Ember of a New World (26 page)

During the next three days, Ember remained in the hut. She was occasionally visited by some of the other women, such as Ana, but none of the men. It seemed that men and women were not supposed to interact during the time of a woman's pains. Odd though this seemed to Ember, she could see that there might be advantages in the practice.
Kis’tra
's husband Zhek had
taken to sleeping in another hut with some of the men who had no women.
He had
explained that he would re
turn when
Ember felt better.

During this time, Ember worked on sewing furs into blankets or other simple clothing items. Sewing was a difficult and very time consuming task. A sewing needle was made from the bone of an animal and was very delicate.
The needle was created making
a tiny hole
in the bone by
carefully
grinding
using a pointed rock or
using sand.
A
very thin piece of leather thong, plant fiber, or sinew would be inserted. A hole was first placed in leather using a pointed bone piece as a punch and a rock to tap the whole. Only then was the needle used. Forcing a needle through leather without first creating a hole was a quick way to break a needle. The furs were an important trade item and
Kis’tra
was keen on Ember making several blankets, but furs were not the primary reason the group was so far south. Rather, it was the yellow rocks. Ember still found this to be an odd reason for such a long trip.

During the long days in the hut enduring her pains, Ember spent much of her time humming or singing. Unknown to her, Sv'en and several of the other men had taken to relaxing outside of
Kis’tra
and Ember's hut in an effort to listen to her beautiful songs.
Kis’tra
had noticed the amusing events, but neglected to tell Ember for fear it might lead to an awkward encounter.
While
some female voices annoyed
Kis’tra
to hear, Ember's voice was somehow soothing and she caught herself
listening, from time to time.

The entire operation seemed to be composed of gathering the yellow rocks, hunting for furs and bone, which they had mostly stopped due to the time required to tan the leather before they left, and support activities, such as fishing and farming. The yellow rocks were gathered from a small tributary stream which fed into the Great River and seemed to have
many
of the rocks. Since the start of the warm season, when the group had arrived, they had amassed perhaps six handfuls of the rocks. The rocks were removed from the stream either by hand gathering or panning with a clay plate. Each thawing season, the rocks wer
e washed down the stream anew.

According to
Nor’Gar, the
sacks of yellow rocks would trade for many obsidian pieces and several unique sharp tools made from a red and green hard rock which could be carefully hammered, like the gold, into an extremely hard edge. Unfortunately, these special tools only came from the farthest south eastern lands and were very hard to find. The skins would be traded for many specialized wares, such
as beads, dyes, and medicines.

“Some trips, we-bring, salt. Some trips we-bring, ivory, figures
. W
e-return with more
,
” Nor'Gar said, his trade language skills coming back to him after a few harvests of non-use. Even though the yellow rocks and hides were the main trade wares this time, the group did have more salt in their possession than had Ember expected; two whole bags! That was because of a salt spring which existed near their home, according to Sv'en, who liked stealing a pinch now and then. Salt springs were springs of water which burrowed through natural salt deposits, producing incredibly salty flows of water. Salt was an important commod
ity and commonly traded.

After ten days had passed since joining the group, Ember was sitting at the evening meal eating with most of the group when the talk shifted to her. The shift was easily noticeable as all of the eyes turned towards Ember and all side discussion ended. Unlike the languages of sound, body language had a universal vocabulary. Ember shifted upright and crossed her legs beneath herself to be taller. She sat on the sandy ground with the other members of the group, all in a circle around a small fire. Ember was nervous as all of the eyes settled upon her, and she found herself digging her toes into the soft ground, a habit her mother always scolded her for as a child.

“Dirty toes make dirty beds
,
” she would say.

Until now, none of the group had asked Ember much about her past. Ember had learned from
Kis’tra
that this was a matter of respect and not for lack of interest. Perhaps now was time to quench the
ir
curiosity. With her ankle and feet now healed and her spirits returned, she was ready to speak. Sv'en, a younger man who gathered the yellow rocks, had shifted the discussion from expectations of their coming trade, a hot subject, to Ember.
Kis’tra
, who now spoke to Ember using the trading language vocabularies of both women as well as her own words here and there to fill in the gaps, translated for Ember allowing her
to speak with more complexity.

“Sv'en-wish to-know, why you come. Sv'en-wish to-know, where Ember people
.
” Ember thought for a while as the entire group fell silent to listen to their discussion. She understood the questions with the help of their new
ly
expanded vocabularies, but putting it into words was still complicat
ed.

“I-become wo
man, from-girl. Give task. Sign,
” Ember pointed to the sky and used her
hands to help explain the sign.
“I-go-north, west
,
” she said. Ember couldn't explain the idea of destiny to these people quickly, but
Kis’tra
took the cue, for they had already discussed this as friends.
Kis’tra
explained to her group in her own tongue.

“Ember is from a village to the south east of our camp. She was sent here on a quest from her Gods to find the end of the world, to the west
,
”
Kis’tra
said to her people in their native language. At that, the group nodded in understanding. Nor'Gar frowned, unsatisfied with
the answer, and pried on.

“Ember-young. Young-woman? How-far?” Ember thought for a while and stood. Her long leather skirt, a gift from
Kis’tra
, fell against her legs as she stood. Ember took a stick and drew a short line in the dirt about as long as a finger.

“One day, walk
.
” She thought for a while trying to compare a day on the fast river in terms of walking. She decided that the speed of the little boat was perhaps two times as fast. Ember drew about nine lines in the dirt of the same length, representing the distances of five days of walking and two days on a boat. Ember note
d the first four lines length.

