Working title: A year in a Stone Age village.

Chapter 1

On a grey and windy April morning on the east coast of

Yorkshire waves from the North Sea were beating against the

shore and dark clouds suggested heavy rainfalls. The early

spring flowers in the front gardens facing the sea were

fighting to survive in the wind and James Armstrong was

shivering as he stood outside his terraced house in the

village of Thornfield six o’clock in the morning not realizing

where he was.

The only clear thought in his mind was that his hut was on

fire and he had managed to get his two children and the woman

he lived with out of the dwelling minutes before the walls

collapsed. Several of the huts in the village had caught fire

and people were running aimlessly around. Somebody had asked

him to save an old man that had refused to leave the hut and

he had said there was nothing he could do.

He felt very cold and wondered why he was standing there all

by himself doing nothing when every one else were busy trying

to save their belongings from the burning huts. He looked

around in alarm when he heard somebody shouting until it

dawned upon him that there were no burning huts and no

desperate people around.

The woman who had shouted at him looked very different from

the woman he had lived with when the fire started and he

11

walked slowly towards the woman who stood outside a terraced

house not realising that it was his wife Jennifer.

‘Do come in before the milkman comes around. He would you

are mad standing there barefooted in your pyjamas. You are

shivering and in case you do not remember I am your wife.’

Seeing her husband standing barefooted outside gazing at the

North Se with a far away look in his face, confused and

unaware of the rain that was pouring down, she knew that she

had to do something. When she managed to get him into the

bathroom and turned on the shower, she called the matron at

the hospital where she worked as a staff nurse. She told her

that she would be at the hospital at lunchtime and that she

would make up for the lost time.

When he was indoors Jennifer took his arm and gently got him

into the bathroom and turned on the shower, she phoned the

matron at the hospital telling her that she would be delayed.

She would make up for the lost time. James was clearly in need

of professional help and she felt guilty because she never

shown any interest in prehistory and had only a scant

knowledge of what it was about. Her excuse was that she was

too tired when she returned home after work and in the morning

she usually concentrated on getting ready for work.

As a nurse she knew that she must be very careful what she

said and treat him like a sleepwalker that needed time to wake

up properly. She was relieved when he after a short while

entered the kitchen fully dressed while looking his normal

self.

22

The nightmares had made James tired and moody and it seemed

to Jennifer that he had become so obsessed about the Stone Age

that he had problems adjusting to the real world. One day she

had told him plainly that she would leave him and take their

five-year old son with her unless he came to his senses and

contacted a psychologist or a psychiatric. The appetizing

smell of bacon and eggs made James feel hungry when he fully

dressed entered the kitchen. The mirror showed a tall and

slim man with light brown hair that had started to become thin

on the top, a straight nose and a wide mouth. He remembered

that Jennifer during their short and hectic engagement period

once day told him that she had fallen for his nice smile.

He told himself that he definitely was more handsome than

Stone Age people who were short and muscular with black hair

and broad faces. At the same time he chided himself for making

comparison with people he had never seen. The only thing he

was certain about that they did not have bacon and eggs for

breakfast.

To Jennifer’s relief he no longer had the far away look in

his eyes and he felt fine when he sat down wondering why

Jennifer had not left for work. She was usually out of the

door before he started his breakfast.

‘There has been a slight change in the timetable, which

means that I am will start work at lunchtime and I will be

back a couple of hours later than usual. It seems a long time

since we had a proper talk and I would like you to tell me

about your bad dreams.

33

. She realized that he had had a nightmare that in some way

as connected with his work at the university where he taught

prehistory. She regretted that she had showed very little

interest in his job and had only a vague idea what the Stone

Age was about. Her excuse was that she was too tired when she

returned from the hospital in the evening and too busy in the

morning getting ready for work. James, on the other hand, very

rarely expressed any interest in her job.

Now was the time to encourage him to tell her what last

night’s horrible dream had been about. He was sweating and

tears were running down his face when she tried to wake him

up. She was only half awake herself and did not notice that

James left the house. However, she had observed that James

lately had been moody and irritable and that he had become too

absorbed in his work. It seemed to her that he had problems

adjusting to the real world and there had been times when she

wanted to run away taking their son with here hoping he would

wake up and realize that he had a family.

James did not need much encouragement to get started. He told

her that in the beginning the dreams had been quite pleasant

and the enormous satisfaction he felt when the other hunters

returned empty handed to their homes.

In his dreams he lived in a small village at the bottom of

the North Sea, which at that time was dry ground. In the

beginning, the dreams had been quite pleasant and James had

felt a deep sense of contentment when he woke up. In one

dream, he had killed an elk and remembered the enormous

44

satisfaction he felt when the other hunters returned empty

handed to their homes.

Lately the dreams had become more sinister. One night a half

naked prehistoric man pursued him with a spear. He ran as fast

as he could and when he stumbled and fell, the man raised his

spear and he had only seconds to live.

In another dream the people in the village where he lived

told him that he brought them bad luck and that he must leave.

Walking alone into the unknown he found a small group of

people asking if he would share his food with them because

they were hungry. After the meal, they made it clear that he

was not welcome to join them. ‘You are not one of us’, a man

told him in a threatening voice.

Last night’s dream was the worst he had had for a long time

and he vividly remembered the burning hut and the fleeing

people. Jennifer listened open mouthed to the horrible dreams

he had night after night while she was sleeping peacefully

beside him.

‘I am sorry I have not showed much interest in your bad

dreams and if there is anything I can do to help please let me

know.

‘You have earlier suggested that I needed professional help

and you are absolutely right. I will consult a psychologist

and make an appointment when I get into town’, James said.

He told her that all the dreams fitted in with a series of

dreams that brought him many thousand years back to the period

that started when the last Ice Age ended c. 10 000 years ago.

The period termed the Mesolithic by professionals and commonly55

known as the Stone Age, fascinated him more than any other

prehistoric and historic period.

James did not need a psychologist to tell him that his

dreams were connected with his fascination about the Stone Age

and his wish to be transferred back in time and to spend a

year in an authentic Mesolithic village where he would be able

to find out how people lived instead of relying on more or

less doubtful theories. His dream was to spend some time in an

authentic Stone Age village where he would find out how people

lived instead of relying on more or less doubtful theories. He

would bring his camera and recorder with him and would have

plenty of evidence when he returned to Thornfield with lots of

samples, photographs and recorded interviews with the village

people.

He had read interesting books about people who were

transferred to the past by time machine, but he knew, of

course, that no one in real life had had that sort of

experience. On the other hand, he kept in mind Shakespeare’s

much quoted saying that there is more between heaven and earth

than we realize.

After Jennifer had left the house, James had still time for

another cup of tea before he woke up Michael and got him ready

for school. He was grateful that Jennifer had never mocked him

for his dreams and that she had urged to tell him about his

nightly ordeals.

His colleagues were not that sympathetic. Over a drink with

a colleague some time ago he had told the other man about his

wish of being transferred to the North Sea at the time when it66

was dry ground. Shortly after, everyone, including his

students, seemed to have heard about his dream. They all

seemed to think it was funny and wanted to know how he

intended to get there without getting his feet wet.

‘Perhaps you will be another Moses who saved the Israelites

from their pursuers by letting them go dry shod across the Red

Sea’, one of them said. Another colleague said jokingly that

he had better hope for another life whilst another, who

specialised in the Medieval Ages, said that he would not dream

of spending a single day surrounded by squalor and bad smells

and that living in the Stone Age have been even worse.

The only one who took James seriously was a historian who

told him that the idea of experiencing how people had lived

thousand of years ago was interesting, but totally

unrealistic.

‘You can always hope for a scientific miracle or even better

to be born in that period in your next life, provided that you

will be reborn. We all daydream about something, but

nightmares can be dangerous. His advice was to seek profession

help.

A look at his watch made him run out of the house leaving a

half eaten sandwich behind. He suddenly remembered that he had

promised to order tickets for the coming summer holiday in

Greece and that he had to get to the travel agency before his

first lecture because it was Wednesday an early closing time.

His original plan was to take part in an excavation in

Western Scotland in the summer holiday, but knew that Jennifer

would never forgive him if she and Michael were forced to77

spend another wet summer in the Scottish wilderness whilst he

was busy digging.

Living at the doorstep of the North Sea they both agreed

that Michael must learn to swim. The nearest swimming pool was

many miles away and a holiday on a Greek island in the

Mediterranean seemed ideal.

It took good planning to make Jennifer’s holiday coincide

with his and after last summer’s disaster Jennifer had had

enough. ‘If you go excavating once again and leave Michel and

me to our own fate, you had better look for another wife who

is as enthusiastic about stone tools as you are, she had said,

adding that the museums must be packed with them and that she

could understand why it is called the Stone Age.

James was in luck. The manager of the travel agency told him

that the pack tours for Greece had been fully booked, but that

the financial crisis that had hit Britain very hard had led to

several cancellations. ‘ I believe that most people will spend

this year’s holiday in the UK. Incidentally, I have rented a

cottage in Thornfield where you live. Will it come up to

expectations do you think’, the manager asked.

‘As you probably know the village has only a population of

around 300 people and it is quite nice and very quiet until

the tourists arrive. I am sure you know it is in the backwater

and you will not get far without a car. A tourist once told

me that the village must be an ideal place to live and that

the terraced houses painted in different colours looked cosy.

I am sure he would have felt differently if he came to

88

Thornfield in winter when the wind is howling round the

corners and it is raining buckets’, James said with a laugh.

To answer your question there are plenty of sandy beaches,

but there is no point bringing swimming gear unless you are

very tough and hardy. It can be nice and warm on land and last

summer it was like living in Spain. However, the village is

close to the North Sea where the water temperature rarely

exceeds 9-10 degrees C, James said.

He and Jennifer were from southern England and it had taken

quite some time before they were accepted socially by the

natives and became adjusted to the capricious climate. A local

historian had told them that more than a century ago

Thornfield had been a thriving village that could boast of a

fish-packing industry until it fell upon hard times and went

bankrupt unable to compete with the big companies. There were

no jobs for the workers that lost their jobs and many of them

emigrated to Australia and America. Occasionally, a few

descendants of the emigrants visited Thornfield to look for

their roots, but only very few were able to trace their

ancestors.

The natives that continued to live in the village were

suspicious of people who came from the south of England

believing that they looked down on northern people and

regarded the village as a stepping stone for something better.

James and Jennifer were told that it took at least one

generation before that might be accepted, but they decided to

have a go by taking part in the village activities, which

included fishing and to contribute financially to the99

renovation of the harbour that was in need of extensive

repairs. More important was that they were always willing to

give a helping hand when needed. The only doctor in the area

lived in another village and Jennifer was always ready to help

when somebody was injured. James discovered that elderly

people who did not have a car had problems getting into the

nearest town for various purposes and offered them a lift

whenever he could.

James was pleased with himself for having bought the tickets

for the Greek holiday resort and a bit surprised because

Jennifer had not said a word about the planned holiday for

months. He wondered if there was something else he could do to

please Jennifer who had been more patient with him than he

deserved. Their conversation in the morning had pleased him

enormously and he felt that their marriage was back on an even

keel. Some flowers, a nice steak and perhaps a bottle of good

wine might help. Since Jennifer would be home rather late, he

would clean the house and prepare the meal.

Jennifer was pleasantly surprised when she returned from the

hospital to a clean and tidy house in the evening. Michael was

asleep in his bed with his favourite teddy bear on the pillow

and a happy smile on his face after his father had showed him

the tickets for Greece. Logs were burning in the fireplace

and the table looked festive with lit candles and the best

plates and glasses. James looked more relaxed than he had been

for a long time and the appetizing smell from the kitchen was

very promising.

1010

‘What are we celebrating?’ ‘Nothing really, but I thought it

was time to tell you that I have been very selfish in my

preoccupation of the past and ignoring you, he said handing

her the tickets for the package holiday in Greece.

‘What a lovely surprise’, she said giving him a hug and a

kiss.

Jennifer also had a surprise for him. Some time ago, she had

told him that she wanted a change and that she would like to

do some administrative work. The matron was leaving and the

director of the hospital had told her that he had recommended

her for the job if she were interested. He had discussed her

candidature with the board and the conclusion was she would

get the job if she wanted it.

‘It would mean a considerable rise in wages, but it also

implies a heavy workload, which implies that I will have to

work more hours. If you like the idea, we can afford to hire a

maid to do most of the housework and look after Michael until

you return from the university’, she said.

‘I am delighted and I suggest that we go out for a meal in a

nice restaurant tomorrow to celebrate your promotion. I am

sure the neighbour will look after Michael. The tickets were

cheaper than I thought and all the bills are paid’, James told

her. When it was time to go to bed James told her that he

would definitely dream about sunny Greece.

1111

Chapter 2

James was pleasantly surprised when he woke up refreshed and

in a good mood and unable to recall what he had dreamt. After

a meal in a good restaurant the same evening, they went

straight to bed and James had a dreamless night. He woke up at

daybreak when he felt somebody touched his shoulder. ‘Must be

Jennifer’, he thought turning to the other side ready for

another few hours sleep. Minutes later he was woken up again

1212

and this time the grip on his shoulder were harder. Must be

another dream, James told himself.

When he opened his eyes he got a glimpse of two

shadowy figures moving around. Fumbling around for the bed

light, his first thought was that they were being burgled and

that he must call the police. He noticed that Jennifer, who

had been sleeping soundly beside him, woke up, believing that

James had had another bad dream.

‘It is too early to get up and leave me alone’, she

said crossly. She finely understood that something was wrong

and asked James what was happening. When he told her that two

strangers were in their bedroom in the room she jumped out of

bed and demanded that he did something.

James noticed that his wallet was in its usual place and

their few valuables had not been taken. When he switched on

the lamp, he saw that their unexpected visitors were a man and

woman who wore loose fitting garments that looked as if they

were made of hides. They had straight black hair and broad

cheekbones and James who had never met a burglar in his life,

had no idea how burglars behaved. He remembered that in

detective novels and crime series on TV sinister looking

people pointed a gun at the victim and demanded the valuables.

The scenario that James and Jennifer experienced

was different. There was no sign of a weapon and the visitors

did not look threatening. James asked what they wanted, but

got no answer.

‘You are welcome to the few values we have’, he

said. 1313

‘Just go and leave us alone’, Jennifer said, but

their blank expressions told her that they had not understood

a word of what she was saying.

‘I think they are members of a mafia in an obscure

east European country. Why would they choose to come to our

house. We are not rich and there is nothing much to steal’,

Jennifer whispered

The man pointed to the pile of clothes that James had left by

the bedside signalling that he must get dressed. The woman

picked up Jennifer’s clothes and handed them to her.

‘We are probably being kidnapped’ she said. When

they were fully dressed, Jennifer went into Michael’s bedroom

where the boy was in deep sleep cuddling his teddy.

‘Wake up Michael. We have visitors’, his mother said

and lifted her half sleeping son out of bed. She dressed him

hurriedly and asked him to join his father.

‘Why do I have to get up? It is still dark outside.’

Jennifer said nothing and pushed him gently out of the room.

James toyed with ideas of what to do. He did not remember the

number to the police and had no idea where the phone book was.

It did not make the situation better knowing that the police

station was several miles away and it would be a long wait if

he managed to make the call. While waiting for the police

officer on duty, they would have to knock the strangers

unconscious and tie them securely to prevent them escaping

from the law. It would be difficult to convince a police

officer that the two people were burglars because not a single

1414

item was missing. There had to be another reason for their

visit.

The two strangers motioned the family to leave the house

and a quick look at man and the woman who both looked fit and

strong, convinced James that he and Jennifer would lose a

physical battle with the intruders.

It would soon be daylight and they saw a pale moon

high on the blue sky that gave promise of a fine sunny day.

‘This is incredible. We have no idea of what they want and

where we are going. We cannot just leave without telling

anybody’, said the practical Jennifer, who urged him to call

the police and to leave a note that they have been kidnapped.

The neighbours will probably notify the police that we are

missing and imagine the headlines in the newspapers about a

family that has disappeared without leaving a trace’, she

said.

‘Kidnapping is something you only see on the TV and a more

likely explanation is that we have gone away for a while and I

am sure the first thing the police will do is to our parents

believing we are with them. ‘Our parents will be worried when

they call and nobody answers the phone.’

Jennifer’s father was a busy country doctor and his wife a

social worker. They were expected to spend the coming weekend

with them whilst James’ parents lived further away and only

visited them at Christmas time and during the summer holiday.

His father had been made redundant and the money was tight.

‘I will send them a message that we have embarked on a

venture and that everything is fine. Using his mobile phone,1515

he quickly sent the message and remembered to notify the head

of the department of archaeology informing him that he had

started on a research project that the department had approved

of. Jennifer sent a message to the hospital that she had had

an accident and that she would be back as soon as possible and

she also notified Michael’s school.

While they were discussing the matter, the man and the woman

were becoming more and more impatient, and James was surprised

that they did not seem to object to their use of the mobile

phone. Before leaving the house he remembered to put his

notebook and a pencil in his pocket and became annoyed when he

remembered that he had forgotten to buy a film for his camera

that he would have to leave behind.

They had no idea where they were going and on their way

out of the house, Jennifer remarked that they were victims of

a practical joke engineered by some of your colleagues at the

university. ‘Look at their clothes. ‘Nobody dresses like that,

not even in Eastern Europe,’ Jennifer said. She was convinced

that the strange garments were part of a wardrobe in some

theatre and that the two visitors were actors.

James, who did not know what to think, made sure the front

door was properly closed before he put the key in next-door

neighbour’s post box, hoping she would keep an eye on things.

‘She will understand that we have gone away and will look

after the house’, James said. When the Armstrong family were

standing outside the house, James looked around in amazement.

The North Sea was much further out than usually and he did not

hear the familiar sound of the wave beating against the beach1616

although it was a windy morning. He saw endless stretches of

dry ground, which seemed nice and soft to walk on.

‘This must be another dream’, James thought, half

believing that he would wake up in his bed any moment.

‘Are we going to Greece’, Michael asked, wanting to

know why they were not going in the car to the airport. His

parents did not know what to say.

‘This is an adventure Michael and it might be fun, his

mother finally said. She was busy with her own thoughts and

started to follow the woman who without hesitation walked

across the sandy ground that the day before had been filled

with water. James who carried Michael on his should found it

too hard to keep up with the man, who apparently was in a much

better physical condition than him.

The two strangers seemed to be unconcerned whether or

not their three captives followed in their tracks. Looking

towards the beach, James understood why. He heard the faint

sound of waves beating against the shore and saw to his

amazement that the North Sea was filled with water and that

only the ground they walked on was dry.

‘I need to rest, James said handing the child over to

Jennifer. Whilst they had been walking, the sun had risen on

the horizon and it was quite warm. They sat down on a grassy

patch wondering why they were left on their own.

‘We will drown if we try to return to the shore, Jennifer

said. She was nearly out of her wits with worry and felt

helpless. Sitting on the ground in the warming sun they fell

asleep and when they woke up the man and the woman were1717

sitting beside them. The woman handed them dried meat and a

container filled with water from the beck. After a little

while they stood up and the man picked up the sleeping child

motioning his parents to follow. From then on things improved.

Michael, who woke up and started to cry, stopped when the man

smiled broadly showing strong white teeth. He had an unlined

tanned face and kind eyes and James thought that the man was

about the same age as he.

For the next couple of hours the small company walked

steadily on and Michael who felt rested after his sleep,

started to look around with interest. Grass had replaced the

sandy ground and James and Jennifer had never before seen

grass so green and the meadows so lush. The air had an unusual

freshness and there was a nearly overpowering smell of early

spring flowers. Birds were singing and some distance away a

herd of red deer were grazing. There was not a house in sight

and there were no sign of human activities

‘We are definitely dreaming because this cannot be true’,

Jennifer remarked. ‘I go along with that and I will enjoy it

as long as I can’, James said. ‘But you said it is not

possible to walk back to the village because the North Sea

behind is filled with water. Surely, that is an illusion’, she

said.

‘If you try you will drown’, James said. It dawned upon

him that they were in a landscape that had been untouched for

centuries and that he perhaps was about to get his dream of

being transferred to the Stone Age fulfilled. Jennifer

thought he was talking nonsense. 1818

‘There must be parts of Yorkshire that are not populated

and I am sure some of your university friends are behind this.

We have been hypnotised believing that we no longer live in

the 21s century and they would probably have a good laugh if

they could see us now. ‘How do you explain the two persons who

brought us here? They certainly do not look like us and they

do not understand a word of what we are saying. I am convinced

they are actors dressed in clothes that belong to some

theatre’, Jennifer said.

Chapter 3

With Michael asleep on the man’s back they continued walking

until the man and the woman decided it was time for a break.

They stopped by a small river and they all sat down on the

grassy riverside. The water was so clear that they could see

fish swimming around and a scull of a red deer by the

riverside and some bones scattered around suggested that

scavengers had had a hearty meal.

Whilst the Armstrong family were sitting in the soft

grass, the woman collected firewood and the man disappeared

carrying a bow although James had not seen a single animal

anywhere. He was surprised when the man after a while returned

to the campsite and motioned James to come with him. After a

short walk James saw the carcass of a fully-grown red deer

lying on the ground.

The other man brought out some tools that he had carried

in a sling and started butchering the animal with James as an

interested observer noting that the man was quick and1919

efficient. He wrapped the meat in some large leaves and when

they returned to the campsite the woman had lit a fire, which

suggested that they intended to cook the meat. The woman had

dug a shallow cooking pit and covered the bottom with flat

stones. A pile of firewood lay on the ground and Michael told

his father that he had fetched more wood for the fire. ‘It was

hard work and the lady was pleased’, Michael said.

The joints were wrapped in leaves and placed on top of

the hot stones and after a short while there was a delicious

smell of cooked food that tasted as good as it smelt.

‘I really believe I am back in the Stone Age’, James

said remembering from his studies that cooking pits were usual

in prehistory. Jennifer sent him a scornful look that told him

that she did not believe a word of what he said.

Michael was pleased when he was told that he could eat

with his fingers. ’I don’t think they have brought any

cutlery, but we will manage without knives and forks’, his

father said. His mother said that a glass of wine would be

welcome, but they had to be content with the water from the

river that tasted better than the water from the tap at home.

After the meal, they rested for a while before they continued

their journey into the unknown.

‘Have you any idea where we are’, asked Jennifer when

they had walked for many hours without meeting anyone. The two

strangers were walking ahead and did not take much notice of

Jennifer and James. There was no sign of houses and Jennifer

found the landscape and the stillness oppressive. The only

2020

distraction was meadows filled with spring flowers in full

bloom.

‘To be honest I think we have been transferred back in

time and I suggest that we are on the North Sea floor. There

will be animals around that we do not hear because our hearing

has been damaged by traffic noise and from blaring music from

loudspeakers everywhere we go. I think it will do us a lot of

good to have a holiday from the pandemonium of sounds that

have come a part of our lives’, James said.

‘Thanks for the lecture, but I really do not share your

opinion. Whatever you say, I do not mind traffic noise and I

know that the modern world offers some comforts that I will

not find at the bottom of the North Sea, she remarked crossly.

She refused to believe that it was possible to transfer people

physically thousand of years back in time.

‘I suppose that your colleagues and students are well

aware of your obsession about the past and that some of them

are playing us a hoax. I agree with you that the red deer was

killed by an arrow, but that does not mean that the archer has

never heard of guns. Any competent member of an archery club

in Britain could have killed the animal and left the carcass

in a place that was arranged beforehand. As far as butchering

is concerned, I do not believe the man has not the remotest

idea of how to slaughter an animal. The joints of meat we had

for lunch had probably been brought there and the man led you

to believe that he had cut the joint of meat himself.’

James who had seen with his own eyes that the man had

slaughtered the animal saw no point in arguing, but before2121

long, the conversation developed into a row. Jennifer, who

would not yield an inch, was convinced that they were under

the illusion of being transferred to the Stone Age.

‘It is all right for you to wander around in what you

believe are the North Sea floor, but there is no reason to

involve Michael and me. I am perfectly happy at home’, she

said. ‘You cannot have missed that the North Sea was much

further out when we left the village, James remarked.

‘Come on. What you think you saw with your own eyes is

part of the illusion. I think we have been taken for a walk in

a sloping field in a remote part of northern Britain and that

the North Sea is where it has always been. I agree with you

that the grass and the flowers smell fresh and nice, and I

suppose there still exist places in northern England that are

not polluted. You believe we are in the Stone Age because you

want to believe it’. James lost his patience and told his wife

that she was being stubborn.

Michael came running wanting to know why his parents were

shouting at each other.

‘It is nothing’, his father said in a calming voice

reassuring his son that everything was all right and that they

were just having a bit of fun. Michael was relieved at the

good news and helped the man and the woman clearing up after

the meal. They threw the food refuse into the small river and

made a package of the remaining pieces of meat that they

brought with them.

‘I rather like the idea that the couple who brought us

here may be our ancestors. Did you not notice that the woman2222

has the same nicely shaped legs as you and the same straight

black hair’, James teased.

‘It is not funny. What has happened to us is no laughing

matter and my main worry is that the patients in my ward will

suffer because I am not there. Have you forgotten my promotion

and what it will mean financially? If we are not back soon,

somebody else will get the job and if that happens, I will sue

the jokers whoever they are’.

She realised that James was tired of arguing, but determined

to get the last word, she said that she would hate the idea of

living in a period surrounded by smelly and dirty looking

people who eat with their fingers. She wanted to say she was

sorry for killing his dream, but she was convinced that she

was right. Best to forget about the silly row. She loved James

and decided to play along to keep him happy. She told herself

that she would pretend that she really was back in the Stone

Age instead of in a never-never land.

