4 Chapter 4 – Elza – Iteration 1 (1/2)

Half of the women abducted with Elza were claimed on the first day. Kallig, the leader of the brutes, granted each claim after a dramatic pause. His men seemed to have a good sense of their place in the social order and none made a selection before his betters were done. The division of spoils was handled in a solemn fashion by the brutes. The women all wept quietly in acceptance of their fate except for one who chose to struggle. That one was held down while her new man claimed her before everyone. The others were too numb to resist.

Hess watched the proceedings from a distance, scowling his disapproval. Kallig shouted for Hess to leave several times, but the other men pretended not to notice their witness. Elza already had a good feel for the group dynamic of this tribe, but Hess did not fit into the system. The tribe was ruled by fear and intimidation. The strongest and fiercest men commanded great respect. The weaker men endured the abuse of their betters. The women born into the tribe presented a meek face to the men but had a parallel power structure among themselves. The only person who didn't fit was Hess.

She didn't understand why Kallig constantly berated Hess, nor why Hess ignored the insults and commands. Kallig would not tolerate disobedience from someone he could kill. Affection obviously did not exist between Hess and him, so fear must hold his hand. But if Hess was superior in battle, why did he restrain himself? Did his status as an outsider mean that the other men would not follow him? Or did he object to the brutality of the others? If so, then why did he stay?

The puzzle of Hess was a welcome distraction from speculating on her fate. When the selections were done that first night, the un-chosen women slept fitfully on the bare earth while their relatives and friends were taken into the tents of the men. Elza noted the condition of her unwanted companions that night: gray hair, rotted teeth, unsightly blemishes, and sickly frames. Despite her apparent youth and health, in terms of attractiveness men grouped Elza with the old and disabled. She liked to think it made her more objective, but tonight she worried that the rejection of the men would come to cause her greater pain in the morning.

All of the women knew their future was grim. Being taken tonight would be bad, but being taken tomorrow would be worse. They had no future in this tribe of brutality but to suffer. If Elza could not slip away soon, the men would discover that her wounds vanished in moments. Given their sadistic streak, that could lead to a rather long torture session.

Elza spotted a sentry the moment she sat up. His outline turned towards her movement. She lay back on the ground. They were waiting for someone to attempt an escape. Throughout the night, she periodically checked to see if the sentries were awake. They always were. Morning dawned without her sleeping a single moment.

The camp came awake slowly, first children bringing the embers of the previous night's fires back to life, then women grinding acorns into meal for bread cooked on hot stones. The men ate smoked meat and bread before separating into hunting parties and guards. The unwanted women huddled together as the camp went about its normal activities. They remained unmolested unless they tried to move beyond the circle of earth where they had been left.

When Hess approached at midmorning, the women were grateful to receive a visitor. The guards averted their eyes when Hess passed. One of the old women asked what would happen to them. Hess knelt in their center. ”Do you have a skill? You may be able to save yourself if you can tan hides or braid rope or mix medicines.” Hess's normally firm gaze darted to the scenery as he spoke, and Elza knew his words were lies.

The women began to throw out useful skills they knew. Hess deliberated on each offering before agreeing it would be nice to have someone in their tribe who could weave fish traps and knap flint and work clay. The mood rose as the women latched onto the hope Hess provided them.

Elza pondered the question Hess had posed the previous day. Why did no one besides Hess care about the condition of the women? It was the question of a child too young to understand that concepts such as fairness and justice were a fiction created by doting parents. People always did what provided them the most benefit in their circumstances. They raised children with affection to ensure care in their old age. They cooperated to maximize food and safety for all. They fought strangers to preserve their own lives. In some tribes, like this one, they brutalized one another to avoid being the victim.

But Hess did not fit into this tribe. He violated the natural order and survived. She waited until his gaze crossed hers and spoke. ”Do you have an answer to your own question? Why is it that no one else cares what happens to us?”

”I've been thinking about you, woman. What is your name?”