Chapter 41
Exile, 21 K
(MT, WY, ID, WA, OR, 1389)
I had to admit I did not expect Kuyuk to send me back to the old land. I had to sort out what to do next. I told Padraig that I would go get my family from the high plateau and meet him at the Salmon Ordu as soon as weather permitted. He agreed and urged me to be careful and give his best to Paula and the children. I thanked him again and set off up the river early the next morning. The yam system took me much of the way up the Absaroke River, so I “camped” warmly for the first several days. Finally I had to turn south into the Yellow Canyon itself and away from the yams. The snow cover helped me climb up the western ridge of the canyon. It would have been easier to run up the frozen river, but I would never have been able to climb the walls of the canyon near the falls with the sled. The going was slow and rough. I had to spend a few nights under the stars. Howls from wolves made me cast about for a cave the second night. I finally found one and piled up a load of wood for the night. I got the dogs settled inside the cave and the fire going just before nightfall. All night long, the haunting cries of the wolves drew nearer. I kept the fire going until dawn, only sleeping fitfully. I had seen the cold yellow eyes glistening in the night or in my dreams, but there was no sign of them in the morning.
The sky was leaden, and there was moisture in the air that morning, so I fed the dogs quickly and got going. We had just reached the plateau late that morning when the snow began to fall. The flakes were large and wet, limiting visibility, but not impeding the sled. The going was also easier on the flatter terrain of the plateau. Remembering the lay of the land, I bore a little to the southwest to reach the area of the hot springs, west of the lake where I had last found my family. The lake came vaguely into view at last, and I could just see the steam from the hot springs challenging the cold air and the still-falling snow. I aimed toward the steam and soon found myself in a strange land that was a patchwork of steam, ice, and snow. I halted the sled near one of the hot springs and set up camp. It was still early, but with poor visibility I would never find my family, so I decided I might as well wait for the weather to clear in a comfortable spot. I was really looking forward to a good soak in the warm waters a little way downstream from the hot spring. I settled down the dogs and fed them, then stripped and stepped into the water. The warmth was penetrating and revitalizing. I probed my wound a bit and found it was healing nicely. After a good long soak, I reluctantly got out, gave myself a good rubdown and dressed in fresh clothes. I found it best not to camp too close to the steam, since it would alternately bathe you in damp heat and freeze you as the wind shifted.
The next day was clear and a little warmer. It was spring in most of the land but still winter up here. I began looking around for my family. I looked all around the lake, but saw no sign of them. I was returning to my campsite that evening when I saw a small company of Panai’ti, a tribe related to and much like the Newe. I stopped and hailed them. They greeted me heartily and invited me to join them in their nearby camp for the night. They had been hunting the large reindeer and had found my campsite. They wondered who it was that was up here alone in the winter. I was surprised that they would hunt here in the snow, but they said it was often easier to catch game in the snow, although not with horses. They had a fair-sized campsite laid out near the western edge of the plateau. They had already had some success hunting, although from the taste of the meat, it must have been an ancient and skinny animal. I asked about the pox, and they said that their village had been spared. They had submitted to the treatment, although there were a few villages that had refused it. Most of the villages that had been wiped out by it were in the west near the Nimipu and the Nomo. The latter had also been hit by the pox, but they assured me that the worst damage was beyond the western mountains. They had heard that whole tribes had been annihilated. I suspected that overstated it a bit, but I asked why some of their villages had rejected the treatment.
“Our shaman are split on the treatment. Some say that since the disease followed you from the other land, you would know how to cure it. Others say that we should just stay away from you since the disease followed you and would hit those who came in contact with you, but spare those it could not find.”
“I don’t know how disease works, or what it is, but this particular disease strikes only large groups of people. It disappears for years, and then comes back again. Only those who survived the disease once or received the treatment remain immune to it. It was also reported to not affect some people, especially those of advanced years, but to be especially merciless on the young.”
“All of our diseases come from evil spirits. Perhaps this disease’s evil spirit hates the young and thriving.”
“Perhaps.” I had no intention of debating that point. “But whatever disease comes from the old land to ravage your people, I hope you realize that we never wished it so and will do all we can to stop it.”