James was not as convinced as he sounded and half believed

Jennifer’s theory that they had been put in a trance. A better

alternative perhaps was that he had won the jackpot in a

Stone Age lottery’, he thought wryly. A holiday in an

authentic Stone Age village will definitely be cheaper than

Greece and probably far more interesting.

Jennifer’s good intentions did not last long. She was in an

aggressive mood and later in the day, she resumed the earlier

conversation telling James that she would pretend she was

having a holiday in a non-existent place and meeting people

that most certainly have been dead for many thousand years. 2323

‘I am sure the people who brought us here speak English. If

they pretend that they don’t understand what you are saying,

try sign language to make them realise that I want to go

home’.

‘I think they are taking us to a village and you will feel

better when we arrive’ was the only thing James could think of

saying. ‘I am yearning for a cup of tea and a sandwich and I

certainly don’t another meal similar to the one we had at

lunch time’, she said.

The walk seemed endless and they were very tired when their

hosts stopped by a small lake and started to prepare another

meal where the menu remained unchanged. Michael was nearly

asleep on his feet and the two men hurriedly made him a small

bed of branches and bracken. James removed his shoes and told

Michael that he could have a wash in the morning. With the boy

in deep sleep, the four adults sat by the fire without

speaking for a long time. After a while, the man and the woman

left to collect more material for the bedding and with some

help from James, the job was quickly done and they spent the

night sleeping by the fireplace.

2424

Chapter 4

James woke up before dawn after a dreamless night and looked

around in amazement not quite realizing where he was. Usually,

the milkman’s van woke him up, but here the only sound was

Jennifer’s gentle snoring. Reflecting on what had happened

since he and his family had left the village, he felt an

immense gratitude to whoever it was that had fulfilled his

wish to travel back in time. His only regret was that Jennifer

had been involved, and it would be hard work convincing her

that the strangers were not actors, but real Stone Age people.

2525

It will certainly be an experience that none of us will ever

forget, he thought.

He thought it was time that he made himself useful and

collected wood for the provisional fireplace. When he was a

boy scout had learned to start a fire by rubbing two stones

together, but it was harder than he thought and was about to

give up when a spark from the stones set the fire going.

Pleased with this achievement he breakfasted on a piece of

cold meat and drank water from the beck when he noticed that

it had started to rain. Jennifer, who woke up when raindrops

touched her face, was far from pleased telling him that she

was cold soaking wet and had no dry clothes to change into.

‘If you sit down by the fire, you will soon be warm, James

said.

Their two companions came running into the campsite and were

clearly in a hurry to continue their journey. They all helped

to clear the camp of rubbish and threw the beddings underneath

some bushes. The man gave James a broad smile miming that they

would find shelter in a short while. Half an hour later, they

entered a small hut where no one seemed to live. The hut

serves perhaps as a temporary shelter that people use when

they are surprised by bad weather, James thought. A small

hearth was in the centre of the room and a heap of dry

firewood was a welcoming sight. Adjacent to the woodpile was

some dried meat wrapped in leaves.

Between two rain showers, James took Michael for a walk down

to a small stream where he found two stones and taught Michael

how to light a fire. 2626

‘It is not as difficult as you think, but you will have to

be patient’. The boy was not impressed and said it would be

much easier to use a match. When their clothes and shoes had

dried and the sky finally cleared up, it was time to move on.

Before leaving the hut they all collected firewood, which they

spread on the hut floor to dry and their hosts left the

remaining pieces of meat to other travellers that were looking

for a temporary shelter.

After a short walk they saw some huts by a lakeshore and

when Michael asked if there would be any children around his

mother told him that he would find boys and girls that he

could play with. Jennifer who had forgotten how miserable she

had felt before they left the temporary shelter, cheered up by

the thought that the long walk was coming to the end. Michael

shouted excitedly that he saw a handful of children that came

running towards them. They stopped abruptly and looked

surprised when they saw his short trousers and jogging shoes.

The village children all wore the same kind of garments as the

people who had brought them there and Jennifer thought they

looked healthy and well nourished and looked cleaner than she

had expected.

‘Why should I be surprised that they are healthy and well

looked after. They are, of course, English children’.

‘Is this Greece’, Michael asked.

Wind had blown the skies away and the sun was shining when

they came into the small village. James noted that the huts

were almost circular and were placed in a row on the lakeshore

with the entrance of each hut faced the lake. The man and the2727

woman who had been accompanied them, waived their hands in

farewell and disappeared.

When James was able to speak their language he learned that

the man and the woman were scouts who travelled far and wide

in the North Sea area acting as a kind of social workers

establishing contact between the widely spread groups.

The visitors from a world they knew nothing about, found

themselves surrounded by chattering and smiling adults, but

they noticed that some of the villagers looked disapproving

and regarded them with suspicion. Men and women stood together

and were studying the clothes that James and Jennifer were

wearing. Michael had joined the other children on the beach

throwing flat stones into the lake to see how far out they

would go; a game he thought he was good at when he played with

his friends in Thornfield.

Most of the villagers had black hair reaching them

to the shoulder and many of the women had their hair plaited.

‘Look at the man over there, Jenny said in a low voice

pointing at a young man with sandy coloured hair and blue

eyes.

‘I suppose he is one of your ancestors’, Jennifer teased.

When James became acquainted with them he found out that they

had different personalities and if dressed as English people

they would not stand out in a crowd. Some were tall and thin

and others below average height by British standard. They all

were muscular and looked strong and fit in contrast to many of

his friends and acquaintances in England.

2828

He was surprised when he learned that practically everyone in

the village had turned up to bid them welcome thinking that

most of them would be busy hunting and gathering. Jennifer

was surprised of the large turn out for a different reason.

Whoever is behind this charade, must have put a lot of work

getting together a lot of supernumerary actors that are well

trained for the job, she thought.

‘I feel uncomfortable being stared it and if we are

staying here for a couple of days I wish somebody would show

us where we are going to stay. I do not suppose they have a

hotel in this remote spot in Yorkshire or wherever we are, but

they must at least have a guesthouse, she said. She told her

husband that she was longing for a hot bath and a cup of tea,

but got no answer.

The children had finished playing and joined their

parents who seem to be waiting impatiently for somebody. The

chattering suddenly stopped when a tall and gaunt man with

long greyish hair approached them followed by a few men at a

respectful distance. The man had a brown wrinkled face and was

dressed in a long black gown and a garland of bird feathers

around the neck. He looked dignified and had an air of

authority about him. James wondered if he was the Shaman, a

spiritual leader who was supposed to have magical powers.

Jennifer thought he looked a bit like Laurence Olivier and

that he was probably engaged by a repertoire theatre company

in Britain. She was surprised and quite impressed by the

efforts that James’ friends and acquaintances had gone to

leading them up the garden path and make James believe that he2929

was in a Stone Age village. Even more impressive was that the

actors had been taught to speak a kind of language that

certainly had no similarity with English and that even the

small children had been told not to speak a word of English.

‘We must be careful what we are saying because I am sure

they speak English’, she said to James who smiled without

commenting. He felt very happy and could not believe that his

wish had been fulfilled. It would take time before Jennifer

realised that she was wrong, but she would come round

eventually, he thought.

James and Jennifer noted that the crowd of people

had turned their attention to the gowned man who waited

patiently until everyone was quiet. They listened attentively

when he started to speak, and it seemed to the newcomers that

he was wishing them welcome to the village in a language they

had never heard before.

When they were able to communicate, they learned that the

Shaman had said that their visitors came from another world

and would stay with for a while. He would not tolerate bad

behaviour and if anyone were unpleasant and unkind to the

visitors, she or he would feel his displeasure. After the

speech, he walked away accompanied by a small group of men who

might be local dignitaries. When the village people were on

their own again the atmosphere became less formal and people

seemed more relaxed. Some of the women were staring openly at

the long trousers and cotton tops that Jennifer and James were

wearing, and Michael was close to tears when other children

pointed at his clothes and shoes and laughed. One of the3030

children said something that made the other children howl with

laughter.

‘Do not take any notice’, his father said. ‘They are just

curious and mean no harm’.

‘They are pretending they are in the Stone Age and when we

are not here they speak English and wear the same kind of

clothes as you, his mother said. Michael wanted to know what

the Stone Age is. ‘I do not see any stones. I see grass and

flowers and the bow the man used to kill the animal was of

wood and not stone.

‘You are right Michael. I will show you that people here

also make tools of wood and bone’, his father said, asking him

not to think about it as the Stone Age, but as the Mesolithic,

which in his opinion is a more appropriate term.

Michael said accusingly to Jennifer that she had

told him that people they just had met are dirty and smelling

and that they looked clean to him. ‘If you have any more

questions ask your dad. He seems to know all about it’, his

mother said.

James turned his attention to the circular huts,

itching to inspect them and made sure that he had his notebook

and pen in his pocket. He decided to wait until he was by

himself. Jennifer was convinced that the huts were

reconstructed prehistoric dwellings where the actors lived.

Michael told his parents that he was hungry

asking if he could have some of the nice meat he had had for

lunch.

3131

‘I am hungry too’, said Jennifer who wanted a

hamburger with chips for her tea. ‘Let us get out of here,

said James who took Jennifer by the arm and started to walk

towards the hut area. A young girl they had not seen earlier

came running after them and pointed to a hut that was the last

in the row. She was quite tall and had the same hair colouring

as James. The girl, who could be around 15 years old, had a

narrow face and freckles across her nose. She stood aside to

let them enter and Jennifer was disappointed when she found

that the hut was quite small and sparsely furnished and that

the inventory consisted of three pallets and a fireplace in

the middle of the room. The most interesting discovery was

three identical garments of various sizes that were placed on

each pallet.

‘It is warm’, Jennifer commented when she put it on

the garment, telling James that he looked like a Stone Age man

in his new outfit. Michael was delighted to get out his

trousers and found that the new costume that reached him just

below his knees fitted him perfectly. Their clothes, which

seemed to have been made to measure, strengthened Jennifer’s

conviction that mutual friends or some of James’ colleagues

had brought them into this situation.

‘The least they could have done is leaving tea-

bags and sugar so that we could have a decent cup of tea’, she

said looking around with dissatisfaction.

‘It is a bit primitive to my taste and some

chairs and a table would be handy. I think it is carrying it a

bit far to expect us to sit on the floor and eat with our3232

fingers. I can imagine that the pranksters are pleased with

themselves sitting in their comfortable chairs having a glass

of sherry before dinner and congratulating themselves on their

success.’

James who had only been half listening to his

wife’s complaints, noticed with pleasure that a pile of

brushwood was stacked adjacent to the fireplace and that

somebody had lit a fire. Some pieces of salmon were simmering

in a pot and he noted that the earthen floor was covered with

freshly cut and sweet smelling bracken. He wondered where the

salmon had come from and thought that there must a river close

to the village.

He was interrupted in the inspection of the inventory

when a tall and portly man with kind eyes entered the hut. The

man, who could be in his early 50s, had light brown hair that

was grey at the temple. Deep wrinkles marked his brow

suggesting that he had undergone a great deal of hardship.

James remembered that he had been part of the Shaman’s

entourage, which suggested that he had some authority. He

learned later that the Shaman had appointed him as James’

mentor and would act on the Shaman‘s behalf if the Armstrong

family were harassed by some of the villagers.

James noticed that there was something wrong with his right

hand, which was hanging limply by his side. Later, he heard

that the man in his younger days had been regarded as a very

good hunter, but that he had been injured and had to stop

hunting.

3333

The visitor motioned to James to follow him outside. The two

men walked out of the village together and after a short walk

the man pointed to a small stream. He had brought some

containers after filling them with water, he handed one of

them to James who felt thirsty. The water was fresh and very

tasty and James was sure that the intention was to show him

where he and his family could collect fresh water.

They spent the next hour walking through the village and the

adjacent forest and when James returned to his new home he had

learned a few words of the native language.

‘Are you sure the water is fresh,’ queried Jennifer when

James told her about the water source and where to find it.

He also tried to teach her the few words that he had

memorized, but she was not interested.

‘I accept that the people here are playing a game at our

expense, but it is intolerable that the so-called villagers

seem to have invented a language that we are supposed to

learn. It is about time this charade stops’, she said.

In the evening when Michael had fallen asleep on his pallet,

Jennifer and James talked about the day’s events. The boy had

told his parents that he had punched the nose of another boy

who had plashed water on him and that they were fighting until

the boy’s mother came running and shouted something at her

son.

It worried James that some of the villagers were hostile.

‘Although most of the villagers look peaceful, we have no

idea of how they will react if we do something that would

displease them’, he said. ‘I could not care less. Why can’t3434

you accept that it is all part of the game’, Jennifer

remarked. ‘I am only trying to make you understand that you

may be wrong and that we need to be watchful and careful not

to make them angry in any way and that we should try to make

friends with them. We know nothing about their culture and the

language and as long as we cannot communicate, it is easy to

get the wrong impression. By the way, did you notice that some

of the younger men looked at you with interest. May be I

should be jealous’, he said with a laugh.

‘You are entitled to your opinion and whatever you say I am

convinced that we will return to our own home in a short

while, which probably explains why the hut is poorly

furnished. I will pretend I am on a camping trip and I am

grateful that I have at least a roof over our heads if it

starts raining.’

‘I understand that you find it rather frightening finding

yourself in a strange place and meeting people who speak in a

language we do not understand. In time, you will speak like a

native and find new friends, said James, who decided it was

time to stop the bantering that would lead nowhere. Jennifer

was not prepared to give in.

‘It is easier for you because you know something about the

life in the Stone Age. I do not and I do not want to know’.

James who was becoming annoyed with Jennifer’s way of

reasoning and her complete lack of interest in a prehistoric

period that had occupied his mind since he had finished his

studies. He decided to go for a walk to cool his temper.

3535

He admitted to himself that his wife had a point when she

insisted that they had been kidnapped and perhaps hypnotized

into believing that they had been transported back in time.

Whatever happens, I sincerely believe that I am in an

authentic prehistoric village that will give me a unique

chance to get some insight in the culture, he thought.

When he returned to the hut Jennifer had calmed down a bit

and when they shared a meal of cooked salmon Jennifer decided

to pretend that James was right and surprised him by asking

questions about the way these people lived.

She told James that she had one read a novel by an American

author where a group of people were transferred into the 14th

century France by the means of advanced high technology. One

of them liked the life in the medieval so much that he refused

to return to the modern world. If this is true it might happen

to us, she said with a smile.

‘By the way, since we do not know when we will be back in

Thornfield, the ointments and a few other remedies I brought

with me might be handy if someone is injured or becomes sick.’

James was shocked at the idea and made her promise that she

would not demonstrate her nursing skills openly.

‘Be very careful. Modern medication may not be welcome

and think of what might happen if you handed out some salve to

cure a small wound and the person died later for other

reasons. The people here have probably have their own methods

for curing ailments and perhaps there is something we can

learn from them.’

3636

‘Don’t meddle in something you know nothing about. How would

you like if I told you what to do in your field of work’?

‘Point taken. I would hate the idea especially if I

found something valuable which you thought was rubbish’.

The family woke up refreshed to another sunny and warm

day and James realised that the unpleasant dreams seemed to

have stopped. Michael became wide-awake when he saw two small

boys sitting cross-legged in front of his pallet tickling his

toes with a straw. Jennifer was pleased and proud when Michael

said something that the other children seemed to understand.

When he was dressed like a native, Jennifer signalled to the

two boys that they were welcome to Michael’s clothes that he

wore when he arrived.

A small crowd of girls and boys that were waiting outside the

hut laughed heartedly when one of the boys put Michael’s short

trousers back to front and his expression showed that he found

them uncomfortable.

‘He did it on purpose and the child is a very good actor’,

Jennifer thought. Another boy tried on Michael’s shirt, but it

turned out that it was at least two sizes too small. When he

handed it to a small girl it fitted her perfectly and the

child ran home quickly to show her mother what she had got.

A shout from a young girl who came running from one of the

other huts carrying a handful of baskets, put an instant stop

to the activity. The guilty look on the faces of the young

children told that they had forgotten to collect firewood for

cooking, which marked the start of the day. They all dropped

what they were doing and motioned to Michael that he was3737

welcome to join them. The children were barefooted and Michael

ignored his mother’s advice to put on his jogging shoes

because that would make him stand out from the other children.

‘He will survive a few blisters and in time the skin will

harden’, his father remarked.

The woodland was only a few minutes walk from the hut area

and the children filled baskets with branches, bark and pieces

of wood. It was pleasant to walk on the soft ground and

Michael was intrigued to see trees full of hazelnuts that he

had only seen in the shops. The nuts were very small and one

of the other children shook his head when Michael tried to

pick one. May be they are not ripe, he thought.

After the usual breakfast of dry meat and water, Jennifer

took Michael with her to the lake for a wash. Dead flies

floated on the surface, but after a few minutes walk away she

found a small bay where the water seemed reasonably clean.

After a good wash, Michael ran back to the village to join his

new friends whilst Jennifer who had nothing to do, went for a

walk to look for a fresh supply of bracken for the floor.

James’ main concern was to collect evidence of the

activities the village people were engaged in. He wanted to

examine their hut to find out how it was built and the kind of

material the builders had used. He observed that it was built

of branches and other light materials and underneath the layer

of bracken, he found long sheets of bark known for its ability

to absorb moisture. That explained why the floor was dry and

that there was no smell of dampness. He needed to collect a

lot of samples from bone, wood and other organic material3838

before returning to England, but he had plenty of time and it

was best to wait as long as possible. The other huts seemed to

be built of the same materials and the only inventory was

pallets and a centrally placed fireplace. The location of the

huts close to the water made James wonder if people stay in

the village around the year or if they huts were occupied only

in summer. The area was marshy and James felt reasonably sure

that it would be flooded during heavy rainfalls. If they were

only occupied in summer it was likely that the inhabitants

spent the winter season on dry ground somewhere else.

‘I would gladly give a month salary for a camera and a

recorder. Photos do not lie and if he could have recorded some

of his conversations with his mentor, it would be far more

sensational than any find’, James mused.

The adults in the village were busy carrying out their

daily tasks and he could hear hammering in the background. The

small children were free to play and one of the older children

who seemed to be in charge, shouted warningly to a three year

old child girl that had ventured too far into the lake. She

picked her up and told her to stay away from the lake.

James who had witnessed the episode knew that Michael

would be safe because he had explained to the boy that he

might drown if he fell into the sea. There were no children on

the beach, which probably meant that they had gone somewhere

else.

On returning to the hut with the bracken, James had gone off

somewhere and Michael was with his friends. Jennifer was sick

of pretending that she shared James’ belief that were on the3939

North Sea floor for an indefinite period and that she would

find new friends when she learned the language. She felt

lonely and decided to take walk along the beach. May be she

would meet someone.

‘I simply don’t believe it and my only wish is to return to

my own house and see my friends and resume my work at the

hospital’, she told herself. She was aware that she was

talking to herself, but there was no one around and she could

do as she pleased. Her eyes became filled with unshed tears

and she was so absorbed by her own unhappy thoughts that she

did not notice a group of women hard at work on the beach

laughing and talking to each other.

‘Pull yourself together and smile’. She waved and wished

them a good morning in English without anyone reacting. They

stared at her for a moment and continued working. Feeling

ignored and unwanted, Jennifer left the beach and sat down on

a patch of grass outside the hut area where no one could see

her. With tears rolling down her face, she lay down in the

grass and cried herself to sleep.

She woke up when somebody gently stroked her hair and when

she was able to focus she saw a woman about her own age

sitting beside her. The woman who had short brown hair and a

broad pleasant face looked at Jennifer with concern. Jennifer

tried to smile and when she said in English that she was glad

of some company the woman stared at her saying nothing.

‘Surely, it is about time she stops pretending that she does

not understand. Jennifer thought that the game had been

carried too far and wanted to box her ears. Instead she stood4040

up and told her to bugger off and stop bothering her. The

woman said nothing, but Jennifer could see that her angry

outburst had upset her. She felt ashamed of herself and for

the first time since she arrived at the village she had a

nagging doubt that James might be right and that the people

were not actors, but prehistoric people.

She sat down again and wanted to tell the woman how sorry

she was. No words came and instead she smiled at her and

patted her arm. She reminded Jennifer of a woman in her own

village that was engaged in voluntary work and always had a

kind word to everybody. She pointed to the water saying a word

that Jennifer did not understand. She repeated the word again

and again teaching Jennifer her first word of the native

language. Her new friend pointed to herself and said something

that Jennifer interpreted as Ada. Jennifer pointed at herself

saying I am Jennifer. Ada laughed and said Jen?

‘Yes, call me Jen’, Jennifer said. They sat awhile in an

amicable silence until Ada stood up and it was time to leave.

Ada showed her the hut where she lived and followed Jennifer

back to her own hut. Before leaving, she signalled that she

would be back.

Ada’s kindness and her blank expression when Jennifer spoke

in English made Jennifer wonder if the villagers had any

knowledge of English. May be I am making a fool of myself, she

thought.

Ada was thoughtful when she entered her own hut. She

understood that her new friend was desperately unhappy and

wanted to return to her own safe world as soon as possible.4141

Noo had told her that she and the man she lived with were

going to stay at the village for a long time and that she must

do what she could to make her feel at home. It suddenly

occurred to her that Jen might be interesting in hunting and

when they met again the next day, she would take her to the

area where prospective hunters practised daily under the

watchful eyes of their instructor. Ada, who had been a hunter

most of her adult life, was now the chief hunter and if her

new friend had the required qualities she could join the group

when she fully trained.

She also wanted to find out if there was a specific reason

for Jen’s angry outburst and would not be surprised if some of

the villagers had been unkind. Everyday before noon, a group

of young women relaxed on the beach after they had finish

their chores. When Ada approached them they stood up out of

respect for an older person who was widely known for her

wisdom and common sense. They all had a guilty look on their

faces and when Ada asked if they had seen the woman who had

arrived the day before, they blushed and avoided to look at

her. Finally, one of them said that the strange woman did not

belong in the village and should return to wherever she came

from. Ada gave them a talking to that none of them would ever

forget.

‘What makes you think that you are better than her and how

would you like to be sent to another world without knowing

anyone and not understanding the language? Jen has done

nothing wrong and she only tried to be friendly. You have a

lot to learn,’ Ada said. 4242

James was worried when he returned to the empty hut not

knowing where Jennifer was. He told himself that the village

was quite small and that she could not have lost her way. He

realised that she was unhappy and yearning to return to her

own home and decided to make a serious attempt to explain to

her that she must try to adjust and to make the best of it. He

would not criticize her for not letting him know where she was

going, but not understanding he must tell to be very careful.

James told himself that he had been incredibly lucky to find

a woman that suited him to the ground. He had not been able

to figure out why Jennifer had chosen him as a life companion,

knowing. He had not been able to figure out why she had

chosen him as a life companion and he knew that she had not

been short of suitors.

He regarded himself as a bit of a loner and when he met an

attractive girl, he did not have the courage to ask her for a

date. He had convinced himself that he was happier with a book

than female company and remembered that his mother had

jokingly said that she must have picked up the wrong baby from

the hospital. His parents that had worked in a factory all

their adult life, spent most of their leisure time with their

friends in the local pub, not understanding their son was a

studious type who had worked hard at school to obtain a place

at the university.

He clearly remembered the first time that had met Jennifer.

After finishing the PhD, James applied for a number of jobs,

but did not get on the short list. He got a temporary job with

a museum informing crowds of tourists about the life-ways of4343

the Romans. ‘I will never understand why people are so

enthusiastic about Romans who after all came as invaders and

thought British people were ignorant because they did not

speak Latin’, he thought. By pure chance he came across an

advertisement in an archaeological journal inviting

prehistorians to apply for a job as lecturer at a well-known

university in northern England. Life became more interesting

when James the day he received a letter from the university

asking him for an interview. The good news gave him an

opportunity to celebrate and a pint would be pleasant. James

had no wish to join his parents and their friends and after

half an hour brisk walk he entered a pub in the next village.

A happy crowd filled the room in the public bar and a dark-

haired young woman seemed to get a lot of attention. James

could not help noticing that she had an almond shaped face

with clear brown eyes and a wide mouth revealing healthy

looking teeth when she laughed.

The only vacant table was tucked away in a corner and with a

glass of beer in his hand, James felt content watching other

people enjoying themselves. ’I am happy on my own and I can

devote my whole life to research’, he told himself. James was

so absorbed in the thoughts that he did not notice that

somebody was talking to him.

‘You are welcome to join us if you like, said a young man

who was part of the happy crowd. James felt awkward and shy

joining a group of people he had never seen before, but the

young woman who had caught his attention put him at ease when

she pulled out a chair and invited him to sit beside her. The4444

other guests gave him a friendly wave and continued their

conversation and she gave him a friendly look telling him that

she was a nurse and wanted to know what kind of job he had.

When James told her about his prospects he was pleased when

he did not have to explain what archaeology is about. 'I have

seen some interesting documentaries on TV and I was surprised

to hear that people thousands of years ago lived in houses and

not in ditches and under bushes. Perhaps we are not as

superior as we think we are.’

James relaxed when he realised that she was interested in

his work and while he was telling her of his daydream to

experience how life was in the Stone Age, she did not laugh as

he had expected her to do. She listened attentively to what he

said and did not interrupt asking silly questions

‘I think Shakespeare in one of is plays let Cesar say that

there is more between haven and earth than we understand’.

James laughed and they agreed that the idea of turning the

clock back was attractive, but unrealistic.

‘We all have daydreams and if you don’t get obsessed about

it, you will be all right. I do not want to come into the

hospital one day and find you in the psychiatric ward\, she

said.  While James told her about his job, Jennifer gave him a

close look and liked what she saw: A tall thin man in his late

twenties with kind eyes and mouse-coloured hair. ‘When he

smiles he is attractive in a nice quiet way’, she thought.

