Gestures, part 2
Oct. 20th, 2012 12:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
frogs_of_warThe other day an older man arrived at the Floral kiosk minutes before I was supposed to get off work when I was already running late. I sucked it up and greeted him warmly. He wanted balloons. I blew up two balloon bouquets (12 balloons total), which took a while. Then he looked through the cards while I did the last few things and then I rung him up and left twenty minutes late.
But I wasn’t annoyed because he told me his story and I love stories. This guy was planning to celebrate his partner’s fiftieth birthday by bringing balloons and wearing full drag to the airport to greet his partner as he got off the plane from New Orleans. The card he picked had a high heeled shoe on the front and said fabulous was like perfect only more fun. I hope they both had a good time.
Title: Gestures
Status: Part 2 of 10
Genre: science fiction, romance, slash
Rating: PG (13?)
Content: setting down, stew, information, a new name, waiting, a boat ride, natives, help, hope, a swift, hard trip, care, Lion, Quest, Grandmother
Length: about 4,600 words
Summary: Colt is help along on his journey, but some help is better than others.
Masterlist
Deresla II was a beautiful planet and the first in the solar system to be colonized. Most of the rain on the inhabited islands occurred during the hot season, so they were always green and fertile. Six centuries ago, the colonization ships had landed and taken off again to get the second half of the colonists, but then a plague hit Galgaie XII. Planets were locked down and planetary governments were more worried about saving their citizens than about people who had moved away.
Back then communication could only travel the speed of light, so Deresla II’s beacon did not reach a colonized world for over two hundred years. By the time anyone came back to check on them, space travel was the stuff of legend and the colonist had reverted to hunter-gatherer societies. The primitive colonists might not remember how to build an engine, but they did know not to trust people from the sky.
—
Colt landed in the smallest port he’d ever seen. Nothing bigger than an eight-seater could fit there and then only if his skipper was moved out of the way. The equipment was old, but clean and well maintained.
Vin, a man in his fifties, acted as air control, stevedore, security, and welcome committee. He talked constantly. Colt only had to nod or shake his head at the proper times.
The skipper would be moved to the grass if they needed extra space, but checking for plant growth was part of the service charge so Colt didn’t have to worry. If Colt would just acknowledge the contract, his skipper would stay on planet for one year. After that it would be towed at his expense to Deresla III. That’s what the deposit was for. If he returned after that, he could catch a ride with a supply ship. They didn’t get many tourists. Most that came never left the Port Island. Of the ones that went to Big Island, some came back after a few days, complaining about everything, some stayed their month, saying how much they loved the place and how they wanted to go again, but a few never returned at all.
Vin didn’t know whether they died over there or were living happily on palm nuts and tiger’s milk. Bodies were never returned.
Natives would be by soon to see what Colt had brought to trade with them. Farmers were of a different sort than Hunters if Colt knew what Vin meant, but they were decent folk just the same. It was a shame that some tourist had planted the idea of farming into these poor folks’ heads. At least the burning of the forest hadn’t gotten as far as Big Island. Hunters laugh at Farmers because Hunters’ children never went hungry. Game was always plentiful. Farmers burned down their source of food. Farmers would get the hang of things in a few more generations, but until then even young Farmers looked old.
They — Vin didn’t say who they were — were having stew and bread for dinner and Colt was welcome to a share as well as a cot in the back. Or he could stay with the Farmers. Hunters either let you in or they didn’t. No one could make then do anything.
Colt was lead into a dark room that smelled of stew. The man inside nodded. This was Eli and not the most talkative man around, but a good man just the same. Eli ladled out three bowls. They had waited for Colt to arrive to eat their dinner because he wasn’t likely to get another good meal during his stay.
Farmers never had enough food for themselves and Hunters feed you meat or berry or leaves but not together, or so Vin had heard. Of course he’d never been off Port Island. He hadn’t been further than Deresla III and that was only to get his shots. He’d been born on Derelsa II. The natives called the planet Aglen, or home as in home of the people not the house you live in and not just any people, but the true people. Vin’s parents had been in charge of the port. He’d lived with his sister and two brothers. One brother and his sister left the planets before his parents had retired, but his other brother had joined the Hunters on Big Island. He’d impressed them and they asked him to come. He had kids, Vin thought, or at least the teenage boy who came with the Hunters last year looked a lot like Vin’s mother.
Eli lifted his hand and Vin fell silent. “If you don’t mind us asking...?”
Colt got the just. “I’m trying to find someone. He was from out of the solar system so I don’t think he spoke the local language.”
“When was this?”
“Almost six Universal years ago. He was about my age. And blond.”
“Long hair?”
Colt put the edge of his hand about two inches under his collarbone. “About here.”
Eli nodded.
“You saw him?” Vin asked.
“I remember someone similar. He had sad eyes.”
“That would be him.” Colt allowed himself to relax a little. Orion was here somewhere. Or at least he had been.
Vin went back to work and Eli washed the dishes. “Forgive him please. He doesn’t always talk this much.”
“It’s ok.”
Eli smiled. “You go to bed. Yours is on the right. I’ll keep him from talking your ear off tonight.”
Colt nodded and went into the back room. A curtain hung on each side of a short hall. The right side had a small cot, the left a bigger bed with two pillows. Colt was right about them; on the even coldest nights their bed would be warm.
—
Colt waited quietly as Vin talked to the farmers. Aglen Deresla had no articles or pronouns or tenses for verbs, and sentences could be made up of any part of speech. It was oral rather than written and a lot of it was gestures, anthropologists believed. Vin pointed at Colt. “Small Horse trade hunt.”
