Chapter 4

Sometimes Williams is so odd, Travlo thought, but I am happy. The Lake People haven't killed him and taken me. I was afraid of him at first but he has been kind, unlike that beast I was married to. I've grown to love him. He will be a great man, he will be an elder, maybe even on the council of elders. He needs more than one wife. Trelo would be a good second wife. She is not afraid to work. Hard work passes faster when a friend is helping you. Trelo is my friend. Trelo has already listened to what I said. Yes, she would be a good second wife. I already have a plan to make Trelo a real wife. Yet Williams is so odd. Why hasn't he had sex with Trelo? I will have to make it happen. Men are slaves to sex. Unless they are evil, a woman can make them do anything.

That night, when Rod was thinking with his little head, Trelo joined Travlo on top of Rod. It was bound to happen eventually, Travlo just helped it happen sooner rather than later. Now it was a fait accompli, although she didn't think in those words, now no more arguments about who was and who wasn't a wife. Rod would sulk and feel guilty for a few days, but he would get over it. Trelo had the opposite problem.

In the morning Travlo took a look at Trelo and said, "We should camp near here for some time."

"Why?" Rod asked.

"Look at her. She's in love and in lust. No one will believe that she has been your wife for almost a year. We need to stay away from the village until she can go 10 minutes without touching you. It's cute but it's a little nauseating too. Go get naked with her. In a week or two her eyes will lose that look."

Rod tried to fight the urge by telling himself it was a one time mistake. After a day it was a two time mistake. Then he gave up all pretense of fighting the attraction. Trelo was in love with him. He already loved Travlo. That love had come on him slowly and was built as much on his trust and admiration of her as his romantic attraction. Now his love for Trelo was changing. He could no longer think of her as a child, not with the way she acted and not with his response to her.

Rod was swept up in the love and lust of a new relationship. It didn't bother Travlo, she had seen it all before. The new wife would get most of the attention at first. After a while, the man would remember that he had another wife. If he was a good man, he would treat her well. Williams was a good man.

It was strange for Rod to be with two women, he had always been monogamous, strange and easy. Most of the day was spent lying around camp listening to the two women giggling or laughing when Rod practiced throwing a spear. Life could certainly be worse.

Rod showed both of them how to use the pistol. They practiced again and again. Finally he made each of them fire one round. They didn't like it, but at least they knew how to do it if he was killed. He taught them how to fire the rifle but no live fire exercises. He had too few rounds.

Rod explained how rich the firearms, knives, water bottle, med kit, and other gadgets made them. How careful they had to be not to show them to anyone except in an emergency. He also told them about the wonders that the med kit held. He saw no point in telling them where he really came from. There was no way back.

At last Trelo started to act more normal; truth be told so did Rod. They could go half of an hour without touching each other. It was time to go to Trelo's village. They wouldn't show up at dawn with a gift, it'd be a homecoming.

When they neared Trelo's village, Rod took the spears from the two women. I'll be making enough changes to society without blurring the lines between men's and women's roles. That's one sure way to get killed. I'll let women worry about that in a 2 or 3 thousand years.

Trelo couldn't contain herself, she ran the last 200 meters into the village shouting, "I am here!" She was greeted with the same enthusiasm. Rod and Travlo plastered smiles on their faces and continued to walk at a steady pace. It wasn't really that hard to smile, Trelo was a hoot. She ran from group to group squealing and laughing, occasionally pointing back at Rod and Travlo.

When Rod and Travlo entered the village, Trelo led them to a tent. There she introduced them to Notl and Ataar. Again she introduced Rod as her husband and Travlo as his first wife. The Chief, Notl, invited all of them to sit.

"We thank you for bringing our daughter back to us," Notl said.

I need to stop this now, Rod thought. "I didn't bring Trelo back to you," Rod said. "I brought her back to visit. I'd like to stay for a time but some day we'll leave. Trelo's my wife, she'll leave with me."

