The Thinking Rocks (3 page)

"So?"
Cano looked at Gennos.

Gennos
reached down and picked up a heavy branch.  He handed it to him and said,
"Break this."   Cano accepted the branch and holding it by
the ends tried to break it across his chest, when this failed, he tried to
break it across his knee.  This failed also. “Brother, I don't know what
you are trying to prove. This is a strong branch.”

Taking
the branch, Gennos laid it on the ground and picked up the short spear by the
end opposite the head. He raised it high above his head, but instead of
throwing it forward, he swung it down on to the branch. It split in half. 
Smiling at his brother, he said "Any questions?"

A
smile spread across Cano's face.  "Only one. Can I have it?"

The Birds

The clan chief's son
Bana was crouched in the brush near the stream. To his right, a fair distance
away, Moki lay on his stomach with his spear at his side. Both hunters were
indistinguishable from their background.  They were both motionless with their
heads tilted down and eyes downcast. They were waiting for Loki to get into
position on the far side of the stream. Their prey was a flock of turkeys that
had been feeding along the stream. They came to this area each day about the
same time. The ambush site was almost perfect. Trees ringed the clearing and
branches overhung the stream. The birds would have a difficult time getting
into the air.  This would mean that they would stay on the ground, but
they were fast, much faster than a running man. There was only one escape route
through the trees, and Bana and Moki were waiting in it for them.

Bana saw a flurry of
movement from the corner of his eyes, as the first of the birds arrived. 
Within moments the whole flock was feeding quietly near the stream.  Bana
gave the call of the dove and then repeated it, paused, then repeated it again.
Loki answered the call without movement and got ready for the attack on the
birds.  A large male turkey had raised his head as it was looking toward
Loki's position.

Loki jumped to
his feet and rushed forward screaming and waving his spear.  The birds
started sounding alarms and rushing about looking for an escape route. 
About this time Loki’s feet became tangled in vines and he went crashing down
the bank and into the water.  The large tom let out some loud gobble
noises that inspired the turkeys to new levels of activity.  They rushed
toward Bana and Moki in a packed flock.  Bana leaped to his feet, and
reversing his spear, swung at a hen, catching her in the neck and sending her
down in a cloud of feathers. He next swung at a young tom and again connected
with its head and put it down. Turning his spear over he drove the point
through a large hen, which came within range.  Moki was in the middle of
the flock swinging madly at the fleeing turkeys. He had two down and then he
connected with another.  Confused by the frontal attack, the turkeys
plunged back toward Loki. He was splashing around in the water and trying to
find his spear.  The large tom turkey lead the flock toward this lesser
evil in a last ditch attempt at escape.  Unfortunately for Loki, in his
search for his spear he grabbed the tom turkey by the leg as it went by. 
The tom was about 4 feet tall and at the best of times, it had a vile
disposition. It proceeded to beat Loki heavily about the head and shoulders
with its wings as it slashed him with its spurs and talons. The sound of its
squawks was almost as painful to the ears as were the gouges from its sharp
beak. The tom was quite good at his work, and presented Loki with a black eye
and a cut lip in the first few seconds of the confrontation.  He pecked at
Loki's eyes but missed and connected with his nose, tearing it open in a spray
of blood.  By this time, Loki had reasoned that he did not have a hold of
his spear.  He had also deduced that whatever it was he was holding, it
was not something he wanted to keep holding, and let go. The tom, freed at
last, took one more swing at Loki with his left wing and knocked him over
backwards.  In the process of falling, Loki landed a hen turkey killing
her instantly.  The rest of the turkeys followed the leader past Loki to
safety

Bana, after
making sure there were no turkeys hiding, called to Moki "I think your
brother is better at chasing turkeys than he is at catching them."

Moki
looked up as he finished arranging his kill on the ground. Smiling at Bana, he
said, "I noticed that he caught the largest turkey but he changed his mind
about keeping it.  He is my brother, but as a hunter, he has much to
learn.”  Motioning to his brother to bring his turkey over he said,
"Let us see who is hurt worse, you or the dead bird.”  Loki
approached his brother while holding one of his hands over his bleeding nose,
and the other grasping the dead turkey.

