Chapter 30

Berila had tears in her eyes as she spoke. “I thought you were dead, Chiska. I mourned for you for a long time, then these newcomers said you were alive. It was as if the sun had risen again! And the visitors said you had a baby: you with a baby; thatwas hard to believe!! Not only that, but I know your rapists are all dead: John and his two women killed them right in front of my eyes.”

“How did they know they were the right men?” Chiska demanded, suddenly unsure.

“I told Chief Andromo what names were being talked about in the tribe about your disappearance, or at least four of them. John left it to the Chief to investigate and deal with them, but as soon as we were in the forest on our way here, we were attacked by these same men, looking to get revenge for reporting them. All five were there, but John and Noma and Jeeka camly let them attack, and just ... just slaughtered them in almost no time at all; it was amazing!”

“Eh? Five men attacked from ambush and these three killed them all, just like that?”

“More or less. There wasn’t space enough for all five to attack at once, so they were dealt with in two batches. Three attackerswere still just barely alive when the Chief arrived, brought by the sound of them screaming in pain. He finished them off himself, for attacking his visitors. I think he was also trying to establish his authority again, for he did nothing after you were attacked; though no-one dared to tell him about it at the time, as you had just vanished.”

Chiska’s hand flew to her mouth. “All five of them? But you said you only heard of four.”

“Yes, the fifth had a complicit wife who made sure his name was not talked about, but he joined the others in the attack, assuming that the five of them would easily overcome John and his two women. They didn’t believe the women were dangerous, but they got that wrong! I would have been killed as well, as a witness; probably raped beforehand, knowing what they were like.

Gosh, were they wrong about the two women? Noma and Jeeka acted as the trained warriors they are, and disposed of their opponents almost as efficiently as High Chief John. It was awesome; it happened so fast that the attack happened, and in moments the men were lying there, spears in them or throats cut.”

“So they are gone? Forever?”

“Yes. You don’t have to go back to kill them; the job is done.”

“Thank the Earth Mother! Now I can just look after my baby. I will tell him only that his father died in a fight. That is the truth, and enough of a truth for the boy to know and be happy with. I will claim that I was not there so don’t know the details. The exact details I definitely don’t know and don’t want to know!”

Berila asked Chiska as a change of subject, “Do you know these two young women: Helena and Helga from back home? They decided they wanted to come with us.”

“I think the names vaguely come to mind, but I don’t recall their faces from before and don’t recognise them now. I probably hadn’t met them except in passing; it was a large tribe, though this one I find myself in is growing all the time.”

She spoke to the female newcomers, “Welcome to Chief Numa’s tribe, ladies. They are all good people here.”

As if on cue, Chief Numa strolled up and joined the conversation, followed by Malloka. She cast her eyes over the new women, nodding to them, but directed herself to John.

“All went well, my husband?”

“Yes, Chief. All five rapists are dead, so justice has been done for Chiska and she can be comfortable now.”

“Good. I am glad that is settled.”

She glanced at their bloodied weapons and made an immediate decision.

“The three of you should hand over your spears and knives to Malloka. She will have people get them fully cleaned and polished before the day is out, so you can get your spears back. John can then see to sharpening the knife blades to return them to full readiness. This steel metal stuff is so different from flint or obsidian when it comes to sharpening.”

The three handed over their soiled weapons. This saved them cleaning the equipment properly themselves, for they now wanted to sit down and eat a good meal. There was some tummy rumbling to indicate this need.

John reflected this by asking, “Food?” and Numa smiled.

“Always hungry after an adventure, I see. You women are needing fed as well?”

She was thinking of John and his guards, but all of the women nodded enthusiastically, so Numa accepted this amendment; she ought to have treated them all as one anyway.

“Some of you are new to me, but welcome to our tribe. There is a meat stew cooking. Go and eat, all of you. Your son is sleeping, Noma, so no need to rush to get him. He has been well fed.”

“Is he in good condition?” Noma asked anxiously.

“After only two days? Of course he is, just like the rest of us.”

