Chapter 24

We lived in the valley for two whole winters and then some, before any trouble showed up on our doorstep. In that time our new settlement had been established. As planned it had been built upon the flat that stood before our cave. It was massive. A huge palisade enclosed the flat holding in all the construction that I had accomplished in that time and more. We were doing more than surviving in the here and now; we were in fact, thriving. Then Gogra returned.

Gogra and his people had wintered with us the first winter that we’d spent in the valley. The old man had proven to be a friend. We’d spoken on the trek to the valley and once again when we’d arrived there. The Horse People had their way of doing things and I had mine. I had found that out when Tonko, Gabon, and the others had joined us at our cave in the other valley. It helped that we all shared a common language, but it had still been stressful for a while as we became accustomed to each other and everyone adapted to my way of thinking. In the end, Gogra and I had come to an understanding. Together we worked to ensure that our forced seclusion that first winter went well. When the older man had left the next spring he had ridden away happy and content and still my friend. I had taught the Horse People everything that Agar had asked of me. They knew how to make bows and arrows, and how to make three types of saddles. One was the copy of my western style saddle, one was the packsaddle and frame that I’d developed for our horses to carry, and the third was a simplified riding pad that looked like a soft-seat jockey saddle. It had a chest strap, a belly cinch, and simple strap stirrups. It was simpler to make, it used much less materials to fashion, and it definitely took less time to produce. I even made a couple for my own horses to increase the number of riders in my group.

Since that time I hadn’t seen Gogra. I had sent a trade party to the Horse People late in our first year here in the valley to trade for more of their string and to round up a few more head of wild cattle to increase our herd. I had sent Tonko and Vedic on the trip as I had been busy still building our new home.

They had reported everything to be fine with the Horse People. Agar had sent his greetings and best wishes as had Gogra. Thus I was surprised to see the man ride down the far side of our valley and towards our settlement, leading a band of Horse People behind him. Naturally I rode out to greet him.

“Greetings, Gogra of the Horse People,” I hailed the man as I rode across the bridge that now spanned the river that ran through our valley, the hooves of my bay thundering upon the wooden surface of the structure.

“Greetings, Jake of the Bear People,” Gogra responded formally, pulling up on his horse as he did, to bring his mount to a halt. Then he grinned and smiled good-naturedly at me.

The Bear People was a joke between Gogra and me. It had started with the three bears we’d had to kill on our arrival in the valley before we could occupy our cave. It had continued because those three bears were not the last that I or any of my people were forced to kill. In the three months leading up to that first winter I had been called upon to kill five more bears, while Durt had killed one while out hunting with Gogra and a number of other men. Even Rugar had killed one just before the rains had started falling in late October. Surprisingly the joke had stuck. My people had claimed it as their name.

I could understand why it had stuck. All those kills had led to tons of bear meat smoked and preserved for our winter meals. They had also ensured that we had many furs to cover our beds during the cold of winter. When Ramie and the other women of the cave heard Gogra’s joke they embraced it. While I wasn’t one for trophies, they most certainly were. The woman took all the claws and canines collected from the kills and they made jewellery to be worn by those who wanted it. By the time winter was over and Gogra was ready to depart, every woman in the cave wore an armband decorated with the claws of the bears, while every hunter who’d killed a bear and that included me, wore a necklace of teeth. We even had a bear skull mounted on each gate post at the entrance of our enclosure. They stood there to tell anyone who came into our valley who we were. My people were proud of the name.

“You look tired, Gogra,” I muttered politely once formal greetings had been exchanged. “You have ridden far and with a troubled heart. Perhaps you’d like to sit at my hearth and sip tea with me and tell me what brings you to my valley?”

“I would appreciate at that, my friend,” Gogra replied with a nod of his head and a heavy sigh. “We have indeed travelled far with a heavy heart and it would be well to unburden myself. My people and I would welcome the hospitality of your hearth. Will you grant it?”

