The Thinking Rocks (2 page)

Cano's whole
life had been spent in the woods, but not these woods. The People of the Spear,
his people had been moving for season after season following game. The farther
they had come the more game they found.  It became warmer too.  He
could barely remember the times when he was small and the ground had been
covered with cold whiteness.

The terrain
here was rough, the hills were covered with loose rocks of all sizes and the
tall trees had thick underbrush.  There were open areas in the lowlands
between the hills were the grass eaters gathered.  The hunting was
excellent; it was a good place to get food.  It was also the place for
caution, for this was also a place of death.  The caution Cano felt was a
way of life.  Caution and survival went hand in hand.   When you
are the one with power, you can be brave.  Death can come from many places
and death was a true thing.  Some lived by causing death; others lived by
avoiding death for as long as possible.  All things finally died, but some
much sooner than others.  The big survived the longest because they were
strong, and the small feared the big.

All
creatures had abilities, some more useful than others.  The snake, his
speed and poison.  The sloth was big but sluggish; it had a single claw on
each front foot and lived high in the trees where it was safe. The bison was
hump backed and was a grass eater. It lived in the lowlands in herds and had
sharp horns and hoofs to protect its kind.

Cano knew
his physical abilities as a man were limited, however he had other abilities,
and he learned and remembered. His physical weapons were his stone-tipped spear
and hand ax. He may not be as big or fast as the saber toothed cat, but he
could kill too. His strength did not compare to that of the mammoths with their
tusks and long noses.  But these creatures lived mostly by instinct. 
Although he also had instincts, he also was able to think of the possibilities
of different things.  He could plan.  His awareness was different
than that of other creatures. And he used tools.

His thoughts
returned to the present.  It was time to return to the clan. He nudged the
snake's body with his spear, it moved, but very slowly.  The spirit of
life was leaving the snake.  Carefully picking up the snake, he carried it
down to the streambed. Slowly he lowered it into the water and splashed water
on the bloody nub. Next he rubbed the skin with some of the sand from the
streambed; this would remove some of the snake’s scent and the smell of
blood.  The washing completed, he picked some leaves from a nearby plant and
wrapped them around the bloody end of the snake to stop the dripping of blood
on the way back to the camp.  There was no reason to invite an attack.

He
thought of bringing the lizard the snake had killed, but he rejected the
idea.  The spirit of death from the snake was in it. Looping the snake
over his shoulders, he retrieved his weapons and started back with his prize.

Cano scanned the forest slowly
looking for anything out of the normal. Nothing on the ground, no unnatural
movement in the trees, but there was a dark flash above the trees. A large bird
circled above the rocks where the snake had died.  How could they find
where death had been so quickly?  They had eyes that could see the dead or
the dying from great distances, but how could they know that a death had
happened here such a short time ago?  A second ghost had joined the first,
more were sure to follow.  It was best to be on the move.  Silently,
he moved off, knowing if he stayed here, he would not be alone long. There
would be other eyes that would see the growing number of birds circling the
trees above the rocks. The small scavengers would be the first, but the bigger
ones would come to take the kill away from the small.  They would not get
much this time though.  One of the birds swooped low for a look at Cano,
but after determining that he was not wounded or dying it returned to circle
over the trees where the dead lizard and the snake's head remained.  As
Cano walked through the woods he thought about the large birds called buzzards,
the ones that flew high in the sky, and the other big birds, turkeys, that
could fly, but never flew as high as the tree tops.  The turkeys were
bigger and better to eat than the high fliers.  The buzzards were a last
choice for food.  Both of them have remarkable eyesight.  He had once
been trying to creep up on one of them that had been feeding. It was as far
away as he could throw a stone.  He was in a thicket that was dense with
leaves and small branches and he was not moving. The bird would stop feeding at
short intervals to scan the woods for danger. As the bird looked in his
direction he blinked, and the bird saw it and flew away.  Twice after
that, he had tried to sneak up on the birds and had scared them both times by
blinking his eyes, as they looked his way.  They must have seen his eyes
blink as a sign of danger.  Once when he was watching buzzards circling a
dying wolf, he had seen one swoop low and cast its shadow over the wolf’s
head.  He could not be sure, but he thought that it was trying to see if
the wolf was dead or playing dead.  If the wolf was really dead, its eyes
would not move as the shadow of the bird past over the wolf’s eye, but if it
was alive, the eye would move even if the eye didn’t open. The bird climbed
swiftly and landed in a tall tree.  It repeated the flight again before it
finally landed and began to feed.  The other birds that had been circling
were soon at its side fighting for a share.

