Durc's Story

by echrisco

The clan seeks a new home.

Earth's Children
Durc's Story
(Clan of the Cave Bear Part II)

Chapter 1

The three-year-old boy stood crying out, "Maama, Maaama, Maamaaa!" as his mother disappeared behind the broken ridge. Durc's mother, Ayla, had just been cursed with the death curse ordered by Broud after the earthquake destroyed the home of the Clan.

Everything happened so fast that the toddler was not sure what had happened. All Durc knew was that his mother was leaving without him and would never return. Even though he couldn't cry, he was shaking with emotion, and the earthquake still unsettled him. Durc felt the familiar hands of his mother's sister gently grasp his upper arms from behind and turn him toward herself. Uba pulled him close and held him. He turned his head to the right and leaned it against Uba's abdomen.

He saw the old leader, Brun, berating the new leader, Broud. Brun had just turned over the leadership of the cave to the son of his hearth, Broud. Broud's first act had been to separate Durc from his mother. Then, when she protested, he made the new Mog-ur, Goov, perform the quick ceremony that pronounced Ayla dead. Nobody was supposed to see her from then on, even if she stood before them.

Durc was too young to understand the implications, and nobody understood why Broud had done it. But even Durc could understand that Broud had always hated Ayla and him. Broud had repeatedly reminded him that he was deformed and could never be a useful Clan member. Durc knew it was invalid because his mother, Uba, Creb, and even Brun had said he would be an excellent hunter, although he was not as strong as other boys.

He could see that the people of his cave were almost as confused as he was. They did not know what to do or who to ask. They had tried to turn to Brun after the earthquake, but he ignored them. He was no longer their leader. It was now Broud's duty to lead the people.

Broud instructed everyone to gather everything the earthquake didn't destroy within the cave. It was all brought out and packed up. Goov led a burial ceremony for Creb. The people covered his flesh in red ochre, redressed him in his cave bear cloak, and laid him in a shallow grave beside his sister, Iza, along with his staff and other valuable artifacts.

As Broud led the group away from the cave, they all felt the earth tremor in an aftershock. Within the cave behind them, a few pebbles broke loose from the walls and ceiling, and a bone fell out of the eye socket of a cave bear skull, but nothing more.

Broud walked in the line's front with his second, Vorn. The women stayed a respectful distance behind them, and the other men brought up the rear.

Durc was confused by the arrangement and then remembered that his beloved grandfather, Creb, wasn't with them. He asked Uba if Creb would wake up and catch up with them. Her answer further saddened him. Next to his mother, the old Mog-ur was his favorite person on Earth.

Durc walked with Uba in her place in line with the women. There was no need for the women to fan out to harvest food because they had plenty of vegetables from their caches to eat for a few days, so they stayed in line according to rank. Uba sometimes moved off to the side of the line when something caught her eye. He would run to catch up with his mother's adopted sister to see what she was doing and ask questions about it. As a medicine woman, Uba still kept an eye out for medicinal herbs that she might not have on hand. She explained to Durc that one could never know when medicines would be needed, especially when traveling. Traveling into unknown territory would make gathering even more necessary when an opportunity emerged. She told him that going to new places meant there would likely be less familiar plants and more unfamiliar ones needing testing. She didn't understand why a boy would ask such questions, but she didn't see any harm in answering. She assumed he wouldn't understand or forget anyway, and she figured explaining to him would help her prepare to explain to an actual acolyte later.

About four moon cycles had passed. Durc was tired of spending every day walking and walking. At the same time, he couldn't wait to see what was on the other side of the next hill. It was curiosity that kept his legs moving. He spent the evenings playing with friends, especially Grev, or subtly watching conversations. He was expected to avoid cooking and other women's work, but he often sat and watched how it was done. He was especially interested in observing his aunt prepare medicines.

Durc could see that everyone knew that time was running out. The clan had been living off the land, but they knew it would be challenging for a cave to get through a winter, living off what they could find and hunt and having only rawhide tents for protection from the cold. They were tired of following Broud around. He had yet to locate a new cave for them, and they remembered that the bad luck he had brought upon them destroyed their previous home.

Some of them had been talking as they walked behind the leader's back. Slowly, they formulated a plan and spread it around. When Broud halted them and signaled them to make camp, everyone followed their usual routine of setting up the low tents, building fires, and cooking the evening meals. They had taken down a single red deer that morning, which provided a meager meal for everyone with the addition of summer greens that were gathered by the women as they walked.

