Clan of the Cave Geeks

Book One:

The Stargazer and the Toolmaker

CHAPTER 5

Conveniently, the poor weather broke a couple of days before they figured they'd want to head down to Lakeside, and the sun rose over a dazzling, snow covered landscape.  Bundled up in pretty much every garment he owned, R'dek stood at the entrance to Rodne's cave and viewed the pristine surroundings with pleasure.

"Such beauty," R'dek said with a sigh as Rodne came out to stand beside him.  "You have truly chosen a magnificent place to make your home."

"I chose this place to make my home because it was far away from people," grumbled Rodne, "and you'll forget all about how 'beautiful' this snow is once you've spent half the afternoon floundering through it."

They were going out to check the traps that they'd set just before the weather turned, in hopes of finding something to contribute to the feast in the village.  Rodne was, by his own admission, a 'crap hunter', but he'd gotten fairly skilled, by necessity, at making and setting traps.  R'dek had introduced him to a number of novel refinements as they'd been setting out the last batch, and Rodne was keenly interested in seeing how they'd worked.  He was not all that keen, however, on hiking through the deep, newly fallen snow.

Equipped with a long staff to help him make his way, Rodne broke a trail through the drifts with R'dek following in his wake, and before long they had reached the first of the traps.  Happily, they found that it had snagged a nice fat rabbit, which Rodne tucked into his shoulder bag before resetting the trap, and then they set off for the next.

By the end of the afternoon they had collected two more rabbits and, in the big standing log trap R'dek had help him set up, a small, yearling buck.  It was a good take, but by the time they had returned to Rodne's home he was exhausted and complaining endlessly about the snow, and R'dek was too cold to tell him to shut up.  It had been some years since he had spent any time in such a cold climate, and his present set of garments simply wasn't up to it.

After some time resting and warming by the fire, however, both their spirits were improved considerably, and they dressed their game together in happy anticipation of the coming festivities.  Rodne was happier still at the advent of what looked to be some clear, nearly moonless nights, and so R'dek was left to his own devices for the next few evenings.  He put them to good use, however, and by the time they were preparing to leave on the journey to Lakeside, he had some worthwhile results to show for his efforts.

They rose early that morning, and R'dek smiled to see Rodne, staff in hand, wrapped in furs and laden with food, standing at his threshold with an expression of dread as he looked out over the unbroken snow covering the track down the mountain.

"This is so going to suck," he complained with unhappy anticipation. "I really hate hiking through deep snow."

"It can be something of a chore," R'dek agreed, coming out to stand beside him.  "Still, there are ways to make it somewhat less so."

"Besides waiting for Spring?" Rodne quipped, looking back to finally notice the objects R'dek held in his hand, which he had spent the last few nights constructing.

"I understand that it is a tradition in Lakeside, as it is in many places, to give gifts at Midwinter?" R'dek asked, holding one pair of the objects up, offering them to Rodne.  Rodne nodded, looking puzzled.

"I hope it is not too much of a break in tradition to present my gift early," he said.  "But if you are able to have them now then it will save you much effort on the journey to the village, and it will save me having to listen to your complaining."

"Um… what are they?" Rodne asked.

"We called them 'snowshoes' in the area where I grew up," explained R'dek, kneeling in the trampled snow at Rodne's doorstep to place his booted foot over the network of woven canes and tie up the thong bindings.  "You fasten them on your feet like this, and they make it so that they do not sink so deeply into the snow as you walk."

"Really?"  Rodne's reply was both puzzled and dubious, but R'dek had expected nothing else.

"Try them and you will see," R'dek replied with confidence.  "Do you want me to help you putting them on?"

"No, no," said Rodne shaking his head as he knelt to do as R'dek had done.  "Like this, right?"

R'dek looked to see that Rodne had done up the bindings correctly, and nodded when he saw that he had.  "Now, watch me," he said, striding into the deep snow.  There was a special gait one used when wearing snowshoes, and it took R'dek a few moments to recall it.  He strode a little way down the hill and then looked back at Rodne.  "Lift your feet up very high as you walk!" he called.

