The Trail of the Old Ones

By Raymond Drake Forehand

In the Ice Age, mountains of ice grew where the ice did not melt, as more ice formed from the rains. Cave men had to compete with all animals for shelter and food. He depended on the ability of other creatures to survive.This made him one of the deadliest of animals. He showed no mercy. He kiled to borrow what he could not produce. Animals produce fur, to keep them warm. Man had to take the furs from animals to survive. He also had to take their meat, bones, and innards. In Spring wild green things sprouted and grew. Man learned to sort and use these. Some leery, more careful people began to notice medical properties of these plants They remembered these properties. Soon others of the clan became dependent on these people who could remember what to use for this or that ailment. They became the Shaman. Their job became as important as the hunter. Salt became an important commodity in the later Ice Age. Man crave it. If you had salt, you could trade it for meat, furs, and weapons. But if they had nothing to trade, then they would revert to borrowing.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jun 29, 2012
• ISBN: 9781463436537

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© 2012 Raymond Drake Forehand. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 6/26/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4634-3653-7 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4634-3651-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4634-3652-0 (sc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011912990

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

PROLOGUE

FORWARD

CHAPTER I

THE SEARCH

Chapter II

The River Cave

Chapter III

The Lake Cave

Chapter IV

The Hidden Path

Chapter V

Mara’s Valley

Chapter VI

MARA’s VISIT

Chapter VII

Doov’s Cave

Chapter VIII

Ebulan’s Camp

Chapter IX

THE SALT MINE

Chapter X

THE SABER TOOTH TIGER

Chapter XI

The Satschwa Camp

Chapter XII

The Trade

Chapter XIII

Ebulan’s Values

Chapter XIV

The Clan Gathering

Chapter XV

The Rescue

Chapter XVI

The Fire, Amber, and Ash

Chapter XVII

The Field

Chapter XVIII

The Grey Wolf and the Strangers

Chapter XIX

Searching for Mara

Chapter XX

The Old Man

Chapter XXI

Flight of the Dozen

Chapter XXII

The Unusual Union

PROLOGUE

Thirty thousand years ago, there was no written language that has survived. For our purpose, all written language is shown in American English. In Germany today, there is Deutsch (German). It has been spoken in the various cities of the German people for thousands of years and it is constantly changing. As in the United States, many dialectics of the language spoken locally have evolved, and today a person may have an accent. One hearing this accent can place the origin of a person by his accent. Sometimes it may be difficult to understand a person from another part of the United States.

Today in Germany, each town has its own dialect. It is a separate language from German. It is a language of its own. If one does not come from this city, they cannot communicate in the language that is spoken in that town. They have to speak in High German in order to communicate with other Germans in other German cities. This is the language that is taught in German classes.

Our look into the past has given us the chance to live at a different time. This author takes liberties with the form of writing that is used to communicate this story.

The Clan people use sign language. For our purpose, when the Clan communicates, they do not use spoken words, except to say a name. Sometime an alarm or warning is verbal.

The Sign Language of the Clan is expressed within single quotation marks. ‘Please Dra, pass the salt.’

‘Please pass the salt, Dra.’ These libertine adaptations were not the only ones taken.

FORWARD

Time was an elusive thing during the Ice Age. What is time? It is a measurement. It may refer to the passing of the seasons. (The next moon will be the time to plant.) It may be the measurement of how far some place is from another place. (It is a-three-day walk to the salt mine.) It may mark a place for something to happen. (Is it lunch time?) One year is the time it takes the earth to complete its seasons.

The placement of the Sun in the sky was the way that the Shaman or Magician of the Clan understood the passing of the time of the year. If the Magician stood at the same place each night, and if he marked a place on the horizon where the sunset, it never set at the same place until the year’s longest day and the year’s longest night. The longest night falls on December 20th each year, and the longest day is June 20th each year.

The longest day is the Sumer Solstice, and the longest night is the Winter Solstice. It does not mark the end of anything. But the seasons do begin to change at this time.

It was the job of the Clan’s Shaman to keep up with this passing of time. This was the way that the previous Shaman had taught him to watch the passing of time, and it was the way that the Shaman taught his apprentice to watch for the changing of the seasons. He observed how much meat was prepared to carry the Clan through the winter. It was next to impossible to hunt during the winter. It was too cold to move about. It was impossible to move around in this weather. There would be snow on the ground. The blizzards would blow for weeks at a time, just to be followed by another blizzard.

The Clan had to prepare for this time of year if it were to survive. Grains were stored. Meat was smoked and cured. Vegetables were dried and packed in storage baskets, which had to be woven by the women. If one of the Clan needed something he made it or found it.

Every part of every animal was used. There was no waste.

Then there was trading along the Trail of the Old Ones.

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CHAPTER I

THE SEARCH

Dra’s Third Year

Maama, Maaamaa, Mamaaaa! Dra looked at Euba, trying to get away; but she held his squirming body to her hip. She was at a loss herself.

She stood there trying to understand what had just happened. She had always known that Mara was one of the Others; Mara had been there when Euba had been born.

When Casa, the chief Medicine Woman of the Clan, became too ill, it had been Mara who became the Medicine Woman of Kall’s Clan.

Callen had just died, not surviving an earthquake which caused the cave to collapse. Mara had found this cave. It would be unlucky now. A new cave would be sought. The Spirits of the Clan would not want to live in an unlucky place. After all, was it not the Clan’s Spirits, who had caused the cave to collapse? The Clan would vacate the area as soon as the dead could be committed to the Spirit World.

