Chapter Thirty - Riddles

  -Summer-

  Morning dawned, and found the camp preparing for their expedition. Olleb rose early and took a lesson from Belbet on how to load the smokers. He seemed to take to it pretty quickly, which was nice, and Belbet let him know that if, in between the smoking, he wanted to work on the tiles or the roof for the storage, he could, Olleb agreed and went to work, which let Belbet focus on getting baskets on her two sleepy children while they chomped down some snake jerky and punch for breakfast.

  Then, she took one more quick look over Kaion’s hoof, and with a sigh of relief, declared it mostly healed. The flesh was still pink and a tiny bit tender, the way newly healed skin always was, so she implored him to be careful with rocky and sandy areas, but she agreed that he would be fine to walk the distances with her and the kids.

  “Of course I will.” Kaion stated, “Your healing skills are impressive.”

  Belbet fought down the heat rising in her cheeks, and thanked the heavens for her darker complexion, because Victoria would have been blushing bright red at the compliment. She gave a deep breath to clear the thumping of her heart and nodded. “Okay, well, if you could load one of the cisterns onto the sled?”

  It took a bit of pointing for Kaion to figure out what she meant by a cistern, but he got it eventually, which meant Belbet could go to her sister and clarify what she wanted in regards to the sweet potatoes. Mermel’s enthusiastic nodding to everything she said ended up being slightly worrying, actually, but Deenat seemed to understand. “We’ll make sure to leave a good portion of the sweet potatoes in the ground.”

  “Perfect. And if you find anything else-”

  “Bring it back, of course.” Deenat huffed, rolling her eyes. “I know, Belbet. You fuss too much.”

  Eefim stifled a giggle in his hand, his other occupied with holding a spear. He’d armed everyone in the tribe with them, which was a little helpful, although Belbet worried that maybe her trust in Mermel was… naive? She sighed a little, pushing the thought away. If the big man decided to turn that spear on her sister and nephew, there was little she could do other than allow Deenat’s natural skepticism to protect the young woman and her child.

  “Get going,” Belbet huffed, pushing at her sister’s shoulder, only to be nearly knocked off her feet as Deenat retaliated with a a bright, tooth-bearing grin. Belbet made a face back at her, and went back to her own children where they had been piled onto the sled by Kaion.

  “Okay, we’re ready to set off.” Belbet agreed, and took one prong on the sled, only to be gently pushed off of it. What was it today with people pushing her?!

  “I will pull this.” Kaion declared, and did so, pulling the sled forward with a bumpy start, causing Mohniit to shriek and Dahnei to giggle. Rolling her eyes again for the second time that morning, Belbet stepped forward with him, figuring the least she could do was clear brush and tree limbs out of the way for him.

  “Mama! Tell a story!” Dahnei cried an hour later when the walk was starting to reach mind numbing. Belbet blinked up at the early morning sky, still barely lighted,

  “Okay, okay.” She paused, considering what story she wanted to tell her babies. She took a deep breath as Victoria mentally flipped through her library of children’s stories she had memorized. In the end, Belbet settled on an old riddle.

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  “Okay, it’s not a story, really. It’s more of a riddle.” She grinned, lifting her head and swaying along so that she was walking backwards in front of the sled. “A man stands at a river. And he has to cross the river. But! He has to take some things with him. He has with him, a bunch of grain, a chicken, and a dog. Now, he has a little boat that will float on the water. But it can only fit himself and one other thing. So, he has to choose. How does he get the three things across the water?”

  Dahnei’s little face scrunched up as if considering the weight of the world, instead of a riddle. “Hmmm…”

  “Boat!” Mohniit said, smacking the meat of his own leg as if that decided it.

  “Yes, baby, a boat. It’s a piece of wood that floats on the water, and people can ride it to get over and down rivers.” Belbet explained.

  “Why not carry the grain in a pot on his head, or a sack on his back, put the chicken in the boat and the dog as well.” Kaion asked. “...and what is a dog.”

  Belbet shook her head, “A dog is a wolf that has been trained to be good and not eat humans. But, dogs will still eat chickens if you do not keep them seperated. So you cannot leave the chicken and the dog together, even if you’re in the boat with them. And the chicken will eat the grain, if left alone with it. So how do you get them all across the river?”

  Dahnei tilted her head this way and that, as the sled bumped along the stony pathways. The sound of the running water proved they weren’t too far away from the river, which Belbet thought would add a bit of ambiance to the riddle. It was a good riddle, one Victoria had learned in elementary school. It was meant to teach problem solving as well as order of operations. Prioritization too, which was important to learn in a world where one misstep could mean death.

