The Mender

Making Peace

Several days passed while the scouting party struggled to communicate with the survivors and keep careful watch of their movements. They shared food and gradually everyone relaxed. Esri made up a song for Sela and the little girls, rhyming their names and combining simple expressions from all of their dialects.

Dagan and Kai managed to kill an antelope which they divvied out among everyone. The survivors were delighted with this, indicating that it was the first large animal that they had eaten in a long time. With so few of them and the two little girls, it was difficult to hunt the larger game. They all took part in preparing the leftover antelope for drying and smoking, though the scouting party did all of the cutting as they continued to control the sharp tools.

Finally, there was enough shared understanding among the two groups that the scouting party was able to explain that they wanted the survivors to join them at Flat Rocks and that they would not be slaves. Esri showed on her Sun-Man Stick how many days the walk would take and that the spears and flints would be returned once they began walking to Flat Rocks.

The woman and man spoke intensely. They seemed to be arguing. The scouting party gathered that the woman wanted to go but not the man.

"We must leave tomorrow," Barsa told the survivors. He knew that the people back at Flat Rocks would be getting worried about the scouting party.

"We stay," said the man.

"But you're too few. It's dangerous," said Esri.

"You did not hurt us, but we don't know about the others at Flat Rocks."

Barsa turned to Esri, "We can't force them. We need to get back. They'll be worrying. We can come back in a little while and try again."

Esri knew he was right. They needed to get back and it might take a long time to convince the man to come. She was disappointed that they had not won his trust. As she had done for Dara, she had taken bones from the antelope and carved little faces on them. She had planned on giving them to the girls while they were on the long walk to Flat Rocks. Since the survivors were not joining them, the next morning Esri gave the small bone carvings to Sela and told her to give one to each of the girls who were delighted, and hugged Sela.

Esri and Grayla then returned the spears and flints. And the scouting party left. As they walked away, they heard the little girls singing Esri's song.

It was disheartening. Though the beginning of the encounter with the survivors was rough, by the time the scouting party left some mutual affection had developed between the two groups. The scouting party knew that it would be difficult for the group of four to survive for long on their own, and worried what they might find when they returned.

Esri said, "I keep thinking about what we could have done differently so that they would have come with us."

Barsa said, "They had every reason to fear us and fight us when we first went to them. They are cautious and they should be. This is not yet ended, you'll see. For now, let's not walk too quickly. My old bones are tired."

At Barsa's request, the scouting party stopped early that day. The next morning he reminded them, "We need to keep watching carefully all around us."

Kai was the first to spot them. The survivors were following them. Barsa's request to slow up was not because of his 'old bones,' but because he had a hunch that the four might follow them. With the two little girls, it would be difficult for them to move quickly.

The walk to Flat Rocks took several days and the two groups continued walking separately, usually within sight of each other. After a few days, Kai and Grayla walked back to the survivors and gave them food and told them where they could find water, but did not attempt to bring them closer.

Meanwhile at Flat Rocks, they were anxious about how long the scouting party was gone, particularly. Muni, Saba, and Nat. Muni had never been separated from his sister for so long. First it felt kind of adventuresome and he could have Jolam all to himself, but now he was scared something had happened to Sela.

Saba fretted for Dagan. They were now a couple. He shared a sleeping space with her, Nagar, and Grilu. Dagan and Saba's union, like Grilu's Naming, was yet another sign of a more normal life returning to Flat Rocks. Seeing these two kind, gentle people together made everyone feel good. Even Riga, who was rejected by Dagan, was glad for Saba's happiness.

Nat and Esri's situation was more muddled. It was obvious how much Nat admired Esri. His eyes were always on her when she was around. And Esri was attracted to Nat, but she felt he was still mourning his mate and that he enjoyed Esri's company but nothing more. They were both a little proud and a little uncertain, and hadn't yet managed to talk about their feelings to each other.

Nat wanted to go with the scouting party but Tars asked him to stay, as there were already many going and it would leave Flat Rocks too vulnerable if Nat also went. As the days stretched on, each morning Nat went to the high ridge nearly an hour's run in the direction the scouting party had gone. He would scan the horizon for a while and then return to Flat Rocks, checking and resetting snares on his way back. Finally, one morning he saw tiny figures far off in the distance. He knew he should first make sure who it was and hurry back to Flat Rocks to let others know, but he couldn't contain himself, and began to run. He needed to know if it was the scouting party, if they were all right, and to see Esri.

She was the first to spot the lone figure running toward them and knew immediately from the loping gate that it was Nat. "Look, it's Nat!"

He ran up to the scouting party and was alarmed to see the fresh cut on Esri's arm, "What happened, Esri?" She explained and described how Dagan did a good job of taking care of her, that it was healing well. She told Nat about the survivors and pointed to where they were, following the scouting party.

Nat hurried back to Flat Rocks to tell them that the scouting party would be there soon and everyone was fine. It was a day of celebration and relief to have them back. The scouting party took turns relating everything that happened in their encounter with the survivors. Muni sat nearly on top of Sela, comforted to have her back at Flat Rocks and in awe that she was part of such an important undertaking. The survivors camped a distance away from Flat Rocks. They were left alone for the night.

The next morning, Kai and Barsa took Muni and Sela and visited the survivors, bringing them food and inviting them to move closer. Though the adults tried to contain them, as soon as the little girls saw Sela, they went running to her waving their carved antelope bones. Muni was delighted to meet more children. The four of them were soon all giggling and running about.

The woman and man survivors remained cautious. Barsa visited them every day, bringing different people from Flat Rocks, usually with Sela and Muni. He was worried how the group might react when they saw Grilu's face, if they would take that as a sign of people doing violence at Flat Rocks. But Sela and Muni talked about Grilu and the story of his Ghost Cat so much that soon even the adults were asking to meet him. The day Barsa brought Grilu, the Flat Rocks group stayed the night with the survivors. Grilu told the story of losing his eye and the Ghost Cat, now a well-polished tale.

The survivors moved into Flat Rocks and before long were fully a part of the bode, adding their stories and songs to the evening bodefire. The woman became a member of the Elders Council. She was an intelligent strong woman who brought a cautious, thoughtful approach to the deliberations of the Council.