The Participants

by Brian Blose

  Chapter 11 – Elza / Iteration 1

  Despite her anger, lingering fear, and the horrible cries of the women in the distance, Elza dropped into a sound sleep once wrapped in the warm blankets formerly used by Dalana. She didn't wake until midmorning, by which time Hess was gone.

  She found him peeling a vine on top of his rock. “What are you doing?”

  “Making rope,” he said.

  “Why?”

  Hess shrugged. “I thought the Creator would like to know what different kinds of work feel like. I never imagined there were women Observers, so I learned how to do women's work after mastering the men's.”

  Elza looked towards where the women had been held.

  “They're dead,” Hess said. “I saved some breakfast for you.”

  The bodies were gone. “I won't cook for you,” she said. “No matter what you said to this tribe, I am not your woman.”

  “I'm starting to think you don't like me,” Hess said.

  She picked up the bread and meat resting beside Hess on the rock. “You are a horrible Observer.”

  “No I'm not.” Hess began weaving the strands of vine together.

  “You participate!”

  “So do you.”

  “How do I participate?”

  “I saw you talking to the other women yesterday.”

  Elza glared at him. “It's not the same as what you do.”

  “It is the same. I just do a little more of it than you.” Hess met her glare with a curious expression. “Can you see better or worse with your eyes pointing different ways?”

  “How am I supposed to know?” She turned away from him to eat.

  Hess kept his mouth shut until she finished her meal. “I am serving the Creator in the way I think best,” he said. “You think my long presence in this tribe is for selfish reasons, but I hate what these people are. I stay because this is the best example of what is wrong with the world. The Creator sent us here to observe for Him. I think He means to use our input to make a better world.” His next words were almost too soft to hear. “I hope He does.”

  “You care about them too much,” Elza said.

  “I'm sure the Creator cares too. He made them, after all.”

  They watched in silence from on top of the rock for most of the day. Elza thought the distance weakened their observations, but at least the contamination caused by Hess was limited. The tribe was lazy after the previous night's ritual. Men lounged about, receiving food from their women.

  When Hess cooked bread, the other women laughed. Elza positioned herself to overhear their conversation. “Hess traded Dalana for that one. She doesn't even cook for him. Chase says Hess grows weak. He wants to challenge Kallig.”

  Hess contaminates everything I observe here, Elza thought. Still, she couldn't help but be fascinated by the circumstances. I'll stay until they kill Kallig. Then I'll leave this tribe.

  The remainder of that day was uneventful. Hess completed his length of rope and used it to replace a worn one on his tent. Elza studied the elaborate construction of the shelter. It had a boxy frame of poles bound together with rope. Rushes padded the floor. Deer hides draped over the frame, then tucked under where they met the ground. Inside, heavy rocks held the hides tight, sealing the tent against drafts. The design was unique in her experience.

  She slept soundly for a second night, then followed Hess through the woods while he attempted to hunt. “Chase is planning to kill Kallig,” she said.

  “Kallig is the father of Chase.”

  “They don't seem to like each other very much.”

  “That's because Kallig killed the uncle who raised him. Kallig knows how the tribe works. The same thing he did when he was young will be done to him.”

  “I have this idea,” Elza said, “that groups of people are a system. Like how mountains have different kinds of trees than valleys.” She struggled to find words to explain the concept. “You know, like how you can predict the moon and the tides.”

  “What are tides?”

  “If you spent less time in one place, you would know about the sea.”

  “I know about the sea. It is a large lake,” Hess said.

  “Bigger than any lake. It has so much water that the moon affects it.”

  Hess laughed. “Is that what the people told you?”

  “No,” she said. “I reasoned it myself. The moon pulls on water like the ground pulls on us.”

  “I never saw the moon pull the water.”

  “Because you never move somewhere new.”

  “I have been all over the world. The place where I was born became so cold that water turned hard and fell to the ground. No one around here has ever heard of such a thing.”

  “I've heard about snow. But it's not real. The tides are.”

  Hess laughed. “Walk north as far as you can, Elza. When the first snow comes, you will know that I've traveled more than you ever claimed.”

  “And you can try finding the end of the world,” Elza said.

  “Walk north, Elza. You lose nothing if I am wrong.”

  She stumbled when stepping from one rock to another and landed in the stream. Hess sighed. “We might as well return to camp. The men will think I've gone simple-minded. First I trade Dalana for you and now I fail at hunting.”

  Elza ignored his hand and extracted herself from the stream. “You spend too much time learning skills. You should be observing.”

  “Let's get you back to the tent.”

  “Your tent is too fancy. It draws attention to you,” she said.

  “You'll wish you had a tent like mine when you learn that snow is real.”

  They trudged through the woods back the way they had come. The fact that Hess returned without success did draw attention. Of course he's the best hunter of the tribe. He probably makes the best rope, too! The only thing he can't do right is the one thing he should be doing.

  Before they reached their tent, one of the men, Chase, called out to them. “Are you afraid to hurt a deer now, Hess? I think your man parts fell off when you got your new woman!”

  This is the first time a man other than Kallig has insulted Hess since I've been here. Chase is announcing his intentions. Elza glanced to Hess, curious how he would react. Hess shook his head. “The challenge will come today or tomorrow,” he whispered.