Kon had brought the bad luck. Everyone looked around. They were stunned. It may have been Kon who had brought the bad luck, but it was the entire Clan who would pay. Kon had the Shaman, the Magician, and the one who could talk to the Spirit World, to place a Death Curse on Mara. She was a Spirit and should leave for the Spirit World. She understood this shunning. The first time she had received a temporary curse; this was when Kall had been Leader. Now it was Kon’s Clan. Mara was gone. The setting of the bones by the Shaman had happened too fast. The Clan did not like change. The temporary Death Curse, even though it had lasted a Moon’s cycle, had taken many days, many meetings, and much thought. This was just too fast.

Euba looked around. It dawned on her that she was the Medicine Woman now. She was the daughter of the most highly regarded Medicine Woman of the entire Clan. This Healer’s name had been Casa. Her line of Medicine Women extended back as far as anyone could recall. It had always been so.

Euba had inherited Casa’s Memories. Euba could recall all that Casa knew. This could be recalled back to the beginning of time. The Clan’s Memories worked this way. Mothers passed the entire knowledge of the Clan, as perceived from their mother.

The Memories were sexually differentiated. The Mother could pass her memories to her daughter. All memories that the mother had at the time of birth of the daughter were passed on to the daughter. This is to say that the mother could pass female memories to her female offspring. The males were born with male Memories. No female had any memories of how to hunt. These were male memories. No males could cook. These were female memories.

Euba had inherited Casa’s Memories. But it was always Mara who was sought out when someone needed a Medicine Woman. Mara did not have the Clan’s Memories. Casa had to show Mara and go over everything many times so that she could learn the healing arts. Now Mara was gone.

The cave was gone. Mara had found the Cave when she was five. Kall was gone. He had stepped down and turned over Leadership to the son of his mate. It was Kon’s Clan now. Soon as the dead could be committed to the Spirit World, the Clan would vacate this place where the Spirits were unhappy.

Kon had brought the bad luck. Everyone looked around. They were stunned. It may have been Kon who had brought the bad luck, but it was the entire Clan who would pay.

Mara had committed Callen’s Spirit to the Spirit World. Euba hurried up to the Cave. Goav was now Shaman, the spiritual leader or Magician of Kon’s Clan. He would never be the powerful spiritual leader that Callen had been. Callen had been the Spiritual Leader. He had retired at the same time as Kall. Callen had led the other Shamans at the Clans’ Gathering, taking them to the back of the cave. Their minds became one, Callen led the gathered Shamans spirits, and they traveled back in time, to the beginning. They saw when their first ancestors crawled out of the oceans, took their first breath, the air exploding in their lungs. His mind was as far developed as the Clan’s mind could develop.

Callen’s mind had developed and grown so large, the Clan’s mind could not grow any more. Callen was at the end of the line of the Clan’s existence. There were too many memories in his brain. The Clan could grow no further. When he died, the Clan would begin to decline.

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The Clan searched for food and caves. Food was plentiful, but caves were scarce. They followed the Trail of the Old Ones. These were routes taken by their forefathers. They were not marked or even known routes. You could not see these paths if you looked for them. They were just suggestions in the endless desolate plains. If you looked to the right or to the left of the trail, you could make out the route. Looking directly at the path, you could only see the arid sandy loam, which extended from the mountains on the horizons.

Food was always plentiful if you knew where to look. The women were consistent in their endeavor to supplement the dwindling supply of plants, turning over rocks, digging into the earth to gain a few onions, potatoes, or greens. There were mustard greens, turnip green, collard greens, pokeweed and other plants that found their way to the cooking pot.

The hunters had to hunt constantly. If they were not hunting as a party, they hunted as they walked, adding a rabbit or gerbil to the cooking pot. There was plenty of food if it was the season, but the Clan was gatherer/hunters. They had to store in the summer and fall in order to survive the winter and early spring. This trek was taking its toll of time.

The Clans Hunters need to be hunting. They needed to store meat, grains, nuts and fruits to survive the coming winter. They needed to find and store firewood and dung to burn in cold times. Fires were kept burning constantly in the winter.

The Clan had traveled west. Most of the terrain to the west was unknown to the Clan. No Caves were found, so they continued to search. Weeks pasted. The Prairies to the west extended farther to the west than they would search. Nothing was found.

The Clan lived on a peninsula. No one disputed the Clan’s claim to the territory. The Others lived far to the north and east. The peninsula was large, surrounded on the east, south, and west by the salt water, and with this entire coastline, no one in the Clan could swim. Their bodies were too solid, no fat, made their displacement of water less than that which was required to float. They sank.

The Clan fished with nets. They would wade into the water, carrying one end of their net. This would be at the mouth of a river where the river ran into the salt water. The net would be dragged across the mouth of the river, and then the Clan would wade out into the water and splash and make a lot of noise. They would drive fish into the net.

When the salmon made their march each year, to return to their spanning grounds, the Clan would catch as many as they could. The dried fish made up a large part of the Clan’s diet. That was now in the past. They were doomed to search for another cave; not only to provide for their off-spring, but a cave where the Clan’s Spirits would be happy. It was the Spirits that provided for the Clan.

