Chapter 53

Arriving back at his home territory, John was apprehensive about what would be the result of his delay and coming back with another wife, a presumed future wife, and an eleven-year-old ward.

The tribe’s duty guard was delighted to see John.

He declared, “Hey! Great to see you back, sir. Who are these people with you?”

“Hi, there. Toma, isn’t it? You have got yourself a job, I see.”

“Yes, sir. Chief Numa reckoned I was trustworthy enough to guard the tribe.”

“Well done, young man. My companions are Malloka, Jeeka and Umma, survivors from a tribe that was wiped out by disease.”

The man recoiled. “Disease? Are they safe to be near?”

“They are now, Toma. They have been cured. Can you signal the tribe that we are here?”

“Oh, yes. Sorry, I forgot; still learning.”

He raised his spear and waved it side to side. “Hallo the cave: visitors!”

Whoever was watching passed on the news, and various warriors appeared with spears, just in case Toma was not accurate in his peaceful estimation of the visitors. John was quickly spotted at the edge of the forest, and word spread that he was back. Three female warriors, accompanied by a small excited pack of young dogs not much more than puppies, charged down to welcome him home, but continued to point their spears in suspicion at the females with him.

John intervened.

“Hold on, my warriors: these are friends.”

Jeeka blurted out, “These are warriors? They are women!”

John turned to her.

“Yes, they are women. They are also warriors, experienced warriors at that. Some of the warriors are also married, and a few of my warriors have children. This is normal within our tribe.”

Jeeka continued to stare at these women, for they looked as if they knew what they were doing with their spears. She noted that they also carried large fighting knives at their belts, not small domestic knives. The women appeared to her as larger than normal, though she knew this could not be; it was the way they carried themselves as warriors. They were truly frightening to her.

She exclaimed, “Great Earth Mother! It is true: women can be the same as men?”

The nearest warrior looked down at her, “Yes, it is so. What talents do you have, youngster?”

“Youngster? I am a woman now!”

The warrior looked her up and down. “Not much of a woman to you yet, young lady. What can you do?”

“I am responsible for Umma here. We are survivors from our tribe. Malloka is also from our tribe, but she is married to John now.”

The warrior gave a guffaw. “Married to John? Does Chief Numa know this yet? She will be furious!”

Jeeka emphasised, “She may not know yet, but she soon will. As Shaman John found us in the forest, we belong to him now, so I will probably become a wife to him as well.”

“You are a brave young woman to speak like that. Chief Numa may just slit your gizzard to shut you up.” She grinned broadly as she said that, belying her terrifying words.

John laid a hand on the warrior’s arm. “Lay off on the frighteners, Deelia. We don’t want to scare new additions to the tribe.”

The woman nodded. “Will do, John. She doesn’t look all that scared though, so she may be warrior material once she grows a bit more. Are those bumps really breasts under that clothing?”

Jeeka came back with a louder and more confident, “They are, and I am going to have big breasts to provide milk for John’s children later.”

Deelia smiled her delight at this bravado. “Looks like she will fit in, John. Good choice.”

John told her, “Malloka is the one who has become my wife, more by accident than choice, but she is happy about it, Deelia.”

Deelia looked the tired Malloka over. “She is even older than I am, John. Are you going for the more experienced women now?”

John responded, “Stop teasing her, Deelia. Malloka is recovering from a disease that nearly killed her, so she is not well enough to be teased. Give her a hand to get up the slope to the cave, please.”

Immediately Deelia and Feelia went to her aid, and took Malloka’s arms to help her walk upwards to the cave. They chatted to Malloka quite amiably now, saying who they were and how they had joined the tribe.

John followed behind, taking Jeeka and Umma by one hand each. He wanted to make it visibly clear they were his females, one way or another. Their eyes were wide at the scene of the large cave ahead, and the odd structure built on the slope.

