Chapter Twenty Two
My plan for our first trip was to search the forest going north from the village. I already knew that we could find potatoes and blueberries, and those crops would definitely be grown in my fields. Kalou had said the tribe knew of nothing else to eat, but there had to be more. We would search the entire valley if necessary to find other food we could grow here. Only time would tell whether it would be a long process or it would go quickly, but today was the first step.
The day before I had taken some of the rough skins the tribe used when they gathered potatoes, and by poking holes and threading straps of leather I had fashioned unattractive but large, functional packs for my companions. We would be able to carry a lot in our packs, and I hoped that when we returned to the village they would be full.
After leaving Garon I returned to the crowd, where I gathered up Catto and Kalou. After they said a quick good-bye to the tribe, we turned and strode up the hill and into the forest.
We walked briskly as I spoke of many things. I told them that when we returned to the village I would take Catto and some other men, and we would go to the river to gather the wheat plants.
I continued, “But on this trip, I want to cover as much ground as we can, and I want to see as many different plants and animals as possible. Like those nuts I brought back today, I believe your tribe does not realize what edible plants are in the forest. I'm looking for anything you can grow at your village for food, and we're going to bring back seeds, roots, or even the whole plant, whatever we need to do to get some crops started.”
I also told them how certain animals could be kept in the fields outside the village, and that if we could find them, these animals would provide the village with meat, milk and eggs, and the tribe would not have to hunt every day for something to eat.
Since we could now understand each other quite well, as we walked I was able to answer all of their many questions. They questioned me extensively about everything I said, and since everything was new to them, every answer I gave led to another question.
This question and answer went on for much of the morning, until we reached a spot where Kalou showed me a large patch of potatoes. I carefully dug up one entire potato plant, this one having three potatoes growing from the green top, and explained, “You take the potato and cut it into pieces, and when the pieces are planted back in the ground roots grow out of these eyes, and a new potato plant grows up from each piece.”
They both looked at me skeptically, but Kalou said, “All right, the women can gather potatoes just for planting on one of our trips into the forest.”
Since we would probably need these potatoes later for a meal, I put them in my pack where they joined my fire starter, some long strips of leather, and my water skins; these were the only other things we carried with us. We continued on, now traveling silently through the rolling hills, not wanting to scare off any animals we might come across. As we walked my eyes moved constantly through the forest, searching for any plants I recognized.
We walked without rest through the morning, but saw nothing of any use to the village. Occasionally one of my companions would show me something they thought might interest me; the track of an animal, or a plant they thought I had never seen before. The plants were all inedible, and the animal signs quickly became redundant. We saw many deer tracks, as well as signs of rabbit and other small game such as possum and raccoon.
We did see the tracks of a large boar, which was travelling with a number of the smaller pigs that the tribe often killed and ate. These smaller pigs would be domesticated and raised near the village for food. We had left them to run wild in my homeland since they produced nothing we needed, but the villagers obviously liked their meat. But they, like the potatoes, were abundant in this area, so I did not plan to take any back at this time.
Though crops were more important to me, it was imperative that I also find chickens, sheep, goats and cattle. These were the animals that would provide the most value, allowing the tribe to add eggs, milk and cheese to their diet, giving them wool for the making of clothing, and a ready source of meat after the animals were established. I had described these animals, and had even drawn pictures of their tracks, but none were familiar to Catto or Kalou.
I was very disappointed that they had never seen anything like cattle, as they would be an excellent source of milk. I thought cattle might live on the great plains of the valley, but had seen no sign of them the night before. They would be known if they lived anywhere near the village since they were too slow not to be killed, but it was possible they lived farther to the north or south.
I had seen with my own eyes the sheep’s hide that Garon wore. He had told me he killed the sheep when he was very young and adventurous. He had travelled far to the north and found the sheep alone, on the edge of the forest. Though he returned to the spot he never saw another, and he eventually stopped travelling so far. His story was one of the reasons we traveled north, close to the edge of the grasslands.
We were surrounded by a beautiful landscape as we walked through the forest. The trees were tall and majestic, the undergrowth lush and varied. We were now to the farthest reaches of the tribe’s normal hunting grounds, so what we saw from this point would be new to all of us.
As our walk continued on into the day I began to be unsettled by what I saw in the assortment of plant life around us. I eventually realized that there seemed to be an order to the forest that we walked through, an order which I had never before seen. There were now frequent clearings in the forest, some small and some quite large. In each of these clearings we would find a single variety of a plant, such as a huge patch of wild daisies or a continuous blanket of a specific grass. Then the plants would end, not to be seen again after we left the clearing and reentered the forest.
