Bonesetter 2 -Winter- (4 page)

Gia walked some distance back down the path she and Tando had followed on their way from Cold Springs. She thought she’d seen some juniper on her way, though she wasn’t sure exactly where. As she walked, she took note of a rock-fall from a small limestone cliff.

Having found some juniper, she cut off a couple of branches and started back toward the Aldans’ cave. On the way, she stopped at the rock-fall and found a piece of limestone a little bigger than her hand. She was nearly back at the cave before she found a suitable piece of chert. Gia stopped there and sat down. First she took a piece of her juniper and laid it on the limestone. She thumped it steadily with the chunk of chert until she had fibrous strands that she could twist into a wick.

She turned her piece of limestone over, looking for a good place to make a recess for the oil.

Exen had found his seven more tubers. In fact, he’d actually found eight. Though he wouldn’t admit it, he was actually kind of proud of his tuber hunting. He hadn’t been the most successful of the Aldans’ hunters in the past. He’d yearned hopefully that maturity would make him better and knew he was certainly stronger than he had been. Strength was important for a hunter, but he’d hoped to develop accuracy in spear throwing which hadn’t happened, at least not yet. He really hoped that he’d be good at this new method of hunting Tando and Pell were going to teach them.

Exen wondered if he could use one of the thongs he’d made to set out a snare of his own. Seeing a narrow path between two small bushes, he squatted down and looked at it. He could see tracks where some small animals had passed. Reaching into his pouch, he pulled out one of the thongs he’d made. Putting one end of it through the hole he’d cut in the other end he made a noose. He held it up, trying to imagine it suspended at neck level for an animal that might run between the bushes.

He glanced around, then back down to his noose.
Should I tie it to a branch and come back tomorrow to see if it catches anything?
He glanced around again, considering, then reluctantly put the thong away. Pell had told him he had to hunt tubers first. The last thing he wanted was to have Pell angry at him again. He picked up his tubers and started again on his way back to the cave.

He was almost back to the cave when he found someone sitting at the side of the path tapping two rocks together.
It’s Gia!
He thought, his heart skipping a beat as he recognized the beautiful girl who’d come with Tando and Belk. In an age when the appearance of health was a major ingredient of loveliness, Gia was magnificent. Glowing un-pockmarked skin, flowing hair, clear eyes and a full set of straight white teeth. “Hi Gia… What are you doing?”

She looked up at him and gave him a smile. If she knew that Exen and Pell weren’t on the best of terms, she gave no indication. “I’m making you guys a ‘lamp.’ Something you can use for light inside your cave now that it’s so dark in there.”

Frowning, Exen knelt beside her, “It’ll light the cave? Like a fire?”

She smiled again, showing those perfect white teeth. “Exactly! It’s a little fire that burns steadily. Unfortunately, it burns oil made from fat. Until you have more food you probably won’t want to waste fat on lamps.”

“Do you mind if I watch? Or is it a secret?”

“No, it’d be good if someone from your tribe knew how to make one.”

Exen squatted to watch, finding it hard to keep his eyes on the lamp instead of the girl.

Pell stopped in the path, heart in his throat, staring at Gia and Exen. Gia was banging the two stones together and for a moment Pell thought she might be trying to bring the chert to a point. Then he realized that hitting hard chert on soft limestone was unlikely to modify the chert very much. More importantly, Exen’s eyes were admiringly focused on Gia.

Gurix’ hand stole around Pell’s elbow and her thumb gently rubbed at his triceps. Pell blinked at her for a moment, wondering what her touch meant. Then, not knowing what else to do, he resumed walking down the path. He cleared his throat, then said, “Hello Gia, Exen.”

Exen startled back, drawing away from Gia guiltily. Gia didn’t notice, tilting her head up to smile sunnily at Pell, “Hi Pell. I’m teaching Exen how to make a lamp.” She noticed Gurix, “What have you two been doing?”