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Travel was slow. The entire Clan could move only as fast as the slowest member of the Clan could move. Still Kon set a pace that kept all the members strained. He would send runners out to investigate any unusual out crop of vegetation, or any boulders that looked promising. No cave was found. They finally had to turn north, towards the mainland. The summer was slipping away. They were doomed if they could not find a Cave before the winter. They were wasting the best of the hunting season on a trek. How could the Clan survive if they could not gather and store? It took many animals to carry the Clan through the winter. Even the spring was barren. Even when the Clan had prepared all during the summer, if the winter was long, the Clan would suffer.

Every night the Shaman would set and meditate. He would ask the Spirits to guide them. The Clan was being punished because Kon had made the Shaman curse Mara. The whole Clan knew that the Spirits favored Mara. She did not have good luck, but she carried it with her. She brought luck to the Clan.

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The women gathered plants as they walked. The men seldom hunted. Occasionally a herd might be seen off at a distance, and the entire Clan would make camp for the day. But there just was not enough time to set up drying racks and to build smoke fires to dry all the meat. They could kill and butcher enough for a meal, and they could carry enough for another meal. This would only supplement their stores. It would not replenish or add to the huge amount of stored food that would be required to sustain a Clan of two dozen souls. Kon knew that if they did not prepare for the upcoming winter, they could not survive.

After a moon’s cycle had passed, they found a meadow with a stream running through it. They set their tents for a stay. The men went to a place that Goav, the Shaman, had located. He held the evening Hunt Ceremony. The scout that Kon had sent out came back with news that a herd of Bison was just over the next knoll. They were grazing and moving along slowly. It was agreed that if they left early in the morning in two groups, one group would go north of the herd and then turning west, the other group going south of the herd and then turning west, would be the way to hunt. Kon needed to make two kills. This was only a delaying action to the depletion of the Clans store of food.

The first group consisted of Kon, Drog, Zorg, and Grud. The second group was to be led by Kall. He was retired. He did not even go out on a hunt since his retirement, but Kon said that since he was hoping to make more than one kill, he would need every able-bodied hunter.

Kall almost refused. He had hunted and led the hunt until his retirement. Kon had no right to ask him to come back to the ranks of the hunters. He thought. The Clan could not afford to miss many days of travel. If they stopped for as long as it took to butcher, dry, pack two Bison, more time was needed than the Clan had to spare. Only this thought made him agreed.

The two parties started out just before daybreak. Kon’s group started out at a trot. They reached the top of the hill and stopped. He observed that Kall’s group had come to a stop on the other side of the herd. The top of the hill concealed them from the herd. Kon waved his arm in a way that indicated that the hunt was to start.

Kall’s group, which consisted of Goav, Katta, Crug, and Borg, slipped over the edge of the hill into the tall grass. They were as stealthy as they could be; but as Kon topped the hill, they were on a yearling heifer. She threw her head up and looked over her shoulder as she broke to run to the safety of the herd.

Kon sprinted to block the way. His three hunters had managed to contain the animal. It jumped this way and then that way, to no avail. She could not get past the hunting party. Kon chased her away from the safety on the herd.

Kall stood up. The entire herd saw him immediately. The entire herd turned west. There was only one old cow to the south that could not make it to the safety of the herd before the herd bolted to the west. Kall and his party sprinted to make sure she could not rejoin the retreating herd.

Kon was chasing the yearling. She continued to the north running as hard as she could. When she realized that this pack of hunters had manipulated her too far to rejoin the safety of her herd, she turned east. Kon was tiring. Drog was ready to take up the chase. He fell in behind the yearling without the animal having a chance to get an extra breath of air. As she slowed trying to get back to the herd, Drog jabbed her in her belly with the fire-harden point of his spear. The wound was not instantly fatal. The kill had not been his intention. The animal was still too strong to kill. But the wound had hurt and bled the animal.

Kall and his hunters were running as hard as they could. Their cow was old. She was not less smart than the yearling, just because she was old. These two-legged animals had never hunted her before today. She realized that she was out of position to get back to the herd. The old cow did not have to regain the safety of the herd immediately. She only had to slip away from her pursuers. She turned to the west and began to parallel the herd. Kall’s hunters had not been able to surround their prey before Kon had jumped the herd.

Katta saw her strategy and began to parallel the herd. He ran between the cow and the herd at a steady pace. The cow saw that she could not get past this two-legged hunter and she balk away. All the hunters had to rush down field to the west. They were all tired. Katta was still in the blocking possession. But he stopped as the other hunters caught up with him. The cow was tiring. She dropped her head and made a swipe at the hunters with her sharp, deadly horns.

Then she tried to make a break to the south. Katta had gotten a couple of breaths of air. He had gotten his second wind. The cow had no one to spell her. She was breathing hard as she looked for a way out. If there was one, she could not find it. Kall and Goav closed in front of her position. She stopped her head hanging. Katta’s spear drove deep up under her rib cage. The old cow fell to her knees, bawled, and then dropped to her right shoulder. The herd moved further to the west as she expired. The herd would be there tomorrow. Not all of the old and the young would make it. The heifer that Kon was chasing was slowing down. She was giving the hunting party a good run. But the wound that Drog had inflicted on the animal was taking its toll.

The animal was persistent. She kept trying to get back to the herd. After one last try at returning to the herd, the heifer dropped its head. Kon’s spear point was jabbed hard between the ribs, just behind her shoulder. She folded up and lay still.

Hunts were so confusing. Each hunt was different. The hunters did not like something different. If things were too different, the hunters mind would become overwhelmed. Their minds could not absorb changes. Things went best if one day was like the next.

