by Born, Jason
“Someone must finish the hewing,” I called to the warrior.
He turned while still walking through the muddy path set between mounds of snow, “Have one of these gawking women do it,” fluttering his hands at the crowd.
I tossed the stone knife I had been using to the old hag of embers, giving her a wink while commanding, “Butcher the deer.” She stood there aghast with her lower jaw gaping open, a look of utter shock at the turn of events and my seemingly rapid promotion. I dove through the door flap that was held open by the messenger and found myself standing outside a circle of arguing men inside the mamateek.
Only Ahanu noticed my arrival. He sat cross-legged at the far side of the circle, wearing buckskin leggings with matching makizins. He wore a vest of sorts so that I could see his unmistakable tattoos travelling from his hands, up his arms, and across his chest. Ahanu was a thin, but well muscled man despite his age. I had caught him practicing with a thick bow on several occasions away from the eyes of the village and knew he retained the strength of a much younger man. His grey hair shone despite the low, sporadic light provided by the crackling fire as if he had recently applied animal grease to his mane. It was pulled back with a leather strap tied at the nape of his neck in the style many of their men wore. Until he saw me his countenance was grim, but his eyes brightened and his eyebrows rose in a silent greeting when he laid eyes upon me. I acknowledged him with a slight bow of my head, saying “Ahanu, chief I have come to you for I was summoned in your name.”
Like a shooting star when it is there and then it is suddenly not, the conversation immediately ceased when the others heard my accented words spoken. To a man they craned their necks to look. The only sound for a short while was the sputter and hiss from the fire. Outside, past the thin bark covering of the house, the chatter of the women even subdued to match the men as they hushed to hear more clearly. Somewhere in the distance Right Ear gave a howl of joy, no doubt finding some new scent in the cold evening to bring him great pleasure.
Ahanu started his well-known giggling which began slowly then rose to a musical song. “I have summoned you, though I fear my young men warn me of the grave error I have made in bringing a foreign warrior into our council.”
I scanned the men’s faces and found that Ahanu was correct; his young men, including Etleloo were outraged at my presence. My gaze met Nootau, a shaman of sorts, who was about ten years older than me and someone I counted as a friend. He shifted his seat and indicated I should sit next to him.
As soon as I sat the shouting began again with the young men all raising their voices. Most shouted great protests at my being there, but Etleloo lowered his pitch into a deep growl, silencing the others. Ahanu, Nootau, and three other elders looked on quietly all the while, showing the practiced restraint that comes with age. I watched them and hoped to master the craft one day.
Etleloo shouted, “Not only does he invade our village and then invade our assembly today, but now he sits in a seat usually reserved for Rowtag! This man is not on our council.”
“I do not see Rowtag here today, Etleloo,” I said icily.
Etleloo jumped to his feet and leaned forward to run at me, but Ahanu moved with surprising swiftness. The old chief reached behind his back, grabbing a long smooth wooden spear, flipping it so the sharpened stone point faced his own chest. In one motion he brought the blunt end to Etleloo’s shoulder stopping just as it touched the young man’s flesh. Etleloo froze.
Nootau spoke now, “Young warrior, this is a council set for discussion, not fighting.” The older, wiser men nodded around the smoky fire. “Etleloo we value your spirit and heart in battle. Sit and learn the patience that will keep you alive for many years so that you may live to sire many young warriors like yourself.” The calm threat served its purpose and Etleloo sat, breathing large packets of air loudly through his nose in order to still himself, unwilling to look at me.
“Etleloo, please explain again what your hunting party discovered inland today,” continued Ahanu as if nothing out of the ordinary happened.