"You know, you weigh a lot less than me!" Rodne called back as he stepped tentatively into a snow-bank.  He stumbled a bit at first, forgetting R'dek's advice, then got the hang of it, tramping up to where R'dek stood with an expression of delighted surprise on his face.

"Wow!" he said with childlike glee. "These are amazing!  They really work!  Thanks!"

"Happy Midwinter, Rodne," said R'dek with a smile.

"I've, um, got something for you, too," Rodne said, stepping forward to take the lead, "but it's kind of packed away.  I was going to give it to you when we got to town."

"That will be fine," R'dek replied with a pleased smile, for he had not really expected a gift from Rodne.  "I will enjoy the anticipation."

~*~

They arrived in Lakeside the next day, earlier and in much better spirits than either of them had expected.  Rodne had lent R'dek one of his sleeping furs to wrap himself in for the journey as well, so that he'd managed to keep warm enough, though it was a bit cumbersome and kept having to be retied so as not to slip off R'dek's shoulders.  Rodne had been surprised at how unprepared R'dek was for the cold weather, though R'dek had mentioned that he'd made a trade for a warm winter tunic with a woman from the village, who had promised to have it done by Midwinter.  Rodne hoped that this was so, for he hated seeing R'dek shivering with cold.  It reminded him of how close they'd come to losing him in that first snowfall.

Lakeside was thronging with visitors when they arrived, but lookouts had spotted them coming from a distance so Li'bet, Caresn and a handful of others were there to greet them warmly as they entered the village.  Among those waiting to welcome them was the woman with R'dek's tunic, which he was most happy to see.  Even Rodne had to admit that she'd done fine job, for it was not only lined with fur, but the cuffs and hood were trimmed with it as well, and she had placed a line of decorative stitches around the hem and sleeves.

Naturally, R'dek was quite eager to put it on, and Rodne was eager to have his heavy pack off, and so Caresn, who'd agreed to have them both as guests for the festivities, invited them back to his hut to see to all those things.  Caresn's place was cozy and warm as always, and Rodne hardly had his pack off before R'dek was slipping his outer garments off and wriggling into his new tunic.

It fit perfectly, and it had to be terrifically warm, the way R'dek was grinning.  More than that, though, R'dek looked really… nice in it.  It was surprising to Rodne how pleasant it was to see the toolmaker in something more well made than the ragged hide tunic he generally wore.  It made him seem downright handsome.  Rodne himself had no garments that were anything other than utilitarian, and had never felt the need for fancy wear.  R'dek hadn't likely asked for the fancy stitching either, but Rodne had a feeling that some of the women in Lakeside, including this seamstress apparently, had their eye on the man, and she was likely trying to make an impression.

Caresn was nodding appreciatively as well as he took in the sight of R'dek in his new outfit.  "This is Pretna's work, isn't it?" he asked.

R'dek nodded.  "I had nothing so splendid in mind," he said, "but I can't say I'm displeased."

"It looks very fine on you, lad," Caresn approved.  "Rodne, you ought to have her make something for you as well.  Ye could do with something fine like this."

"Mmm," said Rodne non-committally.  "Somehow I don't think she'd be quite as motivated on anything she made for me."

Caresn looked like he wanted to dispute this but Rodne forestalled the discussion by pulling the game he'd brought out of his pack.

"Check this out," he said, proffering a haunch of buck.  "We really scored on the trap line before we came down, so we've got lots for the cooks this year.  Oh, and this is for you."  Rodne offered the fattest of the rabbits he'd trapped to Caresn.  "Happy Midwinter."

"Why, thank you Rodne!" said Caresn with delight.  "I've something for the two of you as well.  Here…"  He rummaged around on a shelf for a few moments and then turned to them with two small, sealed clay pots.  Rodne recognized them right away.

"Loren brought me a whole brace of geese this Fall," he explained, "and, well, the fat is fine for cooking with, and it's good for dry skin as well… but I'm thinking the two of you might have another use for it…"

Rodne and R'dek exchanged glances and grinned a little sheepishly.  "It may be that we do," R'dek said with a smile.  "Thank you, Caresn."

Slipping his new pot of goose fat into his pack, Rodne came upon the little hide wrapped piece of birch bark he'd created for R'dek and drew it out now, feeling suddenly very conscious of how impractical it was.