Slowly they made their way up to the cave mouth Umma overawed by the vitality of the tribe; not one appeared ill. Malloka had been escorted into the cave and given a seat near the slow-burning communal fire which was more a focal point than a needed source of heat. Numa was seated beside her, and the two were chatting. Numa made no attempt to welcome John; in fact ignored him, so he did not know what her reaction was going to be.

He brought Jeeka and Umma over to stand with him beside Numa and Malloka, saying nothing. The next move was the Chief’s. The chatting with Malloka went on a little longer, having moved to health questions.

At last Numa broke off her discussion with Malloka to look up at John and acknowledge his presence.

“Malloka has been bringing me up to date, John. She explained how you saved her life and thereby committed yourself to marrying her. The other two girls are less clear in my mind. You found them in the forest, so you have become responsible for them. As Umma is a girl, she is effectively your daughter, but Jeeka recently became a woman. That means, according to old tradition, that she is your wife or concubine; but according to your new established procedure, she is free to make up her own mind about her future.”

She stared now at the two girls, a regal expression on her face, and spoke directly to them.

“I am Chief Numa, in charge of this tribe. What I say is regarded as law in this tribe. You do not challenge my decisions. These rules are all. That is the basis of any new member joining the tribe. My husband is High Chief John, who you knew as Shaman John, but he respects my decisions as Chief.

Umma – welcome to the family. You will be our daughter until you become a woman.” Numa stepped forward and gave Umma a welcoming hug, surprising the girl with such familiarity from a Chief.

Numa stood back again and moved her gaze to Jeeka, examining her body, face and eyes

“Jeeka – you have become a woman. That gives you both freedom and responsibility. You are free of parental control, though I am told they are dead, but you have to accept the responsibilities that womanhood brings. You will take part in the food gathering for the tribe, you will help look after the children and their training, and you will discover for yourself the best way you can help the tribe in future. That could be as a warrior, as a Maker, as a home-maker, preparing hides and furs, preparing and cooking food, making things for the tribe such as soap, moccasins, cloth weaving, or stitching to make repairs; women’s work is never-ending. You might later get married to a man of your choice, or not. A few women don’t want to marry a man, but that is their choice in this tribe.

Having said all that, welcome to our tribe.”

Jeeka asked haltingly, “Am I free to marry John? Will I have that choice, Chief Numa?”

Numa regarded her with a discerning and discomfiting gaze.

“I see. You have become smitten of my John. It is a common occurrence in this tribe, which is why he has nine wives; sorry, two hands with Malloka added. Once you have shown me what kind of woman you are going to be, I will either give you my blessing or advise you to look in another direction. At your age, there will be time for us to establish your value to the tribe. I presume John has explained how we do not approve of a young woman getting pregnant before her body is fully capable to cope with childbirth, which is not determined by the fact of regular bleeding. Any young woman getting pregnant too soon is seen as committing herself to an early departure to the Earth Mother. Do you understand that truth, Jeeka?”

“Yes, Chief. John warned me of that rule. Having seen almost all of my tribe dying of disease, I have no wish to join them by getting pregnant now. John said that fifteen summers would be a time that would be acceptable.”

“Perhaps. We shall observe how your body adjusts as you grow more, Jeeka. Some women grow more rapidly than others. Much depends on how your hips develop, for that is where the problems lie in childbirth. You can come to me when you are advised by our tribe’s midwives that you have reached that stage. Only then will I decide your future.”

“Thank you, Chief. I will abide by your decisions.”

Now John leaned in to kiss Numa. She demanded, “What took you so long, husband? A few of your wives were getting worried by your continued absence.” She carefully made no reference to herself. A Chief does not admit to worry.

John went into the story of the tribes and their medical problems that he was able to help with but which took much time, then related the situation within the invaders former territory.

“The tribe I finally got to was almost dead. The only survivor was Malloka and she was overheated, delirious, lying naked, filthy and close to death. I applied my knowledge and power to her as best I could. That meant clearing up the mess she was lying in, washing her body clean of shit and sweat, then placing her on clean furs. I had to give her small amounts to eat and drink, for that was all her body could cope with at that stage. Once she could converse, I found her clothing and dressed her.

