A NOVEL SET IN PREHISTORY
The Oak People
Chapter 19: Koru is weakening
Bo
Bo spots the clump of mallow first. She calls to Gashi and begins scrambling down the hillside. The soil is dark after yesterday’s rain, cold and wet between her toes. The mallow buds are tight green teardops, not yet ready to be shed. Soon, Gashi is beside her. Rubbing one of the leaves between her fingers, she peers underneath.
‘This one is good. ‘Can you feel? It’s smooth. Some of them have hairs that itch your hands.’
Bo picks some of the circular leaves, bigger than her palm.
‘We’ll steep them in hot water for Koru,’ says Gashi. ‘Now help me with this.’
They probe the stony soil with their sticks, feeling for the base of the root.
‘Will it will cure her cough?’ Bo asks.
Gashi sits back on her heels, looking out across the plain. ‘Maybe,’ she says.
She begins digging again. When they have exposed the long white root, Gashi chops away the stems and stashes it in her bag. It is time to go back.
‘Wait,’ says Bo. ‘Is there anything that will help Nuno?’
‘We can spread some of the mallow on the wound, but it seems to be healing well.’ Gashi’s voice is low and sad.
Bo looks up sharply. ‘That’s good, isn’t it, if the wound is healing?’
‘Yes,’ answers Gashi, but her face says something different.
Bo is puzzled. Why is Gashi so miserable? Is she frightened? Esti says that Sakaitz never come down to the plain and she has lived a long time — she must be right.
Bo follows Gashi up the path. The sky is blue and clear after the heavy rain. Gashi turns back, brighter now, a mischievous smile on her face.
‘If you want to make more medicine — dig up some whitespear for yourself.’
‘Why? I’m not sick.’
‘Whitespear brings on a woman’s bleeding.’
Bo feels the warmth rising up her neck. She squirms, thinking of how the women gave her some of the goat’s blood to drink. With the men watching too! She only pretended to drink and then poured it away. She doesn’t want to become a woman. When that happens, she’ll have to leave the cave and go to be with strangers.
When they get back, the others are out gathering food and they find Koru near the cave mouth, her head bent low over something. When she looks up, they see drops of sweat on her lined forehead.
‘What are you doing, Ama?’ Gashi demands. ‘You should be resting.’
She tries to take the work from Koru, but the old woman objects. It is a tiny tortoiseshell bowl and Koru is painting a pattern on it with kho. She takes up her brush again.
‘It’s for Hua,’ she whispers. ‘It’s almost finished.’ Bo can hear the wheezing in her chest.
Gashi says nothing, then turns away to start stripping the fibres from the mallow root. She gives Bo a piece to chew; it tastes unexpectedly sweet.
‘Koru never made anything for my daughter,’ Gashi grumbles. ‘What’s so special about Hua?’
Bo doesn’t know what to say and she goes outside. Esti is walking back along the path, leading Bakar. He cannot see the ground any longer and has to grasp the shoulder of his wife. Today they look old and, suddenly, Bo is full of gratitude for them. If they hadn’t brought her here as a child, what would have happened? When Esti tells her to fetch some water, Bo goes willingly for once.
When Koru’s drink is ready, Gashi strains out the pulp and takes an eggshell of the warm liquid to the old woman. She is resting against the wall, the patterned bowl lying finished beside her. Leaning forward to drink, a fit of coughing overcomes her. When the spasm is over at last and she has taken a sip, Bo sees blood on the rim of the shell.
Gashi tests the wall behind Koru’s head with her palm and clicks her tongue in disapproval.
‘It’s wet here,’ she says to Bo. ‘We must move her.’ She helps the old woman to her feet. ‘You should sleep where it’s dry — in Bidari’s place,’ she says, leading Koru across the floor of the main cavern.
There is an odd, rasping sound to Koru’s breathing. ‘The bowl — Hua’s bowl,’ she manages to say.
Bo takes the bowl and goes on ahead, climbing the slope to the place where Bidari and Ansa sleep. She piles up bedding leaves and tests the wall with her fingers. It is dry.
When Koru is settled, she swallows more of the medicine, nodding her head in approval.
‘How is Nuno?’ she asks.
‘The wound is closing well,’ Gashi replies. ‘There’s no poison in it.’
‘Does he remember what happened?’
‘No. Maybe when he has had more rest…’
Gashi’s voice trails away and Bo stares at her. Why all the whispering? The cut on Nuno’s head is healing. He has no fever.
Koru’s eyes are closed, her head dropping onto her chest. Gashi and Bo start quietly down the slope, leaving her to sleep, but then comes a child’s voice, calling. Hua is scrambling across the uneven floor in Bo’s direction. Ansa is behind her, watching.
‘Koru needs somewhere dry,’ Gashi says quietly. ‘We’ve given her mallow water. She’ll sleep now.’ She continues down the slope, shooing Hua in front of her. ‘Hush now.’
But the little girl’s cry seems to have woken Koru. ‘Ansa! Is that you? Come here.’
There is something of the old strength in her voice. Gashi sighs, then stands back to make room for Ansa to climb the slope.
‘Bring Hua with you,’ Koru calls.
Gashi strides across the wide floor of the cave and out into the light. Bo follows her and sees tears on the older woman’s cheek.
‘What is it? Is it Koru?’ Bo touches Gashi’s arm and she begins to cry more openly.
‘She’s going to die,’ whispers Gashi.
Bo is frightened; Gashi never cries. ‘But Koru has a cough every winter,’ she protests.
Gashi swallows back the tears but doesn’t answer.
‘The drink has helped her. We could get more leaves — I can go every day!’
‘No.’ There is a weary certainty in Gashi’s voice. ‘She’s getting ready to die, or she would not have chosen someone to pass on her knowledge to.’
‘What do you mean? Who has Koru chosen?’
‘Don’t you remember? When Koru wanted thornfruit — who did she take with her?’
Bo thinks back. ‘Ansa.’
‘Now she is too sick to talk but who does she want beside her?’ Gashi’s tone is growing bitter and she turns away, speaking more to herself than to Bo. ‘Ansa. Why Ansa?’
Thank you for reading. Chapter 20 can be found here:
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