In The Beginning

by Richard Webber

  Chapter Thirty Nine

  The stew was delicious, but since it contained meat I ate carefully, discreetly picking out the potatoes and carrots. According to everyone I spoke with, they enjoyed the stew more than anything they had ever eaten. After the meal I returned to my men to give the tribe time for discussion. We camped deep in the forest, everyone sleeping deeply while I sat guard.

  The next morning I returned to the village to meet with the elders. As the guards let me through I was a bit apprehensive of the welcome I would find, but when I entered the village I was greeted with a great roar, and many people happily rushed to me and pounded me on the back in joy. Though I had believed the people would approve of the elders’ decision, I was shocked by this overwhelmingly positive reception. Though I saw some frowns and received a few unsmiling glares, the vast majority of the people seemed overjoyed by the decision to join with our tribe.

  Lakaan, Jatar and three other men met with me throughout the day and together we developed a plan to move their tribe north very quickly. Apparently this tribe had moved a few times since they first came south, so moving was not as traumatic for them as it had been for my tribe and the northern tribe.

  I explained what would be expected of them in my city; how they would learn new work, a new language and how their entire lifestyle would change. I needed to make sure there were no questions concerning what would happen after they moved. They insisted they understood all the changes that would be necessary and they still wanted to join with us.

  They had almost nothing to prepare and very little to bring with them, so they made the decision to leave within days. I was shocked; it had never occurred to me that the tribe would want to start the journey immediately.

  I had planned for them to join our tribe in two or three months, giving us time to build the additional houses they would require. Their tribe numbered just under one hundred, which seemed to be the maximum amount of people that could be supported by hunting. This number meant that the city would need to add about twenty-five new houses to accommodate them.

  My men came into the village that afternoon for the first time and were warmly greeted. By the end of the day the relocation plans were finalized and it was decided that the next morning preparations for the move would begin, with the tribe starting their trek northward the day after that. It was a bit shocking to me, but the tribe had so little to do in preparation that there was no reason to delay starting.

  That evening the people feasted again. With herbs, salt and the last of the carrots we were once again able to make a delicious dinner. My men were comfortable and interacted easily with this tribe, as you would expect since they had the same background.

  I had brought intelligent, hard-working men with me, and they would be a great help to these people as they journeyed north. I would leave for the city the following day. I wanted to return as quickly as possible to inform my people of the decision that had been made, and we needed to immediately begin building the homes for this tribe. By diverting some of our workers from other tasks we could build much of their housing before they arrived.

  At the speed I expected this group to move northward, we would have about thirty days before they reached the city. Though we wouldn’t be able to finish all the houses they needed, we could build enough homes for everyone to stay under a roof when they arrived and they could share houses as needed until the rest were built.

  After they arrived they would be able to help build their own homes. This would be an excellent learning experience for them, and a way to help them value their homes and new life.

  That evening I informed Lakaan, Jatar and Shadan of my decision to return home the following day. I placed Shadan in charge of our men, and I made it perfectly clear to the elders that while they were still responsible for their people until they arrived in the city, they travelled to the north under the leadership of Shadan. They agreed to this, understanding the difficulties they would face on such a long journey.

  I slept well that night and took my leave at the break of day. I would travel light and fast, carrying only a water bag and the last loaf of bread. By sleeping little and running steadily though the day and night I expected to make the return trip in four days, which would be very difficult but not impossible. I looked forward to seeing my family, and thoughts of them gave speed to my feet.

  I arrived home late in the night on the fourth day. I had run the entire way and only slept once, but the trip had gone better than I expected. It was long after dark and I did not try to be silent when I approached the city, so it pleased me when I was challenged as soon as I came within bow range. After calling out my name I was allowed to approach. I knew the guard well and was in my house within moments of entering the city.

  I woke Kalou when I crept into the bedroom, so I gave her a very short version of what had occurred and then gladly collapsed into my own bed, sleeping hard until well after sunrise.

  I met with my leaders later that morning, filling them in on my progress with the southern tribe. Everyone was delighted to hear of the ease with which they had been persuaded to join us, but shocked when they realized the tribe would arrive in thirty days. Though they had been mentally prepared for the eventual addition of another tribe to our city, the immediacy of their arrival took everyone by surprise.