"R'dek," he began hesitantly, "this… ah, this is something I made for you."  He laid the small package in R'dek's hands and watched nervously as the toolmaker's clever fingers untied the twine that bound it up.  R'dek's expression was at first puzzled as the marked up birch bark was revealed, then intrigued as he moved it closer to fire to see it better.

"What is it?" asked Caresn, puzzled and curious.

"These…" began R'dek with wonder in his voice, "these are the number marks Rodne uses to figure the movements of the stars… and these are the marks he uses for the moving stars… and these are for the different formations –the shapes that the regular stars make."

"Oh, aye, like the bear and the serpent and the sleeping woman?" Caresn replied.

"Yes, yes," R'dek murmured, absorbed in the object.  "But these… these numbers –thirty nine summers, the third moon, half full… this is when I was born, ne?"

"I hope so," said Rodne. "I mean, that's what I meant it to be."

"Rodne… these are the stars that were in the sky when I was born?" R'dek asked with astonishment.

Rodne shrugged.  "As near as I can figure.  I mean, it's not like there's any way to check if I'm right."

R'dek gazed from Rodne back to the piece of birch bark in his hand.  "I could still see the stars then," he murmured, "and this is what I would have seen.  I… Rodne, thank you."

"I, um, I'm glad you like it," Rodne said, smiling down at the floor.  "It's not really good for anything, like the snowshoes you made for me, but it's something I could make for you myself…"

"Rodne," R'dek turned to him now, his eyes bright with feeling as he laid a hand on Rodne's shoulder.  "Those snowshoes will last one winter, maybe two, but this… this will live in my heart for the rest of my life."

"Oh," said Rodne softly, and then R'dek's arms were around him, drawing him into a warm embrace.

It was the tradition to throw the bachelor's lodge open to all the residents of Lakeside and their guests for the midwinter festivities, and it was here that Rodne and R'dek delivered their two venison haunches to much adulation.  There was already a fair amount of food laid out for all on a big ox hide by the fire, and both men repaired here as soon as they had made their delivery, for the voyage had left them with a healthy appetite.

They had no sooner settled in a corner to enjoy their repast of fish jerky, flat-bread and honey sweetened tea than Rodne's seasonal well-wishers began to appear, bearing the customary gifts.  Rodne did begin to feel a little self conscious about the small pile of material goods forming at his side, but soon enough Radek began to accumulate his own pile, mainly of trades he'd made before he'd left, but of some gifts as well.

Pretna and her friends had made them each a pair of sturdy, fur lined boots, and some of the other young women from the village had made them a pair of large carry baskets to take their new belongings home in.  Rodne knew that by now there could be little doubt of how unlikely it was that R'dek would settle with any of these young women, so they would appear to have made these gifts out of kindness alone, which confused Rodne a bit, but warmed his heart in an odd way as well.

Their contribution of venison as well as several other fine looking pieces of game were all turning on spits over the central fire and well on their way to done when the crowds of traders and well-wishers finally thinned out, and shortly thereafter the musicians and drummers started up.  Rodne had never been one for dancing, but R'dek was keen for it, and was up and jumping around as soon as the music got going.  Though a few of the single women dancing with him looked to be trying to entice the toolmaker into something more than dancing later in the evening, Rodne felt not the least bit of concern.  Instead he found it quite pleasant to watch R'dek dancing, especially after he pulled his new tunic off and commenced dancing in his leggings only, shirtless and barefoot.

Rising to make another run at the food, which now featured a variety of roasted game birds, Rodne turned his mind to the story he would soon be asked for, customarily after the musicians took their first break.  This they did just as Rodne was finishing his goose leg and a bowl of wild rice with herbs.  R'dek came to collapse beside him then, still a little breathless from dancing and with his own bowl heaped with food, and handed Rodne the notorious flask.

"They say you will be giving us story soon?" Radek asked as Rodne took the flask.

Rodne nodded, then shrugged as he tipped the flask back to take a good sized swig.  "There'll be other story tellers too," he said after the liquor's burn had passed, "but I like to go first and get it over with."