Horse, like a lot of the natives’ name, was a plant or animal that they hadn’t brought with them, a memory of the ancient home. Vin used trade rather than gift because, he had said, Hunters did not accept things that they did not feel they deserved. Farmers, on the other hand, honored having things more than how they got them. They might try to con Colt into giving his stuff away.
The older three Farmers shook their heads. The younger one looked Colt in the eye. “Small Horse not hunt. Small Horse food.”
Colt wished he could have been ‘place of fire starter’ after coal town, but Vin said that Farmers used animal dung in their fires, so he might end up spending his entire trip as Dung.
Or worse.
Eli’s name was Go Up, which the farmers thought was fitting as he lived at the port, but the Hunters thought was silly. Vin’s name was Win short for Winner because Aglen’s didn’t fight each other for land so they had no concept of conquer, as far as Vin knew.
Colton took an item from his satchel and handed it to the elder Farmer. Vin was right about them all looking old. Without Vin’s signal Colt might have gotten it wrong. This was a small knife and whet stone in a leather sheath. The farmer pulled out the knife and cut a few strands of his white hair. He smiled at Colt. “Small horse good. Knife good. Come.”
Vin patted him on back. “The best to you on your quest. Come back if you need the company. We’ll be here.”
Colt waved bye. Eli waved back from the house. Vin was already busy telling the next group of farmers that he didn’t have anything to trade with them.
Colt followed the farmers back toward their settlement. He knew from experience that he would smell his own and other people’s body odor for six days and then his nose would stop noticing in self defense. He hoped the first week would go by quickly.
—
Vin had said that Hunter’s visited the port only a few times a year, but that if Colt went over to the ferry the Hunters might come for him. He could see the ferry on the shore of Big Island only a few hundred meters away. The Farmers had no boats and, according to Vin, the Hunters wanted to keep it that way. Colt pulled another knife from his bag and tilted it in the sun so the light reflected toward Big Island. He had been doing it every hour or so for three days. The Farmers laughed at his impatience and offered their daughters to keep him occupied until the Hunters could be bothered. Colt politely declined.
One of the farmers mentioned that a boy with hair like the sun had turned down the offer as well. Colt tried not to look interested, but he hadn’t succeeded because that farmer offered him more information in exchange for the second knife. Colt didn’t given in. He knew Orion passed this way. He would need the knives as his journey progressed.
—
A man shook Colt awake. “Come.”
Colt blinked and sat up. The man wasn’t dressed like the others in matted fur and course yarn. He was in leather and, miraculously, he was clean. Colt nearly sighed in relief.
“Up. Come.”
Colt staggered to his feet. The oldest Farmer was showing off his little knife. The Hunter was duly impressed and wished for one of his own in exchange for taking Colt to Big Island. Colt pulled the knife out and offered it to the Hunter. The Hunter unsheathed the knife and tested it on a leather thong. He tied the sheath onto his smock and then touched his chest. “Eagle.”
Colt touched his own chest. “Small horse.”
“Food.” The young farmer laughed.
“Small?” Eagle touched Colt’s temple. “Young?”
Colt nodded. “Young.”
“Horse.” Eagle pointed to a canoe just big enough for two Hunter-sized men. Luckily Colt was smaller than a Hunter. The canoe was carved from a tree but Eagle lifted it over his head easily. He waded into the water and climbed into the canoe.
Colt steeled himself. One of the problems with waterproof boots was that once water got inside it was stuck there. Vin had been right. He needed boots, like the natives’, that would dry out easily. He pulled off his boots, rolled up his pants legs, tied the boot laces together, and tossed them across his shoulder. Eagle watched him closely. Colt stepped into the freezing water. The stones were round and slick with vegetation. He carefully climbed into the canoe, which threatened to roll with his every movement.
There was a little water in the bottom but he sat there anyway with his eyes closed. He was not meant for boats.
Eagle paddled into the current. Colt felt the breeze on his face. He took several deep breaths and opened his eyes. Eagle was watching him. “Float?”
Colt shook his head. “Fly.”
He motioned his hand like a swallow in fight, but that rocked the boat, so he carefully put his hand down. Eagle nodded, but Colt wasn’t sure at what. He tried not to move. An endless time later, Eagle stopped paddling and climbed out of the canoe. Colt took a deep breath and then followed him. The water was deeper here, over Colt’s knees, and colder and the rocks were sharper. He put his foot down on something soft. Was that an animal or a plant? Was it poisonous? He jerked away. Only the hand on his shoulder kept him from falling. Eagle pushed Colt toward higher ground. Colt moved forward carefully, turning when Eagle urged him to, and climbed safely onto shore. He rested his forehead against the dirt with his eyes closed.
He heard feet and the sound of several voices, but he wasn’t ready to face anyone yet. A boy made a question sound. Eagle said, “Horse fly not float. Brave.”
Colt looked up. Eagle was talking to two boys and a girl, all younger than Colt. The girl peered down at Colt, but the boys only looked at him sidelong while they watched Eagle tell them something Colt couldn’t follow.
“Up. Sun. Bear. Tiger.” Eagle pointed to the two boys, the girl, and then back at Colt. “Horse.”
The children repeated his name and he repeated theirs. Sun, the younger boy, had blond hair. Colt would need to ask after Orion. But not until his stomach stopped protesting.
