping sound.
“Is okay.”
At the sound of the strange voice, Mi opens her sand-crusted eyes and peers up into the face of a man. She pulls away and looks around in concern, spying a couple of other men standing nearby.
“Is okay,” says the man again and smiles kindly at her.
Mi blinks, a frown forming on her brows. Strange words. But though she does not understand what he is saying, the man’s friendly expression is comforting. He gives her what looks like a bag, though it moves in a curious fashion. He hands it to her.
“Drink,” he says.
Mi frowns again, unsure what is expected of her. “Bag?” she says. The man places it in her hands, but the feel of it is strange and slightly disturbing so she quickly gives it back. The man laughs, and holds up the bag to his mouth. There is what appears to be a piece of bone attached to the bag and, as the man raises the bottom of the bag, a stream of water flows from the bone into his mouth. “Drink.”
Mi’s eyes widen in amazement. “Water!” she says, reaching out as the man passes her the bag and she copies his action. A jet of water shoots into her eye. Blinking and moving her head up, she catches the water in her mouth. It is cool and refreshing.
“Bad land make thirsty,” she says, between gulps. “Good water!” Mi drinks it greedily, quenching her terrible thirst. When she has finally had enough, she hands the bag back to the man.
“Come,” he says. “We go now.”
Mi frowns at the unfamiliar sounds of his speech, so he points away across the sand before reaching out a hand to help her up.
“Go?” she asks, but the man frowns back, clearly unable to understand the word. After a brief hesitation, Mi takes the man’s hand and, standing up, feels the aching in her legs and the pain of her burned back and shoulders. She stumbles and the man quickly puts his arms around her waist in support.
“Is okay,” says the man. “We help.”
Slowly, with the assistance of the three men, Mi walks in the direction the man pointed. Looking up, she sees again the lake in the distance.
“Water?” she asks, wondering if it really could be a lake. “Bad lands make trick?” But as they get closer, she can see it clearly is a vast body of water. “Big lake!” she says, impressed by its size. It is much bigger than the lake near her cave. Cave, she thinks, saddened by the thought of her old home. My tribe gone. My Wu gone. Need Wu! All she wants to do is go back and find him again, but she cannot yet, not until she finds a new home and a new tribe.
As she trudges wearily across the sand, Mi eyes the men who have rescued her and is surprised at how different they are to the men of the tribe back home.
Strange men, she thinks, looking at their arms. Small hair. These men are indeed much less hairy then the men back home. In fact, apart from their chests and legs, the rest of their skin has none of the thick curls she is used to. Instead their arms and legs appear to be covered with small, light brown hairs, while their heads have flowing locks of similar color. Like lion, she thinks, resisting the urge to touch. Their faces are free from hair, which allows their features, much softer than those of Mi’s tribe, to be clearly seen, and their skin is a lighter brown than her own. Mi find tribe? She thinks back to the people her father spoke of. Mi find new home? Mi safe?
The man who gave her water notices that she is staring at him and smiles.
“See,” he says, pointing to the area ahead. “My village.”
Mi follows the line of his finger with her eyes and, as they make their way over a small hill, she stops, gazing open-mouthed at the sight of the tribe laid out before her. She is on the edge of the desert, and tufts of grass have been appearing for some time. Ahead of her, the grassland begins in earnest, a long sloping plain that sweeps down towards the water which stretched away to the horizon with no discernable end. She smiles, happy for the first time in days.
“Big land!” she says, pointing to the left, where a wild-looking river runs down to fill the lake. “Good land!” She points to the right where a great forest disappears into the distance along the shore. “Many people,” she adds, as she points directly ahead where, on top of a grassy hill, the tribe is going about its day’s work, moving around among what appear to be large boulders covered in animal skin.
“Where caves?” she asks the men, but they just shrug at her unfamiliar words. Sleep in forest, she suggests, but wonders whether these strange people even need to sleep and hide away from the creatures that hunt in the night.
“Come,” says the man, an arm still around Mi’s waist, and begins to lead her down the slope towards his tribe. As she walks with him, Mi begins to cry, partly at the sorrow of being parted from her own people, but mostly because she realizes that she is safe at last. She has found her new home.
~
It is not long before the four of them begin to climb the hill to the tribe’s village. Mi is surprised to find that the area is surrounded by a ring of wooden stakes that have been hammered into the ground, cutting off all access to the tribe, except through a narrow gap.
“Tree?” she asks, pointing at it with a frown.
“Fence,” says one of the men behind her. “Keeps village safe.”
“Fence?” she repeats, shakes her head in bewilderment at the strange word.
They walk together through the gap in the fence and make their way through the skin-covered boulders, which are much bigger close up than she had imagined. She stares at one and reaches out a hand to touch it when, to her amazement, a woman bursts out through the skins and heads off across the village.
“Trick!” Mi shouts in alarm and jumps backwards, bumping into one of the men and together they fall into a heap on the floor. A small antelope-like creature sniffs at her hair. “No!” she says, pushing it away. “No eat Mi!” She climbs to her feet and edges towards the place the woman came from. She reaches out a hand to touch it again, cautiously, though, in case the curious mound produces another person. As she touches the skin, it moves easily and reveals what lies within—not a boulder, as she thought, but large, open space. She peers inside and can make out two small children playing on the ground. Beyond them are many objects which Mi does not recognize, but there is also a pile of skins, similar to those she slept on back home.
“Sleep?” she says, pointing at the skins, but the children just stare at her. When she tries miming sleep to them, head resting on her hands, they start to laugh and, with a start, she realiz
es what this strange place must be.
“Cave!” she says excitedly, turning back to the men. “Skin cave.” But again the men do not understand her.
The man with the water bag points, saying, “Hut.”
“Hut,” says Mi, smiling at the strange feeling this new word makes in her mouth.
The man beckons her to go with him, and together the group makes its way to the center of the village. Stopping next to one of the larger huts, the man points to the entrance.
“Go in,” he says. “Women here.”
Nervously, assuming this is what the man wants her to do, she pushes through the skins into the hut. She is surprised to find that it is quite bright inside, a curious orange glow coming from something on the ground. To one side of it sits a woman of a similar age to Ka, wearing an antelope hat and necklaces made from berries and herbs.
“Sit,” says the woman, gesturing to the ground next to her. Mi sits down and, looking curiously at the light, she reaches out a hand to touch it.
“No!” the woman grabs Mi’s wrist, pulling it back from the flames. “This is fire. Hot!”
Mi snatches back her hand and looks at the woman questioningly.
“Fire,” repeats the woman, pointing to it. She pretends to touch it and then shakes her hand violently. “Ow!”
“Fi-ow?” says Mi, trying to copy the strange words.
The woman laughs and shakes her head. Pointing at herself, she says, “Bagra.”
“Bagra,” says Mi, also pointing at herself.
“No.” The woman takes Mi’s hand and points it correctly. “Bagra.”
“Bagra,” says Mi again, finally understanding that this must be the woman’s name. “Mi,” she says, pointing at herself.
Bagra can see Mi is worn out and without saying another word she gives her something to eat. The food tastes strange to Mi and it’s unusually hot; Bagra got it from the fire, something Mi has never experienced before, but her apprehension is swiftly overcome when she realizes how hungry she is.
Redemption: Supernatural Time-Traveling Romance with Sci-fi and Metaphysics Page 6