Cano was close now to his camp. He could
smell the smoke from the fire, but he still could not hear any noises or see
any of his clan.  The site was a good one, for it was near water and there
was plenty of wood for fires.  The water here was good water.  It was
clear and moving swiftly and held many fish.  The banks of the stream were
covered with small rocks and the water did not have a sharp drop off. 
There was little danger from the water.  Most of the snakes avoided swift
water. It was a safe place for the children to play, while the men and women of
the clan worked and hunted.  The gators with their mouth full of teeth
liked the slow or still waters. This was where they could float up close to the
shore with only their eyes and tip of their nose showing.  They looked
like a log, but they were death. Cano saw movements ahead of him on the right
side in a small thicket.  It was a small boy with an equally small
spear.  Cano pretended that he had not seen anything out of the ordinary
and kept moving toward the camp.

“Awho Ah!” Screamed the boy as he
leapt from the bushes.

Cano pretended that he had been
caught unaware and was frightened; he dropped his spear and ax and spun around
to face his captor.  “Dola, you frightened me, you were so quiet. 
You move like a spirit in the woods.”

The boy's face lit up, he was proud
to receive praise from Cano.  He could understand why his sister, Ceola,
liked him. "Where did you find the snake Cano?  How did you kill
it?  Weren't you afraid?  Is it dead? Can I carry it into camp for
you?"

"Slow down Dola, I will tell the
story tonight at the campfire.  Because you are such a brave warrior, I
will let you carry the snake into camp.”  This was working out better than
Cano could have hoped.  He knew that Ceola loved her brother and she would
realize that his actions were responsible for Dola feeling important.  It
was turning out to be a great day.  He dropped the snake over Dola's
shoulders and retrieved his weapons.  The snake was so long that both ends
trailed on the ground.  This story was going to get better and better as
time went on.  The snake size would grow as the years went by and Dola got
older and taller.

Cano could not see all of the fifteen
people that made the Clan of the Spear.  Almost all of the six hunters
would still be in the field with the exception of him.  He could see a
fire near the lodging of Koonai the Shaman, but he was not in sight. Moving
toward his own lodging, he saw his brother, Gennos, working with something near
their fire.  His mother was not in sight either, she was ill and stayed in
their lodging most of the time.  He hoped her cough was better.  She
had started coughing up blood. Koonai's medicine did not seem to be helping
her, as they had hoped.
           

"AhoaHoa," called Dola to
alert the clan.  He danced ahead as best he could with the snake swinging
around his short legs.  "Look what Cano has brought us!  Come,
come quick!"  Seeing Gennos by the fire, he called to him, “Gennos
come see what your brother has killed, a snake!"

Other figures started to emerge from
their lodges and the nearby forest.  Walking on with just a hint of pride
in his step, Cano saw Ceola.  His heart skipped a beat; he could feel his
stomach tighten up. Cano liked the way that she walked, he liked the way she
looked and he could almost forget how to talk when she smiled at him. 
Ceola had her younger sister Opla, who was half her size at her side. Dola,
seeing his younger sister, did what young boys do to their sisters since time
began. He ran forward with the snake to scare her.  It worked.  She
screeched and headed away toward safety as fast as her short legs could carry
her.

Cano reached down and grabbed Dola by
the arm as he rushed forward.  The momentum of his quick dash caught Cano
off balance and he bumped into Ceola and the three of them crashed to the
ground.

Falling to the ground with someone of
the opposite sex that you like is an enjoyable experience, unless you include
six feet of snake to the pile of people.  Cano pulled the snake away from
Dola, and scrambled to his feet, as did Ceola.  The only one still sitting
on the ground was Dola and from the look in Ceola's eyes it would be a long
time before Dola sat down again.  Seeing the look in her eyes, Cano tried
to salvage something of the situation. “Ceola, I'm sorry about, I..."

But she was more concerned catching
Opla and calming her down.  She looked down at Dola and said, "Get to
our fire...Now!"  She looked down at the snake and gave an
involuntarily shudder.  Looking back to Cano she gave him a weak smile and
said, “It’s not your fault, I'm sorry, I have to go.  Maybe we can talk
later.” She paused and then added softly, "Alone?"

She moved off quickly before he could
determine exactly what she meant. It was much harder to understand women than
men.  She could mean that she wished to spend some time with him alone or
she could mean she wanted to ask him why he had let Dola carry the snake. 
She was mad, but was she mad at him?

He was still trying to figure out
what she had meant when his brother shuffled up to him. Cano’s mind flashed
back to the time that Gennos had been hurt. His father, Rahos, and Gennos had
been on a hunt far from camp when it started to rain.  It became a
fearsome storm in a short time and the skies were laced with lightning.  A
bolt of lightning struck both of them as they huddled near a tall tree. 
It had killed their father and crippled Gennos.  He lay there for three
days, not being able to do more than drag himself a short distance to a stand
of rocks.