—
The children weren’t Eagle’s as far as Colt could tell. Sun looked just like his father, Wheat, down to the hair. All six of the men in this group tested Eagle’s knife before it was presented to the oldest women, Gold, who might have been Sun’s grandmother or maybe her hair was simply pale with age. She sent the children off to find food stuffs for her to cut and then she made a meal. She carefully cleaned the knife before she put it way, but then she wanted to know what the whet stone was for. Colt showed her how to sharpen the blade. One of the other women dug out a very dull metal knife. Colt showed her how to sharpen it. He tried to explain not to sharpen the blades too often because they would wear away, but he didn’t think he got the concept across.
After the sun set, Eagle told the story of the voyage across to Port Island and back, with much more description than Colt had though the language held. He told everyone how brave Colt was. He had even closed his eyes and trusted in Eagle to get them home safely although they never met before. Gold said that Eagle was a good man and his sturdiness shined through. At least that’s what Colt thought she said.
She turned to Colt, putting him on the spot. “Eagle good.”
She nodded. Colt nodded back. Everyone else nodded. Eagle grinned. Colt yawned and covered it with his hand. Gold made tisking sounds and everyone scurried about. Colt was given a bundle of furs next to the fire. The children were on the inside of the circle of adults. Fewer people paired off than Colt expected, but he did wake up sometime after the moon set to two couples copulating. One was male female, but the other must have been two females. Colt rolled over and went back to sleep.
—
At breakfast Colt told the group about his quest. Wheat had heard of another blond from far away. Colt hoped that was Orion, but more likely, it was just a tourist or the child of a tourist. How far away did these planet bound people consider far? Eagle led Colt into the forest. Colt saw no path, but Eagle obviously knew his way. He pointed out plants now and then with a smile or a frown. Colt shouldn’t touch anything red or shiny, but just because it was green or matte didn’t mean it was safe. Eagle collected some broadleaves from one tree and showed Colt how to dig a latrine pit. Colt felt like a toddler again. The world was a new place and so was everything in it.
Eagle picked some berries, which they ate as they walked. Then he caught a squirrel-like creature, but they didn’t stop to eat that. When the sun was overhead they turned and followed the river to a waterfall. Some kids sat in the pool catching fish. Eagle held out the dead animal. The children scampered up to them. They petted Colt’s clothes. None of them were wearing a stitch. They called Eagle by name and invited him somewhere. He nodded and introduced Colt, but didn’t supply any of the kids’ names.
They followed a path through the trees up to the top of the falls and then across the shallow water to a building. An old man stepped out. Eagle introduced Colt to the grandfather, which was what Colt was told to call him. Eagle stayed for the next meal and talked as much as he ate. He told the story of Colt’s coming and of his quest. Palm, one of the younger women had heard a man with hair like the sun who had spoke funny back before she had moved to this group. Eagle clapped Colt on the back. “Horse find Sun. Horse come back.”
Colt nodded. Eagle grinned and walked away. Colt felt like his last friend in the universe had left him. Colt did his best to help out, but the ladies laughed at him. He showed off a knife. The ladies liked it, but Grandfather liked Colt’s boots better. He played with the laces and petted the uppers and dug his finger into the sole. Colt took them off and handed them over. Grandfather spent all afternoon touching them. Colt encouraged him to put his feet inside. The man wasn’t that much bigger than Colt. His feet fit in perfectly or at least so well that he didn’t take them off even to sleep. Colt was allowed to sleep in the building with the old people and the children. Palm woke Colt while the sky was still dark and they were on their way with the first light.
They walked all day at a brutal pace. Palm only stopped to gather food, but unlike Eagle, she didn’t offer to share, so his rest breaks weren’t really rests or breaks. He still wasn’t sure what was safe to eat. By midday his stomach grumbled and growled so loudly that he almost didn’t notice the blisters forming on his feet from his ill fitting shoes. Almost.
They stopped the first night at a village that had several buildings. The headperson, like in the other villages, was the oldest person. He was called Grandfather although he couldn’t have been much older than Colt’s mother. This was a village of young people. Palm paid their guesting fees, but didn’t offer any news and they weren’t offered any in return. Colt could have used the distraction. Once his stomach was full, his feet throbbed. They weren’t used to the thin soles, and he felt every rock and twig he’d stepped on all day. He left his socks on, for fear of pulling more skin from his tired aching feet, but not seeing at his open sores didn’t make them hurt any less. Palm woke him again before dawn.
He closed his eyes and he pulled the dreaded shoes on. They left before breakfast. Every step was even more painful than his empty belly. Palm never slowed, not even to find food, and if he didn’t keep up with her, he’d be lost. He concentrated on each step and keeping Palm in sight.
After what seemed like days, but couldn’t have been more than hours because the sun was still overhead, they arrived in Palm’s village. She ran toward a woman, completely ignoring Colt. One of the old women tutted at Colt and led him to a creek. He gratefully peeled off his dratted shoes and bloody socks. When he first put his feet in the water, his open sores scream in pain, but the creek was very cold and soon Colt’s feet were numb. Several children climbed over him. When they were distracted by something in the water, he closed his eyes and leaned back.
He woke as the sun was setting. Someone had left a gourd in the stream beside his feet filled with a cold, sweet liquid. Children pointed at him and called out and the old woman came over. “Good sleep?”
Colt nodded.
“Feet ouch?”
Colt lifted a foot from the water and set in down on the bank. He winced. The woman laughed and shook her head and then called out. A man appeared, or maybe a boy. He couldn’t be much older than Colt’s nineteen years, but he was much bigger. The old woman thumped his chest. “Daughter son. Lion.”
Colt touched his own chest. “Horse.”