The organized nature of the growth was quite disconcerting to me. It was normal to see plants dispersed throughout a forest, not arranged in large quantities in certain spots like a garden. Even Catto and Kalou commented on what we were seeing. It certainly seemed planned, and though the thought made me extremely uncomfortable, the only logical conclusion I could arrive at involved the power of God.
In my mind I had left God behind with my parents in the land of my birth. Though I knew He had created all the earth, I had come to this land believing that I would never again have to deal with Him, that I was in control. I wanted the power and glory I attained in my new life to be achieved through my strength, intelligence and wisdom alone, without anything owed to God. What I was now seeing in the forest forced me to realize that I might not be able to get away from His influence.
Though it was difficult to admit, I was actually encouraged by what I saw indicating God’s handiwork. If these patterns of growth continued, it seemed likely that eventually we would walk through a patch of something we could eat. I quickly brushed aside thoughts of God and began to hurry ahead to the next clearing.
As the afternoon wore on I saw several plant varieties that were new to me, and I eagerly inspected these plants, smelling, tasting, and pulling them out of the ground to see if there was anything edible underneath. But we continued to find nothing that would be good to eat, and the sun was now lowering, having passed its zenith long ago. I knew we would soon need to start our return trip, and I was loath to do this with nothing in hand.
I had begun to doubt that we would ever find anything of value to bring back for the tribe. I now walked more slowly, discouraged and with my head down, and I had just decided to turn us around after the next clearing when Kalou snorted quietly in laughter and pointed ahead.
“Look at that funny grass,” she said.
Looking towards where she pointed, I saw them. I would recognize those feathery tops anywhere. Shouting joyfully, I ran ahead, reached down and pulled out the nearest carrot.
“Yes!” I said enthusiastically, “Carrots are delicious!”
I showed the long orange carrot to my friends, wiped the dirt off and took a big bite. ?
??Wonderful!” I said with a wide smile as the carrot crunched in my month.
Catto and Kalou followed my lead, pulling and cleaning carrots, then tentatively taking bites. They nodded and smiled, though Catto less happily than Kalou.
“Yes, it’s very good,” she stated.
Catto shrugged and said, “It’s all right.”
This made me laugh heartily, which surprised my companions. “Vegetables aren’t for everyone, but they’re good for you and make you healthy and strong. If I hadn’t eaten all my vegetables when I was growing up, I’d probably be your size,” I joked to Catto.
Catto looked at me dubiously, not knowing if I was serious, and Kalou burst out in laughter at the look on his face.
I instructed them to pull as many as we could fit in one pack, but keep a little dirt around the plants that went on top. I explained how we wanted these top plants to continue growing back at the village; that the tops would later go to seed, we would collect the seeds, plant them and have more carrots to eat in the future. I was uncomfortable with them doing all the work of digging and packing away the carrots we would keep, but I could not risk touching them myself.
When Catto’s pack was full, we continued to the north, my spirits buoyed by our discovery. The afternoon was the exact opposite of the morning, and in succession we found numerous patches of herbs, fruit and vegetables. Some patches were large, and others fairly small, but everything we found could be transferred to the village and grown for the tribe. We found too many patches to describe, among them rosemary, cucumber, peas which were almost ready to harvest, sage, thyme, melon, radishes, immature cabbage, strawberries, oregano and finally, a large stand of corn.
I was amazed at the variety and condition of the plants. Every type of plant had been discovered growing in moist soil in its own clearing, hardy and vigorous, nurtured by sunlight streaming through the trees. By the time we reached the corn we had long since given up trying to gather plants to take back to the village. We had emptied most of the carrots out of Catto’s pack, and were now filling our packs with samples of the produce. I wanted to bring these samples back to the tribe, and let them be seen and tasted by all the villagers.
Now that I knew the bounty I had to work with, I had changed my plans. Given the large number of plants we had discovered, I decided we would return to the village to show the people what we had found, and have them prepare the soil. Then I would return with a larger group of men to collect all the plants, carry them to the village and transplant them into the prepared fields.
This was better than anything I could have imagined, and I was overjoyed. We would soon be able to grow everything that was needed to feed the village. With all this food the villagers could eat well and grow strong, which would allow them to grow in numbers and become a great power, with me as their King. Simply by changing their diet, I would change the world.
In my excitement at each new discovery I had forgotten about our return trip to the village, and it was now very late. There was no way we could possibly make it back tonight, and Catto and Kalou were exhausted. Because of all our tasting of the fruits and vegetables as they were discovered, we were also stuffed.
