In The Beginning

by Richard Webber

  Chapter Twenty Nine

  The house completed, we were joined seven days after I asked Kalou. It was a very good evening. The tribe always loved it when a couple was joined, and everybody was in high spirits. A marriage meant a big celebration and was cause for a loud and long feast. Our joining together meant an even more elaborate feast than normal, given my position as leader of the village. Though no one knew my age, by their standards Kalou was considered quite old to be married, so this also was cause for celebration.

  I had chosen Kalou because she was the most impressive of what I still considered to be an inferior race, but I was excited and actually looking forward to marrying her. Over the years I had come to care for Kalou, and I respected her more than just about anyone. She was one of the few people in the village who was willing to let me know when she didn’t agree with me.

  The ceremony was brief and simple. Just as the sun was setting over the mountains Kalou and I stood, and all the villagers fell silent.

  There was a pause as we looked at each other, then I said, “I take Kalou as my wife, to join with her forever.”

  Kalou said, “I take Cain as my husband, to join with him forever.”

  It was done. To the tribe those simple statements were unbreakable vows for the rest of our lives.

  As soon as she finished speaking the tribe erupted into shouting, laughter and raucous noise, and the feast began at once. The meal was excellent, and the selection and vast amount of food available was amazing.

  The village cooks had prepared the full range of dishes for the celebration; raw and cooked vegetables, potatoes, fresh fruits and loaves of sweet bread baked with nuts and honey, as well as platters of fish and fowl, and both a pig and a deer turning over the fire.

  It was a meal to remember, and the joyful feast, with children shouting and running about, and all the adults talking and laughing, was one of the happiest evenings of my life. Late that night, actually early the next morning, full, tired and content, we retired to our new home for the first time.

  A few months after we were joined I was sitting in my living room, working on a map late in the night. This was one of the reasons I had wanted my house to have two rooms. Since I slept so little I wanted to be able to work inside my home and not be forced to sit by the fire as I had done for the last seven years.

  I had started drawing the map two nights earlier, putting it on tanned sheepskin as my mother had done with her paintings. It was a complete rendering of the huge valley we lived in, and I was trying to draw it to the correct scale and include everything I had found over the years.

  In addition to common items such as rivers and forests, the map would show the original locations of all the plants and animals I had found, as well as the locations of the three other tribes’ villages. While the map was not complicated, it was taking me a long time because I wanted to be very exact. It was good to have a quiet place and a table on which to work.

  As I drew, my sharp ears heard a sound that was muffled and out of place. The animals were making a little more noise than normal and they sounded disturbed. Something was happening outside, and it didn’t sound right.

  The village occasionally had predators come exploring at night, lured by the smell of our livestock, but a watchman’s call as he walked around the flocks with a torch was normally enough to scare off any wild animals. The predators knew it was easier to kill a deer in the forest than fight a man with fire and a spear.

  A shout that was abruptly cut off told me this was not just a watchman chasing off a bear. I dropped my writing stick and ran out the door, grabbing my bow and arrows as I went. We normally had five watchmen at night; one on each side of the village with two on the north side, since that was where the animals were kept.

  I could hear the other watchmen quickly moving to check out the disturbance, but nobody else in the village stirred. I covered the distance to the north edge of the village at top speed, and immediately saw that we were under attack.

  I should have seen two watchmen, but they were gone. Instead I saw a large number of shadowy figures rapidly approaching the village. While I could not get an accurate count of how many, there appeared to be at least twenty five.

  The other three watchmen joined me and I ordered them to open fire with their bows, shooting at the attackers on the left and right flanks, while I started firing as quickly as possible at the men in the center.

  While I shot I shouted, “Attack!” over and over, as loudly as I could.

  This was the signal to alarm the village; it meant the woman and children were to stay in their homes while the men came with their weapons, ready for battle. I hoped the villagers would follow their orders correctly.

