I turned away from them and walked twenty steps away, stopped and sank to my knees in the tall grass. And wept. Then, I wailed out my grief and frustration.
Back in the group of men, though, “I’m sorry, Tupac. I thought she should know.”
“It was right, Jona. Thank you. She’ll thank you, too, but after. She never thought her father would have survived in his quest to free slaves and, as such, the loss of her father was eased by the memory of his promise. But then you gave her hope. He was still alive and she yearned to once again be with him, to ride with him, to help him, to avenge the wrongs together. Now, suddenly, she has lost him, again. But, she’s strong, she’ll come back.”
All four were very patient. It took quite some time for me to calm myself and regain the perspective on life that I had come to know and own. I walked back into the group, Tupac asked, “Maia?”
“I’m okay. Greatly disappointed at being so close to see my father, to let him know that I was good and happy.”
Jona stepped up to me and put his hands on my shoulders, “That’s why I came back, Maia. To tell you about your father, but to also tell you that before he died I was able to tell him about you. That you are in fact well, strong, independent, and your own person. I told him that you travel the wilderness with three strong men, as an equal to them. He asked many questions with the last breaths he had. All were about you. I only wish I knew more about you, but he was smiling when he died. He was at peace, Maia. Can anyone ask for more than that?”
“Thank you, Jona. That helps to know. Then it is done?”
“No, he also said something else that is puzzling. There are many, many slaves wandering the region, displaced by the fighting, and having nothing after the dismantling of the plantations. He said to tell you that. To tell you that these people need a safe home like the others. What did he mean?”
So we told him. It took only a shared look among us to know that we all agreed that Jona could be trusted with the knowledge of the village’s existence. Jona became only the second non-slave to know of the existence of our sanctuary on this side of the mountains.
“So it is true. I thought it was just a fantasy, something the slaves held as a hope, like heaven after death. You wouldn’t believe how many slaves are wandering the slopes in some unfathomed faith that there is a better life waiting for them. I don’t know how many. But there are men, women, and children, entire families, and extended families perhaps. They just don’t know how to reach it. Faith alone hasn’t been enough, they need someone to lead them to it, and they need to be gathered from the misery, humiliation, blood, and death of slavery and fighting.”
I looked at the other three and none of us said a word. The words kept spinning through our brains, ‘You wouldn’t believe how many slaves are wandering the slopes’ and ‘men, women, and children’. But, I knew now what I wanted to do, what I needed to do.
“Jona, can you lead us through the route you know? Can you lead us to these people?”
He smiled, took the single step separating us, and hugged me to him. He put me at arms distance and looked directly into my eyes with a smile that felt so good and warm, “That’s what your father said you would do. He just knew it in his heart. His last words expressed that.”
In all we ended up bring back nearly a hundred freed slaves. The new slaves completely overwhelmed the village and drastic changes were needed immediately. But, if there was anything about slaves, hard and long hours of work was not a problem. New housing and enlarged structures were designed and built with almost non-stop dedication and effort. Growing fields were expanded and canoes were soon crafted for fishing. The village thrived despite the chaos that might be expected from such an influx of new people. But, there wasn’t chaos and there was minimal conflict as those who had lived in the village eagerly welcomed the new.
One of the casualties of the change, though, was The Hunt. Suddenly there was no place for it. For one thing, there were now too many new people. For another, there were more families and more women, existing men quickly asked women, and women just as quickly accepted the opportunity to create new families with their new found freedom and security.
If we, the Warriors, had trouble with being in the village before, it was nearly impossible now. The village turned into a town, even if it didn’t yet have the structure to show for it. But even that wasn’t far behind, trees were cut at an increasing rate and wood planks made for fashioning homes and community buildings.
Our reaction to all of this, though, was to roam the South slopes of the range, particularly the area around the access that Jona took us through twice. Once to go over to assemble the freed slaves and the second time to bring them to safety. Over the next three to four full moons, we encountered Jona several times. He no longer was traversing the valley for furs and hides. He came to see us and inform us on the events on the other side. As quickly as the conflict had exploded, it seemed to also burn itself out. All the plantations along the mountains had been burned out. Politically, the Commonwealth seemed to lack the resolve to do anything about it. A popular opinion among the people was that slavery might have seen its time and that time may be past. Slavery was not banished, there were no laws passed to abolish it, or to free the slaves. But, also, there was no heart in enforcing it. Jona believed that it might be years, maybe an entire generation, before slavery could die away. But, for now the slaves who took over the plantations, growing the crops and moving them with the aid of sympathetic people, seemed safe enough. We said goodbye, perhaps for the last time to this very good man.
So, what of us? What are Warriors to do when they are no longer needed?
———————————————————–
Continued in the final chapter: Chapter 7: Our Life
Leave a Reply