Ki'ti's Story, 75,000 BC

by Bonnye Matthews

  “You can start by curbing your curiosity. Did the unwanted knowledge stop when you left?”

  “Yes, Wise One. It did.”

  “Good. Then you turned away fast?”

  “Yes.”

  “Let me show you something about sensitivity. If I brush against your arm here, does it make a great impression on you?”

  “No, brushing my arm does not make an impression.”

  “Now, let me rub your arm briskly. Now, when I brush against your arm, do you feel it more noticeably?”

  “Yes,” she responded, fascinated.

  “Remember when you fell last year and scraped your leg?” Wamumur asked.

  “Of course, I remember.”

  “How about when things touched the skin on your leg when it was hurt?”

  “It was awful. It would bring tears to my eyes sometimes.”

  “You could say that your arm and your leg get sensitive to touch when rubbed hard or injured?”

  “Yes.”

  “Before you became involved with the mind web of others, your mind web was like your arm before I rubbed it or your leg before your accident. You have been involved very much with the mind web of others. Your sensitivity to picking up those signals is very high right now, like your arm becomes more sensitive when rubbed hard. You need to avoid all occasions that would keep that sensitivity going. There are at least two tools that have been found. There may be others. We cannot run up to the cave to keep getting rid of these things that might remind you of the mind web trap. What you have to do is to turn off your mind web to curiosity right now. You need to let time pass so that the sensitivity to the mind web of others gets like your arm after it stops feeling the tingling of having been roughed up or your leg when it was injured. Do you understand?”

  “I do understand, Wise One. I really do. That makes a lot of sense to me. I think my time would be better spent if I go to work on the stories again.”

  “Little Girl, I am very proud of you. You have come to a great conclusion! Focus on them strongly and on the significances for days to come. Stick with it. Then you will not be tempted and your sensitivity will subside.”

  “Wise One, I saw the tool used in a different way from the way we use tools. Do you want me to tell you?”

  “Ah,” he said with exasperation, “I thought we just finished this conversation. And do you remember that I once told you that nothing from another mind web is for your good.”

  “Yes. But what if this could help our hunters?”

  “Little Girl, are you questioning me when I told you that you NEVER need to know what another mind web has to tell you?”

  “I remember. I will go to do my story work. How, Wise One, do people forget?”

  “You don’t. You focus long and deep on things that matter. Like the stories. And with different mind webs, you don’t permit yourself to think that they have anything to offer. They do not. If we are to know about different weapons, Wisdom will lead us, not a strange mind web.”

  Ki’ti threw her arms open wide and hugged him. Her exuberance always surprised him. Wamumur felt hope that the special little one was making good progress. This was a sign of premature maturity, he thought. For her to choose to return to the stories was definitely wisdom if not Wisdom. Same was true of her willingness not to continue to try to bring up information from other mind webs.

  Emaea had been busy nearby in the cave and had overheard the conversation. She had learned much about the need to avoid the mind webs of others and how to do it simply by listening. Curbing curiosity was important in this instance. She found it interesting that curiosity about some things brought great Winds of Change, like the clothing that was being made for the season of cold days. In other cases, it could lead to one’s undoing. There was, she thought, such a huge need for Wisdom. It bothered her for some odd reason that she didn’t know what the green bag contained. Somehow, she was convinced there was information that would make a good contribution to the People. She was hesitant to follow up due to Wamumur’s negativity.

  Wamumur knew there would likely be more tools in the area. He walked down there to see the last tool that had been found. Like the first it was beautiful as well as being useful. He suggested that they continue to look for tools in the same area. The one thing that had not been found in the cave with the dead man was any tool at all for self-defense or for securing meat. People did not roam the country anywhere without proper tools. He had a feeling but not a mind web connection that what had been found were the tools the man had made.