“We know that you are good people. You have brought peace and plenty into the land. We can walk the land with no fear of our neighbors. If our crops fail, you send us all we need. You have given us a wondrous animal that gives wings to our feet so we never want for meat. It would be folly to expect there would be no price to pay in return. That is not the way life is. Fortune and misfortune are brothers. One can only hope that the latter merely comes to visit not to abide. What say you, Raven?”
“Such wisdom can only come from a chief,” I complimented him.
The hunting party had just arrived that morning so they had not seen anyone else on the plateau. I decided to try the southern extension of the plateau the next day. I rose early, ate, bid my hosts farewell, and good hunting and set off for the south. The southern lake was smaller, and there were fewer hot springs, but it was an even better place to hide in the winter, with all its narrow ravines on the western side of the lake. As I approached the entrance to one of the ravines, I saw a man standing with an arrow drawn. I slowed down since it was obviously not a sneak attack. As I got close enough, I stopped the sled and approached him. He lowered the bow and bellowed.
“It is the Raven! He has finally come.”
With that I could see a group of men rising up from hiding places and coming toward me. I got close enough to recognize the man who had called out to the others as Itskinaks, a Siksika who was now a jagun commander in the Antelope Ordu. He clapped me on the back in welcome and soon more of the Antelopes surrounded me and welcomed me heartily. Soon a path was made, and Paula came running toward me with the children behind her. I ran toward her, and we held on to each other as if our lives depended on it. It was as though all the anxiety of the past two years could be squeezed out of existence if we only clung hard enough. Reluctantly we let go, and I gave each of the children a big hug. We had a little celebration that night. I talked to Paula and the children alone that night explaining what Kuyuk had ordered.
“I am not sure how, but I do know that we will not return to the old land. We will go to the Salmon Ordu so that Kuyuk cannot strike easily at Padraig. But once there, I will think of a way to stay.”
They were all in agreement with me and most anxious to avoid going back to the old land. Mathilde was a young lady now seventeen years old and, while Ignace had been too busy looking after the family to form any attachments and the others were still a little too young, she had fallen in love with a young man from the Antelope Ordu. They wished to marry, and the young man presented himself to me for my approval. He proved to be a Siksika named, oddly enough, Seagull. His actual name was Suyi Piksi, which meant Water Bird, but when he described the bird, it was obviously a seagull, so he had changed his name to Seagull in Mongol. When I explained to him that we were to be exiled, and if he wanted to marry Mathilde, he would have to join us in that exile, he was fully prepared to do so. He said that his vision quest had taken him to a large lake where he had seen a seagull in flight. That led to his name and his conviction that one day he would live near the sea. I asked him where he had been posted since joining the Ordu. He said that he had at first joined the Salmon Ordu, but had only been there a year when he was called home because of his parents’ bad health. As it happened, while he was away, the pox had struck, and by the time he was ready to return, the Salmon Ordu had become a shell. He had decided to stay with the Antelopes until a decision had been made about the Salmon Ordu. His jagun had been sent to protect my family. The most wonderful assignment he ever had. Since I was not familiar with the coast, I asked him about the area.
“It is a pleasant place, the winters are mild, there is a lot of rain, but it isn’t a soaking rain. There are huge cedar forests, much game, and more fish than one could imagine. The locals are strange looking since they deform their heads, but some of them are very friendly, and all of them are good warriors. There are a lot of languages, however, some not unlike that of the Salst and some like that of the Nimipu, but others very strange indeed. There are even some bands of people with a language like that of the Tinneh that live north of my people. These live in the wild mountain forests, but we were in touch with them, and they had allied with us. Only some of the more northern tribes had refused to ally with us.”
“What about in the south? How far south had recruitment reached?”
“I was told that the original recruitment had only reached the people immediately south of the Salst River, but later an expedition was sent south along the coast as far as a large bay, and then it returned through a huge valley between two ranges of mountains. There was some resistance, but eventually all joined or died. South of the bay, there was some recruitment, but it had been sporadic, one band at a time.”
“I know the mappers made it all the way down the coast. Why didn’t Ogedai follow? Did he ever set up an Ordu in the south?”