The hunt was over. Now it was up to the women to do the rest. Kon sent Grud to tell the women that the hunt was over. It would be easier to move the camp to a new location than it would be to move the animals.

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Euba was now Dra’s Mother. He was only three years old. Just ending his weaning year, he was still a baby. Mara was his birth Mother. She was born to the Others. The Clan knew that the Others were human. But they were not Clan. Everyone was surprised when Kall did not refuse to let Casa to pick up the small child that was found beside the path, wounded. The Clan avoided the Others. They could not even speak properly. Avoidance was easier than any encounter. The Others would make many sounds with their voice, like a noisy pack of wolves. The Clan could say word names. They could make a noise to announce danger. But the Others made many sounds that were impossible for the Clan to make.

Kon had never liked Mara. She was ugly. She was too un-Clan like. She could upstage him and never know it. She got too much attention and Kon demanded attention. Any time she was around, she was the center of attention. Her totem was announced on the night of his Manhood Ceremony. He was ready to show his hunt dance. His dance was really quite good. He knew that it would be retold around the campfire for many winters. Then, at the naming ceremony, the Shaman had announced that her Totem was the Cave Lion. Where had his glory gone? This was Kon’s birth of resentment toward Mara.

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When he was appointed Leader, one of the first things he did was have his new Shaman to place a Death Cruse on Mara.

With his sling and his little spear, Dra felt older. He and Kurt wondered down by a stream. The hunters had left early that morning for their hunt. The women and the old retired men who stayed behind took advantage of their break in the search for their new cave.

Dra was born of mixed Spirits. His body was different from the other boys in the Clan. The Clan had characteristics that were Clan. The barreled chests, the slop of their forehead, the bowed legs, even their arms were bowed. They had hair all over their body. It was not just the slop of their forehead; it was their entire head. It protruded far to the rear of their head. The Clan did not have a high forehead. Their head sloped from the large eyebrow to the back of their long skulls. This was why the Others called them Flat Heads.

The Clan could not articulate. They could not even hear all of the sounds that the Others made. But they could communicate quite extensively using hand signs. The only word sounds that the Clan used were names.

Dra was of mixed Spirits. He could hear all the sounds, and he could make them. He had been able to do so since he was a young child playing with his mother up on the meadow above their cave. Dra’s mother, Mara, was one of the Others. He took many of his characteristics from her. His legs were straight and long. They were not bowed. He had a high forehead, and a long neck. He was tall for his age. He had no trouble producing a range of sounds that was completely impossible for the Clan to make; but he never uttered a sound. He was born to the Clan. He behaved as a Clansman.

The Others, as the Clan called the group of people who chattered constantly, to the dismay of the Clan, were not a separate species; they were only a different branch. As the species grew, there was a splitting, one group going one way, and the other group going another.

One thing Mara could not understand was the Clan’s Memories. The Clan had Memories. Dra would not understand them either. Memories were a Clan characteristic that would be lost with the mixing of spirits, and the passing of time.

But Dra was a mixture in the memories, too. Mara studied hard to learn everything she learned. After using this process for so long, she could remember after once hearing it, having it explained to her.

Dra had a photographic memory. He could not recall memories of his mother. The Clan could; but he had total recall.

Kurt was one of the sons of the mate of the Leader, Kon. He was only a year older than Dra. Kurt crouched down behind a bush on the edge of the stream looking back the way the Clan had traveled the day before. There was movement at the edge of the forest; not that Kurt had any concept of a forest. It was a movement between two trees. Dra saw Kurt’s movement and froze. Watching Kurt, who was between him and the movement at the edge of the forest, Dra caught the movement out of the corner of his eye.

The pair of Grey Wolves moved stealthily behind a forked tree not far from the stream. They had disappeared. Dra and Kurt stood still, hidden behind their bush. They waited, but saw no movement. As the sun rose in the morning sky, no more was seen of the wolves.

At early four years old, boys would usually begin to hunt small animals, a mouse or a gerbil, but never anything such as a predator, certainly not two full-grown wolves. But young boys did not always think things through. The boys had not moved and the sun had risen to its apex. Kurt and Dra remained squatting behind the bush.

The Clan had reached the far end of the pasture. Suddenly a commotion broke the silence of the day. A cackling laugh of a bark broke the silence. The two wolves had attacked a lone wolverine that was amazingly close to the two boys. They broke and ran for the protection of the Clan. As they jumped around another bush, they almost ran into another wolf. There had been three!

The third wolf stood with its back to the two boys, watching the camp of the Clan. They froze not feeling brave, not like the mighty hunters anymore. The wolf was old, the mother of the two hunters of the pack, perhaps if you could call the three of them a pack.

Her ears were up, pointing forward, toward the camp of the Clan. She knew that the two youngsters were there. She stood guard as the two hunters dragged their kill off a ways from the stream, out onto the Prairie.

When the hunters had gone, the wolf standing guard turned her head toward the two boys, flicked her ears back. Then she pointed her ears forward as she looked back at the camp.

Dra looked at Kurt. Their eyes locked for a second, then back to the wolf. She was gone. The wolverine was gone… then the two boys were gone. Nothing seemed to have changed in the valley; life goes on, except for the wolverine. But its sacrifice was only another step in the food chain.

It could have been two little boys.

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It had been early spring the morning Mara marched out of the camp, the morning that Callen had been killed. But the summer was waning. The Clan could not survive if the Clan could not find a cave in time to prepare for the winter.