When they got to know each other better, James found out that

she had a short temper, but was quick to forgive and forget

when somebody was unkind. James on the other hand James tended4545

to nurse grievances when somebody had offended him. Although

they had different personalities, they laughed at the same

jokes and enjoyed long walks when the weather permitted. They

had plenty of things to talk about and took an avid interest

in politics at home and abroad.

During their short, but hectic courtship James asked

himself over and over again why the extrovert and lively

Jennifer had chosen him who had little to say for himself.

Listening to her chatter about trivialities and laughing at

rather pointless jokes the first time they met, he had found

her superficial and scatterbrained. His attitude changed a few

days later when he visited a sick friend in the county

hospital. Moreover, he discovered that she was in charge of

the ward where the daughter of one of his friend was a

patient. He noticed that she was very efficient and that she

seemed to get on well with the staff and children in the ward.

The day he learned that he had got the job, he could not

wait to propose marriage and was delighted when Jennifer

assured him that she had objection to move north where she

would probably find a less stressful job that would give her

more time for the patients. They both agreed that city life

did not suit them and the rather remote village Thornfield

within reasonable distance from the university was the ideal

place to settle.

‘I like the idea of living close to the sea and the air is

so fresh and nice, Jennifer remarked when they had inspected

their new home, which was adequate and within their means.

4646

'We will have to make some changes and the kitchen seemed a

bit old-fashioned. Do you think we can afford to modernize

it’? She got no answer and she noticed that James had not

heard a word of what she was saying. The far away glimpse in

his eyes told her that he had retreated into a world of his

own.

He chided himself for wasting time remembering their

courtship and their many lively conversations a time long

gone. With their recent quarrels fresh in mind it was

pointless being nostalgic and it was a better idea to do his

best to make Jennifer come round and realise that the people

in the village were real.

The investigation of the hut had taken less time than James

expected and he decided to explore the area. With some luck,

he might find the river where people fished salmon and trout.

There was no one in sight when he started to walk in the

direction of the forest. There was no path and the ground was

covered with rotting leaves and small branches. The trees were

larger than James had imagined and the compact leafage

hindered the sun from penetrating. It would be easy to stumble

in a treacherous root or skid on wet leaves and James started

to look for a thick branch for support.

He suddenly heard a shout realizing that he was not alone.

Turning round, James realised that it was the man who had

entered his hut the night before. He carried a wooden spear,

which might mean that he was on his way to the river. He gave

James a friendly wave and waited for him to join him. James

suddenly felt that the ground he stood on was moving and his4747

companion grabbed him by the arm and pushed him away. When he

was on firm ground, the other man removed the heap of leaves

and branches that James had stood on and uncovered a wide hole

in the ground.

James guessed that the hole was a man-made animal trap and

that the man had saved him from falling into the hole. He

motioned to James that he should follow him further into the

forest. During their walk through a canopy of leaves, James

became aware of a series of similar arrangements and noticed

that the leaves and branches were arranged in the same kind of

pattern. He must tell Michael and Jennifer about the discovery

and warn them against walking alone in the forest.

After a while, the woodland became less dense and finally

they reached a clearing where they saw animals moving around

in the distance. The clearing was ideal for a rest and with a

sigh of relief James took off his shoes that had been

comfortable on asphalt paved streets and for short walks on

the beach, but not suitable for walking in rough terrain. A

soothing salve and sticking plaster would cure the blister on

the heels and since they were not available, he put his sore

feet in the lukewarm water in a nearby beck hoping for some

relief.

The water was so soft and nice that he could have stood

there forever. The problem was at he might find it difficult

to put on his shoes again. He soon found out that there was no

reason for worrying. The other man handed him a pair of shoes

that looked soft and were probably made of hide. James noticed

that they shoes had no seems and that they looked comfortable.4848

They fitted perfectly and James suspected that they were brand

new and intended for him. Before he put them on the man lined

the shoes with soft leaves that gave James’s an immediate

relief from the blisters.

‘I am grateful for your kindness. I am James, but you can

call me Jim’. Repeating his first name, James pointed to

himself and the man laughed heartily showing strong white

teeth. He pronounced the name Jim without fumbling and when he

pointed to himself using a long word that James could not get

his tongue around.

‘I will call you Noo’. They both laughed and James had a

feeling they would get on well. After a long rest in

companionable silence, James made a drawing of a salmon in the

sand and pointed in the direction where he thought the river

might be. Noo nodded and stood up. When they came out of the

forest James observed a large stretch of open grassland that

in his world would have been used for pasture for cows and

horses. A small herd of red deer were grazing and he saw smoke

from some huts in the distance.

A river cut through the monotonous landscape, and James saw

a cluster of huts on the other side of the river. James

learned later that the people in the two villages were not

related and that they belonged to different bands. The river

may have marked the boundary between the villages and he was

curious to know if they divided the river between them. Later,

he found out that the two villages had joint ownership to the

river and that people fished where and when they wanted. The

inhabitants were on friendly terms, but did not mix socially.4949

The standing rule was that if one of the villages were

attacked, the people in the other village would come to their

assistance

The villagers on both sides of the river were suspicious of

strangers and denied them access unless they convinced them

that their only intention was to find food and shelter for the

night before moving on.

When James and Noo approached the river the water was so

clear that James could see large salmons and some trout

swimming around. The river was so wide and deep that they

would have needed a boat to get across, but James later

discovered that it was possible to cross the river dry shod a

kilometre further down. On the other side of the river, two

men were gutting salmons and a crowd of people were sitting on

the grass by the riverbank.

The news of the visitors from another world had spread like

a fire on a windy day and the spectators were clearly

interesting in James who was uncertain of what to do. Finally,

he raised his a hand in greeting and the onlookers waved and

smiled. Standing by the riverside, Noo taught him the native

words for river, fishing and salmon. He was a good teacher

that pronounced each word slowly and made James repeat them.

Whilst James was busy studying the environment, Noo threw

his spear when he spotted his prey and at precisely the right

moment the spear penetrated the neck of a large salmon killing

it immediately. The salmon was so large that James helped the

one-handed Noo in getting the fish up from the water. It must

weigh at least 15 kilos, James thought. His friend handed the5050

spear to James motioning him to have a try. The spear landed

in the water and James heard somebody laughing. His next try

gave the same negative result and after several attempts, he

managed to catch a fish.

‘This is fun, but I need to practice more’, he told himself.

Chapter 5

Jennifer who had cheered up after meeting Ada, was pleasantly

surprised when James returned with fresh salmon for supper and

started to prepare the meal when James surprised her by

telling her that she must not go out on her own without

letting him know. ‘ You never tell me where you are going and

to day you have been away for hours and you only told me that

you would try to find out how the hut is built.’ ‘It is

different for men’, James said. ‘Why’? ‘Women are more

vulnerable and what would you do if a villagers knocked you

down and trying to rape you? Don’t be so condescending and it

is about time you realize that I am perfectly able to take

care of myself.

Jennifer ran out of the hut and when she returned after a

long walk on the beach, she lay down on the pallet asked James

to tell her when dinner would be ready. While she was laying

down pretending to be tired, she decided to forget the silly

discussion with James. ‘I suppose he can’t help it and I will

show him and the other men in the village that she could cope

as well as any man’. She agreed with James that she must learn

the language and after meeting Ada life was not so bad. 5151

At daybreak the next morning Jennifer woke up noticing that

the hut was filled with an unpleasant smell. She jumped out

of bed and saw that somebody had dumped a heap of rotting food

at the entrance. James and Michael were still asleep and she

quickly wrapped the refuse in leaves and deposited it at a

secluded place away from the hut area.

‘There are obviously some people who resent us and I think

we can expect that they will make another try. Whoever is

behind this probably want to frighten us and I think the best

strategy is to pretend that nothing has happened’, James said

when she told him about the rotting food. In the following

days they were on guard, but they had no more unwelcome

visitors.

Noo wrinkled his nose, but did not comment the bad smell

when he came into the house to give James another lesson in

the native language. He was a quick learner and after a few

days, he managed to string a few sentences together. Jennifer

was also becoming quite fluent thanks to Ada, but none of them

could compete with the six year old who was chatting away when

he was with his friends.

As no more parcels of rotten food were placed at their door,

they started to relax and one day James remarked that their

strategy of keeping their own counsel had worked. What they

did not know was that Noo had looked in to the matter and

found the culprit who was an elderly man who strongly resented

the people from another world. When Noo told him that he would

be in trouble if the Shaman were told about the incident, he

promised to leave the visitors alone. 5252

James and Jennifer decided to forget about the rotten food

and concentrate on learning the language. They both felt more

confident when they were able to make themselves understood

and James was delighted when he one day was able to ask Noo

what had happened to his hand and learned that he had been

injured in an accident. ‘I am not an invalid and my job is to

teach you people to be good hunters.’ He told James that he

enjoyed his work and it pleased him that a few of the

youngsters were promising and that the hunting team needed

some good recruits.

Jennifer had made it her habit to take a daily walk along

the lakeshore after breakfast regardless the weather. Usually,

she did not meet anyone and enjoyed some time on her own.

Leaving the hut one morning, the sun was shining from a blue

sky and it was pleasantly warm. Jennifer had got used to the

clothes she was wearing and actually found the garment very

comfortable. ‘Life is full of nice surprises, she thought as

she was walking along the beach enjoying the smell of grass

and wild flowers.

Suddenly, she felt an excruciating pain in her right

shoulder and saw an arrow sticking out from her right arm. She

was bleeding profoundly and felt a bit dizzy not understanding

what had happened. The last thing she remembered was lying on

the ground and that somebody was bending over her. Jennifer

was unconscious when she was carried into the hut that was

only a few minutes’ walk away. She learned later that one of

the village people had observed a man with a bow in the beach

5353

area shortly before the accident. She was unable to identify

him and guessed that he deliberately had shot her.

When she regained consciousness, she heard people shouting

wanting to know what had happened. Noo, who had been on his

way to speak to James, came running when he realized that

Jennifer was wounded. He took command and told the curious

onlookers to make themselves useful. A small boy was told to

fetch the woman that acted as the local doctor because of her

sound knowledge of plants that could heal wounds and cure

diseases. Another child was asked to find James who was

collecting firewood. In the meantime, Noo asked everybody

present to collect water from the small stream and not from

the lake and make sure that the hut was well stocked with

firewood.

Noo quickly removed the arrow and used a small and sharp

knife to extract the bone point, allowing the blood to flow

freely while she was still unconscious. James accompanied by

a tall and stately woman in her late 50s entered the hut and

did not need to be told what do. She stopped the blood by

tying twine from a plant around her arm and covered it with a

poultice that looked like greenish porridge. The stuff had a

soothing effect that made her patient feel sleepy. Jennifer’s

last conscious thought before she fell into a long and deep

sleep was that the village must have its own doctor or nurse.

Noo told James not too worry. ‘Jennifer is in good hands and

she will recover. The woman that was known throughout the

village as the herb woman told James that Jennifer must not be

disturbed and that she should not have any visitors until she 5454

was feeling better. Ada offered to take care of Michael and

assured him that his mother had had a small accident and that

she needed to rest. When the herb woman returned the next day

she was pleased to see that her patient’s condition was much

improved, and advised her to stay in bed for a couple of days.

The shooting episode convinced Jennifer that the people that

she had thought were actors were genuine Stone Age people and

that she had been stubborn and stupid. ‘I should have listened

to what you said and from hereafter I will try not to be so

stubborn’.

‘Forget about it, said James who thought he might lose her.

‘From now on, we must be careful and take precautions. There

are obviously some evil-minded people around and next time you

may not be so lucky. Everyone knows that you prefer to walk

along the beach by yourself in the early morning, which makes

you an easy prey. I suggest you alter your routine and that

you find someone to accompany you. I think Ada would be a good

choice because everybody in the village respects her, James

said. Jennifer’s main concern was to keep Michael safe, but

James told her not to worry. ‘Michael will probably be safe

because he is always surrounded by a crowd of children’.

Noo had been hard at work to find the man who had shot

Jennifer. Asking around he got a description of the villager

who had been seen in the beach area at the time Jennifer was

out walking. When interrogated he said that the Armstrong

family had harmed him and his family.

‘The strangers have cast a bad spell on my family and me and

my hunting luck has run out. We have only fish to eat and my 5555

woman keeps complaining telling me that I am no longer the man

I used to be. I did not intend to kill the woman, but to give

her a warning. the man said.’

Later in the day, Noo entered the Armstrong hut accompanied

by a man who introduced himself as Nokas. He was a tall and

thin man in his 70s and James remembered that he had been part

of the Shaman’s entourage. Noo told him that Nokas was highly

respected by everyone in the region, which comprised several

villages. Nokas was rarely in the village, but Noo wanted to

discuss the shooting incident with him and to ask his opinion.

As the Shaman’s deputy Nokas had the power to act on his

behalf and decided that the man and his family must leave the

village and join another group.

James and Noo were immensely relieved when Jennifer

recovered and that the wound was healing well. Jennifer said

she pitied the man and hoped that nothing bad would happen to

him and his family. Nokas assured her that the family had left

the village and had been told never to return.

‘He is not a bad man and I think he is sorry for what he has

done’, Nokas said. He told her that if she had died, the man

would have been killed and his woman and children left

destitute. He could count himself lucky that she was not

seriously wounded.

‘Do you believe that we have cast a bad spell on him and his

family’, James queried. ‘People believe what they like to

believe and I think that his failure as a hunter has nothing

to do with you, Nokas assured her.

5656

‘I think they are rather cruel chasing a man and his family

out of the village. After all the man did not intend to kill

me, Jennifer said to James when the two men had left the hut.

‘We just have to accept that these people have a different

culture and that they follow their own rules’ ‘Actually, I do

not think we are any better, may be worse. Only a few hundred

years ago children were sent to Australia as convicts for

stealing a loaf of bred because they were hungry. Today people

are put into custody on suspicion of committing a crime and

there are plenty of examples of people being wrongfully

accused. Before we abolished the death sentence some people

were executed for crimes they did not commit, James remarked.

‘Do you mean to say that we are not any better than Stone

Age people’, Jennifer said.

‘Yes, that is precisely what I mean’.

Chapter 6

The life in the village continued as before and Jennifer

noticed that the women who had previously ignored her, started5757

to acknowledge her greetings. She supposed that everyone knew

that Ada had befriended her and that she would be safe in her

company. Ada had visited Jennifer several times after the

shooting incident and as a token of her friendship she gave

her a pair of skin shoes that suited perfectly.’ The man who

makes shoes is very competent and I am sure you will find them

comfortable to walk in’, she said.

Jennifer and James were curious to see Noo’s home, and

although people in the village constantly were in and out of

each other huts, they found it difficult to go there

uninvited. They were surprised when they entered his hut on

his invitation and found him in company with the girl who had

shown her the hut that would be the home of the Armstrong

family. Noo had a baby in his lap and Jennifer found it hard

to believe that he had fathered the child because the girl,

who called herself Nadia, could be half his age. He could, of

course, be Nadia’s father although they did not look alike.

The girl smiled pleasantly at the visitors and made room

for them front of the fire. Noo, who noticed that Jennifer was

curious about his relationship with Nadia, told the guests

that she was a single parent and that the father of the baby

had left after a quarrel.

. When Nadia left the hut to fetch some water, Noo

told them about Nadia’s plight after she became pregnant. The

boy told her that he had found another girl and that he would

leave the village. The couple had shared his parents’ hut and

when the boy left, his parents told Nadia that she was not

welcome to stay and that she must find somewhere else to live.5858

The baby was expected in a few weeks time and she did not know

where to go. Her parents had left a long time ago and she did

not know here they were. She told me what had happened one day

when I found her crying and I offered her to share my hut. I

am old enough to be her father and I assured her that she

would be safe with me. The girl stayed with me until the baby

was born and we agreed that it was time for her to have her

own home.

By the help of some of the villagers, I built a small hut

and she visits me every day. I only hope that she one day will

meet a man that is kind and considerate, he said.

‘Noo has told us a little about you and I am interested in

knowing what happened to your parents, James said. ‘I do not

know where they are and it does not worry me. They abandoned

me when I was a small child and I was left in the care of an

elderly childless couple that needed someone to keep them

supplied with fresh water and firewood. They were not unkind,

but they kept telling me that I should be grateful for having

a place to stay. I had no one to turn to until Noo came to the

village. He is my best friend and protector and I have a good

life’.

James and Jennifer found her very likeable because of

her friendly disposition and willingness to listen to what

other people had to say. When they became better acquainted

with Nadia, she told them that he and his woman had lived in

another village until the woman died.

‘He does not say much, but he is kind and considerate and

he brings me the choicest pieces of joints and keeps me 5959

supplied with wood for the fireplace. I hope that he one day

will find someone that he wants to share his life with. He is

too old for me’.

‘Nadia told us that you lived with a woman for a long time

and that you were very happy Jennifer one day said to Noo. ‘

That is true until my woman one day complained about pain in

her breast and said that she felt ill. She showed me a hard

lump in on of her breasts and when I touched it she cried out

in pain. The herb woman who has cured many sick people by

using herbs was unable to help. When I asked if she had some

remedy that might help, she shook her head and said there was

nothing she could do. After a short while my woman whom I

dearly loved, lost her appetite and could only drink water.

‘I do not know what caused the pain in her breast, and the

only help the herb woman could give was to make her soothing

drinks that made her sleep. She faded away and before she

died, she said I must find another woman that could make me

happy. Up to now, I have not found anyone that I would like to

live with, but I have Nadia who is a great comfort to me, he

said.

One day after the visit to Noo’s home, Jennifer saw Nadia

out walking carrying an armful of plants and asked if she knew

anything about herbs.

‘The herb woman teaches me what kind of herbs that are

useful for certain illnesses such as arthritis and infections.

She knows many plants and differs between those that can be

eaten and those who can cure sickness. One day when I showed

her some plants that I had collected, she explained in detail 6060

which plants were dangerous and what would happen if the ate

them. I am learning something new every day and she has told

me that I nearly knew as much as she did. I am now her

assistant and one day I will probably take over her job’,

Nadia said.

6161

Chapter 7

James and Jennifer had observed that every individual in the

village seemed to be quite busy and they wanted to make

themselves useful.

‘There is always a demand for good hunters and you could

join the group that practice daily’, Noo told James. The next

morning he joined the small group of teenagers that carried

bows and arrows. The target was a charcoal drawing of a red

deer and crosses marked the hearth and the animal’s breast.

James’ first arrow shot from distance of c.20 m was a total

miss, and after several attempt he hit one of the animal’s

legs. Some of the teenage boys laughed mercilessly and pointed

at James shaking their heads in unison. Noo told James not to

take any notice, but told him that an animal with an injured

leg would suffer unnecessary and that it would take a long

time before the wound would heal.

Noo, who felt that James was hurt by unkind comments,

remarked that James’ eyesight probably was the cause. ‘I think

you can see clearly at a long distance, which tells me that

you have problems hitting a target that is close by’. James

looked surprised and was impressed that Noo had guessed that

he was longsighted. It had not occurred to him to bring his

glasses with him, but may be it was for the best because it 6262

would be difficult to explain the innovation of spectacles to

Stone Age people.

Noo told James that he once had had a chat with one of the

hunters who repeatedly had returned empty handed to the

village from hunting expeditions and not understanding what

had happened to him. One day when the prey was right in front

of the man, the arrow hit a tree and the animal escaped.

‘We cannot all be good hunters and there is always a demand

for good fishermen and carpenters, he said. James knew that

Noo was right, but continued half heartedly to practice

without any success. ‘I will never be a good hunter and I like

fishing better, he said to his wife when he returned to the

hut.

When Jennifer was completely recovered from the shooting

accident, Ada asked if she would be interested in learning to

hunt. As a teenager Jennifer had thought of joining an archery

club, but never got round to it. James laughed when she told

him about it and said hunting was a job for men.

Jennifer took no notice and when she accompanied by Ada

visited the training area the following day she was impressed

by Noo for his competence as an instructor and his positive

attitude to the group of young boys and girls.

When the practice was over and Jennifer got her chance. After

several days of trying and failing, Noo told her that he was

pleased with her. ‘You have a steady hand and a good eyesight

and if you continue to practice you can join the hunting group

at the end of the summer, he told her.

6363

Proud and happy, Jennifer returned to the hut area and could

not wait to tell James about the good result of the shooting

practise. James, who was on his knees investigating what kind

of filling the builder had used in the walls to keep the draft

out, was only half listening to her account. His only comment

was that Noo had humoured her and that she should leave the

hunting to the men. ‘Male chauvinism’, Jennifer said.

Jennifer had told him that Ada was regarded as one of the

best hunters and had been elected as the leader of the hunting

group. She had four children and her place surely was in the

home instead doing men’s work, James thought. The next day

when James was on the way to river to catch salmon and trout,

he met a small party of hunters in an apparently good mood on

the way back to the village. Ada who was walking ahead of the

group, smiled broadly at James telling him that she had killed

a large aurochs that would keep the villagers in food for many

days to come.

‘You and Jennifer will get your share’, she said with a

broad smile Jennifer had told her about his prejudice against

female hunters and thoroughly enjoyed seeing him looking

uncomfortable. When he met Noo the next day he wanted to know

who looked after the children when the chief hunter was out

hunting. Noo looked a bit surprised and said that it was no

problem.

‘Do you remember the man that had to give up hunting because

of his eyesight? It seems strange to you perhaps that this man

later moved in with Ada and fathered the youngest of her four

children. Her former man did many years ago. He looks after 6464

the brood and has become a good cook. It is just a question of

adjusting. In our way of thinking men and women carry out the

work that they are good at’.

‘I suppose you come from a place where women do not hunt and

it would be interesting to know the reason, Noo said. James

took his time answering the question and asked himself how he

could make his friend understand that even in 21st century’s

England many people like himself, had old- fashioned ideas

about women and what they should and should not do. Another

matter is that nowadays only wealthy people in England hunt.

There was no point telling him because he probably would not

understand that hunting nowadays is for the privileged. ‘You

have made me realize that I have a lot to learn and you have

convinced me that women should feel free to make their own

choices and it seems that Ada is a good example’, James

remarked. Jennifer was still nursing her hurt feelings when

James came into the hut. She was sitting cross-legged in front

of the fire and said nothing when James asked how her day had

been.

James was amazed when he realised that people in the Stone

Age were more advanced than modern people and that his own

views were based on prejudice. He understood that Jennifer had

been hurt by his negative attitude.

‘I owe you an apology. Sorry I sounded so negative about

women hunters, and let us agree that from now on, you will

keep us supplied with meat and I will bring salmon and trout

to the cooking pot’, James said.

6565

‘I do not believe a word of it. You are as prejudiced as

most men and you are saying this to please me’. Jennifer got

up and started to prepare the midday meal.

‘I meant what I say. I admit I have been prejudiced, but Noo

and Ada have convinced me that it is logical that men and

women share the workload and do what they are good at. The

only exception I can think of is that only women can produce

children, but I am sure scientists are working hard to prove

that one day also men can bear children’ he said with a laugh.

James who had spent a lot of time examining the lay out of the

hut area and knew what kind of materials that were used to

build the huts, noticed that the roofs tended to sag after

heavy rainfalls and that they were in danger of collapsing.

Why do you build the huts of branches and sapling when are

plenty of trees in the vicinity of the hut area, he asked a

skilled carpenter.

‘I suppose you have noticed that we live in a marshy area

and when summer is no longer with us, there is a lot of rain

and dampness. Before the flooding starts in late autumn it is

time for us to leave, the man said. He told James that it does

not matter if the huts disappear in the flooding, because it

only takes a short time to build new ones when the villagers

return to the area in spring. Building a timber hut takes

considerable time. For James that was indeed good news because

it would give him the opportunity to find out how the timber

huts were built and it would also confirm his theories that

Stone Age people had summer and winter camps.6666

He needed confirmation and would have a word with Nokas as

soon as possible. Jennifer’s main worry was that she would

not get the job as matron at the hospital if she had to stay

at the village for a long period and she had repeatedly asked

James to talk to the right people about it.

When Nokas came to the village on one of rare visits, he

shook his head when James wanted to know when they would

return to their own world. ‘Only the Shaman can answer your

question. He decided that you and your family should be

brought here and it is up to him to decide when you will leave

us. I will give him your message, but as the spiritual leader

of the region he is very busy moving around and I will ask one

of the scouts to try and track him down’.

Nokas was as good as his word and on his next visit he told

the Armstrong family that they would stay with them until the

coming summer. The surprising news was that they would spend

the cold season in an area with a cold and dry climate.

‘You will have your own hut built of timber and I can assure

you that you will be warm and comfortable. Alternatively you

can share a hut with a few other families

He told the Armstrong family that the hut area is fenced in

to protect the villagers from wild animals and they probably

will find the life there more comfortable than at the summer

camp.

‘I suppose that we will need warm clothes and shoes’.

Jennifer said.

‘That will be taken care of and there is no need to worry’,

Nokas said with a smile. 6767

Jennifer was a bit distressed at the news, the knew that

there was a constant demand for qualified nurses in northern

England and that she could always find another well paid job.

In the meantime, she would do her best to master the language.

She looked forward to take part in the hunting and Noo and Ada

assured her that she was welcome to join the other hunters at

the start of the hunting season at the end of the summer when

the skins were at their best and the animals had spent the

summer fattening up.

Chapter 8

Encouraged by Noo’s kind words that he would become a good

fisherman, James walked to the river every day to practice and

before long he brought back more fish than he and his family

could possibly eat. Noo told him he was too eager to prove

his skill and that there was no point in catching more fish

than he needed.

On his daily rounds through the village James had met old

and frail people who were unable to fish and hunt and were

depended on help from others. Some of them had no families and

James wondered how they survived. James liked to help people

and he decided to find out if anyone would like a regular

supply of fish.

‘I am a very keen fisherman and I usually catch far more

than I need. Perhaps you can help me out’, he told people he

knew lived on their own. Most of them accepted his offer when

they realized that they would be doing him a favour.