Chiska asked Chief Numa, “May I sit beside Berila while she eats, Chief Numa? She is an old friend.”

Numa’s eyebrows raised slightly, but she all she said was, “Go ahead, Chiska. I am sure you both have lots to catch up on, in between mouthfuls of stew. Have some yourself.”

She turned to her husband. “John, tell the cooks I said to feed you all.”

“Yes, dear.”

While the others were eating, Chief Numa made arrangements. She called Raka and Sheila to her side, and told them, “We have three new young women to integrate into our tribe. Raka, find out what they might be able to do on the practical side; and their preferences. Sheila, see if any of them have inclinations towards herbs and herbalism. Even being able to go into the forest and safely collect the herbs you need can be useful, but some expert assistance in selecting or extracting fragrances for your perfumes might also be worthwhile. I know it needs some enthusiasm and a good nose, but see what these young women are like.”

Sheila responded, “Thanks, Chief. I could do with someone with a good nose.”

Raka declared more doubtfully, “You are asking a lot of me, Chief, but I will see what they want to learn.”

Everyone headed to the eating area by the cook fire, leaving Chief Numa thinking that her son probably wanted another feed. Her breasts said so. She went to pick up the naked baby where he was chuntering happily in a fur-lined cot made by Raka, and he was sucking strongly soon after. She sighed happily, enjoying being a mother. Being Chief was satisfying in itself, but being a mother was special. Her baby being John’s son, his firstborn, was even more important to her. There was a family completeness to it that she liked. Life was good for her, she reflected.

Once the arrivals had all been fed, Sheila was there to ask the three new girls her questions.

“Ladies, I am the herbalist for this tribe, so have the job of devising perfumes for our soaps and shampoos, among many other responsibities such as medicines for pain relief and pregnancy prevention, plus a range of flavourings for the cooks to use in their soups and sauces. Do any of you young ladies have an interest in herbs? Raka here wants to ask about more physical opportunities; things you can do with your hands, but only after I get my questions answered.”

Helga raised a hand to indicate her wish to speak.

“My mom is a herbalist for our tribe.”

Sheila corrected her, “Your FORMER tribe, Helga. You have moved to this tribe; I presume permanently.”

Helga coloured up and stammered quickly, “Sorry, mistress Sheila. Mother is herbalist in my former tribe. If it is a permanent move as I intend, does that mean I can never go back to see her?”

“Not quite as severe as that, Helga. You would need Chief Numa’s permission, so that she knows of your reason for visiting and feels that such a visit is not detrimental to this tribe. She might also want a warrior to go with you for protection, unless you are proficient enough at fighting to protect yourself. This is Numa’s responsibility as our Chief: looking after all our people. You are now one of our people.

In relation to visiting your old tribe, do you have any attachments back there? A male friend, for example, that you would want to help with information if he asked for it?”

“Nothing like that, mistress Sheila. Just my mother and boys and girls I grew up with as friends. My mother is a widow and me being gone will be good for her; make her attractive to men as a potential spouse, even more than her important trade position. I would hope to be a married woman myself by the time I visit her. Perhaps my man will come with me.”

“Very well. What did you learn from your mother about herbs?”

“Mostly which ones were poisonous and had to be avoided. She said I had to know that for my own protection. After that, she told me what herbs could oppose the action of the dangerous ones, so I could apply the most useful salve to help anyone who was stung by a poison.”

“Your mother is a wise woman. She told you the most important aspects of being a herbalist. All the rest of the knowledge is about generally good and bad, but as long as you know about the killer plants and the protective plants, you have an essential grounding. Do you want to learn more about herbs and their uses?”

“Yes, please. You think I could learn with you?”

“I am sure you could, if you work hard at it. There is a lot to learn. What about you other ladies?”

Helena volunteered, “Mistress Sheila, I know nothing about herbs, except which ones are good in soups and stews.”

“You are interested in cooking?”

“Not specially; just liked to help my mother at home with the cooking. I wanted to work with wood, but I was told that it is man’s work; not available to women.”

