A Hare in the Wilderness

by S E Turner

  Hagen put Eujena down on the prepared palette and whispered that all was well, that her child was being treated by the great Shaman and she should not be concerned. The healer then came over to Eujena, and Hagen left the room.

  As Eujena came to her senses slowly, a hazy light obscured the grey blur of sleep. She opened one eye, believing that she was still in the wagon. But the sounds weren't familiar, neither were the surroundings. She didn't know where she was, but she felt safe and at ease now. She tried to pull herself up though every fibre in her body felt heavy as she moved. She became aware that she was laying on a pile of animal skins. She fell back instantly onto a soft plump pillow and breathed in the drops of ayahuasca bark which had saturated her head rest.

  Ukaleq cut away her long outer garments and carefully removed the tourniquet that Hagen had applied. She could see that the wound was seeping now and not pumping which was a good sign. Hagen had certainly saved this woman's life. Ukaleq applied pressure to the leg while she washed the wound with an infusion of bugloss and astringent from the simmering cauldron. She cleaned it thoroughly, flushing the debris out and wiping away the congealed blood so that she could get a better look at the injury. Under the deep laceration, she could see an artery had been cut, so she quickly went over to her stores of medicines and poured the ground up leaves of lady's mantle to stop the bleeding. When she was satisfied with the result, she took a needle made of splintered bone, and a strand of wet sinew from a pot of moist snapdragon weed and began to sew the gash together. Eujena moved and twitched several times, but the bruised nerves and applied ayahuasca meant that she didn't feel any pain. Ukaleq managed to put eight knots along the wound and covered it all with a poultice from the mashed iris root. Covering her over with a thin blanket, she then went to get a vial of pure comfrey oil which she dripped into the side of the woman’s mouth.

  Only then did the healer sit back on her heels and rocked as she chanted a healing melody. And while the nutrients and life giving properties were being administered into her body, a smile creased the corners of the young woman's mouth, a dewy glaze fell over her face and a colour so subtle returned to her cheeks. Ukaleq knew instantly that this fragile woman had fallen under his spell and that she was dreaming of the beautiful Hagen.

  But more than that, she knew that the child had not been cut by the boar. She had not been hurt. The blood was from her mother's wound. In fact, the child's predicament was much more serious. Ukaleq really didn't know how the rest of the clan would respond to the intrusion of a child such as this.

  Chapter Six

  As Ukaleq watched her two new patients sleep, her mind was taken back to a time twelve years ago, a particular day when she had watched the spring rains wash away the last of the snow, and the first crocus heads could be seen poking through the ground. The apple blossom had turned a subtle shade of pink, and the first blooms had hinted at a blistering summer. For Hagen and his wife, this was to be a joyful day as they were about to welcome their first child into the world. She remembered how Hagen had come sprinting to her hut in ecstatic excitement and began stumbling over incomprehensible words.

  'It's Raine—she has started. It's coming. Please—it's her first.'

  'Has she broken her waters?'

  Her question was greeted with a furrowed brow and a quizzical look.

  Ukaleq shot him a thin smile. 'I will come over. You go back to Raine, and I will gather some of my medicines.’

  'Thank you.' He turned to go but stopped at the entrance. 'You won't be long, will you?'

  'Hagen, these things can take hours, not minutes. Now you just go and sit with her and make sure that she is comfortable.'

  Hagen's face looked confused at the request, and Ukaleq threw him an affectionate glance.

  The Shaman had been concerned at Raine's pregnancy from the start. Spotting had been relentless and the sickness was the worst she had ever seen. Ukaleq had given her regular doses of chamomile and meadowsweet throughout, both of which would usually cure a nauseous stomach. The leaves from the mint bush and ginger root were made into a comforting tea, but that couldn't be kept down either. Ukaleq was expecting Raine to lose the baby at any time with the continued sickness. Indeed, she didn't know how it could grow to a full-sized baby without any food at all. But grow it did, and whilst the foetus took every ounce of nutrition from its mother, Raine clung on to full term and was now ready to deliver. Ukaleq had collected baskets of raspberry leaf and willow bark to help with the contractions whilst a healthy supply of thyme was gathered to help her recovery. She would make a concoction to fight off any infection with the afterbirth.

