[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
"There won't be any trouble over this?"
Norgo shook her head with positive certainty. "Nothing I can't handle."
Their gravest problem during these days of reconstruction was food.
Because of the fire and the preceding neglect, there simply wasn't
enough to feed even half the village properly.
During the first few days, everyone ate sparingly; Waller instituted
a careful rationing system. Search parties were sent into the woods to
gather wild fruit and berries. Waller went with one of these and, when a wild
pig suddenly rushed past, found himself incapable of resisting. He threw
his spear and finished
the pig off with a club.
That night he and Ahmad and Sondra ate splendidly.
Norgo, who shared their hut, stared at her own bare plate of lettuce and corn.
"All right," she finally said, "give me some."
"You can't eat meat," Sondra said.
Norgo threw away her vegetables. "I can't eat these, either.
Give me some."
Waller passed a small portion of the pork and smiled reassuringly.
"Try it."
Norgo raised the meat to her mouth and chewed slowly, tentatively,
swallowing with ill-concealed distress. She tried a second bite and
swallowed that. Then, gasping, she stood up and dashed from the hut. The
others ate in silence. When Norgo returned, her face was pale. She
sat down, picked up the remaining pork, and ate again. "My stomach cannot
accept this meat," she said, "but my mouth enjoys it."
"You'll have to teach your stomach," Waller said.
"I don't think it's her stomach," said Sondra. "I think it's her conscience."
But Norgo asked for a second helping.
Some children also came by and, seeing the feast, diffidently asked to be
served. The children ate eagerly, showing none of
Norgo's symptoms and, when finished, asked for more.
The next night, as Sondra roasted the remainder of the pork, a whole flock
of children arrived to watch. Soon, some adults joined them. A few
tried to chase the children away. Waller stopped this. "If you want to
eat, stay. If you don't, go away."
A surprising majority children " and adults chose to stay.
And eat.
When Waller was ready to go hunting again, a half-dozen of
Page 34
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
the younger men came and asked to go with him. In the forest, he carefully
explained the best methods for bringing down wild game in the open. The men
listened and learned.
"Now do you see what I mean?" Sondra asked, the night
Waller returned. After the feast, they were alone again. "We've
destroyed their innocence, all of it."
"I don't see that. If it's a question of eating meat or starving, only an
idiot would starve."
"No, there's more to it than that. Can't you admit it's over?
They won't go back. Even when the crops are good, they aren't going back
to corn and lettuce."
"Why should they?"
"That's not for me to say, but that's not all of it, either. For
instance, who was it who went hunting with you? Was it the women,
the supposed leaders? No, it was the men. We've changed everything,
Calvin. We've worked a social revolution."
"It couldn't be helped," he said.
She looked at him intently. "Are you sure?"
As time passed, however, the Nesquash weren't the only ones to change: so
did Waller. It began when he stopped going hunting with the young men.
The fact was they no longer needed him they had mastered the few skills
involved themselves and were eager to display their prowess. Waller began to
go fishing, instead. There were several small creeks in the area and
a good-sized lake two days distant in the low hills. He went
alone it was more peaceful that way.
Norgo took charge of the village itself. Although she consulted
Waller often, the decisions made were always her own. He spent many quiet
evenings with her. She loved to sit long hours beside him and hear him talk of
the vanished marvels of the twentieth century. Alone among the Nesquash,
Norgo knew the truth of their origin she even seemed to believe part of
it.
Sondra often complained about Norgo. She was trying to set herself up as a
virtual dictator, Sondra said. Waller told her he saw nothing so terribly
wrong in that. "There are times," he said, "when dictators are essential for
order and progress. I can't see that the Nesquash were better off under the
Old Mother and she certainly wasn't much of a dictator."
"I don't care about them," Sondra said. "I care about us. You don't think
she's going to stop where she is, do you? Like today. I
was standing near her when a young couple came up and asked permission to
marry. Norgo told them no. The woman, she said, was too good for the man.
He was a poor hunter and didn't deserve a wife. You should have
seen the look on his face I
couldn't bear to watch. What if she did that to you? Then would you think
she's so wonderful?"
"She'll never do that to me," said Waller.
"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure."
"I would." He laughed. "I don't plan on getting married. Why?
Do you?"
Sondra flushed slightly. "No, of course not. Don't be stupid."