The old woman lifted her eyebrows and ummed. She motioned for Lion to pick Colt up. Colt closed his eyes and tried not to do anything that would cause Lion to drop him. When Lion got near the cook fire, his grandmother made him stop. She fussed about the spot, laying piles fur down and then instructing that Lion set Colt down so that his feet didn’t touch the ground. Lion must have been trying. He only faltered right at the end. Colt clung to him and took deep breaths until the major pain subsided. Then he slowly moved his feet to the furs.
A much older version of Lion looked down at Colt’s feet and back at his face and then turned to survey the village. Palm slipped behind one of the houses. Colt was given food with the children. They asked him questions about his home and he did his best to answer them. When he finished eating he sang the lullaby his mother sang to him. The villagers liked it and asked for another. He didn’t know any more that they might understand, so he sang an old poem that he’d learned in school.
The old man was the village Grandfather. His son and Lion, his grandson, were built on a different scale than most of the villagers. Maybe they were from somewhere else. After the food was cleared away, Grandfather asked Colt to tell his story. Colt tried his best. Lion’s grandmother stood up and told the tale of a man who watched a star every night, but one night it was missing and he took a journey to find it. He flew through the air and swam through water and burnt his feet on the hot sands to find his star.
That was Colt’s story wrapped up better. Grandfather asked why Colt had come to his village and Colt explained about Palm and what she remembered. A woman’s scolding voice rose above the crowd and Colt heard sobs, but he could see not see them without turning around and he was not curious enough to risk the pain. Grandfather watched over Colt’s shoulder dispassionately. Once the voices died down, he beat his chest and apologized for Palm’s trickery. They hadn’t heard of a man with hair like the sun who spoke oddly.
But on his honor and the honor of the village, they would find out this information for Colt. Grandfather would hear of nothing less. He refused Colt’s gifts. Lion’s grandmother bent down and coated Colt’s feet with ointment and then had Lion carry Colt into one of the huts. The bed was bigger than any Colt could remember sleeping on. His feet still hurt and his body ached but he was so tired he fell asleep before Lion tired of watching him.
—
The next few days passed slowly. He hated being at anyone’s mercy, but Lion, his father, and his grandfather were the only people big enough to carry Colt alone. Of the three, he felt the most comfortable with Lion, but he rarely seemed to be around. Lion came back the second night with a deer-type creature and the third with some kind of bird with many bright feathers and the fourth with a small cat. That night his father told him to stop hunting as the village didn’t need the food. Lion wasn’t courting anyone.
At least that’s what Colt thought he mean. Lion’s grandmother laughed. She grinned at Colt. “Yes. Lion woo. Lion woo Horse.”
Lion, who was helping his grandmother, at her insistence, care for Colt’s feet, blushed a rosy red. Colt closed his eyes and leaned back to give Lion what privacy he could. Lion’s fingers on his feet were even gentler than his grandmother’s. Colt noticed ever touch, every hesitant caress, every caught breath and Lion’s gaze that night as he watched Colt try to sleep.
Colt felt for Lion. Colt wasn’t staying. He had a quest to accomplish and a home to go back to. If only his feet would heal faster, then he could walk away before he hurt Lion any more than he was.
The bed shifted. Colt could see nothing, but he could feel Lion’s warm breath against his arm. If he could speak and know he would be understood he might gladly take Lion up on the suggestion. But how could he say that he would be happy for release at another man’s hand — especially a man as handsome and muscular and gentle as Lion — but that their time together would be no more than a fond memory for Colt? How would he say one night and no others, especially if he was trapped here until his feet healed.
He put out his hand and felt around for Lion’s cheek. The moon shone outside, but the hut was windowless. He could see nothing. Lion must have better eyes because his fingers brushed Colt’s cheek on the first try.
“Lion. No.”
“No?” asked Lion in a way that sounded like yes.
“Horse’s star.”
“Horse ses?”
Colt shut his eyes again and lay back down. This wasn’t working. “Lion, I really like you, but I have a quest and I want to see Orion more than I want to wake up in the morning. I’d sleep with you only I fear your crush would get deeper. I’m not right for you.”
If his incomprehensible sentence didn’t show Lion at they were too different, nothing would.
“Horse sleep. Lion sleep.”
Colt sighed. “Sure.”
Lion climbed onto the bed.
“No.”
“Lion sleep.” Lion lay down beside Colt, close but not touching, which was fine as long as all Lion did was sleep.
“Horse quest. Find Star. Go home.”
“Not stay?”
“Go.”
“Sad.” Lion rested is forehead against Colt’s upper arm. Colt wanted to pull Lion into a big hug, to comfort him as if he were a child, but Lion was sure to misunderstand.
Colt lay awake until after the moon set hoping he’d done the right thing.
—
Lion was gone when Colt woke up. Grandfather carried Colt out into the sun and Colt spent the morning entertaining the smaller children by making a super long braid out of whatever leaf, grass, or piece of leather they brought him. Grandfather returned and watched Colt braided in a twig.
“Quest?”
Colt nodded. “Feet.”
“Feet better. Quest?”
Colt nodded again and took a reed handed to him by a little girl.
“After Quest?”
“Home.”
“Home?” Grandfather used the word for their planet.
“Horse Home.” Colt used the word for where a person lives. “Horse not True people.”
Grandfather nodded.
“True.” Lion’s grandmother pointed at Colt.
Colt shook his head and pointed from his chest to the sky. “Horse heart.”
“Heart Star.”
Colt nodded. “Heart Star.”
“Lion sad.”
“Sad now. Not sad later.”
Lion’s grandmother smiled. “Grandmother sad.”
Colt leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Horse sad. Horse happy now.”
“Grandmother happy.”
“Good.”
