Chapter 6.
Only a few faint embers clung to life among the charred remnants of the cook fire. The wind had picked up a bit, now that there were fewer obstacles to inhibit it’s movement. It swirled around inside the shallow ring of stones, kicking up miniature whirlwinds of cooling ash.
The camp had been struck. The wet branches which had been the top layer of roofs were now strewn about the ground, leaving the skeletal remains of the shelters open to the elements. Most had been trampled flat, beaten down as many feet scrambled about in last-minute preparations for leaving.
It was mid-afternoon before the move began. Broc had been back from his scouting for over an hour and was not quite ready to leave. Everyone else was ready to go. A few helped him and Sara roll up the long poles he had salvaged from his old shelter.
The place they were moving to was only a mile or so up-stream from their present camp. But this place was getting pretty well trampled down.
“And besides,” Broc had reasoned, “it is best to leave this difficult memory behind. Maybe we will visit it again, but for now it is best that we move on.” He looked toward the shelter that the departed pair had used. No one had stripped it. Even the deer hide door was still hanging where it had been thrown back earlier that morning.
“Once again your wisdom prevails.” Amon said as he walked up to his friend. “The change will do us good. While we are working, we will have less time to think.” Though their friends were now gone, still there were things to be talked about; differences to be resolved.
Broc busied himself tying off the last bundle of poles. “Yes. Less time to think.” He paused, worrying whether to bring the subject up again so soon.
“Speak, my brother. What troubles you?” These two had been together since childhood. Amon knew when something was troubling his friend. Broc hesitated for a moment longer and then began:
“You know, my brother, of the thing you spoke.” Broc gestured toward the abandoned shelter, reluctant to say the names of the two friends who had departed.
“I know he is old and lonely since the passing of his mate. I know that he still mourns his loss. But it is wrong for him to go back to the ‘others.’ They are not like him! He has changed, just as your father and my father have changed. They are no longer like them. This thing cannot be!”
“Be calm, be calm for a moment, my friend.” Amon said gently.
“Let us consider this. We both love them. It pains us to see them go. But it pains us more to know that they have made this decision which we do not agree with. But what are we to do? Can we force them to live as we say and still expect them to be supportive of us? If we treat them as less than us, will we even be worthy of their support?”
Broc picked up the last of his belongings and turned to his left, northward, in the direction of the narrowing river. His young mate Sara fell into step beside him.
“How far is this new camp? You say it is only a day’s walk, but the day is now almost spent! What shall we do when the night returns and we have not yet found shelter?”
Amon smiled resolutely. “We will do as we have ever done. We will use what is provided. I have travelled this route two times before. We will find shelter before darkness. I have been there. I have seen it.”
Broc picked up his pace, just enough to remain a half pace ahead. After first glancing at Amon, he turned to his mate. “Sara. Can you find more berries? The small yellow ones? There may be a few left up ahead if the birds haven’t gotten to them.”
She smiled up at him.
“Would you like time to speak with your brother alone?”
Broc was brought up short by her abruptness, but when she bumped into him she smiled once again, and then scampered off into the bushes ahead. She giggled a bit, and sang quietly to herself, glancing back once or twice to make sure she could still see them.
“My brother,” Broc again regained the pace. “There is something else I would speak to you about.” Sara’s affectionate departure had softened his demeanor a bit. A trace of a grin crossed his face as he began.
“It is good to have such a woman as this one to be my mate. She seems to know what I will say before I say it.” Then self-consciously he cleared his throat. “It is good that I can share this with you. But also there is something else I would share.”
Amon could sense there was more than he had anticipated. Not knowing what to say in response, he said nothing.
“My brother, I have seen the two of you; you and your father, speaking quietly, there on the fringes. I have seen the thing your father carries.” He pointed toward the old simian a few paces behind. Pa saw the gesture and stopped in his tracks, as did Amon.
The rest of the clan continued working their way slowly northward, gleaning what was left of anything ripe and edible.
Sara looked back once again and saw that the three had stopped. She too stopped and stood watching. The others would continue, she knew. They would continue in the direction Broc had said, and within an hour the first of them would reach the bend in the creek where a timber fall had piled up against a big rock. Those were the directions Broc had said, so she was sure she could find her way alone. Never the less, she would wait here for him. She would watch over him until he began coming forward again. Then she would scout ahead, and be there waiting when he arrived.
Maybe she could persuade him to build their new shelter smaller this time, so he couldn’t get away from her so easily in the night. Her mind wandered as she relaxed against a stone outcropping watching the three as they drew closer together there at the edge of her sight.
Amon became wary, but before either he or his father could respond, Broc continued.
“I have heard others speak of seeing such things.” A dead silence fell over the three. Amon knew not what to say except the truth.
“I have only just now been entrusted with it’s care. I know almost nothing about it, or why it was in my father’s possession. I would do my father injustice if I betrayed his trust. My brother, allow me time to converse with my father about this thing. We will speak of it tonight as we set camp. Then, on the sunrise I will speak with you again.”
“I am sorry, my brother. Of course I will respect your wishes.”
Broc was anxious to reveal his own secret to Amon. But he was uncertain how his brother would react. Perhaps he would be angry that Broc’s knowledge of ‘the darkness’ had been hidden from him.
Looking excitedly back in the direction the clan had gone, he continued: “Come! Let us hurry! There is much to be done before the night falls!” Turning back to Amon, “I will go ahead and see to the camp. I will prepare a nest for your father next to the one your mate selects for you.” With that, he was off at a stiff pace.
Sara saw him coming in her direction and immediately ran back in his direction. When he saw her coming, he realized he had neglected to mention one important thing to Amon. He turned and hollered back: “We will speak of this to no one.” Amon acknowledged him with a wave. Within just a few seconds Sara was in his arms.
“Come, my Broc! Let us hurry. We must build our nest quickly today. I feel a chill in the air.” She snuggled close to him and fell into step, stretching to keep pace. “Perhaps we can build this one smaller . . . so the cold wind will have no place between us.”
Broc looked down into her smiling face. There was a sparkle in her eyes. Perhaps it would be good for him to do as she asked this time. The possibilities made him smile also.
“Yes. It will be dark soon. We won’t have time to build a proper one. We should hurry.”
Pa laid a hand on his son’s shoulder to get his attention.
“This is a grave matter, my son. I did not know that we had been seen.”
“It is of little consequence. Broc is as a brother to me.”
“And a son to me.” Pa signed.
“I have trusted him with many things, including my life, many times. He will surely be part of all that transpires within our family.”
The old simian nodded in agreement, and started off in Broc’s direction, shifting his burden as he did so. Amon noticed and offered to take the load from him.
“No! This has been my burden since before your birth. I will continue to carry it until it is dully passed on to you. Besides, this burden is light. I don’t mind carrying it at all.”