“Raka? One for you I think?” Sheila asked the Maker, and got a smile and a nod from her.

Raka told Helena, “If you want to work with wood here, you will be allowed to do so as much as you like. I am the Maker of this tribe, so I work with wood all the time, making useful items for the tribe or for trading.”

“Wow! You are a woman, yet you are the Maker?”

Raka patted her rounded tummy. “I am the Maker, and a wife, and before very long I hope to become a mother; that is my extra Making! I also do my bit of warrior training, for it is expected of every adult to at least try to learn warrior tactics.”

“Gosh. All of these at one time?”

“Of course. Even in your former tribe, a woman can be a wife, mother and cook, as well as teaching her children the basics of living. That is a normal group of tasks to know. Here we just add a few more, so that the tribe is safer from attacks, and better able to make trade goods that are wanted, from moccasins to stools with three legs.”

“But is that not a lot more things to learn?”

“Yes. So what? Do you happen to know how many things a person can learn, and not learn any more? I don’t. Have you ever heard of a limit to learning? I haven’t. It appears there is no boundary except what we in each tribe decide to impose on ourselves. This tribe knows no boundaries. I keep learning something new every single day, and I always find there is more to know. Where Sheila and John and the other pale-skins came from originally, it was normal for a person to learn a great deal about one subject, like being a healer or a warrior. John was a full-time warrior so knows a lot about conflicts of every sort from fighting one person to going against a whole tribe or more, and fighting in all sorts of ways, many of which you have never even heard of.

Sheila learned all about plants and their place in the world, and she will gladly tell you she is still learning more about plants. The human mind is amazing, Helena. It seems you can never stop learning new things unless you choose to do so.”

Berila spoke up now, directing her words at the taller, pale-skinned, woman.

“I have no particular subject I want to learn about, mistress Sheila. I want to learn about many things. I think I am like mistress Raka, in that I want to learn as much as my mind will hold, then I want to pass it on to other people that also want to learn these things.”

“Ah, a budding teacher. We can use you, once you are trained. Teaching is as useful as learning. A teacher can pass on learning to a whole bunch or people, instead of a mother being stuck with the teaching of only her own child. Where would you like to start learning: what subject?”

Berila answered, “Anything where I can be helpful while I learn, Mistress Sheila. I would prefer to stay with Chiska if I may, but I don’t know what she wants to learn. Possibly she will be more interested in learning to be a good mother. Is that a subject that I can learn?”

“You are aware that because she has a baby to look after, she is less likely to seek learning about things that would take her away from her child?”

“Yes, mistress. I wouldn’t mind having a baby also, eventually, but I don’t have a man to help with that. He would have to be a man who my baby would look up to as a good man.”

“Fine, but don’t look at High Chief John for help. He has enough babies on the way already without more volunteers as mothers! Ask Chiska to help you find a man to make a baby in you and even be your husband, for she has been here long enough to know most men that could be considered for you,” then she had new thoughts, and went on, “On second thoughts, perhaps Chiska has no interest in men and would not know of a suitable man. Also, you should wait a year or so until you are more developed around the hips. You will have a better chance of birthing a baby then, and more importantly, surviving the process. That is the advice John is giving to other early teens. Surviving childbirth is much better than dying in childbirth, he says, and I agree with him. Wait until your body is ready for the task.”

Berila commented, “You seem to know him well, mistress Sheila.”

“I ought to.” She patted her bulging belly. “This is one of John’s children, and I am one of his wives.”

“Oh. You, and Raka, and Noma? He seems to have quite a few wives.”

“Quite a few? Berila, he has getting on for four hands of wives, at the last count. Jeeka wants to be another, I hear. We are a very large family for John; five babies already and Raka, Vickie and I will add another three before very long.”

“O great Earth Mother! That is an awful lot of wives, and a lot of babies; he most certainly is an important Chief. Don’t you wives argue amongst yourselves about importance to him? I hear that is common where there is more than one wife.”