Grandmother laughed. “Good.”
Colt wished he had a grandmother like Lion’s. He would just have to pretend while he was here. He smiled at her and she smiled back. He was sure she wouldn’t mind.
But I wasn’t annoyed because he told me his story and I love stories. This guy was planning to celebrate his partner’s fiftieth birthday by bringing balloons and wearing full drag to the airport to greet his partner as he got off the plane from New Orleans. The card he picked had a high heeled shoe on the front and said fabulous was like perfect only more fun. I hope they both had a good time.
Title: Gestures
Status: Part 2 of 10
Genre: science fiction, romance, slash
Rating: PG (13?)
Content: setting down, stew, information, a new name, waiting, a boat ride, natives, help, hope, a swift, hard trip, care, Lion, Quest, Grandmother
Length: about 4,600 words
Summary: Colt is help along on his journey, but some help is better than others.
Masterlist
Deresla II was a beautiful planet and the first in the solar system to be colonized. Most of the rain on the inhabited islands occurred during the hot season, so they were always green and fertile. Six centuries ago, the colonization ships had landed and taken off again to get the second half of the colonists, but then a plague hit Galgaie XII. Planets were locked down and planetary governments were more worried about saving their citizens than about people who had moved away.
Back then communication could only travel the speed of light, so Deresla II’s beacon did not reach a colonized world for over two hundred years. By the time anyone came back to check on them, space travel was the stuff of legend and the colonist had reverted to hunter-gatherer societies. The primitive colonists might not remember how to build an engine, but they did know not to trust people from the sky.
—
Colt landed in the smallest port he’d ever seen. Nothing bigger than an eight-seater could fit there and then only if his skipper was moved out of the way. The equipment was old, but clean and well maintained.
Vin, a man in his fifties, acted as air control, stevedore, security, and welcome committee. He talked constantly. Colt only had to nod or shake his head at the proper times.
The skipper would be moved to the grass if they needed extra space, but checking for plant growth was part of the service charge so Colt didn’t have to worry. If Colt would just acknowledge the contract, his skipper would stay on planet for one year. After that it would be towed at his expense to Deresla III. That’s what the deposit was for. If he returned after that, he could catch a ride with a supply ship. They didn’t get many tourists. Most that came never left the Port Island. Of the ones that went to Big Island, some came back after a few days, complaining about everything, some stayed their month, saying how much they loved the place and how they wanted to go again, but a few never returned at all.
Vin didn’t know whether they died over there or were living happily on palm nuts and tiger’s milk. Bodies were never returned.
Natives would be by soon to see what Colt had brought to trade with them. Farmers were of a different sort than Hunters if Colt knew what Vin meant, but they were decent folk just the same. It was a shame that some tourist had planted the idea of farming into these poor folks’ heads. At least the burning of the forest hadn’t gotten as far as Big Island. Hunters laugh at Farmers because Hunters’ children never went hungry. Game was always plentiful. Farmers burned down their source of food. Farmers would get the hang of things in a few more generations, but until then even young Farmers looked old.
They — Vin didn’t say who they were — were having stew and bread for dinner and Colt was welcome to a share as well as a cot in the back. Or he could stay with the Farmers. Hunters either let you in or they didn’t. No one could make then do anything.
Colt was lead into a dark room that smelled of stew. The man inside nodded. This was Eli and not the most talkative man around, but a good man just the same. Eli ladled out three bowls. They had waited for Colt to arrive to eat their dinner because he wasn’t likely to get another good meal during his stay.
Farmers never had enough food for themselves and Hunters feed you meat or berry or leaves but not together, or so Vin had heard. Of course he’d never been off Port Island. He hadn’t been further than Deresla III and that was only to get his shots. He’d been born on Derelsa II. The natives called the planet Aglen, or home as in home of the people not the house you live in and not just any people, but the true people. Vin’s parents had been in charge of the port. He’d lived with his sister and two brothers. One brother and his sister left the planets before his parents had retired, but his other brother had joined the Hunters on Big Island. He’d impressed them and they asked him to come. He had kids, Vin thought, or at least the teenage boy who came with the Hunters last year looked a lot like Vin’s mother.
Eli lifted his hand and Vin fell silent. “If you don’t mind us asking...?”
Colt got the just. “I’m trying to find someone. He was from out of the solar system so I don’t think he spoke the local language.”
“When was this?”
“Almost six Universal years ago. He was about my age. And blond.”
“Long hair?”
Colt put the edge of his hand about two inches under his collarbone. “About here.”
Eli nodded.
“You saw him?” Vin asked.
“I remember someone similar. He had sad eyes.”
“That would be him.” Colt allowed himself to relax a little. Orion was here somewhere. Or at least he had been.
Vin went back to work and Eli washed the dishes. “Forgive him please. He doesn’t always talk this much.”
“It’s ok.”
Eli smiled. “You go to bed. Yours is on the right. I’ll keep him from talking your ear off tonight.”
Colt nodded and went into the back room. A curtain hung on each side of a short hall. The right side had a small cot, the left a bigger bed with two pillows. Colt was right about them; on the even coldest nights their bed would be warm.
—
Colt waited quietly as Vin talked to the farmers. Aglen Deresla had no articles or pronouns or tenses for verbs, and sentences could be made up of any part of speech. It was oral rather than written and a lot of it was gestures, anthropologists believed. Vin pointed at Colt. “Small Horse trade hunt.”
Horse, like a lot of the natives’ name, was a plant or animal that they hadn’t brought with them, a memory of the ancient home. Vin used trade rather than gift because, he had said, Hunters did not accept things that they did not feel they deserved. Farmers, on the other hand, honored having things more than how they got them. They might try to con Colt into giving his stuff away.