Suddenly, Pell didn’t want to tell Gia he’d been out looking for her. “Um, we’ve been out looking around. We looked at the valley where the Aldans hunt big animals and a small meadow where the Aldans’ women gather oats.”
Is she going to wonder why I’m going places with Gurix?!

“Oh, did you set some of your snares down in the valley? Are you going to get us some more
big
animals?”

“Um, no,” Pell said, glad that she didn’t seem to be upset that he’d gone somewhere with Gurix, “the snares need to be on a path next to a tree.”

Gia frowned, “I wish you’d take me with you when you’re setting snares sometime. I’d like to see how they work.” She grinned at him, “You’re always saying how men need to know how to do women’s work. I think women need to know how to do men’s work, don’t they?”

Pell ducked his head, “Yes. I was going to go out with the Aldans men this afternoon to check the traps they set this morning. Would you like to go with us?”

“Yes!”

“Can I come with you too?” Gurix asked.

Pell felt uncomfortable about Gurix going somewhere with him and Gia, but didn’t know how to deny her, “Sure.” He turned back to Gia and lifted his chin interrogatively, “How do you make a lamp?”

She looked back down at her rocks, “It’s really pretty simple. All I’m doing is making a little bowl shaped cavity in this piece of limestone. The cavity holds the oil. You can make them out of clay too, but you wouldn’t want to make them out of something that would burn.” She shrugged her shoulders, “This cavity’s deep enough,” she said, rising smoothly to her feet. “Why don’t we head back to the cave so I can render some oil for it to burn.”

“Okay,” Pell said, immeasurably relieved that she wasn’t going to stay out there with Exen.

Exen leaned over and picked up a pile of tubers before he stood. “I’ve got
eight
tubers Pell, one more than you told me to get.”

Pell said, “Good.” He thought of complementing Exen on his use of the counting words, but felt reluctant to say anything good about Exen in front of Gia.

Back at the cave, Pell watched as Gia broke up the goat’s bones, crushing them on one of the big rocks with a hammer stone. After breaking a few, she said, “Do you mind breaking the rest of them while I start heating some water?”

Pell said he’d be happy to, though he really didn’t want Gia to go somewhere else and heat water. He wanted to be
with
her. She took one of the cooking pouches and left the cave, he thought down to the stream to get water. He took her hammer stone and started breaking bones.

To Pell’s dismay, Gurix showed up with a fist-sized rock and picked up one of the goat bones. With a few smart raps she’d cracked it in many places without actually crushing it like Pell had his first bone.

Gia came back with the pouch and suspended it near the fire. Lifting some hot stones out of the fire with a wet pair of forked sticks, she banged them once to knock off ash and dropped them into the pouch to heat the water.

By the time Gia had several rocks heating the water, Pell and Gurix had finished cracking the bones. Gia seemed blithely unconcerned about any rivalry between herself and Gurix. Pell wondered if he should be relieved… or mad that Gia wasn’t worried that Gurix might try to steal him away.

Gia and Gurix changed the rocks in the pouch, then put the bones in. As she put them in, Gurix twisted apart the bones she’d cracked since she hadn’t crushed them and they were still mostly holding together.

Pell thought to himself,
Of course she’s not jealous of Gurix. Gia is beautiful and smart, and an accomplished medicine woman. I’d have to be crazy to leave Gia for Gurix.
A moment later he started worrying about why he’d spent so much time with Gurix that morning. Sure, she’d invited herself along,
and
she was an old friend,
and
she’d been nice to talk to,
and
Gia hadn’t accused him of anything, but he still felt guilty.

With those thoughts milling in his brain he wondered if he was going crazy.

Every so often Gia changed the hot stones. At first Pell intended to wait until she finished her project, but when it’d been going on for quite a while, he finally went over to her, “Gia, how much longer do you need to work with those bones?”

“Oh,” she said, stirring the bones around with a stick, “at least until tomorrow. The longer the better.”