Food had to be preserved; plants, meats, fish, and nuts, but to Euba, her medicines needed to be picked, prepared, and stored properly. She was a Medicine Woman, but she had no store of medicine. Mara had always gathered for the Clan, now she was gone. So was her store of medicine. There had been many herbs left behind after the earthquake, but Euba could only carry little. What she carried was more of a nature of a first aid kit.

She had been rushed to leave the cave by the Sea. There had been the funeral for Callen, she had to pack for her mate, Katta, herself, and now Dra was her responsibility. She packed up all their worldly possessions. She had not gone to Callen’s Hearth. She had told Dra to gather his things. He had taken his bowl, eating knife, spare shoes, and his outer garment, which doubled as his sleeping roll. He had left behind his wolverine hood, his hand shoes, his extra wrap, and all the things Mara had accumulated for him over his life.

Euba had taken her Otter Skin Medicine bag, which contained her Medicines that she always carried, but it was little better than a first aid kit. In late winter, she would need many different medicines than she carried for traveling. The Spring Tonic, for example, would require a volume of vitamins that was necessary for the survival of the Clan. It prevented Scurvy. This would have to be gathered after they found a new cave.

In fact, Mara had always gathered, not Euba. Euba had been the baby. She had just mated Katta. Now a woman, and Katta’s mate, she had never served her apprenticeship as the Medicine Woman. Her thoughts were never on walking up to the Prairies and gathering flowers for their herbal values. She had never had to dry them, cure them, and store them. She would need time before winter.

All of this was in addition to curing or drying meats and vegetables, gathering of nuts and roots, she had to render the fat, which would make the oil for their lamps, and in cooking. This could be a very hard winter, to gather her store of herbs.

It was as if she had become a woman over night. This was not true. She had given birth to a child that was stillborn. She just had not realized how much Mara had contributed to the Clan. Now she was the Medicine Woman.

As she walked in the manner of the Clan, as Medicine Woman she was first woman. Orga, who was the mate of the Leader, followed her. Each woman had the status of her mate’s rank. The only exception to this rule was that the Medicine Woman had her own status.

Euba had never paid any attention to this. She would have no Memories of any other place. Her mother had been first, and so had her mother, and so on back to antiquity.

As first woman in the procession, she had the opportunity to gather as they continued on their sojourn. She saw some wild onions beside the path and hardly missing a step she plucked them out of the ground, and stuck them into the fold of outer wrap. She wore it year round on their trek. She could make use of the folds that were made where the strap that she used as a belt, made folds in her outer garment. These were her pockets. The other women also used similar arrangements to carry things.

She noticed a few more, but would not need any more onions. She would use the onions to flavor the meat and as seasoning for the greens. She noticed that the second and third woman in line had also scooped up one of the tasty morsels. When she looked back at the fourth woman, the woman had made no move to gather the onions. It was then that Euba realized that there were no more onions left. She felt bad. But this was the way of the Clan. If the First Woman could gather a meal, she would be free to look for the healing herbs, which would benefit the entire Clan. Having a lower status could really have its disadvantage. The rest of the women would have none unless they found more onions.

Euba realized her Memories could not recall only the diggings of others, where others had already gathered all the plunder of the good Earth. It hurt her and made her think. But this had always been the Clan way. It was necessary for a trek of any distance.

As they passed the area of the Mammoth Hunt of six years earlier the weather became colder, as if the seasons had changed, but the reason for this was that with leaving the peninsula behind, they also left the warm oceans on three sides behind.

The mainland Prairie was much dryer, as they climbed to the higher altitudes the air thinned. The mainland Prairies were flat and arid desert of stone, clay, and from the winds the deposit of the constant erosion, the process where the Earth redeposit the soil to spread its bounty.

Dra barely noticed the change of the weather, running, moving and hunting with his spear, small as it was, made to his size by Grud. The days were colder and so were the nights. The small tent was serviceable, but cramped. There was a smoke hole in the center of it, but Kon pushed on until late each night. Often only, a communal fire was set. The food became leaner, but there always seemed to be a container of tea at each end of the long fireplace. The twenty-four members of Kon’s Clan could consume a lot of food each day. Dra did not notice that everyone had cut back on their rations. As a child, he could do as he wanted up to a point.

Dra and Kurt had managed to slip off to the side of the trail that the Clan was proceeding along steadily. They saw some spore that indicated that a jackrabbit frequented the area. The other members of the Clan moved along. The young hunters ranged off, as they had seen the hunters do when game presented itself.

Seeing the end of the line pass, they slipped off to one side by a bush to watch. Next, they began to stalk the trail that the Clan had left in their passing. It was not hard to follow, but they were following the way that Kall had showed them. The tall grass broken and leaning forward, was the trail that was made by people walking. If they were to run, they would have a tendency to push the grass back. But one could tell by the distance between steps and this was more pronounced with herding animals. So Kall said.

As the two boys slipped over a knoll, the Clan moved out over a pasture of knee high grass. The two boys slipped to the side behind a bush. They watched as the Clan moved on. The distance between the two boys and the procession grew. They did not notice that Kall had stepped to the side to look back. Seeing the two boys hiding behind the bush, he walked on, reclaiming his place in line.

The two boys did not usually drop so far behind, but today they had. There were several caterpillars on the bush that had to be investigated.

After a while, the two boys decided to resume their stalking of the Clan’s trail. They retreated over the ridge to where they had last seen the signs left by the Clan. Crawling low in the grass, they approached the last place they had seen the grass broken forward …they froze, glancing at each other.