6868

‘Some of the villagers leave half rotten fish at my door and

expect me to be grateful’, an old rheumatic woman told him. He

also met other disabled persons who sometimes received

foodstuff from villagers that clearly wanted something in

return for their generosity. When James got to know them

better he learned that his ‘customers’ had their likes and

dislikes.

‘I prefer fish caught in the river, but it is too far for me

to walk,’ an old man said. James also met people that did not

like any kind of fish whilst other villagers did not mind what

they ate as long as it was food.

James noticed that the huts he visited needed to be cleaned.

The fireplaces were full of ash and small heaps of rubbish lay

around and the bracken that was used for covering the floor

had not been changed for a long time. The sorry state of the

huts did not seem to bother them and James told himself that

it was not his concern and that meddling might do more harm

than good.

A greater worry was that the information that most of them

disliked to receive foods without having anything to give in

return. When he discussed this issue with Jennifer she pointed

out that many elderly people have a vast experience and

knowledge that they could share with the younger generation if

they bothered to listen to what they had to say. I do not

suppose young people in the village are any different from the

youngsters in Thornfield, but it is worth thinking about, she

said.

6969

Jennifer was right. When James became better acquainted with

them each of them had a story to tell, but did not know anyone

who would be interested. An elderly woman who had stayed in

the village all her life, told James about his great

grandfather who was once pursued by a huge bear and saved

himself by jumping into a lake.

‘When I was young the whole family gathered around the

fireplace and we listened to the exciting stories from the

time my grandfather and my father were young men. I was never

blessed with children and I am the only one left in the family

and do not know anyone who would be interested.’

James did his best to make people relax and encourage them

to talk about their life when they were young. The stories

from the good old days were past on from generation to

generation and one man told James that a long time ago one of

his forefathers had driven a herd of giant animals over a

steep slope killing most of them. He had also heard that his

forefathers killed animals with thick fur that they used as

beddings and made into warm clothes and shoes.

‘I wish there is something I could do to make them feel

useful,’ James said. Why don’t we invite them to a gathering

in the village’s ground,’ Jennifer suggested.

‘It is a good idea, but I don’t think I should interfere in

a matter that does not concern us and I will ask Noo what he

thinks.’ Noo welcomed the idea and suggested that they could

start with the youngsters who were learning how to become good

hunters. ‘I am sure they will enjoy listening to what the

older generation have to tell. Some of them were experienced 7070

hunters and others may remember stories that have been handed

down from generation to generation. ‘I will think about it and

let you know if it can be arranged, Noo said.

The meeting was a big success and the youngsters listened

with shining eyes to the accounts of hunting in the old days.

Many questions were asked and they agreed to meet again. The

hunting season was still a long way off and Jennifer was

bored. She remembered that James had told her about the

disabled people he visited regularly and he had told her that

their huts were dirty and smelly, but that it could be

dangerous to interfere. ‘We are not social workers’, he said.

‘Surely, I can go and see them without being accused of

meddling’, Jennifer remarked. She had heard that some of the

older men and women had rheumatism probably from hard work and

exposure to cold weather. On a visit to a hut inhabited by a

woman in her 60s, Jennifer felt a wave of nausea because of a

penetrating unpleasant smell. The hut floor had apparently not

been cleaned for a long time and animal bones were scattered

around the fireplace that was filled with ash from fires long

gone. The woman also seemed to need a good wash and her hair

looked greasy. The woman apologized for the poor state that

the hut was in because she was not able to keep the room

clean.

‘Look at my hands’, she said showing Jennifer her gnarled

fingers. When Jennifer asked if she had tried to get help,

she shook her head.

‘I am grateful for the food I receive and I cannot ask for

more, she said.7171

Her only visitors were people who brought her fish and meat

and the woman assured Jennifer that she was very welcome.

‘I feel very lonely and I am glad you came, she said. She

had heard that James who had brought her some food, round he

is well liked in the village for being helpful and pleasant

and that he does not look down his nose at people who are past

their prime. He told me that you have become a good hunter and

you will probably find it hard to believe that in younger days

I was a member of a hunting group. I have heard some nice

things about you and I am glad that we have met you, she said.

Jennifer sat with her for a long time and before leaving she

told her that they had enjoyed her company and that she wanted

to come back another day. She was surprised of the squalor and

asked if nobody looked after her and other people who were

unable to keep their huts clean and tidy.

’What these people really need is a social service,’

Jennifer thought. Wondering what she could do, Jennifer

decided to bide her time and on her next visit perhaps she

could offer to clean the place. She was taken by surprise

when the woman told her that the hut was in an appalling

condition because she no longer was able to do any cleaning.

‘It is not only the hut that needs a good cleaning. I have

not had a good for as long as I can remember’, she said

showing Jennifer her gnarled hands.

‘In my younger days I had always fresh bracken on the floor

and every night I disposed of them food refuse and other

rubbish, the woman ridden with rheumatism told her. She went

7272

on to say that her mother wanted everything to be clean and

that her clothes had been regularly washed.

‘Look at me’, she said pointing at her garment that was

tread bare and dirty’.

‘If you like, I can clean the room and throw out the rubbish

as a start, Jennifer said.

‘You mean well, but I have nothing to give you in return,

the woman said.

‘Yes, you have. You have told me many interesting stories

about your life and when we first met you told me that you had

been a hunter. I have only recently joined the hunting groups

and I could learn a lot from you, Knowing that she had gained

the woman’s confidence, Jennifer persuaded her to sit in the

warm sun outside the hut while she started to clean the room,

getting rid of the bad smelling bracken on the floor and

cleaned the fireplace. She told the woman that she would

collect firewood and before leaving she asked the woman not to

tell anyone about her visit.

‘Let us keep it a secret, she said. The problem was to find

a clean garment and Jennifer thought that Ada was the best

person to ask because she made all the family’s clothes and

might have a spare garment. She had to confide in her friend

and hope that she would understand. Ada was cooperative and

when Jennifer went to see her the next day, the woman’s eyes

lit up when saw that she had brought her a new garment. Before

putting it on, she asked Jennifer if she could give her a good

wash. When the water was heated, Jennifer washed her body and

her hair that had not seen water for a long time. Before7373

leaving, she cooked a joint of meat and told her she would

come back and cook meals if she promised to tell her about her

life as a hunter,

‘You look very pleased with yourself, James remarked when he

returned from one of his short outings and found Jennifer busy

preparing a meal. ‘I can assure you that I have not been

meddling, but today I have had the pleasure of preparing a

meal for one of the villagers that has had her first hot meal

for a long time. She did not mention that she also had given

the woman a good wash and cleaned the room.

‘Tomorrow I will visit a couple that are too old to do any

work’, she told James when she returned to their hut. ‘I feel

sorry for these people and I will do as much as I can to

improve their living conditions. I agree with you that we must

not give the impressions that we know better than the

villagers because we come from another world. When my job is

done I will sit down and ask if they would like to tell me how

their lives have been and many of them have an interesting

story to tell.’

‘When I was a lot younger and in a far better shape than I

am now I took it for granted that people must look after take

care of themselves and that people who had no family were left

on their own, one old and frail woman in her late 70s told

Jennifer. She said that it never occurred to her that she

could offer to help others that were in a difficult situation.

Things changed when an old rheumatic woman from this village

was last seen when she walked into the lake and drowned

because she could not manage the long and fatiguing journey to7474

the winter camp. ‘You may be surprised to hear that nowadays

disabled people not only in this village, but in all the

villages in this region are carried on stretchers when we

leave for the winter and summer camps respectively. I have

heard that Nokas as the Shaman’s deputy made this decision and

I honour him for it, she said.

James was so intrigued by this piece of news that he asked

Noo if it was true. He confirmed the information about the

stretchers and told James in confidence that Nokas had

introduced this practice when he learned that his own and

disabled mother, who lived in another village had committed

suicide a long time ago.

‘I have heard that you ask a lot of questions about the life

in the village and I would like to know who told you about the

stretchers, Noo said.

‘Actually, it was Jennifer who has made friends with some of

the physical handicapped people, James said, thinking it would

do no harm to tell Noo that his wife helped people in exchange

of the story of their lives. I hope you do not think she is

meddling’, James said.

‘Of course not. It makes sense what she is doing. I think

people find it easier to confide in a woman than a man. I will

give you another piece of news that you may not have heard

about, said Noo, who told him about the disastrous result when

the yearly flooding in late autumn one year started earlier

than expected.

‘The rain had been pouring downs for weeks and one day the

whole ground was flooded and some of the huts collapsed.7575

People where running around trying to collect their valuables

and the storeroom where we keep our winter clothes and foods

was only half full. The bad weather had delayed the ripening

of the hazelnuts and the hunting had been poor. We really did

not have a choice and abandoned the summer camp long before

planned. We learn by our experiences as I am sure you do in

your world and now we take precautions making sure we have a

storage of warm clothes and foodstuff’, he said.

Jennifer was pleased when James told her that she could

carry on her good work with Noo’s approval. She felt full of

energy and played with the idea of starting a kindergarden.

She had noticed that young mothers were constantly worrying

about their children and neglected other work. On the other

hand, she was afraid of offending the mothers who might

believe that the children were not looked after.

James advised her to talk it over Ada who at first seemed a

bit sceptical, but that it might be worth trying. She knew a

teenage girl who told her that she had nothing useful to do

apart from cleaning and washing. She lived with her ailing

mother and every day was a struggle to find food.

She told Jennifer that the girl was intelligent and reliable

and that she was well liked in the village. The girl Cora

jumped at the chance telling her that she had always liked

children and hoped that she one day would have her own. ‘

Looking after a group of small children will give me good

practice’, she said. She was pleased when Ada told her that

she and her mother would never be short of food.

7676

Ada had no problem persuading the young mothers in letting

Cora take care of their children during daytime. They were not

all mothers. A young man and his four-year-old son who had

recently arrived in the village were full of price for the

idea. I used to be a hunter, but had to give up hunting when

the woman I lived with suddenly died. My mother lives in this

village, but she is unable to take care of the child. He was

sure that the boy would be taken well care of when he was out

hunting.

Jennifer was genuinely pleased that her idea of a

kindergarten had been well received thanks to Ada. After a

couple of days Jennifer knew that she had done the right

thing. All the young mothers were pleased with the arrangement

and it turned out that Cora was a natural leader that the

children looked up to. It was her idea to get the children

away from the lake and she found an ideal playground place

beyond the hut area.

‘It was generous of you to let Ada get all the credit and

after all it was your idea, James commented.

‘ I think it is best to keep a low profile and it really

does not matter whose idea it is. I feel that I have

indirectly contributed to make life for the young families in

the village a lot easier and I hope the idea will spread to

other villages’, she said. It had worried James that Jennifer

lately had been moody and that she seemed to be upset when

things were not going her way. They had to wait for another

six months before they could return to England and he should

perhaps try to persuade Nokas to shorten their stay. 7777

‘If it can be arranged would you like to return to

Thornfield earlier than planned, he asked.‘ I rather like it

here and I am in no hurry to go back, she said.

‘What about your job as a matron, James asked.

‘It is not important anymore and what matters to me is to do

my best to improve the quality of life for the disabled and to

do what I can to make people understand that they will be an

easy prey for bacteria if they don’t keep themselves clean and

stop drinking the water from the lake.’

‘You will need another life to achieve all that’, James said

laughingly. He was immensely relieved that he had

misinterpreted and underrated his wife.

7878

Chapter 9

James was eager to obtain information about the villagers’

religious beliefs and rituals, but his questions were not

welcome. James only learned that the spirits that live in the

water rule over life and death and that the rituals are

sacred. ‘Strangers like you are not allowed any insight in our

religious ceremonies, he was told.

He had hinted to Noo that he would like to be present as a

silent observer when the villagers performed their religious

rituals, and was frustrated when Noo started to talk about

something else. The negative response meant that James had to

find out on his own. He had noticed that on nights with a full

moon everyone, apart from the very old and frail, seemed to

get ready for a religious ceremony of some kind. His guess was

that the ceremony took place by a lake in the other village

where he had not been and a look at the moon told him that it

would be full the next night.

He sneaked out of the village while it was still daylight

and hided behind a thicket of bushes along the well-worn

footpath that lead to the neighbouring village. One by one of

the villagers walked past his hiding place wearing animal

masks and carrying torches. 7979

He waited patiently until the villagers everyone had passed

his hiding place and followed a safe distance. He guessed that

they were headed for the other village and that they would

perform their rituals by a lake in the vicinity. After a long

wait, the villagers, one by one, passed him carrying torches

and wearing animal masks. He was careful not to make a sound

and was sure nobody had seen him. The problem was to get

across an open landscape by the river that separated the two

villages being discovered. He cursed himself for not bringing

a torch because it would soon be dark and he would have

problems finding his way home He decided to return to his home

and congratulated himself for not been seen by anyone.

The next day he found out that he had not been as smart as

he thought.

‘If we have not realized that you are a good man with no

evil intentions, your stay at our village would have come to

an end,’ Nokas said when he entered James’ hut accompanied by

a serious faced Noo. They had discovered James’ hiding place

during their walk through the woodland and he was told that

unbelievers are not welcome. ‘Our spiritual leader that made

you welcome at the day of your arrival, would have been

displeased if we had told him, said Noo, who wanted James to

promise that he would not do it again. ‘You can trust me’,

said the chastised James who felt like a child that had been

caught with his hand in the cooking jar. After the unfortunate

incident he wanted to prove his worth, but had realized that

the only thing he was good at was fishing. So was everybody

8080

else and he wished he could think of something he mastered

better than anybody else.

Although Jennifer seemed to be full of energy, she

occasionally looked tired and the last couple of days she had

vomited in the morning. She told him that she had probably had

eaten something that did not agree with her and changed the

subject.

She knew that morning sickness was a symptom of pregnancy,

but she dismissed the idea as ridiculous. ‘If I am pregnant,

the baby would be born in the Mesolithic. It is just not

possible’, she told herself. She tried to convince herself

that the monotonous diet with no vegetables and fruit was the

cause and was relieved when she felt all right again a couple

of weeks later.

When spring turned into summer James thought it was time to

take stock of the situation. He felt that he had got a good

insight in village life and had started to collect a fair

amount of samples from charcoal and plant materials before

leaving for the winter camp. He knew that the l4 C method used

for material such as charcoal and plants is not a hundred per

cent reliable, but it would suggest when the village was

occupied.

James had seen few signs of tool making since he came to the

village. An elderly craftsman widely known for his skill

showed James a selection of tools and implements asking if he

was able to identify the tools that were used for cleaning

hides. To James they all looked alike, but he noticed that

some of the tools were more elegantly shaped than others. 8181

‘Most craftsmen take pride in their work, but you will also

find crude and badly shaped tools. They are not of much use

and are quickly discarded, the man said. When James asked if

he would show him how to make a knife the man picked up a

small rounded lump of flint from the beach and broke it into

flakes. James was impressed when the man shortly afterwards

handed him an elegantly shaped blade of knife, which he

attached to a wooden handle.

James knew from his studies that flint knapping was a noisy,

messy and dusty business and the craftsman told him that

nowadays most people carry out the work outside the huts or in

a shed.

‘When I was a child the work was carried out in a remote

corner of the room. Small and sharp flints that fell to the

floor during knapping could cause injuries and as a precaution

the floor was covered with pieces of bark, twigs and branches

that would absorb the waste material and thus prevent anyone

from being hurt’, the craftsman said. I remember that my

mother told my father to stop working indoors when my younger

brother was injured by a small but very sharp piece of flint.

James wanted to know why the villagers did not seem to be

engaged in tool making at the summer camp, but the tool

maker’s expression told him that he had asked a silly

question. ‘Summer is for leisure and maintenance work when we

do not have anything better to do. If you stay with us long

enough you will see craftsmen hard at work when the hazelnuts

have been collected when the trees have changed their colours

and we make preparations for abandoning the camp. The idea is 8282

to make sure we have a good supply of tools when we return to

this area in the spring, the man said.

James was amazed how much he had learned from the short time

in the village and that he had enough material for a book. He

had thought a lot about his students who must feel that he had

let them down when he disappeared without a word. He had

drilled into them that archaeology is about people and that

the challenge is to build a bridge between the past and the

present.

The perhaps most valuable discovery that he would tell the

future archaeologists that Stone Age people behave and react

in much the same way as people we do. He had seen villagers

laugh at other people’s mishaps and was sure they would have

fitted into the modern world given the chance. He would also

tell them that there should be room for using common sense in

the interpretation of finds and that prehistoric people should

be judged from the period in which they lived. Many people

today call them primitive because they make use of the

resources nature offers. Unlike us, they are not surrounded by

rules and regulations, pollution and traffic jams’ he would

say. He could not help thinking that they probably had a

better life than a lot of people living in the 21st century.

8383

Chapter 10

Jennifer was well aware that the water in the lake could cause

infections and she wondered what she could do to persuade

people to use the stream as drinking source. Michael objected

strongly to the idea because the water from the lake tasted

better and none of his mates drank water from the river.

‘The worst thing I can do is to let people know that I know

better. She was worried that Michael, who did everything that

his mates did, would catch an infection because he was not

used to the local flora of germs that the natives have lived

among all their lives. She knew that some plants contained

elements that have a healing effect on certain illnesses, but

her knowledge was limited and she did not know where to find

plants that could cure an infection. She had a vague

recollection of the elderly woman who treated her when she was

shot in the arm and that it might be a good idea to contact

her. A better idea perhaps would be to talk to Nadia who might

show her where to find such plants.

Her worry about infections turned into fear when Michael one

day came in to the hut complaining about an ache in his

stomach. He looked feverish and Jennifer put him to bed and

gave him a thorough wash with boiled water. She desperately

needed help and asked Ada what to do. ‘I will fetch the herb

woman that has forgotten more about herbs than the rest of us

have learned. I am sure she will help,’ she said. After a

8484

short while, the woman came into the hut bringing with an

assortment of herbs that had a healing effect.

When Jennifer told her that Michael had a pain in his

stomach, the herb woman told her not to worry and that some of

the herbs she had brought would get him well.

‘Make sure he drinks plenty of water and that he is kept

quiet’. She mixed her remedy with water that Jennifer had

boiled and made him drink it. The woman said it was a good

sign when the boy vomited and forced him to drink some more of

her brew. Shortly afterwards, Michael fell asleep and the next

morning he said he felt better and wanted to get up.

’Keep him in bed for another day and make sure he continues

to drink a lot of water’, the woman said. In the evening, the

fever had gone and the herb woman proclaimed that he was well

again. Jennifer wanted to know what kind of herbs she had

used, but the woman refused to tell her.

None of the other children seemed to be affected, but a few

days later Jennifer heard that one of Michael’s playmate had

become seriously ill and died a couple of days later. The

child’s mother had told the herb woman that he had complained

of a stiff neck. She had also noticed that he had developed a

rash. Jennifer suspected that the contagious meningitis was

the cause of death and she could only hope that none of the

other children would be sick. She was relieved when Michael

told her that he and his best friend had not played with the

boy for a while because they had found other playmates that he

liked better.

8585

The boy’s parents were devastated by the loss of their only

child and relatives and friends did their best to comfort

them. The boy was laid at rest in a boat that a carpenter had

built for the purpose. The next day, the coffin was covered

with masses of flowers that the children had brought and

lowered into the lake.

‘The spirits will look after him and give him a safe journey

into the next world where he will be happy, the little boy’s

grandmother said.

The child’s mother who stood on the beach with the other

mourners, had to be physically prevented from drowning

herself. Her father kept wringing his hands not knowing what

to do or say. A close relation keeping his voice low advised

him to get her pregnant as soon as possible.

‘There is no other remedy and although the popular saying

that time heals, the loss of the child will always be with

you. Another child will in time remove some of the pain', the

relation told him.

During his daily walks James had noticed a few strangers in

the village and noticed that some of the villagers were no

longer around. This is the only time of the year we see

friends and relatives that live in other places. The young and

fit like to travel and they always make sure they are back

when the hazelnuts are ripe, one of the villagers told him.

One day a stranger came to the village and wanted to know

where he could find Nadia. He had a message from her mother

telling her that she wanted to see her. The visitor told the 8686

girl that he lived in the same village as her parents and that

her mother was too frail to travel.

‘They live only one day’s journey from here and your mother

wants you to come to their place. Your natural father died a

long time ago and your mother moved in with another man and

you have many brothers and sisters you have never met. If you

agree, I will accompany you and help to carry the baby. When

you want to return, there are many young men in my village who

would like to escort a pretty girl like you,’ he said.

‘Why has mother waited so long before she made contact? I

felt abandoned when they left when I was a small child and

thought they did not care what happened to me’, Nadia said to

Noo. Tears were streaming down her face and she did not

attempt to conceal her feelings.

‘I cannot give you an answer and there may be a number of

reasons. After your father died your mother may have been busy

looking after the brood or she may have been ill. Do not

think too badly of her, but give her the chance to see you

again.’ Noo advised her to accept the invitation and said

that he hoped that she would return before they abandoned the

summer camp.

‘If you want to make your stay short you could tell your

mother that you must take part in the preparations for the

move to the winter camp', Noo told her.

The summer was also the time for picking berries and wild

apples. Michael’s parents were delighted when he one day

brought a large basket of wild apples into the hut. 8787

‘I remembered that you told me how much you missed fruit and

my mates helped me’, Michael said.

‘They taste delicious and I will try to make an applesauce

that should go well with the meat.

Jennifer was tired of eating salmon and trout and had

suggested to James that fish from the lake would be a nice

change. James inspected a small boat he found in a small bay

that looked solid enough thinking it would be worth a try.

Accompanied by one of the older boys he rowed to the middle of

the lake and caught haddock and perch. When they returned n to

the village, Michael complained that he had not been asked to

join them.

‘The boat is not big enough for three people, but the next

time you and me can fish in the lake’, his father said.

One night when James and Noo went for and a stroll along the

lake, they heard somebody shouting, and the longsighted James

saw to his horror that a young girl was in danger of drowning.

The girl, who could be around 12 years old, must have fallen

overboard from a small craft and her companion, a young boy,

raised the alarm by his shouting

James did not heed Noo’s warning that he should not interfere

in matters that did not concern him and without hesitation he

undressed and started to swim towards the girl. He managed to

get hold of the child before she went under for the third

time. Turning her on her back, he started to swim towards the

shore where he laid her down on her stomach on a patch of

grass to get rid of the water from her lungs. The child was

not breathing and turning her on her back, he started the 8888

mouth-to-mouth method that he had learned as a youngster, but

had never practised.

A crowd of people had gathered at the lakeside and a man

shouted at James saying he had made the spirits angry. ‘They

live in the water and decide if the girl would live or die’.

If she lives, we will thank the spirits and not you’, another

man said.

James took no notice of the warning and continued his work

of giving the girl the kiss of life. He felt like giving up

when her chest started to move and quickly laid her on the

side. In the next moment, the girl vomited and opened her

eyes.

‘The spirits have saved the child’, her mother said. Several

of the onlookers looked threatening and James was disappointed

when he saw Noo walking away without saying a word. As his

friend and mentor, James thought that he would have understood

that it was James and not the spirits that saved the girl.

Jennifer was the only one who praised him for saving the girl

from drowning.

Ada, who was one of the witnesses to the incident, said to

Jennifer that James had put himself in a dangerous situation

and that the spirits would seek revenge. When Jennifer asked

what would have happened if the girl had died in spite of

James’ effort to bring her back to life, Ada remarked that

people would think that he opposed the will of the spirits.

‘You are actually implying that James would be blamed

whatever happened’, Jennifer said. She walked straight home

8989

without saying a word and was deeply worried thinking that she

had lost Ada’s friendship.

James was also deeply troubled by the negative reaction from

the villagers and feared that he and his family would be told

to leave. However, nothing happened, but the Armstrong family

noticed that for the first time since their arrival, they had

no visitors and that none of the villagers stopped talking

when he walked past them.

James told Nokas about the villagers’ reaction when he came

to the village in some errand and asked for his advice. He

felt an immense relief when Nokas told him that he doubted

that the spirits would have intervened whatever happened.

‘They are good and kind and protect us from evil, but I find

it hard to believe that they rule over life and death. I lost

my only son when he fell into the lake and drowned because the

girl who looked after him had left the child unattended. He is

not the only child who has drowned and I think we could have

prevented the accidents if the children had been properly

looked after. I think you should be praised for saving the

girl’, Nokas said.

When James told him that Noo had walked away without saying a

word and had not been around since, Nokas said he would have a

talk with him and the other villagers and told James to stop

worrying.

At Nokas’ invitation, the villagers met in a small area at

the outskirt of the village. It was a nice day and they all

sat down in the grass to listen to what Nokas had to say.

9090

James and Jennifer did not want to attend the meeting because

they were outsiders and might not be welcome.

‘I have heard about the incident in the lake when a girl

fell overboard and nearly drowned. From what I have heard not

any of you made any effort to save the girl and blamed our

friend James for saving her, believing that it was the will of

the spirits if she should live or die.

I am sure you all know that my only child drowned because of

a negligent child-minder. Do any of you really believe that

the spirits, which are here to protect us, wanted the boy to

drown? I share your belief that spirits live in the water, but

I need also to remind everyone of you that our dearly

respected Shaman has said that the spirits are not only in the

water, but also everywhere.

Let me give a practical example. If any of you have a

hunting accident and lay bleeding on the ground, I am

convinced that you will try to prevent him from bleeding to

death. If anyone is in danger of drowning you do nothing. It

does not make sense’, Nokas said.

‘I want to know what you think, he said. After a long and

uncomfortable silence a young man raised his hand and said

that he agreed with Nokas. Several other people nodded their

consent and amongst the few persons that left the gathering

one old man mumbled that James had defied the spirits by his

action and was no longer welcome in the village.