I decided to camp right where we were, at the edge of the large clearing where the corn grew. We would begin our return to the village at first light. Catto and Kalou were nervous about staying in the forest overnight, but I assured them they were in no danger and I would keep watch to make sure nothing happened to us during the night.
As the light began to dim, we made ourselves comfortable and talked about the day. Catto said he did not think anyone had gone so far from the village for a very long time, at least since Garon when he was young.
Thinking there would some deep reasons, I asked, "Why not?”
“Why should we? There is plenty of meat near the village, so there is no need to come this far.”
This rationale made no sense to me. “Hasn’t anyone wanted to explore, to see new sights and find out what was here, as Garon did so many years ago?”
Catto thought about this for a moment. With a puzzled look on his face he finally said, “Well, no, of course not.”
Kalou laughed, “He does not understand you, the men only do what they have to do, and go where they need to go. That is why they were angry the other day when they caught me so far from the village.”
“What do you mean? Why were they angry?” I questioned.
“I was exploring, as you call it. I wanted to see the wasteland; see what was on the far side of our mountains. I was supposed to be gathering potatoes, but instead I walked far away from the village. Andoc, Nadar and Catto were hunting, saw my tracks and followed me. I had killed some rabbits, and was just in sight of the wasteland when they caught me. Nadar was very angry; we are not to go near the wasteland, that is the first rule we have, and I had broken many other rules also.”
She looked at Catto out of the corner of her eye, “If you had not found us and made them forget what I had done, I would have been punished.”
I was glad we were finally talking about when we met. I still had many unanswered questions from that day. “Why are you not to go near the wasteland?”
There was a pause that stretched on until it was uncomfortable. Catto and Kalou kept glancing back and forth at each other, neither of them wanting to answer. I waited, watching them evenly without expression.
Finally Kalou spoke. Hesitantly, often looking at the ground, she said, “Our tribe has a story from long ago of our beginning, of how a god brought all the people to this land. There was nothing, and then we walked out of the desert with the god and we were a people. He told us to continue on into this land and never to return to the wasteland, and then he disappeared back into the desert.”
She paused, and then continued, “The god was never seen again. All the people came through the mountains to this place and built our village, but in time the people were scattered to the four winds.”
There was another long pause, and then Kalou, staring at the ground, said quietly, “Some in the village say you are the god returned... Are you?”
I wasn’t surprised by what Kalou said. Given our differences and my superiority to these people, I had expected that they might assume something like this. But hearing the story of how they came to this land shed a whole new light on the actions of the Elders.
Was this why the Elders had let me stay? Did they fear that I was the god returned? The god they referred to must have been my father. How had he done it? How had he brought so many people safely across that wasteland?
But in my heart I knew it could only have been done by the power of God. Only God could have brought them safely through the wasteland, which meant God had condoned bringing these people to this land and removing them from my father’s influence.
I had so many questions I wanted to ask Kalou, but first I answered her question. “No, I am a human just like you and Catto, but I am of a different race, with different abilities, from a land far away across the wasteland. My people were created by God to help your people, but we were separated, and now I have come to your land to teach you all I know.”
“How did you cross the wasteland, and which god do you speak of?” Catto asked.
I was not sure of how much to say. “It took me many, many long days and nights... It was a very difficult journey and I will not return there.”
I paused and then said, “There is only one God. He created the land and the sky. He created your people and my people and all the animals and plants.”
I paused again, choosing my words carefully, and continued, “Then He went away and now we have to take care of ourselves.”
Though he is helping us, something is false. I do not think he came here only to teach. I think he fears this God, and he hides something from us.
I continued speaking, “What about the other people you mentioned; the ones that scattered to the four winds. Where are they, do you ever see them?”
Catto answered, “Yes, so
me have been seen, but long ago when Garon was young. We think they were from the high mountains at the head of the valley. They came in the night and took some of our women, fighting and killing many of our men. They disappeared into the night and have never returned, but that is why we keep watch. Others are said to have gone in the opposite direction to the far end of the valley, and still other people are said to have crossed the great river, going towards where the sun comes from. Every corner of the land is said to have a tribe, though this may just be a story.”
He smiled and added, “But where our people came from was just a story until you arrived.”
“Yes, many stories may become true as time goes on,” I said quietly.
I was quite pleased to hear the news that more people lived in the land. This changed things, and I would need to think more on this in the night.
Changing the subject, I turned again to Kalou, “How did you kill the rabbits, and why did Nadar want them?”
She pulled the leather straps that she carried out of her belt. “This is my weapon,” she said, “since women cannot use the spear, I made this.”
