A Taste of History Past

by Forrest Brant

  “Still if what you are intimating is true, there is still plenty of time to end whatever imagined threat that you are seeing here. After all our history wasn’t written in a day, nor have the discoveries and the writing of our history, as we now know it, written in a day. So with this in mind we feel that there is time on our side, and we can continue with those stated projects. It is something, from your letter and the tone it implies, that may at some time require our attention, but that time is not now. If you have more information that you would like to pass on, we eagerly await your response. And please, if you do respond, please provide more than just your word. Since it is easy to twist words to say only what you want someone to hear and see, hiding the true meaning and truth from all. As always, your fellow learned, we are eager to hear back with such proof. Signed Jaie, temporary overseer of the historical learned.”

  Sabohl sat silently for a while staring out at nothing. He was furious, how dare they ignore his summons to action? He was sure that they would jump at the chance to assist in this endeavor; one that he was sure would keep them exactly where they were – the leaders of their field. But obviously he had been mistaken. Rereading the letter once again, it again set off his anger, and looking for something to take it out on, he found a hapless drinking glass sitting empty on his desk, which he then grabbed and flung it against one of the walls, shattering it in small pieces from the energy of the throw. So they’ll wait until I can provide more proof will they. They had their chance, now it will be me, and only me who will do this and take the credit in the end, putting out another of the many fires that have threatened our positions over the cycle of seasons. We’ll see who will win this in the end.

  He suddenly realized that he could hear movement outside of his office, and some time must have passed since he had entered. And from the sounds and voices it appeared that the students were arriving for classes. So getting his anger under control, and putting on the air of a concerned learned, he exited his office, went down the hallway to the staff that kept the center clean and stated that he had accidently broken a glass, could they please clean it up for him while he was teaching. Getting the response that he expected he left to meet his students.

  * * *

  “Look you’re better with the throwing knives than you are with the staff, but that still doesn’t make you very good yet.” Jura walked across the dirt area where the targets had been set up, grabbed the throwing knives and brought them back. “These that we are using are for training only. No reason to destroy a good knife when one is learning.” She suddenly smiled and snuffed a laugh that was about to surface.

  Looking at her with a questioning look he asked, “What?”

  “Oh, I don’t know where it came from, but with all the reading, writing, and studying of that history of your family, well let’s just say that it brought up an image in my mind of a female back in that time doing what I’m doing for you, and how it would have been for both of us.”

  He thought a moment, and began to get an image in his mind of what she had just suggested, shook his head before speaking, “Yeah, I can kind of see it, and we both probably would have been disowned by the clan or tribe or whatever that’s for sure. I can see it now, a female knowing how to use weapons and a male that doesn’t. So what is this? Is what I’m seeing correct that we have a female that wants to be a warrior, and a male who can’t seem to be one. Next thing we’re going to see here is she’ll want her own name. Her own name, imagine that.” Standing there like he thought an unbelieving warrior of that time would stand, he continued. “Next thing we’d see is this female wanting to be the clan leader. Clan leader, imagine that. A female with a name and one that is a better warrior than this male, and what’s to happen next, she refusing to carry?” This brought laughter to both of them.

  With tears running down her face from the laughter she finally said once she could, “Not bad, and unfortunately probably much too accurate. Okay warrior want to be, let’s do this again, and then before we go back inside to clean up, we’ll work with the staff again. You’re getting better, I think that you could defend yourself successfully against a child right now, but would be defeated by anybody with any experience.”

  Smiling he said, “Thanks for the confidence. Come on I’m not that bad, am I? I really thought I was getting it down.”

  Again she laughed, “And getting up off the ground too many times to count. Anyway this isn’t getting any of this done, and we’ve so much to do before that trip.”

  Yeah you’re right, and I’ve talked to the one who passed on that family document to me, and he said that he would take it and all of the notes and writings we’ve done, and keep it safe at his shelter while we were gone. I’m glad he agreed to do that, if no, I don’t know who’d I’d fallen back on, maybe the bakery itself. I just didn’t feel comfortable leaving it in an empty shelter, and the thought of taking it with us where it could become more damaged, didn’t appeal to me either. Okay let’s go through it again. Dusk is approaching and it won’t be long until we can’t see out here anyway. And again I know that you want to work with me with the staff in the twilight so I can begin to sense with my ears as well as my eyes what’s happening.”

  Later as they were sitting around the table Kal said, “Come on Jura, I have to be improving. I mean I actually got you on the ground once.”

  “You mean when I stepped on that rock that rolled under my foot? I guess you can count that, but yes, in very small steps you are improving. It’s just that you need to get past thinking about what you’re going to do and just do it. I know, it takes time, and it takes practice, and I’ve had a lifetime of both. Still we both know the importance of this.”

