Zamimolo’s Story, 50,000 BC: Book Three of Winds of Change, a Prehistoric Fiction Series on the Peopling of the Americas (Winds of Change series 3)

by Bonnye Matthews

  “I’m fine, thank you.”

  “Ahah, is there nothing you find appealing about me?” he finally asked, having exhausted his thoughts on how to appeal to her.

  “It’s not that. I’m worried about the people I know.”

  “They are with others. If they’re injured, you’ll see them come down here to the gathering place.”

  “Thank you Kowotiach. Right now, I’m just a little frightened and I want to find my People.”

  Kowotiach left her. He wished he could find the way to reach the part of her that would be open to love, but he had no idea what to do. He considered that at another time he might try again, unless he’d found someone else.

  Without thinking, Ahah climbed up the hill to the camp. Their tent was still standing. Trees near it were all standing. She bent over to enter the shelter of the tent, knelt to pull a skin from her backpack, and sat while she wrapped it around herself. She was shivering. She pulled it tightly around herself.

  Ventumoko had seen her scrambling up the hill alone, so he followed, not too close. He wondered why she was alone. When he saw her shivering in the tent, he joined her.

  “What it is, Ahi?” he asked her using his teasing name for her which meant dragonfly.

  Instead of answering, she held her arms out to him. He was thoroughly confused. She began to weep. Ventumoko was concerned, because Ahah had always been so self-assured. He had no idea what to do, so he simply sat there and held her. The sun began to lower itself to the horizon. Ahah has ceased crying but still seemed shaky. Ventumoko noticed the swollen arm and was instantly nauseated by the looks of it, and then began to ask questions about it.

  “It is not that bad,” she said. “It feels tight where it’s swollen, but there is no huge pain. I have been so wrong, so very, very wrong. Tonight I discovered how wrong I’ve been.”

  “Ahah, what are you talking about?”

  “When I saw the women looking at you when you introduced yourself, I had a strange feeling. I have never been jealous or mean spirited, but I wanted to throw all of those who looked at you into the sea. I wanted to run up there, grab you, and run into the woods with you.”

  Ventumoko couldn’t help but laugh. “And once you got me into the woods, what then?”

  “I didn’t think that far. Ventumoko, I think at that moment, certainly when I stood to introduce myself, I didn’t want anyone else but you. I certainly didn’t want anyone else to have you. I don’t know why I didn’t see it until I got here, but my fear of losing you is huge. Have you found a wife yet?”

  “Ahah, I think I have found a wife. If you will swear by the name of Wisdom that you’ll never change, you can be sure that I have found a wife in you.”

  She put her arms around his neck and the two of them cuddled in the tent alone with the brilliant sunset overhead. She felt safe and right for the first time since she’d told him that she rejected him.

  “We have something we must do, Ahah,” he said.

  “What’s that?”

  “We have to go take our stringed shells to Skirim,” he said with a smile. “And I’d feel better if someone took a look at that arm.”

  The two got up and hand-in-hand walked back down the hill to the gathering place.

  Later that night Linpint and Zamimolo arrived at the tent and checked on their young people. They were missing Picota. With some alarm, they decided how they would search and just as they were about to leave to search, Picota returned with a young man named Bul.

  “We were just going to search for you Picota. The sun has already set and you just got here. You were to be here before it reached half way below the horizon.”

  “I’m sorry. Let me introduce, Bul of the Nola Nola. We were talking and I couldn’t see the sun. We were so involved in our talk that I didn’t pay attention to the sun.”

  “Bul, our rule is that Picota must be back at the tent before half the sun has gone below the horizon.” Linpint stood there with a hand on his left hip.

  “I’m sorry. If she will be with me tomorrow, I assure you it will not happen again.”

  “Where are the Nola Nola?” Zamimolo asked.

  “On the big land to the south at the top middle,” he explained with an easy smile.

  Zamimolo couldn’t help himself. He liked the young man.

  “So you’re the one who went to school in two places?” Linpint asked.

  “Yes. It was a great opportunity. It also was very hard work,” Bul replied.