“With pleasure, Gogra,” I reassured the older man. “Come and ride beside me and I will lead the way.”

I led the way with Gogra riding beside me in silence. We rode from the bridge to the sloping hill upon which our enclosure stood. By now a permanent track had formed in the hillside from the traffic coming and going from our settlement. We rode up the path and to the main gate. There we were met by Gabon and Bogdi. The two took our horses once we’d dismounted, promising to tend to their needs.

Gogra’s eyes widened once we’d stepped through the swinging gates of the enclosure. When he had ridden back to his own people very little had been built inside it. At that time it had an outhouse, a smokehouse, a few stables and a corral, and a well for drawing water. Now there were many structures including our new home; a massive longhouse.

The longhouse stood in the centre of the enclosure. It stood on a rock and mortar foundation, raised up about the flat upon which it had been built. It was huge even by my standards, with a front fifty feet wide and a length six times that. It was made of logs laid one on top of the other, caulked and sealed against the elements. It had a thatched roof and stone steps that led up into it through heavy wooden doors. Two wooden pillars stood by the portal into the longhouse, one on each side. I’d carved them to look like bears reared up and growling in defiance. It was an awe inspiring sight for any first time visitor. The longhouse even had a second storey. That second storey was only a fraction of the size of the main structure, but it was still impressive to look at as you walked towards the building and you took it in for the first time.

The longhouse wasn’t the only thing that caught Gogra’s eye as we strode through the main gate and headed towards the structure. The once empty flat was now covered with outbuildings and other structures that served my community’s needs, chief amongst them the barn that housed our herd of cattle.

“Come, Gogra,” I urged the older man when I noticed that his pace had slackened and he was trailing behind me, gaping at what there was to see. “I’ll give you a tour, later. Right now there is a seat waiting at my hearth and a cup to drink from. Follow me.”

I waited until the man had caught up to me. Then I took him by the arm and I led him up the stairs that led into my home and through the heavy wooden doors and past the two sculpted bears that guarded it. Once inside I dragged Gogra along with me, even though I could tell that he wanted to stop and gape some more at what filled the interior of the massive longhouse. Without a word I took him down the long corridor, past the apartments where my people slept, and past the open windows that lined the walls of the dwelling letting light in for people to see, finally dragging him to our hearth. Once there I sat him on the bench before it and then I took my seat.

My seat was a high backed chair covered with a bearskin and upon which cushions had been laid for my comfort. It wasn’t quite a throne, but it did set me apart from the rest of my community when we were all gathered about the hearth to eat and talk. It made certain that everyone knew that I was the leader. There were two other chairs like it; one each for Clara and Gabby. At the moment they were pushed up against the back wall of the longhouse, to be used only when they were sitting with me. As I sat Zeya walked into the common room carrying a tray. She brought it over to me. Upon the tray was a ceramic jug and two cups.

“Here, Gogra, try this as a drink,” I muttered handing the older man a cup before grabbing the jug and the other cup into my hands, “It is called Applejack. We pressed it last fall just before winter set in and we let it sit all winter until now. I hope you like it.”

I poured the man a cup of the amber liquid and then I filled my own cup. Putting the jug down beside my seat, I took a sip. Gogra did the same a moment later. His eyes widened immediately at the taste.

“It is good,” Gogra stated enthusiastically after taking a deeper drink. “It is very good. What do you make it from?”

“Apples,” I told him smiling and taking another drink from my own glass. “I enjoy it, although I will warn you not to drink too much. It can send you to the outhouse very quickly if you do. Now, tell me of your journey and what brings you here. Does Agar want to trade?’

“No,” Gogra replied turning solemn as he said the words. “Agar is dead. He passed to the spirit world last winter. A chill took him. Now Mondo leads the Horse People. I have left them seeking refuge here. Will you grant it?”

I wanted to say yes without a hint of reservation, but I didn’t. I was leader of this community and I needed to know more before making such a decision.

