Glade and Ivory Ch. 26

"Is there no one at all I can fuck to help further my village's cause?"

"You are old," said the shaman again.

"I am also very experienced and greatly talented."

"Perhaps the chief's sons will benefit from your tuition," suggested the shaman.

"I believe they would."

Ivory was shocked by Glade's account. "You bartered your body for the sexual satisfaction of children?" she remarked incredulously.

Glade nodded. "It was only for the good of your tribe," she said.

However inept and clumsy the chief's three young sons were, they were duly initiated into the realm of the experienced and Glade achieved what she wanted. The chief didn't deign to speak to her, of course. Foreigners such as Glade who belonged to a tribe so wilfully ignorant of the Cave Painters' culture weren't worthy of such condescension. It was the shaman who passed on the chief's decision.

"The lord of our village, may he be forever worthy, has decreed that your people be allowed to hunt in the plains of the Great Tongue Glacier," he told her.

"Are these good hunting grounds?" Glade asked the shaman warily.

"The lord is wise and generous," he answered carefully. "He cares deeply for the people in the village who hunt and gather in the hills and valleys of the mountain. The best hunting grounds are naturally reserved for those who pay him allegiance."

"Are the hunting grounds that have been allocated to my husband those where no Cave Painter would choose to hunt?"

"This is land in which you are free to hunt without incurring the wrath of our chief," said the shaman. "You have the lord's word that as long as you don't trespass onto land reserved for our tribe, you are free to hunt, slaughter, skin and eat all the bison, rhinoceros, deer and aurochs that roam in that territory. That is his solemn word and the best you can ever hope for."

Glade was then introduced to Ochre, the warrior assigned to accompany Glade and the Mammoth Hunters down the hill slopes and back to the valley. Glade knew as soon as she met him that he would much rather stay in the village than help the rustic northerners and it was only because he knew how accommodating Glade would be to his sexual needs that he agreed to accompany them.

"So, Ochre has also been fucking you?" asked an affronted Ivory.

"Naturally," said Glade.

"And in plain sight of the Chief and the other warriors?"

"Of course," said Glade. "If he hadn't, then he might have decided to abandon us and allow us to be slaughtered by his tribe for not settling in the land allocated to us."

Glade had to handle all communication between Ochre and Chief Cave Lion. She explained what had been decided and that Ochre would accompany them to the Mountain Valley where Ptarmigan and the others were awaiting their return. Then when they were gathered together, he would lead them to the plains of the Great Tongue Glacier. She also outlined her agreement to provide sexual services to Ochre. The warriors were naturally indignant, but it was apparent that Chief Cave Lion was relieved merely to still be alive.

"It is a small price," he said with resignation. "We must be grateful that the chief of the Cave Painters has seen the worth of our cause and has been so generous."

The march back was long and hard, but was greatly relieved when after only two days they encountered the second expedition led by Grey Wolf and Cave Bear. The snow had settled so deep that every step forward was an effort, especially for Chief Cave Lion who was badly wounded and whose arm was now permanently twisted. The little relief afforded from the snow and icy wind were diversions that lengthened the journey by the need to traipse through woods and cling to the shelter of cliff faces.

Ochre knew the lands intimately. He found the best places for the Mammoth Hunters to rest at night, such as small crevices in the hillside or deep within especially dense areas of woodland. He helped his rustic charges catch game, but he was very particular as to which animals they were permitted to hunt. It was the Cave Painters' custom to hunt each animal only in certain seasons and of these animals to only kill the old or the lame or the non-breeding males. Such principles of animal husbandry were novel to the Mammoth Hunters and they chafed at this in irritation, but Glade was familiar with such traditions and understood how over the generations it ensured that there was always enough food from one year to the next.

Chief Cave Lion had begun his trudge back in low spirits as if he was thoroughly defeated. He was also distressed by the sight of Ochre's nightly lovemaking with Glade that the Cave Painter took evident delight in making as obvious as he could despite the icy cold and the difficult sleeping conditions. However, as the return journey approached ever closer to the valley, and especially after meeting up again with Grey Wolf and his comrades, the chief's spirits rose even as the discomfort of walking in his weakened state increased. He gave the impression to the second expedition that it was he who'd persuaded the chief of the Cave Painters to offer them the rights to hunt on land of great value and worth. This caused palpable disquiet amongst the warriors with whom he'd huddled naked for so many days under the cover of the woolly rhinoceros furs.

"Are these hunting lands any good?" Ivory asked.

"What do you think?" countered Glade.

Ivory considered this, but she was doubtful.

"Can we trust Ochre?" she asked.

"Yes," said Glade. "He's simply carrying out his chief's wishes. He doesn't want to disappoint his chief."

"And the hunting lands?"

"As the shaman said, they are lands where our tribe will be able to hunt freely and with no fear of being killed by the Cave Painters' warriors."

"Will there be enough game to feed all the mouths in our village?" asked Ivory.

Glade sighed. "I've asked Ochre this question, but he is very evasive. He knows where they are and he will escort our tribe there, but he hasn't given an opinion as to whether they are sufficient to keep us alive through the winter."

"And what do you think?"

"I think there will be game and hunting lands in the plains of the Great Tongue Glacier. I think that the Cave Painters will have been scrupulously honest in that regard. But I seriously doubt whether there is enough to sustain the whole village."