Chapter 29

“But I don’t know any details about this mysterious army!”

“Don’t worry. The story will get embellished as it get passed on. The details will be added by the tellers of the story, I assure you.”

“When do you want to know the directions and distances?”

“As soon as you are satisfied that they make sense to you. Report back here again, and we can take it from here. Have you enough supplies to keep you going, or do you need more?”

“The fisher village seem to have a high regard for you, High Chief, so that they have provided supplies – mostly dried fish – to keep me going.”

“Do you have a good knife?”

“I do, sir, and I can trap some small game with snares I make for myself. Don’t worry about my food supply; even the villagers slip me some food from time to time when I make a sneaking visit.”

“Very well. Thank you for your efforts, Corvo. You can join our tribe, if you wish, once your scouting trips are done.”

“Thank you, sir. That could be of interest. Do you have any unattached females?”

“A few, Corvo; a few, but also keep an eye open for a worthy mate during your travels.”

Their discussion complete, Corvo went to see about his travel food, while John cursed the fact that all his planning to subvert the invaders with drugs was now a non-starter.

He returned to the Headman to say his farewells.

The headman was talking with Balto as John arrived, and broke off when John was announced.

“Ah, High Chief John. This young man has good ideas for a lad so young. You think he should be put to work finding animal meat for the village?”

“That would be a wise choice, in my humble opinion as an outsider.”

The headman gave a short laugh. “You? Humble? You have never come over as humble, my friend. You actions and your advice have always been helpful, so on your recommendation I am prepared to give this young hunter a chance to show what he can do. Do you have any words of wisdom to impart to him?”

“He may already know this, but it is important to disembowel your kill as soon as possible after downing it. Removing the guts will help the meat on the animal to stay good for longer. Also, the faster you can get the meat back to the village for the cooks to work on it, the better. Like fish, meat spoils if left too long. Cook the meat well, is my advice to the tribe. Meat bones can be used to be the start of a nutritious soup, so make use of these if you can. If not, your dogs, if you have any, will be happy to chew the bones for any goodness inside them.”

Balto replied, “We don’t have dogs, whatever they are, High Chief. Your advice on how to deal with the newly killed animals is welcome. I knew that meat spoils as does fish, but didn’t realise that the guts speed up the spoiling. The tribal cooks probably know how to cook meat, but I can check with them, and also the idea of soup from bones will be familiar, for I know they make fish soup from fish heads and bones, so I expect the process is similar.”

John raised an eyebrow at the lack of dogs. “Dogs can be trained to do a number of useful things. They have keen hearing and even keener noses, so they can warn you of the approach of wild animals or strangers. They also will fight for you against predators, and as they are pack animals, they willingly fight as a pack to bring down a predator. They are also friendly with humans, once trained to know who is their master; like a pack leader. We have a few with our tribe, but not enough to spare for other tribes, until they breed; so a year or two yet.”

The Headman offered, “If you find you can spare one or two trained dogs, we would be interested in having them. Can you keep us in mind?”

“I’ll do that. Have you heard of the Farfarers Tribe?”

“Vaguely. The live quite a ways inland, as I understand it. We do not have much contact with them.”

“Well, I am High Chief to that tribe as well. Its new Chief is Chief Maranga. She took over after Chief Mongo was killed by treachery. The traitor was killed, but not before killing and injuring Mongo’s children. Three of his daughters have been recuperating with us. A Chief’s family does not always get the best of things.”

“I know. One of our refugees is the widow of a Chief. She has twin daughters who are a bit of a handful. Could your people perhaps take these girls for a while? They would probably benefit by being away from their mother, and she might be a better person if she was not hovering over them all the time.”

“You mean, look after them for you? How old are they? That might make a difference.”

“They are twelve-year-old twins, I think. Have I got that right, Balto?”

“Yes, Chief. Twelve, going on thirteen summers; three years younger than me. And I agree with your estimation, sir: they would benefit from being away from their mother.”

“Twelve, then, High Chief. Is that suitable for your tribe to take on?”

“My wives would regard them as in need of careful attention away from their mother; just as with Chief Mongo’s daughters. Their mother was too upset to be able to look after them properly. They did well with us.”

“Then that is settled. I will inform their mother that I am sending them to your tribe to help them recover from their troubles, and that she needs to remain here, away from them for the same reason: recovery.”

John indicated his assent.

“I have to leave fairly soon, now that my consultation with Corvo is ended. He will be leaving again in one direction, and I will be leaving in another, to go home. It is too late to return today, so if I am permitted to stay somewhere overnight, I will return home with the twins in the morning.”

“I will have you accommodated with my sister and her family, High Chief. She will be honoured at the chance to help. My own hut is already full with my family.”

John thanked him for the offer and accepted a place to sleep.