Broud had commanded his mate to make him a new wrap with the deer hide, but time was limited. The leather only partially scraped when she fell asleep. The following morning, everyone packed up as usual. Broud picked up the new hide, wrapped it around himself, and tied it. Oga sat before him with her head bowed in a request to speak. He tapped her shoulder. She said, "This woman could not finish your wrap. If worn now, it will smell strong and not last long."

Broud just shrugged dismissively and said, "I do not care. My old one is stiff from all the rain. You can make another one later."

Broud gave the signal to go and walked at the lead with his second, Vorn, and the new Mog-ur, Goov. Everyone else sat on the ground and waited. Durc was nervous but remained seated as well. Broud, Vorn, and Goov had only taken a few steps when Vorn noticed the absence of the familiar sound of footsteps behind him. He looked over his shoulder and saw the group sitting on the ground. He nudged Broud, who was already turning his head to see what was happening. Broud looked questioningly at the group and told them to get up and follow him.

Everyone sitting looked at Brun, but he was just looking at the ground, so they all did the same. Broud stomped back over to the group and stood in front of Brun. He demanded, "What are you doing, Brun?"

Brun said, "This man is doing nothing." He then dropped his hands in his lap and looked at them, ignoring the gestations of the young man in front of him. Broud was stunned and did not know what to do. He turned to Vorn to consult with him but saw that he and Goov had joined the sitting group. Broud was furious, but no one would look at him to see what he was saying. Finally, Broud walked to a stone and sat down.

Brun then stood and picked up a nearby discarded bone from someone's evening meal. With it, he drew a long, straight line in the ground while moving along on the same side of it as Broud. When he finished, he backtracked to the middle of the line, stepped across, and crossed his arms.

All the seated people then stood and walked to Brun's side of the line. Brun gave the signal to go. Everyone but Broud fell into their accustomed places in line. Broud, however, was still standing bewildered on his side of the line. Durc saw that Broud was furious and brooding, which somehow made him feel good. He was old enough to understand that there was nothing that Broud could do about the situation.

Broud jogged up and took his former place behind Brun and Grod. Brun turned toward Broud with a grunt and pointed to the back of the line. Broud couldn't accept that fate and tried to defy his leader and the man of his hearth. Brun stopped the procession and glared at Broud. He said, "You are now the lowest-ranked man of this cave. For the rest of the day, you will walk behind the women, then take your place as the last of the men tomorrow. If you do not, I will have Goov curse you with death! Before we left the cave, you and everyone else knew you deserved to be cursed. That is all."

At that, Brun turned on his heel and proceeded to walk. They were traveling more easterly to get near the river, as Brun had tried to convince Broud to do.

Three days later, the travelers were walking along the top of a ridge. They were tired of traveling and desperate to find winter shelter. It was only mid-summer, but it was high time to stock away meat, grains, fruit, vegetables, and Uba's medicines for the winter. Plus, they would all need hides for clothing, bedding, and cooking pots. Their water bags, bone tools, and the like were also getting worn and would not last through the winter.

They came upon a valley to their right. Durc could see a river in the distance on the opposite side of the valley. The river had carved the basin as it moved over eons between the ridge the people were on and the cliff that the river hugged now as it flowed southward.

Durc had been walking ahead with other children and saw a herd of giant deer in the valley near the river. He had stopped and was pointing at them. Brun signaled a stop and then for silence. Many of the men were already gripping their spears in anticipation as they caught sight of the deer. Brun used all of his senses to evaluate the situation. The ridge they were on dropped off sharply in places, but other areas were rocky slopes that were rather steep but navigable grades. The hunters could handle the descent, but it would be difficult for the older people and mothers with young.

Broud was getting impatient and said to Brun, "Let us go. What are we waiting for?"

Brun responded to the whole group, "It's too dangerous to descend here. Also, something feels wrong here. Listen, it's too quiet. I think there are large predators at the bottom of this ridge. We will continue and come around to the deer from another way."

Broud looked at Brun with disdain. His determination to prove to everyone that he was the best hunter and worthy of leadership was evident on his face. He got everyone's attention and said, "I am not scared. I will hunt those deer. Who's with me?" He waited expectantly, but nobody made any move to follow him. He grunted, "Fine; I will hunt them myself if I am the only real man here." Broud walked, slid, and skidded down the slope. He had avoided looking at the leader so he couldn't be told to stop. He started across the grassy valley at a slow run that would reserve enough energy to get to the deer on the other side and still be able to chase them.