Bana
watched as Moki looked at Loki's injuries and stopped the nosebleed.  The
brothers were both about the same size and height despite Moki being two years
older than Loki. The most distinctive thing about them was the length of their
arms, which seemed too long for their bodies.  Neither appeared as smart
as Bana was, but they were good followers. They both knew
that one day he would lead the clan.

However,
one of them had a secret, and it was Loki.  His secret was a trait, which
would serve him well. He liked to appear as a fool, he found it useful when
others underestimated him. He was careful to conceal his secret for the time
being.  He knew in time he would benefit from this deception. Now it was
best to appear the fool and to follow Bana.

Bana
stretched his arms and took a deep breath. Life was good. He was returning to
camp with game and he had his followers with him.   His father the
chief would be proud.  He thought of how they would entertain the clan at
the fire tonight.  He would have Moki and Loki act out their part of the hunt
but he would direct it, as a chief should. His thoughts shifted from hunting to
Ceola.  He would show her that he was the best choice for a mate. 
Never mind Cano, he thought. There was no way that Cano would look better in
Ceola's eyes than he would tonight.

"Come,
we must leave this place.  Already there are buzzards circling.  They
will attract other animals, and I don't want to have to explain to a big cat
why he can't have our turkeys.  Even though the brave hunter Loki is
protecting us, we must still be on the lookout for danger. Moki, you watch
behind us and if a big cat comes, you tell Loki, and he can sit on it so we can
get away."  The only one that didn't think that it was funny was
Loki, who was holding his sore nose and limping along.

On the
way back to the camp Moki noticed Bana studying the ground at a small stream
they were crossing. When he got to the spot, he found what had interested
Bana.  There was a track in the soft mud, the fresh track of a
saber-toothed cat.  A big one.  They moved off quickly, not wanting
to meet it in the gathering darkness as the day was coming to an end. 
They should be able to make it to camp before it was too late.

Ceola

Back at the
camp Ceola was excited. Koonai had said that tonight would be the ritual of
passage to womanhood for Sorou and her.  Sorou was Bana's sister and the
daughter of the chief.  Ceola knew the time for her to start her search
for a mate had finally come.  Soon she would have her own fire and a man
to care for.  It was time for some serious hunting. She had two realistic
choices, Bana and Cano. Bana was the chief’s son and would probably be the next
chief in time.  It would be nice to the chief’s mate. However, there was
something about looking into Cano’s eyes the made her breath quicken.  It
would soon be time for her to make a choice.  Ceola walked toward the
center of the camp carrying the cleaned and partially tanned snakeskin. 
She was sure that Cano would be happy to see her and that he would compliment
her on the work she had done on the skin.  She liked him and in other
circumstances, she wouldn’t have any reservations about how to act toward
him.  He was young and strong, and a girl could also fall into his deep
brown eyes.  He had a quick smile and seemed to care for her. She wished
again that her mother were still alive; she felt so cheated that she was
gone.  Why the Great Spirit had taken her was a mystery.

Ceola
remembered clearly the day her mother died.  They had been camping on the
bank of a large river. It was early evening and the sun was just about to
set.  They had eaten well this evening. The men had killed a large tree
sloth and brought back as much meat as they could carry. She and the other
women had the job of cutting the meat up and cooking it for the rest of the
clan.  The food was good but it came at a price.  She smelled like
blood and meat. Her mother, Tayla, and the other women had gone down to the
water's edge to clean themselves after eating.  It was not wise to wander
through the forest smelling like food.

