Redemption: Supernatural Time-Traveling Romance with Sci-fi and Metaphysics (5 page)

Refreshed and contented, she
heads back to the shore and the other womenfolk, who must surely be finishing
their work of gathering in the forest. Mi emerges from the water, the weight of
her belly suddenly returning, and looks for her loincloth. A shadow falls
across the ground in front of her. She looks up in surprise to see Zo standing
over her, the discarded piece of animal skin hanging limply in his hand.

“Zo give!” she says, reaching out
for it, but he snatches it out of her reach. With his other hand he grips an arm
and pulls her against him.

“No.” He shakes his head and
points at her, an unpleasant grin on his face. “Zo take!”

Chapter Five

N
o!” Mi shouts, thumping Zo’s massive chest as hard as she can. He
doesn’t even seem to notice, and his grip on her only tightens.

“You Zo’s,” he says, his voice
deep and gruff. His grin widens, emphasizing the four long scars across his
cheek, the result of a fight with a saber-toothed tiger… which Zo won! Filled
with an icy terror, Mi struggles against him, crying out.

“Away, Zo! Off!”

He lets go, but only to push her
roughly to the ground. Standing over her, his intention is reflected in the
hungry expression on his face. He steps towards her. Mi turns her head away and
closes her eyes.
No hurt Wu,
she
thinks, imagining the weight of Zo forcing himself on her, pressing against her
swollen belly. She dreads what must surely be about happen.

But nothing does happen. Opening
her eyes again, Mi looks up to see a very different look on Zo’s face. He is
afraid. And no wonder, as Lu is standing behind him, hefting a heavy ax in his
hand, ready to strike.

“Touch,” says Lu with a growl,
pointing towards Mi and then back at Zo. “Dead.”

“Hah!” Zo tries to pretend he is
unafraid, but he swallows nervously. Lu raises the ax threateningly and Mi
looks up at him in admiration. He looks especially strong and handsome when he
is angry and now that he is here, she doesn’t feel afraid anymore. She isn’t
scared of anything when Lu is with her. He steps closer to Zo, his eyes
narrowing in anger and makes as if to strike him. Zo quickly raises his hands,
looking pitiful and cowardly, and cries out, “No touch!”

Mi
gives Zo a
scornful
glance and
holds out a hand towards her loincloth.

“Give,” she says, and Zo tosses
it to her, not daring to take his eyes off of Lu and the ax. Glancing round, Mi
sees the womenfolk emerging from the trees, watching the scene on the lakeshore
with interest.

“No touch?” says Lu, leaning
close to Zo’s ear.

“No touch!” he repeats. His hands
are still raised in surrender.

Suddenly Lu steps back and lowers
the ax. Zo spins round to face him angrily and Mi expects him to leap on Lu.
Even though her man is big and strong, Zo is no smaller than him and for a
moment she is worried. Then Zo turns away towards the crowd standing on the
edge of the forest, a look of anger, frustration and dissatisfaction on his
face.

Her loincloth now securely
fastened around her waist, Mi rushes forwards and embraces Lu, who comforts
her, giving her a strong, gentle hug back. They join the womenfolk, and, as the
Sky God makes his way towards the distant hills, they return to the rest of the
tribe, carrying their bags filled with the food they have foraged.

~

The following morning, the
menfolk gather in the clearing before the caves, their supplies and weapons
slung across their shoulders. It is time to begin the hunt. Through the
gathering, Mi catches Lu’s eye and
he nods
at
her
. She smiles, dropping a
hand to her belly where their child is stirring. He feels lower in her body
today and she looks down at the bulge. It does look different. Maybe Wu is
getting ready to be born. Excited, she looks up to signal to Lu, but he is now
hidden behind Zo. Mi feels a chill pass through her at hostile the look on his
face. He glowers at her for so long she is forced to look away and she hurries
to her friend, Ka.

“See Zo,” says Mi and turns back
to point at him, but can no longer make Zo out among the other men.

“Men!” At the shout, the chatter
of the tribe suddenly stills as they wait eagerly to hear what their chief will
say. Bak is standing on a rock, his arms raised dramatically.

