Betrayed (Cry of the Guilty – Silence of the Innocent Book 2)

by Joan Donaldson-Yarmey

  Lorth sighed. “We will wait and see what happens.”

  * * *

  Gwin, Sari, Georg and Mela spent their days and nights keeping the fire going and watching the sky for a sign that the spaceship was returning. It was cramped in the small space but it was warm. One morning it snowed. They kept brushing it off the canvas roof so it wouldn’t collapse on them and moved the fire until it was just under the edge of the canvas. By maintaining a small one, they still had enough heat to keep from freezing. The clouds passed over and the sun shone again.

  “Snow sure brightens up the landscape,” Sari said using her hands to shield her eyes from the glare. “It’s hard on the eyes to look at it.”

  “It does give us something to quench our thirst,” Gwin said putting a handful in her mouth. She shivered. “It’s so cold, though.”

  “Here comes someone.” Jawn pointed to the flap of the cave being pushed aside.

  Three men came out carrying weapons. They headed down the hillside watching the herd of animals. When they reached the valley, they snuck forward then suddenly began to run, their weapons high in their hands. The startled animals took off but one with a bad leg couldn’t get out of their reach. The first man threw his weapon, which stuck in the animal’s side. It stumbled and went down. The other two ran up and killed it.

  The four newcomers watched as they dragged the animal up the hill. The women came out and carefully stripped the hide off and then cut the animal into pieces. They took everything inside.

  Georg said. “If they don’t do something soon, we’re going to starve. We only have the packaged meat left.”

  “We could try killing one those animals,” Sari said.

  “I think we would freeze before we reached them.” Georg looked down at his feet bundled up in the cloth. “And I don’t think we can run fast enough to catch one.”

  Two women came out of the cave and piled snow into baskets.

  “Why do they keep doing that?” Jawn asked.

  “Hey!” Gwin said, suddenly. “I know. They’re making water out of it.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because on the first day I caught some in my hand and it turned to water. It must have been because my hand was warm.”

  Sari nodded excitedly. “I remember. Why don’t we heat some on the fire?”

  “In what?”

  Gwin looked at the bucket. It was made of moon dust and at home moon dust bricks were virtually indestructible. Could it withstand fire?

  “In the bucket,” she said.

  “How?”

  “We’ll put the snow in it and set it beside the fire and see what happens.”

  “Okay.”

  They filled the bucket with snow and pushed it as close as they dared to the fire. Then they sat and watched. It took a while but soon they were able to see the height of the snow drop as the bucket heated. Eventually it all melted and they were left with a puddle of water on the bottom.

  “Not much there,” Sari said, looking in.

  “We’ll let it cool then share the water and heat some more.”

  They took turns tilting the bucket and drinking the slightly warm water.

  Later the three cave men came out again and headed in their direction. The four of them waved and smiled to show they were friendly, as they had done since they’d arrived. The dwellers walked right on by as they, too, had always done.

  “Oh, I wish we had fur clothes that covered our bodies like they do,” Sari said.

  “I wish we had their cave,” Georg added.

  The days were getting shorter. The weather was colder and it took more wood to keep their little shelter warm. They were constantly shivering in spite of the fire. They went in pairs to find wood following the path made by the inhabitants through the snow. They brought back what they could find.

  One day, a severe storm blasted into the valley. The wind swirled the falling snow in all directions, rattled their canvas, and blew out their fire. Try as they might, they could not relight it.

  “This is the most horrible of places,” Sari cried. “I want to go home.”

  They lay together and watched as the snow piled up in front of their shelter. Their roof collapsed sealing them off from the outside. Luckily there was enough of a pocket of air for them to breath.

  They slept little. Their arms and legs ached from the cramped conditions, but they noticed that they were warm. The snow acted as insulation against the cold. When the storm stopped they reached out with their hands and slowly pushed the snow away from the front. They stiffly climbed out and stretched. The sun was bright but the air still frosty.

  “Let’s get a fire going,” Georg said.

  They went over to their pile of wood and chopped some kindling. They placed it where their fire had been and Georg lit it. They forced themselves to wait until the fire took hold before adding the larger pieces of wood. They thawed some of the packaged meat and ate.

  “I feel so helpless,” Georg said. He looked over at the cave. The dwellers had pushed the snow away from the flap and returned inside. “If only there were more of us we could overpower them.”

  They were silent for a few minutes.

  “We could go back to the village,” Gwin suggested. “That is where the ship will land if it returns.”

  “There is nothing for us there,” Jawn said. “We just barely made it away with our lives.”

  “A lot of good that did us,” Sari muttered. “Maybe it would have been best if those guys had killed us. At least it would have been quick.”

  “And we don’t know if the ship will come back,” Georg said.

  Their meat lasted until the end of the third week. Within two days of their last meal they began feeling the effects of not eating. They barely had enough energy to drag back wood and chop it for the fire. They looked pleadingly at the dwellers who came out of the cave or who walked by.

  “I don’t think we can last much longer,” Sari recorded, as she had since they’d set up the camp. “Our food is gone and the inhabitants will not feed us.”

  “I’m going over there.”

