In The Beginning

by Richard Webber

  Chapter Twenty

  The moon was almost full, which provided plenty of light and allowed me to see for a very long distance. I decided to travel as far north as I could in one night through the fields and woods that stretched towards the small river I had seen. When I looked over the valley this morning, I thought it likely that some of the fields might contain more than grass. If wheat grew in any of the fields, the greatest problem of feeding the village would be solved.

  The village needed to raise animals to provide meat, milk and cheese; they needed vegetables and fruit; but they especially needed bread. Bread was one of the foundations on which I would build, and for that to happen I had to find wheat.

  I needed the tribe to increase, and it would be impossible to support more than eighty people on only potatoes, game, and a few blueberries gathered daily in the forest. In order for the tribe to grow and be established as a strong people, I needed to develop crops that could sustain them so they would not need to go into the forest to hunt and gather all their food.

  Only when they stayed at the village raising and growing their own food would they have the labor available to allow them to do all the other things required to become a civilized people, such as weave cloth, and make furniture and tools.

  I ran at a steady pace. The fields immediately to the north of the village were a nice grass, and a brief inspection earlier in the day had shown me that the soil underneath was rich, nurtured by years of decomposition and renewal. These lush fields and this fine soil would allow me to do whatever I wanted, whether it was to provide grazing for flocks, or be tilled for crops.

  Running at a speed no villager could ever have hoped to match, I soon arrived at the first forest north of the village. These woods were much younger than the mountain forest to the west of the village.

  I slowed to a walk as I entered the woods. There was an abundance of smaller trees here, and I assumed this was where the tribe had gotten the wood for the framework of their huts. I saw many hardwood trees and saplings, wonderfully slim and straight. I would take advantage of these woods to get the building material needed to construct furniture and tools for the village. It was a nice forest, and the woods gave me some peace. I would have enjoyed staying for a while, but I had no time tonight, I needed to keep moving.

  As I walked through the abundance of slim, straight hardwood, I wondered why the hunters used thick, rough shafts for the weapons they called spears. Talking to Catto earlier today, I had learned the weapons were meant to stab their prey after it was cornered, and since they didn't fly well, they were thrown only when necessary. This made absolutely no sense to me. These people didn't seem to think in any logical fashion. How couldn’t they realize a thrown spear would be a safer and more efficient way to hunt? Why wouldn't they make their spears from the strong, straight wood in this forest and throw them at their prey? I shook my head and let it go. That was a problem for another day.

  When I reached the far edge of the forest I found pecans. The entire northern side of the woods was pecan trees, and the ground was covered with nuts, ready to be cracked open and eaten. I laughed out loud. Already the night was a huge success. I had discovered a wonderful source of food and an abundant supply of building materials, only a short distance from the village. I would fill my pack with nuts on the return trip, and show the tribe what they had been missing in the morning.

  When I emerged from the forest and re-entered the meadow, I was mildly disappointed to find that it was still grass. Once again I ran, occasionally lowering a hand into the tall grass, feeling for seed heads. Of course I would know grain when I saw it; I did not need to feel for seeds, but it gave me pleasure to touch the green living plants.

  I continued onward, running north at a fast pace to cover as much ground as possible. As I ran I thought that I would like to visit the great river on the far side of the valley. I knew I could not go there now, it was a trip that would take many days, but I wanted to go there eventually to see what the waters held.

  I abruptly stopped running. Of course, why had I not thought of that before? If these people ate meat, there was no reason they couldn’t eat fish. Bears and raccoons loved to eat fish, why couldn’t people? I would talk to Catto and Kalou about that possibility tomorrow while we walked; they might have noticed fish in the stream next to the village.

  I began to run again. Though my main focus tonight was searching for grains, I also wanted to check out the small river I had noticed this morning. I knew that if the tribe was successful at growing their own food they would eventually need to move, since the stream next to the village would not be able to support all their needs.

  As I taught the people to be civilized, in addition to requiring drinking water for people and animals, they would need water for washing, cooking, and irrigating crops. And these activities would take greater quantities of water as time went on. If I was successful at changing the ways of the tribe, and I had every intention of being successful, it would not be too many years before the tribe would be forced to move.

