Torq was shocked. “I don’t know about what you speak. I’ve never known a man who thinks he’s a woman. I just know I have a responsibility and I cannot lose sight of it.”
“So you ignore what is natural so you won’t lose sight of a future goal?”
“Yes,” he said flatly.
“Do you find me attractive?”
“Yes.” He did find her attractive, though he hadn’t really noticed until she called attention to herself.
“Then, what’s wrong with spending a little time with me?” she asked as seductively as she felt comfortable displaying to this strange young man.
“I’ll ask you, Apt, the same question only differently. What’s right with spending a little time with you?”
“What’s right is that it might lead to pleasure,” she said quickly as if the question were simple.
“You have only carried the question a little way. Suppose that pleasure were something that I would find very tempting to make me want to forget the future goal that is my responsibility? What then?”
“Well, then, you’d need to weigh which you’d prefer.”
“To me that isn’t a proper choice. To choose pleasure with you over my own responsibility to my people is wrong. It goes against all I believe.”
“Could you not have both?”
Torq stood there looking at the girl. “I do not know how you reason in that manner.”
“Suppose you found pleasure with me. Could you not then take me with you to the cache? Could you not take me with you to cross the sea?”
“Before I find pleasure with a woman, it is required of me to build a home for us. To build a home means I intend to remain in the place. I do not have time for anything now but to complete becoming well and to leave to travel quickly to the cache.”
“You have an answer for everything, Torq.”
“I have to know my thinking place. I have to know what I believe. Otherwise my thinking place is like a leaf blowing in the wind.”
Apt had been sitting on the wall. She slipped down from the wall and walked away. Torq was an enigma to her.
Torq noticed that Hammer and Pathfinder had gathered the boys and had them working to level out steps. They guided the boys and the boys did the work. They began to level it out at the bottom first. Torq went up and sought stones that were fairly flat. There were many of them. He began to carry them down. When he reached the bottom, the first step was ready for the stones. It would take about six stones per step, Torq thought. He kept going up and carrying stones back down. By the second step, it was clear that the steps would be a great contribution, and that they looked very nice. He was happy to have work that he needed to trade for his healing. The work would remain with the people and look nice; his healing would stay with him the rest of his life. Torq went back up the hill.
By the eleventh day, the steps were finished. He wondered what Man-who-knows-herbs would have him do. He found the man and asked.
Man-who-knows-herbs went to the wall. He examined it. He went to the steps and examined them. Finally, he said, “I think that it would be good where the steps meet the creek to put stones there so the water goes over stones, not pebbles and dirt. Then on top of the rocks add stepping stones to the other side so when water runs high, we can walk across without wading through water.”
When Torq returned with the first stone, he noticed to his amazement that the boys who dug out the steps were digging out the creek bed so it would be level for the stones. It took Torq through the twelfth day to finish the creek crossing. It was good, he could tell.
That night at the evening meal, they all gathered to say farewell to Torq who would leave the next day. He hoped he’d make it to the cache in time. All was set. Women had packed him good jerky, nuts, and dried berries. His water bladders were filled and ready. That night he went black well. He had put on some fat and muscle. He felt better than he had felt in a long time. Man-who-knows-herbs is a good healer, he admitted.
After the morning meal, Torq set out again. He had learned not to allow himself to become too tired, not to put off attending to wounds, and to listen to elders. He also had learned that when someone gives to you, it should be automatic to see if there is something you can give back in return.
That night Torq sat with Pathfinder. Pathfinder asked him to explain the location of the cache. Torq told him what he remembered. Pathfinder had a good sense of the general location of the place. He drew in the dirt the land from his village to the sea. He showed the remaining mountains and rivers that Torq would encounter. He drew the path that went from their location to the east and west. He showed how to travel on that path until it met the second north to south path. Then, Torq should turn north. He would make it over the rivers easier that way. He warned Torq of the places where bears and large cats were known to be problems to travelers. He pointed out some good hunting places for meat along the way. He showed where to expect to encounter people. He reminded Torq that he could encounter people on any trail. The common courtesy on the trail was to ignore others. Occasionally, someone on the trail would take advantage of others they met there. Torq was putting the information in his thinking place. Pathfinder warned him about the swamp he’d find between the path and the cache. He urged him to go around the swamp, not try to go through it, because it was filled with terrible biting bugs, large poisonous snakes, large lizards that kept to the water but could crawl out on land, and some strange people who lived there. After Pathfinder finished, Torq asked him to let him retell the route. He asked Pathfinder to correct him if he made a mistake. It took Torq three times to go through the information before he mastered it. Pathfinder was amazed at the care Torq took.
Torq left after the morning meal the next day. He thanked the natives for their help. He left on the path he’d made down to and across the creek. He walked up the hill across from the village until he reached the path. He turned east on the path and began his trek to the cache.
Torq was more single-mindedly intent on reaching the cache point than he had been earlier. He was concerned about the time it took to recover from the cat attack, so he was far more observant than he had been. He was also in much better condition than when he’d left Plak.
