by S E Turner
The tiny girl was her only form of companionship, and although they only communicated in simple terms, it was wonderful to share the days experiences, to marvel at a discovery, to applaud an accomplishment. For her child, with the hungry appetite and the fervent look in her eyes, she had to remain positive. She had to say that it wasn't much further, that they would find a clan soon to keep them safe and to give them shelter before the weather changed. She had to survive for the sake of her daughter.
Eujena had given the maid's bindle to Ajeya to store an abundance of ripe vegetation. She tore up more of her dress to make a small carrier for herself and had loaded it with her fire making materials and flexible baskets. The little girl looked around her with a growing curiosity while they travelled, watching everything her mother did, and she was particularly interested whenever they stopped to gather food. Eujena often gave her a bite of a fresh bud, or a tender young shoot, which ignited taste buds that had previously been lying dormant. By doing that, even at this young age, Ajeya was building up a memory bank of plants. She quickly learned to notice the different identifying characteristics and began to smell and touch each leaf and every petal before making a decision whether to pick it or not.
As they ventured further north, the heavy brown barks of oak, beech, walnut and maple were intermixed with a delicate floral blossom, giving an early promise of a good summer with an abundance of fruit and other ripe delicacies. The terrain had been changing gradually as they travelled north, and Eujena was recording each detail of the landscape that they passed through—especially the vegetation. Now, she was entering territory where each shape of leaf, most height of stalks, and every size of berry was an unfamiliar sight.
After finishing the climb of rolling hills interspersed with broad flat steppes, they stopped for the evening by a brook where Eujena made her characteristic snare and put some dark red berries in the middle to tempt a small rodent. She made camp behind some rocks in a crude lean-to, snuggled up with her shawl over them both, and watched for an animal to take the offering. They watched and waited as the stillness of the night fell around them; black leafed trees waved and fluttered in the twilight breeze, silhouetted against a darkening sky. Everything was stolid now and so very quiet. Even the smell of night was different. She didn't want to light a fire just yet in case it deterred the curiosity of their meal; but even without the fire, not one animal was interested in the trap. Some animals ventured close, but whether it was the smell, or a sixth sense, not one of them took the bait. Giving in to tiredness and going without food, mother and infant awoke to the pangs of hunger and a dry parched mouth.
But for Eujena, the shock of something in the distance melted those feelings to the pit of her stomach for she saw in the middle of her snare, a dead animal. The snare had failed but something hadn't, and the mammal had succumbed to the effects of another type of death where the noose had not killed it. Eujena told Ajeya to stay where she was while she inspected the corpse. A baby rabbit was the victim, and she prodded it gently just to confirm her initial suspicions.
She took a small bite of the berry, but the taste was rancid and instantly made her feel nauseous. She spat out the contents immediately. Her mouth began to tingle and her tongue began to burn. She ran to the brook to swill out her mouth with fresh water, coughing and retching until the offending morsel was gone. Ajeya ran over, clearly distraught at watching her mother suffer, and wreathed small arms around her.
'I'm all right, really I am,' said Eujena. 'Don't worry. Mother just has to be more careful in future.' She brushed the hair from her child's face and saw nothing but beauty. 'You see this berry?'
Ajeya nodded her head.
'It's not like the berries that we have been used to. This one is poisonous. It's what killed the rabbit. We must not eat it. Even if it looks ripe and nourishing, these berries are not meant to be eaten.'
She showed her the fruit, glistening and succulent in the morning sun. It looked so appetising and full of flavour, yet this had the power to inflict certain death. She counted her blessings that something like this hadn't happened before.
'Can we eat the rabbit?' Ajeya asked, clearly hungry.
'No, we can't, my love. The fruit is bad and will be inside the rabbit. We can't eat it, little one. I will find us a better one to eat tonight.'
