Chapter 8

Two Bears looked backward as he climbed up out of the valley. It wasn't the first time that he had looked backward that day. Everything that he had ever known or wanted was back down in that valley, most of it was in a village nestled on the banks of a gently flowing river. Bent Willow, his woman of seven summers, Wolf Fang, his son, Twisted Path his infant daughter, were all left behind in his village while he had embarked on a trip of exploration to visit among the hairy people who lived far to the North. He knew that he wouldn't see his family again for many moons, even under the most favorable of circumstances and conditions. Two Bears had been persuaded that he had to take this journey because of what he had seen with his own eyes while engaged in a tribal trading parley.

During the time of the last snows, two of the hairy men who lived far to the North had made their winter camp inside Two Bear's village. They were traders, and had carried a large supply of trade goods with them as they went about their travels The men, Jakko and Elenst, had somehow managed to domesticate three caribou who carried all of their trade goods in large woven baskets tied together, and strung over the back of their pack animals, one to each side of the beasts. In this manner, they were able to accumulate sufficient quantities of trade goods on their long journey to justify all of the time and energy they had spent on such a long trip of trade and exploration.

What Two Bears and the rest of his tribe had seen was metal. Metal arrow heads, metal knives, as well as several decorative pieces wrought of metal. It wasn't the first time he'd ever seen metal, but it was the first time he'd seen it in the hands of people who had, themselves, worked it into the shapes and designs that they were offering to trade. Two Bears wanted the gift of metalworking for his tribe and for his people. One skinning knife alone represented enough improvement for his tribe to justify his making the trip. Jakko and Elenst had offered skinning knives in trade, but only at a price so dear that trading for one had to be a task undertaken and underwritten by the tribe as a whole.

In tribal council it had been decided that it would be better to send someone North, to stay among the metal working peoples who lived there, in order to learn the necessary skills to bring metal craft back to the people. There had been several young hunters who had volunteered to make the trip, men without wives, but it was decided by the council that it had to be someone with a clever mind who could look at new ways and see all of the possibilities that these new ways might offer. Two Bears had sat by silently, not willing to volunteer himself since he had a family that relied on him both for food and protection. Trips of exploration were for the young, those unburdened with wives or responsibilities. When his best friend, and brother in law, Broken Stick had stood up in council and started listing the reasons why he felt that Two Bears should be asked to make this long journey, Two had at first been angry and upset. It was a trip that would take two full cycles of the seasons. He couldn't imagine being away from his family and his village for that length of time. It was too much of a sacrifice and a hardship that they were asking of him, asking of all of his family.

"Two, if we are to learn this wondrous new craft, and reap a full harvest from new knowledge, we need someone to go that has the eyes and the gift of understanding that only you have shown. If I had your abilities in this way, I would volunteer myself to make the journey. If you agree to make this journey, one that offers the possibility of great benefit our people, I will make certain that your lodge is protected and that your family eats as well as my own. You are my brother, and I can do no less. Bring back the knowledge of how the rock can be made to give up the metal that we can shape to our needs. Learn how it is done, and then bring the knowledge back so that others can learn it as well." After Broken Stick sat back down, signaling that he had finished, Eagle Claw, Two Bear's father stood and he spoke as well.

"I have seen in the same way as Stick, the abilities that Two Bears has to see new uses in our old ideas. He has created better ways to do many things that others, including me, have always been satisfied with doing in the old way. I too promise to protect your lodge Two, and to see that no harm comes to your woman or to your children. For any father to urge such a long and dangerous trip on his only son, the reward just has to be great. In this case, that is certainly true. I hope you will set aside your own desires and undertake this necessary journey for the betterment of your people." Two Bears was embarrassed by this praise from his father, and from his friend, and ashamed at having thought only of his own happiness and of his family's welfare.

"I will go if that is the wish of the council. I will do my best to learn how to shape metal from the rocks. I will come back and share this new craft with all of the people who wish to learn and develop it for the benefit of our people. I will leave as soon as you say you wish it of me."

Willow was proud when Two Bears informed her that the tribal council had selected him to make the trip to the far Northern country. She too had heard of the metal knives that worked to make the skinning of game so much faster and easier. Even more importantly, she had seen and held for herself, a metal needle and awl that cut through leather as if it were as soft as a leaf. She had needles made of thick deer horn, as well as an awl made from flint and bone, but the difference between those and the metal ones was considerable. She, like every tribal member, was excited to know that such wonderful time saving tools might soon be made readily available within the tribe. She would miss her man, but was willing to make the sacrifice for the wonderful improvements that the new craft could bring.

