From Book 3
They escorted Allen's small group inside the stockade wall and started preparing a meal. Mary walked over to the women preparing to grill some meats and asked, "Me Mari be un Alun. Me help yus make fud un et?"
The women welcomed Mary and showed her how to tend the meats on the hot stones while they began preparing vegetables for the meal. They all sat as a group to eat the food, the new people learning the language by leaps and bounds.
They discovered that Gordy and Daniel were brothers and were farm boys, having grown up on a family farm. Phil and Marsh, also brothers, were carpenters and house builders while Eddy was a doctor, almost completed in his internship at a hospital. Allen, like his brother Lee, was a college student studying to become a school teacher.
Again, the stockade had to be enlarged and more homes constructed. This time, Carey had two extra buildings erected, one to be a school and the other to be a hospital. One of the new women, Millie, had been a nurse and another, Verona had been a herbalist for a natural healer. Carey was excited that they could get some kind of health care for his people.
Phil and Marsh were able to help in the building and added conveniences like shelves, tables and chairs. They even built a small churn for Nellie to make her butter. Verona found additional herbs along the stream and their meals suddenly took on new life!
Final acceptance of the new people came when the villager's favorite little boy, Rik was brought home with his leg broken from a fall while playing on the rocks. Eddy set the little boy's leg and splinted it between three stout sticks. Telling the active little boy to stay off the leg was like telling the sun not to rise in the morning. Eddy did manage to keep him from reinjuring his leg and in several weeks, the break was healed, nearly like new.
Eddy became so fond of the boy, who had no parents, that he asked Carey if he could adopt the child. Carey decided to make a big event out of the adoption, so he ordered a campfire built and food readied to be served after the ceremony.
As it got dark, the campfire provided the only light. Carey had Eddy beside him and he was holding Rik by his hands, "U Rik un no mama un no papa?"
Rik replied, "Me Rik un no mama un no papa."
Carey turned to Eddy, "U Edi un no bebe?"
Eddy replied, "Me Edi un no bebe, want Rik bebe me."
Rik began to cry, "Me Rik want papa Edi me" He jerked from Carey's hands and ran into the arms of Eddy crying, "Edi be papa me, Edi be papa me!"
Carey turned to his people, "Me Papa spek, Edi be papa un Rik. Rik be bebe un Edi. Papa spek!"
Chapter 1 - THE HOSPITAL
Eddy was delighted with his new hospital, he set one room up as a surgery, leaving three rooms as treatment and examination rooms. Millie would be his nurse and Verona would be the pharmacist. They opened their doors, but no patients appeared, the villagers were not used to having doctor care and were hesitant to trust their children, or even themselves to someone not in their own family. Despite his success in healing Rik's broken leg, they would need to gain the villager's trust. Their chance came tragically, one of Rici's hunters was gored by a wounded bull.
The hunters carried Tor back to Haven on a litter, knowing that nothing could save Tor's life. He had terrible chest wounds and his arms were both broken. Eddy heard the wailing and commotion and he came to the central meeting place of the village. He asked Rici, "Me Edi healer be. Me un Mili un Ver help Tor heal be."
Rici knew that Tor could not be healed, but he leaned down and asked Tor, "U want healer U fix be?"
Tor was gritting his teeth in his awful pain, "Healer me fix be," and he passed out.
Eddy asked Rici to carry the wounded Tor into the hospital and place him on the surgery table. Verona had fermented some wild grapes and then built a crude distiller and had produced a quantity of a slightly "grapy" alcohol. They began to clean Tor's wounds with the alcohol while Rici stood there watching. Using sutures made from the fibers of the milkweed plant that Verona had collected, Eddy proceeded to close Tor's wounds. Millie helped by holding the wounds closed while he stitched the torn flesh together. It took all three of them to set the young hunter's broken arms and pack them in splints that the carpenter brothers had made for them. Verona readied an infusion of willow tree bark that they plastered over the wounds to block the pain and reduce swelling. She induced Tor to drink some of the infusion and soon the young man was asleep.
