TARYN'S OTHERLAND: Chapter 12
The People move north along the western side of the prairie in the spring and back south in the fall. The People are nomadic by nature, following the great herds. Over centuries and longer than the stories that are told and retold by the elders to be passed from one to another, old to young, mother and father to child, and generation to generation. Verbal history is the norm for The People and life has been nearly the same for generations of generations. The stories recount the history of The People. Each new, big event is added to the list of stories to be told and retold so that the collective conscience knows the story of who they are, where they came from, and why. They tell about the things that were done in times of trouble and the things that happened to shape them as a people.
They naturally had no comprehension of how completely unique they would seem to the 21st Century world that Taryn knew. Taryn might only guess someday about why this world was as it was, why the people of this region were as they were. Unless she was compelled someday to risk life and security to satisfy curiosity, she would never learn the unique nature of the land and the impact it provided on the evolution of this region.
The People inhabited a land that did not know war, cultural conflicts, or territorial disputes that set one people against another. Taryn asked herself the question; why, if this land was so similar to her Earth, did it evolve and develop so different in other ways? Geology is as fickle as genetic mutation and evolution. Seismic activity just a half mile in a different location might crack the earth, shift the direction of an entire river, drain a lake that has stood the test of time for a thousand years, tear down a mountain, or raise a mountain higher. Seismic activity that doesn’t happen with devastating effect because of pressure valves formed in an area like Yellowstone; or, without the formation of those release valves, new mountains are pushed into the sky, land is liquefied, and entire regions shift.
Millions of years ago, those were the minute differences in geology that created the environment of this region. The mountains to the west of Taryn’s narrow valley were formed more ragged and impassable in compensation of the land on the other side disappearing. If she were to see over those mountains she would find what she might consider the Pacific Ocean lapping at the foot of the mountains. The mountains she thinks are extraordinarily tall to the east across the prairie were similarly formed and compensated by land mass devastation to the east of them. In Taryn’s world, these mountains would rival the Himalayans. The formation of these mountains resulted in the devastation of the land east on a magnitude no human was aware given the time of the occurrence. When the mountains pushed up, the counterbalance was land disappearing to the east. If Taryn were to know the geology and geography of the region in relation the North American she knew and understood, the entire swath of land from eastern Montana to New Mexico through Michigan to Alabama was underwater.
The world itself was altered to Taryn’s mind by simple events in time, events that dictated people who survived at critical moments in history. When the right people don’t reach maturity and their need for power and conquest isn’t realized, cultural drift from region to region, continent to continent, one race over another, one religion bent on the elimination of another all cease to occur. Without the greed of power and domination, without the wars of control, slaughter, and subjugation, and without the distraction of inventing new and more gruesome ways to kill, the world evolves slower. Over the world, the shift from nomadic to agrarian societies shift slowly and develop slowly. The art of metal-craft is put to tools rather than weapons.
A region like the one Taryn now finds herself remained nomadic longer, the people remaining free and wandering the land. Metal-craft has no place in a nomadic society and little reason for it when game is plentiful and relations among various peoples of the region is peaceful and cooperative. But, even so, The People find themselves in the mix of nomadic and agrarian coming together. As the stories tell of the past, The People roamed the great prairie from mountains to mountains. With game and food plentiful, the populations increased, mortality was a function of survival of winters, dry times of summer, and the dangers from predators and hunting. Despite the hardships, however, The People have grown to number nearly 500. Their nomadic life has reduced to moving about 100 miles from their winter quarters to their summer quarters and back again. The People have learned the benefits and skill of growing food, different food depending on where they are. They have learned to manipulate softer metals like gold and copper, but it is used mainly for decorative purposes.
As the indigenous people of Taryn’s North American developed crafts much later than people of Europe and Asia because of a lack of need, so too was the case of The People. Whatever development and evolution was occurring in this world’s equivalent to European and Asian continents, the double isolation of seas gave this region isolation and peace.
It was within this backdrop of history that found The People and the appearance of the pack from the mountains to the west. Wolves were quite common in the region and the existence of numerous packs had been chronicled, some very large and some very small, even smaller than the one they were now watching. The People and other people scattered over the region were very similar to the wolves in certain ways and a bond of respect and reverence had long been bestowed on the wolves by the people. The wolves were territorial in some respects and nomadic within that territory, but they did not treat their territory jealously with conflict. The interactions of the various peoples of the region was similar.
