In The Beginning

by Richard Webber

  Chapter Sixteen

  The hut was a single room, and a small fire burned in the center. It was dimly lit and very smoky, since there was not even a hole in the roof for the smoke to escape. The old men sat down on the far side of the fire, while Nadar, Catto and I sat opposite them. The other five men were scattered throughout the room, with two standing directly behind me. Though I understood their reasons for having the additional men there, I found it amusing, as we all knew they could not harm me.

  The old ones asked a question of Nadar and he spoke for a very long time. From what I could understand of his words and hand gestures, he was telling them in detail everything that had occurred that day. I saw him act out my dodging and catching the long knives, he pointed at and spent more time discussing my forehead, he mimicked drinking out of a water skin, and he took a significant amount of time to tell them how I had killed the deer.

  I could see everyone was impressed with my killing of the deer. My ability to kill a fully grown, running deer with a rock thrown from twenty paces gave them much to think about. This was an extraordinary deed, and one that made the old ones look at me in a new light. I heard the guards behind me murmur to each other before they were silenced by a stern look from one of the old men.

  While Nadar continued with his tale of today’s events, I thought about my mark. From the little God had told me, I knew no one could kill me, but could they hurt me? If they decided to force me to leave the village what actions could they take against me?

  In theory I could probably stay no matter what the old ones decided without fear of injury or death, but this would not help me gain leadership over the people. I needed to leave this building acknowledged as a man of power; a man they wanted to stay, and a man they knew could teach them and help them.

  I followed along with the story as Nadar reached the point where I started the fire; this was what I had been waiting for. When he told the old ones I had started a fire with a stone, a mixture of laughter and sounds of disbelief came from around the room. The old one seated in the center, the one that did most of the talking, examined me with a penetrating eye. I saw intelligence in his eyes, and I believed him to be a wise man among these people. As he continued to stare unblinking, he made a short statement to Nadar, who then looked at Catto.

  The young hunter spoke for the first time since we entered the hut. “Fire.”

  They wanted me to prove that I could make fire. I smiled and nodded, “Yes,” I said slowly, “I will make fire.”

  I swung my pack off my back and reached inside to take out my firestone. I asked Catto for wood, and he gave me some kindling and small sticks. I arranged this on the floor between myself and the old ones, and pulling out my knife I prepared to make fire.

  I noted the obvious interest my knife received from every man in the room. It stood out in sharp contrast to the utilitarian knives everyone else carried. I paused briefly, just to increase the drama, and then struck my knife to the firestone, causing sparks to fly into the kindling. It was dry and took the sparks immediately. I blew gently into the kindling, and the fire sprang to life.

  I looked up at the old ones, and was impressed by their reaction. While the guards scattered around the room exclaimed excitedly, they calmly looked at me and the fire, and then turned to each other and began to talk quietly.

  When the old one in the middle turned to his side, I noticed something of great interest. He was wearing a leather skin with the fur turned inside, and when he moved I saw it was sheep's fur. I was very pleased to see that sheep lived on this side of the wasteland. This was an interesting development, and something that could be quite important in the future should I be allowed to stay with the tribe.

  I placed the firestone back in my pack. The old ones watched me place it there, and one said something to Catto. He turned to me and asked in a mix of our languages if they could see what else was in the pack. I firmly shook my head no, and held the pack on my lap.

  The room immediately became silent. It appeared that I had done something unusual, saying no to the old ones. I calmly faced them, my pack held firmly in my lap, almost daring them to try and take it from me. There was a long pause, and then the leader of the old ones said something with a slight smile, and the tension left the room.

  There was another pause as once again their leader stared at me appraisingly, his eyes slowly running the length of my body. He looked long and hard at everything I had; my sandals, my woolen tunic, my belt with the attached sheath and knife, and the pack. He finished by gazing intently at my face, much like the woman, Kalou; looking deep into my eyes in a manner that made me extremely uncomfortable. I felt as though he could see my thoughts, see into my very soul, and I couldn’t have that.

  Returning his gaze as evenly as I could, I saw wisdom in his eyes. We stared at each other for a very long time, and then abruptly he broke the contact, a decision apparently made. He turned to Catto and said something to him, a slight smile on his face. Catto indicated that the old one wanted to feel my clothing. This was odd given the seriousness of all that had happened, but I smiled to myself as I realized his decision was that I could stay.

  I said yes, and the old one leaned across to me, taking a fold of my tunic in his hands. As he felt it he nodded and made appreciative sounds.

  I pointed at the skin the old one wore and asked Catto if this was something they often killed. His response was difficult to understand, but I gathered it was an animal that was very rare, and this skin was the only one that had been killed. While I was disappointed that sheep were not common to the area, I was still pleased. Finding them and bringing them back to the village was something I could do for the tribe to improve my position.

  The old one, whose name I had learned was Garon, sat back and made an announcement to the gathered men. While I could not understand everything, I knew he said I would be able to stay with them with the elders’ blessing. I was very grateful that I had not needed to kill anyone or use force to bring them to this decision.

  I would soon begin changing these people, and it wouldn't be long before I was in control. It did not matter to me if the old ones remained the leaders of the tribe for the time being. As long as I was here with their consent, and I was able to effect the changes I wanted to make, I was satisfied. It was now only a matter of time until I had the power.

  Garon said something to Catto, and Catto turned to me and indicated that I was to stay with him; that he would help me. This pleased me, as I liked the young man and respected his intelligence. He had shown himself to have an excellent aptitude for my language, already understanding and remembering many words. He had an obvious openness to me and what I could teach him.

  I smiled to myself as I realized that given my youthful appearance, Garon probably thought Catto and I were about the same age. Little did he realize that I was at least twice, and probably more than three times older than Catto. I wouldn’t be surprised if I was older than Catto’s father.

  If more of the young men in the tribe had the same intelligence and attitude as Catto, I would soon be able to guide them out of their barbaric lifestyle. I had also been very impressed with Kalou today. She had fire; I could see that nothing frightened her. She was extremely intelligent and had learned my language quickly as we walked together. I hoped more women in the tribe had her strength and spirit.

  The old ones stood, indicating our meeting was over. They left the room first, and Catto and I followed, the guards no longer shadowing me as I went out into the night. I could hear shouting and laughter coming from the direction of the fire; it sounded as though a celebration was going on. We walked to the center of the village where the fire roared and the deer roasted, having been cleaned and cut into pieces. The smell of the deer cooking made me somewhat nauseous, but the people gathered around the fire obviously had no such problem.

  I was surprised they would feast so late in the evening. I surmised that no other hunters had brought meat to the tribe that day, so this was their
first chance to eat. It was odd that they didn't eat until they had meat; Kalou had found an abundance of potatoes and blueberries, so obviously other food existed in the forest.

  It would take time for me to understand these people, their ways were so foreign. But I had no choice except to learn everything about them. I would need to understand their behavior and ways of thinking in order to manipulate them to my will.