“I grieve to hear that Agar sleeps in the spirit world,” I stated with true regret instead, “and I pray that the Earth Mother looks after him. Tell me more my friend. Mondo was also your brother. Why have you left him to journey here?”

Gogra sighed heavily before replying. He looked tired. As I sat beside him and looked at him, waiting for his reply, I noticed that the man looked a little thinner than I remembered him. I wondered silently if the man was sick. Eventually Gogra cleared his throat and spoke.

“Mondo is not Agar,” Gogra informed me, his voice filled with sadness, his broad shoulders fallen. “Mondo is good leader, but he does not see the value of doing things differently. He still rides his horse and he uses the bow that you made for Agar, but the other things that you showed Agar does not interest him. To Mondo caring for cattle is a waste of time, when the tribe still has many horses. Regrettably, there are others in the tribe who think so as well. Mondo listens to them now and not to me.”

“Didn’t Baylor speak up?” I asked out of curiosity. Baylor had earned himself a place by Agar through dealing with me and Agar had trusted his judgement. I had trusted the man as well. I knew that he understood the value of what I had shown the craftsmen over the winter. When he rode out with Gogra to return to the Horse People the man had been singing the praises of our community and what we had to teach him and others in his tribe.

“Baylor is dead as well,” Gogra told me with deep sorrow in his voice. “A mountain cat fell on him while he was out hunting with his bow. The cat killed him and his son as well.”

“Jotar is dead?” I gasped in surprise, sitting up tall in my seat as I said the words. “What has happened to his mate?”

Jotar had mated with Trika that winter. It had been touch and go for a bit, with most in my cave urging her to change her mind. Unfortunately Trika wanted to be mated and her only other option refused to step forward and stake his claim. With Sygor still sitting on the fence, Jotar had won out and I had performed the ceremony. It had been a tearful farewell when she had left, leaving everything behind her that she’d ever known. It was made worse by the fact that she was going off pregnant. She had been no more than a couple of months along, but still it was known by all including her mother, Tonya, who was not going with her.

“I’ve brought the girl back with me,” Gogra replied firmly. “I thought it would be best. If she had stayed there, both her and her child would have died. With no more cattle to watch over there is no extra meat or milk or cheese available to feed the people when hunting is scarce. It means that there is very little for the widows and orphans to eat.”

I nodded my head in acknowledgement of Gogra’s words and then I thanked him. Then without pause I turned my head towards where Zeya was standing, off on the periphery of the central area of our home and I beckoned her to me.

“Find Tonya and tell her Trika is with the people travelling with Gogra,” I told her when she stopped by my chair. “Then when you’ve done that, go and find Clara for me. She and Gabby were out with the women gathering berries today. Let her know about Trika, and about the fact we have visitors from the Horse People. She’ll want to examine them all.”

Zeya assured me that she’d do it immediately and then turned and headed off to obey my command. With that tended to, I turned back to Gogra.

“Tell me more about Mondo,” I asked the older man. “Will he be angry that you took the craftsmen that I trained with you when you left? Should I expect to see him and his hunters in our valley soon? Will we be welcome back to trade with the Horse People in the future? These are things I need to know.”

Gogra grunted his understanding. After taking another sip of his drink he spoke to me in a hushed voice about his leaving the Horse People and taking the craftsmen with him. No, Mondo wouldn’t miss them. The craftsmen had trained others to make bows and saddles, and with the herds of cattle slaughtered there was no need for the craftsman who made cheese. The others with Gogra were men who had tended the cattle as handlers. The man that had replaced Balto as chief handler didn’t want their help tending to the horses. He had always disliked the value that Agar had put on the herd and the people working them. It meant that those handlers were now suffering for they received very little from Mondo in the way of food and most could not go hunting. We talked for a good hour and Gogra answered my questions truthfully. In the end I welcomed him into my tribe.