  Inside the tent, Elza wrapped herself in the bedding while Hess hung her pants to dry. “Why do you care if someone challenges Kallig?” Her question grew in volume with every word. “That man is a monster! He deserves to die the same as his victims!”

  “I know!” Hess turned his back to her. “I . . . took care of Kallig for a year when he was just a child, until his uncle took offense at an outsider raising his blood.”

  “Why?”

  “He was a child, Elza.”

  “Children learn from the people who raise them!” Though Hess didn't make much of an impact on Kallig. Still, this guilt should be exploited.

  “You know the part that bothers me? I made things worse. Kallig murdered his uncle and became the most brutal leader in the history of the tribe.”

  Elza collapsed back into her covers. “For a moment there, I thought there might be hope for you.”

  He forced a laugh. “If there's one thing I know for sure, it's that the two of us will never agree on anything.”

  “You're not one of them. They're not even real, Hess.”

  “Real enough.” Hess settled into his blankets, face away from her.

  They didn't speak again until the following morning. Elza woke hungry from missing dinner and shook him awake. “I want breakfast,” she said.

  “My woman used to bring me breakfast. Now I bring my woman breakfast.”

  “I'm not your woman. I'm an Observer.”

  “By the tradition of the tribe, you're my woman.”

  “I am not your woman.”

  “I'm pretty sure
you are.”

  “I want breakfast.”

  “You know where the fires are.”

  “I'm not going out there by myself.”

  Hess smiled without opening his eyes. “Never thought you'd admit that.”

  “If I presented a convenient target now it would be interfering,” she said.

  “Well, we can't let that happen.” Hess rolled out of his cocoon of furs. The camp was eerily silent for midmorning as they walked to the fires. None of the men had left to hunt. Everyone was waiting for something to happen.

  Their appearance was the catalyst.

  Kallig called to them. “Cook food for your woman, coward!”

  “Quiet, old man!” Chase stood, spear in hand.

  Kallig had his spear ready. Something in his stance told Elza that the man had known this challenge was coming. He knew his time was at an end – either today or some day soon.

  The two combatants approached each other, crouched with spears held in one hand by the ear, and proceeded to shout insults. Elza watched the encounter, analyzing their bravado, trying to determine how much of the show was for their audience and how much was for themselves.

  When it seemed like no real conflict would happen, Chase charged straight at the older man. Kallig threw his spear and missed by a hair. Then Chase drove his spear home. Kallig turned the fire-hardened tip aside with his ribs, then roared in rage and punched Chase.

  Chase reversed the motion of his spear and slammed the butt into Kallig's face. Kallig shook off the strike and tackled Chase. Only when the maneuver was complete did it become obvious that Chase had gotten his spear tip in place so that Kallig's lunge drove the point into his soft abdomen.

  The younger man rolled free and punched the air in exultation. Kallig clutched at the spear impaling him. “I am the strongest man,” Chase roared. He reached down and pulled his spear free. Kallig groaned. “I kill you, old man!”

  And then Hess was there. “Stop!”

  Chase turned to face the new threat, raising his spear again. “I don't fear you, Hess! I am in charge now!”

  Elza shook her head, mouthing the word no at Hess. This was bad. So very, very bad. Worse than she ever imagined.

  Hess kicked Kallig's spear into the air and caught it. Standing upright, spear held casually, Hess bared his chest. “You throw first, Chase.” The larger man backed away two quick steps and kicked at the vegetation in a fit. “This isn't fair! You never challenged Kallig!”

  I might as well get involved. Nothing I do can make this situation any worse. Her voice projected in the expectant quiet. “Hess, even you have to admit this is wrong. You can't stay with this tribe. We need to leave today. Now.”

  Hess looked down at the wounded Kallig. “We'll wait until Kallig can travel.”

  “He can't come with us,” she said.

  “No,” Kallig growled. “I don't need you to save me, coward. I don't fear death. I am a man! This is how a man dies, coward! Show him, Chase! Show the coward how men live and die!”

  Chase hefted his spear, then hesitated.

  “Get out of his way,” Elza said. The moment Hess stood aside, Chase moved in for the kill, driving his spear into Kallig, pulling it free and stabbing in rapid succession, leaving a bloody, gasping mess of a man.

  Elza seized the arm of Hess. “We're leaving now.” He didn't resist. While Kallig died a violent death, they prepared two travel packs. “You know that was wrong,” she said to him again and again.

  Finally, Hess snapped. “I know!”

  “You can't participate.”

  “What's stopping me?” Hess hefted his spear. “The Creator made sure we knew our duty, but He never bound us. I can act however I wish until the day the sky opens. Then the Creator can unmake me if I am unfit to observe. But until then, what stops me? What stops me from destroying this tribe? What stops me from forming one that works the way it should? What stops me, Elza?”

  She took the spear from his hands. “I stop you, Hess.”

  “How can you be sure that I'm wrong? Do you think the Creator would do nothing if He were here?”

  “She would never be here, Hess. The Creator creates. We observe. When this world ends, the Creator will create again and we will observe again.”

  Hess lifted his pack and settled it on his shoulders. “Maybe. Maybe not. The Creator might not want me in His flawed creations.”

  “We'll leave that decision to Her. Until then, you're an Observer. Now walk.”

  “Do you prefer a particular direction, woman?”

  “Away from here.”

  “North it is.”