Sarum - Edward Rutherfurd [40]
The foxes and the deer,
And the oak and the elm.
The way to the east is lost;
And the sea is rising still.
Now the old man’s voice sank to a whisper.
But under the dark waters
The forest is still alive.
Stand on the shore and listen —
You can hear the forest creatures;
You can hear their voices crying in the waves.
The attack came suddenly and without warning. As the old man reached the end of his tale, the silence was broken by a shout from outside the circle. The astonished hunters turned and saw that they were completely surrounded by fighting men who stood in the shadows, impassive but fully armed. Before they knew what was happening, they saw the medicine man detach himself from the shadows; with a surprising agility, he stepped quickly over the seated hunters and waddled to the centre of the circle. His face was painted white; around his eyes were circles of blood. He moved with purpose.
Whatever the reason for this intrusion, there was nothing the hunters could do, since none of them was armed. There was a tense silence.
The medicine man had prepared his ground carefully and he had moved with speed and cunning. Keeping his action secret from Krona, who he knew would not support him, he had hurried stealthily that afternoon from one farm to another at the north end of the valley with a simple and persuasive message: so persuasive that by dusk he had collected a force of fourteen young warriors eager to see action and convinced that their medicine man had discovered the cause of the bad harvests. At dusk, and before Krona had discovered what was taking place, the party slipped out of the valley in their boats and made towards the place where the rivers met.
His plan was bold. If it worked, he would at a stroke recover his prestige, and make his position stronger than ever before.
The conversation which now took place between the medicine man and Magri, who as the senior man spoke for the hunters, was to be remembered for generations.
MEDICINE MAN: We come in peace.
MAGRI: What do you want?
MEDICINE MAN: (pointing to the soothsayer) Who is this man?
MAGRI: The soothsayer.
MEDICINE MAN: He is evil. We have come to punish him.
MAGRI: He is a holy man.
MEDICINE MAN: (excited) He is a devil! He lives in the forest and tells lies. He has secret meetings with the moon goddess and he tells you not to worship the sun god.
MAGRI: (reasonably) But the moon goddess protects hunters.
MEDICINE MAN: The sun god is greater. He makes the seasons and gives us good harvests. All other gods are less than him. But now he has turned his face from the valley. Twice he has destroyed our crops.
MAGRI: The rain destroyed your crops.
MEDICINE MAN: (pointing) He is the cause! He has taught the hunters evil magic! He tells you not to sacrifice to the sun god. The hunters must not listen to him any more. The sun god says that he must die.
There was a gasp of stupefaction. The soothsayer did not move.
“Evil!” screamed the medicine man, who had been working himself up to a pitch of rage. “Evil.”
At this signal, while the circle of hunters was still stunned at what was taking place, two young warriors ran forward, seized the old man and dragged him away into the shadows. The hunters rose in fury, but the medicine man had anticipated them. With a speed that was remarkable for a man his size, he had already leaped out of the circle as the soothsayer was being taken, and the hunters now found themselves faced with twelve warriors with spears raised.
“Those who do not worship the sun god must die,” the medicine man cried in exaltation. “Remember.” And within moments, the warriors had vanished into the darkness in their boats.
When they reached the valley, the war party headed north, to a spot on the ridge above the medicine man’s house and there, watched by the warriors, the medicine man executed the soothsayer, who still had not spoken a word. He burned his head and his heart on a little fire and announced with confidence:
“Next year, there will be a good harvest.”
The outrage had been committed,