 
“You hunt,” he continues, miming throwing a spear. “Get meat.”
He mimes again, this time as though struggling beneath a great weight,
pretending to stagger, almost falling off his rock. Everyone watches in silent
awe of their leader as Bak raises his arms again. “Sky God watch.”

Around him a number of men and
women raise their arms towards the sun, repeating Bak’s words, “Sky God watch.
Sky God watch.” The chanting grows louder and louder as others take up the
chant. Finally, when everyone’s arms are raised, Bak shouts over them.

“Go!”

Immediately the chanting ceases
and the men turn away and begin their long journey to find the hoped-for prey.
Standing on tiptoes, Mi catches a last glimpse of Lu before she, Ka and the
other women begin the day’s work.

They spend the rest of the
morning getting a catch of fish ready for drying in the sun, clearing the
shards of flint that were scattered during yesterday’s preparations, and
looking after the children. In the afternoon, Mi returns to the forest with a
number of the other women, to gather fruits and berries, food for the cold
season.

Some of the women begin to dig
holes in the ground, lining them with rocks, a new task that has only been part
of their work for the last two winters. It began after Mi had accidently
dropped a number of fruits among rocks in the snow. When the warm season began,
she discovered that the fruit, which had fallen deep among the rocks, had been
not spoiled as they nestled in the cold and the dark. After further
experimentation, she discovered that fruit could be kept fresh throughout the
winter by storing it in such conditions, and now it is one of the tasks of the
women to make special holes for this purpose.

Mi herself is busy with Ka,
stripping the berries from a small bush, when she suddenly feels a tight,
painful feeling in the bottom of her belly. Dropping the bag, she grips her
stomach and realizes it is time. Ka stops and looks at her anxiously before
snatching up Mi’s bag and placing it with the other one on her shoulders.

“Come,” says Ka, and puts an arm
around Mi to help her walk and signals to one of the men, who have remained
behind to protect the tribe, that they are returning to the caves.

The journey back seems to take
forever. Mi can only manage a handful of steps at a time before the agony grips
her and she has to stop and wait for it to ease. Her legs feel weak and shaky,
and the first drops of milk begin to flow from her painfully swollen breasts.
Despite this, however, Mi is happy, happier than she has ever been before.

“Baby comes,” she says, smiling
to herself. “Wu comes.” And she imagines the joyful surprise this will be for
Lu when he returns from the hunt. As the pain comes again, forcing her to stop,
she comforts herself with thoughts of breastfeeding Wu and what a great strong
man he will become, just like his father. Mi feels Ka’s arm holding her as she
begins to walk again and thanks the Sky God for this woman and for His warmth
giving her the strength to keep going.

When they are only a short
distance from the caves, Mi’s legs finally give way and she can walk no
further. Thankfully there is tall, soft grass here, and as she lays down on it,
Ka shows her what she should do to make the birth easier for both herself and
Wu. She helps Mi get back up into a squatting position and encourages her to try
and jump up and down.

Suddenly, something wet gushes
down onto her feet.

“Good!” says Ka approvingly.
Though childless herself, she has seen many births before and knows this is
going well. Despite the searing pain, Mi forces herself to keep jumping, until
eventually she can bear it no longer and lets out a long moan, raising in pitch
to become a loud scream.

Ka signals to Mi to continue jumping
and bends down to see the top of Wu’s head just beginning to show. She smiles
at Mi and nods approvingly.

“Push,” she says, but at that
moment the pain starts again and Mi can do little more than close her eyes,
breathing in short gasps. Wu’s head emerges and Ka gives Mi another encouraging
nod.

“Push,” says Ka again, and, with
another cry, Mi does so.

“Push!” Ka places her hands to
support Wu as Mi pushes again and the agony is worse than anything
—
more painful
than she could have imagined possible. She screams with the effort as Wu’s
shoulders force their way out, and then suddenly Mi feels the child burst from
her body. “Ye-hey!” says Ka, smiling delightedly as she holds the boy in her
hands. She slaps the child on the back and he begins to cry, a high pitched
wail that somehow causes the milk to trickle from Mi’s breasts. But she feels it
is not yet finished and, pushing once more, Mi feels the afterbirth leaving her
body. Taking a sharp flint from her bag, Ka cuts through the chord that
attaches Wu to his mother, and lays him carefully in Mi’s arms. Through the
exhaustion and soreness, Mi smiles with joy at her first sight of her son.

