The Uprights, page 12
“Why is your hair so short, Wuhn?”
“What’s in your bag?”
“I wish I was as fat as you.”
“Why do you smell so good?”
“What are the flowers for?”
Yohn and Sah and Jehni have so much to say and things to find out. They are going to enjoy having Wuhn with them almost as much as Dhi.
“Do you like infants, Wuhn? You can hold ours’ if you want. Look after them. Feed them until you have your own.”
“They get the best of the food. Apart from Dhi, of course. We manage on very little. But there is a root which takes away the hunger. We’ll show you where it grows.”
“Dhi has lots of hair. All over his head and face. He never cuts it. We try and groom him, but he gets angry. Maybe you can do it.”
Wuhn is almost overwhelmed with all the attention and far from pleased. If she can’t go back to sleep – and that now looks impossible – she really wants to be left alone, to shiver contentedly at the memories of her mating and to get up when she is ready. Only then, will she clean herself, and find fresh flowers to crush and rub into her skin. She has so much to do.
The sound of measured footsteps makes her visitors pull back. Then a surprisingly shrill voice cuts through what is left of the carefree chatter.
“Greetings, Wuhn. Are you well?”
Not another interruption. She would like to ignore the new arrival, but she knows she can’t. She knows who has come.
“Greetings to you, too. Yes, I am well. I am happy to be in your cave. Happy to be your new mate-daughter.”
“You must get off your bed now.”
“I will.”
“I have many duties for you, Wuhn.”
“Yes, Luhla.”
“There are things to do every day. But now there are more than usual. You know why, don’t you?”
“Because of Tahk’s meeting?”
“Yes. Soon many males will come to our cave. They will need to eat until they are full. And drink.”
“Do we have enough meat? I’ve been told your – our – family has very little.”
“We don’t have any now. But one of our hunters, Ohp, has taken a pack to the forest. Soon, we shall have as much as we need.”
“I’m pleased. What do you want me to do?”
“Help your mate-sisters with their infants. Attend to the elders. Then you can come with me to the lake. I take the workers to fish. You can watch and learn.”
“Yes, Luhla.”
Wuhn isn’t quite so happy now. Tahk’s cave isn’t like her father’s. Before she had too little to do. Now she has too much.
*****
Guhgral is pleased with himself. He has spoken to the other runaways and once again been able to get them to listen with interest. More importantly, he has persuaded them to take part in the ambush. But what makes him happiest of all is that Oohd is willing to join his pack. Oohd, an upright who was once a hunter, taking orders from Guhgral, a male destined to be a worker: not the way things are done in the family. But they’re not in the family now. Neither of them is. They are runaways with bad memories: Guhgral and his blemish of birth; Oohd and his shame. Shame that, unlike most hunters, he was chosen by just one female and that in spite of many matings, her belly never swelled. He hunted successfully, fought bravely, was well liked, but still his female had no infants. None for two winters. On the third, she left his cave and went to another’s. By the time it was hot again, Bahnor had made her big. He could have fought for her, or he could have stayed in the settlement with his shame. He did neither. He ran away.
Guhgral only knows about pride and unfairness and being denied, nothing about another male taking what is his. But he understands Oohd is angry and trained as a fighter, an ideal combination to take charge of the second pack of runaways. Yes. That’s his plan. Have two groups of runaways, one to be led by himself and the other by Oohd. Between them, they can outwit the hunters.
Vihnnak is in a quandary. He respects Guhgral – indeed has almost fallen under his spell. It’s such a change for him – for them all – to come across a runaway who doesn’t feel crushed by their hopeless circumstances. His whole manner makes him want to help with the ambush. If only he wasn’t so fearful.
“Come with us, Vihnnak. We don’t go far. We lie in wait. Surprise the hunters. Then we trick them.”
“Who will look after Shohna when I’m with you?”
“You said the others leave her alone now.”
“Yes, they do. But I’m nearly always by her side.”
“She’s very thin. You’re very thin. You both need meat.”
“I know, Guhgral. Especially now. I think her belly is getting big.”
“Are you sure? After all she has been through. That’s good. But you must get her meat. Or the infant will die.”
“But if I leave her, the males might attack her again. Then the infant dies anyway. And Shohna might also die.”
“It’s possible. We must stop that. Before we go, I will warn them not to. If any male touches Shohna, I will punish him. Kill the wretch. The other runaways will stand behind me.”
Vihnnak hears Guhgral’s words. And is still not sure.
*****
More-or-less recovered from the effects of eating fallen fruit, Ohp can now survey the camp with something approaching his usual level of understanding. But his increasing awareness brings with it a pressing sense of dismay. The leopard has run off, leaving Kihp torn, bleeding and unmoving on the ground. Too late, many of the hunters have taken up a proper, defensive position at the edge of the clearing. And all around, the spoils of their hunt lie disturbed and partially eaten, now not nearly enough for Tahk and his meeting.