It wasn’t the appearance of this new pack that generated the interest. What generated the interest in this particular pack over others was that there appeared to be a smallish bear second in the line of the pack.
They referred to themselves simply as The People. It wasn’t arrogance that they felt they were the only people of worth or note, it was simply a term of community and equality. They lived in a loose knit community based on sharing and the practice of doing what is in the common good for all. They believed in a minimalist system of governance, but some common decision was required. They had a council whose membership varied from time to time from 18 to 25 members and loosely made up of the traditional families of whom most of the people were derived. Some left the community to set off on their own direction, sometimes returning. There were many dangers in the region, not the least being hunting and the many predators that the abundance of wildlife supported.
The council would elect or choose a Chief. This leader, Wambleeska, was always a unanimous choice based on experience, knowledge, and ability to work with the community. The leader had always been an elder man. It wasn’t that The People were patriarchal. They weren’t. In addition to the Chief, they were also led by two Spirit Guides. These were nearly always female and were generally trained for years by the current Guide before taking over responsibility. One of the Spirit Guides was specifically focused: Wolf Spirit Guide, Ehawee. The other was generally inclusive of the natural world: Nature Spirit Guide, Makawee. The wolf is the most revered of all the animals and the ways of the wolf were studied and incorporated into their lives in ways of behavior with others (tolerance of those entering their territory), sharing (the group hunts and grows, and the young always eat and the rest is shared), and commitment (all wolves participate and function for the good of the pack). The herd is critical to their survival. Despite beginning to grow food, the main food source is still the meat from wildlife. The natural world is the understanding of weather, soil, water, and growing. It has become more important as they slowly shift to include an element of an agrarian society into their ways.
The movement of The People north is a slow and laborious effort. Not only the sheer number to move, but their shelters, equipment, tools, and belongings must be moved by travois, and pulled by the men and women. The elderly and young follow behind providing whatever support and assistance they can, but a steady movement is of more importance than assisting and becoming tired.
The People travel north through the valley formed by the string of hills and the mountains to the west. The lead group is stopped alongside a hill, observing the smaller herd in the valley, when the lead hunter in the advance group signals for quiet and directs attention to the slopes of the mountain. The advance group is made up of the two Spirit Guides, one apprentice each, and four experienced hunters and trackers. Their purpose is to investigate the route ahead of the others and identify any problems or dangers. They are at ground level as the wolf pack stops, seems to survey the valley, and advance in single file into the valley. It is difficult for them to remain quiet. The surprise and speculation is feverish. The vantage point is poor with the scattered herd between them, but it appeared to many in the group that this wolf pack contained a small to medium sized bear.
The hunters move the group back into the trees and climb the hill. If the pack remains on the same heading, they should pass directly below them if they can get to the top of the hill. As they reach a suitable location just over the top of the hill with a clearing, the pack came into view. With a much better view, the scene is confirmed and the Nature apprentice loudly exclaims what all the others are also thinking. They are hushed and several of the wolves break out of the line, looking into the trees on the mountainside. The entire pack stops and adults gather protectively around the youngest in the pack.
Ehawee, the Wolf Spirit Guide, points down at the pack as she pulls her apprentice to her side. Her daughter, Wachiwi, whispers to her mother, “Those three are young, but from last year’s birthing.”
Her mother smiles at the response from the young woman. She has been a handful her entire life, but only because of her zest for life. Even her name means ‘Dancing Girl’. She has always, since she could move on her own, been a body in motion. The People have no expectation that children follow in the talents of their parents, they are instead encouraged to discover and hone their own unique skills and talents. Ehawee secretly believed that part of her daughter’s fascination and devotion to studying the wolves was in admiration of the freedom with which they lived. She could understand the feeling because she sometimes felt the same the way. She sometimes felt that The People were getting too large and the life was slowly changing. The size was security and development of new skills, tools, and ways of doing things; none of those things were bad or wrong. The changes were positive for the community, providing new foods to supplement the game, fish, and birds. Even she sometimes envied the wolves, though she couldn’t ever admit it to anyone, least of all to her daughter who would only be encouraged.
