Ember of a New World (15 page)

Ember was standing in the chill waters of the flowing river without a warm sun and still quite tired as the water slowly sapped her strength. Every now and then she thought she felt something bump her leg, but she couldn't see what it had been as the waters were just too dark. Fear was starting to become ever present as the night rolled along. She felt her will t
o stand in the water wa
n
e
with still half of the night ahead of her. Ember slowly started her walk down stream again but was unsure if the wolves were following her. Perhaps she could come ashore and climb a tree. From a tree, she could secure a place to rest, th
ough sleep would be dangerous.

After much time had passed, when the wolves had not been seen or heard from in
a
while, Ember started her walk towards the shore. She brought two large stones, one in each hand, but she was unable to consider them anything more than a token against her own fear. Even if she threw
them
perfectly, which she
would likely
not, only two wolves could be wounded at best. There were at least four. Ember slowly placed her first cold foot onto the sand and then her second, moving slowly and carefully listening for any movement. The trees by the bank were small and not so firm. Farther in, a short dash, were large
full sized trees. Before Ember
,
stood a large tree with massive limbs. She was pretty sure she could climb that tree but she would have to run into the bushes and the start of the forest to get to it. That would leave her vulnerable for a moment, perhaps a moment too long.

Slowly she walked, as quietly as her feet could move, towards the tree line. Once she thought she even saw the gold rings of wolf eyes. She kept walking, her heart pounding in her chest, heaving as it already was. Ember suddenly stepped on a dry branch snapping it and creating a loud noise. In the left corner of her eye, she saw movement. With a burst of pure panic, Ember sprinted for the tree, only just ahead. Her feet pounded into the ground, and her arms pumped as she ran blindly towards the tree, her vision darkening for everything but the tree.
Just as
she was nearly to the tree, she heard the low growl of a wolf right on her heals! This caused her to move even faster than she t
hought she could, a blind run!

Ember leaped up the tree planting one foot into the thick bark and the other right above it. The sharp bark bit into her skin as her momentum carried her up to her first hand hold, then the second. Ember literally pulled her body up to the first branch with just her arms, a feat she couldn't have normally done but for her fight or flight panic. Her tunnel vision and adrenaline made her goal of the next branch above her all she could think of, and she ignored all pain. The first pull had hurt her arms, though perhaps saved her life, but she couldn't pull herself up again, her momentum spent. Below her, the wolves jumped at the tree snarling and growling! Floundering, Ember kicked with her feet while she fought for a better grasp on the branch she was holding. The thought of being eaten alive filled her veins with primal fear! She could nearly pull herself up, but her weight was just a little heavier than what her arms could lift!

So c
lose... no!
She thought.

Ember knew pure terror as she felt her arms slowly giving way and her body sinking towards the wolves. She was to be eaten alive! Her feet suddenly found a wet furry face to step upon, and she planted all of her weight into that face, a now yelping wolf! Ember reached with her weakened right arm and grasped the branch above! The leg-up from the reluctant wolf was all she needed and moments later she was in the tree sitting on a large branch. Ember held the trunk tightly as a new born holds its mother. She quivered in fear as the wolves growled below. Their interest renewed by the meal so close and the droplets o
f blood from her injured feet.

Ember sat there for a while watching the wolves. She had lost her rocks somewhere before the trees. If she had them, she could teach these beasts a lesson. After a short time, the wolve
s lost interest and stalked off;
Ember was not sure how far.
When
she calmed down, she checked herself for damage. The throbbing in her feet told her the answer. Ember's feet had literally bit into the tree, catching the bark and holding fast by the force of the bark digging into the soft flesh.

Ember shed many a tear as she removed a few pieces of bark. Her poor feet would heal quickly, they always had, but she needed to stay in one place for a while, especially if a fever came. Sometimes wounds would cause a person to become very hot to the touch and even flush with color. Rest, removing debris from the wound, and heat were beneficial in reducing the chance of this. She needed a good rest as well as some security. Mostly, she needed a boat. Ember decided that come the next morning she would build a proper camp. Camps, with a shelter, fire, and traps, would offer security and a warm place to sleep. As she thought about the fire and how she would make a boat, Ember slowly fell asleep, still clutching the tree. Luckily, humans have had a long history of arboreal adventures, and true to her primate heritage, Ember snuggled against
the tree, tightly, all night.

Each morning brings a new chance at life and a fresh look at the world. Ember awoke that next morning with a sense of hope. She had lived through the night and now would take measures to ensure that life continued. Her arms hurt from being wrapped around the tree all night, and her legs throbbed from springing to life from a dead sleep without taking the time to stretch. Worst of all was her poor foot, which continued to ache. Today she would take it slowly and build a temporary camp so that she could heal and rest for a few days. Perhaps she could possibly construct a new boat, even though she wasn't entirely sure how that was done. However, she did know
how to rig a camp. Camps gene
rally had the same design where
ver
you went: A central fire to cook, provide heat, perform rituals, and ward against animals, such as wolves, a simple hut made of wooden poles and thatching, a bed of woven reeds, and defenses. Everything else was decora
tion or convenience.

Ember climbed down from the tree and walked the short distance towards the river she had run to and from so fast the night before. Her feet hurt from their cuts, but the wood seemed to have not hurt her as badly as she had th
ought the night before. Her right foot bled a little, but blood loss cleaned a wound and was not to be feared unless it became a great amount. Generally, Ember was in physically acceptable shape, but she was without boots, fire bow, boat, or much hope. With a sigh, she set to work gathering sticks for kindling and firewood for the main fire. After a short while, Ember had gathered plenty of wood and even found her hunting spear in the process. The spear lay on the ground near her previous camp site by her fin
ished reed skirt.