Sheila averred, “No, we don’t. I admit to being surprised at that myself, but somehow we all get along without squabbling. I think it is a side effect of John’s unusual pheromones.”

“Pardon? What’s pheromones?”

“A smell that your body gives off, even when you are properly clean. Pheromones make you attractive to the opposite sex; but it appears John’s pheromones cause his women to like each other as well. Thank the Earth Mother for that.”

“Do I smell like that as well, Mistress Sheila?”

“Everyone has a smell, Berila. Your body aroma is part of who you are, your identity. It is one of the ways for a woman to be able to recognise her baby; by its natural smell and it recognises her the same way.

New-born babies all look much the same, like monkeys - until they change into recognisable babies a few days later. Ever wonder how a new baby manages to find a tit to suck on? It can smell the mother’s milk and homes in on the smell to gain the milk it seeks. Put your tit anywhere close to the baby and it will be on and sucking in an instant.”

“It doesn’t have to be its mother’s teat, does it?”

“Nope. That is why you can have a wet-nurse if the mother is unable to produce the milk. A wet-nurse is another milk-producing woman who can suckle your baby for you. Numa did that for her sister Noma’s son while she was away with John for the last two days.”

“Thank you, Mistress Sheila.”

Sheila moved back to an earlier question.

“You asked about motherhood as a subject, Berila. There is a lot to learn about all aspects of motherhood, inluding how to look after a woman who is pregnant, right up to the time she births the child, and looking after her health beyond that. In my home world, certain women had an entire lifetime caring for pregnant women and new mothers, so you could learn that trade as well as finding out all you can about the experience of becoming a mother. The two are inter-connected, so you might find yourself pregnant while assisting other pregnant women. High Chief John once took a short course in helping women to give birth, in case he came upon a woman in labour while he was being a warrior. That shows how both men and women can learn the same subjects or trades.

Raka now asked, “Berila, that brings up the important question: do you think you would be interested in learning to fight as a warrior?”

“Can I? Am I not too small for that?”

Raka smiled confidently.

“An arrow from a bow is just as effective from a small warrior as from a large warrior, Berila. It still pierces an enemy. It is not only weapons that are effective in fighting. John has shown me tricks where a smaller person can defeat a large person by using their weight against them when they charge you, causing the larger person to end up on the ground.”

“Oohh. That sounds like magic!”

“Not magic, just clever moves that John says comes from a faraway land. It is a way of fighting without weapons, and is based on leverage, turning the movement of an enemy’s body to your advantage. It is very clever, and amazing to see.”

“You really think I could do such a thing?”

“You never know until you try, do you?” Raka was practical about it.

“This is the first time someone decided that I could do things I have never done before (apart from sex; men always think you should do that).”

Raka chuckled, “An apt observation, Berila. Men as a whole are like that. So, you are willing to not just try to learn fighting, but put a great deal of effort into it?”

“Yes, mistress Raka. I would look forward to learning how to be a warrior in this tribe.”

Raka pursed her lips before replying.

“May I correct you slightly, Berila? Once you have successfully trained to be a warrior, you are not just a warrior in this tribe. You are a warrior wherever you are. If you move to another tribe, your partner or partners must recognise that you are a warrior anywhere, able to defeat most male warriors who do not have the benefit of your training. It is for the protection of stupid people; they have to know that you are a trained warrior. It stops them challenging you in some way as a supposed lesser person. They won’t want to be killed in response. You will have warned them, by telling them you have trained as a warrior.

I know that not all tribes will want to recognise a female warrior in their midst, but for now, you will be seen as a warrior in Numa’s tribe, the Farfarers tribe, the Mountain tribe, and even the fisher tribe on the coast. Therein lies power and also responsibility. The responsibility lies in your abilities, in your learned ability to protect whichever tribe you become part of. You must put yourself at risk for the good of the tribe, but your training should help you to survive. We haven’t lost a warrior yet, but there might be a first time.”

