Worse, he realized, if he did get back, some of his tribesmen likely wouldn’t be happy to see him.
He heard someone moving and moments later could see a large shadow occulting the faint red glow of the dying fire. Whoever it was stirred the fire and Woday was pretty sure they put some wood on it. Moments later a crackle of yellow flame confirmed his thoughts. Woday snuggled into his furs, looking forward to the warming of the cave.
Though the light was dim, Woday quickly decided that the large shadow moving around had to be Pell. No one else was that tall. A few moments later, he realized Pell was heading for the cave opening.
Woday scrambled to his feet. He’d been waiting for some time now to be able to talk to Pell by himself. Since Pell seemed to be almost always accompanied, either by Gia or people interested in what he was doing, it’d seemed like there’d never be a chance. He’d missed a chance when Pell had been practicing throwing yesterday. Woday could have asked Yadin to carry the slate back to the cave while he went to talk to Pell, but he hadn’t thought of it in time.
Woday didn’t have to put on any clothing, since he’d put on almost everything he owned during the night trying to keep warm. Soon he was following Pell out into the early morning light. Frost crunched under his feet and gleamed wherever sunlight struck. Woday’s breath fogged in front of him as he followed Pell down the ledge from the cave and around to where people emptied their bladders.
Pell glanced back at him and said, “Good morning Woday.” He slowed so that Woday caught up to him. “Have you decided what you’re going to do? It’s starting to look like a bad time to travel.”
Glad of the opening, Woday said, “Would you take me as your apprentice? Yesterday, Tando told me I’d never regret it if you gave me the opportunity.” Woday wondered if he sounded too desperate. A tribe like this would want every hand it could get for the big hunt just before the long freeze. They might be happy to have him. But if they realized that one of the reasons he wanted to apprentice himself to a bonesetter would be to give himself value because he had such poor hunting skills, they wouldn’t find him desirable.
Pell gave Woday a surprised look as he undid his breechclout and started to piss. “Really? You want to learn from me? You know I’m much younger than you are, right?”
Emptying his own bladder, Woday wondered at the fact that his stream smoked just like his breath on a cold morning like this. He shrugged, “It’s what you know, not how old you are.”
Pell pursed his lips thoughtfully, “I suppose I could explain the trick I use to set bones. I might even be able to show it to you on a dead animal.” He shrugged, “But to show you how to do it on a person… for that, somebody has to break a bone and I really hope that doesn’t happen!” He turned to look Woday in the eye while shaking his head somewhat wonderingly, “I think it’s pretty amazing that, since last winter, I’ve had five people come to me with broken bones.” He laughed and looked a little embarrassed, “One of those people was me, and another was Tando who only broke his wrist because I tripped him during a hunt.” Pell tied up his breechclout saying, “It might be a couple of years before somebody else breaks something and comes to me. You’d have to be crazy to wait around for it to happen.”
Trying not to sound too eager, Woday said, “I’ll take the chance.”
“Well,” Pell said ruminatively, “it’s okay with me. But Agan leads our tribe; you’ll have to ask her.”
Somebody had told Woday that Agan led the Cold Springs tribe, but it hadn’t really sunk in since he hadn’t heard of a tribe led by a woman before. Well, he thought, that isn’t actually true. I’d heard of Aganstribe back home and I’d known that Agan was a woman. I’d just thought the tribe was named after her without her being the leader. To Pell, he said, “I’ll ask her, thank you.”
As they continued silently on their way back to the cave, Woday thought dispiritedly, He probably knows the tribe can’t take me in. They don’t have enough food. He doesn’t want to say it himself, so he’s put it off to Agan.
They were nearly back to the cave when the flap pushed aside and Gurix, the young girl who’d arrived the day before, stepped out. Her eyes immediately focused on Pell. She said, “Good morning,” and stretched as people often did when they’d just woken up. However, Woday had the feeling that she was showing off in front of Pell. He glanced at Pell, wondering if Pell was affected.
