Beyond the Valley of Mist (2 page)

“
These animals are not after
us,” Mo said. “They’re after the meat that’s on the fire. But look!
They’re afraid of the fire and now they're going away.”

“
If we could stay behind the
fire, or keep the fire between us and those animals, we would be
safe,” Dank noted.

Tulu nodded. “If we could
have the fire at the openings to our caves, the animals wouldn’t
bother us, and we could sleep without being afraid.”

“
Yes, I think we should take
the fire to our caves, but how do we get it there?” Ogle asked.
“Let’s watch; maybe we can find a way.”

They watched the fire for a
long time and noticed that if they kept feeding it more dried wood,
the fire would continue to live, but if they didn’t, it would start
to fizzle out.

One of the men picked up a
piece of burning wood. When he dropped it on another piece of dry
wood, an amazing thing happened. A new fire started right at that
spot!

The men were happy with
their new find. They repeated the process, and the same thing
happened again.

Goot had a clay pot for
carrying water, and when he was busy examining the fire, he set the
pot on a dry log. The fire ate the log, but not the pot. Goot
didn’t want to lose the pot, but he was afraid of the fire. As the
fire ate the log that his pot sat on, the pot tipped over. Quickly
Goot recovered the pot with a green stick, but all the water had
spilled out into the fire, and the pot was now dry.

But a piece of wood had
fallen into the pot, and was still burning. So they added more wood
to the pot and the fire continued to burn.

Mondo said, “This is
amazing. We can keep the fire alive in the pot by giving it wood as
we carry it to our caves.”

Having watched the fire all
day, the five friends were getting tired.

Ogle remarked, “Those
animals are afraid of the fire. So, if we put the fire all around
us, we can sleep right here on the ground . . . The fire will guard
us.”

They made a circle of dry
wood around themselves, started a new fire, and went to
sleep.

During the night, they
awoke to a scream. A lion was dragging Goot away into the night!
They had neglected to give new wood to the fire, and it had died
during the night, leaving them unprotected. They wanted to rescue
their buddy ol’ Goot, but it was dark and they were
afraid.

“I sure hate to loose ol’
Goot,” Mondo muttered. “He was a good hunter, and his wife and kids
will miss him.”

They had made a big
mistake. It was too late to help Goot—all they could do was run to
the trees and climb, out of reach of the other animals.

“If the fire is going to
protect us, someone will have to stay awake and give it wood to
eat,” Mondo said.

“Yes,” Dank agreed. “That
is a very important job, and someone will have to be designated to
do it. It’s too bad we have lost Goot, but the fire is dead
also.”

“We have to find another
fire,” Ogle said.

“I have seen smoke before,
but I didn’t know what it was,” Dank said. “I think we can find
another fire—we can smell smoke a long way off.”

***

The four men searched for
days, and finally at dusk late one afternoon, they saw flashes of
light beyond a row of hills.

“Perhaps that flash of
light has struck a tree, and knocked fire out of it,” Ogle
suggested.

They hurried toward the
light, but it took a long time to climb over the hill. By the time
they reached the tree, all they found was a burned spot in the
forest and an old log that was still smoldering.

“Maybe if we give it new
wood to eat, the fire will wake up,” Tulu said.

But that just created
smoke, which bothered their eyes. Mondo tried to chase away the
smoke by waving his hand at it. Then to his amazement, the fire
sprang to life. Mondo showed his companions. They tried waving at
the smoke again. The wind excited the fire, which become more
active. The four friends realized they had to take good care of
this new fire, or it wouldn’t last long enough to get it to their
caves.

“
If we take care of the
fire, fire will take care of us,” one of the men wisely
said.

He placed a burning branch
in the clay pot and gave it wood to eat while they carried it all
the way back to Lalock, where they showed the people their new
discovery. The Lalocks were frightened at first, but after a while,
learned that the ire would not harm them unless they touched it .
They began to realize its possibilities and were amazed at the
wonderful find the four men—actually, five--had made. Goot had been
dragged off by a lion.

The people were taught how
to care for the fire and why it was important not to neglect it.
They designated a man to care for the fire and called him “Keeper
of Fire.” The awesome responsibility of keeping the fire alive was
so important that the others provided for all his needs. If he
failed in his assignment, however, the Keeper of Fire would be put
to death. He did have to sleep sometime, so he was given an
assistant.

***

Fire was so powerful. It
could do wonderful things if they cared for it, but could bring
death if they neglected it.

***

Chapter 2

Thousands of Years
Pass

Many generations came and
went; people stood taller and walked straighter. They looked more
like modern humans. Their arms were not as powerful because they
didn’t need to climb trees. They walked long distances, so they
developed long legs. Their sloped foreheads and heavy brows gave
way to heads capable of containing brains large enough for
reasoning. They could think complex thoughts and express them
orally.

They made better weapons
and improved their tools. With better spearheads, the men could
bring down larger animals, and that meant more meat for their
families. The skins of the animals were processed for clothing and
warm bedcovers.

Women wanted the best
hunters for their husbands because the best hunters could take
better care of them and their babies.

People began to ask
questions: How far is it to the end of the earth? Where does this
river come from? Is there another side to the Valley of
Mist?