Waller finally figured out what his problem was: he was bored. The
truth was really as simple as that. He was bored and
Ahmad and probably Sondra, too. This must be what it's like, he thought, in
the fairy tales. When the poor king is doomed to live happily ever after.
Although the three of them now occupied cabins of their own, they often met
together in the' evenings to share dinner. Tonight
Sondra cooked trout caught by Waller over the stone fireplace.
Page 35
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
The three of them chatted amiably and then ate well.
After dinner, however, Waller was strangely gripped by an expansive
mood. He began to speak of the possibility of leaving here. Sondra suggested
they return to their old camp in the forest but Waller explained he had
more in mind than that. The village should remain their base camp, but
what about the empty city of which they had so often heard? From
what he
could gather, it wasn't more than a hundred or so miles from here.
"I'd sure like to see that," he said. "Or those mountains out there. We can
see them on a clear day but nobody seems to know for sure what lies beyond
them. More cities maybe. Or the ocean.
We could go there. Find the Vayash in their own home and maybe
start another war. We've got the whole world at our feet.
Why stay here where our work is done?"
Ahmad nodded sagely. "Waller, for the first time in our relationship
you have shown yourself to be a wise man. I do not ask if we should go I ask
when."
But Sondra was more suspicious. "Who else goes? Norgo, I
suppose?"
"Oh, no," said Waller. "Norgo has too much to do here. It will just have to be
the three of us. We could ask some of the others but I think they're still too
afraid
He stopped. Something had happened something had changed Sitting across
from him, Ahmad was no longer there.
He had disappeared.
Astonished, Waller turned to tell Sondra what had happened.
Just then, she screamed. By the tune he had turned his head to face her,
Sondra, too, was gone.
All at once, he knew what was happening. Again. They were falling again.
Irrationally, he threw himself to the floor, hugging the cold earth, as though
it could keep him here. The cabin faded around him. He screamed, too.
Then the blackness descended. Waller shut his eyes, moaning.
He was falling& falling& falling&
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
As soon as he opened his eyes, Waller decided that he must have been
the victim of some silly dream. He hadn't fallen through time; he was [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl exclamation.htw.pl
"There won't be any trouble over this?"
Norgo shook her head with positive certainty. "Nothing I can't handle."
Their gravest problem during these days of reconstruction was food.
Because of the fire and the preceding neglect, there simply wasn't
enough to feed even half the village properly.
During the first few days, everyone ate sparingly; Waller instituted
a careful rationing system. Search parties were sent into the woods to
gather wild fruit and berries. Waller went with one of these and, when a wild
pig suddenly rushed past, found himself incapable of resisting. He threw
his spear and finished
the pig off with a club.
That night he and Ahmad and Sondra ate splendidly.
Norgo, who shared their hut, stared at her own bare plate of lettuce and corn.
"All right," she finally said, "give me some."
"You can't eat meat," Sondra said.
Norgo threw away her vegetables. "I can't eat these, either.
Give me some."
Waller passed a small portion of the pork and smiled reassuringly.
"Try it."
Norgo raised the meat to her mouth and chewed slowly, tentatively,
swallowing with ill-concealed distress. She tried a second bite and
swallowed that. Then, gasping, she stood up and dashed from the hut. The
others ate in silence. When Norgo returned, her face was pale. She
sat down, picked up the remaining pork, and ate again. "My stomach cannot
accept this meat," she said, "but my mouth enjoys it."
"You'll have to teach your stomach," Waller said.
"I don't think it's her stomach," said Sondra. "I think it's her conscience."
But Norgo asked for a second helping.
Some children also came by and, seeing the feast, diffidently asked to be
served. The children ate eagerly, showing none of
Norgo's symptoms and, when finished, asked for more.
The next night, as Sondra roasted the remainder of the pork, a whole flock
of children arrived to watch. Soon, some adults joined them. A few
tried to chase the children away. Waller stopped this. "If you want to
eat, stay. If you don't, go away."
A surprising majority children " and adults chose to stay.
And eat.
When Waller was ready to go hunting again, a half-dozen of
Page 34
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
the younger men came and asked to go with him. In the forest, he carefully
explained the best methods for bringing down wild game in the open. The men
listened and learned.