In the morning, as John was preparing himself to leave, the Headman brought the twin girls to him.

“High Chief John, these are the girls that need a place to recuperate. Girls, this is High Chief John, an important man with two tribes under his sway. Do whatever he tells you.”

The girls looked John over and happily responded, “Whatever you say, Chief. We will behave ourselves. Your tribe will get good reports of us.”

John looked at them in turn, at the grubby faces and tousled hair, clearly in need of attention.

“Girls, as soon as we arrive, my ladies will take you to be bathed and your hair shampooed, so that you come up to the standard of the other girls in my tribe. They wash their bodies and shampoo their hair regularly, to make themselves more attractive for when they eventually become women.”

The twins stared at him, then looked at each other, then accepted his criticism: they did not look at their best.

“Yes, sir,” was all they said. They were adhering to their promise to obey.

John added, “And they may also introduce you to the joys of the comb. Hair always looks better when combed.” Then with a deprecating laugh, “Ignore my own tattered thatch for now. It will be attended to once I am home. My beard is what you get if you are a man. One has to live with it, for cutting it off is too complicated and repetitive. I just tried to keep it under control.”

Both girls giggled at these admissions from the important man who was now their own Chief.

They all said a friendly goodbye to Balto, and then a more formal farewell to the Headman, before taking the trail that led eventually to John’s Tribe.

The girls asked about his tribe and sought as much detail as possible about what was expected of girls their age. They were astonished at how much power adult women had in John’s tribe, but were even more astonished to hear that many of the warriors of John’s tribe were women.

“Does this mean that when we become women, we will have to become warriors too?”

“Not exactly. Once you become women, you will have equal opportunities with young men, and one of these opportunities is acting as a warrior for the tribe. You will be shown many of the skills that a warrior must have, and if you show promise with these skills, you will be invited to learn to be a warrior.

Women have another talent that men don’t have; that of birthing children: becoming mothers. A woman who is pregnant will at some point during her pregnancy cease acting as a warrior, for the sake of her baby; and for some time after birthing the baby. When she feels she is ready, she can restart her warrior training routines in preparation for fighting for the tribe if it is needed, but one of our techniques is intimidating the enemy so that a fight is not required. Ideally, the enemy will back down rather than fight, and that is the ideal outcome for us. It means no injuries on our side.”

One of the twins commented, “The pirates didn’t back down, Chief. You just attacked them from the start, and then arranged for them to die.”

“Circumstances were different, my girl. The pirates had proved that they were nasty people, so getting rid of them was a top priority. There was no way that I could consider parleying with them.”

“You did attack them, though.”

“I did, but primarily to get them to take the ship into the bay, where they could be dealt with more easily. It was what we call a strategic manoeuvre, where you act to persuade the enemy to do what you want them to do. That way, you are in control of the situation.”

The other twin – John decided he should ascertain their names – pointed pointed out “You do a lot of thinking, don’t you, Chief?”

“Thinking before acting is a good thing in every situation, girls. Even quarrelling with your mother or a friend can be handled better if you think first about what you intend to do. Is it the best time to quarrel? If it is not good for you, don’t do it. Wait for a better opportunity.”

“Gosh! You do act very cleverly, Chief.”

“It is not really clever; just sensible. Anyone can do this, if they apply themselves to thinking first, before they do.”

“Do you really have two tribes under your control, Chief?”

“No, I don’t. I don’t have any tribe under my control. Each of the two tribes has a Chief who runs that tribe. As High Chief, I act as adviser to both tribes, and try to get them to act together where possible. That way, anyone moving from one tribe to another doesn’t have to learn completely new ways of conducting yourself in the tribe. It will be the same as before; which is good for everyone.”

“Don’t the Chiefs complain about you being in overall control?”

John chuckled again. “No, they are both my wives!”

“What? The Chiefs are your wives? Women?”

“Girls: what did I tell you about equality? If a woman can be a warrior, she can also be a Chief!”

The twins were so flabbergasted at this revelation that they were silenced for a long while. It was several miles later that the one twin asked, “High Chief John? Can we remain in your tribe later, after we are back to normal?”

“Why would you want to do that?”

“We like the idea of your tribe; it is so ... magnificent!”

“Don’t you want to go back to your mother?”

“Why should we? If it takes us a summer or more, then we might be women by then. When we are women, we can make our own decisions; is that right?”

“Technically, it is so. In practice, a girl who has become a woman will normally discuss her future with her parents. The parents will offer strong guidance on what to do. In that past, the parents decided who a girl should marry, but now, in our tribes, a girl can decide who she wants to marry. It is up to her to negotiate with the man. He might already be married, so you should talk with his wife or wives, to see if they will accept you into their household. It is not just the man’s decision any more.”

“I begin to like this more and more.”

“Young lady ... I do not know your names yet, and how to tell you apart. What are your names?”