Berila was subdued as she took this in. “Power and responsibility, eh? They go together, it seems.”

“They do. That is your first lesson of warrior training. Your training makes you a dangerous fighter, but it also means you must use that training in the right way, for the protection of not just you, but your community.”

“I get you, mistress Raka. Who teaches me?”

“The prime teacher is High Chief John, but those who have already been trained will help you by sparring with you, helping you to turn a lesson into an ingrained response where it is needed, so that you can react to an attack without having to spend time thinking what to do. This applies to attacks by animals as well as humans.”

“John is a warrior leader, I understood, but he needed guards with him when he came to our tribe. Why?”

Raka stared down the young woman, and read her the facts of life.

“Don’t forget a simple fact, Berila. If you can be surprised, you can be killed, no matter how well trained you are. That is why the training is planned to make you react so swiftly; but not all attacks cen be prevented by speedy responses. An unexpected spear or arrow from behind can defeat you as an individual. Noma and Jeeka were with him for just that purpose, to protect him from sudden surprises.

That episode where you and they were attacked, remember? How did they know about the impending attack? I will tell you. Noma and Jeeka smelled or heard them before they attacked, didn’t they?”

“Oh, yes. They told John about it as soon as they heard the men.”

“Exactly. Locals have a better sense of smell than the incomer High Chief John, so their guard duty enabled them to warn him of the coming attack. Not every task of a warrior is fighting; it includes using signs of the presence of an enemy; to counteract them. If you know an attack is coming, you are better prepared than the attackers, for you can be facing in the right direction and have your weapons prepared for the defence before the fight even starts. John also tells of the value of intelligence: knowing things about your enemy. Such advance knowledge gives you an extra edge when the fight comes.”

“My goodness! None of that has to do with how strong or how tall you are. It is all in the head; thinking being used as a weapon in itself, and using all your senses effectively. I think I would like to learn such warrior fighting.”

While the women were talking, John was being informed of progress with storing the flavoured water for trading.

Numa told him, “We have discussed a number of ways of storing the water for transporting. The usual leather pouches are too flexible except for ordinary drinking water where you accept losses as normal; and deterioration of the inside of the leather bag might affect the taste of the contents. The idea of using gourds is more satisfactory, as much of these problems do not arise, but it leaves the question of sealing the top.

You have to cut a gourd fully open to hollow it out, so the capacity for the liquid is limited, and sealing a wide top is not easy either. Someone had the bright idea of cutting a gourd and have two half gourds stuck together, face to face, but how do you get more than the lower half filled with the flavoured water? The best solution we have found is to have the upper half cut open as near the end as possible, leaving only a small hole, so that you can use it to fill up the complete gourd. You can then use clay to stop up the completed container.

That sounds fine you will agree, but it still leaves the question of how to seal the two half gourds together. You could use thin pegs to pin them face to face, but the chances are that the water will still leak out at parts of the joint.”

John pointed out a possible solution. “If you use just one gourd, and cut it straight through in the middle, then the two halves should in theory match when you put them together again. Pinning them together is a good idea, but some sort of seal round the connection would be even better. Has anyone got a hold of latex yet? That might do for the exterior sealing of the join.”

“Latex? Oh, yes, from the rubber tree that you talked about,” said Numa. “No-one seems to have any of that yet. If we did find some, it might be suitable for sealing the hole in the top, as well as the centre joint.”

John remarked, “That gives me an idea. In my home world, some of these flavoured water drinks had a drinking straw attached. If we added a hollow reed to the side of the gourd, held on by latex, the user could stick it in the top hole, once opened, to suck out the flavoured water to the amount you wanted. That is much better than trying to pour it out of the gourd. The latex could possibly be replaced in the hole as a temporary stopper.”

“Great idea, my husband! We’ll add that to the thoughts we are considering for the flavoured water storage problem.”

“If we don’t have access to latex yet, do we have any parcel tape in the store-room’s D.I.Y. supplies?”

“Eh? What is this pa-cell dape, and D.I.Y.?”