There was some tension as Notl asked Trelo, "Is that what you want?"

"Hell yes!" Trelo said. Rod reminded himself yet again to watch his language.

Notl relaxed and Ataar asked, "What will you do while you are in our village? Why should we let you and your first wife stay?"

"I can't hunt well but I'm a great warrior," Rod said. "I can go with your hunters and guard them from attack. I can guard you and Notl from attack."

"We already have great warriors in our village," Notl said.

"None like me. I don't mean this as an insult, it is just a fact. None of your warriors can stand against me."

Ataar glanced at Notl who smiled and nodded his head as if the two shared a joke. Notl turned back to Rod and said, "We will send for Otatl. If you can defeat him, then you can stay with the People and protect us for a year. For now you can stay within the village. When you are gone, Trelo and Travlo will stay." Rod understood the language well enough by now to hear the sarcasm Notl put on "protect us". Nonetheless, Rod made a gift of half of the dried Melk to Notl for him to distribute as he saw fit.

Trelo was still giddy with the joy of homecoming as she, Travlo, and Rod set up their tent at the edge of the village. Once they had finished Rod said, "Sit here with me Trelo. I want to meet the people of your village."

Many of the Lake People visited her during the day. They were happy to see her but not overjoyed with Rod and Travlo. Trelo introduced Rod to all of them. He was not the best at remembering names but realized that this was an important task. He used a mnemonic trick he had been taught. Pick a three word description of the person and associate that with their name. The more off colored the description the better it worked. A beautiful woman named Frelo became 'I'd fuck her', not really three words but it worked. A truly ugly man named Hatatl became 'hemorrhoid faced fucker'. Travlo remembered almost all the names and was happy to point out someone and ask Rod who that person was. She was also happy to laugh at him when he gave the wrong name. She didn't speak all that much but she could have one of the most condescending tones that Rod had ever heard.

"How can you remember all the names," he asked her.

"Women are smarter than men," she replied with a deadpan expression. "I've told you that before. You must have forgotten."

That night as the three lay on the blankets, Rod heard Trelo crying. He pulled her into his arms saying, "What's the matter, Little One?"

"I'm thinking of my first husband and worrying about you," she answered.

"Tell me about him," Rod said. "Was he kind to you?"

"Yes. He was kind to me. I loved him very much but we were married only a month when he was killed."

"You must miss him," Rod said softly.

"I do. He was taken from me and now you will be taken from me," she cried.

"No one will take you from me," Rod said. "If you watch behind me and warn me of an attack, I will use the pistol before I let you or Travlo be taken from me."

"You won't be able to use the pistol when you fight Otatl. He is the warrior you will have to fight."

"Will it be a fair fight?" Rod asked. "Will I get the same weapon that Otatl uses?"

"Yes. He doesn't use weapons and he always wins." Tears continued to run down her face. What I would give for a box of Kleenex, Rod thought.

"Will Lataar honor his word and let us stay in the village when I beat Otatl?" Rod asked.

"Yes, but no one has ever beaten Otatl. He always wins." She was barely able to say the last words.

"There is a saying in my tribe, Little One, 'There is a first time for everything'. This will be the first time for Otatl to lose. Go to sleep Trelo. We'll worry about tomorrow when tomorrow comes."

The next day didn't bring any troubles, Otatl's village was more than a walk of one hand of days, from Trelo's village. Rod sent Trelo out to reacquaint herself with old friends and to tell them what great people Rod and Travlo were. Rod and Travlo walked a couple of klicks from the village to an open glade where he could practice. He spent most of the day on empty hand practice. Travlo kept watch over him.

The next morning at sunrise he walked up to Notl and Ataar. He sat down facing them. "Notl," Rod asked. "Can I ask you some questions about the fight with Otatl?"

"Have you decided not to fight Otatl?" Notl asked with a grin.

"No, I will still fight him."

"But you have heard of him and now you are afraid."