  She remembered that the contractions at the beginning were easy, and Raine was managing comfortably with them. Hagen was sitting by her side, continually offering support, while the Shaman chanted and wafted aromatic essences round the room. All through the morning, those women who had safely born a child came into Raine's hut—it was considered a good omen if such women cast their auras over the new mother to be. Some stopped for a few moments, while others sat with her for longer, offering their own tales and their own advice.

  By late afternoon, the contractions were getting stronger. As the pain mounted, the new mother took a deep breath and bore down with an effort that made her veins stand out and the beads of sweat collected in rivulets in the wells of her collar bones. Her head swam with the exertion and she collapsed in a heap back on to the bed. Ukaleq gave her more doses of raspberry leaf tea, and as the evening dragged into the next day, Hagen was becoming increasingly worried.

  'There is something wrong, I know it,' he whispered to the Shaman.

  'I can't lie to you, I am concerned,' said an anxious Ukaleq.

  'Maybe you should go outside now, Hagen. I will have to try something else to reposition the baby.'

  'Are you sure about this?'

  His question was not pleasantly received. 'I am the medicine woman. I know what I am doing Hagen.'

  Raine was drenched in sweat, clutching the bed sheets with white knuckles showing. She tried to stifle the screams as Ukaleq tried to reposition the baby by rotating her stomach, but in an already weakened state, she didn't have the strength, and her wails split the air.

  'Your pelvis is too narrow,' said Ukaleq. 'And the baby is oblique, I will have to try to move the child internally.'

  Raine was given yarrow root to help with the pain, and as the days and nights blurred together in a haze of suffering, even the Shaman was expecting the worst. With a huge loss of blood and in an already weakened state, the young Raine didn't have any more strength.

  'She's too weak,' said one mother.

  'She can't push,' said another.

  'The baby will die,' came a third.

  The Shaman now had but one chance to get the baby out, and without another minute to spare, she reached inside the mother and pulled at the baby, feet first.

  For Raine, it felt as if all her insides were rupturing at once. That her body was being turned inside out. She felt a huge weight bearing down on her and thought that her very soul was being ripped out from deep within. Soon though, the worst was over, and a healthy baby boy, screaming and hollering with indignation, with a shock of black hair was lifted into the air and given to his mother for suckling. Then, when the baby had fed and the mother slid back down on the sheets for a much-needed rest, the remaining mothers cleaned her up while Hagen cradled his new son.

  'I shall call him Keao because he is the light of my day. To my dear wife, I am in awe of you.'

  But she was already fast asleep. Hagen placed Keao in a cradle softened with a mattress of goose feathers and swaddled in layers of rabbit furs. The contented boy slept peacefully after taking the thick creamy liquid from his mother's breast. Taking his wife in his arms, Hagen kept a vigil over his newborn son.

  That night, a squall blew in. Lightning crashed down from the sky and a searing white bolt split a hundred-year-old oak in a heartbeat. This storm had a fury like no other, and as its thunder roare
d, it shook the very foundations of the earth to the core. A gap in their doorway turned the night into day and as Hagen hammered down the flaps, another streak of lightning shivered through the black dome of the sky, and thunder cracked across the plains. His child slept soundly throughout, but his wife broke out in a fever, and the bedding was as saturated as the ground outside. She tossed and turned in a delirious state and screamed out louder than the thunder when a gush of thick red blood soaked the sheets. He tried to settle her. He got strips of cloth and tried to wipe the constant sweats from her face, but she pushed him away. He tried to give her warm water, but she threw it across the room. He brought the baby to her, thinking he would calm her down, but she gripped on to the bed with her white knuckles showing and the veins stood out on her neck. He had to put Keao back in the crib.

  'I have to get help.' His voice was anxious. He tried to stifle the panic. 'I don't know what to do, Raine. Tell me what to do!'