There was nothing more to be said and when the villagers

were about to leave, a young woman stood up and said that as

9191

she knew nobody in the village could have saved the child

because they do not know how to move in the water.

‘You are right and I think we all want to prevent other

children from drowning. The problem is to find somebody that

can teach the children to move in the water, the father of a

young boy said.’

Nobody was in a hurry to go home and they all sat down waiting

to hear more. During a long and lively discussion that led

nowhere, one of the proposals was to consult the Shaman who

surely will know what to do. Everyone seemed pleased by the

proposal until Noo raised his hand and said that with all due

respect for the Shaman, we have all missed the obvious. ‘I

suggest that we ask James to teach the children. I was there

when he as quick as lightning moved across the lake and saved

the child. If anyone disagree with my proposal speak out.’

Nobody said a word and they pleased that the problem was

solved.

The next morning Noo entered the Armstrong hut with the glad

tidings that many of the parents wanted him to teach the young

children how to move their arms and legs in the water.

‘I admit that I was angry at you for interfering with the

will of the spirits, but Nokas has convinced me and many

others that the spirits are here to protect us wherever we

are. I now believe that we are responsible for our own fate

and that the incident in the lake could have been prevented if

the girl had learned how to move in the water’.

Accompanied by Noo, James and Jennifer visited every family

with children and offered to give them lessons. Most of the 9292

parents were pleased and only a few were sceptical ‘Our

children have better things to do than fooling around in the

water and displeasing the spirits’, one of the mothers said.

James, who was a better swimmer than Jennifer, started to

teach the older children and their parents whilst his wife was

in charge of a group of girls and boys from 4 to 7 years old.

At the beginning, some of the parents stood on the beach

watching, but when they when saw that James and Jennifer were

in full control and that the children were enjoying themselves

they returned to their daily business.

James and Jennifer had never been busier and the news about

the swimming lessons had reached the other village and the

children were invited to come along with their parents. One

evening, a young man who did not have children, came into the

Armstrong hut asking James if he would give him lessons in

private. The man told him that he liked fishing in the lake

and that he would not know what to do if he fell out of the

boat. The other villagers may think badly of me if I join the

children, he said.

‘I think you are very sensible and, of course, I will teach

you when there is nobody else around James said. The word got

round and James was also asked to give lessons to other young

adults.

Time was running short and in a few weeks’ time, the villagers

would leave the area and travel north. There was a chill in

the air and the trees had started to change their colour. The

water in the lake was still warm and as James was well aware

that he would not be in the village the next summer, he gave 9393

the most accomplished swimmers extra lessons informing them

that they were good enough to take over the teaching when the

time came.

James and Jennifer invited the parents to a gathering on the

beach where the children were encouraged to demonstrate their

new skill. They were impressed when two teenage boys swam

halfway across the lake before turning back and a girl of the

same age jumped into the lake from a boat and swam towards the

shore. The youngest children swam a short distance in shallow

water and Jennifer had to stop the most daring of them from

venturing into deep water. 'When you have had some more

lessons I may let you go further out’, she told them.

The swimming lessons and the preparations for abandoning the

camp when the hazelnuts had been harvested did not leave much

time for leisure, but everyone seemed happy and contented.

Summer was a busy time and the most important job before they

prepared to leave the camp was harvesting the hazelnuts. They

were still not ripe enough and James and Jennifer thought it

might be a good idea to spend the waiting time teaching the

villagers to swim starting with the children.

9494

Chapter 11

The swimming instruction came to an abrupt end when the

village people heard that the hazelnuts were ready for

harvesting. Everyone helped filling containers with ripe nuts

that that they bring with them to the winter camp. It was a

good year and on fine and warm days people roasted hazelnuts

on the village green and in their own hearths on chilly days.

Everyone liked nuts and welcomed them as a supplement to the

daily diet.

When Jennifer asked Ada about the winter camp, she told her

that the winter could be cold with lots of snow and that they

all needed warm clothes. ‘Autumn is the best season for

hunting furred animals because their skins are of a better

quality than in summer and suitable for making shoes and

clothes. ‘If the weather continues to be good we will hunt as

much as possible’, Ada said.

The red-letter day came sooner than Jennifer expected when Ada

said she was welcome to be present at the meeting where the

hunters planned their strategy for the first hunting

expedition when the trees had changed their colours from green

to red and yellow.

At the meeting that took place in the outskirts of the

village, Ada as the chief hunter made a drawing in the sand

and pointed westwards. After a long and heated discussion and

much gesticulating, the other hunters nodded their agreement.

They talked so fast that Jennifer was unable to understand

what it was all about, but Ada told her not to worry. She told9595

her that they would hunt in a part of the forest that they had

not exploited for some time. Red deer, that were the main

target, favoured open woodland and if they were lucky, they

might come across a solitary elk or an aurochs.

‘I have butterflies in my stomach and I will probably let

you down’, Jennifer said worriedly to Ada on the way back to

their homes, where they would inspect the hunting equipment.

‘You are talking nonsense. We have all been inexperienced and

you and I will hunt together. You will be ok, but do not

expect too much. If we are lucky, we might kill an aurochs or

a red deer, Ada said

On the way into the forest the next morning, Jennifer

realised that the other hunters were acutely aware of the

animal and bird life in the woodland and that they could hear

animals moving long before they were visible. After an hour’s

walk, Ada suddenly stopped and motioned to Jennifer to stand

still and not move a muscle. Ada was starring intently at a

large animal that was grazing in the distance and moved

without making a sound until she stopped and sent off an

arrow. The animal, a fully-grown aurochs, reacted quick as

lightening when he heard the whistle of the arrow and escaped

unharmed running at full speed in the opposite direction.

The target was too far away; Ada said smiling telling her

friend that there would be more chances and that it would be

Jennifer’s turn the next time. In the afternoon, they saw a

small herd of red deer. The two hunters were very careful not

to make a sound and the wind direction was in their favour.

Shoot, she whispered to Jennifer who nervously lifted her bow 9696

and aimed at the animal’s hearth. The arrow found its mark and

the animal fell dead to ground.

‘Now you have proved that you are a good hunter, Ada said

and refused to listen to Jennifer’s utterance of beginner’s

luck. ‘We will leave your prey here and it will be butchered

in a short while. If we wait until tomorrow, other animals may

do the butchering job for us and there will be little left for

us to bring home’, Ada said. She summoned the other hunters by

whistling and when they all were gathered, the two women

learned that one of the other hunters had killed an aurochs

that might have been the animal Ada had missed. The other

hunters had slaughtered the aurochs and they carried the

joints with them.

As a nurse, Jennifer was not squeamish and it seemed to

impress the others she did not bat an eyelid during the

grizzly process of slaughtering. Her role was to observe and

learn the correct way of slaughtering an animal and she

noticed that the entrails and sinews were wrapt in leaves and

kept apart from the meat. The antlers were removed because

they represented valued raw material for implements. The

successful hunt would keep the villagers in meat for a long

while and Jennifer decided to take a visiting round to the

villagers who were not able to hunt. Before she started her

round she consulted Ada, who said she would like to come

along.

The villagers were in a good mood looking forward to the

journey that would take them to the winter camp, but trouble 9797

was breeding. A group of people who roamed around exploiting

the food resources all over the region had occasionally caused

trouble and in the midst of the preparation for abandoning the

summer camp, two scouts entered the village with the message

that a group of people was planning an attack on the two

villages.

‘They claim they have the right to the ownership of the

river because they were here before you arrived, the scouts

told the village people. The inhabitants shook their heads in

disbelief and Noo sent a messenger to inform the Shaman and

his deputy about the expected attack.

James and Jennifer learned that evil minded people

occasionally attacked villages before they started their

journey to the winter quarters with the purpose of stealing

the supply of food and clothes that they would take with them

and that the claim of ownership to the river was a pretext.

‘We all known that people who stay in the same area over a

period of time have the right to ownership of their

territories, but these villains do not stay in one place for

more than a couple of days’, one of the villagers said.

Noo told them not to worry.

‘This time we are prepared and you will be told what to do’,

Noo said. He told them that the scoundrels constantly move

from one place to the next and have no respect for other

people’s territories. In an earlier attack on the village, a

child was killed and a few huts were burnt to the ground.

A few days later, the scouts returned with the news that the

attackers were on their way. Noo and another trusted man from 9898

the village ran from hut to hut asking women and children to

leave immediately and go to the hiding place deep into the

forest. He and two male hunters stayed behind to prevent the

huts from being burnt down and to make sure that the attackers

would not find the secret place the food and clothes were

stored.

Jennifer and Michael joined the crowd women and children,

and James was told him to keep close to Orvid, a teenager that

would take him safely to the hidden shelter. The older

children carried the toddlers that had not yet learned to walk

and strong young men took care of people who could not walk

without support

‘It is hard to find, but the real reason for you to follow

in Orvid’s footsteps is to prevent you from falling in the

pits that we have dug in front of the hiding place.

‘They are so deep that a grown man cannot climb out without

help, Noo said. The other men armed with spears and clubs

would disperse in the forest and fight the attackers.

There was no time for discussion and the people walked

hurriedly and quietly into the forest without talking. The

people from the village beyond the river joined them and James

guessed that around 60-70 individuals would be gathered in the

shelter.

After a long and strenuous walk, they entered the shelter

that consisted of a canopy of boughs twined together. The

hiding place blended nicely with the surrounding plants and

bushes and had obviously been used on previous occasions.

9999

Some of the women hastily gathered large amounts of bracken

that they placed on the ground and used large flat stones as

seating places. There was no hearth because the smoke from a

fire would disclose their whereabouts. The women had brought

dried meat and fish to the shelter and they had a good supply

of drinking water.

The adults spent the night in anguish waiting for news. When

the children became restless, James and Jennifer kept them

occupied by playing games with them and Jennifer comforted an

old woman who declared that she was certain that she would be

killed. A young mother panicked and was about to grab her

child and leave the shelter when James picked the child up and

forced her to sit down with the others.

‘There is no need to worry and you will all be safe here’,

he said.

In the middle of the night they were all startled by a

sudden cry from outside which suggested that one of the

attackers had fallen into one of the carefully concealed traps

outside the shelter. At daybreak, the trapped person was

hoisted up from the pit and one of the women administered a

heavy blow to his head with a club that smashed his skull.

They all cheered and shortly afterwards a man from the other

village told them that the attackers had been killed or

seriously injured and no longer represented a danger.

When life returned to normal, the village people showed that

they appreciated the Armstrong family’s behaviour during the

stay in the refuge shelter. They had managed to calm people

who were frightened and kept the children occupied. A few of 100100

the village people that previously had resented the newcomers

nodded and smiled when they met and Jennifer and James often

found packets of meat and fish outside the hut. What mattered

most was that they felt that they had finally been accepted as

members of the small community.

Before they left the summer camp, James’s main concern was to

make sure that the samples of evidence that he had collected

would not be damaged or destroyed during the winter season.

The collection was small and he wanted more samples that could

be radiocarbon dated when he came home. He was reluctant to

bring the samples with him in case he lost them and was

looking for a safe storage place. He finally decided to hide

them in the refuge shelter that would probably not be visited

by anyone during the coming winter. He dug a small hole in the

ground adjacent to the fireplace and covered it with leaves

Before abandoning the village every able person collected

branches and other wooden material that would be useful when

they returned in the coming spring. Michael looked pleased

when his father asked him if he would help to collect branches

and bark in an area that would not be flooded. James had

learned how to peel large sheets of bark from the outer layer

of birch and pine trees and showed Michael how to do it. A

more difficult task was tree felling. James found the work

much harder than he thought and envied the other men who did

not seem to have any problem using the small axes. They all

worked long days and were pleased when the storing place was

filled with dry wood, branches and bark. 101101

There was also time for carrying out the most necessary

maintenance work on the hunting and fishing gear and

carpenters made sure that they had enough stretchers for those

who could not walk.

James heard that most of the tools would be left behind

because they had a good supply in the winter camp and they

would only bring implements needed for the journey. The

Armstrong family learned that the people in the neighbouring

village would spend the winter in the same location and that

they would arrive later.

The hunting group that Jennifer joined had been busy for

some weeks hunting furred animals and dressmakers made clothes

and shoes of clean hides. Jennifer, who had worked hard to

master the technique of using a bone needle, realized that the

quality of her work would not be up to the expected standard.

‘'The most important thing is that you are a good hunter who

has brought us a lot of good quality hides. One of the

dressmakers laughingly told her that she as a young girl had

joined a hunting group, but was told that she would do them

all a favour by taking up needlework instead. A few days later

Jennifer and the other members of the hunting group had

returned home from a hunting expedition, the weather changed.

The sky turned from blue to dark grey and there was rumble of

thunder in the air, which made everyone go indoors. The rain

came down in torrents and in seconds, the dry sandy ground was

transformed into a vast pool of water and a cold wind was

blowing. It was definitely time for abandoning the camp and

they all agreed to leave as soon as they had finished the 102102

maintenance work and collected the food and clothes needed for

the winter,

Whilst all the adults were busy, the children ran around and

were in everybody’s way. It was too wet for playing and they

got bored. James remembered that he as a boy had enjoyed

playing on a flute made of willow. He had never learned to

play an instrument, but thought he could manage to play a

simple melody. He formed a suitable willow branch into a flute

and was pleased when it functioned.

James demonstrated his art in front of a small crowd of

delighted children that all wanted flutes. Their new hobby

kept them busy and the huts were soon filled with shrill

unmusical sounds from the enthusiastic players. James hummed

the only melody he remembered and after a lot of practice,

some of the children managed to play the melody.

In the kinder garden Michael had learned several songs and

became the centre of attention when he sang a few verses of

his favourite song. A few of the children seemed to have a

musical ear and after a few attempts, they played the melody

on their flutes.

The rain stopped in the middle of the night and when Jennifer

was taking her usual walk along the beach, she saw two people

approaching the village. One of them waved and she recognized

Nadia who was accompanied by a young man carrying a baby.

‘We thought that you might have left the village by now and

we are glad that you are still here. We are ready to leave and

are glad to see you. ‘I am happy to be home and I was worried

you had left without me.’ 103103

Noo was delighted to see her and told her she was just in

time. ‘To night the moon will be full and we leave at sunrise.

In the evening most of the villagers came to Nadia’s hut eager

to hear her news. They had known her since she was a toddler

and had felt sorry for her when her parents left the village

and leaving their daughter in care of strangers.

Her most exciting news was that the young man who accompanied

her wanted to share his life with her. ‘You can call me

Ratki’, the young man said. He was tall and well built with

black hair reaching to his shoulders. He had a pleasant open

face and he told the villagers that he had lived in the same

village as her mother since he was a young boy. When his

father was killed in an accident, his mother moved in with

another man that Ratki did not get on with. His mother and her

man wanted to join another group and move to another village

and Ratki told the others that he would not have met Nadia if

he had accepted his mother’s offer of joining her.

Ratki had many friends in the village he came from and a

skilful toolmaker had told him that he was talented and

offered to teach him his trade.

‘Why don’t you show them the tools and artefacts you have

brought with you’, Nadia said.

The villagers were impressed when they examined the tools

including elegantly shaped blades. Flint was the most commonly

used raw material, but Ratki had also a small collection of

implements made of other materials. Nadia proudly told the

villagers that Ratki could turn a bone and a piece of wood

into anything. 104104

‘We are just ordinary hunters and fishers and you will

probably find that the implements we have made are rough

compared with yours’, an elderly man said. He had been a

skilled toolmaker and craft-man until his fingers had become

dwarfed by rheumatism. The man was right. Ratki was not

impressed when he later inspected the village’s supply of

tools that in his opinion was of rather poor quality. He did

not want to offend anyone and only said that it is impossible

to make good quality artefacts from inferior raw material. He

told them that a young man who had completed his

apprenticeship as a toolmaker had said that he would find

flint of good quality in the area where the villagers spend

the winter months.

Noo spoke on behalf of all of them when he told the young

man that he was most welcome and hoped that he would stay

permanently in the village.

'Since I met Nadia I have no wish to return to my former

home and she and the baby are now my family’, Ratki said.

When most of the villagers had left, Noo invited Nadia and

Ratki to share a meal in his home and said that James and

Jennifer were welcome to join them. They all wanted to know

what had happened when she came to the village where her

mother lived. Nadia told them that her mother was ridden with

arthritis and that her father had died a long time ago. Her

mother has moved in with another man and they have several

children.

‘We had little to talk about and my mother did not tell me

why they abandoned me. The man she lives with is lazy and 105105

uncaring and as I have told you my mother cannot manage to

cook and clean. One of my half sisters helped a little and

between us we managed to keep the hut reasonably clean. My

mother said she wanted me to stay with her permanently, but I

do not think she really meant it and I had a strong feeling

that her man resented me,’ Nadia said.

106106

Chapter 12

It was a clear fine day when the people in village where the

Armstrong family lived, started their journey at daybreak.

Before leaving, two of the most trusted villagers went into

every hut in the village to make sure that nobody had been

left behind. James wished he had a compass, but the position

of the sun told him that they were walking in a northerly

direction. At midday, they left the marshland behind them and

the landscape became quite hilly.

James and Jennifer were grateful for the physical exercise

they had had during the past months and had no problem

following the others. People who were unable to walk were

carried on stretchers and two young girls looked after the

children. After crossing a few shallow rivers they found a

path that led to a small hilltop. At the top, they had a

magnificent view of the landscape below, which was dotted with

lakes and trees as far as the eye could see. It was close to

sunset and they all wanted a hot meal and a rest.

A temporary shelter gave the old and frail a roof over their

heads whilst the rest of the company spent the night on the

open ground adjacent to a lake. They kept the fire going to

protect them against carnivores, and members of the hunting

group armed with bows and arrows at the ready patrolled the

area during the night.

When they continued their journey after a good night’s rest,

the ground became gradually more uneven and it was easy to 107107

stumble on the many loose stones along the well-trodden path.

They had no problems until a woman cried out in pain when she

twisted her ankle and implored the others to leave her.

‘You are talking nonsense', Noo said. At his bidding, a

strong young man slung her over his shoulder as if she was a

sack of potatoes.

In the early afternoon, the travellers approached the valley

where the winter base was located. It was protected against

cold winds, but people who had spent several winters at the

camp told James that the winter was long and that the snow

stayed on the ground until spring.

The carpenters had travelled ahead in case there was work to

be done. Last winter two of the huts were struck by lightening

and another time, heavy snowfalls destroyed one of the solid

and tall fences that surrounded the two hut areas. Wolves and

bears were frequent visitors in the valley and the intention

with the fences was to protect the inhabitants against

carnivores.

When the wearied travellers arrived the builders were busy

doing maintenance work and James noticed that they had built a

log cabin that probably was intended for the Armstrong family.

He did not see any river and guessed that a small nearby

stream must be the only water source apart from the lake that

probably would be frozen when the temperature fell some

degrees below zero.

James observed that the camp area was much larger than he

had thought and was not surprised when he was told that the

inhabitants in the other village would join them. They would 108108

make their own travel arrangements and would arrive at the

camp at a later date. By mutual agreement the area was divided

into a lower and upper part, one for each village. The general

rule was that the people stayed within their own territory to

avoid problems. The Armstrong family were advised not to visit

people from the other village unless invited to do so. ‘We

cannot prevent the young people to mix socially and I think my

oldest son is very interested in a girl from the other

village. She is nice and pleasant and he can’t wait to see her

again, Ada said.

‘I will not surprised if the young boy will father a child

before the winter is over and the carpenters will have to

build a new hut, Noo said with a smile. Noo, who had spent

many winters in the area, told them that there had not been

any serious problems apart from the winter when a girl became

infatuated with a boy who stayed in the village for a short

time. He belonged to a band of vagabonds and the boy was

caught red-handed stealing meat from the girl’s family. Her

father ordered him to leave the village and he took the girl

with him. Her parents did not know what happened to her.

James and Jennifer were impressed with the way everything

was organised. The villagers were well prepared for the winter

and before the abandoned the winter camp the previous year the

villagers had put a large supply of warm clothes in storage in

a dry place. The collection of winter gear included snowshoes

made of fur and wooden sledges.

109109

‘Take whatever you need’, Ada said. ’I think this will suit

you,’ she told Jennifer, handing over a garment made of fur

from a wolf.

‘I have made this myself and it would please me if you like

it.’ The inhabitants had brought with them a considerable

amount of hides that would be manufactured into clothes and

shoes during their stay at the winter camp, which told

Jennifer that everyone familiar with needlework would have

plenty to do. Before they returned to the summer camp, the new

supply of winter gear would be stored with an eye to the next

winter.

The area was kept clean of rubbish and a solid wooden fence

surrounded each cluster of huts as protection against wild

animals. The cabin that James and his family moved into was

similar to the other cabins and had a sunken floor. James

observed that moss had been used as filling in the walls to

keep draft out. The biggest surprise was a wooden floor that

was soft and smooth to walk on. Jennifer was delighted and

full of praise, stating that it was a vast improvement from

the earthen floor at the summer camp.

She learned that the Armstrong hut was the only one with a

wooden floor and was sure that the other inhabitants would be

envious.

‘The idea occurred to me when I noticed that I had more wood

than I needed’, one of the builders told her. He assured her

that the draining was good and told her that he had put a

thick layer of bark sheets underneath the floor to keep the

room nice and warm and to prevent dampness. 110110

When James later on examined the shape and the form of the

cabins, he discovered that they were rectangular and most of

them were of the same size containing one room with a

fireplace in the middle. These cabins were intended for

single families consisting of two adults and two children. In

previous years, firewood and winter gear from snowshoes to

shovels, took up a lot of space. Last winter the people in

his James’ village decided to build a storeroom attached to

each cabin. Single families consisting of two adults and two

children inhabited most of the cabins. A few cabins that were

twice the size of the others were meant for families that

wanted to stay together. Each family had an allotted area

where they kept their personal possessions. Boys and girls

were kept apart and were forbidden to intermix.

James’ problem was to find something useful to do. He chided

himself for his incompetence as a hunter and as the lake was

frozen most of the winter there was a slim chance of fishing.

Noo had told him that the lake attracted wild animals and were

an easy target for the hunters.

He suddenly remembered that during a visit to Norway many

years ago a keen fisherman told him that each winter when the

local lake was covered with thick ice he cut a square hole in

the ice and dropped the fishing tackle into the hole.

‘You have to be very patient because it may take hours

before a fish takes the bait, but it is worth it,’ the

fisherman said. James decided he would have a go as soon as

possible. He smiled when Noo told him that he could forget 111111

about fishing and if he wanted to make himself useful he could

ask Ratki to teach him how to make tools.

’I will show him\, he thought.

Jennifer looked forward to hunt in a territory that was

considerably larger than the hunting ground she was used to

and Ada told her that she must be prepared to spend 2-3 nights

in a temporary shelter when the group was out hunting. It

would take most of the day to reach the hunting camp and Ada

said that she must not expect that the hut where they cooked

and slept was not very comfortable, but the hunters had at

least a roof over their heads.

Jennifer was told that that there was plenty of small and big

game and the people in the two villages had divided the

hunting territory between them to ensure that the hunters did

not get into each other way. The supply of dried fish and

meat they had brought with them was getting scarce and it was

time to work out the strategy for the first hunting

expedition.

The observant Ada had noticed that Jennifer’s breasts had

become fuller and heavier and that she was more emotional and

jumpy than she used to be. She flew into a temper when Ada

suggested that she was pregnant and told her that she was

talking nonsense.

‘There is nothing wrong with me and I suppose you will tell

me that you and the other hunters no longer want me to join

the group, she said in an aggrieved voice.

112112

‘Of course we all want you to come along if you so wish. It

is your decision, but I honestly think that you are not so

physically fit as you think’, Ada said. A rough guess told her

that Jennifer might well into her pregnancy and that she was

at risk losing the baby if she took part in a hunting

expedition that might last for some weeks. She thought that a

short hunting expedition probably would not do any harm.

‘I suggest that you and I accompany two of the male hunters

who know the territory well from many previous visits. We will

probably be away for 2-3 days, which mean that you will spend

a couple of nights in the shelter’.

Jennifer was well aware of her situation and knew that Ada

was right in her assumption that she was pregnant, but she was

not ready to admit it. James did not know and she would tell

him that he had fathered a Stone Age child when she came back

from the hunting trip.

‘I cannot wait to see his expression’, she thought.

The weather was sunny and unusually mild and the air clear and

fresh when the hunting group left the camp. When the sun

reached its peak, the hunters decided to take a short break

whilst Jennifer told Ada that she wanted to investigate the

nearby area bringing her bow and arrows with her. She walked

soundlessly on the soft ground and could not believe her eyes

when she saw an aurochs right in front of her.

The wind direction must have been in her favour because the

animal did not move when she aimed at the animal’s hearth

region and made a perfect hit. She ran back to fetch the other

hunters and after slaughtering the animal, they brought the113113

best joints with them and hid the rest of the meat in a hollow

and covered it with large and flat stones. The other hunters

were full of praise and assured her that the aurochs, which

must have weighed at least 400 kilos, would keep them in food

for several weeks.

Jennifer was shocked when she saw the shelter where they

were going to spend the night. It was more primitive than she

had imagined and the mattress that served as a bed was filled

with smelly grass and it was so full of lumps that Jennifer

was convinced that she would be able to sleep. Nevertheless

she was half asleep before they had finished the cooked meal

and slept soundly until the morning.

The next day they ventured further into the territory and

while it was still daylight, the other hunters killed a wild

boar and a red deer. They brought as much meat as they could

carry back to the camp and made sure that the old and feeble

villagers got their share. Apart from the meat that collected

bones and antlers that would be used as raw material.

James was at home when Jennifer returned and he had already

heard that his wife had killed an aurochs. He expected that

she would tell him in detail about the expedition, but she had

obviously other things on her mind. ‘In a few months time we

will be the parents of a Stone Age child that will be one of

our distant ancestors’, she said. James was stunned not

believing a word of what she said.