"Now do you see what I mean?" Sondra asked, the night
Waller returned. After the feast, they were alone again. "We've
destroyed their innocence, all of it."
"I don't see that. If it's a question of eating meat or starving, only an
idiot would starve."
"No, there's more to it than that. Can't you admit it's over?
They won't go back. Even when the crops are good, they aren't going back
to corn and lettuce."
"Why should they?"
"That's not for me to say, but that's not all of it, either. For
instance, who was it who went hunting with you? Was it the women,
the supposed leaders? No, it was the men. We've changed everything,
Calvin. We've worked a social revolution."
"It couldn't be helped," he said.
She looked at him intently. "Are you sure?"
As time passed, however, the Nesquash weren't the only ones to change: so
did Waller. It began when he stopped going hunting with the young men.
The fact was they no longer needed him they had mastered the few skills
involved themselves and were eager to display their prowess. Waller began to
go fishing, instead. There were several small creeks in the area and
a good-sized lake two days distant in the low hills. He went
alone it was more peaceful that way.
Norgo took charge of the village itself. Although she consulted
Waller often, the decisions made were always her own. He spent many quiet
evenings with her. She loved to sit long hours beside him and hear him talk of
the vanished marvels of the twentieth century. Alone among the Nesquash,
Norgo knew the truth of their origin she even seemed to believe part of
it.
Sondra often complained about Norgo. She was trying to set herself up as a
virtual dictator, Sondra said. Waller told her he saw nothing so terribly
wrong in that. "There are times," he said, "when dictators are essential for
order and progress. I can't see that the Nesquash were better off under the
Old Mother and she certainly wasn't much of a dictator."
"I don't care about them," Sondra said. "I care about us. You don't think
she's going to stop where she is, do you? Like today. I
was standing near her when a young couple came up and asked permission to
marry. Norgo told them no. The woman, she said, was too good for the man.
He was a poor hunter and didn't deserve a wife. You should have
seen the look on his face I
couldn't bear to watch. What if she did that to you? Then would you think
she's so wonderful?"
"She'll never do that to me," said Waller.
"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure."
"I would." He laughed. "I don't plan on getting married. Why?
Do you?"
Sondra flushed slightly. "No, of course not. Don't be stupid."
Waller finally figured out what his problem was: he was bored. The
truth was really as simple as that. He was bored and
Ahmad and probably Sondra, too. This must be what it's like, he thought, in
the fairy tales. When the poor king is doomed to live happily ever after.
Although the three of them now occupied cabins of their own, they often met
together in the' evenings to share dinner. Tonight
Sondra cooked trout caught by Waller over the stone fireplace.
Page 35
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
The three of them chatted amiably and then ate well.
After dinner, however, Waller was strangely gripped by an expansive
mood. He began to speak of the possibility of leaving here. Sondra suggested
they return to their old camp in the forest but Waller explained he had
more in mind than that. The village should remain their base camp, but
what about the empty city of which they had so often heard? From
what he
could gather, it wasn't more than a hundred or so miles from here.
"I'd sure like to see that," he said. "Or those mountains out there. We can
see them on a clear day but nobody seems to know for sure what lies beyond
them. More cities maybe. Or the ocean.
We could go there. Find the Vayash in their own home and maybe
start another war. We've got the whole world at our feet.
Why stay here where our work is done?"
Ahmad nodded sagely. "Waller, for the first time in our relationship
you have shown yourself to be a wise man. I do not ask if we should go I ask
when."
But Sondra was more suspicious. "Who else goes? Norgo, I
suppose?"
"Oh, no," said Waller. "Norgo has too much to do here. It will just have to be
the three of us. We could ask some of the others but I think they're still too
afraid
He stopped. Something had happened something had changed Sitting across
from him, Ahmad was no longer there.
He had disappeared.
Astonished, Waller turned to tell Sondra what had happened.
Just then, she screamed. By the tune he had turned his head to face her,
Sondra, too, was gone.
All at once, he knew what was happening. Again. They were falling again.
Irrationally, he threw himself to the floor, hugging the cold earth, as though
it could keep him here. The cabin faded around him. He screamed, too.
Then the blackness descended. Waller shut his eyes, moaning.
He was falling& falling& falling&
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
As soon as he opened his eyes, Waller decided that he must have been
the victim of some silly dream. He hadn't fallen through time; he was [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]