  She grabbed hold of him and held him for a moment, her eyes burrowing into his with the pain. She managed to mouth the words 'I love you' and then sank back on the bed and arched her back in agony.

  The man was torn. He had to go and get the Shaman, but he didn't want to leave his wife. The storm was as its very worst now, but he ran faster than the howling gale to the Shaman's hut.

  'You must come quickly, Ukaleq. There is something wrong, seriously wrong, please come now!'

  The medicine woman threw on her cape, snatched up a few herbs, and rushed as fast as she could to the sick woman. But by the time they got there, it was too late. The claws of Death had claimed his wife. A grey lifeless corpse was all that remained. The thunder rolled away, taking the storm with it, and Hagen chased it to the hills.

  Hours later, the rain stopped and the thunder rumbled softly in the distance. Ukaleq found Hagen alone; sobbing, curled up in a ball and soaked to the skin. He had left his wife. She had died alone, and he would have to live with that for the rest of his days.

  That was twelve years ago, and as Ukaleq looked over to the sleeping Eujena, she knew that Hagen had at last eased a heavy heart. He had managed to save the life of this young woman when neither of them could save his wife.

  The next day, Hagen came in to see the progress of the two injured females.

  'How are they today, Ukaleq?'

  'They are both fine,' she answered with great knowledge.' And they will both live, you will be pleased to hear.'

  'Even the mother, she will live?'

  'Even the mother, Hagen.'

  He span round on his heels a full circle and put his hands to his head. 'Thank you,' he cried out loud. 'Thank you so much.'

  But the Shaman was humble. 'You saved her life, Hagen, I just finished up. It's you she has to thank.'

  'It's been a long time coming, Ukaleq, but I feel at ease now. I have saved a woman's life when I was unable to save my dearest Raine.' He wiped away a tear.

  'The spirits make life hard at times,' she said resolutely. 'Everything is sent to test our resolve.'

  'I know. We all have to face our demons.' His tone was sombre.

  'But we do have one small problem,' she posed the dilemma.

  'Oh?'

  'The child.'

  'But you said they would both live.'

  'And they both will live.'

  'So what is the problem?'

  'The child is not hurt. She did not receive an injury. She was not cut by the boar. This is something quite different and it cannot be fixed.' The Shaman's voice withered to a stony silence.

  The colour drained from Hagen's face. 'Are you saying she has a deformity?'

  'I am. I'm sorry.'

  'But the clan won't let her live with a deformity.'

  'I know, and that is our problem.' She sighed heavily.

  Hagen looked everywhere for answers—he looked at the mother and then pitifully at the slumbering infant. His eyes filled with tears. 'Ukaleq, I can't let another woman die, even if she is just a child. What are we going to do?'

  Chapter Seven

  Hagen came back the next day, and the next, and as the days rolled into weeks, the child grew stronger, though her mother took a little while longer. Ukaleq had decided to keep the child in the hut with her until Hagen had spoken to the mother and explained the situation. But by now, Thorne, the clan leader, was aware and asking questions about the strangers.

  'Ukaleq, I know you are the Shaman, and you are the wisest woman in the settlement, but as leader of this clan, I need to be aware of whom it is that we are harbouring.'

  'I know, Thorne, and you will be allowed in soon, but the child is not fully recovered and the mother still sleeps. It would be unwise to have too many different people coming and going.'

  The leader rubbed his unruly grey beard between old gnarled fingers and narrowed his thin, crinkly eyes. He took a long deep sniff of air. 'A few more days then I will have to see them.'

  'Of course.' Ukaleq bowed low and scurried back to her position by the girl. She applied a fresh dressing of pulp and astringent to the disfigurement and called upon the spirits to help this child. For it was only they who could intervene before the leader cast his disparaging eyes and sealed her fate forever.

  'I thought you said she couldn't be fixed,' said Hagen entering the hut when he saw the leader had gone.

  'She can't, Hagen, but I am trying to make it look less obvious and asking for the spirits to help her.'