  Meeka, Minagle, and Ghanya joined the search for more tools. When they finished, some fifteen stones were found and taken to Ermol-na, the closest person the group had to a master knapper. The men of all ages gathered to examine the tools. They were a bit confused on the use of a few, but mostly they knew what their uses were. The Winds of Change were blowing again. The new tools would make a difference in the way some tools were made from then on. There was much to learn here. Veymun and Pechki exchanged glances. They enjoyed seeing the men examining the tools.

  Pechki made the call for the evening meal. Everyone came to the cave and prepared to eat. The cave gave off a wonderful aroma and People realized that it had been a long time since they had had the means to season food. With the lack of ashfall, they had begun to eat as they had in the past and it was good. Now they could find plants for seasoning. There was a lightheartedness in the cave as the People ate. There was a feeling that for a time at least, life would exist without great stress and in peace. The prospect of peace generated light laughter and playfulness that, like the spices, had been gone for a long time. This was not lost on Totamu.

  Totamu had been terribly stressed over the incident with Ki’ti. Certainly, she understood that the child’s behavior could not be tolerated, but she felt the men had been excessive. She kept telling herself that she had not traveled to the cave and seen where Ki’ti had gone alone, but she had misgivings that she did not voice to anyone. She wanted to reach out to comfort Ki’ti but when she saw her settle down and begin to work on the stories again, she felt that things were returning to normal. She had heard bits and snatches about mind web traps and had no clue what that meant. Maybe, she thought, she was just being overprotective. She had never questioned Wamumur’s judgment until this incident. She would be silent and bide her time. She knew from life that was wise.

  Totamu also thought of the Winds of Change where the Others were concerned. Bathing was something the Others had done infrequently where her People had bathed almost daily before Baambas. The Others had separate bathing areas for males and females, which her People had not. She thought that having separate areas for bathing would make it easier for thieves to steal women. It seemed almost antisocial. But now the Others were bathing regularly and not making any significance of males and females. It was good.

  Totamu listened to Ermol-na, Lai, Chamul-na, Neamu-na, Guy-na, Grypchon-na, and Gruid-na discussing the new tools. Even Ekuktu, as young as he was, had some input and the older men listened. Totamu was surprised. Ekuktu was an outstanding wood carver, but tool maker? She wondered whether this might be another factor in the Winds of Change. Maybe his seeing wood helped him see stone, she thought.

  She heard Ekuktu say that the way the bottoms of some of the points were made would make it easier to attach them to the tips of spears. Hunters were fascinated and Ermol-na agreed to try it.

  Totamu saw Blanagah and Hahami-na leave the cave when Wisdom had about sucked all the color from the land. Shortly afterward, she noticed that Manak and Domur left. She was surprised that both couples were taking the extra time away from the general cave. She noticed that Ki’ti had stretched out beside Emaea with her head in her lap. Emaea was stroking the girl’s brown wispy hair. That dog was right next to the girl’s belly. Totamu could not understand the connection between the girl and the dog.

  Pechki walked over to Totamu. She kneeled behind her mother and began to massage her shoulders. She knew that often T
otamu’s shoulders ached. Her mother would say little about it, but she would appreciate the massage.

  Veymun was talking quietly to Amey about Olintak’s pregnancy. Amey could feel the one she carried in her own belly move about as they talked. So far it just fluttered. They were both very excited about Olintak who had been such a quiet one always waiting for her sister to do things first. This was one time that Olintak was first. It didn’t bother Blanagah at all now that she had found happiness with Hahami-na. Who would have thought it possible, they wondered. Hahami-na was thirty-eight and Blanagah was fifteen. But then Arkan-na was thirty-four while Ey was sixteen. Both of them were very happy and Ey was the only one of the Others whose infant survived the trek. They had always tried to pair People by age, but the two women began to question its importance. Then, they agreed that it might be more a function of the two people involved than age. There was so much to wonder about when the Winds of Change were blowing.

