Culture Clash

Hope stood stunned as her daughter showed her the outfit I had brought. Her eyes darted everywhere, but I was hidden, and if I didn't move, I was safe. It was the first lesson for a traveler, or anyone in the wilderness for that matter. He who moves first usually dies. Patience had been bred into me.

Her mother even called out but I remained still. Charity finally noticed the bag on the ground. Before her mother could stop her, she tossed the flap back. Her squeals and giggles made it worth what I had traded to get the contents. There were black walnuts, already cracked and shelled, roasted chestnuts, dried blueberries, cranberries, and raisins all mixed together, and at the bottom was a jug filled with maple syrup. Both mother and child tasted it, and the child laughed. The mother reacted by crying.

When she calmed she faced the woods in the opposite direction from me. "I don't know if you can hear me, but thank you for the kindness you displayed to my daughter. There hasn't been a lot of joy in the past year."

She waited for a response but when none came she took her child by the hand. "Come along, baby. And put the stopper back in that jug! You'll get it all over your new clothes."

She picked up the pail and most of the clothes, and Charity followed behind, wearing the bear cape and licking her hands industriously.

*****

There was a lot of talking and hand waving when they got back to town. The settlers were casting wary eyes towards the trees. If they knew how easily they could be overcome, they wouldn't have been able to sleep. I could have taken the seven men Jacob and I had traveled with and taken the whole town without a single death, well, on our side, anyway.

Charity really didn't help when she was questioned by the Reverend and told him I was a giant and never touched the ground when I walked. There was a muttering among the people and whispers of sorcery and witchcraft. I almost laughed out loud until I saw how serious they were. I'd have to tread really carefully here. Despite professing to be children of an enlightened religion, they were really narrow-minded and superstitious.

"The child may not keep these things!"

"Well then, Reverend, I'll get rid of them. Just as soon as you bring me winter clothes that will be just as warm and durable. Until then, she'll keep them. I'll not have my only child shivering and sick because you didn't like the source of her clothes. You need to face reality, Woolsey. We're in real danger here. We don't have enough food for the winter, probably don't have enough firewood, and this man may be our salvation. I for one think that God sent him to help us. We should at least hear him out."

"And how do you propose to do that, Sister Hope? Has anyone but the child ever seen this man?"

"I have a feeling he's about, and will be making contact soon." She said it with a smile, stroking her daughter's hair.

The crowd broke up and the Reverend gathered his men about him, speaking urgently. Shortly afterward, they all took their muskets and bows and went into the forest, going in different directions. I could have touched two as they walked past.

They came back just before dark, tired and empty-handed. I'd been off hunting and got lucky, finding a bear gorging on acorns before she went into hibernation. One shot through the head dropped her, and I bent to the arduous task of skinning her and preparing the meat. I felt eyes and grinned. "Greetings, brother."

Jacob strolled out of the shadows, grinning. "You're getting too white. I'd been there for five minutes."

I grinned back. "You came out of the East and circled around. I didn't know you were trying to be quiet."

We clasped each others' arms. "Why did you come back?"

"I do not trust these people. They are not like the whites from home. Besides, you said you were going to trade. I brought a pack back with me. Maybe we can profit."

We talked as we worked the bear, agreeing he would remain out of sight to keep them calm. He did help me carry the meat to the town. We put half of it at the church and spread the rest, giving Hope and her daughter a ham, her elderly friend a big piece of the loin, and gave the rest to two older couples. Jacob left, going back to the Mohawk village with a mission. I stayed to see the reaction.

There were shouts of surprise and joy, especially among the ones who got personal packages. The Reverend suggested the meat may be poisoned, but a piece was cooked and a man ate it happily. When he was still alive two hours later, fires sprang up and every piece was roasted.

That afternoon Hope paused when her daughter brought her water, letting the bonnet slide off and shading her eyes as she looked towards the spring, a small smile playing around her lips. I'd met Charity at the spring again, telling her I would bring trade goods with me into the village tomorrow morning if her mother gave me the sign.