The lead hunter moved by in a crouch to the two women. “Does this pack look familiar to you? There is something different about them. Forget the bear for now, is it my imagination?”
They both leaned forward, their forearms on their knees, as if those inches might make the view clearer. The two women were quiet for some moments, then whispered back and forth. At times like this, Ehawee did not relate to her daughter as her daughter. No other apprentice had advanced to such a high degree and she found herself more and more relating to her as a Guide. Even if she didn’t have the title, yet; her actions and insight were already finely tuned.
“Look closely, mother. I have never seen that big, black one. The one in the lead of the pack, he is new.”
“Yes. Also, look closely at the other wolves. Forget the bear for the moment. See how healthy all the wolves are. This pack has had a very good winter. Wolves usually come out of winter with a great need to eat. These are different, they have not been without and they don’t look depleted by the ravages of the cold.”
The hunter persisted, though. He returned their attention to the bear. He wanted to know how that made any sense. They all agreed that it didn’t make any sense. The two were incompatible with each other, they were competing predators; one basically a loner and the other needing a pack. The pack stopped at the edge of the prairie and they all gathered around the big black and the bear. Then the bear did a completely unnatural thing: it put a front paw around the neck of the big black, as if to hug it. And then it laughed. A distinctly human laugh.
The group on the side of the hill looked at each other, back to the animals below them, bewildered by the incongruent images and sounds. It was yet another example of the back of the brain picking up on what was wrong, but the front of the brain not catching up with differentiating between the signals it was expecting and what it was receiving. The bear didn’t only spend too much time on its hind legs while walking, it held a spear, and affectionately touched the wolves. Slowly, the recognition came to them that the ‘bear’ was really human and a female, at that. But, that brought an avalanche of additional questions and conjecture.
* * * * * *
Below, at the edge of the prairie, I was accepting the significance of our discovery. Reading about the massive herds that roamed and dominated the plains of North American did no justice to actually seeing it in front of you. No matter where I looked, the shifting images on the prairie was the thousands of thousands of dark animals and shadows.
My mind and eyes had at first focused on the animals I expected to find: antelope, deer, and elk. Then, recognizing the bison, which still made sense given my own world and experience. Up close and personal now, though, these bison were different from my experience. They were the same, but seemed larger than the animals I was familiar with from visits to Wyoming and Montana. These animals somehow seemed bigger, more massive with thicker hair on the shoulders, but it might only be this new perspective of proximity combined with my recent primitive existence. The largest looked to be 6 feet tall at the shoulders and weighing a literal ton. They were massive creatures and the image of them running in a herd across the prairie would indeed sound like an approaching thunderstorm and feel like earth tremors.
The mastodon were the animals my mind had the most trouble with. I could accept, though with difficulty, that human development might be 400 to 500 years behind my old world, but mastodons had been extinct for about 10,000 years. But, I also saw horses mixed in with the herd. These horses looked like the wild horses that existed, not the domesticated versions that man had bred into specific varieties for his use. Horses became extinct in North America at about the same time as the mastodon. It is believed that they originated in North America about 4 million years before and spread into Eurasia. They didn’t return until the Spanish brought them in with their conquests. Given the suddenness of the extinctions after flourishing for millions of years, something quite unusual must have happened and had been much debated in the scientific community. I looked up at the massive mountains to the east that shouldn’t be there, either. There were events of my old world that were not duplicated in this world, and there were events in this world that did not occur in the old one.
With the reality of what this world is compared to my previous existence, I took new understanding of my condition. In order for all of this to exist, this reality was not going to be suddenly minimized by the appearance of a QuikShop over the next ridge.
My fascination was drawn back to the reality of living among creatures like the mastodon. Seeing some near the bison, they appeared much like the current Asian elephant with a body size ranging from 8 to 9 feet at the shoulders. Their weight seemed like 4 to 5 times that of the bison. They had thick coats of shaggy hair and tusks that stood out 12 to 15 feet and curving upward. Unless it was injured or lame, I couldn’t imagine how they would be brought down by wolf or man without injury or death being suffered in the process.