From that day on she had to perform a thorough test on any unfamiliar vegetation. If the taste made her tongue sting, she spat it out immediately. If it was palatable, then she took a small bite and waited to see if there were any delayed symptoms by the next day. It was only after these thorough tests that she was able to identify what was safe for their consumption, and what wasn't.
But it wasn't just poisonous plants Eujena had to watch out for.
On a bright sunlit day, it was warm and tranquil with the beginning of summer. The trees were in full bloom, and lazy flies tormented a week-old carcass. A fresh breeze carried a pungent aroma, and the moving sun sent shadows chasing the foliage across the slopes and steppes of a flourishing land.
They were walking through dense undergrowth. Ajeya was secured tightly onto Eujena's back with a sling; she was asleep while her mother foraged and selected the ripest berries, putting them into her bag. She used her dagger to hack away the bracken and vegetation obscuring her path, though hadn't realised how far she had gone. It was there that she heard an unusual sound. Her ears tuned in to a disturbing grunting and snorting which seemed to be coming towards her. She stopped moving and hardly dared to breathe. She felt the child on her back. She would be safe there, she decided. Eujena had to stay put. She couldn't turn and run because then her child would get the full force should the creature decide to attack. She had no choice but to wait it out, as rigid as she could, until the animal passed.
The sounds of snapping branches and moving bushes got closer; the muffled snorts of something feasting was perilously near. She had her dagger ready and crouched low. The waiting was intolerable, and she tried to calm her pulsating heart and rapid breathing. The beaded sweat of fear ran down her face, and despite the urge to wipe it away, she stood perfectly still.
But Ajeya moved behind her, and suddenly, without warning, the animal burst through the thick growth, its large powerful body supported by short stocky legs. Wickedly sharp lower canines protruded like tusks along both sides of its snout. Small deep set eyes on a massive head were wild, and it was storming towards her with the full wrath of a tempestuous tornado. As it got closer, the smell was nauseating. The hairs bristled over a grey humped back, and the skin was cracked with ground in mud and faeces.
The wild pig glared at her. She threw a rock to deter it, closely followed by another one, but that only angered it further, and the beast came roaring and scrambling. With just inches to spare, Eujena thrust the dagger into the creature's gullet, but it didn't stop the stab of a sharp implement in her thigh. With a splintering force, the pointed end of a huge tusk rammed into her. Blood quickly swamped round the incision. Her leg buckled beneath her and she groaned with the pain. With the tusk still in the top of her leg, she retracted the dagger and struck again. This time the boar gurgled its last breath and slumped next to her. She pulled her leg free from the tusk and gritted her teeth to stop herself from screaming out loud and frightening her small child.
Her blood gushed out in spurts, which, running down to the ground, mixed an unsavoury palette with the red aqueous liquid pouring from the dead boar. Breathing heavily and trying to remain upright, she ripped more material from her dress and applied a tight tourniquet round the penetrating wound. Behind her, Ajeya murmured.
Shaking and gradually losing consciousness, Eujena found her way out of the undergrowth and back out into the open. Her head was swimming and her leg throbbed. Pain. She staggered a few more steps. Numb. She tried to catch her breath. Cold. She collapsed to the ground.
Chapter Four
'What is it, father?' asked the young boy.
'I don't know, son. Wait here while I take a look.'
The father pulled his horse and cart to a stop a few feet short of where Eujena and her child were laying. The horse snorted and swivelled his ears back and forth. He could smell blood and became unsettled. The young lad sat rigid in the front seat. The father jumped down and made his way over to the mound of clothes. He held his spear ready and advanced with caution. All his senses were alert. He listened for the sounds of breathing or any other disturbance of a predator hiding, he smelled the air for any distinctive odours, and he allowed his intuition to guide him as he carefully approached the obstruction.
Suddenly there was movement, and a young child wriggled free from its swaddling. The young father stopped in his tracks, unsure of whether to proceed—he didn't want to alarm the little girl. He held back while the girl's eyes adjusted to the light and her surroundings. He crouched low and looked around, still on the lookout for any unwanted carnivores. The girl nudged her mother but there was no movement. She walked around the body and hugged her.