We decided Jacob would remain in the woods, in case my reception was not warm. I waited until midmorning, when everyone was busy with their chores. Walking out of the wood and standing on their common before I was noticed. Charity squealed and ran to me, trying to stop but misjudging her momentum. I caught her before she could fall, pulling her into my arms. I was surprised when I tried to let her go but she latched on to me and refused to let go.

I carried her over to her mother. "I believe this is yours."

She gave me a warm smile. "Aye, she is, but I hear you're a trader. Perhaps there's something of value in your back that we could trade for."

Charity's eyes got big until she saw her mother's grin. I grinned at both. "I'd have to carry ten packs to come close to the value of this child. Perhaps we can come to some other agreement for the things I carry."

The others were clustered around me in awe and a little fear. They parted when the Reverend came into view, followed by three men with muskets. I had my rifle and both pistols, as well as my bow, knives, and sword so I felt no fear. I also knew somewhere out there Jacob was tracking the Reverend with his shotgun. I sat Charity down gently and she ran giggling to her mother. The whole settlement was waiting with bated breath as he stopped before me.

"Who are you and what do you want here?"

Well, it was as much welcome as I expected. "My name is Henry Philip Morgan, of Carolina. I am a trader seeking to sell my wares."

"Carolina? Are you running from something, the law perhaps?"

I let the smile slip and gave them a brief glimpse of my war face. The last nine men who had seen it died. There was blood on my back trail, but it was honest blood, shed in defense of myself or family. "I go where I want, when I want, at my decision and no one else's. There are no warrants, no constable with my name on his lips. How about you? This is really a desolate place, far from your people. Are you running from something?"

The men took a step back, while the Reverend purpled in anger. "Begone, you Godless heathen, before He strikes you down for the audacity of trying to consort with decent folk!"

I looked at him calmly, steadily, then turned away. "You, I will not deal with. You are nothing or less than nothing, a pompous fool who has let a little power go to his head. The loving God I follow is probably laughing at you. I ought to leave, then come back in the spring and pick up what I want from your dead bodies. Are there any among you who are willing to trade? To learn how to live in this harsh land? If so, step forward."

They milled about while the preacher glowered. I was just about to leave when I felt a tug on my leggings. I looked down to see Charity. "Will you show me where to find more of these?"

I smiled and she smiled back. "Yes, I will, if your mother and others will come along. It is a good thing to know. Gather baskets."

She immediately ran to her home, coming back with two big and one small basket, looking expectantly at her mother. Half a dozen couples and their children decided to join us. I took them about half a mile out, into a stand of chestnut trees. The season was just about over but there were enough still on the ground to make it fairly easy to fill the baskets. I took a couple of leather strings I kept in my pack and fashioned some shoulder straps for the small basket Charity carried, and the big one her mother had. I even put head straps on them, explaining as I went along how much easier to bear the weight they made. Three hours later we were heading home. Charity made me proud when she told her mother this wasn't the way we had come.

"You are right, child. I have one more thing I would show you."

It was a hazelnut thicket, the limbs still heavy with their treasure. Breaking a couple open, I had them taste the meat of the nuts. They both smiled at the flavor. I smiled back. "These are just the things to lay by the fire on a cold winter's night, slowly roasting. They are also very sustaining."

They knew they couldn't pick many, but they crammed as many as they could into the already full containers and filled the pockets of their coats. I talked to the women as we walked in a loud enough voice for all to hear. "Store these safely. They attract mice and squirrels, as well as opossums and raccoons, who would happily take everything you worked for. Then again, opossum is mighty tasted if it's cooked right. At home, we roast them with a sweet potato in their mouths."

"I wouldn't eat anything like that."

I looked at the woman who made the statement and smiled. "Madame, the difference between what you will eat or won't eat depends greatly on the last time you ate. If it were opossum or starvation, that 'possum would look mighty tasty."

She shook her head in disagreement, but the look in her eyes made me know I was making her think. I watched as the rest of the settlement gathered around those brave enough to face the forest, exclaiming over the bounty. I caught Charity watching me, so I winked and faded back into the woods. It took them a few minutes to realize I was gone.