When they had finished cleaning up, they realized that it was getting dark, hours had gone by unnoticed. Rici had stood there the whole time, Eddy said to him, "Tor sleep be, me un Mili un Ver watch Tor be. U com bak new light see Tor be."
He led Rici out of the building, all the hunters were gathered, anticipating the need to bury their comrade. Rici announced, "Tor slep be Edi Tor fix!"
The hunters dispersed to their homes, casting wondering looks back at Eddy and his hospital. Carey stopped by and he and Eddy talked for a while. Carey said, "Eddy, if you can pull this off, you will gain the trust of the villagers and you will have more patients than you can handle."
Eddy replied, "Carey, I am a doctor, this is what I have wanted to do since I was a little boy, care for people."
Carey left and the three took turns through the night sitting with Tor. He would awaken and ask for water, then fall back asleep.
The next morning, Tor awoke in considerable pain, so Verona gave him some more of the willow bark infusion. As soon as the pain subsided, he said, "Me hunger got."
Millie had come on duty and she asked him, "U brot want?"
Tor nodded his head in a yes and Millie brought him a broth of corn meal and shredded meats. She was feeding him, both his arms were splinted, when Rici came in the door. Rici looked at Tor being fed in wonder, "U Tor not ded be?"
Tor looked at his leader, "Me hunger be, me et."
Rici rushed out the door and shouted to the crowd that had assembled, "Tor liv be, Tor et un spek me."
The hunters insisted on seeing for themselves that their comrade yet lived. They spoke with Tor until he began to tire and Millie shooed them all out.
Each time the hunters went out, they made special kills of young, tender animals, especially for Tor and the women of the village made special treats for him. Little Rik, Eddy's new son would follow his daddy as he checked up on Tor and made up his mind that he was going to be a healer just like his dad.
New patients began trickling in, with sprains, deep cuts, burns and an occasional broken arm or leg. The villagers had complete faith in the new healer and Verona was hard-pressed to find herbs and materials needed by Eddy to care for the villagers. A young teen girl, Sal, shyly asked her if she could help find healer medicines. The girl was quick to pick up Verona's knowledge of plants and herbs and, between the two of them, they kept the hospital stocked.
The day finally came when Eddy determined that Tor was ready to get up and try walking a few steps. He and Millie stood beside him as Tor gingerly put his feet down on the floor and stood. He was a bit dizzy and swayed, but he was determined to walk across the room and back. With Eddy and Millie holding him, he slowly made his way across the room. Just then, Rici came to visit his friend and he looked in amazement as Tor walked back to his bed and sat upright to be fed his broth and bread.
Rici ran from the hospital, screaming to everyone that Tor was walking and eating! All the hunters came rushing to the hospital, with the villagers behind them to see for themselves this miracle.
Every day, Tor was a little bit stronger and he was becoming restless cooped up in a building. He was an outdoorsman and he was chaffing at being kept inside. Phil and Marsh built him a bench with arm handles on it and he would sit outside the door of the hospital in the warm sunshine. Teen girls would bring him tasty tidbits from the cook center and one girl, Nan, would sit beside him and talk.
Tor was a lusty teen boy and he was soon attracted to Nan, finally, he said, "Nan U womin me be?"
Nan replied, "Spek U papa me." Tor started to struggle to his feet and Nan pushed him back down, "Papa me get U," and she ran off. Tor shook his head, not knowing what Nan was doing. In a few minutes, Nan came back, leading a man and woman. She said, "Tor, be papa me un mama me. U spek."
Tor used the arms on the bench to lever himself to a standing position, "Me hunter be, healer me fix, me hunter be agin. Me, Tor, spek un Nan me womin be."
The man looked carefully at Tor, "Me Gan be, papa be un Nan Las be Mama Nan be. U fed Nan? U make house un Nan?"
Tor stood straight before Nan's Papa and Mama, "Me Tor be, me hunter, me care Nan be. Me fed Nan un make house be. Nan be womin me."
Gan replied, "Nan be womin Tor be. Papa spek."
Little Rik was standing there, he went running for Carey to come quickly, "Papa Cari U spek Tor womin Nan be."