I made a ‘rough and ready’ push travois to carry her to where the two girls were waiting for me. Once I got there, we decided to travel together, but with Malloka’s weakened body, it was slow going for the first day or so.

We got help when we got back to the tribes I had visited a day or two before, and with decent food Malloka has improved day by day. The girls were excellent helpers in transporting Malloka until we got here. She has been doing some walking on her own, but not a lot yet.”

Numa had listened carefully, and now asked pointedly, “Why didn’t you mention this fight you had with a male survivor, or the encounters with wild animals that Malloka has told me about?”

“My love, these were not relative to the story of why I took so long to get here. The women were the important factors, as you know.”

“Hmmph. I shall let that pass, husband. Your priorities were correct. Now, you have fucked Malloka, she tells me, so she has confirmed her position as a wife. You have not fucked either of these girls, she said. Is that accurate?”

“It is accurate, my love. Malloka was much weakened, but wished to be able to show how she acted as a wife to me.”

“Yes. Brave woman. She also told me that she will honour my position as Chief, and make no waves in our pond. It was an intriguing way to put it, but very welcome. I think she will give us another wise head in our family, John.

Whether she will be able to have children, I don’t know. Women and girls who catch certain diseases become infertile for some unknown reason, but we don’t know what afflicted her.”

John gave her a hug and a kiss to show his approval; there was nothing to say.

Numa was not finished.

“Now, John, in your prolonged absence the women from your time took over the preparation of foundations for new huts, or houses as they call them. There are now foundations for two more huts/houses, waiting for the walls and roofs to be put up by you and Brando. He has not returned yet, so perhaps his wives have occupied all his free time. He is a strong man and a good husband, I think.”

“How have the tribe taken to the new house, those who have tried it?”

“Puzzlement, mainly. They are not sure about having square corners, extremely vertical walls and a roof that slopes one way. It neither matches the cave nor the traditional huts, so it is strange to their minds. They did comment favourably on the lack of breeze running through the hut, and the way the smoke from the fire disappears at the top of the back wall. That trick of the smoke vanishing was much liked, for it meant no choking on smoke.”

“A step forward, I think. I didn’t expect everyone to want to use these houses, for we don’t have enough panels for everyone to have a house like that.”

“Oh, there was another visitor from the northern tribes. He would not say what he wanted. The fool said he could only speak with you as I was a mere woman. He did not like it that I laughed in his face, and stomped off into the forest. That was yesterday and he has not come back yet. Do you think he is possibly afraid of me?”

“Probably, for I am afraid of Chief Numa as well,” John said with a smile that belied his words.

“Well, you should be afraid of your Chief, my husband. Only High Chief John is more powerful than me, and he is not here at the moment, is he?”

John grinned at this play-acting.

“No, only your husband is here for now, Chief Numa.”

She jumped to her feet and grabbed him into her arms.

“Welcome home, my husband!” and she planted a loving kiss on his lips. He reciprocated with enthusiasm, pulling her even closer and fondling her bum. He was aware of her pregnancy bump getting between them, and eased off a little. She giggled at this.

“The baby is too small to be harmed by a hug, John!”

“I wasn’t sure, so that’s why I reacted, Numa. You will do your best for our child, I will do my best for you both.”

“You have all your other women and babies to care for too, my love.”

“I am conscious of that, Numa. As long as I have you in charge, you will make sure I do nothing wrong.”

Sh steadied and became more formal.

“Now tell me: what do you think is happening with the invader army?”

“I have no definitive evidence, my love. Everything is secondary evidence. They have been withdrawing from this sector for at least a few days. I can’t tell whether this is temporary to allow them to regroup, or whether it is a permanent withdrawal for strategic reasons.”

“Because of our actions? Did we have that much of an effect?”