  Georg stood and walked through the snow to the cave. He stopped and hollered. When no one pushed the flap aside, he grabbed the side of it and lifted. It was dim inside and he heard gasps. There was rustling and movement and one of the men suddenly stood in front of him. He had a long-handled weapon in his hands and the sharp end of it was aimed at Georg’s belly.

  Georg raised his other hand to show he had nothing in it. The man, whom Georg assumed was the leader, gestured for Georg to leave. Georg shook his head. He pointed to himself and then into the cave. His eyes had adjusted and he could see the female dwellers huddled in the back with the children. There were four more men behind the leader. Three had weapons.

  The fourth touched the leader on the arm and said something. He answered without taking his eyes off Georg. The other said something more. The leader shook his head and answered with one word. Georg looked at the fourth man and their eyes locked. He pleaded silently with him. The leader said something and jabbed the sharp end of his weapon at Georg. Georg felt a stab of pain and stepped back. He let the flap fall and turned away. There was nothing more for them to do. He walked dejectedly back to the others.

  “Did he hurt you?” Jawn asked.

  “No. The end didn’t penetrated my skin.”

  The next morning, they rose slowly. None of them had the energy or the desire to even put more wood on the fire. Why delay the inevitable?

  “Look,” Jawn whispered.

  They followed his gaze and saw two women coming towards them. In their hands was some dried meat. They handed it to them, then without a word went back to the cave.

  They stared at the meat, not sure it was real. Georg bit off a piece and chewed it. He nodded.

  “Thank you,” Gwin called to the retreating figure. Then she wolfed down her piece as the others were doing.

  Sari wiped a tear from her eye. “It’s not much but at l
east they are trying to help us.”

  “Let’s hope it lasts.”

  The next day the women brought them each a bowl carved from wood. In it was some sort of broth and meat. Again they said ‘thank you’ and ate while the women waited for the bowls. They handed them back with a smile.

  Their supply of wood dwindled and their next trip to the forest for wood took longer because of their weakened state. They were exhausted by the time they’d decided they had enough for a couple more days. It was an effort to chop the larger branches into pieces small enough for their fire. Luckily, the women of the cave continued to bring them food once a day.

  On the morning of the seventh day after their food ran out, the man who hadn’t had a weapon when Georg visited came out and gestured for them to enter the cave. They just stared at him, not believing what they were seeing. He beckoned again and they scrambled out of their shelter. Not thinking about the fire or the canvas or their box, they hurried on numb feet into the cave.

  After the brightness of the snow outside the cave they couldn’t see anything for the first few moments. Then they were able to make out forms of the cave people sitting around individual fires, which burned inside circles of rocks.

  They stood just inside the flap not knowing what to do. The man pointed to a spot beside them that had a circle of rocks but no fire. He then pointed to them and back to the spot.

  “I think he means that’s our place,” Georg whispered.

  They nodded, smiled, and sat down beside the rocks.

  “Now what?” Sari asked quietly.

  “We just stay here until we’re told what to do.”

  “I can handle that,” Sari said. “After being cold for so long I can just sit and soak up the warmth.”

  Gwin looked around. The fires stretched a long ways back in the cave and they lit the animals painted on the walls. Men, women, and children sat beside the fires in groups. Gwin surmised that they were arranged in families. There were a number of smells in the cave, cooking food being the most predominant. The rest seemed to be a combination of animal hides, body odour, and spices.

  It was a long time before the deep, intense cold left them and they felt comfortably warm. And the warmth made them sleepy.

  “This feel so good,” Gwin said.

  “I think one of us should stay awake,” Georg said.

  “Why?” Sari asked. “If they were going to kill us they could just have left us outside.”

  They lay down on the hard floor of the cave and soon all were asleep. It was late afternoon when Gwin awakened. At first, she didn’t know where she was and when she remembered she looked over at the people who were preparing their evening meal. Two of the children pulled the flap aside and went out. The cold air blew in at their site.

  Georg was already awake, sitting with his back against the wall. “I’m going to bring in our wood and build a fire,” he whispered.

  Gwin looked at Jawn and Sari still asleep. “I’ll help.”

  Gwin smiled at the inhabitants who looked up when they stood. Georg pulled the flap aside and they went out. The cold made Gwin shiver again but she didn’t mind. She had a warm place to return to.

  At their shelter they picked up some of the wood making sure there were small pieces for kindling and went back to the cave. They set the kindling on the ground inside the ring of stones. Georg was just about to light it with a lighter when a woman brought over a piece of wood already lit. He smiled and nodded his thanks and set it on their pile. It was soon blazing nicely.

  “I’ll have to chop some smaller pieces,” Georg said, leaving again. He took the axe and split one of the larger log they’d managed to drag back. It was slow work but eventually he had a pile, which he carried into the cave and set beside their fire. He went back for the canvas, the bucket, and the box. By this time Jawn and Sari were awake and sitting up.

  The same two women who had fed them outside brought over some dried meat and broth. They ate it with relish and with full bellies they stretched out beside the fire and fell asleep again. They didn’t wake until morning.

  “I never thought I would be so happy just to wake up in a warm place,” Sari said. “It’s amazing how soon you begin to appreciate small things.”