By that time, all the hunters had gathered and a ring of villagers were looking on. Carey stepped before the couple, "Tor, Nan U womin be?" Tor grinned and nodded his head yes. Carey said, "Me Cari be Papa spek, U Nan, womin un Tor be?" Nan hugged Tor and grinned. Carey continued, "Papa spek, Nan be womin Tor be, PAPA SPEK!"
Allen allowed the new couple to spend their first night in the hospital room, before he released Tor from their care. They settled in one of the new houses and, as soon as Allen released Tor, he was back with his comrades hunting game for the village.
It was not many weeks later that Nan came to see Verona, asking her if she could give her something to settle her stomach. She was throwing up every morning. Verona patted the girl's tummy and said, "Bebe."
Chapter 2 - THE SCHOOL
Allen and Lee had been gathering materials so they could open the school and start teaching the village children. They also planned on holding evening classes for any of the adults who wished it. They had laboriously made slate tablets for each student and had discovered a bed of soft limestone to use in place of chalk. The carpenters had put together tables and chairs to be used as desks and they made a masonry stove to keep the room warm in the winter.
Carey announced that all children 12 summers and younger were to attend classes, those under 5 summers would have special half-day classes. Children under 3 summers were exempt. The first morning classes were held, they had 23 students, 16 of which were older than 5 summers. The first morning, both groups met together. Each child was given a slate tablet and several pieces of shaped limestone. Allen had the wolf, Nel sitting beside him while Lee instructed the children to draw Nel on the slates.
Moaki was the leader of the village's children and had been taught many things by his Papa, Carey. He finished his drawing first and even placed a crudely written "Nel" under his drawing. Lee was looking at each student's drawing and when he came to Moaki, he was astounded that the boy could make a simple name. He hugged Moaki and praised him.
Moaki said, "Me Moaki be. Moaki be Papa Cari first boy be. Me brottor un Davi un Car be."
With Moaki demonstrating, the other children learned fast, giving Lee an idea. That evening, he went to see Carey, "Your son, Moaki is a class leader and all the other children try to do as he does. You have taught the boy some simple writing and words, would Davie and Carl be willing to do the same?"
Carey thought a moment and then called Davie and Carl into the room, "Guys, Moaki is at school and the other children are following his lead, what if you two went to school and acted as leaders to the children?"
The two brothers thought it was a great idea, their active minds were becoming leaden with the inactivity. The next morning all three brothers were first in the door to the school room, all three had become very close and Davie and Carl had been secretly teaching Moaki. The first thing they did was to write their names on the slates and then, with Lee and Allen watching, they went to each student and helped them write their own name on their slates. By the end of class, many of the children asked to be allowed to take their slates home to show their families their accomplishment. They progressed from merely writing their own names to those of their families and from there, things, objects and animals. It was not long before parents came, asking to be taught to write their own words on the pieces of slate.
Winter closed in and the folk of Haven huddled in their houses, behind the safety of their stout walls. Nel and his family of wolves patrolled the walls and Pali's Warriors stood ready to protect their people.
Each day the schoolchildren went home and their families would sit in wonder as their children told of the marvels they were learning in class. Many of the children repeated their lessons to their parents and younger siblings, who were learning as their children learned.
The villagers were putting together the Short Day Feast, that day when the shadow cast by the pegs behind Carey's home told them that a new year was beginning. The day was sunny and bright, but very cold. The villagers were bundled up in their furs and heaviest hides to ward off the cold. They were wearing the new footwear that Allen's wife, Mary had devised, no longer did they walk in the snow with bare feet.
As the women were carrying food to the tables, the wolves went racing to the gate, growling and clawing at the timbers. Pali's Warriors went on alert, spears and clubs in their hands. The ammunition for the guns had long ago been expended and their experiments with bows and arrows had been dismal to date.
Carey had a small window made in the gate when the new gate had been installed, he unlatched the cover and peered out. There were 8 teens and a number of small children huddled at their feet. An older teen stepped to the window and said, "Please sir, our hut burned and all our food is gone. The children are starving."
Pali called out, "Uns befor peple be uns hurt be." He continued, "Uns com Haven peple be"
Chapter - 3 - REFUGEES
Pali ordered the gate to be opened and he led the refugees in himself. They were a ragged group, their clothing burned and their hands and feet showed blisters from burns. Eddy and Millie gathered up the small children and rushed them to the hospital.