The path was different from the ones he and Plak had taken that took them to the big river. This path was wider and he made good progress on it. There were convenient places to stop in the evening, and he took advantage of them and made sure that he was well rested.
As Torq went along, he noticed something small moving on the path. He stooped to see what it was and discovered a young flying squirrel that was missing its back left foot. He picked up the tiny gray creature and talked to it. It looked at him with large black unafraid eyes. He stroked its head. Torq was fascinated. He wore his jacket and without much thought, he put the animal into the chest pocket on the left side of his jacket. The animal quieted. He continued walking until evening and then he found a good stopping place and set up his shelter and sleeping skins. He opened his backpack to take some jerky and remembered the flying squirrel, which he pulled from his jacket pocket. He talked to the squirrel while he ate a few sticks of jerky. He gave the squirrel some broken nut meat and a dried berry. The squirrel ate the food quickly enough that Torq gave it more of the nuts. The squirrel climbed up Torq’s jacket and entered his pocket. After checking carefully around his shelter, Torq went black. While he was deep in black, the flying squirrel came out and examined the shelter. It could smell the food in the backpack, but it could not find an entry into the container. It found a few bugs and ate those. There was water in a gourd Torq had set aside by the backpack. The flying squirrel helped himself. Finally, he climbed back into Torq’s pocket and curled up.
When Torq emerged from black, he noticed the little creature was still in his pocket. He looked inside and two very dark eyes stared back at him. He stroked the squirrel’s head.
“May you have a good day, little squirrel,” he said. “We will travel far today. I feel wel
l rested and we have a long way to go.”
Torq ate quickly, dropping some nuts, seeds, and dried fruit into his pocket. He packed his things ready for the day’s trek. Torq pulled on his backpack.
“Well, here we go, little one,” he said to the squirrel.
Torq liked having the squirrel along. It gave him something to talk to. He didn’t feel so alone. Feeling lighter of spirit, Torq cautioned himself to keep his acute level of environmental awareness. He hummed a tune, keeping his volume extremely low. He felt happier than he had at any time since the incident with Plak.
Far out on an open meadow, Torq noticed a short faced bear. This was the area where Pathfinder warned him of bears. Torq moved through the area as fast as he could. Fortunately, the wind blew the bear’s smell to him, not the other way around. It took him two days to clear the area where the bears predominated. He was more comfortable once he’d passed it, but he didn’t let his caution decrease.
Torq came to a river where he’d have to swim to cross—either that or make a raft. He opted for the swim, but realized he had a flying squirrel in his pocket to protect. Torq took the small squirrel from his pocket and placed the squirrel in a pouch on the backpack. He placed his clothes atop the backpack where he tied them with a small cord. He entered the water with his backpack secured to a two-log raft he’d made to transport his things that needed to remain dry. The cordage he used to tie the logs together left pieces long enough to attach to his body. Torq tied the ends of the cords together and laid the cordage in front of the log raft forming a great U shape. He stood in front of the cord and pulled it up. Facing the direction of the river, he placed the cord over his head so it rested on the back of his neck. The cord went under his arms. He entered the water. The log raft dragged across the dirt behind him to the water’s edge. The cordage pulled on his shoulders. When the raft began to float on the water, the tug on his shoulders decreased significantly. Torq began to swim across the river, pleased that the raft was following so well behind him. He reached the other side and pulled up the raft, dressed, replaced the squirrel in his pocket. He gathered the cordage and tied it to the outside of his backpack. He resumed the trek, his hair and beard still dripping.
When the sun began to descend behind him, Torq looked for a place to go black. He saw little but flat land with a few trees in the distance. He headed for the trees, hoping to find some deadfall limbs to make a lean-to. By the time he reached the trees, he found little deadfall, but enough wood for a small fire. Torq thought it odd that since most leaves had changed, this one still retained green leaves. He wondered whether some trees that appeared to be ones that lose their leaves might sometimes keep the green leaves through the winter. He gave up the thought of a fire, because it would signal his location to humans and perhaps animals from a wide range and long distance. Fortunately, the oak tree grouping had two trees that had grown together and made an arc at the base. Torq used the deepest part of the arc to protect his back. He put his sleeping skins in that place and sat down. He pulled his backpack close. By then, the flying squirrel had learned the routine, and he crawled from the pocket to the space beside Torq where he waited on the skin. Torq laid nuts, seeds, and a few dried berries on the skin for the squirrel. He watched, amused, as the squirrel went to the gourd where his own water waited him. The squirrel drank its fill from Torq’s gourd and returned to the food on the sleeping skin. Torq didn’t mind sharing his gourd.
Torq listened to the night noises. He heard nothing that caused him alarm. He looked up through the branches and saw the night sky, twinkling with stars on the clear night. He felt a presence near him and without moving at all, he looked in every direction his eyes would move. He felt as if his father, Mongwire, were there. It was a strange sensation.
“Father?” he said aloud.
He had a strange sense that he could see Murke. Why would he see Murke? Torq wondered.
“Murke? Is that you?” Torq was confused.
