Chapter 14
Trade Secrets

A week after Tala returned to her people, Gabrielle's turn as Hunter came up. She geared up with the others in her party. They each wore at least one knife, a pouch of trail mix and a water skin tied at their waists, and a satchel of arrows at their backs.

Gabrielle had made both of the two knives she wore sheathed at her ankles. The first was made of bone and she'd carefully carved the grip with symbols that were important to her. The circle and cross of the sign for female adorned one side, and a pentacle representing the four archaic elements, with the fifth point being spirit, decorated the other. The pentacle actually meant many different things to her, but the natural alchemic elements were what she thought of when she prepared for the hunt.

The other knife she'd flaked out of stone in the traditional 'caveman' style. She'd also made the arrows in her quiver, as well as the bow she carried. She hoped to learn how to make the rest of the things she carried, like the water skin, but hadn't found the time yet.

They tracked a herd of elk to a small clearing and slowly crept within range to use their bows. They moved, one by one, freezing whenever one of the animals raised its head from grazing on the diminishing grass. As far as the animals were concerned, Gabrielle's people were just moving trees that posed no threat.

Finally, they were all within range and had clear shots. Gabrielle signaled for them to raise their bows and nock their arrows. Just as she was about to signal for her people to fire, several spears came flying through the air from the other side of the clearing.

Gabrielle whistled for her people to stand down and watched the herd scatter. Three of the beasts lay dead on the ground, the shafts of several spears protruding from the bodies. She watched as Tala, and several members of her tribe, came forward and removed their weapons from the dead animals. She heard several whoops and hollers of joy and then Tala and her people began the task of trussing up the carcasses to carry home.

Gabrielle stepped forward and listened as her people quietly backed her up.

"Tala," Gabrielle called out over the distance between them.

Tala whipped her head around and prepared to defend her people's food with the other members of her tribe. As soon as she realized who it was though, she told her people to stand down and they returned to their work.

Gabrielle crossed the clearing and gestured for the rest of her party to hang back. Tala met her close to half way. She held out her arm and Gabrielle grasped it.

"Friends," Tala greeted her.

"Friends," Gabrielle returned. Gabrielle gestured to the slain animals, once the clasp was broken. "We were hunting this herd, too," she said to explain their presence.

Tala grinned. "Good good fighters get food. Good fighters no," she replied smugly.

Gabrielle understood what she was implying. It was a real-life demonstration of the old adage, 'The early bird gets the worm.' She couldn't really argue with that kind of logic, even if she wasn't very happy with the outcome.

"You're right. Well, are you and your people done with your hunting for today?" she asked.

"Yes," Tala replied.

"Good. We won't interfere with each other again." Gabrielle turned around to signal her people to prepare to move out again. They had some tracking to do. She turned back to Tala. "I have to go. I'll come visit soon. Goodbye," she said and turned to go.

Tala held out a hand and caught her wrist. "Tala go.. I go with you..." She searched for the word she'd heard earlier. "I go with you hunting?" she asked.

Gabrielle thought it over for all of two seconds, as her heart leapt for joy. She really needed to get that little pumping muscle under control. "Sure. Come on. Let's go," she replied.

Tala jogged back to pick up her spear and then rejoined Gabrielle and her people. They headed off in the direction Gabrielle had seen the herd run in and quickly found the tracks of the animals they were hunting. Within just a couple hours, they found the herd again and prepared themselves for the attack.

Gabrielle signaled for her archers to nock their arrows and they all readied themselves. Tala raised her spear, gripping the wooden board that would let her propel the weapon harder and farther than her arm could alone. However, she didn't look at the herd. She carefully studied Gabrielle and her odd weapon.

Gabrielle gave the signal and let her arrow fly. An instant later, over half a dozen other arrows filled the air and landed unerringly in their targets. The herd scattered as before, leaving five of their numbers behind. Gabrielle and the others cheered at their success and ran forward to retrieve their arrows.