  “We had to help in a war against the Alitukit. Do they war with your Nola Nola?” Zamimolo asked.

  “They are a strange people who usually keep to themselves. They are so distrustful that sometimes, I think, they war when it’s not a good idea. They have a group of men who are brilliant, but they keep most of their brilliance to themselves. We think they invite us to school to teach us, so they can learn about our people and what our plans are. We have to answer questions sometimes that make us uncomfortable. From schooling we gain information that is valuable to us. We’ve even thought of teaching our own Nola Nola, but we just don’t have the fullness of the knowledge they have. We could hurt more than help if we tried to do it ourselves. So, we take it as we get it. The students are away from the fighting. Wars usually involve borders, and the school is far inside the borders. We Nola Nola are too distant from them for them to worry about borders with us.”

  Bul took a deep breath. “Picota,” he said quieter, “Will you meet with me tomorrow?”

  She looked into his eyes and replied, “I will be here. You may meet me here after your morning meal. I would like very much to spend time with you.”

  “Until morning, then,” he replied. “It was nice to meet you,” he said to the older men but tried to include all with his glance. Then, he was gone.

  “He seems to be a good choice, Picota,” Linpint said with a smile.

  Picota smiled and remained silent. She had already concluded, if no negatives appeared while they grew to know each other, she wanted Bul for her husband, even if it meant living with his people.

  Zamimolo saw Ventumoko sitting in the far back of the tent with Ahah right in front of him, leaning against him. His arms were around her. She had no stringed shell.

  “What is the meaning of this?” Zamimolo asked.

  “It’s my doing,” Ahah replied quickly. “When I saw Ventumoko looking at the women there, and saw them looking at him, it made me realize that I’ve been a fool. I’ve loved him all along—just didn’t realize it. I don’t want to lose him to anyone.” She looked over her shoulder and leaned back so she could see his face. Her hands held his, which still were held together as his arms circled her. They smiled at each other.

  “Well, that’s interesting,” Linpint said, stupefied. “Never would I have expected this.”

  “Me either,” Zamimolo echoed.

  The camp settled down with each finding his or her bedding.

  When the sun was up, Nob, Tas, and Picota were eager to see what the day would bring. Picota took extra time combing her hair and picking her teeth. Picota used some of the water from the water gourd to wash her face, since there was no bathing lake nearby. Ahah made the morning meal by boiling water and pouring it over grains they’d rolled flat on stones and portioned into pouches for quick meals. Tas ate his quickly and left to find his new friend, Kib, who lived far south by the snow-covered mountains. Nob still wondered whether he’d find anyone so he headed for the large gathering place. Ventumoko and Ahah left to replenish the firewood supply.

  Linpint looked at Zamimolo while he finished eating. “It looks like Ventumoko and Ahah are settled, Picota and Bul seem well matched, Tas seems taken with the girl from the south, but I wonder about Nob.”

  “He seems like a fish out of water, flopping and twisting, unsure to find his place. I’m not sure what’s wrong.”

  Down at the gathering place, Nob looked around but only saw a small group of young men talking. He decided to join them.

  “Hi
, come join us,” one called to him.

  “Thanks. I don’t seem to be doing very well here,” Nob admitted.

  “It depends on what you want,” another said.

  “Yes, I’m supposed to find a wife, but I’d rather explore this land, and a wife with children would be a burden. I want to be free to travel all over this land and learn more about it. That’s what we’ve been talking about,” a tall young man with dark wavy hair and blue eyes said with enthusiasm. “I cannot find anyone interested.”

  “That sounds exciting,” Nob admitted. “You are seriously talking about not joining with a wife but instead traveling the country and living from what you hunt each day or so?”

  “Exactly!”

  “That sounds like a dream come true. I would love to spend my life that way.”

  “My name is Po. I come from the Nola Nola. Why not become an adventurer with me. If either of us wants, later is a time for joining with a woman, after we’ve satisfied our desire to explore.”

  “Well, Po, my name is Nob. I come from the People and we are not long in this land. I know very little about how to survive here, although I’ve been learning since I arrived. I might be a burden.”