As clearly as if he stood next to Murke, he heard Murke’s voice say, “I’m proud of you, my son.” Torq had once thought he looked like Murke, but he didn’t take it seriously that the man could be his father. Was Murke his father? The image of Murke disappeared.
Torq lay back, musing. It didn’t really matter whether Murke was his father or whether Mongwire was. Both men had contributed to his life in various ways. He hadn’t really been close to his father. He hadn’t been close to Murke either. He shut his teeth tight together. He’d been close to Plak. The community at the Cove did not limit their interaction to their own hearths. Murke felt his beard. Certainly, his thick beard was more like Murke’s thick one than Mongwire’s very thin beard. He turned the thought aside. It didn’t really matter, he told himself again.
Torq pulled his sleeping skin over himself and went black.
When he awakened, he ate quickly, fed the squirrel, and rolled his sleeping skins to tie onto the top of his backpack. He reached for the spears and began to head the short distance to the path he’d been following. Torq reached the path only to realize there was a brightly colored small snake on the path. He saw the colors of warning on the snake, red and yellow and black. The snake moved away with some speed. He watched where it went. He was careful to avoid it. Torq listened to the morning sounds. Trumpeting off to the south he heard either a mastodon or mammoth, he wasn’t sure which, but guessed at mastodon, since he thought it was in the woodland.
By high sun the open area was gone and Torq was back in forest. He reached the path where Pathfinder had told him to turn left. He turned onto the wider path and continued on. In the evening Torq came to a river and decided to cross it before setting up his night’s camp. He had to make another raft for his backpack. Carefully, Torq placed the little squirrel in the pouch on the backpack. He laid his clothes and the backpack on the raft and secured them with cordage. Torq didn’t feel it necessary to free both his arms, so he held onto the cordage and walked across the river. It was slippery where algae grew to the rocks, but he managed to stay upright and pull the raft. He swam a very short way and then climbed the bank on the other side. He dressed and untied the backpack. He folded the cordage and tied it to the backpack.
A short walk found him a rock shelter for the night. Torq was delighted. He decided to make a small hearth fire for warmth and he set up quickly. His ember had become extinguished, so he had to make the fire using his fire starting tools. Torq knew that would help to warm him. He found some dry wind fallen wood and quickly made his hearth fire. He ate some jerky and a few nuts and berries. Torq shared with the squirrel. It took little time before he went black.
Torq was in deep black when he felt something poke him in the side. He jerked himself awake and started to stand but was prevented by the spear in his side.
The spear holder asked, “Who are you?”
Torq had no idea what the man said.
He touched his chest and said, “Torq.”
The man looked at the three other men. He laughed and so did the other men. The laugh sent chills through Torq. They used his cordage to tie his feet and hands together. They took a spear and pushed it through so that he would be carried like an animal carcass. They shoved his backpack onto his belly. They lifted the spear and began to transport him north on the trail. One of the men covered the hearth fire.
Torq was frightened. He had met some indigenous people in this land, but he had never been treated in this manner. When they arrived at their village, there was much light from firebrands. They dumped him on the ground in front of a man who was bent over and had many wrinkles on his face and loose old-looking skin on his arms, legs, and belly. Torq wondered whether he’d ever seen anyone that old.
It was obvious that the natives held the old man in high esteem. They acted like wolves when greeting the chief wolf. Torq had not seen that in any of his meetings. He wondered where this would lead.
He tried to pull himself together so that he would not show fear. It was extremely difficult in these circums
tances.
The old man prodded Torq with his foot. Torq turned his head to look at the man.
“Who are you?” the old man asked.
Torq replied, “Torq is my name.” Then, in the language of the people he’d just left, he said the same thing in their language. At that a woman said, “I understand.” She had been of a related group and knew the language.
The old man called her to interpret.
“Ask him why he is here on the path that goes past our village,” the old man told her.
“Why are you on the path that passes this village?” she asked.
“I am headed to the north, to meet my people to return home across the eastern sea,” he replied. Then, he wondered whether he should have volunteered as much information as he had.
The old man looked at him following the woman’s translation.
“How far north does he plan to travel?” the old man told her to ask.
She did.
“I plan to travel almost as far north as the ice sheet.”
She translated.
“What business do you have at the ice sheet?” he asked.
The woman dutifully translated.
“I plan to go there to meet the others who explore this land. Then, we return home,” he said carefully avoiding any mention of bringing other people to the land.
“Why did you come here?” the old man asked.
To the translated words, Torq replied, “We wanted to know what was across the sea.”
“You come from across the sea?” the old man’s face was blank. Torq could not tell what his thoughts were.
“Yes.”
“How am I to believe such a lie?”
Torq tried hard not to give any sense of consternation. “I do not lie,” he said with strength, though stretched out on the ground tied up gave not a lot of visual support to his words. “I know the sea well. I know it when it’s calm and when it is stormy. I know the great chunks of ice and the expanses of water free of ice. I know what it is like to meet the whales, the largest animals of the sea. I know what it is to spear seals for food and to make water from ice.”
The SealEaters, 20,000 BC Page 20