The older three Farmers shook their heads. The younger one looked Colt in the eye. “Small Horse not hunt. Small Horse food.”
Colt wished he could have been ‘place of fire starter’ after coal town, but Vin said that Farmers used animal dung in their fires, so he might end up spending his entire trip as Dung.
Or worse.
Eli’s name was Go Up, which the farmers thought was fitting as he lived at the port, but the Hunters thought was silly. Vin’s name was Win short for Winner because Aglen’s didn’t fight each other for land so they had no concept of conquer, as far as Vin knew.
Colton took an item from his satchel and handed it to the elder Farmer. Vin was right about them all looking old. Without Vin’s signal Colt might have gotten it wrong. This was a small knife and whet stone in a leather sheath. The farmer pulled out the knife and cut a few strands of his white hair. He smiled at Colt. “Small horse good. Knife good. Come.”
Vin patted him on back. “The best to you on your quest. Come back if you need the company. We’ll be here.”
Colt waved bye. Eli waved back from the house. Vin was already busy telling the next group of farmers that he didn’t have anything to trade with them.
Colt followed the farmers back toward their settlement. He knew from experience that he would smell his own and other people’s body odor for six days and then his nose would stop noticing in self defense. He hoped the first week would go by quickly.
—
Vin had said that Hunter’s visited the port only a few times a year, but that if Colt went over to the ferry the Hunters might come for him. He could see the ferry on the shore of Big Island only a few hundred meters away. The Farmers had no boats and, according to Vin, the Hunters wanted to keep it that way. Colt pulled another knife from his bag and tilted it in the sun so the light reflected toward Big Island. He had been doing it every hour or so for three days. The Farmers laughed at his impatience and offered their daughters to keep him occupied until the Hunters could be bothered. Colt politely declined.
One of the farmers mentioned that a boy with hair like the sun had turned down the offer as well. Colt tried not to look interested, but he hadn’t succeeded because that farmer offered him more information in exchange for the second knife. Colt didn’t given in. He knew Orion passed this way. He would need the knives as his journey progressed.
—
A man shook Colt awake. “Come.”
Colt blinked and sat up. The man wasn’t dressed like the others in matted fur and course yarn. He was in leather and, miraculously, he was clean. Colt nearly sighed in relief.
“Up. Come.”
Colt staggered to his feet. The oldest Farmer was showing off his little knife. The Hunter was duly impressed and wished for one of his own in exchange for taking Colt to Big Island. Colt pulled the knife out and offered it to the Hunter. The Hunter unsheathed the knife and tested it on a leather thong. He tied the sheath onto his smock and then touched his chest. “Eagle.”
Colt touched his own chest. “Small horse.”
“Food.” The young farmer laughed.
“Small?” Eagle touched Colt’s temple. “Young?”
Colt nodded. “Young.”
“Horse.” Eagle pointed to a canoe just big enough for two Hunter-sized men. Luckily Colt was smaller than a Hunter. The canoe was carved from a tree but Eagle lifted it over his head easily. He waded into the water and climbed into the canoe.
Colt steeled himself. One of the problems with waterproof boots was that once water got inside it was stuck there. Vin had been right. He needed boots, like the natives’, that would dry out easily. He pulled off his boots, rolled up his pants legs, tied the boot laces together, and tossed them across his shoulder. Eagle watched him closely. Colt stepped into the freezing water. The stones were round and slick with vegetation. He carefully climbed into the canoe, which threatened to roll with his every movement.
There was a little water in the bottom but he sat there anyway with his eyes closed. He was not meant for boats.
Eagle paddled into the current. Colt felt the breeze on his face. He took several deep breaths and opened his eyes. Eagle was watching him. “Float?”
Colt shook his head. “Fly.”
He motioned his hand like a swallow in fight, but that rocked the boat, so he carefully put his hand down. Eagle nodded, but Colt wasn’t sure at what. He tried not to move. An endless time later, Eagle stopped paddling and climbed out of the canoe. Colt took a deep breath and then followed him. The water was deeper here, over Colt’s knees, and colder and the rocks were sharper. He put his foot down on something soft. Was that an animal or a plant? Was it poisonous? He jerked away. Only the hand on his shoulder kept him from falling. Eagle pushed Colt toward higher ground. Colt moved forward carefully, turning when Eagle urged him to, and climbed safely onto shore. He rested his forehead against the dirt with his eyes closed.
He heard feet and the sound of several voices, but he wasn’t ready to face anyone yet. A boy made a question sound. Eagle said, “Horse fly not float. Brave.”
Colt looked up. Eagle was talking to two boys and a girl, all younger than Colt. The girl peered down at Colt, but the boys only looked at him sidelong while they watched Eagle tell them something Colt couldn’t follow.
“Up. Sun. Bear. Tiger.” Eagle pointed to the two boys, the girl, and then back at Colt. “Horse.”
The children repeated his name and he repeated theirs. Sun, the younger boy, had blond hair. Colt would need to ask after Orion. But not until his stomach stopped protesting.
—
The children weren’t Eagle’s as far as Colt could tell. Sun looked just like his father, Wheat, down to the hair. All six of the men in this group tested Eagle’s knife before it was presented to the oldest women, Gold, who might have been Sun’s grandmother or maybe her hair was simply pale with age. She sent the children off to find food stuffs for her to cut and then she made a meal. She carefully cleaned the knife before she put it way, but then she wanted to know what the whet stone was for. Colt showed her how to sharpen the blade. One of the other women dug out a very dull metal knife. Colt showed her how to sharpen it. He tried to explain not to sharpen the blades too often because they would wear away, but he didn’t think he got the concept across.