‘I am delighted of the news of a baby, but unless you have

been sleeping around with Mesolithic men you cannot possibly

believe that you will give birth to a baby that will be114114

thousands of years older than us. Both of us belong in the

21st century and it does not make sense that the baby will

belong to another period’, he said.

'I am worried sick and I would feel happier if the baby

would be born in England. As you say we are the child’s

biological parents, but I think you should ask the Shaman if

we can return to our real home as soon as possible so that the

baby can be born at home. If the baby is born in the Stone

Age, I will refuse to believe it belongs to the 21.century

whatever you say. If you had not been so obsessed about this

period we would not have been here’, Jennifer said defiantly

telling him that she was appalled at the thought of giving

birth in a place where people are ignorant of the importance

of cleanliness.

‘I am sure you have not noticed that the herb woman that

serves as the midwife never seems to wash. It makes me shudder

when I think of her dirty hands and fingernails’.

‘Come on. It cannot be as bad as that. I am sure you will

persuade them to clean herself when the time comes’, he said.

James promised to get in touch with the Shaman’s deputy Nokas

about going home earlier than planned, but he had not much

hope that the Shaman would change his mind. He tried to

persuade her from taking part in more hunting expeditions, but

Jennifer would not hear of it.

‘I am sure it is all right to that you do some hunting in

the vicinity of the camp, but I don’t think pregnant women are

physically strong enough to endure long and strenuous marches

into the wilderness and living rough at some camp for longer115115

periods’, he remarked. Jennifer admitted to herself that her

husband was probably right and she knew that she had become

more tired after she arrived at the winter camp.

On his next visit, Nokas told James that the Shaman was not

willing to comply with Jennifer’s wish to return to her own

world earlier than planned and that the baby would be most

welcome. He told James that the Shaman would do his best to

make sure that Jenny was taken well care of and that she must

take good care of herself.

The message from the spiritual leader gave James the

opportunity to ask Nokas the kind of qualities that were

required to become a Shaman.

‘The only answer I can give to your question is that he was

chosen to be our spiritual leader at the time when he was

born. The moment he left the womb on a very cold day in

winter, an arch of colours was formed in the sky and everyone

that witnessed that magnificent splash of colours saw it as an

omen. I was a small boy, but I still remember it, Nokas said.

‘It must have a northern lights, which is fairly common in

the most northern part of Scandinavia, James thought. As a boy

he had seen Aurora borealis during a winter holiday in

Scotland, but from what he had been told it was a pale shadow

compared to the real thing.

Jennifer was not surprised when James told her what Nokas

had said and her only comment was that she would do her best

to bring a healthy child into the world even it meant the

Stone Age. ‘I would not be surprised if the baby is part of

the Shaman’s plan, she said with a wry smile. 116116

‘Will she or he be the new Shaman? They looked at each other

and burst out laughing.

‘Let us hope that the present Shaman will be alive until we

are back home, James remarked.

One day she returned home after seeing Ada, she found James

in deep thoughts with a worried look on his face. Earlier in

the day he and Ratki had collected raw material and Ratki had

shown him how to make arrow points from small blades. The

points were mounted to shafts made of bone and the blades

could be shaped into tiny artefacts that could be used for

many purposes.

James had never been good at crafts at school and when he

tried to make a simple tool that was used for cleaning hides

he made a total mess out of it. He got not sympathy from

Jennifer, who laughed and said she was not surprised.

‘What can you expect when you always had your nose in a

book. Don’t give up and you may be better than you think', she

said. After several days of trying and failing he finally gave

up the idea of becoming a toolmaker. He was constantly

worrying believing that he was not good at anything apart from

fishing and he waited eagerly for the day when the ice on the

lake was safe enough to walk on.

Sitting by the fireplace one night, James suddenly felt an

urge to go for a walk. It was a cold night with snow on the

ground and he could hear the whistling of the wind. The well-

insulated cabin was warm and comfortable and there was no

117117

reason why he should go outside where the temperature was well

below freezing point.

He dismissed the thought and enjoyed his own company with

Jennifer thinking of other matters, but it did not help. The

urge to go out in the cold night was persistent and James felt

he had no choice. He put on his fur lined cloak and snowshoes

and followed the path that would take him into the forest. He

decided to go for a short walk and collect wood and kindling

for the fire. He walk took him further into the forest than he

had planned and as he was about to turn back, James heard a

sound that he thought might be from an animal. When he heard

the sound again, a little clearer this time, he dropped his

basket of wood and walked into the direction where the sound

might have come from.

He forgot his personal worries and after a few minutes walk,

he found a small girl lying in a foetus position under a bush.

Tears were streaming down her face and when James lifted up

the child, he discovered that her legs and feet were bluish

with cold and that she seemed to be undernourished. She had

light brown hair and blue eyes and was light as a feather when

he lifted her from the ground. He put her inside his cloak to

warm her before he started on his way back to the camp.

When he asked her where her parents were, the girl made a

gesture with her hands trying to tell him that she did not

know. There was no time to look for her parents and the girl

needed a warm shelter and nourishing food. On the way back

James stopped at Noo’s cabin explaining the situation and

asking him to organize a search party and to ask the herb118118

woman to come to his place and to bring remedies for a

possible frostbite.

Jennifer who was half awake when he entered the cabin,

responded quickly when she saw the pale and exhausted child.

She laid the child on a pallet close to the fire and wrapped

her in a warm fur lined garment that belonged to Michael.

James went out again to help Noo organizing the search party,

but they found out that it was not so easy as they had

thought. The young and fit men they asked showed no interest

when they heard that two strangers probably might be in need

of help.

‘We don’t know them and it is not our business’. There is no

room for them here, and we have more important matters to

attend to than looking for strangers’, one of them said.

'We are wasting valuable time standing here arguing. If

neither of you are willing to help I am sure Noo and I will

manage, James said. Noo nodded his consent saying that he

would ask Ratki and Ada to come with them. They came willingly

and Ada brought with her a stretcher in case they were

injured. The search seemed to be fruitless until Noo stumbled

over a tree root far into the forest and found a man and a

woman huddled together on the ground behind a tree. James

noticed that one of the man’s legs was in an unnatural

position, which probably meant that he had broken it.

‘We had given up hope and are most grateful that you found

us. I have had an accident and can’t move’, he said. The woman

was crying and asked them if they had found her child Orla.

119119

‘She must have tried to go for help and now we have lost

her’, she wailed.

‘I have found her and she is safe. Ratki laid him on the

stretcher and on the way back to the camp the woman was able

to walk supported by James. When they arrived at the Armstrong

cabin the child Orla was asleep after a nourishing meal that

the herb woman had made. Jennifer was up and about and the

room was pleasantly warm when child’s parents arrived and were

offered hot soup.

The man was in agony after breaking his leg and Jennifer was

relieved when she saw that the fracture was uncomplicated.

Assisted by Noo she placed him in a comfortable position and

got the leg tied up in splints. The herb woman gently massaged

a soothing mixture of healing herbs onto the leg and told

Jennifer and James to keep him quiet.

When the child woke up, she cried with joy of being reunited

with her mother and father who exclaimed that they never

thought they would see her again. The soup had brought some

colour in their faces and after the meal the small family fell

asleep. Jennifer said she would look after them and before

leaving the herb woman said she would return after sunrise

with an ointment for the man’s leg.

The man, who told James that his name is Octov, said he and

his family ould leave as soon as he could stand on his leg.

‘There is no hurry and you are welcome to stay as long as

you like. It takes time to med a broken leg and you all need a

good long rest. We will try to make some suitable arrangement

and a place for you to stay until the end of the winter,’120120

James told her. He had heard that a family that was supposed

to come with them had changed their minds and joined another

group. That might mean that there was an empty cabin.

The practical minded Jennifer decided that their visitors

needed a good wash and a change of clothes. The next morning

James asked Michael and his mates to fetch plenty of water and

Asta gave her daughter a thorough wash in heated water. The

child laughed with delight when her matted and greasy hair was

transformed into a honey colour with a streak of red in it.

‘You will have all the boys running after you when you get

older,’ Jennifer said.

The obvious person to ask for fresh clothes was Ada who

would know what they needed. They clothes they had on were the

worse for wear and very dirty. There were no shortage of warm

clothes of different sizes in the storage place and Ada was

back soon with a good supply.

‘ I am a seamstress myself and if you let me have material I

can make clothes for you and other people in the village’,

Asta said.

Jennifer and James wanted to know what had happened to the

small family, but Octov hesitated and said that James should

ask his woman Asta, who willingly told him about the

misadventure.

‘We have never been in this area and got lost, she said. Our

village is far from here and at the end of the summer we

joined a group looking for a good place to spend the winter’.

She wanted to know why James had been out walking on a dark

121121

night and said he could easily have fallen into an animal

trap.

‘I do not know why I left my warm home on such a bad night,

but I felt an urge to leave my cabin and walk into the forest,

he told her.

‘The spirits must have looked after you and guided you to

us. You are a good and kind man and so is the other people who

helped to rescue us, she said. We cannot thank you enough’

‘Thank the spirits and not us’, said James.

After they had eaten Asta started to work with the hides Ada

had brought her and you did not be a seamstress to see that

Asta was good with her needle. Before long she had made a

beautiful small cloak for the child and she had attached a fur

lined hood to the garment. She had just finished making a pair

of fur-lined leggings for the child when visitors that have

heard of incident, entered the cabin eager for news.

' I understand you want to know where we come from, but it

is a long distance away and I do not know if my village still

exists, Octov remarked. His leg had stopped giving him pain

and after a good night sleep and a hot meal, he clearly wanted

to tell the visitors what had happened in his village before

they left it.

The problem started a long time ago when villains raided my

village and my parents were killed. Many of the huts were

burnt to the ground, but I managed to escape and joined a

group that lived in another village some distance away. I am

trained as a carpenter and I met Asta who is widely known and

respected for her needlework. We both thought we would live122122

there for the rest of our lives, but trouble was brewing and

one day some of the group members left the camp because of

some disagreement that Asta and I were not involved in. There

was lot of talk amongst the remaining people of leaving the

village and we woke up one morning to find out that all of

them had left without telling us.

'What happened', one of the visitors asked.

'I managed to get in touch with a group of people that had

spent the summer at a camp in a marshy area. They prepared to

abandon the camp and told us that they would spend the winter

months in a camp further north. We were told that they needed

a skilled carpenter and we arranged to meet the village people

about one day's journey from their village. When we arrived,

there was no sign of the group and a discarded tool and small

lumps of charcoal that were not yet cold told us that they had

been there. We tried to find the winter camp, but the

landscape was completely empty and we saw no footprints. They

seemed to have vanished into thin air.'

'What did you do’, Ada asked.

‘There was little left of the food we had brought with us

and we were desperate. I managed to kill a rabbit and found

shelter for the night behind some bushes. It was a cold night

and in the morning, we decided to continue the search in the

hope of finding the group. During the walk in a forested

landscape I stumbled and fell. You know the rest of the story,

Octov said.

'We would have died if James had not found us, Asta said.

123123

'We do not want to impose on you and when I am back on my

feet, we will leave and remember you with gratitude. I am sure

we will find another village where we both can find some work,

Octov said.

A young woman, who was more interested in Asta’s work than in

Octov and Asta’s’s life story, picked up one of the leggings

asking her what they were. Asta explained that her child

suffered from chilblains when she was rescued and needed to

have her legs protected in cold weather. Another woman said

she had never heard such nonsense.

‘You are too protective and the child must learn to endure a

spell of cold weather, she said in a loud voice. From then on

they lost interest in Octov the carpenter and turned their

attention to Asta the seamstress. Another woman told them

that she had suffered badly from chilblains all her life and

that leggings might not be such a bad idea.

Before she left, the outspoken woman lifted her skirt and

they were all appalled when they saw her red and bluish legs.

‘If you let me have material and some fur I will make you

leggings, Asta said. The word got round and the coming days a

fair crowd of women came to the cabin bringing with them

material and fur for their children and for themselves.

‘You have certainly got people interested and there is no

doubt you will be welcome to stay here for the winter.

However, It is not for me to decide and I suppose we have to

ask Noo. His opinion will carry a lot of weight,’ Jennifer

said.

124124

Noo said that he would consult Nokas on the matter and that

he personally thought that the majority of the villagers would

be agreeable.

‘I have sent a scout to look for Nokas and when he arrives

we will ask all of them to attend a meeting where we will

discuss it’.

The cabin that James and his family had moved into seemed

spacious for the three of them, but when had to share it with

Octov and his family they had hardly space to move.

‘It may take many weeks before the man‘s leg is mended and

the sooner we find a solution to the problem, the better it

is, Jennifer said. When James told Noo about their plight, he

suddenly remembered that there was an uninhibited cabin

because one of the families that used to spend the winter at

the camp changed their mind and went somewhere else. An

inspection of the cabin showed that it was in a bad condition

and beyond repair. The problem was solved when Noo offered to

family to stay in his cabin for the time being and if Octov

and Asta were allowed to stay a new cabin would be built as

soon as possible.

125125

Chapter 13 As Noo had predicted Nokas decided to chair a meeting to

discuss the matter. Nearly

Everyone turned up and only a few of the people expressed

their displeasure when they were asked of Octov and his family

were welcome to spend the winter with them.

‘There are evil-minded people abroad and how can we be sure

that Octov and Asta are what they claim to be?’ one man asked.

He said that Octov and his family should be told to leave when

his leg was mended. Another man suggested that they should be

given a trial period under supervision.

‘I suggest we give Octov some work to do when he can stand

on his legs and I have heard that the seamstress has more than

enough to do. The question is they are up our standard’. Most

of the villagers nodded their agreement and it was decided

that they could stay in the area until the end of the winter.

On her way to the cabin after a visit to an invalid who

need some help, Jennifer nearly collided with a woman from the126126

other village. She had never met the woman who looked down in

her mouth and entered the cabin carrying a large load of

material probably intended for clothes making.

Asta, who had never seen the woman, thought that she

belonged in the other village and although she had more than

enough to do, she welcomed her warmly and asked if she could

be of service.

‘I have been told that you are good with the needle and as

it has been decided that you and your family are staying with

us for a while, I expect that you do something in return for

the hospitality’, she stated. ‘I am sure she realize that

people in this village are pleased with my work and pretends

she does not know’, Asta thought. She learned later that she

lived with the man who had disagreed with Nokas’ proposal to

let her and her family to spend the winter with them.

‘I am grateful and it pleases me that you have work for me.

If you tell me what kind of garment you want I will do my

best. I hope you do not mind telling that the garment you are

wearing seems a bit worn and it would please me if I can make

you another one. You have a good figure and it will not be

difficult, Asta said pleasantly.

The other woman unsmilingly nodded her consent and also asked

to make a garment for her husband who was taller and broader

than herself. ‘When the clothes are ready we will decide if

they are any good’, she said.

When Asta had finished the garments she brought them to the

woman's cabin for inspection and was worried that she might

say that they were not up to her standard. The woman was127127

clearly delighted with her new clothes and admired the neat

stitches although she made a good attempt to hide her

pleasure.

‘They will do for now’ and you can expect to get more orders

when we get fresh supplies of fur and hides. Tell your man

that we expect him to prove his worth when he is back on his

legs', she said in a gruff voice.

.

Octov had not been idle and hobbled around using a stick. He

had made flutes or all the children and the miniature bows he

had made for his daughter had become so popular that the other

children wanted one each. He also taught them a game where the

children threw wooden rings onto a stick, which that was moved

further away when they had more practice. He looked forward

to the day when he could walk normally and resume his skills

as a carpenter.

I have noticed that many of the villagers are envious of the

wooden floors in our cabins ad if I get the material I can

make a wooden floor in every cabin, Octov told James.

Not everyone liked the idea, which caused a long and heated

discussion among many of the inhabitants. Some were sceptical

and stated that the traditional earthen floor covered with

layers of bracken or other plant materials had been good

enough for their forefathers and should be good enough for us,

one of them said.

Octov who did not take part in the discussion, told James

that wooden floors are not a newfangled idea and that several

128128

families in the village where he originally came from, found

them warmer and better.

‘They will come round’, but it will take some time’, he

remarked. James was a bit surprised that Stone Age people were

just as conservative as some of the people he knew in present

day Britain.

About a month later the temperature started to rise and when

the snow had gone, the carpenters started to build the hut for

Asta and Octov. James who saw the chance to find out how a

timber cabin was built offered to help felling trees and

collect turf and other materials that were needed. James

noticed that before choosing the site the builders made sure

that the drainage was good looked for and

To the disappointment of the children the rise in the

temperature had melted the snow on the ground, but there was

more to come. There was a chill in the air and the temperature

became close to the freezing point. The sky darkened and it

could start to snow any time.

The builders had therefore no time to lose getting the

framework in place and James observed that stout posts of

timber supported the superstructure and that long and straight

stakes gave the walls extra support. Large blocks of turf were

used as roof covering instead of animal hides that tended to

rot in a relatively mild climate. One of the builders that had

spent many winters in the area told James that spells of very

cold weather are rare and that they must be prepared for

periods of rain.

129129

‘The frost usually only lasts for a few days at the time and

it is the northern wind and not low temperatures that makes us

feel cold,’ the builder said. He told James that wet snow

often lay on the ground for a long time and makes life

difficult for the hunters even if they use snowshoes.

The new cabin became habitable in about a week. A fireplace

and a cooking pit were built in the centre of the room and a

pile of firewood was stacked adjacent to the heart. Sheet of

bark were used for insulation and it had a wooden floor that

Octov had made himself. He would later build a shed attached

to the cabin.

By now, he was able to walk a little, but Jennifer begged

him to be careful and give his leg time to heal properly.

Michael and his friends promised to keep the family supplied

with firewood and Orla who eager to help, got into everybody’s

way. Her mother told her to sit down quietly and gave her a

small piece of material and a bone needle telling her to make

clothes for her doll, which she was always carrying around.

‘I want to be with Michael and the others. It is boring’,

she said throwing the material away and running out of the

hut. When Michael helped by his friends had stacked a large

pile of firewood by the heart, they were free to play.

Octov had made Michael and his friend’s miniature bows and

arrows with blunted points and they were eagerly practising

instructed by an older boy. Orla wanted to know why he had not

made one for her. I am just as good and perhaps better than

Michael, she said. Octov who was proud of his resourceful and

130130

determined daughter, made her a small bow and she soon

convinced her playmates that she was a good as the boys.

. ‘I will be a hunter when I grow up’, she said.

A couple of days later, Ada told Jennifer that she and the

other members of the hunting group would leave the area the

next morning and that they would use the hunting camp as their

base during their expedition that might last for several

weeks.

’ With any luck, we may come across wolves, which we kill

for their fur and an elk would be a godsend that would keep

people in food for many weeks’. Jennifer missed Ada’s company

and was greatly relieved when the hunters returned with large

quantities of elk meat. ‘It was quite an adventure and it took

two of the fittest hunters several days to find and kill an

elk ox. We also killed a couple of foxes, a wolf and two

aurochs, more enough meat to carry us through the winter. We

only managed to bring some of the meat home and we buried the

rest in a deep pit where carnivores cannot get to it. The

hunting party had brought a sledge with them for transporting

the meat home.

131131

Chapter 14

A couple of weeks later, Noo asked James if he wanted to join

a small group of young men that wanted to explore the world

outside the valley. They had a lot of planning to do before

they could leave and the aim was to find attractive sites on

firm ground with easy access to hunting grounds. One of them

was Ratki who had come in great demand for his elegantly

shaped tools.

‘I thought you were happy as a toolmaker and why do you want

to come with us’, James queried.

‘Nadia and I have no family ties with the people in the

village and we have discussed if the time is right for making

a fresh start somewhere else. I have heard that there are far

away places that have a mild and stable climate around the

year and as a tool- maker I will probably never be short of

work.

‘Personally, I am content with the life in the village, but

Nadia is tired of moving camp twice a year and she says that

that every time the villagers return to the summer camp they132132

must build new huts because of the flooding. She has also told

me that we should not wait too long because she thought that

she started a baby and that it would be too hard to travel

when the pregnancy starts to show.

‘I hope you will come with us, Ratki told James, who was not

especially keen because the birth of the child was only weeks

away. Jennifer had lately complained about back ache and he

wanted a word with Octov hoping that he could make Jennifer a

chair that would make life a bit easier for her in her present

condition. She had said how much she missed the comfortable

chairs in her home in England and she thought it would be a

better idea that she explained the situation to him.

‘I have an idea of how to make the chair you want, but I

think it will be unwise. Octov is intelligent and have a lot

imagination and for all we know, Stone Age people may have had

chairs and tables, James said. He had a short talk with Octov

who said he would come to his cabin in the morning.

When Octov entered the Armstrong cabin following morning,

the heavily pregnant Jennifer played her role well sitting on

the floor with her back to the wall and her legs outstretched

complaining about pain in her back.

‘I can scarcely move and the wall does not give good support

for my back. I have tried to lie down, but it does not help. I

think I would be more comfortable if I did not have to sit on

the floor,’ she told Octov. He looked thoughtful and said he

would consider the problem.

Octov was a man of honour. A few days later he brought

with him a four-legged chair to which he had attached a133133

reclining backrest and Jennifer could bend her legs when

seated in an upright position. She and James were very

impressed by Octov’s ingenuity and for his concern. Jennifer

said that the chair had made her life much better and that she

could not thank him enough.

The news of the new piece of furniture spread quickly and

many of the inhabitants who came round to inspect it said they

had never seen anything like it. A woman who was in an early

phase of pregnancy told Jennifer that she had constant

backache when she expected her first child. She marvelled at

the backrest that consisted of latticework of saplings from

pliable willow and she would ask Octov to make a chair for her

later on.

Jennifer who knew how that James was longing to join the

group encouraged him to go, and the herb woman told her that

the baby would probably not be due for some time. Noo assured

him that he did not need to worry because he and many of the

other villagers would look after her and there would be plenty

of foodstuff and firewood in the hut.

On a clear sunny day, James, Octov, Ratki and Orow, a young

hunter, left the winter camp, accompanied by a scout. The snow

was still on the ground and they used a sledge to transport

their supply of foodstuff, warm clothes and hunting equipment.

Noo, who was responsible for the villagers’ safety when

Nokas was away on one of his missions, knew that he would be

in trouble if something happened to James. He therefore got in

touch with a scout that was familiar with the outside world

134134

and asked him to stay with the group until they were safely

back at the camp.

On their way in a northerly direction, they met a few

families that had tied all their belongings onto sledges and

one of them told James and the other explorers that they were

searching for a good place to settle.

‘Scouts have told us that there are plenty of places that

offer good hunting and fishing grounds in areas with a mild

winter climate and long and warm summers, a young man told the

others.

After a few days they saw land emerging in the far distance

to the northeast and they had a clear view of snow-covered

mountains that James thought must be southwestern Norway.

Further south a vast and flat landscape suggested Denmark and

southern Sweden. Unless he was mistaken Britain and the

countries on the continent were joined together and it would

take many generations before Britain would become an island.

The territory that the small group of travellers, himself

included, saw a glimpse of, was part of the early Mesolithic

landscape in North-West Europe and Scandinavia and James

thought that southern Scandinavia, which was habitable in the

Late Glacial, must have attracted explorers.

'I now understand what these people must have felt when they

discovered that there was an exiting and unexplored world

outside the North Sea, James thought. He felt privileged for

the opportunity of seeing the new land through their eyes and

understood their excitement.

135135

Two scouts they met on the way were full of enthusiasm. They

pointed towards Denmark and southern Sweden telling James and

the others of vast territories filled with rich food resources

in a forested landscape dotted with lakes. Settlers had told

them they had easy access to excellent hunting and fishing

grounds in sheltered areas.

Ratki wanted to know if he could find good quality flint for

tool making. The scouts assured him that he would have easy

access to an abundance of flint nodules of better quality than

he had ever come across. Ratki and the others also learned

that the distance between the coast and the inland in some

areas is so short that it would take people in the inland

about half a day to reach the coast.

People have told us that they can hunt inland and fish on

the coast and be back at the camp before nightfall.

‘ A hunter I once met told me that his woman and children

often walked to the coast to collect shells’, one of the

scouts said.

'I have hear about shells, but have never seen any. Are they

of any use? one of the travellers asked.

'I have seen people collect huge amounts of shell that

contain edible food that taste a bit strange, but tastes good

once you get used to it. The people we visited eat a lot of

shell food and they taught us how to make ornaments and

necklaces of shells’, the other scout told him. He showed them

a necklace made of a handful of small and colourful shells

that he had picket up on a beach.

136136

It was still daylight when the small party continued their

walk impressed with the information that the scouts had given

them. They were tired and hungry and looked for a suitable

place to spend the night. After a short walk, they met a small

group of hunters heavily loaded with skins and meat. They were

seated around a fire and a delicious smell of meat simmering

in a pot made their mouth watering. The hunters seemed

friendly and harmless and the group leader and the chief

hunter invited the weary travellers to join them for the meal.

The hunters willingly showed them the thick furs that they

brought with them and James and the others in his group had

never seen furs like that.

The meat was as good as it smelt and James guessed that he

was eating reindeer meat and that they were on their way home

after hunting in the Norwegian mountains. He was surprised

that they had been hunting in winter and even he knew that

autumn is the best hunting season because the game spend

summer fattening up.

After the meal everyone in James’s group wanted to know

where they had been.

‘An old man who visited my home early in winter, told me

that he as a young man had hunted animals in the same area. He

told me to travel north- east and that I would need a boat to

get across to the best place to hunt. As you all know winter

is not a good time for hunting, but we were curious and did

not want to wait until the leaves on the trees change their

colours, he said.