Pell wasn’t even looking at the girl. He seemed to be staring across the clearing toward the other side. Nonetheless, Pell said distractedly, “Hi Gurix. I hope you slept well last night.”
Woday had turned his gaze back to Gurix and saw her give Pell a quick, frustrated look. Then she smiled and said, “I did, thank you.” When Pell said nothing in return, her shoulders slumped a little and she started down the slope of the ledge, presumably to pass her own urine.
Woday turned back to Pell. He’d been thinking that Pell was only looking across the clearing to avoid Gurix’ eyes, but the young man still appeared to be distantly focused over there. Woday said, “What are you thinking about?” As soon as he said it, Woday wanted to call the words back. He worried that Pell had been thinking how to rescind his conditional acceptance of Woday as an apprentice.
Instead, Pell said, “Just thinking about an idea I had in the middle of the night. Might help with the project I was working on yesterday.”
“What’s your project?” Woday asked. He remembered Tando telling him that, in addition to his ability to set bones, Pell had some amazing ideas. Tando seemed to think that learning about those could be as important as learning how to put bones back in place. He tried not to sound too eager, “As your apprentice, I should be helping you with your projects.”
Pell turned to him with a little grin, “You’ll need to talk to Agan. If she says you can be an apprentice, then we can work on it together.”
Tando stepped through the cave opening and apparently heard the end of Pell’s sentence. “Work on what together?”
Pell lifted an eyebrow at Tando, “I had an idea for that bird hunting project we talked about yesterday. Woday wants to be my apprentice and says he can help me build it.” Pell shrugged, “If Agan says he can stay and be an apprentice.”
Tando gave a little laugh, “You know if it’s okay with you, it’ll be okay with Agan.”
Woday looked wonderingly back and forth from one man to the other. Surely it has to be okay with more than just Pell! Agan, as their leader, needs to take into account the number of mouths they’ll have to feed with their limited resources! He didn’t want to say anything and jinx his possible opportunity, but on the other hand, if they weren’t thinking about whether they had enough food to last through the winter, he didn’t want to stay here and wind up starving. He wondered if, morally, he should point the problem out. Then he decided that if he were to point it out, he should wait to point it out when the weather had warmed back up and it might be safer for him to make a trip back home. Hopefully it’d warm up at least one more time before winter really set in.
Pell had evidently been considering Tando’s assertion that it’d be okay with Agan. He shrugged, “Maybe I have some influence, but she’s the one that should decide. I shouldn’t be trying to decide for her.”
Tando clapped Woday on the shoulder while grinning and speaking to Pell, “If I were you, I’d be hoping Agan lets you have an apprentice. You know, if you have an apprentice, you can sit back and tell him what do. He’ll have to do all the hard work.”
To Woday’s surprise, Pell said, “That wouldn’t be fair!”
“Sure it would,” Tando said, like Pell was being unreasonable. “That’s how an apprentice pays you for teaching him.”
Pell frowned, “He shouldn’t have to pay me for that!”
“You shouldn’t have to teach him.” Tando shrugged, “It’s a fair trade.”
Pell looked at Woday thoughtfully for a moment, then he said, “I’d rather he taught me stuff in return. That’d be a better trade.”
“You’re the one with all the ideas! How can he teach you things?”
Pell frowned, “I don’t know things. I have ideas, but a lot of the time I had them because I didn’t know how to do things the way everyone else does. Woday already taught me how to cook fish last night.”
With a laugh Tando said, “Maybe we should make sure no one teaches you how to do things the way everyone else does. We need all those crazy new ideas you keep having!”
“That’d be dumb,” Pell said with a dismissive snort. “I’m going back inside where it’s warm.”
Woday went into the cave with Pell and Tando wandered off to pass his own water. Woday’s head was practically swimming at the conversation he’d just listened to.