After the sun set, Eagle told the story of the voyage across to Port Island and back, with much more description than Colt had though the language held. He told everyone how brave Colt was. He had even closed his eyes and trusted in Eagle to get them home safely although they never met before. Gold said that Eagle was a good man and his sturdiness shined through. At least that’s what Colt thought she said.
She turned to Colt, putting him on the spot. “Eagle good.”
She nodded. Colt nodded back. Everyone else nodded. Eagle grinned. Colt yawned and covered it with his hand. Gold made tisking sounds and everyone scurried about. Colt was given a bundle of furs next to the fire. The children were on the inside of the circle of adults. Fewer people paired off than Colt expected, but he did wake up sometime after the moon set to two couples copulating. One was male female, but the other must have been two females. Colt rolled over and went back to sleep.
—
At breakfast Colt told the group about his quest. Wheat had heard of another blond from far away. Colt hoped that was Orion, but more likely, it was just a tourist or the child of a tourist. How far away did these planet bound people consider far? Eagle led Colt into the forest. Colt saw no path, but Eagle obviously knew his way. He pointed out plants now and then with a smile or a frown. Colt shouldn’t touch anything red or shiny, but just because it was green or matte didn’t mean it was safe. Eagle collected some broadleaves from one tree and showed Colt how to dig a latrine pit. Colt felt like a toddler again. The world was a new place and so was everything in it.
Eagle picked some berries, which they ate as they walked. Then he caught a squirrel-like creature, but they didn’t stop to eat that. When the sun was overhead they turned and followed the river to a waterfall. Some kids sat in the pool catching fish. Eagle held out the dead animal. The children scampered up to them. They petted Colt’s clothes. None of them were wearing a stitch. They called Eagle by name and invited him somewhere. He nodded and introduced Colt, but didn’t supply any of the kids’ names.
They followed a path through the trees up to the top of the falls and then across the shallow water to a building. An old man stepped out. Eagle introduced Colt to the grandfather, which was what Colt was told to call him. Eagle stayed for the next meal and talked as much as he ate. He told the story of Colt’s coming and of his quest. Palm, one of the younger women had heard a man with hair like the sun who had spoke funny back before she had moved to this group. Eagle clapped Colt on the back. “Horse find Sun. Horse come back.”
Colt nodded. Eagle grinned and walked away. Colt felt like his last friend in the universe had left him. Colt did his best to help out, but the ladies laughed at him. He showed off a knife. The ladies liked it, but Grandfather liked Colt’s boots better. He played with the laces and petted the uppers and dug his finger into the sole. Colt took them off and handed them over. Grandfather spent all afternoon touching them. Colt encouraged him to put his feet inside. The man wasn’t that much bigger than Colt. His feet fit in perfectly or at least so well that he didn’t take them off even to sleep. Colt was allowed to sleep in the building with the old people and the children. Palm woke Colt while the sky was still dark and they were on their way with the first light.
They walked all day at a brutal pace. Palm only stopped to gather food, but unlike Eagle, she didn’t offer to share, so his rest breaks weren’t really rests or breaks. He still wasn’t sure what was safe to eat. By midday his stomach grumbled and growled so loudly that he almost didn’t notice the blisters forming on his feet from his ill fitting shoes. Almost.
They stopped the first night at a village that had several buildings. The headperson, like in the other villages, was the oldest person. He was called Grandfather although he couldn’t have been much older than Colt’s mother. This was a village of young people. Palm paid their guesting fees, but didn’t offer any news and they weren’t offered any in return. Colt could have used the distraction. Once his stomach was full, his feet throbbed. They weren’t used to the thin soles, and he felt every rock and twig he’d stepped on all day. He left his socks on, for fear of pulling more skin from his tired aching feet, but not seeing at his open sores didn’t make them hurt any less. Palm woke him again before dawn.
He closed his eyes and he pulled the dreaded shoes on. They left before breakfast. Every step was even more painful than his empty belly. Palm never slowed, not even to find food, and if he didn’t keep up with her, he’d be lost. He concentrated on each step and keeping Palm in sight.
After what seemed like days, but couldn’t have been more than hours because the sun was still overhead, they arrived in Palm’s village. She ran toward a woman, completely ignoring Colt. One of the old women tutted at Colt and led him to a creek. He gratefully peeled off his dratted shoes and bloody socks. When he first put his feet in the water, his open sores scream in pain, but the creek was very cold and soon Colt’s feet were numb. Several children climbed over him. When they were distracted by something in the water, he closed his eyes and leaned back.
He woke as the sun was setting. Someone had left a gourd in the stream beside his feet filled with a cold, sweet liquid. Children pointed at him and called out and the old woman came over. “Good sleep?”
Colt nodded.
“Feet ouch?”
Colt lifted a foot from the water and set in down on the bank. He winced. The woman laughed and shook her head and then called out. A man appeared, or maybe a boy. He couldn’t be much older than Colt’s nineteen years, but he was much bigger. The old woman thumped his chest. “Daughter son. Lion.”
Colt touched his own chest. “Horse.”
The old woman lifted her eyebrows and ummed. She motioned for Lion to pick Colt up. Colt closed his eyes and tried not to do anything that would cause Lion to drop him. When Lion got near the cook fire, his grandmother made him stop. She fussed about the spot, laying piles fur down and then instructing that Lion set Colt down so that his feet didn’t touch the ground. Lion must have been trying. He only faltered right at the end. Colt clung to him and took deep breaths until the major pain subsided. Then he slowly moved his feet to the furs.