“Yes Chief Ahanu. Rowtag’s hunting band separated from us after travelling from the village for just a few heartbeats. Hassun’s did the same sometime later so that only ten of us ran out fairly deep into our hunting grounds along the spine of the hills. My marksmen did well killing hares, but we knew we needed more meat for our people, so we continued on, hoping for larger prey. We were blessed for our efforts and came upon the deer you saw us bring back to the village. But Abook was scouting ahead and made a wild shot at a cow moose.” The older men gasped, shaking their heads at the young Abook’s rash judgment. An angry cow moose could have killed the lone hunter with little effort. Etleloo raised a hand, palm facing outward to calm the group, “Abook is in good health. Even though he acted without thinking, the moose’s wounded charge missed him. We are fortunate in Abook’s actions, though.” Etleloo paused in his story to look my way. Pointing now, “That is when he found more of the tall strangers.”
The talking began again, but at least they did not shout at one another. I was silent, out of confusion more than anything. Had Leif sent another group of Greenlanders out? Had they by-passed Leifsbudir, settling south and west of this village? But why were they so far inland, removed from the sea?
Etleloo continued on, “Abook scurried up and over a ridge in pursuit of the beast and was about to return to us for help in the chase when his sharp eyes spied a vertical wisp of smoke. Then he did come to us. My men and I approached as our fathers have taught us, with great stealth and observed for a short time. There were two of the houses like those built where Enkoodabooaoo came from. We do not know how many men they held, but we heard male voices speaking in the halting tongue of their people.”
The grumbles which ensued were quickly squelched when Ahanu asked, “Enkoodabooaoo, how many men are there?”
“And why has he not told us of them if he comes only in peace? Perhaps we should be more careful of him than we have been of late,” interrupted Etleloo, which brought several grunts of agreement around the circle of men. “He only probes us for weakness.”
I thought for a short time while they looked at me with a mixture of anticipation and distrust, their dark eyes wide. “Chief Ahanu, I do not know how many men are there, but depending on the size of the homes, there can be anywhere from twenty to fifty men.”
“Are we to believe that you do not know of this encampment? This man thinks we are fools! He is here to scout our defenses for their eventual attack on our homes and we let him traipse around like he is a guest!” The men raised their voices again. Ahanu caught my eye and I shook my head trying to tell him that Etleloo was mistaken.
My old friend pinched a half smile and began chuckling, “Etleloo, we have heard enough from you now.”
“But . . .” Etleloo began to protest before Nootau cut him off.
“Do not disrespect our chief, Etleloo, by disregarding his wish.” Nootau turned to me then, “Halldorr, tell us what you know of these men and where they come from and why they are here.”
“I am afraid I cannot offer much assistance. I know of no plans for a settlement in the area described by Etleloo. As far as I know the only place from which they could hail would be Greenland, a several-weeks sail from here. My people originally come from across the great sea, many weeks away, where there are thousands, but most of those do not even know of Greenland, let alone this place.”
“It is shameful that we tolerate this behavior in the home of our chief!” shouted Etleloo.
“Young warrior, you must be silent!” shouted Nootau, himself now animated.
“I cannot be silent while this giant mocks us in our own homes! Thousands of people like him! Across the great sea! His talk would be laughable if it wasn’t so contemptuous. Allow me to kill him for our tribe’s safety and to lead a group of warriors to dig out his own soldiers which even now may lie hidden in the woods.”
The men waved their tattooed arms in the air. Even some o
f the older men now caught Etleloo’s fever, openly calling for my death. Through the smoky haze I saw Ahanu look up at the roof of his simple home, deep in thought. Nootau whispered in the chief’s ear as both Hassun and Rowtag walked in, just returning from their hunting expeditions.
Ahanu stood up then which effectively silenced the shouts. “I am glad you’ve returned young hunters.” The chief walked to them and placed a hand upon their shoulders. “Were you successful in bringing in food for our families?”
The young men exchanged glances, confused that the shouting they walked into had ceased and Ahanu so easily questioned the details of their day. Hassun broke the silence, “Yes, Ahanu. We brought two deer and much fowl.” Rowtag spoke of similar results.
“That is good news. Tell the warriors of your family, Rowtag, to prepare to leave in the morning. You will lead an expedition. I am sure the children listening outside can tell you what it will entail so do not question me on the subject. Etleloo and the warriors of his band will be your guides. Enkoodabooaoo will go as well to serve as interpreter or to fight or to die as the case may be.”