“Do you still want to go with us this afternoon to learn about snares?”

“Yes!” she said excitedly. “Are you going now?”

“Well, whenever you’re ready?”

Gia looked around, then said, “Gurix, can I get you to keep boiling my bones for a little while?” Then she paused, “Sorry, you wanted to go to watch them set snares too, didn’t you?”

Pell thought Gurix looked surprised and a little guilty, as if Pell wasn’t the only one thinking that Gurix and Pell’s walk today looked suspicious. However, she nodded.

Gia turned, “Lessa, can I get you to watch over my bones for a bit?”

Lessa nodded.

Gia turned back to Pell, “Let me just make sure Lessa knows how to keep the bone marrow simmering and I’ll be ready to go.”

Pell said, “Okay, I’ll get the hunters.”

By the time Pell returned with Gontra, Belk, and Exen, Gia had finished explaining the bone rendering process to Lessa and put on the rest of her furs.

Outside, they ran into Tando. Tando was dragging back another of his small trees, Ginja trotting beside him. He’d trimmed all but a tuft of branches at the top again. He said, “Are you guys going out hunting?”

“Trapping,” Pell said with a shrug, feeling a little jealous that Ginja had been hanging out with Tando.
I must be going crazy, first I’m jealous of Exen and Gia, now I’m jealous of Tando and Ginja. I know Ginja doesn’t like being in the cave with all those people. I should be glad she’s getting to be friends with Tando.

Ginja trotted over to Pell and nudged him with her head until he started scratching behind the wolf’s ear. That made him feel better.

Tando tossed his little tree to one side. He said, “Great! I’ll go with you.”

Pell felt glad that Tando would be along. He turned and gave Gontra an expectant look.

Gontra looked back at him for a moment, then his eyes narrowed and he said, “What?”

Pell shrugged, “You’re the ones who put the traps out this morning. I have no idea where they are.”

“Oh, sorry.” Gontra glanced around, “This way I think.”

Tando guffawed, “Oh Gontra! I hope it’s better than ‘I think!’”

“Yeah, yeah,” Gontra said, looking a little embarrassed. “It’s this way, don’t worry.”

As they walked along towards where Gontra and Belk had set their snares, Ginja ranged ahead and alongside as usual. Pell and Tando were so used to it that they hardly noticed, but then Tando noticed Belk keeping an alarmed eye on the young wolf. “Don’t worry, the wolf runs our trap lines with us almost every day back home.” He nudged Belk, “She hasn’t eaten one of us yet.”

Belk gave him a sheepish grin, but then said, “She still might eat
me
!”

Gontra slowed and started looking around, looking a little frustrated. Tando noticed and laughed, “You can’t remember where you put your first snare?!” he said incredulously.

Gontra scratched his head, saying, “It’s right here somewhere.”

Tando said, “Pell
told
you to mark where you put it!”

Gontra snorted, “I was
sure
I’d remember.”

Pell pointed, “Is that it?”

They all turned to look. A small leather noose hung between two bushes. Disgustedly, Gontra said, “Yeah. No luck with that one I guess.”

Pell chewed his lip for a moment, trying to think how to tell Gontra what he’d done wrong without making him angry. “Um…”

Gontra said, “I should move it to a new location, right?”

Pell said, “Yeah, but… Let’s talk about this one and why it might not have caught anything.”

Gontra frowned, “Why, what’s wrong with it?”

“Well, first of all, there’s plenty of room beside it for an animal of the size that the noose might catch to get by. I think that, rather than trying to run through the noose, they’d just go around it.”

“Why would they do that?” Gontra said, sounding mystified.

Pell shrugged, “If there was a rock in the middle of the trail we’re walking, wouldn’t you go around it rather than trying to hop over it?”

“But I didn’t have a noose big enough to fill that entire space.”

“Yeah, that passage is too big for a rabbit, but too small for a deer. The only animal I know of that’s about right for that path is a porcupine.”