The father looked back at his son, he was all right, so the father edged closer, shielding his eyes from the bright sunlight and taking tentative steps. He heard a groan. It must be the child's mother, he surmised. The child was getting distressed now and started to cry. Instinctively he waved aside his caution and moved more urgently to offer comfort and support and to ascertain the situation. The first thing he saw was the mother's leg, and that her life was pumping out through a deep intrusive gash. A makeshift tourniquet was soaked in blood, not doing much to protect the huge incision. He swatted away the nuisance flies that were eager to feast on the exposed flesh and untied the sodden bandage. He examined the wound—it was definitely the tusk of a wild boar that had inflicted this injury, and judging by the amount of blood, he knew that an artery had been pierced. He spun round to see if the hunter was near. There was no sign. He immediately applied pressure to her groin with one hand, then managed to take the shirt from his back, and kneeling on one end, ripped a sleeve off with the other. He then looked around for a smooth stone for pressure, and when it was wiped clean and put in place, he wrapped the whole leg in the temporary bandage. The force of his actions immediately stemmed the flow. He then looked at Ajeya, who by now, was covered in her mother's blood. He recoiled at her face. His hands flew up to his mouth as he stifled his shock.
'You poor lamb,' he cried out. 'The beast got you as well. How on earth have you survived?' He reached out for her to offer compassion. The child held up her arms in response. 'Come with me; my people will take care of you both. Now I will put you next to my son Keao, and then I will carry your mother to the wagon. Do not fear, little one. You are safe with us. We will take care of you.'
He lifted the small child onto the front seat of the wagon where the twelve-year-old boy looked in horror at the blood.
'It's all right, son. There is nothing to be frightened of. It's just a small girl with an injury to her face.'
'But she must be in terrible agony and yet she does not scream or cry.' Keao looked on in disbelief.
'She is in shock. That's what shock does to you; it renders you speechless and stops the pain,' his father assured him.
The boy continued to stare at the child with his eyes set wide.
'Hold her hand, son, then she will know that she is safe. I will get the mother.'
'What are we going to do with them?' asked the boy, taking the little girl's hand.
'We are going to take care of them like any good clan member would.' He went back to where Eujena lay. 'It's all right, I am going to lift you now, so don't be afraid, I am not going to hurt you.'
As he put his arms under her fragile frame, her eyelids fluttered, and she moaned with the pain. 'My child, where is my child?'
'She is all right. She is sitting with my son. He is a good boy and is taking care of her.'
She felt herself being lifted by the strong powerful arms. She put her own around his neck and instantly felt safe. 'Thank you for saving us,' she whispered, grateful for his intervention.
'You look like you've been out here for a long time,' he said with a gentle voice. 'Maybe you have lost your way.'
She tried to answer but didn't have the strength.
'Don't speak now,' he said kindly. 'We can talk later back at the camp.'
'Camp, which camp do you speak of?' she whispered with an air of caution.
'The home of the Giant's Claw,' he replied proudly. 'We are clan people.'
He carried her to the back of the wagon and laid her down carefully. There were a number of blankets and animal pelts which he arranged to keep her warm. And then, for the first time in months, cocooned in the warmth of the furs and knowing that they were safe, she fell into a tranquil state of calm. The feeling warmed her bones from the tip of her toes to the centre of her heart. She had found the clans at last.
The two children had turned around to watch him make her comfortable, though Keao found himself staring at the young girl again.
'Stop staring at her, Keao,' the father said curtly. 'You will scare her. When she is all cleaned up and her wounds have healed, you will see that she is as pretty as her mother.'
Eujena smiled at the remark, but almost immediately her body shivered under the layers.
Chapter Five
As the rickety trap trundled along the barren path, Ajeya kept looking at her injured mother in the back. The young boy continued to hold the child's hand for comfort but couldn't steer his eyes away from her unsightly face.
