Blad was delighted with the stones. Ammatoshi gave him some leather pieces he wanted. Blad lined the basket after removing the stones. He put a piece of leather in his lap that would catch the little flakes to send them down the chute to collect in the basket. Flint knappers were interested in what Blad was doing. The chute for collecting flaked off pieces in the basket would save many feet from cuts. A few watched surreptitiously to avoid impolitely staring.
Blad worked the first stone so that he could begin to see the point within. He began to hammer it with a small stone he’d picked up at the flint site. Ammatoshi stopped by and he asked whether there were any antler horns available. She brought him three. He chose two of them.
“Thank you. This will make it so much easier,” he told her.
He worked the stone. Suddenly, flint knappers realized he was making something they’d never seen. It was huge. A few overcame their natural polite distance and asked if they could watch. Blad told them he’d be happy for them to watch. He kept his rhythm going, removing flake after flake, the large thin point beginning to make its appearance. He tapped the stone and tapped it. The more he worked the more fascinated the villagers became.
“When you have your spear points made, will you teach me to do that?” Initu asked.
“Me too,” Ampers asked.
“I’d also like to learn,” Moc said.
“I’d be delighted to share this technique with you,” he told them.
Silence again surrounded the tapping of the antler on the beautiful brownish colored flint. The observers were shocked at the thinness of the stone.
“It would be easy to break one of them at this point, hey?” Initu asked.
Blad looked up and nodded, “Very,” he replied.
He continued working and the questions ceased. No one wanted to ask a question and cause a spear point break. Finally, as the sun began to sink, the spear point was finished. The Luphac people had held the evening meal until the spear point was finished. Blad looked up from his work. He hadn’t realized the passage of time.
“Have you held the evening meal until now because of me?” he asked, shocked.
“Yes, of course,” Womna assured him. “It has been a long time since something so interesting has captured our attention. Come, let’s eat.”
“May I examine it?” Moc asked.
“Of course,” Blad told him. He handed the spear point to Moc and went to have something to eat.
Moc was fascinated with the point. It had a sense of strength that the shape belied. He was eager to see it used.
Ampers and Initu both came to examine the spear point. Both were awed by the size, shape, and beauty of the point. They placed it carefully beside Blad where he sat near Ammatoshi. Blad noticed it.
An old woman came over to Blad. He looked up into blue eyes.
“I have sinew and glue. Any time you want, you call for me. I am Ana. I bring you what you need to finish.”
Blad was touched. “Thank you Ana. How about first thing after the morning meal?”
“I will have it ready for you,” she said and smiled showing many missing teeth and a lovely full spirit.
That evening, Blad asked Ammatoshi what was required for him to take her as wife.
“First, you have to ask me.”
They both laughed.
“I said yes. Then you have to ask Moc.”
“Moc? Not the chief?”
“No, it’s a family thing. My father died, so Moc is where you must go to ask permission.”
“If he agrees, then what?”
“Then, he’ll announce it to the people here. We share a sleeping place that night.”
“It’s that easy?”
“Or hard.”
The two burst out laughing.
“When should I ask?”
“How about now?”
“Will you come with me?”
“Of course.”
He gave her a hand to help her up.
They approached Moc. “Oh, what a surprise! This soon, huh? Well, you have a positive answer,” he said with a smile. Then, he made the announcement.
Blad and Ammatoshi lived for forty-four more years in more happiness than either knew was possible. They had twelve children who all lived past childhood. Their grandchildren were many. Blad and Ammatoshi were both killed by a rockslide at the lake where they had gone to recreate their first day together. Blad was seventy-one and Ammatoshi was sixty-five.
Chapter 10
Urch and Wapa’s Story
The SealEaters arrived back at the place where they first touched land after their initial travel across the sea. Indigenous people from the warmer mid-Atlantic region, where they’d once been welcomed, had chased them from their native land after Reg had terribly offended them. The SealEaters who gathered there had no idea where Vaima, Emuka, Murke, Plak, Torq, and Akla were.
When they would leave the cache point this time, Urch decided to go south—only farther south this time. Since that’s the direction from which they had just come, some thought his decision odd, but said nothing. Urch sought warmth for the SealEaters. He’d seen enough of the north and middle part of this land. It was an improvement over the Cove, but it was cold. Torq and Plak had already gone west. Mongwire and Wen in one group and Reg, Blad, and Maber in another group planned to explore the more northern ice-free zone. The remnant of the explorers still remained at the cache site, preparing for their last exploration before crossing back to the Cove. Urch felt it was too cold at the cache site northern location. He thought the SealEaters would appreciate more warmth. Urch definitely wanted warmth. Wapa decided to go with Urch when the older man announced his decision to go south. He didn’t want Urch to go alone and he didn’t want to be part of either of the other groups. Warmth sounded good to him.
They still had some seal oil, and since he’d turned the boat over the night before to dry it out, Urch began to apply seal oil to his boat skin. He knew that to keep the boat waterproof, it was necessary. It also kept the boat skin soft, not to mention that it was wonderful for his hands.
