The First Jumper (first draft version)

The First Jumper 12: Willow

It was an instant uproar.

Nearly all of those present began to talk at once, and half of those talking were shouting.

"How can he be alive?" shouted Ringtail.

"He looks dead to me," said Tiger.

"He doesn't smell dead," said Bison.

"I think he's dead," said Tiger.

"Shut up," said Cave Bear to Tiger, then settled it by clapping his hands.  "What shall we do, Medicine Man?"  The formal question drew the attention in upon Raccoon.

Raccoon spoke up, and the men continued arguing with one another, but Willow no longer heard them.

She had withdrawn her hand, warm from being between Raccoon's hand and Little Bear's chest, and now she was looking down at it.  She was more confused than she had ever been in her life, and her emotions were pulling her in multiple directions.

Adopted with choice rights and soon coming of age, she was aware that with so few littles in the tribe, she had a big advantage.  Normally, a girl growing up in the tribe could choose among all the men in the tribe, having to compete for mates only with the other girls in her age group.  She could choose to be one of the lesser wives of the chief or one of the warriors, or she could marry a man of the tribe who had no children, or she could marry one of the youth, if he became a man before she became childbearing age.

If two girls chose the same husband, the man was allowed to choose one of them to be the senior of the two.  The second could take the lesser place, or she could choose a different man.  Both choices were often made, but the men almost never turned a woman down, so the women decided.

Willow was frightened of the idea of marriage, but she knew she had to choose.  She had never expected her choice to be so complicated, or her heart pulled in so many different ways.

If none of the men of the tribe were acceptable, girls born into the tribe could also ask to be traded to another tribe, if they asked before they came of age.  They rarely chose that, as they were trading a known situation for an unknown.  They would be traded with choice rights, but there was no guarantee that another tribe would have any better pickings, and the girl would be leaving all her family and friends behind.

In this tribe, there were many more women than men.  None of the warriors were without multiple wives, and Raccoon was the only man in the tribe with no wife at all.  Willow was certain she did not want to be the lesser wife of any man but there was nothing glamorous about being the wife of the ancient medicine man, who would soon be the ripe old age of thirty.

Given a choice, Willow would much rather have a husband close to her own age.  There would be a risk, in that a very young warrior could be challenged and killed by another warrior, and she would be claimed by the victor and added to his collection of women.

Still, among the young men, she was sure Tiger had as good a chance of becoming chief as any, not merely because he was the strongest of the young men who had not taken a wife, but because he was the oldest son of the current chief.  That didn't guarantee he would become chief, but it seemed to be what most of the tribe assumed.

Willow had a couple of years at the most, before she became marriageable, and it could happen at any time.  When it did, she had best be prepared to choose, because once that day came, she would belong to someone, before the day was over.  The whole tribe would know, the moment her body announced its readiness to bear a child.  They would all turn to her and demand to know her choice.

If she made no choice herself, someone would claim her, and someone else would challenge him, and then the tribe would have one fewer warrior, and she would be added, along with the entire collection of wives of the defeated warrior, to the harem of the victor.