The Shore of Women

by Pamela Sargent

  Before I could speak, a man lunged from the trees behind them, spear raised. He gaped at Birana. His arm fell.

  “We come in peace,” I said slowly. The man looked from Birana to me. One of the women raised her hands to her face. “We mean no harm.” I took a breath and dropped my spear and bow. After a moment, the man cast his spear on the ground.

  “We have found your refuge,” I murmured as we walked toward them.

  The three were older than they had seemed from afar. The man’s brown beard was streaked with gray while lines and wrinkles marked the faces of the women. Their bare breasts were pendulous and their bellies sagged.

  The man began to speak as we approached. The two women stood behind him and covered their mouths as they peered at us. I had picked up my weapons but set them down once more as the man spoke. I could not make out his words, and although he kept glancing at Birana, his words seemed meant for me.

  “We come in peace,” I said again when he fell silent.

  He stroked his beard and spoke more slowly. His distorted and slurred words now sounded much like the holy speech, and I was able to make out a few. He was greeting us, offering to guide us to his camp.

  “I know your words now,” I said, “but you must say them to us slowly.” He nodded, showing that he understood me.

  “We would like to come to your camp,” Birana said. “We have little food left, but if you guide us there, we will share what we have with you.”

  The man’s eyes narrowed. He did not move. One of the women was shaking her head.

  “My companion and I will come with you,” I said. He nodded again; I wondered why he was able to understand my words and not Birana’s. “Are there others with you?”

  “There are others,” he replied.

  “Then I’ll put on my shirt,” Birana muttered to me as she reached into her sack. The women giggled as she donned her garment, perhaps wondering why Birana wanted to cover herself.

  The man led us along the bank. The women trailed behind, stopping from time to time to gather other plants. “This is a joyous day.” The man spoke carefully, making each word clear. “We have always hoped to see others, and now it has come to pass.” Birana and I slowed to allow the women to catch up to us. He gestured impatiently. “Come. They know the way. Let them do their work.”

  The ground was thick with shrubs and flowers. We pushed past the hanging limbs of willows and came to a path through the growth. We walked over a small rise and below, on the riverbank, I saw their camp.

  Two dwellings of wood with grassy roofs stood on either side of a clearing where meat was roasting over a fire. A smaller dwelling had been built at the edge of this clearing. I looked at these huts for only a moment. Two men sat by the fire and two other women were feeding the flames with sticks.

  “Rejoice!” the man at my side called out. “A man and a woman have traveled to our land.” I could not make out the rest of his words. The men below jumped up as the women dropped their kindling. Two naked young boys ran out from one dwelling. As we walked down to the camp, a third young one emerged from the other dwelling. I saw this child’s limp and then the hairless slit between her legs.

  “A little girl,” Birana whispered to me. I caught my breath. Children were here, and these women must have borne them. They had lived. There would be help for Birana.

  The men and women gestured, bowed, then surrounded us, laughing and babbling in their slurred speech as they poked at us gently with their hands. We set down our belongings and seated ourselves by the fire. One woman ran into a dwelling and came out with a basket of food.

  They grouped themselves around the fire, the two women and the girl at our right, the three men and the two boys at our left. The other two women had reached the camp by then. They set down their sacks and sat next to the girl.

  The man who had guided us to the camp struck his chest. “My band welcomes you,” he announced. “I am Tern, leader here. Next to me is Gull, and next to him is the man called Skua.” He did not say the names of the boys, or the women.

  “I am called Arvil,” I responded, “and my companion is Birana.”

  Tern muttered other words I could not catch, then said, “We will feast while we talk.” The women cut off pieces of roasting meat with stone knives and handed food to the men and to me before taking any for themselves or for Birana. I took out what was left of my dried meat and gave it to Tern.

  I glanced at the women, who bowed their heads, refusing to meet my gaze. These women lived among men, yet seemed shy before me. I had already learned something of this camp and its people. The site of the dwellings on lower land and the path that led so clearly to the camp showed that these men and women did not fear attack and seemed to have no enemies.

  “Are you alone?” the leader asked. “Or will others follow?”

  I wondered how much to admit, but these men and women had welcomed us in peace, had shown no signs of fear or suspicion. “We are alone,” I said.

  Tern frowned. “I had hoped there might be others, but we are grateful even for two.”

  I reached into my quiver and took out the arrow I had found. “I think this is yours. This arrow guided me here.”

  Tern took the arrow from me. “It is mine. We had gone too far from our own land and had to turn back. I hope our prey gave you some meat.”

  “It gave its meat only to birds and worms, but that arrow was worth more to me than the meat.”

  The man laughed. “You are welcome to dwell here for a time, to remain among us if you wish.”

  “You are kind,” I said, surprised by this offer.

  “You are needed.” He did not explain what he meant.

  Birana was watching the women. One of them had a belly so big that I wondered how she could rise, and then it came to me that she, like Birana, carried a child inside her. Birana had said that her belly would swell; the sight of this woman’s belly terrified me. How large would the child be when it emerged, as large as Hasin had been when I first saw him? That could not be. Was it possible that a woman could live through such an ordeal? Guilt swept through me; I touched Birana’s hand for a moment, fearing for her.