Mongwire and Wen had already left as evening came. Reg, Blad, and Maber had a deer to finish preparing for their trek. Urch and Wapa decided to leave even though it was becoming dark. They knew the water way, and the sky was free of clouds. Both were glad to leave Reg and his empty prideful mouth behind.
It took a while to row out to the sea. In the quiet of the sea Urch thought of Kol. He had trouble bringing her face to his thinking place. He remembered the lovely black hair, but his memory of the image of her face had faded. Urch was shocked. He remembered the last day they spent together in the forest. He remembered so much, but her face had disappeared. Urch rowed harder, as if by extra effort he might compensate in one area for what he felt he’d lost in another.
They had wonderful weather. A few great chunks of ice were floating in the sea water just east of them, towering mountainous islands in the water. It reminded Urch of the two sea crossings they’d have to make to bring their people to this land. At least it was not yet. Urch and Wapa could reach land in a very quick time traveling as they did now.
After many days they passed the mouth of the river that led to the place where they’d been chased away. Wapa turned around in the boat and looked at Urch.
He said, “I don’t suppose you want to go up that one?”
Both laughed, remembering how they’d been chased away from that river.
“I can begin to feel the warmth,” Urch replied. “I want more warmth than this.”
“The sun does feel good on my skin,” Wapa agreed.
Off to their right the marsh was already busy. In the distance they could see a small number of mammoths in the grasses shared by shore birds. Great white birds and other great ones, gray in color, stood on long legs. Little ones flew about, sometimes overflying them as if curious. There were two horses and some other animals too far away to identify clearly, but they were noticeable.
For days more t
hey continued to travel. The increased warmth was becoming more obvious, evidenced by their sweat. They rowed into the mouth of a large river that seemed to head to the northwest, and they went slightly upriver to find a sandy spot they agreed would be a good place for the night. A large wide spreading tree grew at the place casting shade in an area devoid of other trees. Wapa took some of the cordage and tied the boat by the carved seal head to the tree. It would not be good to lose the boat as they went black, something both thought out carefully every time they stopped.
Urch had created sleeping places in the lowest branches against the trunk of the massive tree. For comfort, he placed the sleeping skins across the thick branches, which were fully wide enough for going black. He was convinced that with tidal changes, in the tree was preferable to below the tree.
“This is the last of the jerky,” Wapa said, bringing two pieces to Urch and keeping two for himself. “We’re going to have to do some hunting. We need to replenish our supply.”
“Let’s go upriver tomorrow to see whether this place seems good,” Urch said. He was sufficiently older that he could have ordered it, but there was no need for that. Wapa did as much of the work as he did. Urch did not consider himself superior in any way.
“Good,” Wapa replied, scooping water from the river. “Oh, awful! It still has too much salt in it.”
Urch laughed. “It takes traveling a lot farther upriver before water is fit to drink in this place,” he said with a smile. “We still have plenty don’t we?”
“Of course. I was just trying to take the easy way.”
Urch pulled himself up into the tree. They’d left the singularly evergreen forests long ago. There were pines here, but the trees that lost leaves in winter were beginning more and more to mingle among the evergreens. The night noises were becoming greater the further south they traveled.
Urch and Wapa had decided as they traveled to try to notice where changes occurred. They’d validate their findings as they traveled back north to meet the others for their return.
The next morning they gathered their sleeping skins and untied the boat. They were ready to row upriver to see what they might find in this place. For days and days they rowed through marsh land. That was no surprise. It had been the way this land was all along the coast. It was flat for a long way before anything like hills arose. Day after day they traveled on. They stayed with the main river instead of going into the branches off to the sides. After a moon of travel, they came to a bend in the river beyond which lay a substantial hill. They beached the boat, tied it to a big log, and climbed the hill.
To their surprise they found a chert supply. It was clear that others came here, for there were hearths left in several places, and some people had been working the chert into tools at this location. The two men were hungry for what they called real meat after their recent diet mainly of waterfowl. They gathered their spears and walked on dry land, not marsh land into the pine forest. After traveling for a long time, they heard trumpeting. It came from mastodons in the forest. They stealthily approached the location from which the trumpeting had come.
“Thank you, Mother Earth!” Urch whispered. He’d seen a mother mastodon with two small ones. One would be sufficient, he knew. Urch and Wapa made an immediate shift from words. Each spoke with his eyes and head movements. They walked carefully on the pine needles, keeping utterly silent. Finally, Urch and Wapa sent spears into one of the baby mastodons. It screamed and its mother came to its rescue, but she could find no way to help the little one. She watched as his life left, lamenting the death. She was distraught, and she nuzzled the dead twin with her trunk, while the living twin walked about in circles.
For two days the men had to wait, for the adult mammoth had no intention of leaving. Finally, they decided to make her leave and began to poke her. She became angry at the irritation, but after half a day, when they began to poke the other little one, the female mastodon rapidly turned and left with the remaining twin following. It took two trips, to take the meat to their camp. Then, they quickly set up a structure of wind fallen tree trunks that would suffice to smoke the mammoth meat to turn much of it to jerky. They also had a feast that night of real meat.