Cano search had brought him to his
brother on that third day.  He had seen a gathering of buzzards and knew
that something was dead or dying.  He found his brother clutching his
spear and using it to threaten the birds if they tried to get too close. He had
been forced too watch day after day as the birds had eaten his father. 
The birds were watching and waiting for him to die. They were patient. 
They could wait.  When Cano came upon the scene, he made sure the only
dangers in the clearing were the birds. Then he rushed forward and scared them
away.  They were reluctant to leave; they had tasted human flesh and
wanted more.  He gave his brother some dried berries and some water from
his water bag.
 
Because of his leg
injuries it was difficult to get Gennos back to camp; he had to be carried most
of the way.  Although the pain must have been bad, Gennos only showed it
when he was jolted or when Cano stumbled.  After they had made it back
safely to camp it took a long while for Gennos to regain his health.  His
leg had been badly burned and it at first looked as though he would die. He
slowly regained his health, but would never be able to walk normally again. As
could be expected, the injury caused a major change in him.  He became
subdued and quiet. He was clearly glad that he had been saved, but he seemed to
withdraw into himself.  Even months later he preferred to be alone. He
told Cano that he had wanted to die when he found that he could not walk or run
anymore. Koonai had come and cast spells and used his magical powers to try to
determine what the Great Spirit's purpose was in taking a great hunter away and
crippling a young hunter. After days of fasting and meditation, Koonai
announced to the clan that the Great Spirit had sent a message to Gennos that
he was not to be a hunter.  He would begin training as a medicine
man.  The Great Spirit's message was that Gennos was special.  The
Great Spirit had given him a gift.  What that gift was, no one
knew.   When questioned about the gift, Koonai said, "Even
though we do not know what the gift is, it does not mean the gift doesn't
exist. The Great Spirit will make the gift known when the time was right."
  

Gennos had told Cano that night that
he would rather have his legs than the gift.  That night it had rained and
there was more lightning.  A tree near camp was struck by lightning; and
exploded in flames.  Gennos never spoke of his loss or the gift again.

Smiling at Cano, Gennos said, “Oh,
great hunter, I see that you brought food for the fire tonight, but why did you
try to tie Ceola up with it?  Is this the way you pick a mate?”

 Cano had to wonder how his
brother could joke about almost anything when he had so much to complain about.
Reaching out and grasping his brother's shoulder, "No, gifted one. 
That is not the way that I planned it, I think that I should have a talk with
Dola about this."  Just then, they could hear a young hunter crying
out in pain.  Cano smiled at his brother and said “But then, I'm sure that
Ceola is letting him know that what he did is not the way he should act. 
Cano smiled and then said, "I still may throw him in the river."

His brother smiled and then said,
"I'm not sure if throwing Dola in the river will make Ceola like you
anymore than she does now. I have seen how you look at each other, but you have
other problems.  You are not the only one who likes her; you know that
Bana wants her and being the chief's son does give him a good chance to get her
first.”

Cano paused before he answered.
“You’re right and it makes me sick that I may not have her for a mate. I think
she likes me best, but I'm not sure.  I get confused when I'm around
her.  It was not like this when we were younger. Women are hard to
understand."  Taking in a deep breath he asked, "What have you
been up to besides watching me make mistakes with
Ceola?"           

A
smile broke out on Gennos' face, “Wait until you see what I have! It's not
done, but I think it's something important.  I haven't even shown it to
Koonai. I wanted to show you first and see what you think."

They
made their way over to their lodge and Cano hung the snake up on a tree branch
so that it could be skinned.  Gennos ducked inside the lodge and soon
emerged with what looked like a short spear with the point tied on wrong. 
It was about as long as Cano's forearm.  The point of the spear was poorly
suited to the shaft; it was heavy and broad.  The biggest problem was that
the sharp part was not on the top but to the side.

Cano
looked to Gennos questioningly, "I don't understand, it looks like a
child's toy that was made wrong."

"That's
right, that's just what it is, but it's more!  Let me tell you about
it.  I was starting our fire and saw Dola playing hunter with Bana's
little sister, Lorou.  He had made a small spear but could not find a good
point and he didn't know how to make one.  He found a sharp stone that he
thought was close enough and tried to tie it to the shaft.  It came loose
and was flopping around and he couldn’t throw it very far or straight.  He
became angry and smashed it down on a log and it came all to pieces.  He
went off to play some other game with Lorou.  Our fire had started but I
needed more wood so I went over to where Dola had left his broken spear. 
When I picked up the spear, I noticed something strange.  The head of the
spear was stuck deep in the log.  It was too big and heavy to be in the
log that deep.  However, there it was, and a small boy put it there! 
I got the head out of the log, but I had a hard time doing it.  I brought
the parts back to our lodge and started working on them. This is what I made."
He said holding up the short spear.