I was back the next morning, and after making sure they were safely filling baskets with hazelnuts, I put the men to guard the workers, taking a young man with a musket and going hunting. We'd gone about four miles when we got lucky, finding a large moose, female, wading knee-deep in a lake, her head reaching up to grasp a branch. I shot her just behind the skull, going through her spinal cord and killing her instantly. The young man helped me drag her to shore, going on about how lucky the shot was. "A lesson to remember, Ezekiel, luck is often just careful planning done right. We waited as long as we did for just that shot, one that killed instantly while doing minimal damage to the meat." I slit her throat, and we watched the lifeblood drain away.

"Zeke, we can't possibly carry all this meat back. If we leave any, the wolves and buzzards will be at it before we're out of earshot. You have to stay here and guard it. Use your bow instead of your musket, so no one can find you. Keep your eyes open."

I took my tomahawk and cut down two saplings, stripping them while he watched. "Cut about a dozen more this size while you wait. It will help us get the meat back. I'll return in about three hours with help."

He was looking mighty uncertain when I left, whipping his head around at any movement or sound. I hadn't gone three hundred yards when a Mohawk brave fell into step with me. They knew I knew they were following me and weren't being particularly stealthy, but Zeke never knew they were there.

"Your new friends are like children. Why do you not just leave and let them die? Then they would never be a bother again."

"Best to let them live. If you don't the next bunch might be more capable and will find a way to blame your people for their deaths. That is trouble you do not need."

Bear Man didn't like it but he understood the logic. Even up here the threat of the white man's encroachment was well-documented. I'd struck a deal with the tribe when I started this, having them tally up every large animal we took and I would give them the value in trade goods the next summer. They thought me foolish for game was plentiful but agreed. He grinned. "I think the woman with the golden hair has much to do with it. Why woo her? You know there are many maidens in my village that would be a fine wife to one such as you. She is useless in your world."

"You are right, Bear Man, but she is the one I seek. And she is made of sterner stuff than you think. Of them all, she and her daughter are the most willing to learn. Besides, when I offer, she may refuse me."

"Just take her. If she is as you say, you could train her."

"I'd rather it be her choice, my friend. It will be simpler that way."

He just shrugged and turned off the path. I found the nut gatherers resting in the shade, their baskets full. They were talking about returning the next day when I appeared among them.

"I wish you'd stop doing that!"

I looked at the man. "I wish you were more aware. What if I had been someone who meant you harm? Your blood would be running across the ground before you knew I was here."

He looked distinctly uneasy until I grinned. "Come, I would teach you woodcraft. I need you and two more men to come with me. Zeke and I took a moose, and we cannot carry all the meat. It will feed the village for days."

He seemed eager, but the others not as much. I shrugged. "As you wish. But I tell you this. Those that do not share in the work do not get a share of the food. You must always work together for the common good."

Charity tugged my sleeve. "May I come? We do not have a man, my father has passed, but we are willing to share the work."

I looked at Hope and how proud she was of her daughter. I felt the need to get them away from here even stronger, before her society ground the independence out of her. "You may, little dove, if your mother also comes. It would not be proper otherwise."

Hope grinned. "I can think of no safer place she could be than under your protection. I would be happy to go, I have lived in the confines of my little community forever. I am eager to see new things, even if they are just trees."

We took the trail, and Charity almost skipped with excitement. I started showing her things, the tracks of a deer, the bare spot on a sapling where he had rubbed the velvet off his antlers, common things to me but amazing to her. She spotted some tracks and asked what they were. "Wolf, Little Dove. It looks to be a pack of about twenty, and the tracks aren't an hour old. No doubt they smell the moose and the blood draws them in. Stay close, just in case."

That news was not received well by anyone. Charity and Hope stayed really close. I let the others get a bit ahead before I reached under my shirt and gave her the little single-shot pistol. "Know how to use this? Good. Don't unless you have to. Don't worry about hitting anything, the noise and the smoke will drive them away."