After the meat had been smoked and jerky stored in their backpacks, Urch and Wapa began to explore the area for a good site for a future home. They discovered along the way that wider waters had larger trees and more variety. Along the narrower waterways there were occasional swamps, some scrub trees, and in some brackish locations there were giant lizards that lay on the banks of the river sunning themselves. They would also swim in the water. They had seen these giant lizards eat large animals such as horses and they appeared to be very strong and have formidable jaws. Since the giant lizards were about half the length of their boat, they didn’t want to have their boat capsize, when these giants were in the water. Urch and Wapa were curious as to whether these giant lizards were good food.
Urch and Wapa had, as SealEaters did whenever they remained in one place for any time, set up a measuring device that told them when the days would lengthen and shorten. That was the only way they’d know when to meet at the cache as well as have helpful information especially for those living where it became very cold in winter. Urch noticed that the days were shortening somewhat. It wasn’t as significant as it had been at the Cove, but there was a difference he could feel without checking his measuring points. He and Wapa had set up a place where they had a commanding view of the river. Neither had hunted the forest and fished the river. They had not tried the giant lizard as food, but had an increasing curiosity about it. They sat at the large fire that night, enjoying some rabbit and greens.
“I think we should go further south just to see what it’s like there. This place is obviously a good place for our people, but we should know what or who is around us, should we not?”
“I agree with you, Wapa. We have plenty of jerky to last us for a long time. If you’d like to leave in the morning, I’m ready. It would be good to know what else is in this place.”
By morning they were enthusiastically preparing to leave when two people, apparently indigenous, walked to their camp.
Urch went to greet them with a skin in his hand. He took the hand with the skin and put his fist against his chest. “Urch,” he said.
Wapa, arriving moments later did the same thing, calling out his name slowly.
The strangers stood there, and finally one said, “Modoma.”
The other announced, “Modulamet.”
Using signs, Modulamet indicated they came from a moon’s distance upriver. He signed for them to tell their origin.
Urch waved them to follow. In the sand he drew an image of the river. He showed the coast line north. He tried to convey to them the idea of ice and the sea and wondered how successful that would be. Urch said the word SealEaters several times, pointing to both of them. The two men quickly reasoned that these strangers did not come from local areas, and they lost interest but listened.
Modoma noticed Urch’s spear point. He was curious how it was made. They all sat. Urch sat with a piece of chert from the supply site downriver. It took a long time, but Urch flaked a spear point and handed it to Modoma. Modoma started to return it, and Urch indicated he could have it. He didn’t want it back. Modoma was clearly amazed. Then, Modulamet wanted one. Urch dutifully made the second spear point. The man took it with great delight. They went on their way after leaving Urch and Wapa with a necklace made of snail shells drilled and attached to a narrow leather strip that tied around the neck. Urch gave the necklace to Wapa.
After they had gone, using the path that lined the side of the river across from them, Wapa and Urch finished packing their boat and left to go downriver to explore areas more southern than this one.
Once they reached the sea and traveled for about a moon, they saw a very different land. In this one, the pines had excessively long needles. There was a strange gray moss that adhered to trees and appeared to drip from the tree limbs.
Bugs and noise had increased over what they had at their new place. The landscape became fascinating and yet they both felt a sense of foreboding.
As they trekked inland, they crossed forests with deciduous trees and evergreens. Lianas were frequent sights, growing from the forest floor and wrapping themselves in the tops of trees. Wapa climbed one of the woody vines and discovered it would hold his weight. They came across springs with crystal clear water around which scrub trees grew. They saw no giant lizards in the places where the springs were. Spanish moss decorated many trees.
“The clarity of this water is amazing and it tastes good.”
“I agree, Urch. I’ve never seen anything like this. Look at that eel. It’s huge!”
“And look at those fish!”
Walking back to the small river they’d traveled, they climbed into their boat to continue.
“What in the world of Mother Earth is that?” Wapa asked forgetting that his use of the expression might offend Urch.
Urch looked into the clear water, moss catching his head as he leaned to find a better view. “It looks like a very poorly made seal,” he decided.
They laughed as they looked at the animal. “There are more!” Wapa said with enthusiasm.
The animal surfaced and looked questioningly at the two men. It then slipped back in the water to continue grazing.
“Let’s catch the little one to see how they taste,” Urch said. “It seems as it is with seals—you have to wait for them to come up for air.”
Wapa scrambled looking for the harpoon they used on the sea voyage for seals. He checked it to be sure it was in good order, and then he stood in the boat ready to thrust.
“Here comes the very little one,” Urch whispered.
Wapa was ready. He thrusted and secured a good hit and discovered that the little one could thrash around quite a lot. Both were surprised for the strange seals seemed so docile. The small animal headed upstream, pulling the boat after it. Finally, it tired and surfaced. Urch took the bone they used on seals and hit the animal in the head. It took all the strength the men had to pull the smallest of these creatures into the boat. They came close to capsizing twice.
The SealEaters, 20,000 BC Page 30