I settled Gogra and his people into our old cave for the time being. There were twenty-two people in his party including Gogra and his mate. I could find room for some of them in the longhouse but not room for them all. I would have to build an extension. That however was a concern for tomorrow. While there I reacquainted myself with the craftsmen in the group that I already knew, chatting with each of them for a moment or two before moving on to another. I then ran into Trika. The young woman was a shadow of herself. Her mother was there with her now. They were both crying and I couldn’t tell who was trying to comfort whom. I approached them solemnly.

“Hello Trika,” I said in a low voice, “and welcome back to my cave. I am sorry to hear about Jotar’s death. You have my sympathy. It is however good to see you here once again. Rest assured that so long as you desire it, there will be a place at my hearth for you and your child. You needn’t fear.”

The young woman threw herself into my arms in response taking everyone about us by surprise. I doubted that the Horse People were big on open displays of emotions at the best of times and I seriously doubted that any of these people would have thrown their arms about their leader no matter how close they were to the man. I had a strong feeling that most of the people with Gogra were in for a big surprise. Things would be different in my community.

While just as stunned by Trika’s sudden outburst I recovered quickly enough and when I did I embraced Trika in turn, leaning down and giving her a peck on the top of her head before handing her back to her mother to look after.

“She and her child will live with Trona and me,” Tonya told me once she’d pulled Trika back into her arms. “I will make certain that everything is well. You needn’t worry about us, Jake. It’ll be just like old times.”

I was sure it would be. I said so to the woman and then moved on. In a few minutes I was with Gogra again. The old man was talking to his mate, planning where people would sleep.

“This is only temporary,” I told Gogra firmly. “I can make room for a few of you in my longhouse. As for the rest, they can live here until I build a second longhouse for them to live in. It will just take a little time, but with willing hands it won’t take that long.”

Gogra assured me that everyone in his group would be more than willing to help. We talked for a bit. That evening we would have a feast to welcome everyone into the tribe. It would be a time to meet everyone and for me to speak about what was expected by me of those who lived here. I certainly wanted everyone starting off on the right foot. Gogra agreed. After a few more minutes I excused myself to see to the feast. Gogra let me go.

The feast of welcome went well. We ate it at our ‘outdoor hearth.’ That was what our people called the patio area that I’d put in next to the longhouse. It was more practical than eating in the longhouse about the central hearth during the summer. It was both comfortable and relaxing. The area consisted of an open space filled with picnic tables that I’d built similar to the one taken from the compound all set upon a raised wooden deck. The outside walls of the longhouse formed two sides of the patio. The longhouse was actually ‘T’ shaped and the patio was in the left hand corner of the ‘T’. A third wall stood at the outer edge of the patio. This wall was actually the hearth. I had built the wall waist high out of rock and mortar, forming a number of raised fire pits along its length. It even included an oven at the end closest to the longhouse. I had made it out of stone and cement and I had put a metal grill into it so the oven was separate from the fire box. I had even manufactured a metal door to cover the opening to the oven from some scrap metal that I’d taken from the compound. It wasn’t pretty, but it worked. In all there were two areas where pots could be put to cook stews or soups, there was a large grill over another where meat could be roasted, and then there was the oven. There was even a huge pit at the far end of the wall where a far sized chunk of meat could be spitted and roasted if we wanted. It took work and coordination by the women to get the meals made for everyone, but they did it.

I gave everyone my ‘everyone works; everyone eats’ speech to the new people. It went over well. I also picked out the craftsmen who’d wintered with us the first winter in the valley and I gave them a job to do. I pointed out that they had learned to live in my community by my rules and it was now their job to teach those rules and customs to those who had just come from the Horse People with them. I did lay down the law about who was in charge. Both Clara and Gabby were standing with me and I made certain that all the new people understood that women had a voice in our community. No one seemed to upset with that. Then again, most of the new people were women. Then I told them that their stay in the cave was temporary and that I had plans to build them a home somewhat like the longhouse, but a little smaller. It seemed to please them all. After that I went about and met everyone, spending a moment with each and then moving on. All in all, it was a very good evening.