Some asked even deeper
questions, such as: Where did we come from? Why are we here? Where
do we go when we die?

Every living thing dies,
but was that the end? Is that all there is? To know that was beyond
their ability, so they looked for someone or something who was
smarter and more powerful.

***

Men competed to see who
could throw their spear the farthest, with the greatest accuracy.
The best hunters and warriors became their leaders.

In the evenings they sat
around their fires, asked questions, told stories, and discussed
the best ways to defend their village. When the outcome of a battle
was in doubt, they called upon the wisest in their village for
counsel, and the Keepers of Fire were often the men they called
on.

***

Chapter 3

Temple of Fire

Many generations passed.
The Lalocks depended on the fire so much that fire became their
God, and they built a special place to keep it, and called it a
temple.

The temple was in a
separate cave in a hillside near the village. The people designated
the cave as a holy place and called the Keepers of Fire, who lived
in the cave, “priests.”

Even though the cave was
large enough for the entire clan, the Lalocks preferred to live in
smaller caves that were carved into a sandstone cliff near the
stream.

If their fire went out,
they could get a start from the priests, but they had to give
something of value in exchange. The priests allowed only the most
respected to enter the temple; soldiers, who answered only to the
priests, guarded the Fire.

As priests, they were
dedicated to caring for the fire and were required to know the
names of the men who first brought the fire to Lalock. The men who
discovered the fire were legends, and their story was told around
the ceremonial fire, generation after generation. The priests
repeated the discoverers' names to each new generation. When the
priests grew old, it was their duty to train new priests, so the
knowledge was passed down through the ages from priest to priest.
Fire became their God. The priests were the men who cared for God,
and they were highly revered. The people went to them for
solutions, believing that the priests had special
powers.

The priests told the people
that they talked to God, and that God told them what to say. If the
people asked for something special, the priests would ask God to
grant their wishes. When the people got what they asked for, the
priests told them that God had answered their prayers, and if
they
believed
that
God would answer their prayers He would. But if they didn’t believe
strongly enough, then God would
not
answer their prayers, and it was the fault of the
one praying, not the fault of God. God knew what was in their
hearts, and if their beliefs were not strong, God would deny them
what they asked. This encouraged the one praying to try harder to
believe, and relieved the priests of any responsibility for the
outcome of the prayer. Worshipping in groups helped them to have
faith and to support each other.

***

Since the priests had
direct access to God, they controlled the people by controlling
their access to God. When the people could not understand what they
were told, the priests instructed, “We talk to God, and God tells
us what to tell you. You have to accept God’s word on faith, and
because of your faith, you will believe. If you do not believe, it
is your own fault."

The worshippers developed a
religious ritual, and the priests conducted the ceremonies in the
large opening to the temple. The temple, which was well-suited for
their meetings, extended far back into the mountain and provided
living accommodations for the priests and all their soldiers. The
whole clan could sit in front of the large mouth of the temple, and
the ceremonies were conducted from an elevated area they called the
stage. The temple had another area large enough to accommodate all
the priests, and in the center of this highest area was a pit that
contained the sacred Fire.

“
God has given us the
authority to conduct all religious services,” the priests
said.

The priests wanted special
recognition, so they designed unique garments: the High Priest wore
a high, cone-shaped hat and carried a staff of authority—it was
made of a rare kind of wood, carved in a distinctive way. This
staff had a religious significance, and was passed down from High
Priest to High Priest.

When the people argued, the
Priest had the authority to settle the arguments, and his decision
was final. When there was a disagreement among the priests, the
High Priest had the final say, and his word had the authority of
God. At times, the worshippers disagreed about how to conduct the
ceremonies and whom they should allow to attend. For example, women
who were experiencing their time of the moon could not attend the
ceremonies for fear they would offend God.

The people enticed the
priests with gifts. The priests said that their gifts were given to
God, and the greater the gift, the greater the reward. If the
people gave generously, the priests would say special prayers for
them.

After a good hunt, the
hunters gave a portion of the meat to God. The priests offered the
meat to God, but if God didn’t eat it, the priests and their
soldiers did.

The worshippers gave exotic
types of wood to the priests, and when the priests inhaled the
smoke from these special woods, it caused them to experience states
of euphoria that they believed gave them the power to see into the
future.

The priests became more and
more powerful until they ruled the village; after all, they had an
army to enforce their rule.

When another clan
threatened the Lalocks, they prayed to Fire and asked Fire to give
them power over their enemies.

When their battles were
victorious, they believed Fire had given them the power, and they
gathered at the temple to give thanks. They showed their
appreciation by watching their enemies being thrown into the Fire
by the soldiers.

When a member of the tribe
did something that displeased the priests, their soldiers threw the
offender into the Fire. If Fire did not harm him or her, it meant
that God had found the person innocent, but if they did not
survive, it was because God had found them guilty and thus they
were removed from the tribe. In this way, the priests were relieved
of the responsibility of making judgments. God did the judging and
the punishing.

Of course, someone had to
do the preliminary work of throwing the accused into the Fire.
Therefore, the soldiers helped the priests. It was the duty of the
soldiers to be the eyes and ears of the priests.