Death on the Trek (16 page)

—from: University of Zurich. “Childbirth Was Already Difficult For Neanderthals.”
ScienceDaily
, 9 September 2008.

The pains of Enga Dancing Flower pierced her body, then subsided, then started up again many times. Now that everyone had quit walking for a few suns, she could no longer ignore the agonizing spasms. They were getting worse.

For some time, the torture of watching Tog Flint Shaper with Vala Golden Hair every sun time and every dark time had covered up any other pain she might have. It also hurt her that he seemed to love little Sooka so much, when Enga was carrying the seed he has planted. Did he not care about his own seed?

Now she could no longer ignore the rhythmic clenchings in her gut. She cried out at dark time after the tribe had been stopped by the mountains for a few suns, not knowing how to move on. Zhoo of Still Waters ran to her. She held Enga in the head down position and gave her even more bones to suck from her own stash. In-between crouching with her rear in the air, she lay still and drank water, as Zhoo told her to do.

Complete darkness approached.

None of it helped.

My dear Enga Dancing Flower.
Zhoo sat beside her and wiped the sweat from her forehead with her own clothing.
You have eaten too little. You have walked too much. And you have danced too hard. There is nothing I can do to help you and the small seed.

Enga called out for her birth-sister. Ung Strong Arm came running and knelt beside Enga.
What can I do
? she asked Enga and Zhoo.

Zhoo shook her head.

Stay with me
, Enga thought-spoke.

I will stay with you as you stayed with me when my leg was injured by the peccary on the hunt and my Red poured out onto the ground.

The very clear image of that time made the pains of Enga worse. But she knew Ung would stay with her. The mate of Ung, Lakala Rippling Water, also drew near.

Zhoo thought-spoke.
I wish we had our Cave. I would take you there to go through your ordeal. This is not right that you should go through this travail with the whole tribe watching.

Enga raised her head slightly. It did seem that everyone was paying attention, waiting for her to lose the baby. When she looked around, all turned away and busied themselves. If they had possessed the ears of cats, however, she knew those ears would be swiveling in her direction. She closed her eyes and submerged herself in a vision of the Holy Cave on the Sacred Hill. It was cool inside, and quiet, and private. She and Zhoo and Ung were the only ones in the Cave. She was on a thick pallet of dried grasses and cushioned by many soft animal skins, deer and bear.

She heard night insects whirring, and the distant hoot of an owl, and those sounds further helped her to envision being back home in the comfortable Cave.

When Zhoo stroked her forehead, Enga smiled, happy to be back in the Cave, the place where she had gone with the older women when she got her first Red Flow. The place where she had had her First Coupling with Tog. He was there with her. He caressed her face, her body. She stroked his strong, broad back. Their eyes looked deep into each other. And now she was in the Holy Cave having their child. She smiled again, until a stabbing pain caused her to grunt and curl up in agony. She returned to what was happening.

She was not having the baby. She was losing the baby.

After the gush of Red had passed, Enga was carried away from that spot to recover. She lay exhausted while Brother Moon followed his silent path across Mother Sky. One by one, her brothers and sisters came to her. They offered a sympathetic nod, or a pat on her shoulder. Some sat with her for a while, hushed and somber.

Enga fell asleep, waking up several times and falling asleep again. There was always someone with her. Halfway through the dark time, she raised herself on an elbow and looked for what was left of her baby. The pile was not far away. It glistened darkly in the light from the sky. Her baby. She realized tears were falling from her eyes, dropping onto the ground. She dropped off her elbow, still drained and shattered.

No one got up at first light. They lingered, lying until Hama gave the signal to arise.

Finally Hama stood up. She sent a message to everyone.
We have not walked for several days. We do not walk today, either. We will have a ritual for the seed of Enga Dancing Flower and Tog Flint Shaper.

When Enga heard his name in the thought-speak, she looked around for Tog. Had he come to be beside her in the dark time? She did not know. She could ask Ung or Zhoo, but she did not want to find out that he had not been there, so she kept that question to herself.