The shadows elongating on the ground reminded me that we were losing the day quickly. We came to this side of the mountains in search of food and discovery. I had certainly learned much, already. If we were to make a kill for the pack’s food, it needed to be done soon. There was definitely plenty of options directly in front of us, the question was eliminating most of the dangers that might be involved. I spotted antelope and deer nearby, but we would require several of either to properly feed the entire pack. I saw an elk moving left to right along a ragged ravine with an outcrop of rocks and shrubs on the opposite side. That seemed to possibly provide a visual deterrent and a way to limit the animals escape. I knew, however, that with just a couple steps, the elk would be capable of leaping the entire ravine. None the less, it seemed like the best immediate option.
I moved down the slope to the ground, untying the bear skin at the same time. Once on ground level, I slipped off the coat, removed my bow and quiver, and put the skin back on. I loosened the quiver straps before tightening it over my shoulder and back, now over the coat. I picked up both the bow and spear and crouch-walked 20 yards closer to the animal. I stopped and Bo and the wolves stopped around me. I pointed the spear to the right, in front of the direction the elk was moving, and used my bow to point to the left, behind the elk. Two groups lowered themselves and moved into position. Ma, Dau, and the younger ones remained with me. They would both watch around me as I used the bow and provide deterrence of the animal charging into me. This was a tactic we found very successful and minimized danger to anyone in the pack, me included.
I approached from the back and side when the elk was startled, not by us, but by a bison struggling in the ravine. Somehow, it had aimlessly walked into the ravine and seeing the approach of the wolves in front could not climb the sides. With the elk gone, I motioned everyone to the bison. This was certainly a first, but with it struggling in the ravine, it was worth a chance. I quickly refocused, sprinting the distance to the edge of the ravine, and finding the wolves from the rear had split with some in the ravine and others on the other side. Bo’s group set up a snarling line in front of it. Its reaction was predictable by first freezing then struggling on both slopes of the ravine, vainly attempting a way out, and away from the wolves. I presumed that the bison would be safe from wolves except in a situation like this.
This was not a time for weak arrow shafts and I selected two of mine. I aimed for the soft, vulnerable spot behind the front leg at the side, put both nearly side by side, and the animal staggered for a moment, his attention still on the wolves but the hurt in its side. It fell to its front knees, trying to regain its feet. I dropped the bow and took up the spear, leaping off the edge of the ravine and driving the knife tip as deeply into the same place as the arrows that I could. I could feel the knife blade of the spear glancing off a rib and penetrating deep inside as my momentum and weight behind it provided a force its tough hide and body could no longer resist. But, it tried vainly. As the blade pierced deeply, it reared it body in a last gasp of resistance. The motion caught me off guard and I failed to release the spear shaft in time, sending me into the air and landing 10 feet behind the animal, momentarily stunned.
I heard a terrible sound and I struggled with myself to connect to my surroundings, but it was coming back slow. With focusing eyes and mind, I saw that the wolves had the beast surrounded with more having moved between me and the animal, protecting me. I tried scrambling to my feet, my awakened senses and mind telling me that further damage or injury could be caused to others if the animal wasn’t put down quickly. My feet and knees were tangled inside the hide coat so I quickly stripped it off, drew the knife from the scabbard on my thigh, clambered up the ravine side, and launched myself onto its shoulders with the knife driving into its head, just in front of the ear, narrowly missing the horn with my forearm. Its reaction seemed to be complete denial for a moment, going rigid as the knife penetrated into the brain, and, finally, dropping straight down to its four knees … dead.
I remained on top of the animal for moments, simply catching my breath, and trying to convince myself that I had been under complete control even while chastising myself for taking such a dramatic and spontaneous risk.
When I looked up, the pack was watching me. I slid off the side of the animal and took a moment to assess my body for the first time. Except for some scrapes and bruises, I didn’t appear to be too worse for the encounter. Standing next to it, the animal was huge and the pack was looking from it to me as if to ask, ‘what now?’. Which would be an excellent question. My routine was to immediately strip the hide before the feasting began. I looked at the animal a bit wearily, however. I was banged up and the bruises were already being felt in my hips and shoulder. I was very … VERY … tempted to just let the pack rip into it, but even that would be awkward because they were waiting for me to cut open the hide before they started. The routine was as strong for them.