“I don’t know why he didn’t go south, but all our attention was on trade and facilitating the movement of goods along the yam system east to the Eagle Ordu. We had a few outposts along the coast north and south of the Salmon Ordu, but he never established another Ordu, and we spent very little time training recruits. They were mostly used to move goods. I was posted to one of the outposts for a while. It was in the north on a cape across a strait from a large island.”
“What was that like?”
“It was wonderful. The local tribe was a kind, peaceful people who called themselves Kwenetchechat; it meant ‘cape people’ in their language. They showed me how to handle their large boats.”
“You learned to use their boats?” Seagull had given me an idea.
“Yes. It isn’t too complicated. I could show you once we get to the coast if you like.”
“That would be most enlightening.”
The next morning, I sent the contingent of Antelopes back home to their Ordu after detaching Seagull. I told Seagull and Mathilde that I fully approved of their marriage, but suggested that they wait until our disposition was more settled, since it was not easy traveling when one was pregnant. They agreed, although reluctantly. There was still quite a bit of snow on the ground, but it was getting soft, and it was clear that we could soon travel on horseback. I had already sent the dogs back with the Antelopes. A few days later, we started west, crossing the mountains by the same high pass I had used years before to enter the plateau. Soon we were making our way through the upper Kimooenim River Valley and the most hospitable villages of the Nomo. Spring was fully in progress in the valley, and only the mountains were still draped in snow. Flowers bloomed everywhere, and Paula and I were reminded of our journey across the prairie in spring many years before, although the vegetation was not nearly as lush in this high valley. We found a few deserted villages on the western fringe of the valley and a few more as we entered Nimipu land. It was eerie spending a night in a totally deserted village, especially since you knew it wasn’t abandoned, but wiped out. We finally ran into some Nimipu, and they were most gracious to us. It seemed I was given all the credit for stopping the pox, and they had even named the treatment “the raven’s breath.”
We passed over the mountains and followed the Salst River to the Salmon Ordu. This was the worst part of the journey. The terrain was no problem, but the sights were. Little more than wild, snarling dogs and skeletons populated a few of the villages. Some of the villages still had people in them, but they looked shattered and haunted, many bore the scars of the pox. The yams were back in operation, and they had a surplus of horses, since so many people had died and left them behind. Some had escaped and were running wild now. The dogs were becoming a threat to the young and the weak, and wolves were also getting quite bold. Until the population rebounded, it would only get worse. Attempts to get people to move west and replace the lost were only somewhat successful. We found several villages of Nimipu, Salst, and Siksika north of the Salst River and some Nomo villages south of it, but only a handful of the people among them came from the more eastern tribes. There was much concern that the pox would hit again. I tried to explain that as long as they had been treated, they had nothing to fear.
We finally reached the Salmon Ordu. Padraig showed me around. The Ordu was on the north side of the mouth of the Salst. The river was very broad at its mouth, nearly twelve li wide. There was a huge snow-capped mountain standing as a sentinel on the southern side, some distance upstream. It had been visible for much of the later days of our journey, and the locals said it was a volcano, although not an active one. Its presence had been the reason the Salmon Ordu was established on the north side of the river. Frankly, since there were two smaller volcanoes on the north side of the river, that weren’t as far upstream, I thought they should have put the Ordu on the other side of the river. Seagull had been right about the rain, it wasn’t continuous, but there was a lot of it. The cedar forests were amazing. The trees were huge, and the undergrowth was dense.
Apparently only a few hundred of the original Salmon Ordu survived the epidemic, and whole tribes had been wiped out. I asked Padraig how far north and south the pox had spread. He said that to the north it had only affected the coastal tribes and even there had seemed to skip some of the villages completely and had only gotten perhaps fifteen hundred li north when the treatment halted the spread. Most of the tribes south of that point had been greatly reduced and had been forced to consolidate their villages. Inland, the more isolated settlements, especially those in the mountains, had been spared long enough to receive the treatment. The valleys and the heavily populated areas had been devastated. The local Tsinuks had been reduced to a mere fragment, as had the Kalapoewah who lived in the large valley that ran south of the Salst River not far upstream. Along the coast, the tribes had also been greatly reduced to the south, but again in the mountains they fared much better. The disease had been stopped among the Shastika and the Lalacas in the southern interior and the Shagero on the coast. It would have been much worse had there not been some already sparsely populated areas to slow down the spread. Still, much of the coast for about nine hundred li south was currently deserted.