  The People began to settle for the night. There was still some coughing in the cave but nothing like what it had been in Cave Kwa. Totamu was the worst off, still having some chest tightness, so she continued to use the leaves that helped her loosen up. Gruid-na and Nanichak-na had occasional coughs, but it didn’t seem to affect their ability to breathe easily.

  The People did well in the new location. They fell into the rhythm of the land and learned quickly when to hunt and what to hunt. They saw deer, some large enough to bring to the People for food, and monkeys, many of which really made them laugh, and serpents, which struck them with fear. The giant elk was a major food source, and with the size of the group, it behooved them to go for large animals when they could. The animals were magnificent. Other animals in their area were bears, and the occasional sloth bear, hyenas, rhinos, horses, elephants of several varieties, hippos in the lowlands, water buffalo, aurochs, antelope, gazelles. Food was plentiful and the People used the whole animal so the hunt was always about more than food. It was for tools and skins and glue and other things like bladders for carrying liquids and brains for working skins. The location had dangers, certainly, but it was a great solace after the ashfall entrapment. Because of the way the land was laid out, a large variety of animals migrated on a route that went by the northeast part of their territory. They were confident that this was the place Wisdom would have them be. The women had planned to use the skins they’d been given and the ones that they were getting after each hunt to make season-of-cold-days clothing like the ones the strange man had worn.

  Just looking at the man dressed as he was, they could infer the pattern of the garments: tunic, jacket, pants, and boots. They hadn’t seen any hand coverings that the People would make. During their speculation, they assumed the man had been killed while the weather was too warm for hand coverings. It was apparent that the man had a headcovering as part of his jacket. With white rain standing in piles on the mountains nearby, they reasoned that the season of cold days would be hard and cold. They must be prepared. Emaea had seen the woman in the cave. She told them the woman either had on a tunic that must have come to her ankles or she was wrapped in a fur blanket. She wore boots. She said the fur was left on and worn so the fur was inside. The women found that really strange and, before they made women’s clothing, it would require a lot of thought.

  They liked the way the man’s jacket closed. The fronts overlapped, which would add warmth and keep wind out, and there were two loops that were sewed on one of the overlapping pieces near the edge. On the other side of the jacket, there was a loop with an animal horn drilled and threaded into the loop. The animal horn, when threaded through the loop, would keep the jacket closed. It was a unique idea for a closure. The seams were sewed together in a way that they didn’t understand. The fabrication seemed to Emaea to have a lot to teach. She continued to long to discover the contents of the green bag. Was there sewing material in there? But the man carried it. Did the woman have a sewing bag up there? So much of the fabrication of the clothing of the man with the green bag was a real surprise to the People and another of the delights of the Winds of Change. Was there more that they were missing?

  Emaea watched the hearth outside the cave where Mootmu-na was crafting a new spear. Lamk was beside him, watching carefully to follow what he saw his father do. The fire had been banked down. He would put the spear over the smoldering fuel and turn it much slower than he would turn meat if roasting over a hearth. Emaea could hear him tell Lamk, “You’re not cooking it like meat. You want to get the moisture out, not seal it in. That makes the point harder. Hold this.” Mootmu-na handed his spear to Lamk. He went to the spear holder and pulled out a smaller version of his spear. The tip had been pointed but not hardened. “This is for you.” He held out the shorter spear. They traded. Lamk began to harden his own spear. He thanked his father, lowering his head as far as possible.

  It was a warm season-of-colorful-leaves day so Emaea decided to get Pechki to join her for a walk to the cave of the man with the green bag. She had shared with Pechki that there might be some way to learn about the seams in the garment of the man with the green bag, if they could find the sewing bag of the woman or if the green bag held sewing supplies. Totamu overheard the plan and asked to join. Pechki quietly asked Neamu-na to join them for protection and the four slipped away quietly. They went up by the gentle slope and reached the path to the cave easily. Pechki and Totamu obviously weren’t thrilled about the climb so they waited below while Neamu-na and Emaea climbed up. Totamu was a little short of breath during the hike so she had been using her leaves to chew. She pulled out another. In the cave, Neamu-na and Emaea looked into the green bag and found nothing that a hunter wouldn’t have with him except for a gum-like substance that neither was familiar with.

