Khea held back a snort, "If you didn't thrash through the water like an angry horned hog I might not have." Stopping to realize how cruel this might sound to the younger girl Khea relaxed her tone, "I'm Khea and while I'm not a birther I think you may be some rotations away from traveling through the swamp alone. What are you doing here by yourself?"
The girl's eyes began to must as she started her story, "My family made an agreement with a tribe nearby for me to join with one of their brothers even though he already had two women in his house. I refused but my family wouldn't listen and were planning the exchange so as soon as I got the chance I left. I didn't bring enough food though and you're the first person I've found so I thought..."
Khea interrupted, "That you would steal some from me." The girl nodded. "Stealing is going to get you into trouble you can't handle. Why haven't you asked the plants for help?" The girl just gave Khea a blank confused stare. "Are you an Animal Talker then?" The girl continued her puzzled glare. "Don't your people talk to the plants and animals for help and assistance?"
The girl's eyes widened with excitement, "I thought you were just stories that the elders created to entertain the young ones! Can your people truly talk to plants and animals? How does it work? Are they usually friendly? What do you do if they are angry?"
The barrage of questions caught Khea off guard. The thought that any person existed without being a Talked had never crossed her mind. How isolated she and her tribe sisters were from everyone, and everything, became more clear with each word Khea absorbed from the girl. Slowly, Khea compiled her response, "Yes, we exist. To tell what I know I thought everyone had the Talker ability. Every one of my sisters and all the elders we can remember can speak with the plants or the animals..."
The girl, in her glee, interrupted Khea's train of words, "What about the brothers of your tribe? Can they talk to living things in the swamp or is it just the sisters?" While Khea realized the girl had already mentioned an arrangement with a brother from another tribe it had not sunk in with the quick paced conversation following that the girl's people have males and females living together. This seemed as foreign as not having a talking ability. Continuing this exchange of words and learning more about about this girl and her tribe's seemingly strange way of life tempted Khea but she knew this wasn't the knowledge the Silvers sent her to retrieve. Not accustomed to in depth conversations with someone this close to her in age Khea felt unsure of how to bring it to an end and get the girl on her way.
Khea placed her left hand on her right shoulder, a sign of apology in her tribe, "I'm sorry younger one. I enjoy being a story teller of my tribe but I cannot spend time with the sun on the sky with these tales. I suggest you head back the way you came staying in the clearer areas as it's harder for something or someone to ambush you. I can even give you some food to help hold you over but I must continue my path."
The girl, whose name Khea forgot to gather, squared her shoulders and planted her feet firmly in the soggy, green tinged dirt as she stared at Khea. "I am not going back there. I will not be the third woman in an arrangement even if it means my family does not get three boars from that tribe. I should mean more to my family than those stinky beasts!" The girl's blatant disregard for her tribe's, and birther's, decision shocked Khea but also vaguely reminded her of her balking at becoming a birther. Khea could tell the girl had little chance of surviving of her own much longer and trying to convince her to go home could go on fruitlessly for days. Khea sighed audibly, "What does your tribe call you?"
No comments:
Post a Comment