  The four of us fired steadily, and we were dropping the attackers before they got close. The tribe’s watchmen were also hunters, and were chosen for their courage and skill with a bow. We were causing considerable damage to the attackers while they were not yet close enough to even start throwing their spears.

  It was happening so quickly that no other tribesmen had yet joined us and our arrows were now exhausted. We had shot well, and because of the silence of the arrows I did not believe the attackers realized just how many of their party were already gone. They were now close enough for me to see clearly in the dim moonlight, and although I knew not how many they had started with, only twelve remained.

  I could not allow them to enter the village and get among the huts filled with women and children, perhaps even get to Kalou, so without another thought I pulled my knife and ran at them, screaming out my fury. The watchmen were shocked, but after a brief pause I was followed by them and several more men that had just joined us.

  I outstripped my companions and reached the attackers well ahead of them. I went directly at a group of four that were running close together. When I reached the first man I ripped the spear from his grasp with my left hand while slashing his throat with my knife. I spun the spear around and thrust it completely through the body of the next man before he could react.

  I continued moving forward like a raging bull. Throwing out my left arm I knocked a man flying with the force of the blow, while at the same time I used my knife to parry a spear directed at my chest. I quickly spun my knife and plunged it deep into the man’s chest.

  I could hear the sounds of battle to my right and left, but they were quickly dissipating. The ferocity of our response to their attack was too much for them, and with a shout the few remaining men turned to run, heading back towards the north.

  “Capture them and hold them alive!” I shouted, and I ran after the two that were farthest away.

  When I caught them I grabbed the first one I could reach with both hands and threw him as hard as I could back towards the village. He flew far through the air and came down hard, bouncing a few times and then lying in a motionless heap. The second man I grasped tight around the body, and holding his arms at his sides so he could not pull his knife, I carried him kicking and screaming back to the village.

  It was a madhouse. There was shouting and confusion, and our men were running everywhere with weapons in hand, looking for someone to fight.

  With a shout I got everyone’s attention and quickly restored order. “Be wary and ready with your weapons! Go out into the fields. I want every single body accounted for and brought back here. Find and bring back every attacker, dead or alive. Use your spears, and if any resist, kill them!”

  With a loud voice I called out in the old language, “Drop your weapons and come towards me with your hands empty. You will not be harmed. Do not try to fight us or escape, or you will be killed!”

  I saw no one trying to run, and slowly a few men rose from the ground, while at the same time I heard the voices of the wounded and dying calling out from the field.

  My men were now in the fields with torches and their weapons, and they returned in groups of twos and threes, herding everyone they found that could walk, while carrying the dead or wounded. Two men did resist, a
nd both were killed without mercy.

  In the field where the sheep were kept we found the bodies of our two watchmen, Akan and Latto. Besides the two dead watchmen who had apparently been ambushed when they went to see what was bothering the sheep, our men had received only cuts and minor wounds, and everyone would survive.

  In a short time we had all the attackers gathered on the edge of the village. They were a ragged looking group, dirty and clothed in skins, looking much like this tribe did when I found them.

  I counted a total of twenty eight men with nineteen of them dead, most from arrow wounds. With a glance I could see that of the nine remaining men, two had no chance of survival and were in intense pain, probably hoping for death to arrive swiftly. Three more had less serious wounds and would be fine if they were treated and the wounds cleaned.

  The wounded men lay on the ground moaning softly or crying out in pain, while the four remaining men that had escaped unscathed either looked at us sullenly or stared at the ground in silence, fearing the worst. Of course they were wondering what we would do with them, and I was thinking about the same thing.

  Of the four unharmed men only the largest one returned my look without fear, and he was noticeably interested in our appearance. I was obviously of a different race and he openly stared at me, but our tribesmen, though of the same race also must have looked very different to him.

  In the old tongue I gave assurance that we would not harm them, and then we tied the hands and feet of the living men, leaving free only the two dying men and the man I believed to be their leader.

