Chapter 17

"Good, I was looking forward to giving him the same sendoff I gave Kaglao. Nothing is more foul than a grown man that will take sport by hurting a child."

The women were all looking at me then, even the young girls. The small one, in her mother's arms, was staring wide eyed at me, even though I thought she could barely understand what I was saying.

"How did you dispose of Kaglao then," the mother finally asked.

"It was a little extra work after he was wounded seriously, but I was glad to do it. I made his men hold him down while I cut off his feet and then hands. As we speak he must be begging somewhere on the next world."

This was another shocker for the women and they stayed quiet for a while. Meantime Matatu had some of our prisoners do away with the body, after he gave them their instructions he approached me, pulling me to the side for a private conversation.

"Carl, I think you should let me deal with this man on the ground," he said.

"Matatu it is a gruesome task," I said.

"I know it must be, Carl, I could feel your torment when you dealt with Kaglao. Still it is something that I think will help both our world and the next one, and I think you have been through enough today. I will deal with this one, or if I can't I'll make his own fellows do it. I too saw what he did to the child," Matatu told me.

I hadn't gotten a bit of a charge out of cutting up Kaglao, and I'd done it mostly to let his followers know that their asses were up shit creek, and that was the good news about the rest of their day. If Matatu would do away with the piece of shit that was still rolling around bawling it was fine with me.

"I will get my saw for you. It will make it easier," I said.

"Maybe we should give your magic saw a rest too, Carl. We have axes and I'm good with one," Matatu told me.

I let it go then and not ten minutes later, after Matatu gave the duct-taped prisoners a little pep talk, they grabbed up their former friend and left with him. I wondered about Matatu being the only one in charge of the party, until I saw Jagbac and Jastal slipping silently into the woods to watch things while they were unnoticed. I quit worrying about Matatu after that.

Even though they must have walked half a mile away from camp we still heard the asshole screaming while Matatu, or whoever had to, worked on him. It was nearly an hour later when they returned with only his hands and feet. Matatu waited until he was back with the rest of us before he gave them the worst news yet.

"We have been lenient so far, but the next one of you that gives us trouble will leave this world completely blind and without his hands, feet, or manhood," he told them.

It might not sound so terrifying to someone from earth, depending on their beliefs. To any of the people of Margata it was more than terrifying, because they didn't have beliefs. They all knew they were going to another world when they died here and they knew that if they lost something here it would not be replaced for their next life. Whether it was true or not, it was true to them and they knew it in their bones.

And who was to say they were wrong? Certainly not me, I was already walking around on my next world. It was plain and simple to me too. I didn't know whether a God or a spaceman had moved me here, but I was on my second world already, and that was a personally observed fact.

Our Zakat was feverish by now, in spite of all the doctoring and praying the Matatu had done to him and for him. The formerly captive women had fixed a big meal for us, and I'd even relented and removed the tape from our temporary slaves to let them eat also. After the meal I could see that Matatu was exercised over something and it only took one question to find out what it was.

Matatu was a medicine man in most ways you'd normally associate with one, but he wasn't a healing woman Healing women weren't so in touch with the spirit world but they did know a hell of a lot more about healing, or helping people heal.

Our Calak only had one, and of course she stayed at home, too valuable to come out on this exploring adventure. There were more hurts and sickness for her to deal with at the camp than there would be on our trek, and after all, we did have Matatu for first aid.

An even stranger coincidence for me was that I'd left my first aid kit at the camp too. I didn't have that many things in it, but I did have some veterinary penicillin tablets and some aspirin to go along with the stronger pain pills. Since I'd been a kid, messing with my horses, I'd always kept some antibiotic handy.

Even though I'd quit fooling with horses after college, I still kept a little of the penicillin and a few other horse remedies close. I knew as well as the vet that most of the same medicine would work on humans. Breaking up a few one-thousand milligram horse tablets to take myself was one hell of a lot cheaper than going to the doctor if I had some shitty chest infection or sore throat from a cold or the flu.

We were here though and it was back at camp. I know it was stupid of me, no one in camp knew shit about it and it was useless to them, even if they did happen to need it.

The girl child's mother came over then and asked me about Zakat. She could see as well as anyone that he was wounded and not doing that well. No one could miss the way Matatu was pacing around him.

"Carl, I am the healing woman in our Calak. We kept it from the animals that were holding us here, and I don't have any of my medicines any longer, but I would like to help your Zakat if I can," she said.

"Will you talk with Matatu?" I asked.

"Yes."

In twenty minutes it was a done deal. She was busily hunting in the woods for two types of plants she said she needed to help Zakat. She told us one was to make a salve and the other was to brew a special tea. She had three of our original party with her too, just to make sure nothing bothered her in the woods.

It was nearly sunset when they came back and she was carrying two different types of plant, so evidently she had what she'd gone after. In no time flat one of the women we'd found was beating hell out of one of the plants in a sort of stone bowl with a little stone mortar.

The healing woman had a small animal stomach hanging over the fire, boiling some water for tea. It had only taken her a few minutes to pluck off two hands full of leaves from the other plant she'd come back with and they would go into the water for tea as soon as it boiled.

After the leaves were in the water and it had boiled for about another minute or two she moved the bag and tripod from over the fire to let it cool. While that was going on she took over for the gal doing the plant smashing, added some animal fat she'd had somewhere to the mix and got down to business on the salve.

It was fully dark by now and the only light was from torches we'd made and put up and the fire. I'd guess it was nearly ten PM when the tea was ready for Zakat to drink and after she'd made him drink three wooden cups full she cleaned around and in the wound with water and then some of the tea. After that she covered the whole thing with the salve, making him sleep without his tunic on and on his back.

Strangely he dropped off almost right away, but the healing woman stayed with him all night I guess. She stayed with him after daybreak too, and until it was time to eat a little breakfast, which all the other women had cooked.

She left instructions with Matatu for her patient's care while she slept and then she went into one of the shabby huts to rest. She'd also told Matatu that she didn't have any more rendered fat and that she'd need some to make more salve. He explained the problem to me and told me she'd said that fat from a thaka was best.

I knew this was my cue, because I'd already proven myself the best hunter of our Calak. Kwagi were excellent hunters, they had to be to survive, but they didn't have nearly the sense of smell I'd come here with. Hell, I felt for them since I hadn't either on earth.

At any rate I could smell a thaka from a long distance and I could even tell how far away he was, usually. Jagbac offered to go with me and help carry it back, if I got one. Of course they all knew that I'd be back with one in a few hours. They'd seen me do it before and they didn't even doubt it.