The large bachelor cave lion was walking toward a herd of giant deer with his long, yellow mane blowing in the breeze. He was not especially hungry and was taking his time. He had been heading south along the wall at the valley's edge, but upon smelling Hyenas ahead, he turned left toward the herd of deer.

Suddenly, a deer ran past him. It was relatively slow and did not move right, so he thought it might be an injured or elderly deer. It would be an easy kill. Easy enough that it would not matter if the nearby hyenas stole it from him. The great lion eased into a gallop and was in pouncing range in three bounds. He sprang from the ground with his forepaws outstretched and mouth open, ready to close around his prey's neck.

An odd noise sounded from behind them and high up. The deer turned around and looked surprised and fearful, but the face was wrong. The big cat had never seen a face like it. The strange animal leaped backward on two legs, taking its neck out of reach of the lion's jaws. But while the cat's teeth closed on nothing, the outstretched claws of the predator's left paw found soft flesh. The lion's razor-sharp claws drew four parallel gashes from the right shoulder diagonally to the left side of the two-legged animal's abdomen, revealing its ribs, the blood-pumping organ, and wind sacks under them, and other organs in the belly.

With the man lying on the ground and bleeding, the lion could see this was no deer, even though the new skin wrap smelled like one. The form was wrong; most of all, the blood didn't smell like deer blood. It was not something to eat. He swished his massive head to the right, then to the left with a few grunts, and jogged off toward the herd of real deer, keeping his head below the height of the grass.

There were gasps and screams from the onlookers on the ridge above. Uba started to run down to help the injured man, but Brun stopped her and pointed to the right of where Broud lay, groaning. A pack of hyenas was closing in on him quickly. They were not especially scared of a lone lion, but with him headed away, they certainly had nothing to fear. In a moment, the leader had a grip on the man's neck and started dragging him toward their den at the edge of the wall. Broud clawed the ground in vain. Durc felt an uneasy feeling in his stomach but couldn't look away.

Another young hyena darted into where the lion had forced the man open and snagged a mouthful of intestines, pulling out the rest as the lead beast dragged Broud down into the hole under some large boulders. Durc observed that the den was spacious enough for a dozen or more animals and their prey, although the entrance was barely large enough for one at a time to squeeze through, and it looked like they dropped down out of sight as soon as they entered.

Uba and the other women sounded the death wail. Durc was disturbed to see a man slaughtered like that, but losing Broud did not sadden him. He was well aware of how much Broud hated him and his mother. Afterward, people milled around, not sure what to do. They looked to Brun, and he motioned for them to follow and continue as before.

Vorn protested, "Should we not have a proper burial ceremony?" Brun shrugged his shoulders and sat on a rock with his arms crossed, looking expectantly at Vorn. Vorn looked confused and asked, "What are you doing?"

Brun said, "I am waiting."

Vorn asked, "What are you waiting for?"

Brun responded, "You want to bury the son of my hearth. I am waiting for you to retrieve him from the hyenas and the underworld to which they took him. Then, we can have a proper burial ceremony."

Vorn looked abashed and lowered his eyes. Brun told Goov to make the appropriate petition to Ursus, which he performed using the most ancient silent language of the Clan. While Vorn was doing it, Durc saw the lion in the distance take down a deer near the river. The spooked herd stampeded upstream to an opening between the cliff and a ridge that led into the valley.

The people continued along the ridgeline. They crossed a gully and climbed another hill leading east toward the river. Ahead was the gap at the end of the ridge. When they reached the end, they could see that the passageway was reasonably short and opened into another valley on their left. The giant deer were spotted milling around in the middle of the left valley. They knew an old buck was no longer with them, and the lion was no longer a threat.

The two-legged hunters lit extra-smoky torches and ran down the slope into the field, spreading across it. The river on their right entered the valley along the same cliff wall they had seen on the other side of the gap from a gorge that angled in from the southeast. The field continued eastward toward a forest.

It would be a challenging hunt. They could only try to keep up with the giant deer until the old, young, and weak were too tired to keep on. Perhaps if they reached the trees ahead, some would get snagged before disappearing into the woods. The closest the men got to the herd was about 50 yards, and then the deer pulled farther and farther ahead, but the men kept going.