The Koryo had not yet arrived. In fact, there had been no sign of them since that ill-fated ship that brought the pox. Padraig wondered if perhaps they realized what they had unleashed here and were afraid to return. I was sure they would be back, since there was no limit to a merchant’s greed. I used the time to learn how to use one of the local boats. The Tsinuks had left a great number of their boats, and these had been piled up for eventual use as firewood. With Seagull’s help, my sons and I selected the one in best shape and learned the finer points of operating it. Seagull then painted it in the gaudy style of Xa’ida, an island people far to the north. The bow and stern were painted red with imaginative sea animal designs in black. The center was painted black as was the upper rim on the inside. I finalized my plan. I had the boys get as many water skins as they could find without inviting questions and put them in the boat after filling them. I also bought a good supply of dried ox meat, ostensibly for trading once I arrived in Koryo and put it with my belongings.
It was only a dozen days after our arrival that a sail was sighted, and the merchant fleet came into view. As they approached, I wondered if they carried Kiliahote’s “great death” with them. The merchantmen dropped anchor near the shore, and the leader put out to shore with a small escort. Padraig and I waited for them on the shore. The leader bowed formally when he reached the shore, looked us over perhaps expecting to see Ogedai or some other familiar face, and then introduced himself as Yi Mongju, a merchant from Songjin. I recalled that Songjin was on the northeast coast of the Koryo peninsula. We introduced ourselves and invited him to join us for a meal. Over the meal, he apologized for taking so long to return. It seemed that there had been some turmoil over succession to the throne. The real power was in the hands of Yi Songgye, a general who was leader of the anti-Yuan faction. He had driven out the Yuan sympathizers and seized all their lands. The current king was merely his puppet. Yi Songgye was trying to befriend the rulers of the Middle Kingdom, the so-called Ming Dynasty. Already, the Ming pretender had insisted that the name of Koryo be changed to Chosin, to mark the dynastic change. He then asked if Ogedai’s absence was perhaps due to some sort of upheaval in this land.
“Indeed,” I replied. “On your last visit you left behind the so-called ‘barbarian pox.’ It killed him and his whole family along with most of the people in this area. We were able to stop it by using an old Hanjen method.”
“But the pox usually does not spread far or do such damage. Surely there was some other cause for such destruction.”
“The pox was unknown here. Perhaps that made it stronger. In any case, we hope you will never again put in here with disease as part of your cargo. If you do, it will not again be forgiven.”
“Understandably so,” he stammered. “Be assured, never again will I bring disease with me.”
“Good. Now, from what I understand, you exchange silk for gold. Is that correct?”
“Yes. That seems to be all you want from us and all you have to trade.”
“Perhaps there is more here than you might think. Do you have any need for copper?”
“Yes, I could take copper. I didn’t know you had any to spare. Silver would also be welcome. Could we interest you in ceramics or cotton? I see you wear cotton, but perhaps there is a shortage?”
“We have plenty of cotton. In fact, it is superior to yours. The fibers are longer and produce a sturdier fabric. Your ceramics are quite fine and delicately wrought, but such things are of no use when there isn’t an elite class. However, if you could persuade a learned doctor to relocate here, it could be most helpful. Perhaps one who was on the wrong side of the recent unpleasantness?”
“I think I might be able to do that.” He brightened. “I might perhaps make up for my last, inadvertent cargo.”
“It might. Tell me, if your current rulers are anti-Yuan, how do they allow you to trade with Mongols?”
“One does not always volunteer information that might not be well received. Songjin is far from Kaesong, the capital, and I don’t tell the local authorities where I’m going. Besides, as far as is known, the Yuan are all on the Mongolian Plain, and one cannot reach there by boat from Koryo.”
“Where do they think you are trading?”
“Yapon-uls, of course. I sail east and the only thing east of Koryo is Yapon-uls. Actually I sail northeast to avoid the Waegu.”
“The Waegu?” Padraig had never heard of the Koryo name for the Yapon-khun pirates. The Hanjen called them Wo-koo, and they called themselves Wako.