A much older version of Lion looked down at Colt’s feet and back at his face and then turned to survey the village. Palm slipped behind one of the houses. Colt was given food with the children. They asked him questions about his home and he did his best to answer them. When he finished eating he sang the lullaby his mother sang to him. The villagers liked it and asked for another. He didn’t know any more that they might understand, so he sang an old poem that he’d learned in school.
The old man was the village Grandfather. His son and Lion, his grandson, were built on a different scale than most of the villagers. Maybe they were from somewhere else. After the food was cleared away, Grandfather asked Colt to tell his story. Colt tried his best. Lion’s grandmother stood up and told the tale of a man who watched a star every night, but one night it was missing and he took a journey to find it. He flew through the air and swam through water and burnt his feet on the hot sands to find his star.
That was Colt’s story wrapped up better. Grandfather asked why Colt had come to his village and Colt explained about Palm and what she remembered. A woman’s scolding voice rose above the crowd and Colt heard sobs, but he could see not see them without turning around and he was not curious enough to risk the pain. Grandfather watched over Colt’s shoulder dispassionately. Once the voices died down, he beat his chest and apologized for Palm’s trickery. They hadn’t heard of a man with hair like the sun who spoke oddly.
But on his honor and the honor of the village, they would find out this information for Colt. Grandfather would hear of nothing less. He refused Colt’s gifts. Lion’s grandmother bent down and coated Colt’s feet with ointment and then had Lion carry Colt into one of the huts. The bed was bigger than any Colt could remember sleeping on. His feet still hurt and his body ached but he was so tired he fell asleep before Lion tired of watching him.
—
The next few days passed slowly. He hated being at anyone’s mercy, but Lion, his father, and his grandfather were the only people big enough to carry Colt alone. Of the three, he felt the most comfortable with Lion, but he rarely seemed to be around. Lion came back the second night with a deer-type creature and the third with some kind of bird with many bright feathers and the fourth with a small cat. That night his father told him to stop hunting as the village didn’t need the food. Lion wasn’t courting anyone.
At least that’s what Colt thought he mean. Lion’s grandmother laughed. She grinned at Colt. “Yes. Lion woo. Lion woo Horse.”
Lion, who was helping his grandmother, at her insistence, care for Colt’s feet, blushed a rosy red. Colt closed his eyes and leaned back to give Lion what privacy he could. Lion’s fingers on his feet were even gentler than his grandmother’s. Colt noticed ever touch, every hesitant caress, every caught breath and Lion’s gaze that night as he watched Colt try to sleep.
Colt felt for Lion. Colt wasn’t staying. He had a quest to accomplish and a home to go back to. If only his feet would heal faster, then he could walk away before he hurt Lion any more than he was.
The bed shifted. Colt could see nothing, but he could feel Lion’s warm breath against his arm. If he could speak and know he would be understood he might gladly take Lion up on the suggestion. But how could he say that he would be happy for release at another man’s hand — especially a man as handsome and muscular and gentle as Lion — but that their time together would be no more than a fond memory for Colt? How would he say one night and no others, especially if he was trapped here until his feet healed.
He put out his hand and felt around for Lion’s cheek. The moon shone outside, but the hut was windowless. He could see nothing. Lion must have better eyes because his fingers brushed Colt’s cheek on the first try.
“Lion. No.”
“No?” asked Lion in a way that sounded like yes.
“Horse’s star.”
“Horse ses?”
Colt shut his eyes again and lay back down. This wasn’t working. “Lion, I really like you, but I have a quest and I want to see Orion more than I want to wake up in the morning. I’d sleep with you only I fear your crush would get deeper. I’m not right for you.”
If his incomprehensible sentence didn’t show Lion at they were too different, nothing would.
“Horse sleep. Lion sleep.”
Colt sighed. “Sure.”
Lion climbed onto the bed.
“No.”
“Lion sleep.” Lion lay down beside Colt, close but not touching, which was fine as long as all Lion did was sleep.
“Horse quest. Find Star. Go home.”
“Not stay?”
“Go.”
“Sad.” Lion rested is forehead against Colt’s upper arm. Colt wanted to pull Lion into a big hug, to comfort him as if he were a child, but Lion was sure to misunderstand.
Colt lay awake until after the moon set hoping he’d done the right thing.
—
Lion was gone when Colt woke up. Grandfather carried Colt out into the sun and Colt spent the morning entertaining the smaller children by making a super long braid out of whatever leaf, grass, or piece of leather they brought him. Grandfather returned and watched Colt braided in a twig.
“Quest?”
Colt nodded. “Feet.”
“Feet better. Quest?”
Colt nodded again and took a reed handed to him by a little girl.
“After Quest?”
“Home.”
“Home?” Grandfather used the word for their planet.
“Horse Home.” Colt used the word for where a person lives. “Horse not True people.”
Grandfather nodded.
“True.” Lion’s grandmother pointed at Colt.
Colt shook his head and pointed from his chest to the sky. “Horse heart.”
“Heart Star.”
Colt nodded. “Heart Star.”
“Lion sad.”
“Sad now. Not sad later.”
Lion’s grandmother smiled. “Grandmother sad.”
Colt leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Horse sad. Horse happy now.”
“Grandmother happy.”
“Good.”
Grandmother laughed. “Good.”
Colt wished he had a grandmother like Lion’s. He would just have to pretend while he was here. He smiled at her and she smiled back. He was sure she wouldn’t mind.