'It's very bad manners to stare,' said the father, shifting his gaze from between the horse's ears to his son's glare. 'You will make her feel awkward, and she's only little.'
'I can't help it though,' replied the boy still staring. 'How will she ever get better?'
'Of course she will get better, just like her mother will get better. The very clever medicine woman will see to it.' The father smiled and snapped the reins over the horse's rump.
Although being jostled for most of the journey, Eujena felt incredibly safe in the back of the wagon and opened her eyes sufficiently to take in her new surroundings. She could see open meadows of grazing livestock and numerous fields yielding produce. Yet despite her dreadful injuries, she was able to focus on what was around her as this strange new kingdom got bigger and closer. The bustle of village life got noisier, and she strained to pick out a range of different sounds. The smell of cooking reached out to her first, and she felt a wave of nausea rise in the back of her throat. Food was the last thing on her mind. The wagon took her past clusters of homes where a hive of anxious faces popped out of doorways. Groups of working peasants looked up from their chores for the first time. Concerned murmurs rose from adults, weaved amongst the anxious sounds from children, all shocked and aghast at the sight of the badly injured child.
They came to a halt outside the largest hut in the village, and the father jumped down quickly. 'Wait here, Keao. I must go and see the medicine woman first.'
The boy grunted an answer but continued to stare at Ajeya while she sat perfectly still and unfazed by the whole situation.
The Shaman's room was of a considerable size with rows upon rows of shelves, cupboards and tables, all crammed to the brim with stopped vials and glass bottles—all containing various coloured liquids. There were countless jars of dried herbs, stacked boxes of pressed flowers, an assortment of bowls containing every type of leaf, as well as piles of stripped bark and rolls of parchment everywhere. The Shaman had a herb or a powder or a liquid for everything, and that's why she was known as Ukaleq the healer—the great Shaman and alchemist.
An array of animal hide cushions served as lounging seats whilst layers of animal pelts and woven blankets befitted the sleeping arrangements. A cauldron and a kettle sat continually on the hearth, and an old woman sat humming by the fire. The air was scented. It took a moment for him to place the sweet smell—a special essence used for the sick. He breathed in the incense and placed it as a waft from the yarrow flower. The healer opened her eyes calmly when
he entered the room, and her gaze fell upon his naked chest.
'Hagen, what a sight for sore eyes you are.' She smiled at him affectionately. What brings you here today?'
A dipped smile camouflaged his flushed face until his predicament took precedence. 'It is a woman. She is not from our clan, but I found her on the plains. She has been terribly injured by a boar and her child is hurt, also. But what concerns me most is that whilst the child's facial injuries are severe, I think she is in a deep shock as she displays no pain or distress.'
The medicine woman looked into his penetrating, steel blue eyes for a moment; then, breathing in deeply, she placed her hands together as if to pray. She chanted a few times to summon the healing spirits and then opened her arms wide to welcome them. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh. 'The spirits have spoken, and they will allow me to treat these women. Bring them to me and I will do what I can.'
The child was brought in first and laid down on a bed of animal furs.
'You will be safe here,' said Hagen. 'Ukaleq will take care of you now.' He smiled at her kindly and brushed the hair from her face. He shook his head in dismay at her injuries and looked despairingly at Ukaleq. The woman nodded and set to work while Hagen went to get Eujena.
Gently, but with experienced thoroughness, the healer washed Ajeya's face with an absorbent piece of rabbit skin dipped in the simmering liquid of boiled iris root. Then, she scooped out the root pulp, and put it directly on the child's face and covered the unguent with the same piece of rabbit skin. All the time she was humming and chanting and wafting the essence of mugwort over the child to induce sedation. A soft downy robe was draped over her body, and a vial of soothing liquid from the yarrow flower was given to her orally. Ajeya didn't even notice her mother being brought into the room because she had succumbed to the aromatic smells and chanting and had fallen in a peaceful sleep.