  I told Catto and Cadune to make sure everyone in the village was reassured that we were safe and secure. I kept a force of twenty men out, sending fifteen to patrol the perimeter of the village while five stayed with me to guard the prisoners. The remaining men were sent back to their beds to rest for the next day.

  I squatted down directly in front of their leader. “Can you speak with me?” I said in the old language.

  He looked at me appraisingly, and after a moment nodded, “Yes.”

  I pointed at the two mortally wounded men who lay crying in agony. “They will not live, and they are in much pain,” I said.

  He nodded, not knowing where I was going. “Yes,” he said again.

  “You may end their pain,” I said, and slowly and carefully I handed him a knife.

  He understood. Moving cautiously and always keeping one eye on me, he went over to the dying men and quickly cut their throats, ending their suffering. He then placed the knife on the ground and came back to where I waited. Once I had bound his hands and feet we began to speak.

  Kalou had appeared with a few of the older women, carrying scraps of cloth, water, medicinal herbs and some salves. After treating our wounded and making sure we would be alright, they looked at me questioningly. I nodded, and they began to treat the other tribe’s wounded, first cleaning the layers of dirt from the areas surrounding their wounds. As they were cleaned I saw that those men would all be able to survive without issue.

  All this time I had questioned the leader about their attack.

  I learned that they were from the north, and their entire force had attacked; he told me there were no more men outside the village, and I believed him. But he would not give me a straight answer about why they had attacked our village, and what they had hoped to gain. I was getting fed up, and eventually I was forced to say, “If you don’t tell me your real reasons for attacking us I will kill that man.”

  With this statement I casually pointed to the man that was lying nearest to me. His eyes grew huge as he looked desperately at his leader.

  The matter-of-fact way I said this as I pulled my knife from its sheath, combined with his companions’ look forced him to blurt out, “Women. We need more women for our tribe.”

  This was what I had expected him to say all along, given that their only previous visit years earlier had been to steal women. Nonplussed, I asked him, “Why do you need our women?”

  “We have many men and there are not enough women for all our men to marry. Not enough women are born in our tribe, and many die when they bear children. We need more women to help our tribe stay strong.”

  I nodded. Though I didn’t agree with their methods, I understood their logic.

  Though I was saddened by the loss of two good men, I was actually pleased by what had happened. Tonight was very good for me, and tomorrow this attack would be used to further my goals. It was obvious to me what needed to be done, and I would be able to settle everything in the morning.

  “Get some rest; neither you nor your men will be harmed unless you try to escape. We will talk further in the morning.”

  Turning to the remaining guards, I told them to stand watch over the prisoners for the rest of the night. Kalou and the other women were now finished, and I thanked the women for their help before they returned to their huts.

  Kalou and I moved off to the side, where I told her what I had learned. Her reaction surprised me; she was much angrier than I had expected her to be.

  “Women!” she practically shouted, “They wanted to steal our women?”

  “Calm down,” I said, “They have more men than women, and not all their men are able to marry. Apparently it’s desperate enough that they decided they needed to steal some of our women.”

  “Calm down?” she sputtered, “How would you have felt if they had taken me?”

  “Well,” I said evenly, “I would have hunted them down and killed every one of them. But I didn’t let them take you, did I? And now that they're here I know exactly what we have to do. It is very clear to me. It will help keep our tribe safe, and it will be good for everyone.”

  “What are you talking about?” she said slowly, looking at me in her way, the way that sometimes made me feel uncomfortable.

  “Well, we have plenty of women in our tribe, so I’m going to force the other tribe to join with our tribe when we build our new village. That way they will never attack us again, and our tribe will become larger and stronger. Combined we will be one powerful tribe.”

  I made this statement as though I just had the idea, but of course it had been my goal all along to form one large, powerful tribe with me as its king.