Once again, Ohp has to answer many questions. He squats by a tree to rest and think. Do they hunt some more and delay their departure? Or do they pick up what’s left and hurry back to the cave? And then what should they do with Kihp’s body? Put it in the hole already dug for their meat – that’s what the family law requires him to do. Or leave it where it is? It will be eaten by the beasts, but it’s nothing more than he deserves. He was in a position to protect the meat and he failed. It’s his fault. No-one else’s. If he is dead, it’s only just. His nature is not worth saving.
****
Wuhn intends to be dutiful, but first she has to look around her new home, a cave so much larger than the one she has just left. It’s not just spacious, it’s also airy, with a cooling draught coming in the front and flowing up towards an unseen hole in the roof further back. But there is a mystery. If it is the best cave in the settlement, why does Tahk’s family – and not Jehkmin’s – live in it? And why does it smell so bad? Before she does anything else, Wuhn vows to speak to Luhla about this.
“Luhla, you asked me to work. And that’s what I want to do. But can I start with the cave? I don’t like the smell. It makes me feel bad. I know how to make it better. I watched my mother in her cave. I can do what she did.”
“No, Wuhn. Your mate-sisters want you to look after their infants. You help them do that.”
“I don’t know what to do with infants, Luhla. Let me have some workers. Then, I will make the cave as good as Jehkmin’s. There must be rotting food somewhere. Shit. Piss. Old bones.”
Some of the other females overhear what is being said and shudder. They cannot understand what is upsetting Wuhn. The cave smells all right to them. In any case, none of them ever argues with Luhla.
*****
Ohp is pleased to be marching across the plains. Soon, he will be near the land of the gullies: then he will be more careful, posting a guard at the front and the back, and ordering the other hunters to bunch up tightly. Not that he expects any trouble. Lions haven’t been seen here for a very long time, that he knows, and leopards don’t leave the trees. And the runaways. They never stray far from the lake. As they are safe from them all, he can think of other things.
About Tahk and his determination to always hunt in the valley, his mysterious decision to stay in bed and his many females. Once he becomes leader, they will all be his – that will make Bahnor angry. But what about Tahk’s sons? The younger ones he will father. The older ones. He can never trust them, so he will send them on the most dangerous missions. He cannot kill them without reason, but he can get them killed.
The terrain is breaking up and their path is getting steeper. Soon they will enter the gullies. At the head of the column, Ohp comes to a halt, looks up at the darkening sky and decides to camp for the night.
The hunters respond to the order without delay: they put down their load, spread their capes on the rough ground and cover the skin of meat with a loose pile of rocks. Having done that, some look for water, while others search for roots and berries. After the exertions of the day, they are hungry and thirsty.
Watching them at work, Dahrun wonders how they can be so content. Is he the only one to think Ohp has been a bad leader – ordering the pack to waste its time chasing monkeys; eating fallen fruit; doing terrible things to Kihp’s body? The only one. Perhaps he is.
*****
By nightfall, Wuhn is more tired than she has ever been – Luhla has seen to that – but she is also happy. At her side, Dhi, her big, tousled, light-haired, blue-eyed male is no longer frowning. His father is recovering and once again, able to walk without help. It won’t be long before he starts to pace around in that restless manner of his, checking that all is in order, shouting out his commands. And none is more pleased about that than Dhi. That she can see.
*****
For an upright with so little experience, Guhgral seems to have no difficulty in planning his ambush. Perhaps the skill and knowledge to do such a thing have passed to him in his grandfather’s nature. At least, that’s what he is coming to believe, especially as his mother never stopped saying how much he reminded her of her father, somebody Guhgral never met, but known to all as a hunter and a fighter with a fearsome reputation. This is one of the reasons Guhgral was so aggrieved by the decisions of the elders and his rejection by the females. But all that is behind him. Now he has the chance to prove himself.
Of course, like all in his position, he has never hunted big beasts – nor fought uprights before – but he knows the land of gullies better than any hunter. Near their lake and so familiar, where he goes when he wants to be on his own, to think, to hate and to hope. The pack, loaded with meat, has to pass through on its way back from the forest. They will do what they have to do at a place of his choosing.
*****
“Tahk, how is your leg?”
The leader slows to look at the slight figure trying to catch up with him. Isn’t she the female he saw from his bed? Dhi’s female, Wuhn.
“My leg is good. It has no pain now. Well, not much pain. See, I can walk quickly. Faster than you.”
As he strides out, he can’t suppress a smile of triumph.
“I am pleased. Dhi has been so worried.”
“There’s no need for that. I’ve had worse before.”