Tala followed, her spear still gripped in her hand, a little in awe. This strange weapon was even better than her spear. She watched as Gabrielle's people sorted themselves out, claiming their kills by the colored feathers adorning the shafts of the arrows.

Gabrielle knelt down in front of the great beast she had felled with only a single arrow to the heart. "Mother Gaia. Thank you. Brother Elk. Thank you. Your sacrifice will not be in vain, for my people will live because of you. When my time comes, I hope my earthly remains will enrich the soil and nourish the grass upon which your descendants will feed. We are both a part of the never-ending circle of life. Thank you." Gabrielle kept her head bowed for a moment longer and then opened her eyes.

Tala had come to kneel next to her and spoke when Gabrielle raised her head again. "What doing you?" she asked.

"I was just thanking the spirit of the elk for dying on my arrow, so that my people may continue to live and grow strong," Gabrielle replied. Tala seemed unsure of her meaning.

"My people... My people hunting.." Tala pointed to the still animal, "go to.. no here. Go. My people go no here. Friends." She knew she wasn't explaining it right by the confused look on Gabrielle's face.

Tala pointed to her chest. "Inside." She grasped the shaft of the arrow protruding from the elk's chest and pantomimed removing it, then stabbing it into her own chest. Then she pretended to die by falling over. Gabrielle held back the laugh that wanted to come out at the comical act. Tala blew out a long loud breath, then imitated with her hands the breath going in all directions. "Go, no here." She touched the elk again. "No here." Then she brought her hands together and clasped them tightly. "Friends," she said again. The woman finally seemed to understand.

"Your spirit will go play with the elk's spirit when you die," Gabrielle said.

Tala nodded. "Yes." Tala remembered the word 'play' from when they had been pretending to fight each other. That was exactly what she and the beast would do in their next lives together.

They worked together. The creatures fed her people, so that they could live another day. Her people took down only the sick and the young, so that only the strong survived to populate the next generation. Neither could live without the other.

"Respect for death is important. Your people are wise, Tala," Gabrielle told her.

Tala barely understood what Gabrielle was saying, but she caught the underlying meaning and accepted the compliment.

They both worked to get the arrow free from the hide, without widening the hole unnecessarily, and then trussed up the animal for transport. When they were finished, they helped with two of the other animals, before the other half of Gabrielle's group returned from building two litters.

Long, roughly cut poles were slid between the tied legs of the carcasses and then the animals were lifted by the poles onto the litters, two for each sled. The fifth, and smallest, one was carried by the two people who had killed it. They didn't arrive back at the village until after dark, but that didn't stop them from working on the animals.

Gabrielle set up several torches around her kill to see by, just like everyone else, and skinned the animal. Then she removed the horns and set them aside. She left the carcass for one of Luis' people to butcher and went back to the skin and horns. The skin she would take to the tannery on the edge of town. The horns she decided to keep for herself this time. They were very beautiful and the little artisan inside her was already coming up with ideas for what she could do with them.

She went to the Dining Hall with Tala in tow, after dropping off the skin at the tanning area, and rinsed herself off, with some of the others from her party, using the leftover rinsewater from dinner. It hadn't been emptied yet. Luis must have realized the Hunters would need it.

She still felt a little grimy, the blood and fat from skinning the elk clinging to her skin, but it was the best she could do. The river water was just too cold to go swimming in at night. At least it was for her. There were several polar bears in their community that found it 'invigorating.'

Gabrielle picked up the horns again and she and Tala went to her small cabin. She set the horns on her table and then carefully removed all of her hunting paraphernalia. She sighed and fell back on her bed, exhausted. Tala watched her in silence, a small smile playing about her lips. Then she realized she was supposed to leave.

"I go to my people now," she said sadly. "You good good teacher," she added with a little more enthusiasm.

Gabrielle sat up, suddenly alert. The first part tore at her heart, while the second part made her realize what taking Tala along on their hunt had shown the precocious woman. She decided to focus on the first part and worry about the second part later.