On their back trail, about the top of the last hill the Clan passed, were the two wolves. The wolves searched to each side of the trail for small rodents, which had hidden as the Clan passed. The rodents were returning to their gathering and became prey to the wolves. The boys watched in fascination. Kurt had reached over and pushed Dra’s shoulder. Since this was a hunting game, Dra looked over only half-heartedly. Kurt was looking off to the edge of the far edge off to the east. Twenty paces away was a small bush by itself. There stood the mother wolf. It had been the three wolves that they had seen over a moon before. They had to be out of their territory. The mother looked at the two boys, laid her ears back, and then turned in the way that Clan had taken, and lifted her ears and watched.

The two boys looked at each other. Neither seemed panicked. They each seemed to realize that the wolves meant them no harm. But they had lost interest in their game of stalking. They both backed off down the trail in the direction that the Clan had taken. After gaining about twenty paces, they turned and began to trot. It was a ground-eating pace. They overtook the Clan and split up, each going to his own place in line.

Dra did not mention the incident, but Kurt did. The first time that this had happened, both boys had kept it to themselves. This time Kurt felt brave and mentioned it to his brother, Kam. Kam, a few years older than the other two boys, told Kurt to be quite, not to mention it. Kurt wondered why Kam should say such a thing.

Kam was more like Kall. Kam could remember Mara, her coming to his rescue when the wolverine had grabbed his arm and carried him off. It had been Mara who took out a sling and killed the wolverine. Kon had tried; but he was too far away. Mara had been further away. She killed the wolverine with her double stone throw. No one even knew that she could use a sling. No one knew that she had a sling. Women of the Clan were forbidden from touching a hunting weapon. If a woman touched a hunting weapon, it would be destroyed. If a woman hunted, she would be killed.

She had been sentenced to a temporary Death Curse for a full Moon as punishment. When she returned no one could recall of anyone who had returned after being cursed.

Mara had gone to the mountain meadow to bide her time. Everyone thought that she had gone to the Spirit World and walked with the Spirits. Shortly after she returned, Kall held a Ceremony to make her a Hunter of the Clan. She was allowed to use the sling.

Kon hated her even more. Women were not allowed to hunt. Why should the Clan change the rule? Kon was glad that she had saved his son. But women were not allowed to hunt.

Kall was a realist. He could not afford to lose a hunter. He had placed the restriction on her. She was only allowed to use the sling. The sling would be an old man’s weapon, an old man’s and a woman’s weapon. In the Ceremony, she was named the Woman Who Hunts.

Now Dra was here. He had called the Spirit of the Grey Wolf Totem to their trek. Was it to protect the Clan or was the Totem only guarding Dra? It did not matter, Dra had called them, and they were here. The Totem of the Grey Wolf was watching their back trail. Kam felt that it was a good sign.

Kall was showing his age more and more. The trek seemed to take more out of him each day. His mate, Brea, was the mother of Kon. She was fairing little better, as she worried over Kall. As the mate of the ex-Leader, she was use to seeing him take command. Now as she watched, she could not see why he was acting so selfish. He could see that Kon did not know what needed to be done. In fact, the entire Clan was getting unhappy of traveling every day. All of their Totems must be getting tired. If the Totems got tired, they would abandon the Clan and bad luck would take over. Kon just did not know what to do. He was not the leader that Kall had been. It had been Kall’s Clan. Now it was Kon’s Clan.

Dra sat beside a pond. The still pool of water seemed to have no outlet. Most pools of fresh water stayed fresh as it flowed, replacing itself with fresh water. There was a small stream that flowed into it, but there was no outlet. It was a small pool. It should be larger. He watched for a while longer.

The Grey Wolves were no longer of their back trail. They seemed to have disappeared. Dra had tried to slip back and check, but he had been unsuccessful in locating them.

Kon must have gotten tired of traveling. He said that they had arrived at the place where the Totems wanted for them to spend the winter. It had a cave but it faced west. It would have been better if it had faced south. It was in a small-protected valley. They really needed to gather and preserve their stores. It might be too late. It could be a lean year especially if it was a long winter.

Dra and Kurt walked along in the meadow. They would play that Dra was the mighty hunter. The next time it would be Kurt who made the play kill. The play hunt ended and they went to the camp. That night the Clan had only tea and a traveling cake. No one said what was on their mind: this was the Totem Spirits showing their displeasure.

Kall walked to the bladder of a bison that stored water which was used to make tea. Sometimes in late winter, meat would become scarce. But this was too early in the season. The Clan did not hunt when the snow was on the ground. The animals were too skinny. There were no herds out on the prairie that the scouts could find. Something had to be done. That was the morning that the scouts returned and announced that they had killed a Red Deer. The Clan might survive.

The women quickly set out to prepare it so they could bring it back to smoke cure. This way of drying the meat was used in the summer. The smoke would keep the insects away. This was necessary to keep the insects from laying their eggs in the meat. If this happened, these larvae would cause the meat to spoil. But smoking the meat added flavor to the meat, which most people really liked. Smoking the meat was the way that most all of the Red Deer was cured. That night there was a Ceremony to celebrate the end of the lean time.

Kall was sorry that he had gotten old before he had taught Kon to be a good Leader. But at least he could keep one promise. He had promised Mara that he would teach her son to hunt. Dra would be a hunter of the Clan. He was getting to be older. He must teach Dra before it was too late.

In the old days, Kall would have asked Zorg to teach Dra to use the sling. Zorg was feeling the trek. He was old, too.