We never saw a wolf. That many people would make them stay away. They might worry over the offal, but they were welcome to it. It was a shame to waste so much. I told them that almost all of the animal was either edible or useful in other ways. "You can use the brain and the urine to soften hides for tanning. The sewins can be used to make bowstrings. You just have to know how."

Most looked at me like they thought I was making it up. I stopped suddenly, looking around. Charity immediately asked why. "You see those trees there? The ones with the three-toed leaves? That's sassafras. You use the roots for tea. It's good for fever, digestion, and a lot of other things. You should always use the roots from the smallest trees you can find, the older ones are not as beneficial."

We had to immediately dig some. I took my knife and scraped away the dirt from some of the small roots and let her use my tomahawk to chop them out of the ground, cringing as she hit rocks. I'd have to sharpen it tonight. "Can we have some when we get home?"

"First we have to wash and roast them. Then we pound them and toss the pulp into boiling water and let it steep. For extra flavor, you can add a bit of sugar or ginger, even a spoonful of maple syrup."

I showed the people how to lash two poles together and lay the meat on them, making it easy for one person to pull the weight of what three people could carry. I knew from the look on their faces they would remember. I marveled again at how unprepared for life in the woods they were.

*****

The Reverend ran up to us when we got back, fuming. "Why have you led these people away? They have jobs to do to ensure our survival this winter and roaming about in the woods is not going to help!"

Hope looked at him and grinned. "Well, Woolsey, how much work did you do today? Harvest anything; cut any hay, chop any wood? We gathered over three hundred pounds of nuts and brought home over five hundredweight of meat. A pretty productive day, in my opinion."

"You! You need to learn your place! I must see you married at the first opportunity, that should bring you back into the fold."

She looked him up and down in a measuring way. "Who do you suggest I marry? There are only three unmarried men here, and one of them is barely fifteen. The only man my age is you and let me tell you now in front of all these witnesses, you would be the last man on earth I would consider matrimony with."

He was so angry he went red, purple, and then pale. He was about to lash out when Charity spoke. "You're wrong, Momma. Mr. Henry isn't married. He told me so."

I think I blushed as deeply as Hope then before the preacher started again. "He is a heathen, a half step above the savages he associates with! I refuse to permit any such foolishness.."

He stopped talking when he saw the expression on my face, turned abruptly, and left. We cut the meat up, distributing a fair share to every household. I talked as we worked. "In an Indian village, they all work together to make sure the tribe survives. If one brave should kill a deer, he shares the meat with the village. If another is a better fisherman, he shares the catch. If one woman is a better farmer than another, she shares. They not only share, they teach, so that all may benefit. Most of this meat is not ready yet, you should let it hang for two days. It will let most of the blood seep away and the meat will be more tender."

I slipped away while they worked the meat, grinning at Charity. She grinned back. I looked up to see her mother grinning, too, so I gave a small wave and disappeared. I had a good camp, easily defended, and I did not trust these people enough to sleep under their roof.

The next morning, I showed up to see some had decided to gather hazelnuts while the others worked the land. The only thing not meager in the fields were the pumpkins. I mentioned it to Hope and she sighed.

"Yes, it's too bad we have no way of keeping them all winter. They start to rot in late January and there's nothing left by the middle of February."

I marveled again how unprepared for life in the wilderness these people were. I took a ripe pumpkin, peeled it, took the seeds out, and sliced it in thin rings, hanging them over a fire, drying them slowly. It took most of the day, but by suppertime, the rings had dehydrated into what my people called pumpkin leather. I handed them to her while the others watched.

"Here. Now you can have pumpkin all winter. You simply soak them for a few hours and they make a fine soup. Do not throw away the seeds! when they are dry you can roast them. They're very good."

Hope and Charity invited me to share a meal and were surprised when I declined. "All due respect, but I don't like confined spaces when I'm among strangers. I'm sure you mean me no harm, but can you vouch for the others? I'm a stranger among you, with a full pack of trade goods and some fine weaponry."