"You can't go now. It's already dark and cold. Stay and spend the night here and then leave in the morning," she proposed.

Tala thought it over. For about a single heartbeat. "I stay. I leave in the morning."

Gabrielle smiled and stood to change out of her dirty clothes. It crossed her mind, as she stood with her back to Tala, that she could just go without clothing, but she shook her head internally at the thought. She donned a clean soft leather shirt and lay down next to a naked Tala. She snuggled into the woman, as Tala pulled the covers over them. This felt so much more natural than sleeping by herself had the past week.

In the morning, Gabrielle agreed to let Tala return home by herself. She wasn't happy with the idea of Tala being all alone for such a long journey, but Tala assured her she would be fine. Tala jogged off in the direction of home and Gabrielle went to work.

Gabrielle entered the Main Hall and stood in the doorway to the Council room. Gregory and Tristan were already there, discussing the current state of their food stores. Tristan explained the rationing procedures Luis and Jonathan had come up with and Gregory agreed it was a good system. Gabrielle cleared her throat at a lull in the conversation and stepped into the room to announce her presence.

"Morning," she greeted them both.

"Good morning. I heard we had a visitor last night," Tristan prompted.

"Yeah, how is Tala?" Gregory asked.

"She's fine. She ended up joining us on the hunt," she said tentatively.

"Oh yeah, congratulations. That was a great haul you guys brought in," Gregory told her.

"Thanks," she said.

"Yeah, not to mention furthering the trust between us and..." Tristan was interrupted by the young blonde.

"She watched me use a bow and arrow. You saw how fast she picked up on things here. We can't share our technology too quickly. What if she decided to attack?" The words came out in a rush. Both men were surprised at the nervousness and guilt that colored Gabrielle's strained tone.

Gregory responded first. "Well, that is one of the reasons we brought the guns with us. We'd be safe if something like that were to happen," he tried to reassure her.

"I don't think anything like that will happen," Tristan said. "I mean, she..." he trailed off, then regained his voice. "She's obviously interested in you, Gabrielle."

"Yeah? And what if she decided to go to war to win me?" Gabrielle looked away, then back at her two Firsts. She sighed. "I want to trust Tala and her tribe, but we know practically nothing about her people and their way of life."

Gregory drew himself up a little straighter in his chair. "Well, there's an easy way to find out." Gabrielle and Tristan waited for him to enlighten them. "Tala seemed very welcoming. Why don't we send a few people to live with her tribe? Then they could report back on what the daily life is like in Tala's tribe."

Gabrielle shook her head in negation. "No one else has been able to communicate with any of them and I've really only spoken with Tala herself," she said.

Tristan jumped in with both feet. "Shari mentioned she recognized a few root words she thought were similar to words she'd heard spoken by her grandmother when she was little. You know she's descended from one of the Sioux tribes of South Dakota. And anyone could do what you've been doing. People tend to learn languages faster when they're immersed in them," Tristan concluded.

Gabrielle nodded. "Alright, we'll send three volunteers to live with the Iroka, if Tala agrees. You know, she'll probably want to send a few of her own people in exchange. Then we'll be back to the problem of sharing technology we should probably keep to ourselves for awhile longer."

"You're right," Gregory agreed.

"Well, anybody have any more ideas?" Tristan asked.

"I do, but you're not going to like it," Gabrielle said cautiously.

"If it involves you going to live with them alone, then you're right, I don't like it," Gregory warned.

"It's the only way to get the information we need, without Tala trying to send anyone to live with us in return," Gabrielle argued.

"You do realize that Tala might consider your going to live with her akin to a marriage proposal," Tristan pointed out.

"And what would be wrong with that?" Gabrielle asked, rather defensively. Before either of them could even acknowledge the question, Gabrielle continued. "Look, I'll make sure she understands that's not why I'm there."

"How?" asked Tristan.