  When the women brought the morning food, Gwin accepted her bowl then pointed to herself. “Gwin,” she said.

  The women looked down and didn’t speak. Gwin touched Sari and said her name then did the same with Georg and Jawn. The rest of the cave people watched but never said anything.

  That day they rested, giving their bodies a chance to recuperate from their near starvation. For the other two meals, which consisted of dried meal or broth with meat and some roots, a different family shared their food although it was the same women who delivered it.

  The delivery of the food was the only contact. The dwellers watched them warily during the day. The younger of the children, who ranged in age from babies to young adults, peeked at the newcomers from behind their mothers while the older ones openly stared.

  “Do you think he is a guard?” Jawn nodded towards a man who remained sitting at his fire after the others had lain down for the night.

  “Probably,” Georg said. He tried to get comfortable on the hard ground with only his blanket for cover.

  With each day their strength increased. On the third day, Georg and Jawn went for firewood. They dragged logs back and cut them up with the axes. The men stood to one side and watched them chop the logs into smaller lengths.

  “Axe,” Georg said holding it up. He showed how to split the lengths into pieces.

  They did not move.

  Sari and Gwin piled the wood then brought some pieces into the cave for themselves. They placed some on the floor near the entrance and indicated to the women that they were for them.

  After a glance at the leader, the women gave Gwin and Sari enough furs for the four of them to wear and some for bedding. That night they slept comfortably for the first time since they’d had beds to sleep on in the dormitories.

  After that first week the dwellers seemed to relax. The women introduced themselves as Mela and Illy. They learned that the man who appeared to be the leader of the people was called Lorth. Bane was the man who had invited them in and there were other names like Thor, Bula, Bru, and Vel. Much of the communication was through hand signals although they tried to learn some of each other’s words.

  One day Bane beckoned Georg and Jawn. They went over to where he stood beside his weapons. “Spear,” he said indicating the weapon with the long handle and sharpened piece of rock tied to the end. He also pointed to some of their tools and gave their names.

  Georg repeated the names then said what they were in his language. “Scraper, knife, needles, and pins.”

  “Come,” Bane said.

  He, Bru, and Thor each took a spear and went outside. Georg and Jawn followed. Some of the children were playing in the snow, so they went along the path away from them. Bane lifted his arm until the spear was shoulder height. He stepped forward with the opposite foot and threw it. It landed in the snow a distance ahead of them. Thor and Bur did the same and each of their spears landed beside Bane’s. Bane retrieved his and handed it to Georg.

  Georg hefted the spear. It was heavier than he’d thought. He brought it to shoulder height and like Bane stepped with the opposite foot and threw. It landed right in front of him. The three men laughed. Georg picked it up and tried again with the same results.

  “I can’t do it,” he said and handed the spear to Jawn.

  Jawn threw it three times but couldn’t get it very far. “I think it’s because our arms are shorter than theirs,” he said.

  “Arm,” Georg said, pointing to his limb. He went and stood beside Bane who was much taller. He held his arm beside Bane’s. “Shorter.”

  Bane nodded his understanding.

  The next day, the men headed down to the valley to hunt the deer, as they called them. Georg and Jawn went along. Because of their shorter le
gs, they had a hard time keeping up and there was no way they could run with them when they chased a deer down. They tried dragging the animal back but the men tired of the slow pace and took over.

  “We’re not very good at this,” Georg said with disappointment.

  Gwin and Sari helped the women remove the hide and cut the meat. They were soon adept at cooking over the fires with utensils they were given.

  To make up for their lack of hunting skill, Georg and Jawn hauled logs. The inhabitants indicated they wanted to try the axes and took turns chopping the logs into pieces.

  “I have to go to the village and get more tapes,” Sari said one day. “I’ve used up the last of this one.” When asked, she’d shown the recorder to the inhabitants but there was no way they could understand how it worked and she didn’t know any words or gestures that would explain it. When she talked into it they just stared at her as if she was slightly deranged.

  “I don’t think you’d better,” Georg said. “You don’t know what you will find.”

  “I’ll go with her.” Gwin picked up the axe. “We’ll be careful.”

  “I’ll come, too,” Jawn said. “I want to see what’s happening.”

  “Okay,” Georg sighed in resignation. He grabbed the other axe. “Count me in.”

  They motioned that they were going for a long walk and would be back later. There had only been one more snowfall and it had lasted half a day. A path had been trampled as far as the first meadow in their search for wood. Once past that they made new tracks through the meadows and bush. They crossed trails made by wild animals and saw the occasional bird.

  It was cold and clear and soon the brightness of the snow hurt their eyes. They had to squint against the brilliance as they walked across the meadows and were glad to reach the dimness of the trees.

  “It’s a good thing we have these skins to wear,” Sari said. “I’d hate to be out here in the clothes we had before.”

  As they neared the village they slowed down listening for noise and watching for movement. They weren’t sure what to expect. It had been a long time since they’d left. Given the lack of food, everyone should have starved by now but they weren’t taking any chances. They crept to the edge of the forest and peered through the trees. There were no tracks in the snow and no sign of movement. Everything seemed still and quiet.