As they neared the tree line, the deer began disappearing. It did not appear that the animals were slipping into the woods but instead descending out of view. Durc thought that perhaps there was a dip in the field before the tree line. He kept looking ahead, expecting to see the front-runners of the deer climb the other side and into the forest, but they did not. "Maybe they turned right or left at the bottom," he thought. He was panting and sweating as he struggled to keep up with the men and older boys. His longer legs helped with speed, but he didn't have the endurance of others. The tall grass and bushes made it difficult for all of them, but Durc's longer and straighter legs made it easier for him to jump over rocks and other objects that the other hunters had to go around.

When the hunters approached where the deer had gone out of sight, they saw it was a massive gorge rather than a shallow dip. It was about 100 feet deep and separated the field and the woods. The far side of the gorge sloped up to the tree line. The boundary that the hunters were standing on dropped almost straight down. The giant deer were lying in the shallow, rocky river bed below. Most were dead, but some were still kicking, thrashing, or even trying to drag themselves away.

The hunters were excited by the thrill of the chase and the overwhelming success of the hunt. Brun grunted and gained everyone's attention. His face didn't show excitement. It showed a mixture of anger and sadness instead. He said, "This is not good. The spirit of the Giant Deer has sacrificed too much for us. We can use the hides, but there is far too much meat to carry. It will go to waste."

Vorn suggested, "Maybe if we find a cave close enough, we can come back here and get the meat if we dig caches for it. The ice under the ground will also keep it cold here just as it would in a cave."

Brun nodded, "You are right if we find a cave close enough. If we do not find one somewhere soon, we must hunt much meat quickly to survive the winter."

Durc was too young to hunt even though he had his little spear, but he had been a pace behind the men chasing the deer. He ran ahead upstream to a more traversable slope and descended it. At the bottom, he splashed into the water, grabbing the antlers of the first giant deer he reached. While the hunters followed suit, Durc stood with his mouth agape, looking back at the cliff wall.

Durc said, "Great, Ursus! Creb! Great Ursus! Creb!" repeatedly. Brun, who was halfway down the incline, glared at Durc with a hard stare. It was unacceptable to speak the name of Ursus outside of rituals to honor him, and only a Mog-ur did that.

By the time Brun reached the bottom, other men were also staring. He turned toward the direction they were facing, and Durc was pointing. Within the face of the cliff wall was the distinct impression of a Cave Bear. It had one small cave opening above and to the right of a black stone on the tip of what resembled a snout. Its location and size gave the impression of an eye. Beneath the stone nose was the yawning mouth of a cave full of stalagmites and stalactites, suggesting the bear's teeth. Where an eye should be on the left side was an indention, but rather than a cave, there was the twisted stratum of rock resembling the scar that remained of Creb's missing eye.

Brun and Goov walked up to and into the cave. Durc followed but remained outside, watching them. The cave was surprisingly dry. The growth of stalactites, stalagmites, drapes, and pillars had ceased ages ago when the water level had dropped. Brun noted that many areas for hearths were naturally sectioned off by the calcium formations. The people could create other barriers with stones in the traditional way. Some alcoves wouldn't be usable by a family because of the incline but would be suitable for stashes and caches.

Goov was examining the formations themselves. Then he signed that he wished that the small cave higher up was accessible, but there was a sheer drop of perhaps fifteen feet. They would have to explore more later, but at the moment, everyone had to help drag many giant deer onto the bank for the women to slaughter.

When they were done, Brun and the other men found places to sit at the mouth of the cave while the women cut meat and processed leather. Durc sat next to his grandfather, Brun. Goov said hesitantly, "Brun, I am sorry for the loss of Broud, the son of your hearth. I have had time to think; I believe it was for the best. I believe that Ayla's totem spirit sent that lion to repay the years of mistreatment that Broud gave to Ayla. We all saw how he behaved toward her and always hated her. The lion also sent the deer to the field above so we would find this cave and have meat to stock up for the winter. He has destroyed the cause of our bad luck and restored good luck to us."

The look on Brun's face showed that he did not like it brought out that the son of his hearth was the root of their bad luck, but he could not deny that it was true. He said, "I think you may be right. Perhaps that lion was the spirit of Ayla herself, for all we know. We also need to give much thought to her son, Durc. He is still too young to hunt or to be a man, yet it was he who first saw the deer. He was the first to lay hands on a deer. None of us used any spears to kill them, so he did no less than any man here to help hunt them. Most importantly, it was he who first saw this cave. It must be that Ayla had passed on the good luck that she had to Durc."

Goov and Brun's words made Durc feel as big as a cave bear. He couldn't help but smile, even though he knew the clan didn't approve of it. He hadn't forgotten his mother and delighted in thinking of her as the mighty cave lion that killed Broud.

