Chapter Two
Smoke, the smell of roasting bird and the sound of a crackling fire, stirred Hanna back to consciousness.
‘A little more sleep, to drift in his lingering dreams wouldn’t do any harm,’ he thought.
Refusing to open his eyes as his senses slowly responded and his memory triggered as to where he actually was. As he lay there, his stomach began to react, the sweet aroma of bird fat clinging to his nostrils. His thoughts turned to the possibility of constipation with the sudden transition from ship food to fresh meat and uncomfortably, finally, he succumbed. He turned to lie on his side as he opened his eyes.
Ray was still in his sleeping bag and his eyes were bulging out of his head. Realising that Ray was trying to convey a warning, Hanna remained motionless. Looking past Ray, with his top eye closed, he could see George was still lying in his bag. None of them moved as Hanna slowly stirred to see who was doing the cooking behind him. There they were, about six of the natives, sitting around a newly built fire. They were all very intent on cooking and not paying any attention to the three sleeping cocoons on the ground behind them. Hanna noticed that they were sprinkling herbs and oil on the birds as they cooked.
They all seemed to be sniggering and trying not to look at each other without smiling, in fact… Hanna realised, they were trying not to laugh aloud and wake their sleeping captives.
Before he could devise some sort of plan, they finished cooking and turned toward the supposably sleeping trio. They crouched down around them, two men to each sleeper, waving the aromatic meat in front of their noses. While one held the food, the other used a blade of grass to tickle the nostrils of their sleeping quarries.
Hanna eyes opened and as he looked at his host, eye to eye, he was offered the cooked bird on a stick. He stared at the seemingly unfazed, stern looking young man that remained crouching in front of him. The young man’s expression changed to a smile, a cheeky smirk. He quickly recovered with, a serious frown, but his associate could not hold it together and they fell about in a roar of laughter. Hanna caught the hot bird in his hands and immediately reacted to the heat. With that, the whole group lay about the ground, holding their bellies, in an absolute fit of hysteria.
Hanna, Ray, and George instantly sprang out of their sleeping sacks and stood back to back in an instinctive act of self-protection. However, as their native captors look at the confused faces of victims of their joke, they only laughed more. Both Ray and George looked to Hanna for a signal, but as Hanna surveyed the strange scene surrounding him, he felt that there was no real threat or danger. In fact, as the shock and wave of confused emotions swept over them, they could see the merit of their jest and began to smile.
The man, who had handed him his breakfast indicated that Hanna should eat and as he bit into the bird, he realised that it was it was extremely hot. He reacted quickly as he choked. The natives started to laugh again and the reality of the situation began to ease in his mind. He looked from Ray to George as they shook their heads, smiling, acknowledging amusement at the strange prank that these natives had orchestrated. They too, began to laugh. Slowly, it escalated into a very loud crescendo as the unbelievable events of the last few days began its emotional release. From the depths of their subconscious minds came the fear and confusion of the recent events that had transformed their lives.
After a minute or so, Hanna and his crew sat up and wiped the tears from their faces. Hanna could feel his stomach muscles from the over exaggerated exertion of the laughing fit that had consumed him and felt a little foolish at his lack of self-control. The natives were still smiling and making jokes amongst themselves as they resumed making breakfast. Hanna offered some of his bird meat the man who had woke him, but he smiled and indicted that he was looking forward to the one he was cooking now. Hanna sat down with Ray and George to eat.
Hanna and the young man kept exchanging glances but he would break eye contact when Hanna tried to communicate. They were all friendly and warmth, yet they conveyed a childlike innocence.
‘Well they’re a happy bunch,’ said George.
‘Believe it or not,’ said Hanna. ‘I think there’re just a bit shy. I don’t think there’re scared of us, but they are a bit wary,’
More food was presented and Hanna made sure that they acknowledged his gratitude in his refusal in a deliberate attempt to communicate with them. Finally, he gained the trust of his host enough to make a move, sitting beside him as he spoke.
‘My name is Hanna York, Hanna York,’ he said as he pointed to himself.