137137

One of James’s travel companions who seemed to be more

interested in information than the others, asked the chief

hunter to tell them about their journey and if they had to

walk far to find the hunting ground.

‘The journey was long and strenuous and when we reached firm

ground after crossing a long stretch of water, we saw a

handful of animal grazing at the edge of the ice. There were

no humans around and I can assure you that the desolate place

is only habitable for hunters, the chief hunter told the young

man who listened to every word.

The chief hunter told James and the others that they

intended to reach their homes before nightfall and invited

them to spend the night in his dwelling.

The camp consisted of several small log cabins and women and

children who came running towards them when they reach the

camp praising the good catch of skins and meat. As James had

expected reindeer meat was on the menu at the evening meal.

The chief hunter’s cabin was larger than the others and to

James it seemed obvious that he was a man of distinction. The

guests and their hosts were seated comfortably on a thick pile

of reindeer skins that covered the floor and James noticed

that after the meal continued their work manufacturing clothes

and shoes lined with reindeer fur. The young man, who had been

full of questions when the two groups met, asked his host if

he might join the next hunting expedition.

‘I have hunted since as was I small boy and my father who is

a respected hunter, has taught me all I know, the young man

said. James, who knew that the young man had no family, told 138138

his host that he was well experienced in spite of his young

age.

‘I have noticed your interest in hunting and if you really

want to come with us the next time, you need to be physically

fit and warmly dressed. The place I have told you about are

very cold and the hunting ground in the mountain is covered

with snow and ice. The hunting group is small and there would

not have been a place for you if one of the hunters had not

died in an accident. You must discuss it with your family and

you can give me your answer when you are absolutely sure, he

said. The young man, who told him that his parents are dead

and that he has no living relatives, impulsively asked if he

could stay at the camp until the next expedition. Before

James and the others next morning left the cabin, their host

told them that he and his wife had decided to invite the young

hunter to stay with them.

‘He will be well cared for and he will have plenty of

opportunities to prove his skill as a hunter, he said.

On the return journey, they had a lot to think about and

discuss. Ratki was not sure what to think. He was not

adventurous and had no appetite for hunting. He would be

content to live anywhere as long as he had access to raw

material of good quality. He told the others that he was very

impressed with the scouts’ account of the flat and forested

landscape he had got a glimpse of that he thought would be an

ideal place to live.

James wondered what the inhabitants of southern Scandinavia

of today would have said if they heard their countries were139139

described as an ideal place to live. He remembered that in a

TV program there had been a lot of talk about racism and that

many people feared that Muslims would take over their

countries.

‘What do you think James? ‘

‘If you and Nadia decide to go there, I am sure that you

will find people who would welcome a skilful toolmaker and

they would probably also appreciate Nadia’s skill with herbs.’

James advised him not to make a hasty decision that he might

regret later.

‘I think you should get in touch with scouts that been to

other places. We have all heard about reindeer hunting and

although the coast is free of ice, I do not think it is the

right place for you and Nadia. The winter long and very dark,

but summer is fantastic with daylight night and day’, James

told him.

'How do you know all this?

'Before Jennifer and I came to the village, I talked to many

scouts who have been around. My advice is that you discuss the

matter with Nadia when you have received all the information

you need. When you have made your decision you should join a

group that will take you to your destination. It is risky to

go on your own and you will be glad of some company, James

said.

140140

Chapter 15

James was worried about Jennifer and in a hurry to get home

hoping that he had would not be too late for the birth of his

child. When he and the other in the group approached the

winter camp he was immensely relieved when Michel came running

with the glad news that his mother was well and happy and

looking forward to the arrival of the baby. 141141

'We have had a lot of visitors and Octov has promised to

make us a table, he said.

'I hope you have not been worried about Michael and I,

Jennifer said. She was resting comfortably in her chair and

told James that everybody had been very kind and that Ada had

kept supplied with more meat than she and Michael could eat.

'Michael said something about a table. What made you think

of that, he asked?

'The explanation is very simple. One day when Octov’s wife

Asta came into the cabin, I sat on the chair trying to eat

some cooked meat wrapped in a leaf. I was a bit clumsy and the

food to fall to the floor and I had problems bending down to

pick it up’, she said.

Asta, whotold Octov about the unfortunate accident with the

meat, said that Jennifer was very pleased with the chair he

had made for her and that she needed a place to put her food

and drink on without having to bend down’.

‘That seems a good idea and I am sure I can think of

something', Octov said.

In the following days there was much talk about what the group

of explorers had seen and heard. Some of the villagers said

that they might be interested in finding new land and they

were especially interested in the explorers’ description of

the wide and flat landscapes that the scout had recommended.

Reindeer hunting tempted a few young adventurous hunters who

said that the cold climate did not worry them.

142142

Nadia, who had listened to what James and the others had to

say, said that she found it difficult to make up her mind of

where to go. She agreed with James who had recommended Ratki

and Nadia to ask scouts that had been to other places. Ratki

and Nadia were not the only ones that found it hard to decide

where to go.

'If you want to have a nice quiet life in a place with a

mild climate and easy access to foods it might be a good idea

to go north, James said. Noo told them that he could not give

any advice because he had never been outside his village.

‘Please come with us’, Nadia said, but Noo shook his head.

‘It is too late in life to travel into the unknown and I have

a feeling that the youngsters still need me as a hunting

instructor.

One day, Nokas accompanied by the two scouts that had brought

James and Jennifer to the village visited the camp and James

encouraged them to tell everyone that had not made up their

minds of where to go that they would find good places to

settle if they travelled in a south-westerly direction.

‘The landscape is hilly and forested with a variety of

hunting and fishing grounds and hunters will find an abundance

of good quality flint on the beaches’, they said. Octov who

had been listening with great interest told them that he on

one of his walks in the valley had met two young men and a

scout who had heard about an archipelago further west. They

were keen fishermen and were looking for people who wanted to

join them.

143143

The scout, who had visited many of the islands, had seen a

variety of sea mammals and a multitude of fish species and

shells. He told them that the climate was mild, but there was

a lot of rain and wind and they would need a sturdy boat. The

scout had told him that several families had settled in the

area and that he and his wife would not miss company. When the

young men heard that Octov was a carpenter and his wife Asta

an accomplished needlewoman, the scout told him that they

would be most welcome.

‘We cannot all be good fishermen, they said. Octov promised

to think about it and he went to hear what James had to say.

He gave James an account of his conversation with the two men

who seemed reliable and that he and Asta would probably not

have any problems finding work. James was reasonably sure that

the scout referred to the Hebrides in western Scotland where

he had spent a summer holiday. He had spent a summer holiday

in the Inner Hebrides and had enjoyed visiting a number of

small and large islands.

Although Octov and Asta were in great demand at the winter

camp they did not feel accepted and some of the villagers

hinted that they should return to the place they came from.

They both worked hard to supply villagers with furniture and

clothes and Asta was close to tears when she overheard a woman

telling a friend that she thought she was superior to the

other women.

‘Do not take any notice. They are jealous because your are

the best needlewoman that has lived in the village for as long

as I remember, Ada said when Asta told her what the woman had144144

said. Octov was criticized for newfangled ideas for

manufacturing furniture that broke with people’s traditional

lifestyle. Ratki and Nadia, who had heard about the gossip,

agreed that it might be a good idea that Asta and Octov left

the camp.

‘Many people appreciate what you have done, but you cannot

stop people talking and as you have no close ties to anyone

here

Ratki and Nadia had decided to join a group that would take

them to Denmark. The scout’s account of the abundance of flint

nodules intrigued him and Nadia looked forward to find a place

on firm ground with access to an abundance of foods.

‘Much as we would like to come with you my instinct tells me

that Asta and I should join the people that is heading west,

Octov said. He had never been on an island and scout’s report

of the many small and large islands that could easily be

reached in fair weather filled him with excitement.

Noo who had listened to conversations told the hopeful

emigrants that his only advice was that they must make up

their own minds and not be influenced by other people’s

opinions.

‘Let me also say that 'you only live once and that there is

no harm in seeing new places. If you are not happy, you can

come back to us or go north. If I were young and fit, I would

travel around until I found a place I would like to live for

the rest of my life, Noo said wistfully.

After much discussion and talks with scouts that

occasionally visited the winter camp, Ratki and Nadia decided145145

to leave at the end of the winter whilst Octov and Asta did

not want to leave until they had carried out all the promised

work. The young men from the other village said that they were

not in a hurry and would wait until Octov and Asta were ready

to go. Winter was the high season for carpentry and tool

making and Ratki was busy giving the final instructions to his

two talented apprentices who would take over the tool making.

Several of the families in the two villages wanted wooden

floors and Octov was busier than ever. He kept his promise to

make a table for Jennifer who was pleasantly surprised when he

one day entered the hut carrying a good-sized table into the

cabin. It was made of soft and smooth wood and the height of

the table matched that of the chair. Jennifer was delighted

telling him that she could eat her meals on the table instead

of sitting on the floor.

‘I should have thought of that before', Jennifer said.

The news of the table travelled fast through the camp and

everyone was curious to see what the new piece of furniture

looked like. One woman said that it seemed useful for

manufacturing clothes.

'If I had one like this it would be easy to cut the hide in

suitable pieces by laying it across the table instead of the

floor where tiny bits of flints from tool making tended to

cling to the material, a young woman said.

Some of the men scoffed at the idea of tables and said they

saw no reason to break with the old tradition of sitting

cross-legged eating and working by the fireplace. ‘What was146146

good enough for our ancestors is good enough for us’, one old

man said.

Nokas was the honoured guest one evening when James and

Jennifer invited their friends to a gathering. They talked

about small and large events and James took it with good grace

when he was reminded of the day when he had believed himself

to be invisible in his attempt to find out where the villagers

performed their ceremonies.

Jennifer could not help laughing when she was bantered for

believing that people in the place she came from believed that

the inhabitants in the village ate raw fish and meat. She

remembered that she had said something like that and she felt

thankful that nobody apart from James knew that she had

believed that the villagers were English actors dressed as

Stone Age people.

Ada dropped a bombshell when she declared that she had

decided to leave the hunting group. ‘I am not as fit as I used

to be and the time has come to give the young people a chance.

Noo has trained them well and I have suggested that they form

a group that is led by one of the most experienced hunters.

‘What will you do?’ Nokas asked. He had always admired Ada

for good leadership and he knew that she was well liked by the

other hunters.

‘I can be Noo’s assistant’, she said with a smile. Noo

nodded his consent and told the others that she and Ada had an

agreement.

‘I will enjoy working with her, he said. 147147

Chapter 16

Jennifer had a problem that only she could solve. Her time for

giving birth was close and she was desperately worried about

the lack of hygiene in the village. Ada and the herb woman

that were going to assist her when the baby was ready to make

its appearance rarely washed and Jennifer shuddered when she

looked at Ada’s grubby hands.

‘I must find a way to tell her that she must wash her hands

and make sure that she will put the knife for cutting the

navel string into boiling water’, she thought. She decided

that it was time to tell her about the importance of dealing

with germs in a very simple way.

Ada had never asked her about her former life and when she

one day entered the Armstrong hut on her daily visit Jennifer

decided it was time to deal with the problem.

‘You have never asked me questions about my former life, but

I trust you and know that you will not be offended when you148148

hear what I have to say. James and I used to live in another

time where everything was very different from here. We live in

the same place around the year and we do not fish and hunt as

you do here’.

‘How do you get food’, Ada wanted to know.

‘We work for other people in exchange of foodstuff. I wish I

could explain it in a better way and I hope you will

understand what I am trying to tell you. I think you have a

more easy life than I have and when I come home from work I am

often so tired that the only I want is to go to bed’.

‘You have told me that you do not fish or hunt. So what

precisely do you do?

‘I look after people who cannot manage on their own and need

help to get well again. Some of the people I try to help have

infections and have infections and Where I live peopleThe work

I do is to help sick people getting well and in my experience

cleanliness helps to protect us against diseases and

infections. Wherever we move some very tiny and invisible

creatures called germs surround as all. They thrive in dirt

and hate cleanliness. You once asked me why I fetched drinking

water from the stream instead of the lake and I think Michael

became ill because he drank water from the lake. When I

visited sick people and pregnant women in the world I come

from I made sure that that the water I use is boiled because

germs are killed in boiled water. My mother once told me that

a mother and her newborn baby died because the knife the

midwife used to cut the biblical coil was not clean.’

149149

‘I think I understand what you are trying to tell me and I

did not know that can assure that everything will be clean

when you are giving birth’, Ada said. She told Jennifer that

she would take her advice about cleanliness and she would make

sure that her hands from now on would be clean so that the

germs would go away. Ada smiled broadly and said that she

would like to hear more stories about Jennifer’s former life

and perhaps come for a visit when Jennifer was back in the

place she came from.

The next day Ada asked Jennifer to tell her more.

‘I am not sure you would like the way I used to live. The

life is very busy and there is little time to relax, she said.

Here life is much more restful and I am sorry that I have to

go back to my own people’, she said.

‘Do you not you miss your friends?’

‘Of course I do and I will tell them about you and my other

friends in the village.

‘What are your friends like?’, Ada queried

‘They are just ordinary people like you and me. We share

each other news; go for walks in the fields and enjoy having a

good meal in front of the fireplace, the same as we do here,

Jennifer said.

‘You and your man had some kind of garments that looked

very strange. I do not think they were made of the same

material we use.’

‘You are right. It is hard to explain and if you come to

see me, I will give you some clothes that you can take with

home with you’. 150150

Jennifer felt sure that she would never see Ada again and she

had become so accustomed to the life in a Stone Age village

that she had forgotten the time span of 9000- 8000 years

between them and found it hard to believe that she would be

back in the 21st century during the summer.

Chapter 17

James was becoming increasingly dissatisfied because he felt

that he was not pulling his weight. I am not interesting in

hunting and I am no good at carpentry and tool making. There

must be something I can do, he thought. The problem solved

itself when Nokas one day came into his hut and asked for his

advice on a certain matter. 151151

One of the villagers in the other cluster consulted Nokas

when he arrived on one of his visits to the camp. He told him

about two small boys, 4 and 6 year old, had been left on their

own when their mother died shortly after the family arrived at

the winter camp, their father, Ambrose, seemed to have lost

interest in the children.

Some of the inhabitants had observed that the two boys, who

looked unkempt and undernourished, stole food and ate scraps

that had been thrown on the rubbish heap behind the huts.

Nokas suggested that the observant man had a word with James

who might have a solution to the problem. Nokas told the

villager that James was good at helping people in need and

that he might come up with a solution.

‘I have done my best trying to make Ambrose understand that he

neglected the children, but I did not manage to get the

message across and was told to mind my own business,’ the man

said when he told James the story.‘I have heard that you are a

good man and perhaps you can help, he said to James.

‘I will see what I can do, but I cannot promise anything,

James said. Before he went to see the widower, Jennifer

suggested that he brought some food with him ‘I am sure the

children need a good meal, a wash and some clean clothes, she

said.

When James visited Ambrose’s hut the same day, the children

were alone. The room was cold and there did not seem to be any

food in the hut.

‘Do not be frightened. I will not do you any harm’, James said

and put the food package discreetly on the floor. Shortly 152152

afterwards he left the hut to collect firewood and when he

returned the boys had eaten all the food. He asked the older

boy to help him clean out the cold ashes from the fireplace

and when he returned for a second time with another load of

wood, the two boys had managed light the fire and the room hut

was starting to warm up. When they were all seated comfortably

by the fireplace James gave each of them a flute showing them

how to play.

‘I have a small boy who knows some tunes and he would be

pleased if you come along and hear him play’. The children

went with him willingly and Jennifer had dried meat and smoked

fish ready for them. ‘Eat as much as you want. We have plenty

of food’, she said.

When James returned to the boys’ home after leaving them in

Jennifer’s capable hands, the boys’ father sat listlessly on

the pallet staring into the wall. A bow and some arrows had

been flung into a corner at the back wall and when James

picked up the bow he saw that it was well worn. ‘It is a fine

bow and I suppose you like hunting, he said

‘Before my wife died I was a member of a hunting group, but

I am no longer interested in hunting, Ambrose said. When James

told him that he was no good at hunting and would appreciate

some advice, he noticed a gleam of interest and Ambrose

listened while James told him about his many failures as a

hunter.

‘I have also tried tool making and carpentry, but the other

villagers think I am clumsy’.

153153

Ambrose smiled showing a row of perfect white teeth and

James felt that he had caught his interest.

‘I am feeling hungry and it would please me if you would

you like to share a meal with me, James said showing Ambrose

the food he had brought with him. James ate sparingly leaving

plenty of food for his companion who fell ravenously upon the

meat and fish.

‘I have not eaten for a long time and why are you so good to

me?,’ Ambrose asked. James told him that his wife was so

engrossed in her pregnancy that she did not talk about

anything else and that he was badly in need of some male

company.

Not once during their conversation did Ambrose mention the

two boys and it seemed to James that he did not care. After

the meal, Ambrose asked if James had any children and wanted

to know if Michael was his own son.

‘Yes, of course, but why do you ask?’

‘The two boys are not my own and they were quite small when

I moved in with their mother. I have not told anybody and

people here resent me because the children are running wild

thinking that I do not care. That is true enough and the

sooner I can get away from here and be my own man the better.

The boys never liked me and when their mother died they told

me to go away’.

‘It seems that life has not been kind to you and I think you

deserve better, James said. Perhaps it would be a good idea if

we could find a family who are willing to adopt the boys’, he

said.. 154154

‘I can think of nothing that would suit me more. The boys

are better off without me, but I do not know anybody that

would be interested in looking after them’, Ambrose told him.

James stayed with Ambrose for a while chatting about the life

in the village in general and before leaving he said he would

return after sunrise. When he entered his own hut, he found

the two boys fast asleep on Michael’s pallet whilst Michael

shared his mother’s pallet.

‘You look pleased with yourself. Does that mean that you

have solved the problem’, she asked.

‘Not yet, but I am working at it.

‘Do you remember the woman from our village who was

devastated when her little boy died. The boy was her only

child and from what I have heard, she has not become pregnant

again. She and her man live in hut a stone throw from here and

I have seen her crying more than once’, Jennifer said.

‘You are a genius and I think you have found the right

solution. I will consult Nokas and Noo after breakfast and if

they are agreeable, the bereaved parents may be willing to

give the two boys a home, he said.

Jennifer had heard that there had been complaints from people

who have caught the boys stealing food and using foul language

When James went to see Nokas and Noo he told them about the

conversation with Ambrose and suggested that they contacted

the couple Jennifer had told him

When James entered their home he found that the hut was clean

and the room pleasantly warm. The woman had kind eyes and a

ready smile and the man she lived with was quick to offer 155155

James a seat in front of the fireplace. ‘We do not get many

visitors and we have heard many good things about you’, he

said.

The couple had heard about the two neglected boys and those

they were unruly. ‘I am sure you know that we lost our child

that we miss very much and the hut seems empty without

children. I am not sure we are able to cope with the two boys

and I am sure you will find a family that is better suited,

the woman said.

James did not try to persuade them. He only said he felt sorry

about the two motherless children and that Ambrose intended to

leave them as soon as possible. He told them that the boys

were staying with him and Jennifer and that they had stolen

food because they were hungry.

‘We have thought about what you said and we decided to give

them a chance’, the man told James some days later. A couple

of weeks later, the couple accompanied by the boys came into

the Armstrong hut and James and Jennifer were delighted to see

that they looked well fed and cared for. ‘We have not

regretted it. We get on fine and are happy to have them stay

with us, the woman said. She told them that they were polite

and well mannered. The only thing they needed was good food

and somebody that would take care of them, she said.

The boys’ new mother told him that the children were made

responsible for collecting firewood in the morning and that

the older boy looks after the four year old.

156156

‘I have got a knife for chopping down branches, the 6 year

old boy said with a proud smile. ‘I will learn to hunt when I

get a bit older, he told James.

After this experience, James got a reputation for being a

problem solver and people with all sorts of grievances found

that he was trustworthy and always ready to help them sorting

out problems without being condescending. Whatever the problem

was he never persuaded them to do what he thought was right.

He pointed out the alternatives and let them make their own

decisions.

‘If you ever get tired of archaeology I think you could be a

good social worker’, Jennifer remarked.

Chapter 18

In the middle of the night some weeks later, Jennifer woke up

with a pain in her back, realizing that she was in labour. She

woke up James asking him to boil water and to bring Michael

over to Ada’s hut, where he would stay until the after the

birth.

157157

‘I am so glad you have come, Jennifer said when Ada later

came into the hut a few minutes later when Jennifer was

recovering from another contraction. Sweat was running down

her face and Ada wiped her face and tried to make her as

comfortable as possible. Jennifer noticed that her hands and

nails were clean and that her hair was freshy washed. ‘I will

give you a good wash because we do not want any germs around’,

Ada said jokingly.

In the morning, the interval between each contraction was

so short that Jennifer did not get time to relax and Ada asked

James to fetch the herb woman that would assist Ada at the

birth. ‘Do not come back until I call you’, Ada told James,

who was in a nervous state of mind and more a hindrance than

help.

‘Go for a walk or find a friend to talk with. I will find you,

when it is all over’, she said.

Suddenly, Jennifer cried out that the baby was coming and

Ada saw the baby’s head appear and a minute later, the body

followed. It is a little girl, the herb woman said as she

quickly dipped the knife in boiling water and cut the

umbilical cord. She laughed when she saw the baby scowling as

if she disliked coming into the world. Handing the newborn

child to her mother, she asked Ada to fetch James who was

delighted to have a daughter and the glad news that everything

had gone well.

The baby had blue eyes, curly black hair and a cat-like face

as her mother. Her parents thought she looked perfect and she

seemed to weigh around 7 pounds. 158158

‘We will call her Ada after you, Jennifer said.

‘That is the best gift you could have given me’, Ada said.

At the time of birth, winter was giving way for spring and

Nadia and Ratki and the baby were the first to leave the camp.

Ratki and Asta and their young daughter children would be the

next to leave. The snow was still on the ground and there

belongings and the food needed for the long journey north were

securely fastened to sledges. The night before, Nadia and

Ratki visited the Armstrong hut bringing gifts for the baby.

Nadia had made her a small garment and Ratki’s gift was a

small wooden doll with shining black hair and a smiling mouth.

‘Ada will love this when she gets older, I promise you that

she will take good care of it.’ I thank you both for such

beautiful gifts, Jennifer said.

Asta and Octov came round to see Nadia and Ratki off. ‘We

will miss you, but perhaps we will meet sometime in the

future, Asta said.

At the time of departure, the villagers who had known Nadia

since she was a small child handed her small gifts and said

they would miss her very much. Noo embraced her and whispered

into her ear that she and Ratki must come back to them if they

were not happy in their new home.

Most of the well wishers returned to the village and Noo and

James stood by themselves without speaking. Noo’s eyes were

filled with unshed tears and he finally said in a low voice

that he wanted to be alone. James patted him on the shoulder

and left, understanding his friend’s grief of losing Nadia who

had been like a daughter to him159159

A few weeks later it was Asta and Octov’s turn to say goodbye.

Asta had made the baby Ada a beautiful garment a pair of shoes

that would fit her when she was a bit older. Octov had made

her a tiny baby chair and a miniature table. Jennifer and

James wished they had spent more time with Asta and Octov

thinking that she had been treated unfairly by some of the

villagers. ‘We hope you will have a good life and you

certainly deserve it, James said.

.

When the snow melted and the rise in temperature woke up

the dormant vegetation, there was a distinct smell of spring

in the air. The villagers looked forward to return to the

summer camp, but there was much to do before they could leave

their winter quarter. Apart from a few mishaps such as a

leaking roof and a fence that had broken down during a heavy

snowfall, most of the inhabitants had been well. And nobody

had been short of food. Ada and the other hunters had brought

back large quantities of meat to the camp and she made sure

that nobody was short of food.

Before they started their preparations to abandon the camp,

the women where busy manufacturing clothes and shoes that

would be stored for the next winter season. .. They also made

sure that tools and hunting gear that they would leave behind

were in full order when they returned to the camp. Another

important task was to dispose of all the rubbish and discarded

artefacts that were brought to the rubbish heap at the

outskirt of the area. ‘ Archaeologists can count themselves

160160

lucky if they find anything else than stone artefacts’, James

thought.

.

The carpenters left before the others because everyone knew

that the flooding would have damaged the abandoned huts on the

lakeshore and that only waterlogged remains and discarded

artefacts had survived. James wanted to go with them, but was

reluctant to leave Jennifer and the baby. However, it was not

difficult to persuade him.

‘I know it is important for you to find out how the huts are

built and we will be perfectly all right. Ada’s oldest boy has

offered to carry the baby and I am sure we will be well looked

after’.

The journey back to the summer camp was uneventful and they

were relieved at the sight of the lake and the new huts that

faced the lakeshore. James came running towards them,

exclaiming that his daughter had grown so much that he hardly

recognised her. Their hut was ready for them and he told

Jennifer that he had learned how to build a simple hut of

branches that was only intended for summer habitation

‘This time, I have not only been an observer, but have

contributed to build our hut, he said proudly. ‘Let us hope

that the roof does not collapse’ over our heads, Jennifer said

teasingly.

They all enjoyed the summer weather and the pleasure of

walking barefooted in the tall grass. The baby Ada was a happy

child that smiled at every visitor, but her favourite was her

namesake. Whenever she came to the hut the baby stretched out 161161

her arms signalling that she wanted her to lift her up and she

flung her tiny arms around her neck.

‘If you will like to come hunting, we will arrange it, Ada

said one day. It will only be a short trip and you will be

back in time to feed the baby’. A young girl that Ada

recommended as a nursemaid looked after the child and Jennifer

was happy to get some time on her own. The two women did not

mind that they for once did not catch any animals, and they

lay down happily in the grass adjacent to a stream. ‘We have

brought with us plenty of smoked and dried meat and fish from

the winter camp and we can hunt another day. Autumn is the

best season, but you may not be here by then, she said.