“Wu,” she says, placing a finger
in his tiny hand. His grip is strong and immediately he tries to suck at her
finger, his crying forgotten in the desire for milk. Mi understands what he
needs and brings his face up to her b reast. As he feeds, she watches him.

“Good Wu,” she whispers, stroking
his dark hair. “Milk make you strong.” To be close to her son
—
to
feed him and to hold him
—
it is all she had imagined and more. She sighs contentedly and
rests her head back on the grass. Everything is perfect.

~

When the other women return from
the forest, they stop when they see Mi and Ka sitting together in the grass
with Wu still at Mi’s breast.

“Look!” one of them shouts and
hurries over. “Baby here!”

“This Wu!” says Mi, as she is
surrounded with women smiling and making sounds of encouragement. Then a number
of them, handing their bags to others, lift her between them, still holding Wu,
and begin to carry her back to the shelter of the caves.

That evening, the womenfolk and
the handful of men, who had stayed behind, celebrate the birth of the new
member of their tribe with fruit, nuts, berries and fish. In addition to this,
Bak kills a large, flightless bird that was caught the previous day and, after
smearing a little of its blood on Wu’s forehead and hanging an ornament made
from the birds’ feathers in his hair to welcome him as the newest member of the
tribe, he hands the carcass to one of the women.

“Make food!” he says. “Big food.
We Eat!”

Everyone is excited. New life is
always good news and the prospect of the menfolk returning with fresh meat
fills the tribe with delight. Mi is looking forward to their return more than
most, because Lu will be able to see his son. She looks down at Wu, wrapped in
an antelope skin and sleeping sweetly in her arms, and knows she is happier
than ever before.

“Come.”

Mi looks up to see Ka standing in
the mouth of her cave, beckoning to her and pointing out towards the lake. It
is late afternoon on the day after giving birth, and it is time to bring Wu to
the Water Spirit. Mi lays down the fruit she has been eating to keep away the
hunger, a hunger she has never known before. She gathers Wu up in her arms and
climbs up stiffly, legs still aching from the birth. As she follows Ka, Mi sees
a number of the womenfolk gathered on the shore, all looking expectantly
towards her. When they arrive at the water’s edge, Ka holds out her hands and
Mi passes Wu into them.

“Wu safe?” she asks, a note of
concern in her voice.

Ka nods and smiles at her. “Wu
safe”.

Holding the baby in her arms, she
walks out into the lake and as she does so the women begin to hum, quietly at
first, but growing in pitch and volume as she gets further out. She stops when
the water is up to her waist and slowly lowers Wu into the water. As his head
disappears beneath the surface of the lake, Mi steps forward, concerned for the
child, but a hand falls on her shoulder in restraint. The humming becomes a
loud moaning, getting higher and louder, and still Ka holds Wu beneath the
water. Then, when Mi can stand it no longer and is about to call out, Ka lifts
him out of the water. Around her the women shout with joy and Mi smiles as she
sees Wu is okay.

Above the shouting, she hears
other voices nearby, the sound of children calling out. She turns to see and at
first she cannot make out what they are saying.

“Men!” The shout is suddenly
clear. “Men come! Meat come!”

The hunters are home!

~

The Sky God is sitting low in
the distance when the men arrive. All those left behind have gathered to
welcome them, with Bak standing at the front, and as the men approach them
excited shouts can be heard from the crowd. Holding Wu, now clean and dry from
his wash in the lake, close to her body, Mi stands on tip toes trying to see
Lu. She can make out the shapes of full bags slung across the shoulders of many
of the men
—
a sure sign of a successful hunt—but she cannot yet spot Lu,
her man. As some of the men set down their heavy loads and move away, she
catches sight of Zo. He has something hanging from his shoulder, but it is no
bag. She stares at it in the failing light. Suddenly Mi is reminded of a memory
she has tried to hide for many years. The memory of a group of hunters
returning with something similar carried on one of the men’s shoulders. It had
been her father, his chest pierced by a rhino. He had still been alive, but
there was nothing anyone could do for him and he had died shortly afterwards.
The sadness of the memory washes over Mi, and is mixed with a terrible dread as
she gazes at the thing Zo is carrying, what she now realizes is a man’s body.