And, so it was that Two Bears had set off alone, a large quiver full of the tribe's best trade goods, and enough dried food to supplement what he could forage for himself while engaged in his travels. Broken Stick had given him a dozen of his finest arrows, made to Two's slightly longer standard length. Eagle Claw had presented him with his own treasured bow, one that his own father had fashioned and passed down to his son when he had left the village to make his own trip of exploration some thirty summers previously.

He began his travels with the first bloom of Spring, traveling with the morning light of day and only making camp when the night began to overtake the land. If food chose to offer itself up to him while he traveled, Two Bears was more than willing to accept it. If not, every fourth or fifth day, he would stay longer in his camp and range from it for the purpose of tracking and killing some food. He would then smoke the game overnight and carry it with him to be consumed while he traveled.

By summer's end he began to see the signs and landmarks that Jakko and Elenst had shared with him as directions to their home lands. By the time he knew that he was getting close to their land, Two Bears could only marvel at the changes that had taken place in the land where he now walked. Though the days still offered some warmth, the nights reminded him of early Winter in his village. He was walking most days now over shelves of hard packed snow and ice, and marveled at the lack of any tall trees and the sparseness of foliage. He had been forced to make long detours around seas that stretched as far as his eyes could see, but whose water he was able to safely drink from.

All of this had come without surprise, as he had been told of these differences by the traders who had passed their winter in his village. Though they may have differed greatly in parts of their appearance from Two Bears and most members of his tribe, the two men had spoken a common tongue, even though it was with a dialect that was somewhat hard to understand. It was still recognizable as the language of his people. Even their heavier facial hair and the way that they dressed wasn't that much different from some individuals that were members of some closer neighboring tribes. The people were one, though there were differences, but none so great as to make them strangers or outcasts from the tribal hearths. Two Bears knew that he too would be welcome in the villages where he chanced to travel.

Two Bears felt a strong rush of excitement when he came to a fork in the river that he had been following for the past five days. He had been a visitor in more than a score of villages over the course of his journey, and the next that he was to encounter would be the one of his ultimate destination. He had worn through three heavy pairs of mocassins while he walked, and had been concerned that he would not reach the end of it before his final pair were wore out. Before him now, half a morning's journey along the river's path, lay the village of Jakko and Elenst's birth. Once he arrived, the easiest leg of his journey would be completed. He had made good progress on his journey, beating the harsh winter that the trader's had tried to prepare him for. They had teased Two Bears that what his village called Winter would serve as early summer at their village. Now that he had almost arrived, Two Bears knew that they had been exaggerating in their claims. As he walked this final leg, Two Bears came into contact with several smaller groups of the Northern peoples. With each contact, custom required that they stop and spend some time together. It was usual that small gifts of food or pieces of useful goods would be made. Two Bears carried many small bow strings and cut bone ornaments in his trading quiver that had served him well on all such occasions. Eagle Claw was a master at fashioning wonderful bow strings and Two Bears had traded for a large quantity of bone ornaments with Rising Waters right before he left his village.

Two Bears was sitting with a small group of two adult hunters and two young boys that he had run into while attempting to ford a minor stream that had peeled away from the river. They all knew Jakko and Elenst, and had wanted Two Bears to tell all that he knew of their trade success thus far through their journey. Reaching inside his trade pack, Two Bears pulled out several of his father's bowstrings and several of the bone ornaments. One of the ornaments had been painstakingly carved and polished into the shape of a tiny deer, with exceptional detail, even down to the tiny bobbed tail behind its rear haunches. The carving was quite a good likeness of a deer, and Rising Waters had been proud of it because it was his woman that had carved it all by herself. It was the type of ornament that children played with when weather forced them to stay within the lodges. This particular one was of a better quality certainly, but still only a small children's play thing. As he talked to the gathered people, Two Bears couldn't help but notice the tremendous interest all four of them were showing in that deer figurine. Each person had lifted it up and examined it in closest detail, all commenting on how life like it looked and marveling that it was possible to make anything so beautiful.

"Yes, it was crafted by my Chief's own woman. I had hoped to receive something of great value in trade for it. It is the only one that I have, and is the finest deer carving that I've ever seen." What he spoke was the exact truth. He did consider it the best of the bone ornaments and he had hoped to trade something of value for it. Perhaps a small ingot of metal. When the two men started speaking together excitedly, Two Bear's hopes rose to a higher level. Excitement over a trade good by the potential trading partner was always a good thing. When the two men reached into their supply packs and brought out a metal knife each and laid them on the ground in front of them, Two Bears almost swallowed his tongue. When one of the hunters reached for the figurine and then pushed the two knives over to where the figurine had lain, the trade of a lifetime was in the offering for Two Bears.