  Emaea explored the little cave and discovered that the woman was resting against what was likely her sewing bag. It was decorated with zig-zag designs from a continuous thread of something. They carried it down to share with Pechki and Totamu. The four of them examined the contents and Emaea wanted to know what the filament was. It was looped. Neamu-na laughed out loud. “You know what that is,” he assured them.

  “I do not,” Pechki said emphatically.

  “Look again, and think of butchering while you look at it.”

  Totamu tried to figure it out, but she was stumped. So was Emaea.

  Then Pechki laughed. “Now I know what it is! It’s sinew that has been separated into threads. That’s what they used to sew the seams together! They must have kept it wet to get the filaments apart. What a clever idea! I wonder how they kept it from becoming brittle while it was worn.”

  Emaea was filled with a new feeling. It was a joy that filled her belly. Wisdom had made it clear to her that there was something in the cave, something that would have as much use to the women as the points the children had found had meaning to the men and their tools. Now, they could make the seams that the man with the green bag had in his clothing and Pechki would know how to do it.

  There seemed nothing else in the bag that was helpful except the strange pointed bone that was very thin, encased in a piece of leather. It was Neamu-na who figured out the use.

  “If you lined up the leather pieces and used a thin awl to poke holes in the leather so they matched, you could use the bone tool to draw the sinew in a loop through the matching holes,” he said.

  Instantly Pechki got the visualization. “Think of the time that would save!” she exclaimed. Her mind was busy sewing. “You’d probably have to put rendered fat on the sinew to keep it from getting brittle like the one holding the man’s jacket together.”

  Totamu mused, “It’s interesting how cunningly they made beautiful garments.” She was fingering the zig-zag pattern on the sewing bag.

  Carefully, they put the things back together and Neamu-na climbed back up the hill to put the sewing bag back. Then they returned to the home cave with their new knowledge.

  That evening when all was quiet, Emaea explained to Wamumur that they had been to the
cave of the man with the green bag and and learned helpful information that they could use in sewing. She compared the find to the stones the children had found. Wamumur looked long into Emaea’s eyes.

  “I have been terribly self centered, my loved one. I have had to be the only Wise One for so long that I have discounted your insight. I hate myself for it. Will you forgive me? I will slow down in the future and not make the same error.”

  “Of course. I have to admit it felt really special to find that my insight was right.”

  “And I’d have deprived you of that feeling, one I enjoy myself. I am so sorry.” He obviously was. Emaea leaned her head and shoulder against his chest and reached for his hand.

  Ki’ti had listened to the conversation. The double standard for what she and Emaea were permitted to do did not escape her. She realized that it hadn’t taken hunters to go after Emaea, but still underneath it all she smarted from her treatment when she went to return the green bag. She also chaffed that he’d told her that there was never good to come from minds of long ago. Did that apply only to her? Did it also not apply to Emaea and the hunters? She remembered Wamumur telling her that life wasn’t fair. She agreed, and she permitted a tiny spark of anger to smolder way down inside. She lifted her pup to her lap and stroked him.

  Totamu thought of the trip she’d just taken. How Ki’ti had found the cave was beyond her understanding. She had gained understanding of how very dangerous it had been. She began to soften her views of how the hunters had treated her and Wamumur’s punishment for disobedience.

  Manak, Lamul, and Ghanya had been scouting the area near the cave. They had discovered a cave at a good distance from their home which seemed to attract many of the snakes like the one that had entered their cave. When they found a hole above the cave like their smoke hole, they lay on their bellies and peered down into the cave. They could look down and see uncountable numbers of the snakes writhing in the cave below. Hardly a piece of cave floor showed.