Kall sat by the fire. He was lost in thought. He knew that his portion of each hunt, major hunt, could keep him and Brea in their retirement. He would be free to do as he wished. If he wished, he could explore the Prairie.

He realized that he was getting old. He had not done all that well with his life. He thought of Kon. On the other hand, he had led the first Clan. As Leader of the first Clan, he had led the Clan well. As Leader, the Clan had recognized his ability to delegate authority and duties, and the entire Clan had prospered. When he turned the leadership of the Clan over to the son of his mate, he had told himself that he would not interfere with his mate’s son’s leadership. He had managed to keep this promise. But there was another promise that he needed to keep. He had promised Mara that he would teach her son to be a hunter of the Clan. Now that they had stopped, it was time to begin the training.

Dra could not become a man of the Clan until he made his first kill. This was not to be the small animals of the Prairies. It would not be a rabbit or a vole. It would have to be a major kill. Something in the line of a deer or a horse, it was usually a herding animal. Dra would not become a man until he had made such a kill. It was time to begin his training.

Kon was taking them further and further away from where the last Clan Gathering had been held. The next Gathering was to be held in four years from now. It had been three years since they had returned from the last Clan Gathering, Dra had been less than a year old. The Clan Gathering was held every seven years. The next Clan Gathering was to be held to the northeast on the Mainland.

Dra’s Mother, Mara, had arranged for her son’s mate to join this Clan after the next Clan Gathering. At the last Clan Gathering, a woman of the Clan approached Mara and asked if Mara’s child was a boy or a girl? She could see that the child was deformed.

The name of the Clan’s woman was Oda. She also had a child that was born with the same deformity. Her child was a girl. After talking for a while, Oda asked Mara if she would consider her child as a mate for Dra. Dra had become engaged at less than a year old. They had to clear it with Kall. He was the Leader of his Clan at that time. Oda had promised to raise her as a good Clan’s woman. When they returned from the next Clan Gathering, she would move to Kall’s Hearth. She was to stay there until she became a woman, then she could mate Dra. Her name was Era.

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The morning of this beautiful fall day was warm and sunny. It seemed that the Earth was at peace with itself. No one would change a thing if they could. Birds skimmed the water as they fished. The Clan had settled into a cave by a river. The cave was to the east of the river. The animals had made a path over the years. From the path, you could step up into the cave. There was no foyer. The path continued down to the river. The path continued up, and around to the Prairie.

The riverside was steep and dangerous to the Clan. No one who was Clan could swim. It was impossible. They were too heavy and too solid to swim. Dra was a mixture of Clan and the Others. That was what the Clan called the people who made noise all the time. They were Mara’s people.

Mara had made many sounds when they had first found her. But they had taught her to be a good Clan’s woman. She was odd in other ways, too. She would show her teeth, not to threaten or to warn-off. Her eyes were weak. Water would run out. This would usually happen when she thought that Callen or Casa was displeased with her. The Clan could feel sad or bad. They could not cry. Mara’s tears had baffled everyone as she grew up. Her smile was still considered a challenge, or a threat.

But Dra could swim. No one else in Kon’s Clan could. If anyone were to fall into the river, it would be his or her death. Everyone was extremely apprehensive of the path.

Dra came and went as he pleased. The people of the Clan erected no closures between Hearths. The people of the Clan simply respected each other’s hearth. One did not even look into another’s hearth. Their only communications were made with signs. It would be like someone trying to hear what another was saying, without the other knowing. It would be like someone eavesdropping. It would not be heard by accident. Someone would have to try to hear on purpose. Children were excluded from this rule. Children were excused from many rules.

Dra liked everyone. He came and went as he pleased. He missed Mara, but Euba was his mother now. She made his meals for him. She saw to it that he had a wrap. She may have to go to Katta to get a new wrap. Katta was her mate. But Dra had a wrap. And his was as nice as anyone’s in the Clan was. She loved Dra. But Dra made himself at home at everyone’s Hearth. He was at home anywhere. Euba was surprised that he went to and from Kon’s Hearth with such ease. Kon had once forbidden Orga, his mate, to nurse Dra when he was younger. Orga was firm, and unyielding. A woman could nurse who ever she wished. It was not a man’s place to say.

Kon left his Hearth. He told Kall. Kall could not believe what he was being told. ‘Kon, do not worry about woman’s work.’ Kall signed.

Kon had hated Mara ever since she had been a small child. The Clan had adopted Mara at the same time that Kon had his manhood Ceremony. Kon’s re-enactment of his manhood kill had been upstaged by Callen’s announcement that her Totem sign was that of the Cave Lion. This was one of the strongest of the male Totem signs. She had stolen the moment from him. She had always drawn the attention that he craved from him.

When Kon told Goav, the Shaman, to place the Death Curse on Mara the entire Cave placed him under great scrutiny. With the placing of the bones, the curse had been completed.

By the placing of the bones, the Clan had lost Callen, the Cave, and Mara. Kall had stepped down the night before. He was no longer the Leader. This was what had allowed the rest to happen. With Kon as Leader, he could do as he wished. First, he had Goav place the Death Curse on Mara. The Spirits became angry. They took the Cave back, the one that they had shown to Mara. They took Callen. Kon had to lead them on the search for a new Cave. No one trusted Kon. Most of the Clan was at a loss. They were shocked and at a loss.

Now they were forced to move. What had the Clan done? It was Kon’s fault. Why should they have to pay for Kon’s mistakes?