"Yes," Rod said with a straight face. "I cried all last night and called for my mother."

"You mock me?" Notl asked in anger.

"Not you Notl," Rod said to appease him. "I mock the legend of Otatl. He is a man just like any man. He is not a spirit. Any man can be beaten in a fight. I want to know what the rules are."

"What do you mean by rules?" Lataar asked.

Rod thought for a moment and then said, "If Ataar grabbed a spear and killed you, what would happen to him?"

"Why would he do that?"

"Don't worry about why," Rod said. "What would happen?"

"All the village would kill him."

"That would be the right thing to do," Rod said. "You have a rule that one of the People can't just kill another of the People. You are not animals, you have rules. What would happen if he raped your wife?"

"Why would he do that?"

"What would happen?"

"He would be banished," Notl allowed.

"That would be the right thing to do," Rod said. "You have a rule that one of the People can't rape another of the People's wives. You are not animals, you have rules. What are the rules of the fight with Otatl?"

Notl smiled as he understood the question. "You and Otatl are animals."

"Do I have to kill Otatl to win the fight?" Rod asked.

"He'll probably kill you," Ataar answered. "If he kills you he'll take your women."

"I'm not worried about Otatl killing me," Rod said. "I want to know if I have to kill him."

"If he can't continue to fight, then you will be the winner but you won't win all his possessions," Ataar said. "He won't yield to you. You'll have to kill him."

"Maybe if I talk nice to him, he'll let me live." Rod smiled as he left Notl and Ataar.

The village was in full celebration when Otatl and other Lake People arrived late one afternoon a week or so later. Rod had given up on keeping track of time; one day was the same as the next. Otatl was impressive, At least as tall as Rod and strongly muscled. Probably in middle 20s — he was a warrior in his prime. He had dark hair and dark skin, of course not nearly as dark as Rod. He was an easy going man, no bluster, no attempts to anger Rod.

"I am sorry that I must kill you," he said. "But there can only be one Protector of the People."

"I'm sorry that you have to kill me too," Rod answered. "Soon there will be more People and we'll need more Protectors. Do we fight now or do we wait till tomorrow?"

"We wait until tomorrow," Otatl called as he walked into the adoring crowd. "Tonight we celebrate."

"Well he doesn't seem to be a bad person," Rod said. "But he's celebrating a little early."

"Husband," Travlo said. "You must be very careful."

"Yes," Rod replied. "You're right. I must be very careful, especially at the start of the fight. His manner may be an attempt to catch me off guard. If so, he will attack with his best techniques. I must protect myself. If his attack doesn't work ... his confidence will drop. Then I'll have an extra advantage."

"If he doesn't attack quickly, I must take my time and learn his style. Then I'll know what to do. I only worry that my timing is off. I'll make the fight last until I am sure I have my timing. Either way I'll fight a defensive fight at first. I hope I don't have to kill him."

"I hope he doesn't kill you," Travlo said with a smile. "But he is handsome and people like him, so it wouldn't be a complete loss."

"I'm happy for you," Rod said sarcastically.

Once again that night, Rod and Travlo held Trelo as she cried. Rod had his own problems. He didn't sleep well either. Call it butterflies, stage fright, or plain fear, he wished the morning would come so he could get the fight over. I wonder how Otatl is sleeping tonight?

In the morning, Rod had Travlo cut his beard and hair; no reason to give and opponent a handle. He began to stretch and warm-up inside the tent. Trelo would call him 10 minutes before the start of the fight. He arrived at the fight circle already sweating amid jokes that he was so scared that he had run away before he decided to come back. Otatl began to strip and Rod followed his example. The fighting ring was large, at least 10 meters in diameter. Ataar was standing in the middle of the ring holding a war club. Otatl stepped in one side and Rod stepped in on the opposite side. Rod bowed to Ataar and then bowed to Otatl. Ataar sang a short song and shouted as he backed out of the ring. The ring filled with the roar of the crowd calling Otatl's name.