The cave was much warmer. The logs Pell had put on the fire had heated it up quite a bit. As soon as Woday’s eyes adjusted to the light, he looked around to see if Agan was up so he could ask her if she’d let him stay and be an apprentice. He saw Gia kneeling next to her. The old woman still lay on her bedding. Gia was holding a cup for her. The firelight gleamed off of Agan’s eyes, so Woday could see she was awake.
Woday made his way around the fire to the two women. Wanting to initiate a conversation without immediately plunging into his own concerns, he said, “Having some morning tea?”
Agan lowered the cup and grimaced. “Willow bark,” she said, with an expression that told him what she thought of the bitter taste.
Belatedly, Woday realized that as arthritic as the old woman was, willow bark tea must be an important part of her morning ritual. It was probably hard to get out of bed before the tea assuaged her pain. Sympathetically, he said, “Oh, I’ve had that myself. Our medicine man put some honey in it to keep it from tasting so bad.”
Agan raised the cup for another sip. Gia said, “We do that too. Unfortunately, we don’t have any honey here in Cold Springs.”
“Oh!” Woday said, excited that he might be able to contribute. “I know where there’s a beehive.” He frowned, “But it’s quite a way from here.”
Woday heard Pell’s voice over his shoulder. “How far is it?” Apparently the young man had just come up behind him, probably to see Gia.
Woday glanced back at him, “Almost half a morning’s walk.”
“Do you know how to get the honey out of it?” Pell asked.
Woday nodded.
“If we get a warm day, we’ll have to go. You can teach me how to get honey without getting stung!”
“Okay,” Woday said, wondering what would happen if they got all the way to the beehive and then it snowed before they got back. “Usually though, you get stung at least a few times.”
Pell said, “Did you ask Agan yet?”
Agan’s eyes turned to Woday, “Ask me what?”
He felt a little put on the spot because he hadn’t been able to bring it up in his own way. However, realizing that it might be better with Pell introducing the topic, Woday said “I’d like to be Pell’s apprentice.” He shrugged, “Pell says he’s willing to take me on if you say it’s okay.”
Agan’s eyes widened, then went from Woday to Pell and back. She grinned, “You know he’s a lot younger than you are?”
Woday nodded, “It’s what he knows, not his age that’s important to me.”
“Okay,” Agan said, “What do you have to offer our tribe?”
There it was, the kind of question that Woday had feared. Before he could answer, however, Pell said a little excitedly, “He can teach me how to get honey! He’s already taught us how to cook fish.”
Agan’s eyes went to Pell and she gave him an indulgent grin. Then she turned back to Woday, “Can you hunt?”
For a moment, silence stretched as Woday tried to think what to say. If he told them he could hunt, it’d soon become painfully obvious that he’d lied. It’d soon be time for the big pre-freeze hunt where all tribes tried to put aside a few large carcasses that they hoped would freeze and keep them fed for a good part of the winter. As soon as that big hunt started, the Cold Springs group would know Woday couldn’t throw a spear very well. He decided that he had to be truthful if he was to gain any trust from these people. He shook his head, “I’m sorry. I’m not a very good hunter.”
To Woday’s utter astonishment, Pell said, “We don’t need a good hunter.”
Agan’s eyes widened a little, as if she also felt somewhat stunned by Pell’s statement. Then, Woday was amazed to see that she gave a little shrug, as if acknowledging the truth of what Pell said! Her eyes returned to Woday, “We may not need a hunter, but we also don’t need someone who can’t contribute.” She looked at Pell, “You may be excited to have an apprentice to work for you, but he still has to earn his keep, right? That’s what you said about our tribe. ‘Everyone has to work and do their share.’”
Pell turned to give Woday a measuring glance, “Well, that’s true. We don’t want anyone just lying around waiting for the rest of us to take care of them.”
Agan snorted, “Except me!” She laughed, “Don’t forget about me.”