They were forced to move. They checked out some of the places on the peninsula that had looked promising. They knew that some of the Clans had lived on the mainland, which was the way that they were going. The next Clan Gathering would be to the northeast on the mainland. Most of the Clan lived to the east. Now Kon’s Clan migrated that way.

Chapter II

The River Cave

Dra’s Fourth Year

Game was plentiful in the summer, but the prairies were mostly open flat land. The only bushes were along the streams. Kon had led the Clan to a fork in the river. From the fork, he could see a Cave mid-way up the bank. The Cave was large, but the danger from a fall was a constant worry. Kon had decided that this was where the Clan Spirits wanted the Clan to remain.

The cave seemed to have a plate of slate that formed the overhead. The ceiling was ten feet high. The opening was twelve feet wide. The cave went back into the mountain about a hundred feet and widened to about fifty feet. There was no flat space nearby. If the clan wanted to hold a small gathering, they would have to go up on the Prairies. There was no place down by the river that seemed proper. In fact, it was a fifty-foot drop down to the water. To the south, the river nurtured a forest of dwarfed Spruce trees, but they were thick.

To the south, as the river swung west, was a mountain that blocked their access to the south. But the Prairie to the east and to the north was open. This was a good place, except for the narrow path to the Cave. Everyone scurried to gather nuts, and the vegetables that were found in abundance. The fruits were ripe. The hunters went out every morning, and had usually returned before the noon meal. Up on the Prairie the smoke fires burned day and night, curing hides and the meat to be stored for this winter.

Euba was out every day, gathering the things she would need for her pharmacy. She was busy from early in the morning until late at night.

The morning that the first snow felled, surprised the Clan. The evening before had been warm. No one had worn their outer wraps. No fire had been needed except for cooking.

The wind changed direction and blew in from the north. With the clouds and the wind came first a snow flurry, then a blizzard followed. The Clan kept busy. The hides had built up. They would need to be cured, and scrapped, and dried. Most all of the activity was moved indoors. Piles of basket- making material were stacked and ready for use. Bones were available to make tools, such as scrapers, punches, awls, knives, hammers, and picks.

Fire making material was ready. They had several months’ worth of wood, dung, hard wood, pinewood, hard dried kindling, stones to mark the hearths, stones to heat and place in cooking pots, teapots, and stones to use to make tools. They would make knives, lamps and bowls, drinking cups, everything that the Clan used was handmade. Clan-made tools were very plain. They had no animals carved in them. They did not carve flowers, trees, or anything. But there was one thing that was noticeable at first glance. Each was a masterpiece in itself.

The grain in the wood bowl would be decoration enough. Each bowl would be ground to a uniformed thickness. It would be shaped to a uniformed shape and symmetrically perfect. It could take a woman several weeks to make one bowl.

One basket could be put together in ten minutes. Such a basket might be used to gather fruits or seeds, and be discarded after one use. But when a woman of the Clan sat down, and made a cooking basket or a watertight basket, it was a thing to see. It would have no design in it, unless one just happened. A large watertight basket could take an expert weaver two or three days to make. But if it were made right, it could last for years.

The Clan had moved inside, but there were still things that needed to be done outside. Every day the women would have to go down to the river. Each Hearth needed its own water. If one needed to relieve oneself, then they would climb up to the Prairie. If it were snowing or if it were raining, they still had to climb to the top. The Clan had to be careful. There was snow on the ground. If one were to fall the fifty-foot to the river, no one could save them.

Kon asked Goav if he would search his Memories to find a way to cross the river. It seemed an unusual request. They had already done this. To get to this side of the river they had tied a rope to Kon and he had waded to the other side by holding his breath at the deepest part, he walked all the way. The Clan had used the rope and walked the rope, hand over hand. It had been dangerous.

Some of the men had to cross the river as many as five times to get all their things to the cave side.

Goav went to the place he used at his Hearth to meditate. Ova, his mate, asked if she could get him some tea. He said no and sat down to meditate. After only a few minutes, he asked Ova where his tea was. She did not smile. But she did see the humor. She poured him some fresh brewed tea. He sipped the tea. Ova had slipped from mind as she disappeared from sight, as a good Clan’s woman could do.

Goav meditated late into the night. When he lay down, he thought that he had the answer that Kon would like. But he would think on it again in the morning. After rethinking the problem, Goav could see no other way. He sat and tried to explain it to Kon. Kon could not see in his mind what Goav was trying to describe.

Finally, he told Goav to make it. It was a raft. He scouted the wood near the dwarfed spruce trees. There was a group of trees that caught his eye. It was a group of Silver Birch. There were a few on the east bank of the river. He asked Katta to assist him. Together they cut one down. Next, they cut the tree into four logs of equal length. Each log was ten feet long. A Silver Birch tree could grow up to sixty-five feet. This one was only about fifty feet tall. They moved the four logs so they lay beside each other. Katta lashed the four logs together. Goav made a rudder out of a shoulder blade bone from a moose. He tied a thick piece of hide to one of the center logs. Next, he did the same thing to the other end.

Goav and Katta returned to the cave. They took some hides and began to cut it into strips two inches wide. It was cut in a spiral so that the entire hide made one long strip.

Others stopped by to help. The word had spread that Goav and Katta had been working on a way to cross the river. Everyone wanted to help.

After a week, the people had cut enough of the hide to weave into a rope, which was about one hundred and fifty feet long. The morning that they picked up