Sarum - Edward Rutherfurd [33]
“Do not attack any hunter,” he told them. “They know the terrain and they can destroy us. If we are to live here in peace we must win them to our side.”
This strategy was to be tested at once; for as the six boats pulled into the bank, Krona saw that along the edge of the trees, which were set back some ten yards from the water at that point, a dozen men had silently stepped forward, their bows and arrows at the ready. They had been warned of the boats’ arrival the night before by the long-toed hunter named Taku, who had run all the way from the harbour to prepare his people. They did not move, but watched the newcomers suspiciously.
Slowly, and alone, Krona stepped out on to the bank. He laid his club ceremoniously on the ground as a signal that he had come in peace, and walked towards the hunters. The conversation between them, which had to be carried out in sign language, went as follows:
KRONA: I have come in peace.
HUNTERS: Where from?
KRONA: Across the sea.
This caused a murmur of astonishment.
KRONA: I bring you gifts.
At his signal, Krona’s young wife, Liam, now brought forward a magnificent pottery bowl, and a tunic made of woven cloth, that she herself had thickly embroidered with beads and gems. The hunters inspected both, first cautiously and then with wonder. The workmanship of the bowl was remarkable. It was a large, rounded object, which looked almost like a leather bag. Its surface contained tiny grits of flint, giving it a consistency like a biscuit and it had been fired to a rich dark brown colour. They had seen nothing like it before. Quickly it was passed from hand to hand. As for the tunic, it, too, was unlike anything they possessed. The cloth was woven and the whole front was covered with brightly coloured beads, drops of amber, and even pearls that had reached Krona by a circuitous route through friendly merchants from the south.
HUNTERS: What do you want?
KRONA: To live in this valley.
HUNTERS: These are our hunting grounds. You cannot hunt here or there will not be enough game.
KRONA: We do not wish to hunt.
The hunters looked at one another. This made no sense at all. How could the strangers live if they did not hunt?
KRONA: (seeing their mystification): We bring our own animals.
He showed them the animals in the boats. The hunters could still make nothing of this.
KRONA: We want only the valley. All the other hunting grounds are yours. If you give us the valley, we will give you many gifts. But you must leave the valley and not hunt there. That must be our agreement. If you do this, we will live in peace.
To give emphasis to his words, the women now brought from the boats six more of the fine bowls and three more tunics. To the hunters this seemed riches indeed.
Krona waited without moving while they conferred amongst themselves. Taku, who had preceded the boats from the harbour, argued that they should kill the newcomers.
“They are lying,” he said. “They will hunt all over our lands. Kill them now and take their gifts.” Several of the hunters agreed with him.
“What Taku says may be true,” a stout elderly man called Magri replied. “But they are strong and well armed. Let them enter the valley. If they keep their word, it is well. If they have lied, then we can wait and ambush them later, when they are not prepared.”
After some further argument, this wise and provisional plan was agreed.
And so that day, in a matter of minutes, Krona bought the valley and the little hill of Sarum; the hunters, pleased with their new riches, departed to their camps along the rivers.
The next morning Krona stalked up the small valley, pointing with his club to the boundaries that were to divide each homestead from the next. He allotted to each man and his family a parcel of land on the well-drained slopes that rose high above the river. There each family would be able to clear the ground, sow crops and raise their stock for generations to come. He inspected the river, and smiled to find it full of fish; his hard, weatherbeaten face creased