“It is probably a combination of everything: the attacks we made, combined with disinformation. The apparent threat by sea of an invasion, the assumed probing attacks on tactical points like their local headquarters and then a staging camp; the supposed information about the armies facing them from the north, and the fact that while they have suffered casualties, their enemy has not even been seen, never mind left casualties behind. That can be extremely unsettling.

I am not fighting their troops; I am fighting their leaders, and mostly messing with their heads. Leaders make decisions on what the evidence seems to be telling them. Their enemy does not present evidence to them, so they have to assess rumour, reports from trusted insiders, data from impartial observers like the sea merchants, and put it all together.

The picture I have given them is of an unquantifiable threat from the north, both by land and sea. The sea element suggests that a landing behind their front lines is likely, so drawing back makes good military sense.

What I cannot judge is what they hope to do next. They might simply change their line of attack; choose another direction and go that way, or retreat rather than stay anywhere close to the threat. That might mean leaving entirely or moving to their right or left depending on geography, targets and resources. There are too many variables for me to tell.

What I would like to do is discover a disease that the locals around here are immune to, then introduce that to their army: kill them with their own weapon. It may not be possible though, for I don’t know enough about local infectious diseases.”

“Explain what you mean, love.”

“A childhood disease in my and their world, like measles or mumps, can be relatively innocuous for most children, but fatal to populations that have not met these before and so have no immunity. Immunity is where the parts of your body that fight infections have had past experience and have developed ways of resisting. No experience in the past means no protection against the new disease. That was what was killing off the tribes on the borders of the invader forces.

“I don’t know of any such diseases, John. You would have to speak with the healers of the local tribes about that. If there were, I would have expected the invader army to have been affected by now, having met so many tribes before coming so far north.”

“I am afraid that may be the case. I may have to find some other way of counteracting the invader army.”

“I am sure you will come up with something, John. You have never let us down yet.”

“I wonder if I could poison their water supply?”

“Which water supply, love? Most tribes take their water from streams, so that would be hundreds of streams to poison.”

“Yes, not very practical. There are hundreds of ways to attack an enemy, but as you have pointed out they have to be workable; something that can affect the majority of the enemy. Or else, something that is so severe in one location that there is a threat of it happening again and again. The first world war had examples of major explosions under the enemy positions that killed huge numbers of soldiers in each blast. That terrified the enemy, but if you keep moving your forces, the other side can’t dig under you again. In another world war, the enemy cities – think of them as huge tribes – were struck by a very special munition that destroyed the whole tribe in one blast.

That enemy gave up after losing two cities to the weapon.”

“John, that seems like fantasy to me. We don’t have access to any of the means of doing bangs like that.”

“Oh, I know. I was just musing over what I remember happened during my timeline. It is fantasy now, but remember that conquest by disease happened in my past, as well as now with the invader army. In both cases it was unintended; just happened.”

“It is just as well you came with your, what did you call the? Medical nannies?”

“Medical nanites; tiny machines too small to see, and newly invented in my time. As best I can make out, they attack and destroy bacteria and viruses of a similar size. I am not sure how they can cope with parasitic worms as they are much larger beasties; perhaps they can cover the worm all over with themselves and kill the parasite that way. I could probably imagine a few possibilities, but I have absolutely no idea what is their real method of operation.

That is why I have never been keen on eating meat from wild pig or boar. A small number of these animals have a parasite that you have to kill with high cooking temperatures before it is safe to eat. I would rather not take the risk that the nanites can cope. I play the odds game on the side of safety.”

“Does that mean we should always cook meat before eating it? We usually do that anyway.”

“Yes, but the meat has to be cooked right through to the middle at high temperatures, so cooking it slowly to get the heat through to the centre is much better than searing the surface black and leaving the middle still red. If you can shove a thin stick through the cooked meat, the juices that run out should be clear, not red of any shade.”

“I did not realise you knew so much about cooking, John.”