“Oh, of course. No-one told you. My name is Kama, and my sister is Kema.”

“And how do we differentiate between you?”

“You really cannot tell us apart?

“Probably your mother can, but I don’t know you well enough to know the difference.”

“How about if I ... no that won’t work; perhaps a mark ... no, it will be washed off. Have you any suggestions, High Chief?”

John tried, “It has to be something physical. Perhaps how you do your hair?”

“We don’t do anything to our hair.”

“I see. You probably will, after it is washed and combed. Length? Do you both have hair the same length?”

“Probably. We don’t cut it.”

“Well, after it is washed and combed, have Kama’s hair cut shorter by the width of a thumb, and that will be the marker: Kema has the shorter hair, and Kama the longer hair.”

“Sounds about right, Chief,” said Kama, who had spoken earlier. “We can do that.”

That stopped the conversation for another few miles, and John was wondering if the stamina of a twelve-year-old would hold out. The pair were just starting to flag as they entered the final stretch to the cave, so John encouraged them.

“Nearly there, girls. Can you manage to keep going a little while longer?”

This challenge was enough to spur their determination, and so all three were welcomed by a female warrior just before the trees ended.

“Hello, John,” declared the warrior. “Welcome home. And not alone, I see. Aren’t these two a bit young for you?” she said with a smile.

John snorted, replying, “They are under our protection for a while, Raka. Their dad was killed by the pirates, and their mother is still a bit shattered, so we are looking after them for the fisher tribe. Meet Kama and Kema. Girls, this is Raka.”

The exhausted girls said ‘hi’, but nothing more. They wanted to rest. Raka saw this, and suggested she give one of the girls a back carry, while John did the same for the other. John explained what this meant, and hunkered down so Kama could climb onto his back, and Raka did the same for the other twin.

They climbed slowly up to the cave, where the twins were decanted into the arms of several women who offered helping arms to get to the fireside and a seat. The two were delighted to accept, and were soon being loaded with questions from the adults, while other pre-teen youngsters looked on with interest.

John interrupted to tell the adults that the twins were here to recuperate after the troubles with the pirates; that while they had not been ravaged, they remained traumatised by the event, and need a place of safety to recover.

This merely added to the cluster of concerned adults, so Raka stepped in and ordered, “Give them some space, folks. They are not here as a spectacle for you; they are victims.”

This did the trick, and the girls got a chance to relax. Before returning to her guard duty, Raka organised drinks and a bowl of stew for them. They had automatically expected a fish stew, so a meat stew was unusual for them, but they liked it enough to scoff the lot. They were growing girls after all.

Numa summoned John to her Chief’s hut, to speak privately.

“John, yesterday nothing came from your homeland, just so you know. Secondly, Sheila is finding it more difficult to source large quantities of the drugs you want for trading, and third, several of the warriors have been testing out the new bows that Brando brought us. They like them, and would like to see more of them. Can we do some trading for a greater number of them?”

“Gosh, that is a lot to cover! We can forget for now about extra stuff coming through, I think. With what my spy has discovered about the invader army, we shouldn’t need to deploy the drugs any more, but the bows and arrows should be invaluable instead. We must target the invader headquarters, to kill or disable the leaders. Doing that should effectively stop the army, which is already squabbling about the future.”

Numa frowned. “What do you intend with the enemy headquarters, John? It must be a long way from here, in among the invader army, so that would be tricky in the extreme, I would think. I don’t want my warriors getting killed in a futile gesture.”

John was pleased to see that Numa was thinking as a Chief; considering all the points for and against any proposed action. He had already done the same thing.

“Numa, my love, many of the villages between the borders and the headquarters will do all they can to undermine the invaders, so I hope that we can be funnelled through or past these villages, without the enemy knowing anything about it.

Secondly, we don’t need a large force for the task. About four hands of warriors should be enough, if they are all armed with bows and arrows. My idea is to make fire arrows and shoot those into the headquarters tents, starting a fire that should do a lot of damage. Those that rush out to avoid the fire will be easy to target with arrows, and all the time our warriors will be a fair distance away. Mind you, the warriors will have to train to shoot accurately at that sort of distance, and learn how to light and use fire arrows at night. I propose to attack at night, you see, then slip away in the dark.”

“How will you see in the dark? Won’t the enemy see you, if you can see them?”

“Remember the wanderers and their campfire? When you have light from a campfire or a torch, your eyes adjust to that, so that you cannot see in the complete darkness. For those who are walking in darkness, with only some moonlight to help, plus the noises of the night, the darkness is a friend, from where you can see those who depend on the campfire light.”

“Yes, I do recall that. You talk of it almost as a new discovery, but it is something we all know, yet we are not properly aware of what we know.”