  “Yeah we do. It’s just that here in this village I never needed to learn this stuff, so I have to start from scratch, from nothing. Plus working mostly in the bakery, and not on the road with my father, who had his workers who were versed in defense it was something I had no need of knowing. But if we are to do what I want to do, then it must be learned. I know that once you get into the wilds, the outback, that life changes, and the ones who can defend themselves are the ones who survive. Look I’ve a full day at the bakery tomorrow and it will be dusk before I get here. I know that you have an earlier day, so if you would, can you drop off all of this work that we’ve been doing on this thing to my uncle, that way it will be one more thing out of the way. If you agree with my progress, I think that in another 9-day we can begin on setting the date for this first camp attempt.”

  “I don’t see why not. We’ve everything we need, and I think, as far as the camp skills go, you’ve come far enough along that you won’t burn down the camp area.”

  What could he say? It was true that he really hadn’t done anything like this in his life. Even the few trips with his father, all the camp setup and work were handled by the workers, so he really hadn’t learned from them. The rest of his time had been in the village and working at the bakery – so no experience at all. “Come on, I’m not that bad, am I? While it has been very obvious to me that this is your area of expertise, and I’m just a poor kid from the villages, I think I’ve picked up most of what you’ve been showing me.”

  “Yes, yes you have. But part of what I have planned for us when we are there camping is a day of nothing but hiking. There’s some nice trails that climb through the foothills, and with some of the maps that I have, you can get some real experience comparing the area to those maps, and learn to read them better. While the copies that we’ve made of those primitive maps aren’t equal to any we make today, we still have to try and follow them to the areas depicted in them.”

  The next 9-day truly moved by them was some speed. With work during the day, practice sessions at dusk, and the lessons on map reading, and skills for the outback, there was little time for more than a quick meal, a bath together, and falling into the bed exhausted. But the day finally arrived, and with the borrowing of one of the pack beasts, and this was something that he was better at than s
he, they headed out. He had to admit that he was somewhat excited about this. He was going to see first hand, if he could actually do any of this and enjoy this different world. Growing up, other than the brief times of play that all children find time to do, it had been learning the business of the family and assisting and learning responsibility related to his age at the time. So to take a few days off was a new experience, and to be able to do this with his mate made it even better. The two of them and only them was a rare thing even now, and there were no children in the picture as of yet. They both knew that when that time came that even those few precious moments of intimacy would be much harder to come by. And knowing that sometime in the future there would be a good chance that they would look back on this nostalgically, with smiles on their faces, as they recalled this small respite from their daily lives.

  It took three quarters of a travel day to reach the camp area. It was relatively close, by travel standards, and actually sat between a number of small villages. They had stopped at one of these and had their zenith meal, and probably would stop here again when they returned. The food was actually quite good, and what surprised him was the fact that the products from their bakery were available here. This raised the respect he had for his father, knowing that not only he contracted for the supplies they needed to keep the operation going, but sold the products to many of the outlying villages and townships. Yes he knew that others had been responsible for the beginnings of the business, and because of the quality, it had grown, but when his father had mated with his mother and she joined the family it was then that business began to grow. Between his hard work and mother’s business sense they had grown to be the largest in the surrounding area. In fact, if he had heard it right, his parents were planning on possibly purchasing other smaller bakeries, and begin selling directly in the villages and townships, making the product fresher, and thusly better. So to even get this time off was a privilege.

  When they finally arrived Jura eyed the areas that were available with a critical eye before selecting one site that was close to a small hillside. “Here, I think this one will do. It will have some shade during the day, and by being here against this small hillside we will be safe from any major winds, and we’re far enough back that we are somewhat isolated, but not really.”

  At first he couldn’t see why this site, but as she explained it, it became obvious as to why. Another lesson learned, picking a site where to set up your camp was critical. “After you pointed out your reasons, I could see it, but I have to admit that I thought that maybe another area would have been better.” Smiling he said, “Wrong again. Even with everything that we covered back at the shelter I just didn’t see it. I can see why you wanted to take this trip. And as you’ve said time and time again, nothing like experience.”

  “Good, because now comes the fun. If one has never really set up one of these portable shelters then it can take much time to figure out. Even if you’ve done it a number of times, and then a great period of time has passed, you find it hard to do.” She stopped a moment and swept her arms around to include their chosen campsite, “Then when you think you’ve got it right, one of the stakes that the ropes are tied to pulls out and the darn thing, if it’s the right stake, falls down on you. Look once we get this set up we’ll pick a place for the campfire, clear it down to just the soil, and while you wondered why I wanted to bring our own wood, if you look you’ll see the area had been picked clean. And that’s because the ones who come here either don’t bring their own, or didn’t bring enough. So anything that could be used has been.”