Immediately his host looked to his friends and mimicked perfectly the words that Hanna had spoken. They all chorused in another bout of laughter. Hanna smiled at his hosts and looked towards George and Ray.
‘Do you understand English?’ asked Ray and one of his breakfast providers mimicked him!
The others repeated him.
‘Let’s start to pack our gear and get ready to move, and then we can gauge their reaction to that.’
Again, their host mimicked perfectly, word for word and again, his audience repeated. Now Hanna was impressed, as were Ray and George.
‘I like to rub my tummy and pat my head and poke out my tongue and roll my eyes,’ said George as he proceeded to do just that.
The natives stood and stared, there was an awkward silence, and Hanna glared at George in concern. The whole group looked at each other and tried to mimics George’s actions. Then, as they struggled to do so, they broke into another fit of hysterical laughter. This time lasted a little longer than the original bout. George was a hero as they were all having trouble trying to coordinate the actions. Instead of repeating George’s speech, they mumbled it in tune.
Hanna was now starting to feel a little frustrated with his attempts to communicate and Ray sat beside him, bemused.
‘Well they’re not stupid Han that’s for sure. Just... really immature?’
‘You get the feeling they don’t have a care in the world. It’s hard to believe that this is how they react to strangers, maybe we’re just not that strange, maybe they’ve seen men like us before,’ said Hanna.
‘Could be, but wouldn’t it be nice if they just didn’t have any fear of the unknown, they just accept what they see, without any preconceived prejudice or judgments,’ pondered Ray.
Hanna did not comment, he sat, and they watched together as George performed for his new found audience. After a little more time had passed, their host made his way over to where Hanna was sitting. He looked at Hanna and gently tapped his own chest.
‘Warooka, Warooka,’ he said. Hanna smiled, made the same gesture,
‘Hanna, Hanna,’ he replied.
Ray then took his queue and jumped in to introduce himself. Soon they were all patting each other on the back, exchanging hugs and names like a long lost family.
They spent the rest of the day gathering eggs and stockpiling them in baskets that the natives had brought. That night they joined the party at the mouth of the creek. First, they swam in the clear cool water, using the clean sand as soap and later they ate and danced around the fire. Hanna was amazed at how easy he and his crew had picked up the basics of the native language. Having been privy to the events of the day, the jokes and singing around the campfire did seem to speed the process up.
Hanna and is crew mates stood under a tall tree, Warooka and several of his cohorts clambered about in the heights, picking fruit. They would call to those below, as it was their job to catch the falling fruit. A call went up further into the bush as the natives descended quickly as possible. Hanna looked the George and Ray, alarmed by the reactions of their hosts.
Warooka ran past him as still more calls went up in the surrounding forest. He was smiling as he slapped him on the back, two fingers demonstrating tusks and snorting like a pig. They hurried on behind him leaving the gathered fruit were they lay. Although unseen, with all the noise, varying calls, and whistles, they finally congregated at the opening of a gully. There were small trinkets and carvings in the rocks that lined the entrance. This was a well-versed hunting practice. Spears, ropes, and carry poles were already stored here for the occasion.
They entered the ravine and soon came upon the family of wild hogs. Immediately, the boar turned and attacked. However, they were ready and he dropped to the ground as three spears pieced his chest. A cry rang out at the kill. Then it was the sows turn to attack. Warooka and his men climbed the rocks as they separated her from the main group, Hanna and his crew followed suit. Several men herded her and an accomplice out the ravine. Hanna suspected the remaining group of nine consisted of two generations. Their path now blocked with a previously prepared barrier. The men pointed as they discussed the sex of the group. They culled them, allowing three older females to escape. They kept, three young and one older female and the two young males. Warooka explained that they would take the breading females back to the village but tonight. He smiled and pointed at the two young males.
They all stood around the dead bore as the three owners of the fatal spears sang a soulful tune over his body as a tribute of respect. After close examination of the fatal wounds, the two winners would be rewarded with a tusk each when they gut and bleed the beast in another location. Congratulations exchanged as the group helped lift the large carcass, his hoofs now tied and strung between two poles, onto the shoulders of four men as they joked and teased each other and carried the beast out. The captured young were strung together and to Hanna’s surprise, willingly followed.