  I peered at the women again, then noted that all had the same light brown hair, although that of the older two was growing silver. They held their hands over their mouths in the same way, and their thin, pinched faces and narrow noses were alike. One glanced toward me with her yellowish-brown eyes and drew her hair across her face. I turned back toward the men. They also resembled one another and had the same thin faces.

  Birana said, “We would hear of how you came to this place.”

  Tern gestured at her. “We did not ask you to speak.”

  Birana flushed. “I’ll speak without being asked.”

  Tern scowled. “You are not to speak. He will ask the question.”

  I frowned, then motioned to Birana as she was about to reply. We did not know this band’s customs. Perhaps they still feared her kind even after living among them. “How did you come here?” I asked.

  Tern finished his meat, then set his hands on his knees. “It happened in this way. In the west, there lived a band of men, and out of the west, death came upon them. Many died at the hands of another, larger band, and only two lived. They cursed the spirits that had brought such evil to them, and then they journeyed to one of the citadels where the minions of the one called the Lady rule. There, within sight of the wall, they cursed the Lady and all of the men she holds in thrall, for they believed she had sent the band against them.”

  Tern seemed to share their anger as he spoke of the Lady, and I wondered at the words he used in speaking of Her. “Then from that wall,” he continued, “a vision appeared to them, and an aspect of the Lady came out to them.”

  This woman, Tern said, had revealed many truths to the two men, who learned from her that the Lady had little power in the lands to the east. From this woman they had also learned of the pleasures they could share with her and of how life could sprin
g from them. From her body, two males and two females had come, and from the bodies of those two females, two males and three females, and from theirs, six more children. These six had come to the river where Tern’s band now lived, although the six had died many seasons ago. Tern sang out the names of all these men and women in a chant until he ended with his own name and those of his men.

  “We live here now,” Tern said, “and although we were blessed in the past, we have known sorrow these past seasons. These three, and the one Hyacinth carries inside herself, are our only children. Another was born not long ago, but it did not live. One was born two summers ago, but so monstrously shaped that it could not be allowed to live.” He waved a hand at the little girl. “The child called Lily has a limp and also an affliction that makes her shake like a leaf in the wind—it was always so with her from the time she entered the world.” The child lowered her eyes. “I thought that the Lady had somehow reached out to curse us, but now that you are here, perhaps it is a sign that new ones will be born among us.”

  His words filled me with horror. I had never known of a boy who did not leave an enclave fit and strong—his only defects of body would be those brought by illness, injury, or age. Birana had told me her kind made certain that their children were born strong and healthy. What would happen to her child here, away from her enclave’s magic? Would it also be afflicted? I tried to steady myself. The two boys seemed fit enough, and the girl had lived.

  Birana’s face was white. “I thank you for telling me this story,” I said. “I too have tales to tell, but I would speak to my companion for a moment.”

  Tern nodded. “Perhaps you do not wish to share our burdens. I cannot force you to stay but will tell you this—in all my life, I have seen no others except those here and the ones who brought us into the world. You will find no one else in this land.”

  I took Birana’s arm and led her down to the riverbank. We were still within sight of the group but could speak softly in the lake tongue. “These afflictions Tern spoke of,” I murmured. “Could such things befall the child inside you?”

  She drew her brows together. “I don’t know. I keep telling myself that your strain and mine are healthy ones, but I can’t be certain of what traits my child might carry. I can’t use gene-scanning techniques out here, can’t repair defective genes.” She went on in this way, using other words in her own tongue I did not know. “I don’t even know if I’ll have a boy or a girl, and there’s a chance the birth itself might cause some injury.”

  “Is that what has happened here? Did afflictions come upon their young ones because of that?”

  She shook her head. “I’m not sure, but they’re all descendants of the same mother, and they’ve been inbreeding ever since. It means more of a chance for defects to show up in their children, and there’s no way to prevent that out here. They’re all related. That’s why they look alike. Their gene pool is too small.” She used other words then, both in the lake language and her own speech, and at last I understood that there was an illness of some sort in the seed of these men and women that had weakened their children.

  “Is there a way to heal them?” I asked.

  “Not here. No wonder they’re so happy to see us, although they don’t know why. We mean new genes.” She sighed. “What kind of refuge is this? It might be better to force my child from me now.”

  “No, Birana. These women have had their children and have lived. They must know how to help you, and this band has welcomed us peacefully. We would be safe.” I looked up at Tern’s band. The men stroked their beards as they watched us. The women smiled.

  “And what kind of life will we have? What kind of life would the child have if it lives?”

  “You wanted a refuge. You have found it—a place where men live with women. There is nowhere left for us to go. We must stay for a time at least, until…” I took her hand. “I curse myself for what I have brought upon you. A time may come when we can seek out other lands, but we must stay in this camp for now.”

  “You’re right. I suppose I should be grateful even to have found this much.”