  Again she had been right. In what he thought would be a simple operation took many trial and errors before they had the portable shelter up and to her satisfaction. They finished the unloading of the pack beast, and she said, “I’ve been here before so I know a little about this place. If you take the beast around the hill just over there, there’s a small area they’ve provided that has fodder and water for them. Plus it’s protected from any of the wild beasts that might be interested in having our pack beast for a meal. And that’s one of the reason it costs us to stay here. Oh and before we put down the sleep sacks, and I know we’ve brought a little padding, make sure that all of those rocks and small pebbles are removed, it makes it so uncomfortable trying to sleep on them.”

  * * *

  “I don’t know ‘bout you but now that we’re back a bath would be a great thing.” They had returned the pack beast to the pens after dropping off the packs in their supply shelter. The suns were setting and dusk was upon them. Both were tired and he had to admit that he had learned quite a bit. And presently he had to admit it would have been stupid of him to go off tramping through the outback with as little experience as he had. In fact from what he’d been learning he knew that if he had survived at all, he’d probably would have been back, giving up on those wild ideas of his. Jura was leading as they headed for the door.

  She stopped puzzled, turned and said, “Something’s not right here. I don’t know what it is at this moment but let’s be careful. I can’t put my finger on it, but even before we enter our shelter I feel that something’s different.” She’d taken the key out of her pocket to unlock the door, and when she had placed the key into the slot it didn’t feel right. When she turned it, it just spun as if there were no guts in the lock. “This lock’s broken. I think that someone may have broken into our place while we were gone.” That stopped both of them as they looked at each other.

  “I wonder why someone would do that? I mean, it’s not like we have anything of value, really.” Kal looked at Jura and shrugged, “Now what? Do we just go in, or do we wait?”

  Breathing out deeply he said, “No, I guess with it getting dark we really aren’t going to see anything, so I guess we go in being careful to not disturb anything and see if we can find anything missing.” He replaced his mate and taking over the lead, quietly opened the door, just in case anyone was still there, and even though the door creaked a little, it wouldn’t have been enough to alert anybody that could still be there. But the shelter was empty. Lighting the lantern that hung inside the doorway, and then the candle that sat on the table to the right where they prepared their food, they did a quiet, slow, careful search and found the shelter empty. Whoever it had been was no longer here.

  “Well, that’s a relief.” Jura turned and once again faced Kal and shrugged, “I don’t get it. We didn’t broadcast it to the world that we would be gone these past three days, and certainly there would be other shelters with much more valuable stuff to steal than our place, so why ours?”

  Shaking his head in response Kal said, “I just don’t know. It doesn’t make sense to me at all. And when we looked around, again if that lock hadn’t been broken showing us that someone broke in here, then it wouldn’t have been obvious.” This caused him a brief pause as a thought crossed his mind. “But if it was just some thieves that broke in here, why leave it like they weren’t here?”

  “I don’t know, maybe to give them more time before we reported the crime, or maybe if it was something they wanted that we wouldn’t miss for a while and maybe in the end think that we misplaced it. Who knows? But, that’s a very valid question. In some homes of friends that had been broken into their stuff was scattered everywhere as the thieves went through the shelter as fast as they could, grabbing anything they could find of value, and getting out as quick as they could.” She waved her arms around and said, “This, this appears to have been a careful, slow search, and an attempt to make it appear like they weren’t here at all, and first off, it that lock hadn’t been broken, the subtle items that were out of place might not have alerted us at all. No this was a careful well planned operation. Whoever this was took their time, tried to hide everything that they did, and tried very hard to leave everything as we left it.”

  “I don’t know about you, but we’re not going to solve it right this moment, and I’m itching from being so dirty. I did not realize that one got this dirty just camping out. Then
once we’re finished with a bath, and have eaten a little, we can write down what is out of place, and where it was. Maybe that will give us some hint as to what it was they were after. At this point I can’t find anything missing, so we truly can’t even report a break-in. And because both of us are really just starting out on our own, other than what we got as gifts at the mating ceremony, we have very little to interest any thief, and nothing that would be valuable enough to risk being caught.”

  She laughed lightly saying, “Yeah, you’re quite right. I’ll go draw us a bath. You get the water going so that it will be a hot one. Right now I think that would be much nicer than cold water. Besides hot water helps relax those sore spots one always gets when one does something different.”

  “You’re not going to get me to argue. I do have to admit that I do have a few sore muscles. I never realized that sleeping on the ground or doing things around a camp could create so many sore muscles and spots. And a hot bath would ease all of that. I have to admit that I’m glad you suggested it, and then we were able to go and do it – camping that is. Okay I’ll get a fire going in the stove and get the water heating. Maybe one day we’ll be well off enough to have some of that new stuff that coming out, that only the rich can afford right now – indoor plumbing. “

  “Yes! How wonderful something like that would be. Then we’d no longer have to go outside to the privy, or to have our bath in that small attached room. Although I guess we’re lucky with the bath. Most are still in their own small shelter a little away from the main one. And who knows, someday there might even be something to wash one’s clothes other than by hand. I know right now that when we take the time at the end of the 9-day to do that chore, it’s an all day job and that’s when we’re both working at it.”