“Par-cel Tape”. It is a sticky tape, like a wide flattened string, for sealing storage containers. I had better have a look through the supplies. The tape, if it is there, might be in one of the drawers, or in a cardboard box – a container made with a sort of wood. Some of the tools are found in such boxes.”

He added, “D.I.Y is short for ‘do it yourself’, which is normal in this world.”

“Oh. I’ll leave you to get on with that, my man. I would not know what to look for.”

John made a point of speaking with Raka before going into the darkness again with an oil lamp. He always liked to notify at least one other person when he went into the darkness alone. Long since, a permanent string had been laid on the floor, held in place by stones, as a guide towards the store-room. She asked what he wanted to find, but he had trouble describing it to her, and went off by himself to search.

He had difficulty locating what he sought, and after a long search was beginning to think none had been included – probably as not relevant to the intended takeover of a native civilisation – when he found a pack of ten rolls tucked right at the back of a tool drawer. The exterior wrapping claimed each roll was fifty metres long. That would be adequate for many containers, he thought.

He pulled out the pack and cut through the plastic wrappings with his knife, to release one roll for testing on gourds, to see if it would actually stick to the outside of gourds. He tucked it into his belt pouch, and turned back towards the daylight.

Coming out to the the edge of the light, he found a naked Ranga waiting for him, her clothes in her hands.

“How do you always know where to find me, Ranga?” he asked.

She replied,” A good tongue in my head: I asked around. Everyone always knows if the High Chief is near them; people note such things, for you are held in high regard. That is another reason for me wanting to marry you.”

John was perturbed that he was being treated almost like royalty. It was not his desire or intention to be revered. He rapidly changed the subject.

“What did you seek me for, Ranga? And what happened to your clothing?”

“I have had a discussion with Chief Numa and she agrees with me that a formal tribal link between you and me by marriage would be a desirable outcome at this time. She wants the marriage to be performed during the next two days, if you would care to fit that into your busy life. I am dressed as I am to reinforce that plan.”

John knew that the time had come for this event, but wanted her widowed mother to be present, representing the late Chief Mongo.

“When can your mother be here? Bertha needs to be present, you will agree.”

“I have sent a message to her, inviting her to arrive ‘at her earliest convenience’. I have learned that is diplomatic speak used by Chiefs for ‘come now, and don’t delay’, so she should be here tomorrow or the next day.

“Fine. Can I have a kiss to keep me going until then?”

“Just a kiss, High Chief? You don’t want more?”

“Oh, I want more, but I like to believe that a woman should be properly made love to on her wedding night if at all possible. Doing it earlier, when it is not essential, spoils the anticipation of the event.”

“I see your point, John. I want to be loved on that occasion, not just fucked, like I was raped on that terrible day. Come and kiss me now; you can even play with my titties if you want.”

John was quick to take advantage of that offer, and they cuddled and kissed happily for a while, before being interrupted by Jeeka who had also come to find John.

“Ah, there you are! What are you two up to? John is to marry me shortly, I’ll have you know, Ranga.”

Ranga disentangled herself from John and faced Jeeka.

“I had heard you wanted to marry him, Jeeka, but he has been betrothed to me for a long time, ever since he rescued us from the murderer shaman.”

“I know, dear. You have my sympathies there. My claim on him is more recent, but I have had no eyes for any other man since I met John. You and me, Ranga, we can be close friends if you don’t mind a friend who is not a relative of a Chief.”

Ranga told her, “Any woman who marries John is then a relative of a High Chief, and so merits being a friend of mine, Jeeka. I like what I have heard of you, and you are a proved brave warrior on top of that, so yes, we can be friends. We might even end up having John’s babies around the same time, if all goes well.”

John interrupted, “I don’t know about babies at this time, Ranga.”

She reproved him, “I have talked with Chief Numa about this, and she says that my hips are now wide enough for safely delivering a baby, so there!”

Jeeka asked John, “Look at my hips, John; put you hands on them. Would you say that I can safely birth a baby?”