They had now spent three full days working with them, collecting provisions and learning new skills. Each night, they ate well as they sang and danced about the large campfire. Tonight would be the last night as they had all they could carry; in the morning, they would break camp.
Hanna and his crew discussed the pros and cons of going back to the ship. They decided it would be a good rendezvous point in case they were ever separated. As it was, the damaged ship was not secure and there was a lot of unsecured and possibly useable equipment on broad.
They accepted Warooka’s invitation to return with them to their village. They would take one day at a time. So far, they had eaten well, worked hard, gathered food, and learnt some valuable survival skills. They were enjoying this new experience. They had been occupied enough to forget their situation and just appreciate the basics of life for a while. Hanna had even felt a scene of excitement, as each day had brought a new adventure.
That night, Hanna and his crew sang a few songs from home. Sometimes, when they sang in harmony, he felt a little lost and melancholy in this strange new world.
Of Warooka’s men, Koonaida, a tall, dark haired man in his late teens, had teamed up with Ray. He was one of the two who assisted with Ray’s breakfast that morning. Likewise, with George, Barunga, of similar statue, was now the star student of George’s school of clowning.
They prepared baskets and nets to balance in the middle of two poles some ten metres long. They carried them with a pole resting on each shoulder to evenly distribute the load. There were twenty-three of them in total and fortunately, for George, as his leg had not quite fully recovered, he was the odd man out. However, it was only after his extreme protests. Other than that, the weight was distributed evenly throughout the group. Their bounty consisted mainly of eggs and live birds, bound and packed for the journey. There were also slings of different fruits and roots that were only available from this particular area. The pigs continued to follow the dead boar.
They began their trek to the village soon after sunrise and they followed a track that wound its way along the creek bank. It soon turned into the scrub and Hanna noted that they were heading west, back towards the ship. Their path was heading around the northern base of the hill that was their vantage point the night they had first spotted their new friends. Hanna judged that if they were to arrive at the village by nightfall and the track stayed on level ground, then it would be safe to assume that the ship was half way between the village and the creek camp.
‘Closer to the creek than the village, with any luck,’ he thought.
With about an hour and a half of daylight left, they were still heading west as the track began to rise. The journey had been uneventful and as they neared their destination, the chatter began to grow louder among the men. Hanna could hear the anticipation in their voices and picked up some of the conversation.
‘Over by the fallen log,’ whispered Barunga to the man on the end of his poles. Hanna and some of the others looked towards the log.
‘Minlaton, you’re always the first to be seen,’ said Koonaida. ‘How can you learn to hunt if you are seen by your prey?’
A child of around 12 years old ran to tackle the man’s legs and suddenly, with a great screeching roar, about twelve children came running from the surrounding bush. The men dropped their yokes, and began to chase and wrestle with the excited children. Hanna and his crew watched as they screamed with delight.
After the commotion died down, the men returned to their poles. They found it hard to lift their loads as the children held on, swinging. Eventually they managed to get free as the children danced around two yoke carriers that hauled one certain type of fruit. Hanna had no doubt that this was their treat as the children ogled the load, chattering amongst themselves. They eyed the newcomers, being careful not to make eye contact. Little Minlaton was again the one to be caught as Hanna managed to catch him with a smile just before he looked away.
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Shortly after, they came to the mouth of a cave where the people of the village had come to gather about. Hanna could see that there were more people watching from the cliff face above.
‘It made for a good defensive entrance’, thought Hanna.
The parade continued inside where they found themselves in a large cavern that was well lit by the sunlight that radiated down through the large hole in the ceiling. People were still gathering about when the column finally stopped and again, Hanna was surprised at the lack of attention that they seemed to draw. As they were adjusting to their new surroundings, Ray manoeuvred over toward Hanna and George.
The crowd had amassed to about three hundred people and an eerie silence had come over them. Warooka stepped forward as he lead his group in song. As best as Hanna could interpret it was a homecoming song, telling of the journey and the bountiful rewards that they have brought back to share. The crowd returned with verse that welcomed the journeymen home and how they had been missed.