  “If you’re willing to learn, you’d be no burden but rather someone with whom to share the land and what it has to teach. I’ve lived here all my life. I’ve been to the Nola Nola School, called the School of the South, and the Alitukit School. I’ve done my trial of valor alone and been successful. That taught much about this land, but the knowledge I gained is not wide with respect to this entire land. I want to know more.”

  “When do you leave, Po?”

  “I’m ready to leave as soon as I find someone who wants to take the same journey.”

  Without further thought, Nob said, “I’m ready.”

  “Do you want to get your supplies and meet back here as soon as you have them?”

  “Yes!” Nob said. “I do need to turn in this stringed shell and tell the elders in our group. Then, I’ll return here.”

  “I will be here when you return,” Po said.

  The others were shocked that two people looking for wives would depart to journey through the large land to the south. To them it was preposterous, but interesting. They kept standing together talking, hoping some girls would come to the same place and notice them.

  Nob arrived back at the camp and found Zamimolo and Linpint had gone somewhere. Ventumoko and Ahah had returned with arms full of wood, so he told them his plan.

  “You cannot leave without talking to Linpint or Zamimolo,” Ahah said horrified.

  “That is due respect for elders,” Ventumoko said.

  “For the first time in my life, I know what I want to do. I’m going. Please ask that they not follow me. I am a man, not a child. I am doing what I want to do.”

  Ventumoko and Ahah watched him leave. They were horrified, saddened, and slightly fearful of the reactions they’d get from Linpint and Zamimolo, but they could not stop Nob.

  Nob found Po at the gathering place and the two left immediately heading southeast for the mountains on a small path Po knew led to the interior.

  When Zamimolo and Linpint arrived back at the camp, they learned about Nob. Both were furious, but they realized there was no way Ventumoko and Ahah could have stopped him, short of tying him up. They also realized there would be no way to track the young man, even if they thought they should.

  “This is a strange trip we’ve taken,” Zamimolo said aloud, more in reflection than to any of the other three. “We come here with five people searching for a wife or husband. Two of ours found each other, two are about the reason they came here, and one has gone off on an exploration of this land. How strange we must look to others!”

  “Zami,” Linpint said sharply, “I don’t think anyone at this gathering is interested in our group—individual members of it, yes, but the group as a whole, no.”

  “You’re probably right,” he conceded with a nod to Linpint. “You two are also right. There was nothing you could have done to stop him.” His shock was subsiding and self-control returning.

  By the seventh day it was decided that Picota and Bul would join when they reached the land of the Nola Nola. Tas planned to leave for the far south to join with Kib. They would travel by boat on the sea. Zamimolo, Linpint, Ventumoko, and Ahah would trek with Picota to the land of the Nola Nola to attend her joining with Bul.

  When they awakened on the eighth day, the sun was shining in a clear sky. To reduce the weight of their backpacks, Linpint and Zamimolo chose to leave their tent skins with the Bekwaboati for their elders or widows. Their gesture brought them great goodwill, for it was unexpected and something for which the recipients were tremendously grateful. They began a trek through the mountains to the west. Fortunately, Bul knew the way through the mountains and was familiar with the signs of danger. For days they’d trek to the north and finally find lower ground that would eventually take them to the land of the Nola Nola.

  On their trek only once did they come near a long-tooth cat. Bul spotted it and led them out of its danger circle, as he called it. There were a few snakes and one stomping elephant angry over something, but otherwise the trek was uneventful and quite beautiful. With four hunters, they ate well each day.

  When at last they approached the land of the Nola Nola, Bul stopped at a high point of the land and picked up a conch shell. He put it to his mouth and blew on it. The People were startled at the amount of noise it made. Before long people at a very far distance began to come toward them. When they came together in the valley, Bul threw his arms around his father, Coshiga, and his mother, Tuna.

  Bul made the introductions of the elders and others, leaving Picota to the last. “This is the woman with whom I will join. Her name is Picota. These are her People. They will stay to see our joining ceremony. Will you make a place for them?” he asked his parents.