  Kalou stood in front of me and looked up at me piercingly while she thought. Finally she asked simply, “Why do we need to combine into one powerful tribe?” She watched me intently as she waited for my answer.

  Kalou was my wife, and she knew me better than anyone in the world. I would not deceive her any longer. “Because I know best how everyone should live and I want the power to decide what is right for all people. I need to be the leader over everyone in this land!” I stated, somewhat harshly even to my own ears.

  “What you think is right!” she replied, “But what makes you think you know better than everyone else?”

  I looked at her, sincerely confused, “What do you mean? Of course I know what is best for everyone.”

  Kalou shook her head slowly. “That is your problem Cain, you have always thought you are better than everyone else, that you are smarter and somehow perfect. You are bigger and stronger, and you had great knowledge when you joined us, but that does not mean you are a better person, or that your race is any better than my people or the men that attacked us. We are just different. This God you have told me about, the God that made the world and everything in it. Do you really think He made your race superior to mine, to be our masters? Would He do that?”

  This was ridiculous, and I would discuss it no further. Of course we were made superior to them by God; that was obvious, just look at us. I was angry, and so bothered by her comments that I could not speak to her any longer. Is that really what she believed, that they were just as good as me, that God had made them my equals?

  “Do not think you know the mind of God,” I said shortly, dismissing her comments. “You should go back to bed now.”

  Kalou just looked at me and shook her head sadly.

  “Good night
husband,” she finally said. “Be safe.”

  With one last look, disappointment evident in her eyes, she returned to our home.

  I really thought there was hope for him. I thought he could change. Now I just don’t know. He believes he is better than us, and his physical gifts are not the only reason. Perhaps he always thought he was superior, and that is why he left his own people.

  That night fifteen men patrolled the perimeter of the village, while I and five others guarded the prisoners. The wounded men slept fitfully, even though Kalou had given them something to ease their pain.

  As I watched them I was silent and still as stone, but my mind was disturbed and full of conflict. My thoughts raced back and forth, giving me no peace. I was bothered by what Kalou had said. How could she believe that these filthy savages I now watched over were my equal, or even her equal, for that matter? Our tribe had made such progress that we were now vastly superior to the men that had attacked us tonight.

  I tried to dismiss what Kalou had said; she didn’t know what she was talking about. But I just couldn’t get it out of my head.

  Was it possible that Kalou was right? Perhaps the tribe always had the innate intelligence and ability to learn and advance, and they just lacked the knowledge that I provided. Given enough time, would they have learned on their own everything I had taught them? This thought disturbed me, creating conflicts in my reasoning that I did not want. While I sat still all night, my mind was just as fitful as the men I watched over, but I came to no conclusions.

  When the sun rose I adjusted the ropes that bound the legs of their leader, tying them in a way that would allow him to walk with short steps but not allow him to run. I motioned for him to follow me and we moved away from the others, out into the fields. As we walked I asked his name.

  “Gadu,” he said. “I lead the hunters of my village.”

  When we were away from the other men I turned to him and spoke. “Look at my tribe Gadu. We are strong and healthy, and we have all the food we could want. We have many people, both men and women, and we have powerful weapons. We are going to build a great village along the river north of here for our tribe. I want your people to join with my tribe to build the village and make one people, all together in one tribe. I give you two choices. You can join us to make one tribe with me as your leader, or we will kill everyone in your tribe, completely removing your people from the land as though you had never been.”

  I finished and awaited his answer, looking him calmly and squarely in the eye.

  He stood tall, returning my gaze. He saw the truth in my eyes and knew I meant what I said. “Well,” he replied, “you leave us no choice, do you?”

  “No. You have no choice if you want to live. I will give you food and allow you and all your men to return to your tribe. There you must convince your elders of the truth of my words. I will meet you and your elders at the salt field in twenty days time,” I said, showing him my hands twice to indicate exactly when I wanted to meet. “I will come alone, and there I will hear your decision.”