Then Warooka sang a solo, telling how they came upon the strangers and the neat trick that they had played. He went on to tell how George had returned the prank and Barunga jumped forward to demonstrate. He danced around the crowd so they all could see and as he did, the merriment grew. Soon the cavern was roaring with laughter. Hanna, Ray, and George were also laughing. Not so much at the joke itself but the reaction of the people that had now gathering around them. Slowly the crowd calmed and although the children were still making jest, the elder members of the village sang a song of welcome to the new comers. A solo was performed by a man Hanna judged to be the eldest in the cavern. It was a report on the village news in their absence.
The cavern was large and along both sides ran a ledge that was perfect for people to sit and view any of the communal activities. There were stalactites and stalagmites betraying its age, they were showing the tell tale signs of contamination. It was a grand natural amphitheatre and Hanna thought of it as a ballroom. As the ceremony ended, some people dispersed, others took charge of the cargo, and the journeymen mingled with their friends and families. Warooka, Barunga, and Koonaida approached them with the elder soloist. He was introduced as Curramulka; it was obvious that he was well respected. They were then lead across the main Cavern to be taken to their living quarters.
They entered a smaller room that followed on deeper into the grand cavern. Hanna and his crew stopped dead in their tracks, this was no natural phenomenon, the walls beautifully carved and shaped in the surrounding rock. In the middle stood a fountain fed by water falling from the ceiling. The rock looked like Marble and the entrances to four tunnels had been carved in beautifully integrate patterns and pictures.
One set of carvings showed naked people bathing while another showed people eating and drinking. George was staring at the carvings around one doorway that depicted a mass orgy. Yet another showed people sleeping and relaxing. The ceiling shaped to depict the clouds and sky, the sun at one end and the moon’s and stars at the other. Even the blue star was there. As they looked up, they could feel a cool fresh breeze spilling in from hole in the ceiling. The grandeur of the room held them in awe. Warooka said to Hanna as he waved an open hand at the doorways.
‘This is the entrance chamber you just follow your nose. When you are settled, I will show you the short cuts. But if you look for the fountain markings you will always come back to this room.’
They entered the passage with the carvings of resting people above it and proceeded up a flight of wide stairs. It opened on to a long corridor that had doorways opening from it on both sides. There were no doors to the rooms. They follow Warooka into one of them as they turned a corner to walk around a rock wall partition that provided each room with privacy from the hallway. Inside was a large living area with several rooms and a balcony that overlooked the sea. There seemed to be no shortage of rooms in the cavern complex as they were each given their own separate living quarters.
‘This is just unbelievable Han, somebody pinch me. I must be still in the bloody ship, unconscious in my seat. It’s got to be a dream,’ said Ray.
Hanna sat down and looked about the room. It was functional but not luxurious, he noticed the chairs were old and made from wood. The cloth on the bed had been woven from soft thread and was showing signs of age. There was an enclave that was home to a broom and other assorted knick knacks.
‘Have you seen the view boys,’ he said as he got up and headed toward the balcony.
They all stood silently staring at the clean blue ocean. Birds called as they hung in the breeze, the waves splashed and rumbled at the base of the one hundred metre cliff and clouds stood tall above a distant horizon. The three survivors stood together in this strange room, in this unfamiliar labyrinth of tunnels that they would soon call home and contemplated what the future might hold.
‘Well, I could get comfortable with this. Did you see how pretty some of those girls were?’ said George.
‘What is it with these people? Have you noticed a little lack of curiosity amongst them,’ said Ray.
‘They’re smart enough but there‘s something missing alright,’ said George.
‘I’ve tried to bait Barunga a couple of times now but he’s just not interested in where we came from or who we are.’
Ray lay back on Hanna’s bed.
‘This all looks like a bloody good lifestyle so far. In fact, I think I may have died and gone to heaven.’
‘You got that right,’ said George.
‘Only time will tell… only time will tell,’ commented Hanna quietly, admiring the view.
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