“It harks back to my army days. We had lectures by food experts about jungle or desert survival. That is why I know about cooking wild meat. We were warned not to eat raw meat at any time, for our stomachs were not prepared for raw meat, apart from what may be lurking inside it. We had been eating cooked meat for thousands of years, so our bodies were no longer capable of digesting raw meat without a lot of problems.”

“What about my body? Is it capable of coping with raw meat?”

“Possibly. Or possibly not, as this time is not in the same timeline as produced me. It still is advisable to cook all meat that you eat. It gets complicated to think off all the ramifications of timelines. I have seen things here that I am fairly sure did not exist in my timeline. The stripies are similar, but our version were loners, not like the stripies here which travel in packs of four. At least we know that humans here are the same as humans in my timeline, or you would not be pregnant now, my love.”

“Thank the Earth Mother for that!” Numa exclaimed.

“How are things going with the soap making, Numa?”

“Huh? Why change the subject?”

“I just wondered, having met some tribes that don’t use soap.”

“Not bad. We have regular deliveries to tribes like the fisher village, and a couple of travelling merchants that always take about four hands of bars. We can keep up with that level of users, but we are always running low on oil, because we depend on other tribes that produce oil from plants and nuts.

“Have you made any attempt at including seaweed in the soap? And can you use fish oil for soap making?”

“Seaweed? How would that help, and is fish oil different in some way from plant oil? Thinking about the smell of fish, does fish oil have the same smell?”

“That might be the case; we would have to ask. Seaweed is noted for its slipperiness, so it might make the soap lather better. Just a thought or two, as my contribution to the tribe.”

“John, you do many things for the tribe. Don’t feel you are being expected to produce ideas all the time. It is bad enough when you produce more women!”

Her following giggle put that comment in its place.

“I admit I got a shock when a tribal Chief told me that as I had viewed a naked woman’s body and cleaned up her nether regions, it was tantamount to claiming her. I hadn’t viewed the situation as anything other than a rescue from death. The two girls I found in the forest was just a passing encounter, but I thought they needed protection; in some degree I was right, but involvement seems to have repercussions for the rescuer. Jeeka is a nice girl, and clever with it, but let’s not push marriage on her. She has a year to reconsider her rashness. All Umma needs is a family to belong to, now that she has been orphaned.”

“Hallo the cave! Another visitor!” came the call from the duty guard. John remarked, “That was Toma, I noticed. Improved enough to be trusted with a spear?”

“Yes. His attitude has changed wonderfully. I think he has an eye on one of our young women.”

“One of the two who were kidnapped?”

“I didn’t notice. He is smitten by the girl, anyway.”

“Well, we shall see how he does. There appears to be a stranger coming with him.”

“Huh. That is the fool from the north; no manners and no brains, in my opinion.”

“He asked for me, you said?”

“Yes, so you can deal with him today.” She moved off to be among the rest of the tribeswomen, watching what they were all working on. John took himself to the cave mouth and stood there as a reception committee of one.

Toma stepped in front of the visitor and made his announcement.

“Visitor to see High Chief John, sir!”

He stepped aside and gestured the man forward. The newcomer made a short courteous bow and introduced himself.

“I am Seeker Calvary, from the tribes to the north of here. I take it you are the Chief John that I was to ask for? Sorry, your title appears to be High Chief. I apologise for that error.”

“I am indeed High Chief John. I have been elevated as the superior for two tribes, so that I can be referred to if either needs advice. Chief Numa, the competent leader of this tribe, was offended that you snubbed her yesterday, so she does not wish to meet you today. I trust you appreciate your offense?”

“That young woman is the actual Chief? I was not expecting a young and pretty woman to be holding such a position. That was my error, for which I apologise, High Chief.”

“If I may explain, Seeker Calvary, both the tribes I act for work on the basis of men and women being regarded as equals, with equal opportunity to serve the tribe as suits their ability. It has increased the ability of the tribe to perform more effectively, I can assure you.”

“That is a fascinating change, High Chief; most intriguing. However, my task is to ask you things and tell you about us.”

