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Reya

They buried Oola beneath a pile of stones, in the hills north of the village. Less than two spear throws away from the village the rain eased, and then stopped altogether, an eeriely precise arc that seemed to circle the collapsing huts. Reya studied Shara’s face intently as the others rocks piled up around Oola’s remains, looking for any sign of grief, or recognition, or even any response at all. But Shara remained still, staring into space, sitting where they had placed her on the ground, whispering quietly to herself.

“I killed them all.”

Reya shuddered. What spirits have possessed you? She stood up, rubbing her arms together for warmth as she stared back down at the rapidly growing lake. A malevolent column of wind twisted and howled at the center, its low growl still audible even from here. As she watched, it swept over the last of the Yellow River village huts, disintegrating it in an instant.

Grimacing, she turned back towards Shara. “What have you done?” By the time the others were finished, Reya had poked and tickled and slapped and shook the girl, anything to get her to come out of her stupor. But she might as well have been arguing with a boulder..

The air here was heavy, with rain and grief, and Barak decided to continue north, weaving between and around the low green hills. Lam and Pak hoisted Shara onto Barak’s back, and he carried her like an overgrown child, staring stone-faced into the distance as he tried to ignore her whispers.

As they reached the basin of yet another valley, he stopped. “Help take her down.” He said, his jaw clenching. “I can’t carry her anymore.” Reya glanced at him curiously. He didn’t look tired.

Oh.

Din and Pak rushed to help, gently lowering her to the ground, smoothing out her arms and legs, making her comfortable in the long grass. Reya and Mika set to making a fire, while the boys rushed to find wood. Looking up after a few moments, she was startled to see that Barak was gone.

As Reya and the others were eating from the bits of food that they could find in their pockets and packs, Barak returned, carrying a huge deer on his shoulders. “Throw that food away!”

Reya looked up in surprise. He’s serious.

“The Yellow Valley tribe is foul. Everything they have touched is unclean.” She thought to argue, for a moment, but one look at his face suggested otherwise. After a moment’s reflection, she realized that he was probably right, and she emptied her hands into the fire.

“Where do we go from here?” Lam asked, staring at the fire. No one answered for a long time. The baby kicked and bounced inside her, and she rubbed her belly gently. The silence continued, despair hovering like a cloak around them. Finally, tired of it, Reya grabbed the water skin, and some deer meat, and walked over to Shara, lying still in the grass, staring at the cloudy sky.

But the moment the food touched her lips, she stopped whispering, and closed her mouth tight, accepting neither food nor water. “Shara” Reya whispered fiercely. “You’ll die if you do not eat.” But it was useless..

Maybe the hunger and thirst will bring her back. A good thought. A hopeful thought. She clung to it.

“Hello?” A voice called out from the darkness. Barak glanced at them all, and snatched up his spear.

“Who’s there?” Barak challenged, scanning the night.

A woman appeared at the edge of the firelight, small, with light brown hair. Two dark-haired children peered out from behind her – a little boy and an older girl. All of them wore yellow.

Barak frowned. “You are from the Yellow Valley tribe. You are not welcome here.”

“Please.” the woman stepped forward a little, her voice pleading. “We have no food, and-”

“No” Barak said, fiercely. “Your chief tried to kill us. One of our friends is dead, and another is lost because of his treachery.

She paused for a moment. “I- I’m sorry… I didn’t know.”

“What?” Mika shouted, standing up suddenly, gripping her spear, knuckles white. “He told us your people ate the flesh of others…” She stammered. “You’re an abomination.”

The woman swallowed, her eyes wet with tears. “Yes- I- I heard stories. But I was only a child then. I didn’t kill those people.”

Reya chewed on that for a moment. “Where is your husband?” She asked.

The woman shook her head. “The storm– it–” she plainly did not want to say it in front of the children. If she is responsible for her chief’s actions, are we responsible for Shara’s?

The little girl peeked from behind her mother’s leg. “Momma? Can we have some food?”

The woman stared at them for a few moments.

Barak stared back, impassively.