Etleloo, angry at the apparent demotion and at my presence on their raid, began to sputter a retort, but Ahanu cut him off with an angry hiss, “You will be silent young leader! You will also be held accountable for Halldorr’s well-being and he for yours. I expect you both to be best of friends upon your safe return tomorrow.”
Ahanu turned his attention to Hassun, who was Nootau’s son. The young man’s shoulders slumped on the chief’s next news, “Your clan will stay behind in the village tomorrow in case we require your defense.”
With that the men began climbing back to their feet and ducking back out through the door flap. I saw that the sun had fallen completely below the trees indicating that we had argued for much longer than I thought. I nodded to Ahanu and turned to leave, but my friend called to me, “I will have you stay behind Halldorr so that we may talk.” Etleloo scowled as he passed by, intentionally brushing his wide shoulders against my chest. I wanted to grab him by his long black hair and jerk his head back into the fire, but resisted. A laugh unexpectedly burst forth from deep within my belly as I realized that I must be aging to avoid a fight in such a way. My laugh brought more scowls.
I heard the chattering outside begin as soon as all the men were among their families. The women and children had many questions as I heard their higher pitched voices singing countless inquiries before the men even had a chance to answer. I heard some of the men cuff their children as they quickly grew tired of their breathless questioning. But soon the sounds died away as they filed to their mamateeks to make the evening meal while hiding from the falling cold.
“What is it you wanted to talk about, friend?”
Ahanu groaned as he set himself down next to the fire once more, tossing two sections of firewood on top to renew the warmth. “The grey hair beginning to fill your head tells me that you are old enough to show patience yet you still seem content to speak with impulsiveness.” I laughed to myself then, thinking about how I had just been proud of myself and the restraint I demonstrated with regard to Etleloo. Ahanu laughed as well, finally adding, “Friend, I wish to talk with you about many subjects tonight. But first we will smoke.”
“There seems to be enough smoke in here already,” I said, confused.
Ahanu chuckled at my ignorance and reached for a long smooth pouch that leaned against the wall. The pouch was soft leather decorated with many colors of beads, especially blue. Feathers of different birds hung from short hide thongs dangling from the length of one side of the pouch. His strong hands carefully slid a long wooden tube from the pouch. Equally as beautiful as the pouch, the tube was obviously carved by masterful hands then ornamented with at least three different red hues. The shaft had a shorter tube affixed to one end at a right angle. After setting the purse on a bear skin to the side, Ahanu pulled a smaller container that was filled with what looked like bits of small dried leaves out from a pocket of his coat, taking two pinches of the leaves and stuffing them into the short tube. He then took a small stick from the fire, put the long end of the tube into his mouth and burnt the leaves in the small bowl at the opposite end, while inhaling deeply. Ahanu held his breath for a moment before exhaling mountains of billowing smoke which hovered around his grey head, soon blending indistinguishably with the fire’s haze. He then turned the tube to me saying, “Smoke.”
I took the hollow pipe, which is what I later learned it was called, and placed it between my lips taking a timid draw before I immediately blew a small puff of smoke from my mouth. Ahanu shook his head when I tried to give it back to him. “Deeply, it clears the breath and soul for clearer meditation.”
A second time I put the pipe to my mouth and inhaled a massive breath, filling my whole chest with smoke from the bowl at the far end of the tube. However, instead of exhaling slowly with delight as my friend had done, the muscles of my stomach and chest heaved, belching the putrid air out as quickly as possible. I coughed and hacked, sending spittle onto the fire in a hissing mess, even tipping an elbow to the ground as I barked.
As I should have expected from my cheery companion, he roared with laughter. Ahanu slapped his knees again and again with joy, tears soon forming at the corner of his eyes, slipping over the wrinkles and ridges, running down his prominent cheeks. I continued my coughing fit for a long time while he settled into a gentle rolling giggle, thoroughly enjoying himself. “That’s terrible,” I rasped, offering the pipe back to him.