Now he came forward, without Vala Golden Hair or Sooka. He squatted next to Enga. She looked away from him, keeping her gaze upon Hama.

That day the tribe mourned the unnamed baby. There were no flower petals to scatter in the path, so they gathered colorful leaves from beneath the nearby trees. Some were scarlet and orange, the hues of the streaks Sister Sun sent across Mother Sky as she went to sleep every night with her mate, Brother Earth.

The pile of Red, which contained the tiny incomplete body, was put onto a remnant of mammoth hide by Hapa. He signaled to Tog and the two of them carried the small form away, followed by the tribe. The children of Hama and of Ongu Small One scattered the leaves before them as they went. Akkal Firetender had scouted earlier and had found a rock outcropping near a small pond. It was not large, but neither was the body. It was out of sight from where they were camped.

Ung and Lakala supported Enga as she trailed behind the rest to the spot where her dead baby was laid. She was too weak to stand on her own.

Scavengers would come for the tiny body and it would be returned to Brother Earth in that way. There was no need to smear fat on the body so that it would go quickly. The Red would attract animals in its place.

After Hapa and Tog unwrapped and placed the body on the rock, the children scattered the rest of the colored leaves onto it. Each one spoke thoughts to the child who had never lived. Then they all returned to where they had been. No one wanted to stay at the rock and see what happened next. The doings of Brother Earth when he worked with Gongor, the Spirit of Death, were best left unseen.

As dark time gathered, the tribe came to Enga one at a time. Some gave her words of comfort, others touched her on the shoulder or the head. Each time, Enga felt more and more sobs catching in her throat, until she wailed out loud.

She quieted only when Hapa came to her, and only because of her intense interest in what he was hiding. She kept sobbing a bit, not calmed or consoled, but remembering she had not yet found out what he had worried about when she had seen him pacing at dark time, she tried to stay receptive to his thoughts.

Our dear Enga Dancing Flower, we are so sorry you lost the baby.

That is what many of them had said. She thanked him, looking deep into his mind. It was different enough that she could not see clearly into it. Most of his thoughts were murky.

At the next new sun, Hama called a council. All agreed they could stay in this place no longer. They must move, but they could not move past the mountains.

We must proceed in the direction away from the Guiding Bear of Mother Sky.
Hama pointed in the direction where the Guiding Bear could be seen at dark time.
If we go toward it, we will be going toward a colder place. There will be no mammoth there.

Cabat the Thick interjected.
Do we know there will be mammoth in the other direction?

Hama answered.
It does not matter what we know. We must hope. That is all we can do.

Hapa backed her up, as did most of the tribe. Enga agreed also. They must go toward a warmer clime. That is where the mammoth had fled toward.

They had to hope they would find mammoth before Cold Season commenced. All they had now were a bit more of the hard, unpalatable jerky, and hope.

Chapter 25

“During the Wisconsin glaciation… Most of the state was covered by montane coniferous forest, composed of Douglas Fir (
Pseudotsuga mensiesii
), Southwestern White Pine (
Pinus strobiformis
), and White Fir (
Abies concolor
).

—
New Mexico Vegetation: past, present, and future
by William A. Dick-Peddie

“The largest glyptodont that roamed North America,
Glyptotherium arizonae
, weighed at least 1 ton. It measured 10 feet (3 meters) long, and 4.5 feet (1.5 meters) tall… [It] retreated south to Mexico and then returned to the United States in the Rancholabrean Land Mammal Age, only to become extinct everywhere by 10,000 years ago.”

—Ice Age Mammals
by Ian M. Lange, p. 73

Jeek thought they had been walking for about one-quarter of the cycle of a moon, the number of days on one hand, plus two. The breath of Mother Sky got warmer every day, it seemed. They were now heading away from the Guiding Bear, which they could only see at dark time, of course. They had the mountains on one side to guide them in addition to the Guiding Bear.

The terrain also changed. When they came to a land covered with thick pines, Jeek enjoyed the shade. Sister Sun seemed to grow brighter and bigger as they traveled.