Her face fell. “No.” She said, dully. “We are not welcome here.” With a last, measured look, she turned and walked away, the children reluctantly following, looking back longingly at the fire.

A fireball of shame and guilt shot up insider her, battling with the anger and resentment.

They betrayed us. Yellow River village lied and deceived us.

Those children did not betray us.

But that woman was part of the village.

Shall we judge everyone by the actions of a few?.

The voices argued inside, and the frustration grew, until she leapt to her feet, nerves singing with tension.

“Barak, does it make you feel powerful to let children suffer?”

That didn’t come out right.

Barak’s face flushed red. “How can you take their side? After all they’ve done to us?”

“What, Barak? What have those people.. those children done to us?” Reya shot back.

Barak stormed over towards her, staring down at her, trying to intimidate her with his height. “I don’t care. I will not have Oola’s killers–”

“The giants killed Oola. Not the Yellow Valley tribe.”

He stared at her coldly. “They might as well have.” He turned and walked away, pacing. “If they had helped us fight, instead of trying to kill us–” He spun around again, practically shouting. “How can you take their side?”

Reya shook her head. “I’m not taking their side. If you hadn’t noticed, there are only six of us left.”

“Seven.” Mika said quietly.

Reya looked down at Shara, lying there, unnaturally stiff, lips constantly in motion.

“Seven” Reya said, pausing. “If Shara were still okay, she would have welcomed them. She would have forgiven them.”

Barak opened his mouth for a moment, but stayed silent.

Sensing her moment, she carried on. “Shara saved us from Jiant, and she saved the Yellow Valley people as well. They should know that. They should know that she gave her own li- her own health to save us all.”

Barak stared at her, silently.

“I’m tired, Barak. I’m tired of trying to find a home, and I don’t want to do it anymore. My baby is going to come very soon, and I don’t want to still be looking for a place to live. It’s already hard enough to bring Shara along. “

Incredibly, Barak nodded slightly.

Gamely, Reya kept going. “I’ve never had a baby before. That woman has. She could have helped me with my baby. She could have helped me with the birth. She could have helped me take care of it. But you sent her away. You didn’t ask, you didn’t even think about what is coming next.”

Barak pursed his lips, as if to argue, but stayed quiet.

“There are only six of us to take turns watching for danger in the night. That’s not enough for two at a time, so we can only have one. She could have helped us keep safe.” Tears started to fill her eyes. “She probably knows the area better than we do. She could have helped us find more fresh food, and maybe a place to spend the next winter.”

“Please Barak. Please.” Reya couldn’t help it anymore; the tears were running down her cheeks. “If you’re going to be our chief, you have to think about the rest of us.. what we need. Otherwise, you’re not better than… than Jiant.”

Barak’s faced twitched a little at that, but he stayed silent, staring at her. She waited for his anger to come raging down on her, but then she decided she just didn’t care. Sitting down again, she grabbed Shara’s hand and closed her eyes, head pounding.

It was silent for a moment, and then a piece of wood was pulled from the fire. Footsteps came towards her. She pulled her head back, heart shuddering, defiant. He was walking towards her, carrying a flaming stick. Her legs tensed as she prepared to flee.

He raised his hand, and smacked her across the face. “Shut up.”

Her cheek burned as she stared at his retreating back as he walked out of the camp, into the darkness, following the path of the Yellow Valley woman.

“Hello? Woman?”

He shouted several more times, each call more faint.

Reya turned and watched as her friends exchanged uneasy glances with each other.

The baby hiccupped inside her, breaking the solemnity of the moment, at least for her. She smiled, rubbing her swollen, ridiculous belly gently as the baby continued to twitch inside.

“Do you think we should help him look?” Pak asked.

“No” said Lam. “We should stay here for now.”

“But what if he doesn’t find her?” Din asked. They want to get out of here.

“What if he does find her, and you wander out in the woods all night and get eaten by a wolf?” Lam responded, soberly.

Pak leapt into the air, twirling his spear. “Wolves can’t get me. I’m too fast”.

Mika laughed. “Pak, I think Reya could take you down.”

“Hey.” said Pak and Reya at the same time.