Ahanu nodded with a knowing smile, “You will learn. In time, you will learn to appreciate the pipe.” I didn’t think so then as I squinted tightly trying to clear the tears from my own eyes. He continued while I cleared my throat, “My father was chief and made my brother and me try the pipe for the first time the day after we became men from the trials.”
I sputtered, “And did you appreciate the pipe then?”
“Of course not! I must have turned as green as you are now.” He giggled again while puffing lightly on the pipe. “These men of yours that Etleloo discovered. Who are they?”
I grew serious while looking into my friends eyes, “Ahanu, I do not know who could be living there. Etleloo does not believe me, I understand that, but I tell you all I know,” He searched my eyes and perhaps heart briefly before nodding and closing his eyes, breathing in the mixture of cooking fire smoke and his pipe smoke.
His eyes still closed, “We trade hides to the southern tribes for this tobacco that we put into the pipe. Twice I have been successful at trading for seeds to plant so that we could raise it ourselves, but both times the plants did not live. The southern peoples are said to raise almost all their food with their own hands by tending the soil. It seems like a lot of work to me, but I was willing to try it to secure tobacco for the winter. Well, for the summer too,” he smiled, wistfully thinking of one of the obvious joys in his life. “No one I know has ever been to see the plants actually growing.”
“I think I have seen the farming of this plant you love.”
Ahanu narrowed his eyes suspiciously, “How could you have seen it? You talk of coming from the north and across the sea. Do your people cultivate it there?”
“No. My people farm, extensively actually, but not this tobacco. Soon after I helped Thorfinn settle Straumsfjord, at the confluence of yours and the Mi’kmaq territories, we embarked on a great journey along the coast of the merki, which means the land beyond. We sailed for weeks and weeks going further and further south where the air became as heavy and wet as fog, yet with intense heat. It was oppressive. Several times we sailed into rivers and fjords where we saw fields of broad leaf crops extending away from the water. Only once did we see people, a boy and an old man. They looked something like your people but did not have the extensive tattoo markings.”
Ahanu set the pipe down and slowly took my wrist in his palm, gripping it firmly. “Halldorr, I believe you are the most widely travelled man I have ever met. It is a blessing from
Glooskap that I know you.”
“Ha,” I said. “I have spent my life striving to settle myself next to a good woman and to farm the land and to raise children. Now you tell me my travels are a blessing, to you at least.”
He pointed at my chest with his other hand, “I know you have emptiness in your heart for a woman. I know of your losses, but your travels are a blessing to you as well. Have you not told me that this One God says that he can turn all things for good and his purpose, no matter what man has in mind?”
I nodded.
“Then this life you live is good. You read those markings in your book and follow its words. You live, love, kill. What more can a man do?”
I shrugged.
“It is good you’ve come to us,” he said releasing me. “Now go to your home and sleep well. Etleloo will want to show his strength even though he does not lead. Be forgiving.”
“I will,” I said as I stood to leave.
“I know you will, but you would rather smash his nose.”
I just flashed a grin and trudged out into the snow, thinking of what kind of man and what kind of people I had found myself living among. What would tomorrow bring? Death? That had usually been my experience when I woke to strap my sword to my belt. One more passing of the sun would give me the answer.
CHAPTER 4
The entire village was abuzz about the potential for conflict the next morning. So it was in Hurit’s mamateek after my meeting with Ahanu. Kesegowaase asked many questions of my people and the way we went to battle, trying to learn all he could, though of course he would not be going along since he was but a boy in the eyes of the skraeling. At first I answered each round of inquiry in much detail, but a harsh look from Hurit told me she did not want to discuss the subject. I did not want wrath from the woman. Her look softened when I began to change the conversation to hunting and more of my tales of Dyflin, a city of such great size, they could hardly comprehend. My desire to show them my books was long forgotten.