  “Take the chicken over first…” Dahnei mumbled to herself, “Mama, the dog won’t eat the grain, right?” She lifted her bright eyes to Belbet and Belbet nodded.

  Technically, if hungry enough, dogs absolutely would eat the grain. But that wasn’t part of the riddle.

  “Then take over the grain.” Dahnei said, smiling. “Then you can go back for the dog!”

  “And while you’re gone, the chicken eats the grain.” Belbet reminded. “What can you do?”

  Dahnei and Kaion shared looks of consternation. Then Kaion blinked, “Take the chicken back with you.”

  “Okay, so you drop off the grain, take the chicken back with you, and then what?” Belbet prompted. She was kind of impressed, but this was the kind of riddle that kids solved all the time.

  “Put the chicken down and take the dog!” Dahnei shrieked, her voice hitting a register that made Belbet wince. “The dog doesn’t eat grain!”

  “That’s right baby girl, so you can leave the dog with the grain, and go back to get the chicken, and then, with all three across the river, you can take a rest!” Belbet grinned, “Okay, let’s do another riddle.”

  “Another?” Kaion frowned, and Belbet couldn’t help but think that maybe he was pouting because the child got the answer faster than he did. She felt a pang of amusement at the thought, and nodded.

  “Alright, so you’re in a cave, and the way out is blocked. There’s only three ways to go. One has a fire raging. The second has rain dripping down from the ceiling that melts anything in seconds. The third has a bear that’s been starving for two years! Which way should you take to get out?”

  Kaion frowned, “...The fire. You can run through it quickly enough to escape.”

  “They’re all bad! Can’t you dig out?!” Dahnei asked, distressed at the thought of so many ways of dying. Belbet reached out and smoothed her hair.

  “Nope. Can’t dig out. You have to pick one of the three. Which do you pick, baby?”

  “Fire!” Mohniit cried, confident.

  Dahnei considered and then nodded. “Yeah, the fire sounds right.”

  “Nope. You end up inhaling the smoke and dying because you can’t breathe, no matter how fast you run.” Belet grinned,

  “Then which way was right!” Dahnei cried, upset. Belbet remembered her own outrage at finding out this answer, and she can’t hold back her peals of laughter.

  “Mama!!” Mohniit cried, reaching out to snatch at her furs and pull in annoyance.

  “The bear, the bear.” Belbet wheezed through her laughter.

  “What? A bear is deadly too!” Kaion frowned, his steps sure on the pebbled path.

  “Nope, because it’s been starving for two years. Nothing can survive starving that long! It’s bones!” Belbet cackled, having to bend over and breathe. “Oh, you should see your faces!”

  “Another!” Dahnei huffed, “Another, I can do better!”

  “Okay, okay. How about this one? Feed me, and I’ll live a long life. But give me a drink, and I’ll die. What am I?” Belbet asked.

  “...A chicken?” Dahnei asked, confusion tinging her little face. She groaned, flopping onto the sled a little harder in frustration, which made Kaion grunt as the weight he was pulling adjusted itself.

  “A fire.” Kaion grinned, and Belbet clapped in joy. He’d gotten it right!

  “Perfect! That’s right!” Belbet answered, pushing aside the tall reeds as they began to traverse the spongy-soft soil that led towards the salt marsh. “Oh, here we are. Okay, Kaion, you’re gonna have a harder time pulling the sled now, so you two need to get off and walk, okay?” She murmured, gesturing to the two on it.

  Mini Character List

  Victoria/Belbet - Our Main Character, 21 yr old pregnant Mom. - Oh man, it is so fun spouting riddles at people who have never done them before. I should do this more often!

  Dahnei - 5 year old paleolithic child. Daughter of Belbet. Jerboa Mouse-Spirited. - Ugh! I should've thought of that! Stupid Kaion...

  Mohniit - 2 year old paleolithic child. Son of Belbet. Rabbit Spirited. - Everyone's so excited... Maybe I should be too?

  Unborn Baby - I'm fine, just tired.

  Deenat - 25 year old paleolithic gatherer - Ermine Spirited. - Digging for roots was not what I wanted to do with my day. Ugh.

  Eefim - 11 year old paleolithic hunter-in-training - Mermel is so excitable. Why is he like that?!

  Kaion - 26 year old man. Ram Spirited. - Oh. Wow. Her smile is kind of... Huh.

  Wolf - They all left me alone with this weird guy. ...At least he doesn't say anything when I eat the snake meat. I'm eating WELL today.

  Olleb - Serpent Spirited. - ...am I supposed to let the wolf eat the meat? I mean... I saw the little boy feeding meat scraps to it...?

  Mermel - Malamute Spirited. - Digging! Yay!

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