Stripping the hide off an adult elk was a lot of work, so I was preparing myself for much more with this, but there was no time like the present. The sun was getting lower in the sky, I needed a protective and warming fire and we all needed food. I went to work without any more hesitation or consideration. It is just the way life was now; but no matter how my body might talk back to me with new or lasting aches and bruises, I was always grateful and eager. This experience, this life, was hard and often unyielding as I pushed against it, but it provided me with a feeling, a soulful consciousness, that this life was what I was meant to live.
* * * * *
The group on the hilltop had watched in fascination and disbelief at the action that had occurred below them. The human with the wolf pack was indeed a female, and she was skilled. It was also obvious that she commanded the respect and confidence of the pack. The instant debate and speculation was where she had come from and how she ended being accepted into a wolf pack. She did not appear to be like them; although her hair was black and thick like theirs, her skin was lighter, her features were finer.
They watched as she began skinning the bison, an animal they had trouble bringing down even with greater numbers. Wachiwi, though, had not missed the distinct difference in approach to the kill. Where they tended to attack where the animal was, the pack had attacked this larger animal while restricted by the ravine. Even so, the woman had been thrown by the beast like she was of no consequence. As it turned out, that was a final act of defiance to an impending death. Once the woman had most of a side of the animal uncovered from the hide, she stepped back and the wolves moved in for feeding. While they did, she moved to the trees, collecting twigs and wood with which she created a fire.
Several of the group had moved to the opposite side of the hilltop to establish a camp for the evening with their own fire and food. After a meal of deer meat from an earlier kill, they settled around the fire and continued their speculation about this unusual wolf pack and quizzed Ehawee, the senior Wolf Spirit Guide, on the possible implications and meaning. Was this a sign? How did she interpret this new development? The questions and inquisition continued and she had few answers for them. She was as intrigued and bewildered as they were, although she couldn’t admit it. She was also curious why her daughter had been so quiet during the exchange and looked around for her, surely she had a thought. The young woman always had an opinion and they were proving to be very insightful, the result of a mind open to new and challenging ways and hopeful for a new way for The People.
Wachiwi wasn’t with them, however. On a hunch, Ehawee went back to the hilltop and found her intrigued daughter quietly watching the scene below illuminated only by the fire at the top of the ravine, the carcass just below.
Without turning, she knew her mother was coming to her side. “Are they mating? Is that what they are doing?” She had never actually seen wolves mating, but her mother had described it in some detail as part of her training.
“Yes.” There was a paused as she squatted next to her daughter and stared in equal fascination. “Interesting … how interesting …” And, after another prolonged period of quiet between them, “how interesting”.
“Stop saying that … what is so interesting?”
“They are all mating. A pack doesn’t normally do that, only dominant male and female should be mating. Daughter, this is unusual. This pack is behaving unusually … accepting a human into their pack, open mating among them, and it might even be after their heat season.” She moved forward slightly, shifting her gaze one way, then another. “Where is the human female?”
Wachiwi chuckled, “Under the big black.” She pointed to the moving mass by the fire. She watched for a few moments longer, seeing the big male wolf pounding his hind quarters at the naked human female. She had never been with a man. It was expected that a Spirit Guide would be mated by a special man, that the man would be decided and evident by a series of events as interpreted by the current Spirit Guide. Her mother had never been satisfied. She secretly suspected that her mother was just too picky, but she wasn’t complaining. She also knew that having a mate resulted in pregnancy and her life of wandering with hunters and her mother would become restricted. Seeing the scene below her, though, sent a rush of new sensations through her body, sensations she had not felt before. She was fascinated that a woman could be mated by a wolf and her mind began to wonder and she knew at that instant that it would be a wondering that would stay with her until there was some resolution. A Wolf Spirit Guide and a wolf?
She tore her eyes from the scene below her and turned her eyes to her mother. “Did you know such a thing was possible?”
Ehawee was having as much trouble taking her eyes from the scene, but she turned to face the younger woman. “No. Never did it even occur to me to wonder.”
“We must make contact with her. We have to at least try. Imagine how much we can learn.”
They both returned their eyes to the scene of mating. The older woman gave a soft giggle, “But, not right now …”
They shared a knowing hug, rose, and returned to the camp, committed to not sharing this part of what they had witnessed.
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Continued in Chapter 13
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