Torchlight flickered in the distance, and everyone fell silent, watching it approach. Barak came into view, carrying his stick high, followed by the woman, and her children.

Reaching down, Reya grasped Shara’s hand again, and squeezed gently. She tried to think of something to say as he walked back into the circle, but nothing appropriate came to mind.

“Thank you.” The woman stammered, turning to face them all. Yes.. that would have worked. “I am Tega, and this is Eris and Bearan. We call him Little Bear.”

“Why do they call you Little Bear?” Lam asked, with humor in his voice.

The boy didn’t answer, he just leapt forward, and growled mightily, slashing his hands through the air.

“Wow. You are a little bear.” Lam laughed. That broke the tension, and soon they were all laughing as the little boy roared and howled.

Mika pulled bits of deer meat from the fire, and sang Shara’s song. The children stared wide-eyed as the chunks of flesh multiplied before their eyes, clapping in delight.

They devoured the food rapidly, as if they expected it would vanish. But there was more than enough for the three of them, and soon the children were resting contentedly against their mother’s leg, licking grease from their hands.

Tega looked over at Reya. “When is your birth-time?”

Reya scooted closer, delighted to have another mother to talk to. “Less than a moon.”

Tega made a face. “Ugh.. Eris was born in the middle of summer. I was miserably hot every day.”

The children were running around now, jumping and playing with everyone.

“Really?” said Reya “Is there anything to do?”

Tega shook her head. “Go sit in a stream when you can. And stay out of the sun.”

“How bad is the pain?”

Tega looked at her quizzically for a moment, and then smiled. “Oh.. birth. It can be very painful for some.” She looked Reya over. “But it wasn’t too bad for me. You’re a big girl. It won’t be so bad. And when you hold your baby in your arms, and bring her to your breast, the pain won’t matter at all.”

Reya closed her eyes, trying to imagine that. A shiver ran down her spine, a mixture of excitement and dread.

“Look Momma, I have a red shirt now!”

“I’m sorry.” Din called out. “I didn’t see her grab the berries until it was too late”

Tega started laughing, and Reya opened her eyes again. Eris had taken a handful of berries and crushed them in her hands, smearing the purple juices all over her clothes. The swirls of purple and yellow could only be red in the eyes of a six year old, but she still felt touched. Maybe they didn’t need to join another tribe. Maybe they could build a tribe of their own.

A question had been burning her mind since Tega had come back. Afraid of asking for fear of rejection, it gnawed at her, until she couldn’t stand it. “Will you.. Can you help me… with the birth?”

Tega started, and stared at her for a moment. It’s no.. she’s going to say no And then smiled. “You honor me. Of course I will help!” And she reached out and gripped her hand, squeezing tightly.

Reya felt a huge weight lift, and gratefully returned the embrace. They spoke late into the night, sharing wisdom and telling stories.

As usual the next morning, Barak roused everyone right at sunrise. To the south, the massive rainstorm continued, with no sign of slacking. There was no change in Shara’s condition either. Again, she refused to eat or drink, her lips still constantly moving, silently.

“Tega,” Barak said as they all finished another meal of deer meat and berries. “Where do you think we should go now?”

“North.” she answered, immediately, as if she had been waiting for the question. “Our hunters often spoke of a cave they would use when they were out on long hunting trips. I have never seen it, but I know it is in a hill, near a river, north of here.

“Do you think that is where your other people will go?”

Tega shrugged. “Some. I’m not sure how many… survived the storm.”

Lam looked down.

Barak nodded, ignoring her comment. “We don’t have any better options, and I want to keep moving, in case Jiant comes back.” Reya blinked. She had already put Jiant out of her mind.

“I thought Jiant was dead.” She protested.

Barak shook his head. “Or one of his followers.”

She blanched inwardly. He has a point.

As everyone started gathering up their belongings, Lam and Mika lifted Shara up on Barak’s back. Lam stepped forward, and lead the way northeast, skirting the side of a large hill. Behind them, thunder cracked and rolled across the hilltops.

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Sunday, July 16th, 2006 at 10:02 am.
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