“I had to be shown this effect in my training as a soldier, for in my homeland we are so used to having lights around us at night that we fail to see the obvious. It had to be shown to me, as I said. I have never forgotten that lesson. The invader soldiers have probably not been taught such a basic fact, and stay around their campfires, so will be blind to the surrounding darkness.”

“I take it that you will teach the lessons on using the bows and arrows,” Numa commented.

“I will have to, though I am out of practice; haven’t used a longbow in years. I know all the basics, so we can develop our techniques together and see who is best at this game.”

“You will select the four hands of warriors to learn the bow?”

“No. I will teach the bow to everyone who wants to learn, and only then will I select the best learners to be the attack squad.”

“Oh, I see. Then I can learn as well, even if I am too far on I my pregnancy for fighting?”

“That is an excellent summation, darling. We don’t want you to lose your baby through a fall at night. Anyway, your post is here, running the tribe.”

“Talking about that, we haven’t encountered any more wanderers for a while, John.”

“That may be a reflection of the squabbling among the invader leaders that I have been told about. Their army is no longer pushing forwards, so no leftover warriors from conquered tribes heading our way and getting in our way.”

Numa squirmed a little before asking, “Have you any idea as to why nothing came through from your time, darling? I find it a bit unsettling, for it has become almost a routine thing.”

“I see what you mean. I have no details about why, for I don’t know how matters are developing back there. Perhaps they are squabbling as well? Can’t decide what, if anything, to send, to make a difference. My own feeling is that there has been no apparent changes back there; nothing that can tell them if their plan is working or not.

You see, there is no guarantee that we are even in the same timeline. Our present may not be the same as their past, even though people and things came through. It is complicated. At a guess, this present time may not influence what will be happening back there. It may be that what we do here at this time will become a completely new future eventually, and nothing to do with the time I came from.

The folk back then had assumed that changes back here would affect society in their time; but it may not be at all true. If that is the case, then anything they send back will not have any effect on the existing situation back there. We will be making changes to a NEW timeline, a new future.”

“That sounds rather confusing to me, John, with all these suppositions, but I think I see the general argument you are making; that their presumptions may be wrong, and we will make our own future, not changing their present.”

“Well done, Numa. As I keep finding, stone age people are just as clever as people from the future.”

She stared at him in surprise, asking, “Why should people’s abilities be expected to change? That seems silly!”

“Some people are always silly that way, my love. They like to assume that earlier people were less advanced in their thinking, but it is simply that earlier people did not have access to the materials and equipment that later people have. It was one of these assumptions of inferiority that have no basis in fact.”

“But where did they get such ridiculous ideas?”

“It was the result of invasions. People from a heavily populated and technically advanced region, who possessed sailing ships, travelled to other lands and conquered the people there, so assumed they were superior. What in fact happened was that as well as their better technology they took endemic diseases with them, and passed them to the natives of the new place. The invaders’ bodies were used to dealing with such diseases, by the new peoples weren’t, and they died in huge numbers, leaving the invaders in charge, as they were not affected the same way.

So, a small number of invaders arrive; the locals get killed off, mainly by disease, and the conquering invaders assume from the effects that they are superior to the locals. It is simplistic thinking; ignoring the important facts, rather than who is now in control.”

Numa looked worried. “So should we be afraid of diseases from the invader army?”

“I don’t think so, Numa. They appear to have come by land. The people with ships are a different lot entirely, and more careful, so we can take it that the invaders are merely spreading from another part of this land, which must be much larger than we all may have assumed.

Even if it was true, our tribe now has the ability to shrug off diseases, so we are safe, no matter what happens.”

He paused to think, then said wonderingly, “Come to think of it, most invaders in the past either spread diseases, or were themselves afflicted by local diseases, so if our ability to withstand disease can be spread around more, that should give our people a much better chance of surviving and spreading more widely in the future.”

Numa glared at him. “I don’t want you fucking every woman you can lay your hands on. I get little enough of your loving as it is. Remember that pregnancy makes us girls more interested in fucking.”

John patted her hand as he explained his reasoning.

“I think that the act of fucking is simply a more direct transfer of my nanites, but just breathing near other people eventually passes on some of these tiny machines to their bodies, where the machines make more of themselves. These slowly give everyone the same immunities to disease, so I don’t have to fuck everyone – and especially the males!”

Numa gave a surprised laugh. “No, you wouldn’t want to do that!”

She next made the comment, “John, You are a most unusual man; and I like it. Imagine: a man who decides that a woman should be Chief of his tribe. I don’t think that has ever been suggested before. Thank you for that boon, my love.”

“I want to do a lot more, Numa. I want to make this world one we can be proud of; one that treats everyone as decent human beings, unless they prove themselves otherwise.”

“Does that mean that you are going to ban all shamans?”

“Not necessarily. If a shaman has ideas that are similar to ours, why not allow him to continue?”