"This will help relax you then," said R'dek with a grin as he tore into a deliciously greasy piece of duck.  "Go on, have some more."

R'dek, as it turned out, was quite right about that, as he was about so many things, and the story of The Winter Hunter and the Great Bear had never flowed so easily from him.  It never failed to amaze him how the crowd of children and adults would listen raptly, every time, in spite of the fact that many of the listeners had heard the tale before, some of them enough times to tell it themselves.  As always, he tried to balance the dose of sheer fantasy he was delivering by ending the tale with a real fact or two, and as always, the crowd lost interest as soon as he did.

"So now, when you think of this story," Rodne continued doggedly as many of his audience rose to make for the food again, "you'll remember that though the group of stars shaped like a big bear will stay in our sky all year, the ones in the shape of a man with a long hunting knife in his belt will be leaving us before the summer comes."

There was a sizable crowd around the food as Rodne stepped away from the central fire, so he returned to sit by R'dek's side, happily taking another swig from the flask his friend offered him.

"That was very good," R'dek said with an admiring smile, "and I have seen more than a few story tellers in my travels, you know."

"But they never bother to listen to the actually true stuff at the end," Rode complained, swiping some dried cherries off of R'dek's plate.  "All they want to hear is the nonsense I make up.  I just don't get that."

"In all my travels," R'dek replied with a shrug, "I have met only a handful of people who have the desire, such as you and I do, to understand the true nature of the world.  We are a rare breed, my friend, and we are very fortunate indeed whenever we meet another who is similarly inclined."

By now the musicians were gathering for another round and the crowd around the food had thinned somewhat, and so the two of them rose, R'dek to return to the dance floor and Rodne to the food.  Rodne was more than content to sit and eat while watching R'dek moving his body to the music, dancing at times with some of the village's unattached young women and at times with some of the prettier young men from the bachelor's lodge.  After a bit Rodne saw him step away from the dancers to have an animated conversation with one of the young hunters, and he was struck by a troubling realization.

Would R'dek, like the Winter Hunter of his story, be leaving them in the Spring?  It only made sense.  He'd found the flints he'd come to Lakeside for, and by the end of the Winter he would likely have made all the trades he was going to with the locals.  He already had quite a collection of knives, scrapers and spear points made up, Rodne had seen, and he'd have quite a few more done by the time the weather turned warm and the mountain passes cleared.  He'd need to move on in then order to trade all of those, wouldn't he?

Suddenly Rodne's appetite for the many delicacies heaped upon his plate was gone.  He'd known that there was a reason he'd wanted to hold his affections for the toolmaker in check, but now it was too late.  Naturally, he scowled to himself, if the universe had allowed him any happiness it was bound to be a fleeting one –granted only so that he could miss them in their absence.  For so much of his life he'd thought nothing of his loneliness and isolation, but these things would hurt when R'dek left, as they had not hurt since he was a child.  Rodne felt an anticipation of that hurt and sorrow settle into his heart and, even as the sound of music and joyful celebration surrounded him, he suddenly felt terribly alone.

So lost was he in these dark musings that he did not notice R'dek's presence until he dropped down beside him, still breathing hard from his recent exertions.  Head bowed, Rodne felt rather than saw the sudden change in R'dek's demeanor as he became aware of Rodne's mood, and a warm, gentle hand came to rest on his shoulder.

"Rodne?" R'dek asked softly.  "What is wrong?"

Rodne couldn't face him, couldn't find the strength to raise his head, but he couldn't avoid the question either, and so came right out with it.  "You're leaving in the Spring, aren't you?" he asked.

R'dek went still beside him, though his hand remained firmly on his shoulder, and he was silent for a moment.  Finally he drew an unsteady breath and asked, "Do you wish me to?"

Rodne swallowed hard.  To confess the truth would expose all his hurts and only make them worse, he was certain, and yet he could not bring himself to lie to R'dek.  He struggled with it for a long moment and then gave up.  "No," he admitted wretchedly at last.

The sigh he heard from R'dek sounded… relieved?  And the hand on his shoulder tightened its grip and pulled him close.  "Then I will not," said R'dek.