"I'll tell her I'm there to learn from her people. It'll be the truth. And I'll tell her I'll teach her things in return, just not anything that could end up coming back to bite us in the ass. I'll teach them about pottery, things like that. Who knows, maybe I'll find the next Picasso while I'm there," she said. Her humor seemed lost on her friends.

Gregory looked highly skeptical, but Tristan said, "You're the Chief. I'll follow your lead and pray for the best."

Gregory lost his grim look and nodded. "Yeah, I'll go along with whatever you decide. I trust you. So does the whole community."

Gabrielle stood a little taller as she accepted their offered allegiance and the responsibility of making the final decision. She nodded at Gregory. "Call an assembly of the town."

Gregory stood and left to do as ordered, squeezing her shoulder gently on the way out to show his support. After he'd gone, Tristan spoke up.

"What's really going on?" he asked quietly.

"What do you mean?" she asked in return.

"I know what we're doing is probably for the best, but I can't help thinking you have a few extra reasons for wanting to stay with Tala's tribe. Like maybe Tala herself," he said.

Gabrielle slumped into the nearest chair, her tough Chief persona falling somewhere around her feet. "Do you think I'm crazy?" she asked simply.

"For what?"

Gabrielle hesitated, then spoke, her voice almost a whisper. "I think I'm falling for her." Then in a slightly stronger voice, the first admission seeming to give her strength, she said, "Or if I'm to be completely honest, I'm already gone."

Tristan smiled. "No, I don't think you're crazy." He became serious again, as he voiced the first concern that came to mind. "Will you be able to objectively assess Tala and her people?"

"You know as well as I do there's no such thing as true objectivity. But I swear to you I will uphold my duty as Chief of New Gaia before my own personal wants. The safety of my people come first, no matter who or where the threat happens to come from," she declared.

The whole town had already gathered in the Dining Hall, when Gabrielle and Tristan entered. Gabrielle greeted people, as she made her way to the front. Once she'd climbed up on one of the tables in the front, she turned around and held her hands up for quiet and everyone settled down.

"I've come to a decision. We need to learn more about our native neighbors. Tala, the leader of the local tribe, has already learned a lot about us, including what a bow and arrow can do, but we've learned very little in return. In order to make sure that the advanced technology of even little things, like the stringing of a bow, do not come to be used against us, I've decided to go live with Tala's tribe for the Winter."

Everyone started talking at once and Gabrielle waited for the ruckus to die down naturally. When it didn't, she whistled shrilly and held her hands up again to get everyone's attention.

"It'll only be until the Spring and, since our settlements are so close to one another, it won't be like there'll be no contact between our two peoples. I'll just be residing with the Iroka, instead of here in New Gaia. I have faith in my Advisors' abilities to make good decisions in my absence. I promise I will visit as often as I can, but I will be spending most of my time with Tala's people trying to learn about our new friends."

She stepped down from the table and received hugs from a lot of people who happily wished her well and much success. She thanked them and eventually threaded her way to the edge of the group. She found Tristan.

"I want a shipment of stores and an Honor Guard to escort me to Tala's camp in the morning. Tell Luis to figure out how much he thinks one person will eat during Winter and then cut the amount in half. I'll hunt for the other half of my food. I'm not going to be a drain on their resources." She looked around at the dwindling number of people in the Dining Hall. Everyone was returning to their work. "I think I'm going to call it a day now," she smiled. It wasn't even lunchtime yet.

"No problem. I'll take care of everything. You go rest up. You've been pretty busy lately."

"No more than anyone else."

"Yeah, but no one else has to think about everyone else the way you do. It takes its toll."

"Heh, and now you're going to have that lovely responsibility," she joked.

"Don't remind me. But, honestly, I think I can handle it. Things have been going a lot more smoothly and we didn't have any problems when you were gone those few days last time. It'll be okay," he said confidently.

Gabrielle wondered who he was trying to convince more, her or himself. "I'm sure everything will be fine. I think I'm going to go heat some water and have the prehistoric equivalent of a hot bath," she said. Tristan shook his head in amusement and watched her go.