Verona was already there opening crocks of her salves and medicines. She had mixed some lard with her willow bark infusion, along with soothing herbs. As soon as she spread the salve on the children's burns, they stopped crying. She then told Pali to bring any of the adults into the hospital who were in need of treatment.
Eddy had lit their rather smoky candles and he worked, cleaning torn feet and burned hands. Millie wrapped the worst burns in tallow-soaked hides and allowed them to wash up in water they had warmed on the stove. The villagers took the small children into their homes to clean them up and get some clean clothes on them.
When all had been treated, Carey invited them to join in the Feast of the New Year. Their young leader, Andy, stood and said, "We thank you from the bottom of our hearts, we are but youngsters ourselves and we have been doing our best to keep the children safe. We hardly knew what we are doing, but we did the best we could." The young man broke down into tears and Carey went to hold the stricken boy. Andy said to him, "We are strangers among you, yet you feed us and care for us. How can we ever repay you?"
Carey rubbed the boy's back and replied, "Son, come live with us, be villagers of Haven."
Andy clung to Carey for many minutes before he could again speak. He introduced the teens, Eldon, Farrell, Thomas, Nate, Jerrold, Cathy, Natalie and Alice. They had all been members of a youth camp and had collected the children since that time. Some were children from their own era and some were from the present era.
The new folks stared at the plentitude of foods being put on the tables. All the little children already had "coks" in their hands. Carey invited them to sit to the tables and feast with the villagers. That night, they placed hides and furs on the floor of the school and lit a fire in the stone stove. For the first time since the change, those teens and the children they were protecting slept in a safe, warm place, without shivering and without fear. Had anyone looked, they would have seen several juvenile wolves curled up with the small children.
The next morning, Andy approached Carey, "Sir, you are the village headman, can you marry people?"
Carey smiled, "I have learned to do that."
The boy replied, "Sir, would you marry me and Alice? We think she is pregnant and I don't want my baby to be a bastard."
Carey said, "That is a terrible word to call an innocent child, no child here is such. However, if that is what you wish, bring your intended to me at the evening campfire. What about the children among you?"
Andy replied, "Alice and me, we kinda have taken to the little boy, Tok. His parents disappeared and he is all alone."
Carey said, "Fine, you three come to me at the campfire."
The newcomers were interested in what the villagers were doing, Jerrold had worked for his father as a carpenter helper and he offered to help the two carpenters build some shelves and chairs. They found the boy to be skilled with his hands and told him that he could be part of their team.
When Verona heard that Carey was performing a ceremony that night, she began to plot and plan. She had spotted a little girl who looked almost like her little sister before the event. She talked with Nar and asked her if she would like to live with her. The child was delighted and hung on to Ver the rest of the day.
That night, Carey ordered a campfire to be built after all had eaten and when all the villagers and all the new folks were gathered around, he said, "Us hav nu peple un us, new pepl ned homes un us. Nu peple Haven be. Papa speks." He continued, "Nu peple And un Ali un Tok me com." When the three came before Carey, he said, "Ali u be womin un And. And u be min un Ali?"They both nodded their heads yes, then Carey said, "Tok want mama un papa be?"
The little boy began to cry, "Want me mama un papa be."
Carey then said, "Ali be womin un And be. And be min un Ali be. Tok bebe be And un Ali. Papa speks"
As Carey started to turn away, he heard, "Me Ver spek. Nar bebe be, no mama un no papa. Nar bebe be un Ver be. Ver be mama un Nar be."
Carey asked, "U Nar be bebe un Ver mama be?"
Nar's child voice sang out, "Me Nar, be bebe Ver be."
Carey said to the assembled folk, "Nar be bebe be un Ver. Papa speks"
TBC
The village of Haven will continue to grow. More new children will be born and the seeds of a new civilization will sprout. Two peoples are becoming one, using the best of each as humankind survives and flourishes. Read as THE MISSIONARIES OF HAVEN help those of other villages, other peoples and trade begins.