“They are pirates that live mostly on the west coast of Yapon-uls and on the islands between there and Koryo. Their predations were devastating until General Yi Songgye sent a punitive expedition to wipe out their hiding places. They are far less of a problem now. In fact, they struck our port right after I returned from my last trip here and took all I had. It took two years to build up again.”
“Do you not sail along the coast to reach here?” I asked.
“No, the winds and currents take us north of the island of the Ainu, then east across the sea to this place. We return along the coast to the north, then follow the chain of islands west.”
“The offshore current here flows north?”
“The current closest to shore flows north, but a little farther out it flows south. Have you an interest in sailing?”
“Only a little. The Khan has exiled me to Koryo and wants you to return there with me.”
“But that is impossible. How can I return from Japan with a Mongol Ferengi? You couldn’t even pass for an Ainu.”
“I’m sure we can reach an understanding. Perhaps if we discussed this alone?” I nodded to Padraig, and he shrugged and left the room leaving the merchant and me alone. “Don’t worry, I don’t want to return to Koryo with you. I only must leave here with you. Once we are out of sight of land, I will leave your company. This is what we’ll do. You will express interest in obtaining one of the local boats. They are quite colorful and finely carved, so your interest will appear plausible. I will show you a fine specimen and offer it to you as a gift. You will accept it and have it placed on your ship just as it is. Once your trading is done, you will take my family and me with you. Once we are out of sight of land, my family and I will ‘steal’ the boat and escape. You will have no idea what happened to us.”
“I will do as you ask. It seems like the best way around an unpleasant situation. Now perhaps after a good night’s sleep we can get on with some trade.”
I had him shown to his quarters and sat down again with Padraig. “I got him to agree to take me with him. You should write a note to Kuyuk after I go telling him that you saw me get aboard the ships and sail away with them. Also mention that the merchant is willing to trade copper and silver for silk. I don’t want us to keep sending all our gold back to the old land. And it may help focus Kuyuk’s attention elsewhere.”
“I can’t believe he’s sending you back.” Padraig shook his head.
“Don’t worry about it. I know we’ll see each other again.”
The next day, the trading of silk for gold was concluded, and the merchant absently admired one of the local boats. I suggested that he have a look at the boat we had been using while waiting for him. He expressed great admiration for it, and I told him he could have it since I would have no further use for it. He had it taken out to and pulled aboard his ship along with the gold and fresh supplies of food and water. He also took along a sample of our cotton to see if he could find any interest in it. Finally, my family and I said our farewells to Padraig and his family and our other friends. We, along with Seagull, then took our belongings and boarded one of the boats to be ferried out to the ships. We boarded the strange ship, climbing up a rope thrown over the side to us. The merchant welcomed me aboard the ship and asked me to make sure his new boat was properly secure. I looked over the boat carefully and suggested that it be lashed to the outside of the ship so that it could be used quickly in case of emergency. The merchant agreed, and the boat was secured to the side of the ship. As we began to get under way, Seagull and I surreptitiously stowed our things on the boat. I could see that one of the ship’s crew had seen us, and I went over to him.
“You look like a bright young man,” I said in Hanjen, handing him a small lump of gold. “Perhaps you can do me a service?”
“Oh yes.” He smiled broadly. He spoke Hanjen quite well.
“When you return to Koryo, should you encounter anyone knowledgeable about the silk cultivation who might want to leave Koryo, perhaps you might suggest to them an eastward voyage?”
“Would people of Koryo be welcome here?” He seemed surprised.
“If the Mongols were welcomed here, why wouldn’t the Koryo be?”
“But silk requires mulberry trees. I have not seen any here.”
“There is a type of mulberry in the southeastern part of the land. Are you familiar with silk?” I thought perhaps I had inadvertently found the right man.
“My family cultivates it. It is greatly encouraged now. Would my whole family be welcome here?”
“With such a skill, most certainly.”
“I will ask them. I take it you will not be with us for long?”
“Who can tell?” I smiled at him.