He knew that others were keeping an eye on Enga Dancing Flower, but he did also. He would not be able to bear it if any more terrible things happened to her. Her mate, Tog Flint Shaper, sometimes stayed with her, but sometimes with Vala Golden Hair. Jeek could not understand why anyone would leave Enga, ever. Even when Tog left her, there were no harsh vibrations he could pick up. Did Enga want him to visit Vala? He wished he were older so he could understand some things.

The kinds of animals he saw changed as they progressed, but there were familiar ones also. They had not seen mammoth yet, but one of the hunting females had spotted a large herd of bison, far in the distance. The mouth of Jeek dripped at the thought of fresh meat. There had been bison where they used to live, but they had always preferred mammoth. The meat from such a large animal lasted a long time after it was smoked, and the watering hole where those mammoth had gathered had been a perfect distance away. There would be so much to learn in the new place.

During one of the traveling days, Hama decided to stop early since everyone was weary and spirits were low. As the tribe found shady places to lean against tree trunks or to lie on skins spread over soft beds of pine needles, Jeek stood watching Gunda dribble water into the mouths of her small sisters. He was tired, but too restless to lie and nap.

When Gunda looked up at him, he sent her a thought.
Would you like to climb the nearest rock with me?

He grinned when she nodded. They started for the bluff that was most near. It was not very high and Jeek thought they could get to the top and return before dark time.

They came upon Tikihoo, who had left the group and was looking up at the hill. She raised her eyebrows in question and pointed up to the rocky place.

Jeek and Gunda pointed to themselves and the bluff, trying to tell her they were going up. When Tikihoo pointed to her own chest, then drew a circle including the three of them, they understood that she wanted to go with them. Jeek did not know why she wanted to go, but he could sense fear radiating from her. Tikihoo looked back at the tribe as they climbed, like she wanted to get away from someone. He wished, not for the first time, that he could communicate with her.

About halfway up, Gunda and Jeek were glad Tikihoo was with them. She was the only one who had brought along a water gourd. They all three drank a few sips, wanting to save some for the rest of the climb, and for the descent. The slope was not steep, but there were plants with sharp spines growing among others with soft leaves, sometimes hidden, so that they had to be careful not to get stuck. Sister Sun smiled on them, but Jeek wished Mother Sky would put on some thick cloud garments. She seldom did lately. Instead, she arched above them in the blue of deep water at sunrise when the water held not a ripple or a current.

When they reached the top, the three looked toward the place Sister Sun rose from in the mornings, away from the tall mountains behind them. The plains stretched far away, etched with small streams that were bordered by a few trees.

Why did you want to go up here
? Gunda asked Jeek.

To see what is ahead of us. And anything else that—
He stopped his thought when he spotted a cloud of dust rising from the flat land.
Do you see that? What do you think it is?

Gunda squinted to see anything at such a distance. Tikihoo pointed and jumped up and down, smiling. She was making her mouth noises, but Jeek did not understand them now more than he ever did. “Gadoo, gadoo!” She made other noises too, but this was the one she kept repeating.

The cloud was coming toward them. After a few moments, Jeek could make out animals, running in a herd, going fast.

Horses!
Gunda thought-spoke.

Jeek had never seen them, but had received pictures of them during Sagas.

Then Jeek saw the beautiful slender legs and flying manes and tails of the ones in the lead. He thought that “gadoo” must mean horse or horses. The herd galloped ever more close. There was a stream between them and the animals. Maybe they were coming to water there.

All three scrambled down the slope as fast as they could. Jeek wanted to alert the tribe. Maybe they could spear one and have fresh meat. But, by the time they reached the bottom, the horses had galloped into the distance. The herd had run toward the stream, but had veered before reaching it and had run back the way they came, probably frightened off by the smell of the Hamapa.

Jeek saw the beautiful animals in his mind for many days after that.

* * *

Enga Dancing Flower was despondent much of the time about losing the baby. But one thing made her happy. Tog Flint Shaper was helping her to examine the minds of the tribe. The three of them agreed that Hapa should not do it any more. Some nights Tog would go over to Vala Golden Hair so he could get close to those not near Enga and observe them.