Chapter 25

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -- I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."R. Frost

It's been a month since the group from Miya's old camp came to live with us and eight or nine weeks since I came to OZ. I say that because we ain't in Kansas or Texas for that matter. Maybe in 10,000 years or so. Today the men and I are working on getting the brick oven built. I figured if we had a brick smokehouse, we'd be more efficient in smoking the meat than the one we cobbled together when Brant's camp first joined us. And we could build it in a way that also allowed us a secure place for storage. From the lumber we'd made I fashioned brick molds. The mixing of the mud and straw had been a bit of a chore until Flala had a wonderful idea. Let the children play in the mud and mix the straw and clay at the same time. That was inspiration! It worked beautifully and soon we had almost more of it than we could use. Well, we were hard pressed to use it before it dried out. Flala and Dina were watching and helping out. They had almost as much mud on them as the children.

Nabo and I were handling the forms and the rest of the men were moving the sun baked bricks to the piles where we planned to 'fire" the bricks. Actually it was just a cleared place where we would stack wood under, over and around the bricks and then light them up. We had just finished forming another batch of bricks when there was a commotion over by the 'blacksmith' shop we'd built. Someone was calling my name for I quickly headed on over. When I got there, I had to ask the crowd to let me through. When I got closer I almost had a panic attack. Little Shira was lying on the ground, her body contorted unnaturally. Her hair was matted with a red liquid I knew was blood. Her mother, Chanil had arrived and was hurrying to her side. She started to reach out.

"Stop!" I shouted. She was startled and stopped what she was going to do. "Don't touch her, don't move her. That may be the worst thing you can do. Let me in there so I can check her out and see if we can move her" The rest of the crowd moved back. I knelt down by the small figure on the ground. I first felt her pulse. It was weak and slow. It should have been around 120 but was almost too weak for me to record. I found it at last and counted. It was as slow as my own normal heartbeat. That was not good. I then checked her temperature. Her skin was cool to the touch. This also worried me. I looked up at that moment and saw Manola and Shamona approaching with furs, water and cloths. I checked Shira's arms and legs. I checked her neck. I couldn't feel anything out of place. Holding her neck as still as I could, I had Manola help me turn her over. Shira's eyes were closed and I watched as her chest rose and fell with her breathing. It was slow and shallow. That too, was not good. I sent Abo for two poles. Using the skins and poles, I fashioned a stretcher as I had learned for my First Aid merit badge. Ever so gently we lifted Shira's small body on the stretcher and then Abo and I carried her into the cave. I asked Abo to stand guard at the entrance and had him ask most of the clan to not enter just now. Shamona and Manola stayed, as they were our camp's healers.

I had them make a special pallet for Shira near the pool so we'd have water whenever it was needed close at hand. The light from outside was good at this location and I wouldn't have to use the lanterns until night. The only thing is, I wasn't sure she'd make it through the night. Shira's tiny body did not look good. Her skin had a pale tinge to it. Shamona had made some of her herbal remedy but could only get a little bit into Shira. She had been unconscious most of the time. The ladies were getting strained from the concentration they were placing on their work. I told them to take a break; I would stay with Shira and call them if there was any change. My mate and Manola were happy for the break. They said they would go see Chanil and offer her one of their calming remedies. I said it was a good idea, but cautioned them not to let her in the cave. I asked them to remind Abo to keep everyone out. They left and I settled down on the pallet next to her. I guess the strain had gotten to me too. My head started nodding and before long my eyes had closed and I was asleep.

"Michael... "in my dream I heard my name called. Not Mike like everyone here knew, but my birth name. "Michael ... I must talk to you."