  I wanted to hold her, comfort her somehow. We walked back to the fire; Tern gazed up at me hopefully. “Birana and I have decided,” I said, “but there is a question I would ask. Children have come to you. Can these women aid another when a child comes from her?”

  The women giggled. “We aid one another,” one of the older women replied. “We know of birthing.”

  Tern glared at her; she lowered her head. “That is women’s business,” he said. “Why do you ask this, Arvil?”

  “I ask it because Birana carries a child inside her now.” I paused. “If she can be helped, we will stay with you.”

  Tern jumped to his feet. Joy glowed in the faces of the others. “We are truly blessed,” he shouted as he grasped my shoulders. “Welcome, friend.”

  We feasted with the band that afternoon. Although Tern asked me about my travels, I told him only that Birana had appeared to me in a shrine, that we had traveled and found shelter with bands of men before finding our way to the sea. Tern and his men seemed satisfied with that and showed little curiosity about what lay west. Their land was here, and other regions were only places of danger, lands where men raised their hands against other men and where the minions of the Lady ruled. No awe of the Lady lived in the souls of these men, who gestured angrily whenever I spoke Her name.

  In the evening, the women carried off what was left of the feast. I rose to help them, but Tern motioned to me to sit. One of the women came to Birana and then said, “You will come with me to our house.”

  Birana walked toward the dwelling. I was about to follow when Tern touched my arm. “She will live with the women. You will dwell in our house.”

  “We have spent our nights together at the same hearth.”

  “When you wish a night with her, you may join her there.” The leader pointed at the small hut near the trees. “And if you wish one of the others…”

  The other men grinned. I was wary, unsure of their customs. Birana disappeared inside the women’s dwelling. “I am content with Birana,” I said.

  Skua chuckled while the two boys dug their elbows into each other’s sides. “Your seed grows in her now,” Skua said. “Should it also take root in another, it can only mean new life for our band.”

  I wondered what the women would say to that but held my tongue. “There is a story I didn’t tell you before,” Tern said in a low voice. By now, I was more used to his speech even when he spoke more rapidly. He glanced at the women’s dwelling, then leaned closer. “You are not the first stranger who has come here. Some time ago, when I was a boy no older than young Pelican here, a man was found not far from this camp. He was injured, but those who found him carried him back here in the hope that he might live and provide his seed. He died not long after of his wound, and although the band grieved, perhaps it was just as well. You see, he was still under the Lady’s power. When he saw the women in this camp, he spoke strange words to them, addressed them as beings who were set here to rule over him. Such things are not good for women to hear.”

  My neck prickled. “So men are taught in other places,” I said. “The Lady has great power.”

  “But we know the truth. We learned it long ago. The minions of the Lady cloak their weakness with guile and magic; but, stripped of it, they are no more than we. You must also have learned this truth from your companion.”

  “Birana has told me some truths,” I admitted.

  “And you have lain with her and know that a child is in her, so you know her true nature. You must have come from a place where the Lady rules over men or she could not have shown herself to you, but you’ve seen the truth now. You know that what you once believed is a lie, but though you do not bow before the woman you led here, there is awe in you still. You hover over her. You allow her to speak when she should be silent.”

  My anger nearly burst from me. “I am her friend,” I said steadily, “as she
is mine. She doesn’t rule me and I do not rule her. It is not my place to command her.”

  “It is your place,” Gull muttered. “That is the rest of the truth we have learned, the truth the Lady’s minions hide—that it was men who once ruled over her.”

  I could no longer control myself. “That is so,” I answered, “and you must also know what came of it—a time of trouble and devastation. I care nothing for who ruled then or who rules now. Birana is my friend, and I will treat her as my friend.”

  Tern scowled. “You say you will live among us. You will follow our ways. What will our women think if they see that your companion has power over you? You would make trouble for us.”

  I took a breath. I wanted to rise and take Birana from that camp, but even if they let us go, I would only be taking her from those who could help her.

  “I shall do my best to abide by your customs,” I said, “and Birana will do the same, but what passes between us when we are alone is our concern. I will treat her kindly. She carries a child. You say your band needs new young ones. You must let us live how we will.”

  Tern glanced at the others, but there was little he could say to that. At last he stood up and led me to his dwelling.

  I wanted to speak to Birana alone the next day, but the three men had decided to go on a hunt, and I was to hunt with them. I asked if any of the women would come with us.

  Gull shook his head. “Women do not hunt.”

  “Birana has hunted with me.”

  “Women do not hunt,” he insisted. “She carries a child—she should not hunt. When the young ones are small, the women must carry them or keep them close, so it is their work to gather plants and tend the camp. They will smoke or cook what game we bring back.”

  It appeared that the women had spoken to Birana about their ways, for as we gathered around the fire for our morning meal, Birana kept her eyes lowered as she helped the women fetch food. I took the food she brought to me, then saw her tightened mouth and the anger in her eyes. “When we are alone,” I murmured quickly in the lake speech, “things will be as they were. I don’t want you to bow to me then.” Her mouth softened a little.