imagined themselves in such a predicament. Eh Quest blew through his nose in agreement, this was big trouble!
“What happened next, Eh Quest?” Little Ta Thumb asked quietly, removing her thumb from her mouth long enough to ask.
Eh Quest leaned in toward her, and lowered his voice so it became ominous with danger. “A sabre-toothed tiger heard him playing! And that sneaky beast flowed on silent tip-toes, down into the valley. With a single mighty leap, it settled into the limbs of a tree and waited for Ba Naughty to come his way!”
“Ooooo,” they all said, even the adults. Eh Quest felt a thrill dart through him; he had them tied up like a brace of rabbits. His let his eyes flash and a mournful look settled over his face.
“And that’s just what Ba Naughty did! He followed the tree spirit around and around, and right up to that tree the cat waited in. The cat pounced!” He jumped and threw his arms up. The children froze in horror, and a small one peed himself.
““Help!” Ba Naughty yelled, “Help me, tree spirit!” He ran and tried to make the sabre-tooth cat let go, but it clung on, its long teeth deep into Ba Naughty’s tail.” Eh Quest paused to take a breath and let the silence drag out a little bit. The children’s eyes were so round, he saw the whites all the way around.
“”How could I help?” asked the tree spirit, flying up high enough that the cat couldn’t get him, too.
““Make me be able to fly, like you!” Ba Naughty said.
““Oh,” said the tree spirit. “I can do that!” and the tree spirit made some very potent magic.
“Ba Naughty disappeared! The sabre toothed cat’s jaw dropped open in astonishment– and Ba Naughty flew out of it’s mouth! Ba Naughty had turned into a dragonfly! He flew out over the little pond, and hovered there with his shinny wings, and pulled a funny face at the cat. He taunted him, safe over the pond, because he knew cats didn’t like water.
“What he didn’t know, but should have known, is that sabre-toothed tigers didn’t mind the water at all! It jumped in right behind him, arms wide and claws extended. It made such a splash Ba Naughty tumbled in the air. Shedding water like beads from his wings, Ba Naughty caught himself before falling into the tigers open jaws. He flew higher and laughed down at the beast.
With a loud grumble, the cat slunk away, hungry that night!”
Eh Quest sat back and continued in his normal story telling voice. “”Oh, thank you, tree spirit” said Ba Naughty. “You can turn me back now.”
“I’m sorry, little dragon, but I can’t do that! I can only change you once!” Said the tree spirit. “But you can stay here and play with me!”
“No! I want to go home!” Ba Naughty cried. But he never left that pond, no matter how often he tried. And he lived there, for a very long time, never to see his father or the other dragons, ever again!”
“And that’s why,” Eh Quest said very seriously, “You do not leave the clan and go off alone!”
Ta Thin and the Mist Spirit
“Tonight, I will speak of Ta Thin and the Mist Spirit.” Eh Speak said, looking around at the gathering. Everyone leaned in and the children scooted close to the old Eh.
“The Girl Who Was Always Thin, was always hungry, too! No matter how much she ate, she never felt full and she never gained weight! As she grew, The People became worried, because she grew up but never sideways!
“She would eat enough for two - grown Eh! And sometimes even stole the food from the babies!” Adults turned to older children, eyes narrowed in warning. “But the healer knew the problem was in her belly,” here Eh Speak waved his hand in front of his stomach, “and not her heart. She could not stop herself and remorse filled her heart. And then it got worse.
“Ta Thin would wake during the night, belly crying for food. But all the food is put away after the meal, or thrown into the midden. Otherwise scavengers might come and take someone from the camp! At first, Ta Thin endured it, crying through the night until morning came and food was given to her. But this did not last long.
“She was a hunter, a young hunter yes, but she knew the ways of hunting. One night when her stomach became too much for her will, she put on her hunting loin cloth and gathered her spear and crept from the camp as silently as she knew how.”
“But isn’t this good, Eh Speak? She did not take from The People, instead going out to get something not meant for everyone’s belly.” Eh Bent asked.