  I continued running, pushing myself even harder. My breathing became labored and the sweat flowed freely off my body. I knew I faced a challenge, running hard it would still take me most of the night to reach the river and return to the village.

  I ran through fields of tall, lush grass most of the way. The meadows were wonderful, the grass almost as high as my waist, thick and healthy. I loved the sweet smell, and as I ran I was at peace with myself for the first time in a long time.

  I passed through two additional small woodlands, and though they were even younger than the forest with the pecans, they still held an abundance of wood that would be good for building. Best of all, the forest farthest to the north held walnuts. There certainly seemed to be plenty of food in this land if you just knew what you were looking for!

  In good time I arrived at the river. It was actually not that far from the village; not more than two days of steady walking for a healthy hunter. Though it was a fairly small river, it would still supply more than enough water for the needs of a substantial village. It was six or eight times wider than the length of my body, and it flowed at a gentle rate. The tribe could grow to many times their current size and still draw from it all the water they would ever need.

  I could see clearly in the bright moonlight, and when I looked across the water I drew a sharp breath. On the far side I finally saw what I had been searching for tonight. Mixed in among the grasses, I could see wheat stalks. Without further thought I dropped my pack and immediately dove into the water.

  I quickly emerged on the opposite bank. Yes, thin and weak, being crowded out by the stronger grass were some actual clumps of wheat. I was so overjoyed I could barely contain myself. I looked around, and scattered here and there, barely surviving, were quite a few clumps of wheat. I would need to transplant and nurture them before it was too late, but I had found what the tribe desperately needed.

  I gently dug out one of the clumps, being careful not to harm the root structure. My plan was to dig out several clumps and carry them back across the river. I thought if I stored them carefully, they would be safe in my pack until I transplanted them in the morning. The plants already had seed heads, but the seeds were not yet mature enough to allow them to be harvested and planted for the village.

  As I stood in the warm night air, thinking about how best to carry it back across the river, the plant in my hands started to shrivel. As I watched in horror, in the space of ten heartbeats the plant went from a living thing to dry, dead stalks. How could this be? There was no way that a plant could die so quickly, nothing would die that fast naturally.

  Suddenly, the words God said after I killed my brother came back to me. He told me that because of my brother’s murder I was cursed, and the earth would no longer yield any crops for me. I had forgotten this; with all I had gone through His words had not crossed my mind since that day. What would I do if I could no longer farm? That was the greatest joy in my life, the most im
portant thing to me above all other things. Now, my touch alone would kill. How could I hope to succeed with the tribe if I could not grow food? Numb and thoughtless, I sat down upon the ground, my body slumped and my head down, lost in sorrow.

  Time passed slowly as I sat in that position with my mind a blank, staring at the dead plant in my hands. The moon crossed the sky, and still I could not bring myself back to life. I stared at the seed heads motionlessly, but finally, I thought again.

  If only the seeds had been mature, Catto could have planted them. This went through my head several times before I realized exactly what I was thinking. Of course! I did not need to plant everything myself. I should not plant anything. I was going to be the King. I should only teach them, not perform the labor. I needed to bring some of the men here and have them collect the plants to bring back to the village for transplanting. As long as I did not touch the plants or do any of the actual farming myself, there was no reason to think that the plants would not grow.

  Though I was relieved, I smiled only half-heartedly. It was bittersweet. Not being able to grow crops myself saddened me, but I would still be able to teach the tribe how to farm the land and raise their own food. I dropped the dead wheat on the ground and standing, looked around the area. While there was not an abundance of wheat, there was a sufficient amount to take back for transplanting. Once the wheat was harvested, the seeds would need to be planted again to raise a real crop, a crop that would be used to make bread.

  I dove back into the river, returning to the other side. I had lost a lot of time sitting in despair, and putting on my pack I immediately began my journey back to the village.

  I had been more successful tonight than I had hoped to dream. I had found nuts, an excellent river for a larger village, and most important of all, in the future there would be bread for the tribe. I rapidly retraced my route, filling half my pack with walnuts at the first forest, and topping it off with pecans towards the end of the trip.