The East Village One
If you have been reading my stories you will know that the East shore of the Island has been explored by villagers from the Attawa village. Jero, Goro and the others who went there found shells of huts and one hut still standing but badly in need of repair. There was a fire-pit that was used when they went there. There was an old well that still had good water. Jero and Goro went back a third time. They stayed in the abandoned East village for a week. They made more discoveries during that week. They found a large berry bush on the edge of the jungle. They ate some of the berries and found them quite delicious. They found an abundance of fish, crabs, and other shellfish in the ocean off the East beach. They found plenty of edible herbs and roots and there was even room for a small garden. When Jero and Goro finally went back home to the Attawa village they told their fellow villagers about the East village. Some of their fellow villagers there as well as some of the villagers from the Arawak village on the southern shore decided to form an explorers group. They got together and had several meetings about forming an expedition to go to the East village as well as eventually exploring the rest of the island.
The East village was built by a tribe of people from a far away island. The only survivor of this village was a man named Ringo. His people died from a virulent virus when he was ten years old. He grew up alone. Ringo had been a clever child. He learned how to gather herbs, roots and other sources of food by age ten. He knew how to fish and build a fire. In his tribe parents taught their children as soon as they could walk and talk how to do these things. His people were mysterious and possessed the secret to the fountain of youth. Most of them were over two hundred years old. Unfortunately this did not save them from succumbing to the terrible virus that caused all of them to suffer high fevers. They could not find a cure in time and all of them died except for Ringo who was somehow immune to the virus.
Ringo left his village when he was fourteen to explore the rest of the Island. He observed all of the species of wildlife. He liked the monkeys best of all. He even made friends with some of them. Ringo went back to his village from time to time. But never lived there again. He found other places on that he preferred such as the caves. He knew the location of every one of them and used them frequently. He watched the other people who came to the Island but remained hidden from them. The only one that ever knew him well was the little boy named Gin from the South village who had died so tragically. Ringo came in to contact with other villagers but he never again made an effort to become friends with them. He spoke a different language. Now that there were groups of villagers exploring the island it was going to be more difficult to remain hidden.
One day during the dry season of the year 1494 a group of villagers from the West and South villages departed on an expedition to the East village. There were two large canoes full of people. Both men and women. There were three couples from the south village and two couples from the west village and their children; which consisted of seven young children ages three to nine and four teens, two boys and two girls ages fourteen through seventeen. They were going to do more than just visit the East village. It had already been explored and deemed livable. They planned on living in there and rebuilding it. After that was accomplished some of the men and teen boys planned to explore the other parts of the Island that had been discovered by Jero, Goro, Elan and the others.
The canoe trip to the East shore went well. It was actually a short distance by sea. They departed from the South shore and paddled out to sea where the tides would not pull them back in. They traveled the short distance to the sea beyond the Eastern shore and paddled successfully in to the beach. They carried supplies with them donated from both villages. Cooking pots, dishes and utensils, water jugs and large bowls, dried and fresh fruits, several loaves of bread made from yams, seeds, seedlings, seed potatoes, sewing supplies, first aid supplies, straw mats and woven sleeping hammocks and many other things that would be of use. The group found the East village just as Jero and Goro had left it.
One of the designated leaders of this village was a forty year old father of four named Tanak. He walked around the abandoned village with Kumi the second leader. The other villagers stood quietly on the beach by the canoes and waited for the two men to return before taking any action. Tanak was quite happy with what he observed as he walked the perimeter of the village. He saw in his minds eye the future appearance of this village which would be the home of a combined tribe of people from both villages.
Tanak and Kumi returned to the others. Tanak announced, "This will be a great haven for us once it is rebuilt; a place to be proud of."
His wife Sanje hugged him and told him how happy she was. Everyone began to unload the canoes at this point. Once the canoes were unloaded and pulled ashore, the women put the children to work picking up dry grass and wood to make a fire. The teen boys and men went fishing. The women cleaned the fire pit and its surrounding area. They gathered herbs and roots and began to set out utensils for cooking. The most important thing was to prepare food and get big pot of stew cooking.
After the children gathered fire supplies they began to hunt for mushrooms. They discovered the large berry bush and tasted the berries. Three of the young girls named Tehya, Kissa and Amina brought their mothers a handful of the berries. Tehya's mother Zuna suggested that they take a large bowl and gather some more for the meal. The girls took the bowl and ran skipping back to the berry bush giggling all the way. The first day was spent cleaning and finding spots to store supplies. Water was drawn from the well. The one thing missing was a lagoon or stream to bathe in. The villagers were going to have to get used to taking bird baths (bathing with well water from a basin).
On the second day the men went searching for wood to build huts. They used the jungle path that led to the stone wall. They found some large trees in that area. They began to cut them down. It took them a few months to build five sturdy huts. Everything went well. They were in the dry season of their climate. The nights and mornings were cool and the days ranged from warm to blazing hot.
The ocean offered relief from the heat. The young children waded. The adults and teens swam frequently. By the time the rainy season arrived the village was thriving. The huts were all built including one which was used for multipurpose. It was a communal hut and was used for meetings of the leaders and for gatherings of the women for sewing, weaving, clay modeling and other purposes. It was equipped with a fire pit, hammocks and straw beds in the event of visitors, or for sick people to be nursed away from the regular sleeping huts.
The village healer was Kayla, a thirty year old mother of two eight-year old fraternal twins Mazi and Mali. Kayla was teaching two teen apprentice healers, a boy Kuruk and a girl Tonga. So far everyone had been healthy and suffered no serious illnesses. Kumi had chosen an area to be used for a graveyard. The villagers dug a small garden. Some crops had already gone through their growing process, had been harvested and stored, while others that thrived during wet weather had been planted in their place. The village had not been given a name as yet. They just thought of it as the East village. Discussions had been held but most could not agree on a name. That was yet to come.
After the rainy season was over Kumi planned to lead a group to travel north on the stone wall and explore the north shore. The villagers tried to keep busy during the rainy season but boredom sometimes set in. The mated couples had time on their hands. As a result once the rainy season was through three of the five mated women were with child. In seven months time there would be new babies born.