“In that case, do come in and have a seat near the fire. We can be comfortable as we talk.”

“Before we do so, what are these unusual structures on the grass?”

“They are a new style of hut for families. We are testing them for now.”

“I see. Well, to get to my task, I first have to admit a bit of history. Our tribes used to live a long way from here, but through population increase, many of us moved to make our camps north of your area a generation ago.”

He stopped, but John said, “Go on.”

“An unfortunate bit of history is that where we have moved into a new area, some locals seemed to die after meeting us; we do not know why, but that has made us cautious about contact with other tribes.”

John intervened, “I am aware of the problem. It is because of diseases and immunity to the disease.”

“You know about this?”

“Yes. The land where I came from was aware of the possible results of first contact and they gave me the power to resist such diseases. That is why anyone from your locality could come to us and not spread a disease or be affected by one of ours.”

“That is amazing. There were a number of our females who came this way recently, and while at the time we suggested we wanted them back, it was more a case of removing them before they killed you by their continued presence.”

John merely said, “We are unaffected, so you have no need to concern yourselves on that matter.”

“I see: you do not wish to say whether they are here or not. Perhaps wise.”

“It is more that they are not relevant to our discussion.”

“True. So if I remain for a few days, I am safe and you are safe?”

“Correct. I also have news for you, of a similar nature.”

“Oh? What is that?”

“The invader army to the south brought its own diseases with it, much as you describe, and it has had a major effect on the tribes in the area it now controls. Most of the population have died, and the tribes where some interaction happened have also been afflicted. However, I visited them a few days ago and passed on my curative power to them. They are recovering their health and will be protected from any further exposure of that nature. They remain vulnerable to weapons of course.”

The man was thinking, and at last ventured, “So if what you say is true, you can spread this ‘immunity’ to other people, such as my own tribe?”

“That is so. Once you have met us and for example touched hands with us, you will probably find that you can pass on this power to your family and friends in the same manner. My power has a love of spreading itself around.”

The Seeker smiled at this revelation, but sobered.

“I only have your word for it, though.”

John considered this factor, and made a decision.

“Beema!” he called out.

A returning call came: “Yes, Chief?”

“May I beg you to come and speak with Seeker Calvary? You are part of our tribe now, I assure you.”

Cautiously, the 14-year-old woman threaded her way to John and stood next to him.

“Here I am, High Chief.” She had remember to correct herself this time.

“Seeker Calvary needs to be assured that contact between this tribe and his is safe. Do you know him?”

“There are not many Seekers, so yes, I have seen him around, High Chief.”

“Please tell him about your health, and that of those around you. If you wish to say nothing, that is fine, but it would be nice for him to know, should you be willing to tell him.”

The Seeker listened to the way this High Chief spoke to this girl/woman, as if man to man. It astonished him.

She considered for a moment, then spoke.

“I will tell him, but promise me that I can stay here.”

“You have my promise, Beema. You are a valued member of our tribe.”

“Thank you, High Chief. Seeker Calvary, this tribe carries with it protection from diseases. They caught nothing from me and ... others, and I caught nothing from them. Infact, I am healthier than I was before I came here.”

She glared at the Seeker, as if challenging him to try getting her to return with him; making it perfectly clear she was staying.

He absorbed this information, and thought that he had seen this child/woman before, back home. Her parents would be glad to hear that she was well and had found a new tribe to live in.

He nodded and thanked the girl, as he thought of her.

“Thank you, Beema. You are a brave and strong girl, and I hope you will remain happy.”

Her eyes flashed and she retorted, “I am a woman now, and can decide things for myself, in this tribe. No enforced marriage to a man I despise!”

“You have equal rights here?” he asked.

“Yes. All tribes should be like this, and women would be a lot happier, being able to choose who they marry.”

He said graciously, “Thank you, Beema. Your adult contribution is valued by me. I will notify your parents that you are happy in the tribe where you now live. I will keep that location secret, I promise.”