“That is true, Eh Bent,” Eh Speak picked up a leg bone of a seabird and sucked on it as he explained. “The problem is, she went out at night, alone, and met up with a Mist Spirit.” He explained a little more for the young who had been fortunate enough never to have met a Mist Spirit. “Mist Spirits are tricksters. When you first see them, you see they are white, as if they came from Mother Raven’s first egg, those of the light. But this sly creature is lying! They come from the Mother’s second egg, the Shadow People; evil tricksters that will suck you dry. They lay along tree roots or under dewed ferns and send out a finger or two to grasp an unwary prey.
“When Ta Thin went out that night, she found a huge Mist Spirit in the valley. It covered the land as far as you could see, twining among the tree roots, clinging to the low crevasses. It stood as tall as an Eh’s chest! And it was very hungry!
“The Mist Spirit saw young Ta Thin and drooled cool dew. Its cold skin shone obscenely innocent in the moonlight, enticing the young hunter into the valley. But when Ta Thin stepped down into its embrace, it grasped her as tightly as the Tar Spirits do.
“Its fingers slid up her ankle, around her strong legs. It penetrated her hungry stomach and started to consume her slowly. She stood frozen; the Mist Spirit is very cold and that’s how it stuns its prey. It seeps into the eye and mind, and blinds a person so they don’t know where to go.” Here he leaned forward and shook a thick finger at the children. “And here is the trick to beating a Mist Spirit. They are very slow; The People can easily out run them. But the trick is not to run! The trick is to stay right there and endure the fear, waiting for Father Sun to rise and kill the Mist Spirit. If you are strong, it cannot fully consume you in one night. You will be weak when Father Sun slays the Mist Spirit, but you will be alive!
“But terror beat at Ta Thin like a kicking rabbit! She gasped and trembled and knew that something evil clutched her. So she found a way to break the Mist Spirits hold, and she stabbed at it, over and over with her spear. But Mist Spirits cannot be killed with spears! Not even knives or hand axes! Then she gathered her courage and she ran like a Wind Spirit! She ran as fast as she could, as far as she could. But she was in the valley, and the Mist Spirit covered it with its malicious body.
“In the morning, everyone thought someone else had fed Ta Thin and so they didn’t notice her missing until Father Sun rode high in the sky. Once they realized her gone, they went out to search. It didn’t take long to find her broken body in the valley. She was covered in cuts, slashes from many small predators, scavengers that find the prey unable to defend itself. Her leg broken as well as her back, she clung to life with unyielding strength.
“The People were afraid to move her, her breath as thin as her frame. They asked her what happened.” He drew silent then, letting his eye roam over the upturned faces.
Eh Bent broke and whispered, “What did she say?”
Eh Speak spoke slowly. “The Mist Spirit is beautiful. Why did it kill me?” And she died.”
Eh Bent frowned. “Why did it kill her?”
“Do you not kill what you eat? The Mist Spirit was hungry, and so it killed to live. So it is repeated in the world, from smallest to largest.” The bone sucked of all goodness; he threw it into the fire and finished the story.
“But the thing to remember when dealing with a Mist Spirit…
“If it catches you, do not run!”
Eh Rol and Forest Sleeping
“I will take a turn tonight, for telling a story.” Eh Lip said, throwing a splinter of tabula into the fi
re. “A story about a knapper, who taught us a true thing
“Eh Rol took his mates death very casually, even for one of The People. We all know when the body is buried, they will find their sky fire and be reborn. This is for celebration, not grief. But Eh Rol didn’t even show that emotion. He showed no emotion at all as they buried his mate in the birthing position for the next world. The healer noticed, but thought nothing of it. A blank face is common at a funeral.
“But it was like Eh Rol wasn’t there. That he didn’t believe it was happening, or that it was a shadow dream.
“Eh Rol was a knapper, and they go out frequently to find new sources of chert to flake. That day, Eh Rol left to find new rock. Again, people noticed, but didn’t. Knappers leaving are a common thing.
“When the last meal of the day was being eaten, they noticed Eh Rol wasn’t there. They were worried, and a few of his friends searched the closer rock fall places, but they didn’t find him. They returned, sad and confused. Now it was too dark to send out a large search party, and the clan waited impatiently for Father Sun to come up. When he did rise, the clan searched in every direction.
“They finally found him in the scrub forest. Why he was in the forest, and not near chert confused them too. They noticed there were many fingers of strange rock in the area, although he sat against common granite, not the best for spear points.