He went back to work, and my party kept together near the boat watching the shore recede as we put out to sea. Once we could no longer make out details on the shore, Ignace, Seagull, and I placed arrows in our bows and made a big show of stealing the boat. The ship’s crew looked more puzzled than surprised and willingly lowered the boat with us on board into the sea. We stowed our bows and started paddling westward with the oars. Before nightfall we could feel a current pulling us southward and turned into it. As the stars came out, I was able to see that we were still just north of the Salmon Ordu, but well out to sea. By midnight, we were south of the Ordu, but the current was not very swift. I wanted to be sure we were well south of it before turning in toward shore, but I had to allow for the north-running current along the shore. I also had to bear in mind that weather could suddenly turn ugly, and the sea was no place to be when that happened.
We had plenty of food and water, so we had nothing to do but all take turns rowing the boat to help along the sluggish current. I wanted to be at least six hundred li south of the Ordu before turning in to shore. I wanted to reach the mouth of a river called Caiyukla on the map. It was about five hundred li south of the Ordu. A tribe of the same name had populated it, but it was one of the tribes virtually wiped out by the pox. The survivors had concentrated northward with some related tribes around a river called Alsi’ (again for the local tribe). I thought it might take six days to get far enough south at the rate we were going. Almost every morning, we were beset by a dense fog that would only slowly lift. Fortunately, the current kept us on course. The sea was full of animals. There was a large relative of the otters we had long enjoyed watching sport on the riverbanks and innumerable seals. On a rare clear day, we even saw a small pod of whales a comfortable distance away. On the third day, the wind began to pick up a little from the north. I was concerned that it might be heralding a storm, but it did increase our speed even though we did not have a sail. By nightfall, when I made another star sighting, I could see that we would only have to continue another day if the wind held up. By dawn, the seas had become a bit rough and the sky was leaden. The wind had not only held all night but had picked up. I decided it was best to make for shore rather than try to ride out what had to be an approaching storm on the sea in a small boat.
We all paddled furiously eastward, while the wind continued to pick up speed and the waves grew higher. Soon we had to dedicate the younger children to bailing the boat as the higher waves began to crash over the boat. Then the rain began to fall. It was a wind-driven rain squall so it actually did not last long, but it nearly swamped the boat, and we all had to bale furiously. Fortunately, Seagull had had the foresight to outfit the boat with wooden bowls for baling. Once the squall passed, the seas began to settle a little, and we continued to paddle eastward with determination. Finally near midday, the land came into view, but it was the mountaintops of the coastal range rather than the shore. By evening, the shore itself was in sight, but it was a jagged rocky shore with many small rock islands full of birds. By now, although the wind drove us shoreward, the current was flowing north, and we had to struggle against it while propelling ourselves toward the shore and avoiding the rocks. Somewhere in the dark, the moon dancing in and out from behind the clouds revealed a sandy beach before us. Summoning what strength we had left, we propelled ourselves toward it and with the help of a good-sized breaker found ourselves at rest on the shore. We got out, wearily pushed our boat farther ashore and then lay down in it for an exhausted sleep. Before allowing myself to sleep, I took a reading on the stars and forced my numb brain to calculate our position before collapsing myself.
It was well past dawn when we began stirring. I was the last to wake, and when I finally did rouse myself, it was to the smell of roasting fish. Seagull had caught them, the children had gathered wood, and Paula had prepared them. I was embarrassed that I had slept so long, but assumed that my age was catching up with me. We very much enjoyed the fish. My calculations of the night before indicated that we were within several li of the Caiyukla River, but I wanted to take another sighting with a clearer head that night and suggested that we camp here for the day and rest up from our voyage. There was no objection, and Ignace went hunting, and Seagull went fishing while I checked over our things for damage. The maps were in waterproof sealskin pouches, so they were in good shape. We still had plenty of dried meat, and it also had remained in good condition. We still had some water, but I sent Mathilde and the younger ones to look for a stream. Paula helped me with our things. After all was accounted for, I took the map of the area up a nearby hill and tried to figure out where we were from it.
This seemed to be a rather heavily wooded area, mostly fir trees. There had been some cutting of trees in the area in the last few years, indicating that there had been a settlement nearby. To the north of my hill was a small row of hills, to the east was a good-sized hill, and to the south there appeared to be a level