  He looked over to the mother and heard her moan. Ukaleq handed him a mug of willow bark tea and gestured for him to give it to Eujena while she attended to the little girl.

  'It's good to see you awake,' he said, and waited for her to acknowledge him.

  Eujena propped herself on to one elbow and winced as she tried to move her leg. He immediately jumped to her aid and helped her up, propping up the pillows behind her to make her as comfortable as he could.

  She smiled at his thoughtfulness. 'Thank you,' she said weakly.

  'You are very welcome. How are you feeling?' He handed her the tea.

  As her leg throbbed, she recalled the force of the boar with a shudder and felt the sharp tusk penetrating her thigh. She remembered finding her way out of the gorse and then her mind went blank. She sipped on the soothing liquid and spoke as she recalled. 'I was attacked by a boar. I tried to fix the injury.'

  'Yes, I found you, do you remember?'

  She thought long and hard, but she couldn't remember much. 'I remember being lifted,' she said.

  He smiled. 'Yes, I lifted you into the back of my wagon.'

  'I don't remember that, but I do remember all the different smells as we came into the camp.'

  He smiled at that. 'Yes, there is always food on the go here.'

  Her nose began to twitch, and she felt the pit of her stomach growl. The familiar odours of cooking stirred the pangs of hunger, and she followed the trail to a cauldron of meaty broth simmering over the fire.

  'Would you like something to eat?' He noticed the hungry look in her eye.

  'I would, very much, thank you.' She looked around the hut anxiously. 'But where is my daughter?'

  'She is over here with me,' she heard Ukaleq say, and she noticed the old woman feeding her the very same broth.

  'Is she all right? I mean, is she hurt?'

  'Your daughter is fine. She is not hurt. I have cleaned her, and she has rested.' Ukaleq's tone was reassuring to Eujena. Then she addressed Ajeya. 'Would you like to go and see your mother now?'

  The child nodded and Ukaleq took her over to her mother's side.

  'You see, your child is recovered.'

  Eujena arranged a wisp of hair over the disfigured side of her face as if to hide it for the first time. The action didn't go unnoticed by Hagen and Ukaleq, who looked uncomfortably at each other.

  'This is Ukaleq,' said Hagen bringing over the broth. 'She is our medicine woman and has made you both well again.

  The Shaman shook her head. 'I finished up. It was Hagen who saved your life. He saved b
oth of you.'

  'Thank you so much. I am indebted to you. We are both indebted to you, aren't we, my beautiful girl?' Eujena kissed her daughter's face and pressed the disfigured side to her breast.

  'So, who are you and where have you come from?' said Hagen at last.

  'Well, my name is Eujena, and this is my very precious daughter Ajeya, who is nearly three now.'

  'How come you were all alone out in the wilderness?'

  Eujena hadn't really thought her story through. She pondered for a while and bit her lip. She searched for the best answer that she could find, but there was none. She really just wanted to forget everything about her previous life and never speak of it again. A short trill laugh came from the back of her throat. She shook her head a couple of times and pinched her temples with her thumb and fore finger.

  'You know what? I really can't remember. The fall must have caused amnesia. I am sorry, but I can't tell you anymore.'

  Chapter Eight

  Whilst her mother was chatting with Hagen and Ukaleq, Ajeya managed to slip out unnoticed. She propped herself up against a large rock and observed the activities of people in the camp. The food and fresh dressing had revived her, so feeling safe and secure, she stayed close to the hut, but it was far enough to attract attention. She was particularly interested in the cooking arrangements and spent the time watching the women set it up. In a large pit that had been dug out by a working fireplace, hot coals were placed on top of recently used ashes that lined the bottom. A layer of powdered, dried aurochs’ dung was poured on the coals, and on top of that was placed a large welded rack born from the furnace of the blacksmith. With a continued and sustained temperature of heat, whole carcasses were lain across the struts, which would render a more succulent meat and make easier skinning and tanning of the hide. She had watched her own mother struggle with their cooking for a while now, and she would try and remember this much more resourceful method.