Pell looked a little embarrassed, “Your contribution is to lead us. For instance, to keep me,” he glanced at Woday, “from inviting someone into our tribe who doesn’t do their share.” He looked back to Agan, “Besides, you’re still working; preparing your medicines and taking care of us when we get sick.”
Woday put in, “I’m willing to work hard. I’ll do anything you tell me.” He looked shamefacedly down at his feet, “But I’m not very good with a spear.”
Excitedly, Pell said, “But, if you come from the Falls-people, you must know about fish, right?”
Woday said, “I know about them, yes. But,” he said, feeling the heat rising his cheeks, “spearing fish is even harder than spearing other animals. I won’t be much help to you there.”
“More help than you might think,” Pell said enigmatically. He turned to Agan, “What do you think?”
Agan’s eyes turned thoughtfully to Woday. A sick feeling spread in his stomach as she said nothing and he waited for her to tell him that they didn’t have enough food. But she didn’t say that, instead, she said, “You’ll work hard, huh? Haul firewood and water?”
Woday nodded, trying to look willing, but not idiotically overenthusiastic.
Agan studied him for a moment longer, then shrugged and said the most unbelievable thing he’d ever heard. “Why not? It’s not as if we’re going to be short of food.”
They ate a morning porridge of einkorn, chopped acorns, and some kind of mashed root vegetable. While everyone was eating, Agan announced that Woday had been accepted as Pell’s apprentice. Despite Woday’s fear that there would be objections to taking on a new member at the beginning of the hungry season, no one complained.
Instead, Deltin and Manute hooted. Manute said, “I need an apprentice if I’m going to make leather out of all these skins we’ve piled up.”
Pell said, “Woday says he’s willing to work hard, doing whatever we need him to do in order to earn his keep. He wants to learn to set bones, but,” Pell shrugged, “since most of the time there aren’t any bones to be set, you can have him help you make leather when you need extra hands.”
Woday started to worry that he was going to spend the winter doing nothing but making leather. “I do want to learn how to do some of the other things Pell is supposed to be famous for,” he said, trying not to sound plaintive.
Deltin laughed and raised an eyebrow at Pell, “Listen, he’s already backpedaling on that promise to work hard!”
Feeling his cheeks warm, Woday said, “I’ll work hard! I’d like to learn how to make leather. I just want to make sure I learn some of these other things too… not only how to make leather, but…” he trailed off.
The whole group laughed then, and Woday realized they were just teasing him. Pell said, “It’s okay, I want to learn how to make leather too.”
Deltin hooted, “No you don’t! No one wants to learn how to make leather, it’s hard work!”
Yadi
n watched this interplay amongst the tribe at their morning meal with some envy. These people, despite the fact that they were mercilessly teasing Woday, got along much better than Yadin’s home tribe the Oppos did. Musing over how he’d been unhappy in the Oppos and had wanted to leave, he found himself envying the way these people got along and thinking he could be happy with them.
However, he had the same concerns about food for the winter that Woday had been worried about.
Yadin found himself wondering uncharitably whether Woday had told Agan some lies about his skills as a hunter. It was hard to imagine that the Cold Springs tribe would be willing to take on another mouth to feed right before winter unless they thought Woday was going to contribute in a major way to hunting, especially the big hunt before the world froze. Yadin had watched Woday long enough to feel certain that the young man couldn’t be considered a real hunter. Woday just didn’t notice the small events in the world around him. He didn’t move like a hunter either. Yadin hadn’t seen him throw a spear, but Yadin had coached plenty of young men throwing spears. Yadin felt pretty confident that Woday didn’t have the coordination to be good at it.
Until this morning, Yadin had felt confident that this tribe would be happy to take him in. After all he brought a high degree of skill in flint knapping. He threw a spear better than anyone he knew. After watching Pell throw rocks, Yadin worried the young man might throw a spear better than he could, but Yadin felt fairly sure he’d be better than anyone else in this tribe. Therefore, they should welcome him as a hunter.
Bonesetter 2 -Winter- Page 13