They had
been splashing in the shallow water for a few minutes and gossiping about their
children and the men when a large log came drifting down toward them. 
They paid little attention to it because it didn't appear to be
dangerous.  There weren't any branches sticking out that could cause
injury and it was moving slowly. Tayla was farther out in the water than the
other women and had her back toward the log.  Ceola was standing on the
shore
and saw the log was getting close to her
mother, "Mother, there is a log behind you, be careful."  Tayla
turned toward the log and saw a strange thing; it looked as though the log had
eyes, what a strange thing, a log with eyes. Suddenly, the log blinked its eyes
at her!  The realization that the log wasn't a log came too late. She
turned to run for the shore but only got one step before the water exploded
with a gator.  It shot forward and caught Tayla about the waist with its
huge mouth.  Ceola could still hear bones crack as the jaws closed.
Tayla's horrifying scream was short lived because the gator pulled her
underwater and began spinning over and over. The water turned from muddy brown
to a dark red with her blood. Suddenly, the water calmed, and the only thing
that was visible was a "V" shaped current heading away from the
shore. It was the underwater path of the gator and its prey. Where her mother
had been now there was only a muddy rust colored swirl in the slow moving
water.  Soon the swirl settled and it too was gone, just like her
mother.  Ceola never saw her mother again although she heard the scream in
her dreams many times.

She
had gone to Koonai for help and asked why her mother had died.  He had sat
down with her and held her hands in his. He looked into her eyes, and told her
that he understood her pain. "All living things die, some sooner than
others. The Great Spirit moves in ways that we don't understand.  We live
for a time and then die.  The Great Spirit decides what is to
happen.  There are things that we cannot understand. It is not a fault of
ours; it is just the way things are. There is no fault; it is just that we
cannot understand the events."  He paused to think for a few moments,
"Because we cannot see a pattern or a reason, does not mean that it does
not exist. Tormenting ourselves does not help, though crying sometimes does
seem to help. It may be that we can't understand because we are not ready to
understand.  It is possible that someday we will comprehend why things
happen as they do," he paused for a few moments and then continued,
"If that is the will of the Great Spirit."  He reached over and
removed some dried leaves from one of the containers he had in his shelter,
"I can give you something for the pain your body feels. It will help you
sleep.  There is nothing that I can give you for the pain in your heart.
Only time can heal that pain."  This wasn't much help for a young
girl who had just lost most of her world.

A
few days later, Koonai had come to her; he said that he had a vision.  In
the dream, he had seen her walking along a stream.  “The water was cool
and sweet, but it was red.  A young wolf came to the opposite bank of the
stream and stopped to drink.  In the dream, you were not frightened and
stood watching the wolf drink.  As he lapped the water, he started to
change form. His legs got shorter, and he slowly changed into a large hawk.
When he was completely transformed, he flapped his wings and rose to the top of
a tree where there was a nest. He flew over the nest, picked something out of
it, flew down, and landed at your feet. He placed a small baby boy in front of
you.  Before you could pick the baby up, there was a flash of yellow, and
a large cat picked the baby up in its mouth and dashed into the woods with
it.  The hawk screamed in a human voice and launched itself after the cat;
you followed the hawk into the woods. You became lost and you stood alone by a
stream.  Suddenly, the scene changed, and it was winter, and you stood by
a frozen stream.  You turned and could smell smoke and see a fire in the
distance.  A figure moved in your direction.  You called out, but
there was no answer. The vision ended there.”

Ceola
found the vision unsettling, and it confused her.  She knew that what she
needed was someone to talk to so that she could sort out her feelings. Yet,
there was none she could confide in. Her mind snapped back to the present as
she saw Gennos near his fire.  She walked over to it. As she approached
him she smiled and said his name softly, "Gennos, I have the snake's hide
for Cano.  Is he near?"

He
looked up from his work and smiled at her, “He’s inside helping our mother,”
and then he nodded his head toward the shelter.

She
turned to see Cano at the entrance; he had just come through the opening and
was crouching down.  As he stood, she marveled at how beautiful he was;
his body was all smooth and tanned muscle.  His hair was long and pulled
back from his face.   His eyes, which were a deep brown, seemed to
light up when he saw her. His whole body seemed to beckon to her.  She
felt her stomach quiver and her knees seemed as though they could not support
her weight. When she spoke his name, it sounded to her as though a frightened
child spoke it.  "Cano…I have something here for you."  She
dropped her eyes. She wanted to say, “It’s me.” She waited a moment or two
trying to regain control of herself before she spoke again.  “I have
finished my work. The snake’s hide is here, I hope that it will please you.”