Brun rose to his feet and continued, "There is no room to camp outside tonight. Vorn, light the hearth with the coal from your horn. Goov, perform the ceremony to make this our home. We must establish hearths and store all this meat, bones, and leather. After the ceremony, we will light torches from the main hearth and enter."

Durc watched Goov perform the ceremony with intense interest even though he was getting very sleepy. Such things fascinated him. Afterward, Brun called in couples and unmated individuals one at a time and showed them their new living spaces.

Finally, he called in his mate and led her into his large hearth near the cave mouth on the left. Vorn then came out and summoned Uba and Durc to follow him. Uba carried a very sleepy Durc on her hip and her bundle on her back. Durc could hardly stand as Uba arranged their sleeping furs in their new home across the mouth of the cave from Brun's area. He fell asleep as soon as his aunt laid him down.

The morning light eased Durc awake. At first, he was confused because he didn't see grass and trees around. Then he realized they were in a cave. The memories of the previous night came flooding back, and he became eager to explore the cave and its surroundings. After relieving himself, he returned to the cave and headed for the rear.

Uba stopped him and insisted that he eat something before exploring. He obeyed reluctantly. Then he took a torch and quickly headed again toward the cave's rear. He noted where each of the families' hearths was without obviously looking at the people within. The dwellings without people were still identifiable by the belongings.

He examined the natural formations with his eyes and hands as Goov had done a few hours before. Then he noticed that the back of the cave floor angled upward into darkness. He carefully made his way up and saw that the incline extended beyond the level of the cave roof behind him. He kept going until he reached a nearly solid wall.

He turned to head back down to the central part of the cave and saw that he had walked past an opening behind him. Now facing the mouth of the cave, the new tunnel was a little to his left and slightly above his level. He could see that light was coming through it. A narrow ledge at his extreme left led to the small passage. He cautiously edged along the narrow stone path and into the opening. Within a few cramped steps, he walked into a relatively large room with an opening to the outside on the opposite wall from where he stood. It was about two feet above the floor of the room. The room itself was perhaps twice the size of the average family hearth. He walked across and looked outside. He was well above the riverbank and to the left of the cave's main entrance.

Durc realized he was looking out of the small cave opening that looked like Creb's good eye when viewed from outside. He remembered what Goov had said about wanting to get up here. He thought he should tell Goov about the passage.

He heard a noise behind him and turned to see Goov entering the room. He greeted the man with the respect that was owed to a Mog-ur. Goov grunted in response but was too entranced by the space to give Durc any further notice. It was clear to Durc that Goov would have this room for himself and that he, Durc, would not likely see it again. He asked Goov if he wanted help bringing his belongings up to this room. Goov nodded his assent but continued to look around.

Durc quickly exited the space and clambered down to the alcove where Goov had spent the night. Goov's belongings were still bundled except for his sleeping furs. Durc rolled up the skins and tried to sling the bundle onto his back. He only succeeded in knocking himself down onto the rolled-up sleeping furs. He got up and carried just the furs up the incline. It was difficult as they were heavier and larger than he. When he arrived at the top, he ran into Goov, who had just stepped off the small path. Goov grunted his approval, took his bedroll, and returned to the track. Durc turned to head back down into the main cavern, but Goov told him to go outside and explore.

Durc decided that would be better than trying to manage the heavy bundle. He exited the cave with his eyes squinting against the brightness of the still early morning. As his eyes adjusted, he saw that the river water was clear. The previous evening, it had been muddied and bloodied by falling deer. The shore was composed of bare stone with a bit of sand here and there and an occasional clump of grass.

While the land above and behind him was grassy steppes, the land across the small river was a forest of deciduous trees with a sprinkling of evergreens. The ground near the river was covered in undergrowth, but further up the slope, it thinned out. The river, as seen at first from across the other meadow, was flowing Southward, but by the time it reached the cave, it had turned eastward. The cave was south-facing, which would be good during the winter. If it got too hot in the summer, people could relax in the forest's shade across the river.

Durc saw that some low-ranking men were digging a trench downstream by stabbing at the ground with fire-hardened sticks. Some other men sat near the mouth of the cave, inspecting their spears and other supplies. A few others were just looking around the area like he was. All the women were busy processing meat and leather. The children were playing and exploring. Durc could tell that everyone was relieved to finally have a home and not have to endure any more days of endless walking.