Her butt hurt from sitting on the tree all night, but tonight she would not make the same mistakes. Ember set about fishing in the river for a quick meal. Eventually she would need more than fish to live, but for now she could eat fish for a few days. In time, Ember would look for a more varied food supply, and perhaps even dig for tubers in the forest or
look for other edible morsels.

Drinking river water was generally safe, as the water flowed, though it was possible to become sick and some did. Ember didn't worry much as she bent low, in between spearing a fish, and drank her fill. When she returned to the shore
,
several fish lay in a pile, one or two still flapping about. Once out of the water
,
Ember wrapped the new reed skirt around her waist and removed her breechcloth. She quickly washed the soft strip of leather and placed it in the sun to dry. Because she had no others, the cloth would require intermittent use. Worse, washing and sun drying the leather might cause it to become hard or even rot. Normally, the strip might be washed, dried in sand or by a fire,
and then
scraped with a sharp knife. This eventually destroyed the leather, but this was not a major concern in a village where leather was constantly pro
duced.

Clothing wasn't the only thing in need of drying. The wet fish on the bank would soon dry in the sun and would become inedible. Fish needed to be preserved
. In lieu of salt for air drying,
Ember decided she would smoke them. A quick smoking might not work at all and wouldn't last for long if it did, but she hypothesized that smoking might gain a day or two of longevity for the fish. Perhaps she might even remain here for a time and build a new boat if she could. In the
meantime
, Ember would build her camp and rest for a few days while she considered her choices. With such thoughts on her mind,
Ember began work on the camp.

Ember placed two sticks with Y shaped ends into the ground and placed a pole across the top in between them so the Y ends would hold the pole horizontally. This created a sort of cooking rack to place food over a fire. Slowly
,
she placed long sticks into the ground around the main rack and pulled them tightly at the very top
,
binding them with wet reeds, creating a sort of miniature cone shape. Ember trotted down to the river and grabbed another arm full of reeds. She carefully wove them in and out of the sticks she had placed around the rack until the tiny structure had a small reed top, resembling a little hut. Her tiny smoking hut was complete. She would construct a larger hut for herself later.

After a short while had passed, Ember had two fires burning: one to mak
e charcoal from logs, and another
smaller fire beside the tiny smok
ing hut
to smoke the fish. On the rack within the smoking hut, six fish now hung with smoke pouring across their flesh. A piece of bark was cleaved from a tree and used to direct the smoke. Ember was unsure if this smoke method would work for she had only seen the men doing it and had never actually performed the task herself. She worried that she had left some part out. Within a
little while
, Ember woul
d taste the fish of her labor.

Until then, she had other concerns. First, the sand must be cleared of debris which might attract unwanted guests. Secondly, grasses were required to make a place to sleep for the night until a hut could be made. Long grass would make the foundation of her temporary bed while short grass would be mixed with the lo
ng grass to soften the bedding.

The cleaning, smoking, and preparations
continued
until the end of the midday. With her work now mostly done and plenty of the day
remaining
, Ember sat down for a quick rest and pondered the construction of a boat. She had seen men create
such a
craft before, but she was never payin
g much attention when they did.

Perhaps they dug into the wood of the log with stone tools, yes... that was
it
. Her mind was slowly recalling the missing parts, but it would take time to recall. First, she
would need to find a good log.

As evening came, Ember sat down by the smoke hut and carefully removed one of the drying fish. As she suspected the fish had not nearly started to dry, a process which took days and some salt, but they had cooked and would most likely last a day or two without going too bad. Ember carefully removed the skin of the fish and squeezed the skin over the rock where the clay had been left the previous day. Much of the water had run from the clay leaving it damp, but not overly saturated. Small drops of fish oil fell upon the rock and still wet clay. Had she thought of this beforehand she might have saved the fish livers, which contained much oil. Ember picked up a few fish bones, saved from the previous camp, placing them on a s
mall flat stone and setting the stone
carefully and quickly into the fire. Tomorrow she would use the clay, oil, and fish bones to
make herself a body coloring.

Ember spent the rest of the late day and evening swimming and soaking in the healing waters of the river. The cool water soothed her muscles and numbed the pain in her foot. Thoughts of the wolves returned to Ember and caused a shiver down her spine. How close had she come to death? A hunter with weapons and fire was a formidable opponent to a wolf and wolves rarely ever approached people... unless those people ventured deep into the wide open lands, alone. Ember was sure she had even heard the hunters explain how wolves normally ate small animals like mice and rarely attacked larger animals.

Ember had escaped and now used her cunning and skills to prevent such events from happening again. Thoughts of her camp and the traps she would soon set brought a sense of control back to her mind. The waters suddenly felt cooler and more wonderful to Ember, and she became acutely aware of their flow across her skin. Afterward
,
Ember slowly walked ashore, her body fully clean and her hopes restored. The water had made her foot feel much better.

I would have made a good fish
, she thought.

The last task before bed was the setting of traps. Ember selected many small sticks and carefully cut them with her dagger to have pointed ends. Each of the tiny hand length spears was held over the fire until it had dried and hardened, which took a good time. Ember took the tiny blackened spikes and buried them around the perimeter of the camp. Each spike sat in a small bowl-shaped hole in the sand, pointed up. Over each of the little pit traps, just big enough for foot or paw, leaves and debris were placed. Ember carefully memorized the correct run through the tiny traps and into the water. Around the outside of the traps, she added many long but thin twigs. These twigs would break loudly if someone or something
sneaked
upon her. Ironically, she had gotten the idea from the loud twig which had nearly cost Ember her life the night before. Lastly, beside her fire she placed a pile of perfectly sized rocks. She would hurt any wolves which came for her to
night.