She handed the straps over for my examination. I looked at them and was confused, they just looked like two long, thin leather straps. Except now that I saw it up close, I realized it was actually two straps connected by a small square of leather.
“How do you use it?” I asked.
“Watch.”
Taking the straps from me, Kalou pulled a smooth, round stone from somewhere in the depths of her clothing. She placed the stone in the square of leather, and then holding the two straps together by the ends she began to spin the entire thing over her head very quickly. It was soon spinning so fast I could barely see it. Suddenly she released the end of one of the straps, and the stone flew out and hit something on the far side of the clearing with a loud thud.
Kalou stood and walked briskly across the clearing, with Catto and me trailing behind. She went to the end of the corn field, about thirty paces away, where she picked up a head of corn that lay on the ground. It had a messy indentation, and I could see the stone buried deep in the cob.
“That is how it is used.” she told me with a wide grin.
I was impressed with her accuracy as well as her ingenuity. “How did you think of it?”
“I would often throw stones for fun when I was in the forest, but I could never hit anything. At least not the way you can.” She glanced at me with a smile in her eyes. “I noticed how leather straps could stretch and tried using them in different ways to throw stones, but nothing worked. One day I put a stone in the strap and was swinging it over my head, and the end slipped and the rock flew out and went very far, much farther than I could ever throw it. I kept working on it and changing the strap until I got it just the way I like it, and I kept practicing. Now I can hit almost anything I want.”
Catto and I just looked at her, Catto with his mouth open in amazement. This was a fine weapon, and one she had perfected on her own. As we walked back across the clearing and sat down again, Kalou continued. “Nadar wanted the rabbits for many reasons. Because we do not kill rabbits since they are too small for the tribe to feast upon; because I was supposed to be gathering potatoes, not killing animals; and because he is my father and thinks he can tell me to do anything he wants. But most of all he wanted them because I was near the wasteland, and obviously going that way on purpose. That made him very angry, and also frightened. He wanted to take the rabbits because that was a way to show his control over me,” she finished insightfully.
Everything she said made sense, and she showed wisdom with her analysis of Nadar's behavior. Once again I was impressed by Kalou, but I was surprised to hear that Nadar was her father. While there was nothing wrong with him, he had not shown himself to be one of the more intelligent villagers, which Kalou definitely was.
“Where is your mother?” I asked, knowing that Kalou slept in the communal woman’s hut.
“She died, and I have taken care of myself for a long time.” Kalou stood abruptly, “We need wood for a fire,” she said as she walked away.
I had obviously touched on a subject she did not want to talk about. Since the light was fading quickly, Catto and I rose and also began to gather wood. We soon had a fire burning, just in time for my companions, as it got very dark in the forest and they were still nervous about staying here tonight. The moon had not yet risen, though I knew it would be close to full again.
After the long day of walking and all the food they had put in their bellies, Catto and Kalou were soon fast asleep. I sat with my back against a tree, watching the flames dance in the small fire, completely comfortable in the night. My body was still, with all my senses pitched to the sounds around me. I felt no danger, and I was content and relaxed.
This day had been more successful than I could ever have dreamed. The forest was like a garden, and it was as though everything we found today had been put here, just waiting to be discovered and used. I thought this entirely possible, that God had placed the food here for these people, though I found it ironic that in all the years they had lived here, they had never explored far enough to discover it.
God had put the food here, and my father had brought the people to this land with God’s aid. Or, it suddenly occurred to me; perhaps God Himself had brought them here. That made more sense; I did not think my father had ever seen this land with his own eyes. I was filled with unease.
Whether it was my father through God’s power, or God that had brought them here, it was still shocking either way. Did God care about these people? Why would He bring them here and give them these beautiful lands and this abundance of food? They were barbaric, crude and dirty. Though I now knew they were not the dumb beings that I had believed when I first saw them, the fact remained that they were not special like my family. They were not the children of God. Why would God care for them, as He apparently did? I thought about this long into the night, but could come up with no satisfactory answer.
Learning that there were other people in the land had surprised and thrilled me. If I could bring the scattered people together under my rule, then I truly would be a great King. This had immediately become my goal, to become King over all the lands, over all the people. But first I needed to turn the tribe I had into a great people, and that would take food, tools and a lot of instruction. It would be hard work, but I knew my plan was sound.
Tomorrow we would return to the village and begin the long process of building the society that they needed to live and thrive as a people. It would not happen overnight. It would take time to establish the fields and teach them how to grow crops, build tools, make soap and bread, and do all the other many things they would need to do to take care of themselves properly.
Yes, it would take years. But I was a young man, barely over one hundred years. I had plenty of time.