  “Of course, by tonight there will be shelter provided. Welcome to the land of the Nola Nola,” Coshiga said, extending his open hands palm out to each of the male People. Each of the men held their hands out in the same manner until they touched palms.

  Tuna was stunned. She looked carefully at Picota. Picota looked just like Olomaru-mia except for the color of her hair. Tuna couldn’t wait to tell Olomaru-mia. Her friend would be sitting under her shelter from the sun. Bul had used the word People, which is the same term Olomaru-mia always used when talking of them. They had to be of the same group. The resemblance was her clue.

  Coshiga led the people to the village gathering place to meet Chief Uvela. The touching of palms from outstretched arms occurred again. They were led to the council place where they could sit and talk of the trip and the wife search for Bul and Po, who had not returned. Bul let them know that Po had decided to explore the big land and would not soon return.

  While they were meeting Tuna ran over and sat by Olomaru-mia. Without a word but gesturing with her eyes and the tilt of her head, she asked Olomaru-mia whether anyone was in the shelter.

  “No one,” Olomaru-mia said aloud.

  “Mia, Bul has brought home his future wife. She looks exactly like you except she has brown hair. Her skin is white like yours. She has blue eyes. She wears clothing that covers her.”

  Olomaru-mia felt anxiety pour over her like overspray from a waterfall. She asked, “Is she alone or accompanied?”

  “There are two men with her. They’ll be there for the joining ceremony. The next morning they’ll leave.”

  “Tuna, can you possibly find out the names of the men with her?”

  “That’s easy. When they were introduced to us one of the elders was named Linpint. The other name is something that starts with zzzzzz and ends with olo like the front part of your name. I can’t remember it. The third is young and his name is Ventu- Ventu-something. There’s another girl, too.”

  Olomaru-mia covered her face with her hands. “There’s no way I can avoid this, my friend. Zamimolo is the man with whom I was to j
oin. I cannot just hide until they are joined and the strangers leave. This is awkward.” She paused. “Tuna, can you help here? Can you tell the one named Zamimolo that Olomaru-mia lives here, and for her safety, she asks you please do not acknowledge knowing her. Assure him I have a happy life.”

  “I will do it, Mia. I will keep this secret until my death. Fear not.”

  Good to her word, Tuna kept watch and on his way back from the privy, she caught up with Zamimolo and conveyed Olomaru-mia’s messages. “You are serious that it could be unsafe for me to recognize her.”

  “Yes, customs here are different. She has had a happy and very good life, but if there were a challenge because of her knowing you, it could be a terrible thing. The Nola Nola could go to war over something less.”

  “Tell her I’ll keep my knowledge to myself. I will also tell Linpint to fail to make the connection. Tell her to relax. We would do nothing to hurt her. Which one of these men is her husband?”

  “Thank you,” Tuna said with a smile of relief. “Her husband and abductor is Mechalu.” She slipped away and back to calm her friend. She trusted Zamimolo to be good to his word.

  Zamimolo didn’t see Olomaru-mia until the evening meal. Despite the white hair and additional weight she’d gained, he would have known her anywhere. Instinctively, he wanted to race to her, embrace, and kiss her. He knew how inappropriate that would be. Her eyes went straight to his, and in his face he assured her he would not give away that they knew each other. He thought to himself that the old Southern Kapotonok man’s warning must have something to do with the need for them not to know each other. He had seen Mechalu and, despite his preconceptions, he found the man to be a good leader and a kind and thoughtful man. He could find no fault with him except what he had done long, long ago.

  Observing her sitting at her place to eat, Zamimolo noticed children coming to Olomaru-mia and they clearly loved her. Some were obviously her children; others were clearly not, but they all demonstrated a fondness for her that showed. He found that touching, and it made him realize she had contributed much to this group of children. Much of what she contributed was openly returned. Part of his belly ripped apart. Then he remembered Ba’s feelings of second best. Ba surely wasn’t second. He felt part of the winds of change. For some reason Wisdom let him see for himself that Olomaru-mia was happy and loved. He tried to ease himself but found it increasingly difficult.