After Nadia and Ratki had left, Noo became withdrawn and was

no longer a frequent visitor in the Armstrong hut. He

continued to teach youngsters archery, but his heart was no

longer in it. James left him alone, hoping he find a new

interest in life. Walking through the hut area one morning, he

was surprised to see Noo in earnest conversion with a woman he

had never seen. The woman who appeared to be in her late

thirties, was not particularly good looking, but had a

pleasant face. The next evening, Noo came on one of his rare

visits telling James and Jennifer that the woman had come into

the village asking permission to stay. She had told Noo that

the man she had lived with for a long time had left her for a

younger woman, telling her that she displeased him because she

had not born him any children.

162162

Her man told her to find somewhere else to live because he

wanted his new woman to move into the hut. As she had no

living relations that she could stay with, she hoped to join

another group. She left the village and had walked for many

days without seeing any sign of human activities until she

arrived at the village.

‘I told her she could stay at my hut as a temporary

arrangement. We get on fine and she is a pleasant person to

have around’, Noo said. When he had left the hut, Jennifer

remarked that he looked happier than she had seen him for a

long time.

Jennifer, who had stopped yearning for her life in

Thornfielda long time, could not remember when she had been

happier than she was now. She told James that she was in no

hurry to leave the summer camp.

‘Let us wait until the end of the summer’, she said.

‘It is not up to us and I remember Nokas told us that the

Shaman will let us know when it is time to leave, James said.

He was content with life, but on the other hand, he was eager

to return to England to prove that he had spent a year in am

authentic Mesolithic village. He had made sure that the

samples he had hidden before they left for the winter camp

were intact and to be on the safe side he collected some more

samples in addition to a small axe that somebody had lost and

did not seem to miss ‘What I really need is a rucksack to

carry them in. ‘I will ask Ada if she can make you one. You

will probably be the only one who has a rucksack that is

around 8000 years old, Jennifer said.163163

On warm days James resumed the swimming lessons. Michael had

already become

An accomplished swimmer and agree to teach the youngest

children how to move their arms and legs in the water. The

six-year old boy had outgrown his clothes and his parents

thought that in ten years time he would be taller than his

father.

164164

Chapter 18

On Ada’s four month’ birthday, Nokas came into the Armstrong

hut bringing the message that the Shaman wanted to see James

and Jennifer at sunset. ‘He has something to tell you and I

advice you strongly not to interrupt him with questions, Nokas

said before he left. ’.

The Shaman wore the same gown as on his previous visit to the

village nearly a year ago and they noticed that his hair had

gone white and that his tanned face had become more wrinkled.

He still looked awesome and very much in command. His eyes lit

up at the sight of the baby Ada who gave him a big toothless

smile and did not seem a bit impressed.

‘You want to know when you will leave the village and

return to your own world. The two scouts that brought you here

will bring you back to the place you came from and you will

start the journey on the night when the moon is full’, he

said.

‘I know you that you want to know why you were brought

here. As Shaman I am sworn to secrecy and I will loose my

powers if I tell you. I have kept myself informed about your

behaviour during the time you have been here and the reports

tell me that both of you have adapted to our way of life and

that you have done a lot of useful work that has improved the

quality of life for people in need. We will all miss you. It

pleases me that both of you are in much better physical shape

than when I last saw you’ the Shaman said with a broad smile. 165165

While he was talking, Ada stretched up her arms and the

Shaman picked her up and patted her cheek. ‘This child is

special because she has been born here and I know that she has

a long and good life ahead of her. Everything will be fine in

the early years of her life, but when she walks and talks you

will notice a gradual change in her personality. From then on

life will not be easy for any of you, but you will adapt and

do what is best for little Ada. She will, of course, not

remember anything about the short time she stayed here, but my

prophecy is that she will unconsciously be yearning for

another life.

I will continue to keep myself informed and if she shows clear

signs of being unhappy, it would be for the best that she

returns to the village where she belongs and it is not your

fault that she will be unhappy. I also predict that you will

move to another place, but my scouts will find you, the Shaman

said. ‘Before I say goodbye I hope you both will remember that

we are not as primitive as people in your world believe. As

you have experienced, our life is simple and uncomplicated and

that is how we want it to be’, he said. Without another word ,

the Shaman left the hut and accompanied by Nokas he left the

village.

The information that they might lose Ada came as a shock.

It had not occurred to them that Ada would not stay with them

until the day she would marry or chose to live on her own.

When the Shaman left, James and Jennifer looked at each other

in bewilderment.

166166

'What he said cannot be true. He is just trying to frighten us

and perhaps persuade us to leave our daughter in the village',

Jennifer said.

‘I think the Shaman spoke the truth as he sees it. We will

never know why we were brought to this village and my best

guess is that the Shaman has magic powers that are beyond our

comprehension. From what he said it is obvious that he knows

about the tension that modern people suffer from and he made

it quite clear that he does not envy us, James said.

‘Do you think that he knew in beforehand that I would give

birth to a child during my stay here and that he will use Ada

to bridge the gap between the past and the present, Jennifer

asked.

‘You may be right and in any case we do not have any choice. I

think the best thing we can do is to accept the Shaman’s

ruling’, James said, hoping that the Shaman’s prediction would

not come true. .

‘The proverb saying that children are on loan and that we

do not own them is true and we must do our best to give Ada a

happy life as long as she stays with us’, Jennifer remarked.

‘How do you feel about going home? James asked.

‘I must admit that I have mixed feelings. I have just

realized that I have been very happy here and I will miss all

my friends in the village. My parents and my job seem very

remote and unreal and I think it will be difficult to adjust

to my earlier way of life. I do not think I will go back to

the hospital and I am thinking about a job as a health

visitor. There are a lot of lonely and sick people around that167167

need help and someone to talk with. I would not earn as much

money as I used to, but with your salary we would manage quite

well’.

‘When we came to this village, you missed all the home

comforts, and I am surprised that you never talk about the

English food that you missed so much. When we are back home

you can sit in your favourite chair reading or watching TV'?

‘I could not care less. Food is not important and why

should I want to listen to the bad news on the radio and TV

day after day. I have had enough of rushing around and I envy

the people here that live in a period without stress and

pollution. I will miss the friends that I will never see

again. Ada is more kind and helpful than any of my friends at

home and I only wish I could bring her with me.’

‘How do you feel’, Jennifer asked

‘I have found this year very interesting, but now I am

eager to return to the university and convince my colleagues

in the department that my new knowledge about the Mesolithic

will benefit further research. There has been a lot of talk

about the hidden treasures on the North Sea floor and I am

reasonably certain that we are in the southern part of the

basin. It is tantalizing to know that the samples I bring with

me will prove that people had settlements at the bottom of the

North Sea, but that we have no idea where they are. I hope the

samples and my description of the life at the summer camp and

the winter base will initiate a large-scale underwater

project. Searching for dwelling remains may be like looking

for a needle in the haystack, but the data that the oil and 168168

gas companies have collected will be of some help in the

investigation of the sea floor’ James remarked.

‘I think you should write a book about our experiences that

will make you rich and famous. Said Jennifer.

‘That is precisely what I will do’ answered James.

Michael started to cry when his parents told him that they

would soon return to Thornfield. ‘I do not want to go home. I

like it here’, the boy wailed.

‘We are guests here and must do as we are told. Your father

and I would also like to stay, but guests must not outstay

their welcome. I am sure all your friends at home miss you and

look forward to hear about your adventure’. Michael cheered up

a bit and to distract him Jennifer suggested that he should

join his friends who were playing on the beach.

James spent the next days fishing in the river whilst Jennifer

hunted small game in the vicinity of the settlement. They

smoked and dried some of the meat and fish for the return

journey and James made sure that all the samples that he had

collected were in good condition.

One evening Noo entered the Armstrong hut. Michael and his

sister were asleep and Jennifer had gone to see Ada. ‘I am

pleased that you are on your own because I want you to tell me

something about your former life. I know you will be leaving

soon and I think it is about time that you tell me something

about your former life and the world you and your family come

from. I hope you don’t mind my asking.’

169169

‘Fair enough. I have intended to tell you, but I am not

sure that you will understand. Because we do not only come

from a different world, but also from a different time. I will

do my best to explain and please interrupt me if I am not

making myself clear.

Like you, I live in a small village and people behave in much

the same way as you do. They laugh and cry and suffer from the

same illnesses as you. Some people die because they cannot be

cured and I have heard that the woman you lived with died

because there was nothing the herb woman could do for her. In

my world we have a lot of remedies that make sick people well

again and it is possible that your woman could have been cured

if she had lived in my world.’

‘Do you spend summer in the same kind of huts as we have? Noo

asked.

‘ The people I know have large stone-built houses that contain

several rooms. We stay there most of the year and in summer

many people go away for a short while to visit relatives and

friends. I envy you who stay here for the whole summer, James

said.

‘I am also curious to know if you have good fishing and

hunting grounds, Noo said. James wondered how he could make

his friend understand that most of the population living in

towns inland probably have never fished in a river or hunted

game.

‘Some of my friends who live on the coast, like to fish and we

can fish in lakes and rivers. There are few hunting grounds

left because houses have replaced forests. There are few wild 170170

animals compared with the old days and you need permission to

hunt, he said.’

James wondered if he should try to tell him about money

system, but rejected the idea because it was too complicated.

He therefore changed the subject. ‘Here you live a quiet life

and most people seem to live in peace with each other. In my

world there is a lot of unrest and fighting and many people

who have more food than they need are not willing to share

with those who have little. Another reason to envy you is

that the air here is much cleaner and fresher and that you can

smell the summer flowers.

. ‘How can people live the way you do? To me it seems a poor

way of life and it seems to me that you have to work hard and

have little leisure time. ‘When you return to your world I

hope you will tell people how we live’.

‘Yes, I will. Jennifer and I have been very happy here and I

envy you your way of life. James said.

The night when the moon was full, Nokas came to the hut

telling James and Jennifer and told them that two scouts would

come round at sunrise and bring them safely home. Next

morning, a small crowd of people carrying small gifts for the

baby were waiting to say goodbye.

‘It is beautiful Jennifer said when Ada handed her a string

of beads made of amber. ‘My mother gave it to me when I was a

young girl and I want you to have this as a token of our

friendship’, she said.

‘I have got nothing for you’; Jennifer said trying to fight

back her tears. 171171

‘I had the pleasure of your company and that is enough, Ada

replied.

Noo gave James a small collection of tools that Ratki had

left in his care asking him to give them to him before he left

the village. He was delighted and told Noo that he had never

received a more valuable gift, which he would treasure for the

rest of his life.

‘I regret that I cannot thank Ratki personally and if he ever

comes back to the village tell him that the elegantly shaped

tools will remind me why I never became a tool maker, James

said with a smile.

Before leaving, Noo told James and Jennifer that his woman was

expecting a baby. ‘I never thought I would become a father

again and she had made me very happy’.

‘I wonder why men seem to take it for granted that it is

the women’s fault when they do not conceive. I will not be

surprised if the man who left her for that reason, will not

beget a child with the other woman, Jennifer remarked when she

heard the good news.

172172

Chapter 19

The sky was blue and the sun was over the horizon when they

started the long walk home. Carpets of wild flowers covered

the ground and there was a sweet smell of grass and trees in

leaf. James and Jennifer were in no hurry to get home and

enjoyed the long walk in the company of the two scouts who

entertained them with stories about their travels. The journey

was uneventful and the male scout and James took turns

carrying Ada who slept most of the time. Michael amused

himself by cutting off saplings with his new knife that one of

his friends had given him as a farewell present. The shaft was

nicely decorated and James suspected that the boy’s father had

done it.

‘I am sure your friends at home will be envious when they see

it’, his father said. .

As they were walking through the unpolluted and lovely

landscape, James remarked that although the standard of living

had never been better than in the 21st century, he doubted

that the technological progress has made people happy. ‘I do

not think we have missed any of the modern facilities and I

remember that I often fell asleep during a TV programme’.

‘You are right. I am glad that we bring with us good memories

that I will cherish when I am back in our polluted world where

money and power seems to be all that matters, Jennifer said.

It had started to rain when the small party approached the

coast of Northumbria. At dawn, two days after they had left 173173

the village, they arrived at the beach leading to Thornfield

village.

‘It is time for us to return to our world’, said the man who

handed the baby to Jennifer, who had tears in her yes when she

said goodbye to the scouts. .

When they stood outside their house a few minutes later, the

scouts had vanished and they could hear the sound of waves

from the North Sea.

‘It seems like a dream and I wonder how can we make people

understand that we have lived at the bottom of the North Sea’,

Jennifer mused.

Inside the house, everything seemed to be in place and the

clock on the mantelpiece showed that it was 6 am and far too

early to start phoning their parents to tell them that they

were back and the news that they had a granddaughter.

‘I thought a heard somebody moving around and I wanted to

check if it was you’, said their next-door neighbour, a kindly

elderly woman, who stared at the clothes and shoes Jennifer

was wearing. Jennifer smiled when she saw the neighbour’s

expression. ‘It is the latest fashion’, she said.

The neighbour told her that her parents had paid her well

for keeping the house in order and that she would find that

the larder and the fridge are well stocked except for milk and

eggs. Your parents have phoned me regularly asking for you and

I am sure they will be pleased when you tell them that you are

home again.‘

Thanks very much for your concern and I go to shop when it

opens in about two hours time.174174

‘You have to wait until tomorrow. Today is Sunday, but if

you want milk and eggs I have more than enough,’ the elderly

woman said. Jennifer could imagine that she could hardly wait

to tell the village people that Jennifer wore an odd outfit

and that she did not know it was Sunday. ‘When the villagers

hear this they will wonder where we have been, Jennifer

thought.

The room was chilly and James was pleased to see a good supply

of wood neatly stacked by the fireplace. It felt strange to

light the fire using a match instead of rubbing two stones

together, he thought. When the temperature rose, they put the

sleeping baby on a quilt in front of the fire.

The fridge was well stocked with food and drink and in the

deep freezer Jennifer found a few packets of meat, which

suggested that her parents had been around.

‘What I really want is a drink of water,’ Jennifer said when

James came into the kitchen dressed in a pair of trousers and

an open necked shirt. ‘I fell strange in these clothes, but I

suppose I will get used to them’, he said.

‘When we were on the way to the Stone Age village, you said

you were longing for a cup of tea and a sandwich, James said

when he came into the kitchen after having changed his

clothes. If you like I will put the kettle on and make some

toast.’

‘That was about a year ago and I think I would rather have

some of the dried meat and the fish we brought with us. She

filled a glass of water from the tap and said it tasted awful.

‘Perhaps a cup of tea would be better’. 175175

‘Let us try some eggs and bacon for breakfast or do you

prefer the dried meat we brought with us, We will have to get

used the way we used to live and we would be the centre of

attention if we walked round walked round in garments made of

hide. They are evidence and I will have them radiocarbon

dated. James wondered if the university had closed for the

summer holidays and felt relieved when his neighbour told him

it was the middle of June.

Michael who had changed into a pair of short trousers and a

cotton top, told his parents that he felt uncomfortable and

was worried that his friends would not play with him if he

told where he had been.

‘Don’t worry. They will be delighted with the gifts you have

brought them and they will to know where you have been’,

Jennifer said. She suggested that he contacted his friends

and reminded him that he must get ready for school the next

day.

After breakfast, Michael ran off to see his friends whilst

his parents were busy making a shopping list for the coming

week. There was no money in the house and when James inserted

his credit car into the mini-bank, he discovered that his bank

account was healthy. With money in his pocket, he felt much

better and suggested to Jennifer that they had a pub lunch.

Shopping would have to wait until tomorrow.

What could not wait was the write an outline for the report

James intended to bring with him when he drove to the

university the next morning. He sent the head of his

department an e-mail telling him that he was back. ‘He 176176

probably won’t believe that I have lived at the North Sea

floor, but the samples do not lie’, he told himself.

He was pleasantly surprised when he entered his office and

found everything in good order. His colleagues welcomed him

back and the head of the department, a well-known professor of

prehistory, told James that he had been greatly missed and

asked he was ready to start lecturing the students.

‘You look a changed man and you look more fit than the last

time I saw you, they said. After lunch, the professor came to

his office telling him that he had found his outline very

interesting, but that he found it hard to believe that he had

spent a year in an authentic Stone Age village. I have heard

of time machines, but only from novels and TV productions, he

said.

‘I have got evidence, said James who gave him his collection

of samples. He had also brought with him the garment made of

hide and the soft seamless shoes that Noo had given hi in

addition to ash from the fireplace and a small hand axe made

of flint.

The professor looked at the samples with great interest,

telling James that they seemed to be of excellent quality. ‘I

will send them to the laboratory for radiocarbon dating and

will let you know the result as soon as possible. Anyway, I am

glad to have you back and as we are presently short staffed, I

hope you will resume the lectures and one word of advice

before you go. Do not say anything to the students about your

experience until we hear from the lab.

177177

James also showed him the garment made of hide and the

seamless shoes that Noo had given him. ‘I have never seen

anything like this, the professor said. ‘Do you really mean to

say that you wore this outfit’? the professor asked.

‘Actually, there were more comfortable than the clothes I

found in the wardrobe when I came home, James said.

‘Concerning your outline I have two questions.’

‘How do know that the village you stayed in was at the

bottom of the North Sea and how do you know that you stayed in

an authentic Stone Age village’? I also want to know how you

can be so sure that the huts were not reconstructed inhabited

by modern people pretending they lived in prehistory.

‘I know it sounds incredible and I cannot explain what

happened. I did not believe my eyes when I came out of my

house in the morning and the North Sea was no longer there. It

sounds like a new version of the story from the Old Testament

when God made a pathway through the Red Sea for the Israelis

when they fled from Egypt’.

‘To your second question: If the village had consisted of

reconstructed huts inhabited by British actors pretending that

they lived in the Stone Age, as my wife used to believe, the

samples I have given you tell a different story’, James said.

Two days later, the professor phoned his home with the good

news that the analysis of the samples suggested that the

shoes, hazelnut shells and ash from the fireplace were around

8500 years old. According to the report, the scientists in the

lab had never seen samples that were of such excellent

quality. 178178

‘The report leaves no doubt that the samples are genuine and

have not been contaminated or tempered with. I think you

should go ahead with your report and I am sure you are aware

of the danger of being accused as a charlatan if you publish a

paper about your transfer to a prehistoric village at the

bottom of the North Sea. As we all know there is not a shred

of evidence that people have lived on the North Sea floor and

the finds of skeleton remains from animals and some artefacts

are not in context.

‘You are right. I could be locked up in a mental institution

if I mention that I have lived in a prehistoric community. I

will focus on the significance the finds have for a better

understanding of the daily life of Stone Age or rather

Mesolithic people that I prefer to call them. I will refer to

the finds in Danish water and my conclusion is that the next

step in underwater archaeology should be a thorough

investigation of the North Sea floor that I think conceals

settlements that may still in tact.

James found to his surprise that he became famous over

night once his report had been printed in an archaeological

journal. He was in great demand as a guest speaker at a number

of universities in Britain and elsewhere in Europe and he

received several job offers. Some of his colleges were

sceptical and refused to believe that James had told the truth

and that the samples had come from a land based excavated

settlement.

On advice from the professor, James ignored the criticism and

was granted leave to write a book about his experiences. 179179

Several publishers had shown their interest and predicted that

the book would be a success.

When Jennifer visited the hospital shortly after her return to

Thornfield she was told that the director had made several

attempts to contact her, but no one knew where she was. The

position as matron had therefore been given to someone else,

but she was offered her old job back. ‘I need the money and

when the baby is older I hope to attend a course that will

make me qualified for social work, she told the director.

Chapter 20

James and Jennifer gradually adjusted to their new life.

Michael did not seem to have any problems and quickly forgot180180

his mates in the Stone Age village. Ada continued to greet

everyone that came round with a broad smile and had started to

eat mashed foods. Her grandparents were delighted with their

grandchild and showered soft toys over her. She charmed

everyone and learned to talk and walk before she was three

years old.

On her birthday her mother gave her the wooden doll that Ratki

had made. At first she took very little notice of the doll and

continued to play with her other toys. Her parents were

reasonable sure that the Shaman’s prediction of a change in

the child’s personality was not correct until she one day

refused to go to the kindergarten. Jennifer ignored her

protests and continued to bring her to the kindergarten

because she had to go the hospital and that she did not know

any suitable person who could look after her.

She stopped caring for the collection of soft toys and the

wooden doll became her constant companion that she insisted

shared her bed. One of her grandmothers who came on a visit

remarked that the doll looked dirty and replaced it with a

teddy bear.

Ada, who previously had been a sweet tempered child, started

to howl and threw the teddy bear to the floor. This

unfortunate event made her parents uneasy and they started to

realize that Ada’s personality was changing. One day the

manager of the kindergarten came to the house telling Jennifer

that the child was unruly and that her behaviour had a bad

effect of the other children. She stated that the child was

clearly unhappy and suggested a visit to the doctor. He181181

observed that she had lost weight, but that there was nothing

physically wrong with the child.

The doctor advised them to take her to a physiologist who

specialised in children. He found her uncommunicative and

unresponsive and hinted that she had been brain damaged.

‘How do you explain that a child who until recently has been

happy and well adjusted suddenly changes her personality?

Jennifer said.

‘I cannot answer your question and the only advice I can give

you is to see if there are further changes such as bed wetting

and sudden fits of fury’.

‘There is nothing wrong with her,’ James said angrily when

Jennifer told him about the outcome of the meeting. We will

find someone in the village that may be willing to look after

her when we are at work’, James said.

A kind-looking woman in her thirties that had lost her only

child a year ago said she would be pleased to take care of

Ada. She took her for walks in the fields that surrounded the

village and as long as where out in fresh air, Ada seemed

content.

‘When we are back in the house things are not going well

because she just sits quietly on a chair clutching her wooden

doll. I simply do not know what to do, the woman said.

‘Let us face it. We have both noticed that Ada is unhappy

and I think the Shaman has thrown a spell on her, James said

‘I think that is a more likely explanation than the

psychologist’ implying that she is mentally retarded even if

he did not say it straight out. Ada is bright and intelligent182182

and I have noticed that she understands everything we say. The

question is what we can do to make her happy’, Jennifer

remarked.

The last straw was when a health inspector from the

county’s health services came to the house because there had

been rumours that the child was undernourished and not

properly cared for.

‘Be my guest and you are welcome to turn the house inside out,

Jennifer said. She felt numb with anger and frustration and

went into the living room shutting the door behind her.

An hour later, the inspector knocked at the door and told

her that she had found nothing to criticize and that the

rumour of neglect must be false. According to the inspector

the fridge filled with healthy and nourishing food and the

child’s bedroom contained the same kind of clothes and toys

that are normal for a child at her age.

‘I am afraid that the rumour will spread and that people

will say there is no smoke without fire. I think we should

move somewhere else and for some time I have been thinking of

leaving my job at the university. I have received a tempting

offer from a university in Yorkshire, James said after

Jennifer told him about the health inspector’s visit.

That means that the Shaman’s predictions are true. He

obviously wants us to send Ada back to the village and he also

told us that we would move from Thornfield, Jennifer said.

James accepted the offer and they bought a small house in a

village that did not look very different from Thornfield. The

North Sea was practically at the doorstep and the environment183183

was pleasant with lots of trees and greenery. Ada hardly seems

to notice the move and she could sit for hours clutching her

wooden doll without saying a word. When her grandparents came

for a visit, Jennifer told them that the child was recovering

from a cold and that she would soon be her normal self again.

‘You are fooling yourself. There is definitely something

wrong with her and it is possible that she want something you

and James cannot give her. You never told me about the place

where she was born and it might help perhaps to make a return

visit and that a total change of environment will be good for

the child, Jennifer’s father said.

‘Ada was only four months old when we went home and she

cannot possibly remember anything from her short stay there.

James cannot ask for a holiday as he has just started in his

new job and I have applied for a job as a health visitor,

which I am sure I will get. I promise you that Ada will go

back her place of birth when she gets a bit older, Jennifer

said, thinking that her father was closer to the truth than he

realized.

At sunrise a few weeks later, James and Jennifer heard a faint

noise outside the door and when they opened the door, they got

the surprise of their lives when they saw Ada and the two

scouts standing outside. Jennifer embraced Ada telling her

that she thought of her every day and missed her very much.

‘We have a message from the Shaman who wants us to bring

little Ada back to our village for a visit’ Ada said. She told

184184

them that the child would be taken well care of and would stay

with her. ‘I will treat her as the daughter I never had.’

While they were talking, young Ada came to the door in her

pyjamas clutching her wooden doll. Her eyes lit up when she

saw the three smiling persons that she could not remember and

looked in wonder at the clothes they wore. Ada handed her

namesake a similar garment and a pair of skin shoes, motioning

her to put them on. They fitted perfectly and the child smiled

when she looked at herself in the mirror.

‘They want you to go with them. Would you like that? her

father asked. Ada nodded, and when he told her that her

parents and Michael could not come with her, she hugged her

mother and father and said she would be back before long.

James and Jennifer stood outside the house with tearful

faces, unable to say a word as Ada and the two scouts walked

towards the beach.

Og sa hun ville bare bli borte en stund.

Tårene silte nedover Jennifers kinn og james hadde problemer

med å holde tårene tilbake. De vinket så lenge de kunne se

henne og gikk inn I huset igjen. La oss huske at barn er bare

til låns og at vi bør glede oss over at hun får et godt

liv.,sa james.

Jennifer sto taus lenge før hun spurte James om han trodde hun

ville komme tilbake til dem. Det er det bare sjamanen som vet.

Jeg er overbevist om han vil oss vel og gjøre det som er best

for oss, sa han trøstende.

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