  We started building additional housing that very day. I transferred twenty men from other duties to help build, and was pleased to see the speed at which the houses began to go up. After ten days I went south to check the progress of the travelers. All was well and there had been no problems out of the ordinary; they were making steady progress northward. I returned once again to my city and let everyone know they would arrive in about fifteen days.

  By the time they were scheduled to arrive we had built twelve houses for them. The new homes were built in open areas that had been left in the city, allowing the newcomers to be scattered among existing homes and families. I believed this was imperative to speeding their adjustment and integration into our culture.

  The twelve new homes combined with five extras that had already been built meant we still needed to build seven more, plus a few extra. There would be some crowding in the beginning, but the rest of the houses would be completed within thirty days. And the Southerner's first job as they began their life with us would be learning how to build the rest of the houses that were needed.

  I assigned a neighboring family to assist each new family with their integration into city life. The neighbor families would host the new members and be responsible for teaching them our language and everything they needed to know about living in what to them was a new world. The newcomers needed to be taught everything about our society; how to prepare totally new foods in the cooking areas behind their houses, how to use looms to make wool, how to grow food and build tools and houses. It was an enormous task and a great responsibility for the neighbors, but I was confident that in the end it would be a positive experience for all the families.

  Learning both our language and how to live in an entirely new way was a potentially overwhelming proposition. The Southerners did not have the luxury of learning over a period of months as so many of the Northerners had been able to do. Integrating so many people into our tribe at one time had the potential to aggravate the rest of the tribe, but I believed by assigning host families conflict and stress would be minimized.

  The Southerners camped one final night on the outskirts of the city, and when I met with them that night they were awed almost to the point of being speechless by what they saw. I spoke with Lakaan and Jatar and explained how each family would get a house and have a host family assigned as teachers. They agreed this was an excellent way to proceed, and based on their knowledge of their tribe, together we decided where families would go.

  The next morning I explained to everyone how they would be taught our ways, and immediately after this, with Lakaan’s help I called every family forward. They were then introduced to their host family and led a
way to their new life in the city.

  The integration went surprising well and there were almost no problems, mainly because the Southerners as a people were overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic. They generally approached every task and new situation with joy, wanting to learn everything they could and become like us. I was amazed, but also puzzled by their continually positive attitudes, which they never seemed to lose even as they struggled to learn our language or a new job.

  After two months I sat down with Lakaan to get his impressions on the transition and discuss how his people were progressing. By this time the last of the new houses were complete and every family had their own home. Lakaan and his family had been in their place since the beginning, and were currently putting in a kitchen garden.

  After passing the time and discussing a number of various issues, I finally got to the topic I was most curious about. “Lakaan, I have to ask. I am surprised by how enthusiastic and happy your people are to be living in the city with us. I see such joy in all the people from your tribe. I am very pleased, but also a little confused. Why are they so happy all the time?”

  Lakaan laughed as he replied, “Well, you're correct. My people are overjoyed to be living here and their happiness has surprised even me. I can understand though, because I also am very happy to be here. Understand, we did not have a bad life in our old village, but as you know it was difficult to get food and there never seemed to be enough. Life was a constant struggle.”

  “That day you arrived, it was like seeing a vision. With your size, the way you were dressed, and your mark, you were like a god to us. And then with the food and everything else that came out of those bags, well, it was like a dream. Though I appeared to be very stern, inside I was overwhelmed. After you described your city and the way you lived, and we saw the truth of your words, all our tribe wanted to be like you and your men. We wanted to have your cloths, your food and your life. I did not need to convince my people. They insisted on joining you, and I couldn’t have stopped them if I had wanted.”

  As Lakaan explained this to me it all made perfect sense. The Northerners that had come to live with us and help build the city had quickly preferred their new lives, and they had wanted no part of Aron’s plans to hurt the tribe. Like them, the southern tribe had also immediately seen the benefits of life with us and had wanted what we had. While I had planned it all, I was still surprised that it had been so easy. I could only hope that getting the eastern tribe to join with us would be so simple.

  “Thank you Lakaan, I am very pleased to hear that you are happy in your new home. Fare well, and I will talk with you soon.”

  I smiled as I returned to my duties, very proud of myself.