Chapter 3

I was approaching the area along the river where the two groups had fought and was taking advantage of cover. I tried to observe without being observed. I didn't find anyone along the river. I decided not to look for the river bank shooters. I went by the location of the fighting without seeing anyone. I continued along the river for another day without seeing anyone or anything. I was ready to meet people and began to look for a village and look for signs of people.

Later the next day, I saw an older man walking away from the river and followed him at a distance. He entered a village that seemed to be more civilized or, at least, not as primitive looking as the other I had seen. These people were bow and arrow hunters as well as farmers. I watched and waited again. I also came to realize that I was a better woodsman than they. I had lived with less and had spent time hiding in the woods with almost no weapons.

I was cautious and wanted to let things develop before I was found or came forward. I watched for a week. They seemed to be peaceful people. There were three villages laid out in a big triangle. The village farthest from the river was a little smaller than the other two and, for some reason, appeared friendlier. I killed and field dressed a deer. With it over my shoulder, I approached the village purposefully allowing them to see me.

I was met by men with bows readied well out from the village. I slowly set my deer on the ground. I smiled and bowed at them. I said, "Hello. I brought this food to share with you and would like to be a friend."

They started and talked swiftly between them. They looked back at me and I said, "I come from far away. My name is Tom Underwood from Georgia. Who are you?" When I said, "Tom," I pointed to my body. When I asked their names, I pointed at them. That information, they figured out very quickly. One stepped forward and said, "Oo-tar." He pointed at his chest.

I said, "Tom," pointing at my chest. I then said, "Oo-tar," and pointed at him.

The other said, "Bil-lee," pointing at his chest. He pointed at me and said, "Tom."

I said, "Oo-tar," and pointed at the first man. I then said, "Bil-lee," and pointed at the second one. 'Tom," I said and pointed at me. I then pointed at my deer and said, "Deer." To my considerable surprise, they nodded. They helped me carry the deer into their village using a cut tree limb to suspend it. Oo-tar and I carried the deer slung under the stick on our shoulders. We traveled to the village with Bil-lee walking beside me.

We reached the village and I quickly became the center of attention.

My thought, for what it might be worth, is that I was transported into the future a very long time. Civilization seems to have been lost and few people inhabited this area which seemed to be like North America but very unlike it, too. I was troubled in that theory because I hadn't seen any trace of ruins. No ruins made a North American reference difficult. It takes a long time for chunks of concrete and steel to disappear.

The language was a good part of that theory. Most of the names were different in some way from English but eerily similar. Other words were different but were also strangely similar to English. Deer was one that was exactly the same. Being the only one who spoke English, I worked hard to learn their language quickly. Fortunately, it wasn't a hard language.

At any rate, I was welcomed into the village. Ootar and Billee looked similar and were brothers. They lived in a house with their sister, Marree. They appreciated my deer. As time went on, I became part of their family. All three appeared to be younger than my twenty-seven years and shorter than my six feet. I never would meet anyone my height. My skin was whiter than theirs but our features were similar.

I was living with the three siblings and learning the language. Their parents had died of disease a few years ago when a plague swept through the area and the villages. Both brothers were interested in local girls.

Marree had no father and that had harmed her ability to find a mate in this society. She was older than her brothers being twenty-four. It made her something of an old maid since most villagers mated in their teens.

She had soft brown hair and eyes with a slim figure with small breasts and slight hips. The village had little in the way of clothing fetishes one way or another. The heat kept anyone from wearing a lot of clothes. While my breechclout wasn't the only one, most people wore shorts and some kind of light shirt. All the clothing colors were muted browns and greens which fit my color preferences for clothing quite well.

About a month after I came to the village, Marree made me a couple of pairs of shorts that I found very comfortable. Her method of measuring my size made it a fun time for us. She was very "hands on." I found that she was familiar with the size of her brothers and had seen other men when swimming which was always done nude. She had other practical, more intimate knowledge of men and their equipment as well. At the time of my "measurement," I hadn't yet joined in the swimming. Apparently, she hadn't seen one as large as mine. I always thought I was just normal. In the back of my mind, I wondered if there was a relationship to my height that I always thought was average, too. It was nice to be the tallest but, in the back of my mind, I never forgot that taller people might appear some day.