Tahk stops. Now they are both in the full light, he can see her clearly. She’s small. Not so thin as the others. Unmarked. No broken teeth. Clean, short hair. Almost a young one. Yet he knows she isn’t. He heard her with Dhi. She is certainly a female now. A female he might have wanted for himself. Does want for himself.
“Why are you so restless? Why are you pacing up and down?”
Tahk doesn’t answer. He doesn’t know how to. No female – not even Luhla – asks such questions. With all the others, he says what he wants, when it suits him. He feels angry at her boldness. Yet how can he be annoyed with her when he knows she means him no harm?
“Have you been told about my meeting? When all the other leaders are to come to our cave. Their hunters and elders too. There will be many of them.”
“Yes. Luhla explained it to me. Many of the females have been collecting roots and berries. I had to look after Dhi’s infants.”
Tahk wonders what it would be like to lie on such a young female, feel her warm skin, press himself into her soft curves. His females are so much older. Thin and scarred by injuries, too.
“The meeting is important. Everyone knows we need more meat. But the beasts to the south are too small. And those to the north are guarded by lions. What’s worse, it’s too far away. By the time we get there, we’re exhausted.”
Tahk is surprised he said this. These aren’t problems for females, especially ones as young as Wuhn. Yet she doesn’t seem uninterested or upset, as he might have expected. Instead, she touches his arm lightly. In spite of himself, he finds himself continuing.
“There’s something else. I have promised a feast. Yet we have so little food.”
Again his mind drifts away, this time to Ohp and his pack, the forest to the south and their long march home. And then back to the female by his side. He wants her, yet she is his son’s.
“I am happy to be Dhi’s female. Be your mate-daughter. I want to do things to help. Will you let me?”
Tahk is confused. If Wuhn is happy to be Dhi’s female, why is she holding his arm? And why is she making him feel as he does?
How can he take Wuhn from Dhi when he has to accept what his son has told him, that she is the one upright capable of making him feel confident enough to be a leader? But if Dhi is killed, well that’s another matter. He won’t let any other male have her then. She’s Dhi’s or his.
He has made up his mind what to do, or rather, what not to do, but he still shakes with tension.
“What worries you, Tahk? Let me know. Can I do something?”
“You’re kind, Wuhn. But there’s nothing you can do. You’re not a hunter. Besides, there’s no time now. The trouble is I don’t trust Ohp to kill enough beasts. Or come back before the meeting. I was hoping to see him in the distance. That’s what I was looking for. A cloud of dust. Birds circling overhead. Anything to show the pack is returning. If it doesn’t get here by dusk, we will have no meat for tomorrow. Then the leaders will get angry. Walk away.”
“No they won’t. They respect you. It doesn’t matter if you can’t offer a feast.”
“You don’t understand. A leader has to be true to his word. If he isn’t, the others will no longer look up to him. The same goes for our family. There will be a challenge. I know that. Most likely, the elders will support Ohp. Certainly not me. Not Dhi, either.”
“It can’t be as bad as that, Tahk. I know I’m not a hunter. But I can get you all the food you need.”
“It’s not possible. No female can do that.”
“Let me try. I will talk to Jehkmin. I’m sure he’ll give me as many fish as you need.”
“I don’t want any of those. They’re cold. Have a bad taste. They’re not food for leaders and hunters.”
“My father likes them. Our family eats them all the time.”
“No, Wuhn. When I promised a feast, I didn’t mean a feast of fish. They’re not what I want to give the other leaders.”
“If that’s what you say.”
“I do.”
“Can I at least clean the cave? Make it smell better.”
“You can do that.”
“I will need help. Some workers to do things for me. Do you give me permission, Tahk?”
“Yes. Have as many as you need.”
“Good. Can you tell Luhla what you’ve said? Otherwise, she will order me to do other things.”
“There’s no need for me to do that. Look over there. Luhla’s been watching us since you arrived. She knows you are favoured now. She will do anything you ask.”
*****
The runaways awake early, feeling stiff and damp as is always the case when they sleep in the open, but it doesn’t matter, for soon the sun will strengthen their bones.
“Oohd, climb up there. Look towards the forest. Tell me if any hunters are coming this way?”
Oohd does as Guhgral orders even though he knows it’s too dark to see further than he can throw a stone.
“I want you to stay up there. On the top. Where you have a good view.”
Why is Guhgral being so impatient? Doesn’t he understand the hunters won’t move until they have had a drink, eaten whatever they can find and made sure their bags are full of stones? Even under Tahk, they never leave camp until the sun starts walking across the sky.
“Take five others with you. Not Vihnnak. He stays with me. They will be your pack.”
Oohd isn’t sure how he feels about Guhgral telling him to do things. True, the other is tall and strong, good with words and the only one of them with hopes and plans for the future. But he has never been a hunter and, unlike him, has had no experience of fighting: isn’t this what the blemish on the other’s forehead tells him?