Rodne lifted his head abruptly, his eyes wide with astonishment.  "But… don't you have to… Don't you always…?"

R'dek's smile was kind and his eyes as guileless as ever as he reached out with his free hand to touch Rodne's face affectionately.  "It is how it has always been for me in the past, yes, but I am not so young as I once was, you know," he said.  "I always knew that the day must come when I would travel no longer, and I hoped… with all my heart I hoped that I would find a place I could call home, that would welcome me.  I hardly dared hope that I would find a person, as well, a like spirit with whom I could be myself and share the things I love."  R'dek's smile grew very wide now. 

"Having found both those things here, I would be very foolish to leave, you know?"

"Well, when you put it that way," Rodne grinned, "yeah, I guess so."

R'dek grinned in answer, and then leaned in to kiss him, hand still resting on Rodne's cheek.  "Now," he said drawing back from the kiss just enough to speak, so close that his lips nearly brushed Rodne's as he did, " as I have already made arrangements with some of the hunters to trade my tools for me as they travel, the only question remaining is whether I will be building a new dwelling place here in the village, finding my own cave in the mountains, or staying just were I am…?"

"You have any complaints with the current living arrangements?" Rodne asked, nibbling at R'dek's ear, surprised at his behavior in such a public place but unable to resist.

"Not one," answered R'dek, nuzzling Rodne's hair.  "And you?"

"Couldn't be better," sighed Rodne, resting his forehead contentedly on R'dek's shoulder.

"Then there is no need for additional labors on my part?"  R'dek mused happily as Rodne nodded against his shoulder.  "This I like."  Now R'dek lifted Rodene's head with both his hands to kiss him warmly once more.   Then, when the kiss had ended, he made to stand, pulling Rodne up with him.

"Come," he said as Rodne resisted.  "We celebrate the occasion with a dance!"

"No, no, no, no…" Rodne objected, though he was standing now.  "I so do not dance!"

"Have you ever tried, Rodne?" R'dek cajoled.

"Well, no, but…" Rodne attempted to object.

"Then you cannot say you do not dance, can you?" R'dek insisted.

"And you can't say that I can!" Rodne insisted right back.

"Perhaps not," R'dek seemed to give way.  "But what I can say is that *you* have been watching *me* all night.  I have seen you.  So.  The least you can do is give me a chance to watch *you*, yes?  Is only fair."

Rodne knew he had lost, fair and square, but he still complained as R'dek lead him to where the musicians were starting up a new tune.  "I'll look like an idiot," he mumbled, but R'dek only chuckled and kissed him on the nose, then handed him the flask of lightning water.

"Here," he said, grinning evilly, "this will make you care less."

Rodne allowed how this was likely true and so took a generous swallow, and then another for good measure, feeling his body relax as the liquor's fires warmed it from inside.  Handing the flask back to R'dek to watch him tip his head back to take another sip himself, Rodne noticed that Caresn and Loren had stepped onto the dance floor as well.  There were a lot of appreciative sounds coming from a crowd of young women as they began to dance, and these sounds escalated as R'dek took Rodne's hand and pulled him out to an open spot on the floor.

Paralyzed for a moment with self-consciousness, Rodne spotted

Caresn glancing his way, grinning merrily and eyes twinkling with glee.  "C'mon, man," he called.  "Ye can do it!"

R'dek had already started moving in tempo with the drummers, dancing most beguilingly around Rodne where he stood dazedly watching.  Feeling the warmth of the lightning water coursing through his veins, Rodne slowly began to mirror R'dek's movements, feeling the rhythm he moved to and letting it guide him.

Rodne flushed at the sound of the women watching suddenly breaking into loud, appreciative ululations, but did not stop, losing himself in the sound of the music instead. The drummers increased their tempo and so did he and he found he could continue moving along with them and watch R'dek, his sweat drenched body illuminated by the firelight so that it seemed to glow. The toolmaker threw his head back and laughed with joy as Rodne watched, and he felt himself do likewise, letting himself be consumed with the moment.

Warmed by the fire without and the lightning water within, heart full to bursting with happiness, Rodne danced and laughed and knew, possibly for the first time in his life, the simple and uncomplicated joy of just being alive.