“Two days
,
” and then continued detailing each of her 30 days
since she had left, until now.

The measurements and even the days drawn were not very accurate, as journey on foot was not very accurate, but they were an incredible distance in a short time, especially for a lone woman. Nor'Gar started to speak when Sv'en came forward interrupting Nor'Gar and giving Ember an incred
ulous look.

“Too Fast,”
he said in broken trade language. Ember smiled and pointed to the river. She made the motion of a pole pushing through the shallows. The group showed many looks of understanding.
Kis’tra
, to whom Ember had already explained this, filled in the gaps for th
e group.

“Ember was thrown from her boat by that same storm which blew down Tor'kal and Sv'en's hut two ten-days or more ago. I am still amazed she lived, but you wouldn't believe what happened next, let her explain
,
”
Kis’tra
said clearly in
her native tongue to the group.

Ember had used a boat for several days, greatly increasing her distance traveled. Ember failed to mention her short captivity with the men, finding the whole experience best forgotten. After a few more exchanges, the group seemed satisfied for the day and the talk changed to more jovial matters. When Ember looked she noticed that Aya had gotten up and left sometime earlier, probably with her never ending scowl. Ember was starting to feel that she might just be okay, finally. Her problem now was the need to complete her journey and how she might do that. These people knew of boats and were very skillful. At that mom
ent she decided on a strategy.

The next day while the people worked, Ember went alone to address Nor'Gar. Nor'Gar sat by his hut carefully working a piece of flint. He used a deer skin scrap to hold the flint against his knee while he applied firm pressure with a long pointed stone. Flecks burst aside as the stones force won out. He casually looked up at Ember with a smile. She brushed the dust from the front of her soft leather shirt out of
habit;
it always had some debris about it, and carefully pulled her skirt a little above her knees before kneeling. The skirt was knee length and had slits on each side to ease walking, but one had to be careful while s
itting or kneeling in a skirt.

“Hal'ja
,
” the word for hello, she said in Nor'Gar's native tongue. He smiled and returned the greeting. Ember carefully thought of how to explain herself while Nor'Gar patiently waited for Ember to continue in the reserved
and polite way of his people.

“Nor'Gar, I-need go-west, north
,
” she said slowly.

“You-need, nast
,
” Nor'Gar said plainly, using his people's word for boat, “nast”, and using his hand to imitate a floating boat. He understood what she was saying
even before she could finish.

“We-make, boat. Tor'kal, Sv'en know, boat-make. Ask.
Tell Tor’kal, Sv’en
, Nor'Gar-say-make, yes?” he said. The language gap was impressive, but Nor'Gar was as wise as he was goodly and understood her request fully. He had offered to have Tor'kal and Sv'en make a boat for her. Ember had proven herself helpful gathering resources and performing more work than some of the others. She had grown into an asset to the group in merely a ten-day. Hearing his words and understanding them, Ember was dumbfounded by
how
easily Nor'Gar had offered to help.

How can he see my mind more plainly than I do? I wasn't even sure how to ask and he said yes before I could ask?
she wondered. Ember felt that she must offer something for this task as the creation of a boat was no small matter, as well as extremely time consuming. Ember thought for a moment considering what might be a good trade, as Nor'Gar stared at her with curiosity in his eyes. Her flint pieces were of quality, but the pieces Nor'Gar was currently working were quality pieces of flint too. Surely her pieces would not do. Blossom's Goddess pendant was for a local God, she wouldn't trade it anyway, and definitely not for the people of another land who surely had their own Gods. She needed her obsidian dagger if she was to make it to the west.

“Wait! I know!”
she thought as she realized that she had overlooked an important item of trade. Ember stood and sprinted towards
Kis’tra
's hut, where she had been staying, turning around just to give Nor'Gar a “please wait” gesture with her hand. Nor'Gar watched Ember run off and thought to himself, as he so often did in his older
seasons
.

Ah the young, and a beautiful one at that. I saw the same sign in the sky that brought you to us. I will aid you and I will do so without a trade. You have renewed my faith, in ways you cannot know, young Ember. You have returned. I knew that you would...

Ember did return, a moment later, with her original leather bag. She again knelt and produced from the bag a rabbit fur pelt with something large within. She looked at Nor'Ga
r with a wide smile and spoke.

“Boat, trade
,
” she said, and produced the piece of solid water, a blue crystal the size of a fist and clear throughout. Nor'Gar stared at the raw gem for a short time with a lusting expression. It was truly a beautiful thing, if not totally useless. It reminded Nor'Gar of an icy lake he had run into as a youth. Ember thought it a fair trade for a boat, which was far less beautiful but much more useful. Nor'Gar looked touched by the offer but he raised his hand as if warding from the gem and made a gesture of “no”.

“No. too... too-much, [he spent many moments trying to remember the words], we make, boat. For, Ember
.
”
Besides
, he thought,
I knew you would pull something like that out of the bag...
I saw it all
harvests
before and now it has come to pass. If only you understood, my little moon dancer.
Ember replaced the gem in her bag and leaned forward giving the old man a deep hug. Her eyes held rims of wetness as she hugged Nor'Gar for a short time. To his people this would have been considered a bit too forward, but to Ember's more relaxed customs this was quite acceptable. Old Nor'Gar just sat there accepting the hug with a slight wetness forming in his own eyes and shivers moving up and down his spine as he recalled a private memory Ember knew nothing about. Meanwhile, a different pair of eyes boiled in anger from behind a hut not far from where Ember and Nor’Gar
were
. Aya stared in disbelief.