  Looking at my forehead, he said, “I know that we cannot harm you. I will be there with our leader, and you shall know his decision at that time.”

  When I told the villagers later that morning that I would not execute the attackers, they were pleased by my mercy. Even though they had killed two of our tribe, my people made it obvious they did not want me to retaliate and kill the rest of the attackers. This amazed me; where was their vengeance?

  Though three of the men were wounded, they would still be able to make the return trip to their village. We gave them enough food to last their journey, though since they had never before eaten food such as bread, nuts, apples or carrots we had to teach them what it was. We also gave them some dried meat, which seemed more familiar to them.

  After putting a few water skins in the packs holding their food, I returned their knives to them, but we kept all their spears. A large contingent of our men escorted them well north of the village and I continued to follow them at a distance for much of the day, making sure they continued on.

  When I returned to the village that evening I called all the tribe together. At this meeting I told them of my plans to move the village to the north, to the edge of the large river. As I expected, they were very disturbed and could not understand why the village had to be moved. They were comfortable at this location; they had lived here all their lives, and the crops, orchards and gardens that they had worked so hard to establish were here.

  Though I had my own reasons for moving the tribe which I kept to myself, I was still able to tell them much that was true.

  I said, “I understand how you feel, but we have no choice. Moving is a huge undertaking and it will take much time and effort, but our tribe is getting so large that the stream can no longer support us, our animals and our crops. Water is our lifeblood, and without more of it we cannot grow.”

  The tribe thought about this and talked amongst themselves. I waited, giving them time to discuss everything involved in moving. Everyone knew we already struggled to have enough water to support our crops, this was no secret. It was also a fact that there were far fewer fish in the stream than there used to be, and they were harder to catch. They knew in their heads we needed a larger river, but it was still difficult to accept the need to move in their hearts.

  I wanted them to believe they had a voice in this decision, but in reality I was in control and the decision had already been made.

  “We really have no other choice,” I finally said after giving them plenty of time to talk about the move. “We all must move and none may stay behind. And,” I continued, “to keep us safe and make us a greater people, I am bringing the other tribe into our village. We shall become one tribe as you were so long ago.”

  At this announcement an uproar ensued.

  “What! Why should we let them join our tribe? They are killers!” the people shouted.

  My answer was simple and for the most part honest.

  “It will keep us safer. We will not have to fight or kill them. There is no harm in becoming one people.”

  I continued, looking at Kalou as I made this statement, “Besides, they are just like us. All people are made the same. With their addition to our tribe we will grow more food and become a great people. We will not need to fear any other people in the land.”

  “But they are the only tribe that threatens us. If we let them join with us, who is there to fear?” someone called out, and others immediately agreed, repeating the question.

  “I have found the other tribes in this land, both to the east and the south. We do not know their intentions, and we must be prepared for anything.”

  I said this knowing full well that those tribes were even less of a danger to us than the tribe to the north.

  My tribe thought about what I said, and once again began to talk to each other. They were concerned about moving and the uncertainty of what could happen if we joined with the other tribe. But I could see that though they were still apprehensive, they were beginning to accept the inevitability of having to move.

  Exhausted from everything that had happened in the last day, I stepped away. I had not slept in several days and I wanted to give the tribe more time to discuss and accept what I had proposed, so I went home. I could still hear the discussion going on as I slowly drifted off to sleep.

  The next day I was told by Catto, Cadune and Kalou that the tribe had accepted my decision, and they were willing to move. Over the following days my leaders and I met together constantly, planning exactly what needed to be done, making drawings of how the new village would be laid out and built, and deciding how to actually move the people, crops and flocks.

  It would not happen overnight and it would not be easy. But I had to make sure it went as I planned, with sufficient food and organization to allow everyone to transition smoothly into a whole new way of life.

  I wanted this move to be more than just transferring village life to a new location.
I wanted to change the very way people thought, ate, worked and lived. If I was successful, with this move the world was going to change.