Chapter 2

Christian struggled to hold his belly while laughing, "You thought you could have nicer things without stronger people stealing them from you?"

"Jesus Christ, what is your problem," Lucy responded.

"My name is Christian, and I'm not the one with a problem. Ba ha ha."

Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Your dress isn't helping me calm down," he wheezed, "You look like a shaggy dog."

Lucy had used the flax to make linen fibers, but didn't weave them into cloth. A poncho of flaxen fibers tied to linen strings was made by Lucy. It had a hole for her head, and tied at the sides over her hips. It looked like a dress made out of long golden hair.

"You laugh, but I'm comfortable." Lucy snorted.

Her clothes were soft and flexible. Her legs were smeared grey from clay used as bug repellent. Lucy had gotten used to walking barefoot. She would prefer modern shoes, but the bottoms of her feet had toughened.

"What ever you say, Bone Taker." Christian called Lucy.

"What did you say?" Lucy asked.

"That's what they're calling you." He answered, "Bone Taker."

Lucy had been taking the left over bones of cooked animals from Hess village to make calcium oxide for quicklime cement.

"So I use a few bones. What is the big deal?"

"If you talked more to these people, you'd learn they believe the spirit resides in bones." Christian began, "They believe you're walking around with ghost legs between life and death, taking animal's spirits to be punished in a Hell realm of fire."

"That is ridiculous." Lucy huffed.

"You may not believe in Gods, spirits, and the afterlife, Lucy," Christian spoke, "but these people do. You're a religious figure to them."

"You've got to be kidding me," Lucy smacked her forehead in exhaustion, "Bone Taker?"

Christian nodded, and disappeared. Lucy let out a deep sigh of frustration. She didn't want to be involved with religion, and she refused to claim herself as a God or other spiritual figure. Her faith was in science. Lucy understood Hesse's limited world views could create religious ideals, but she didn't like them being used on her. She also hated living in a small hut made of flimsy plants.

"No!" A small boy cried as villagers of Hess dragged him towards Lucy.

"This is for the good of the village," an adult scolded the child.

"What the hell is going on?" Lucy asked, upset at the way the boy was being pulled around.

"Bone Taker-"

"My name is Lucy!"

"Lucy, please help us. The animals attack our hunters. You must appease the animals," an adult spoke while gripping the boy's arm.

The boy cried, and refused to look Lucy in the eyes.

"Let him go," Lucy demanded.

"The animal spirits are angry," another adult pleaded.

"They aren't angry!" Lucy screamed.

"This boy is bad luck for the village," the adult holding the struggling boy spoke.

"You know nothing." Lucy sighed.

"Take the boy."

"Take the boy."

"No!" the boy screamed.

"What?" Lucy asked shocked.

"Take the boy. He is bad for the village."

Lucy looked at the small boy. His eyes were red with tears. His cheeks wet. Lucy sighed, and waved the boy to come. He hesitated, but the adults shoved him towards Lucy. Lucy gave an angry look to the adults.

"Keep him out of the village."

Lucy stared at the crying boy as the adults returned to Hess, "What's your name?" Lucy wanted to comfort him with a hug, but was hesitant that he was afraid of her.

"Rual," the boy sniffled.

"Rual, I'm Lucy," She spoke in her most comforting voice, "I'm gonna make sure you stay okay. Okay?"

Rual nodded, and wiped his nose.

"Are you hungry, Rual?"

Rual nodded.

"Follow me, and I'll get you some food." Lucy spoke while walking towards her work areas of fire.

Rual started shaking in fear.

"Nothing bad will happen. You can trust me." Lucy comforted Rual.

Rual followed Lucy to a small camp fire. There was a bowl of mussel soup with wild vegetables sitting close to it. Lucy pulled it out of the hot ashes, with a pair of sticks as tongs.

"This is very hot. So we got to wait for it to cool." Lucy told him. "Sit with me, Rual. How old are you?"

"Ten."

"I bet this all seems scary."

Rual nodded.

"It's tough being forced out of your home," Lucy sighed. "Do you know what's over there?" Lucy pointed towards the ocean.

"The sea?" Rual asked.

"No. Passed it."

"The edge of the world."

"If you go out there," Lucy talked, "really far out there. You won't find an edge."

"What's there?"

"I don't know. More water or land. The world is very big, Rual." Lucy picked up the bowl, and passed it. "Have some soup."

Rual ate it fast after tasting the first bite.

"You must have been hungry," Lucy laughed to disguise her disappointment of not eating any.

"It tastes really good."

"You don't have to suffer, Rual. I'm not here to punish you." Lucy spoke calmly.

"I'm not trouble?"

"No. You can help me, and I can help you. Do you want to work together?" Lucy asked.

Rual thought silently, then nodded his head, "I will help you, Bone Taker."

"Please call me Lucy." She sighed.

Rual followed Lucy everywhere the next few days. Lucy wanted Rual to be comfortable, but she needed personal space.

"Do you want to go play," Lucy asked Rual.

"Do I have to," he asked.

"What do you want to do?"

"I do what you say," Rual responded.

"I'm not your boss."

"But you're a woman."

"What does that have to do with anything," Lucy asked.

"Hess says women are leaders of men. Men obey women."

"What?"

Lucy wasn't expecting a reversal of gender roles regarding sexism. It took her a moment to think things over.

'Should I treat him as an equal,' Lucy wondered, 'I don't want to build an unbalanced power structure.'

"Go do what you want," Lucy spoke, "as long as you stay out of trouble."

Rual walked away with an uncertain attitude of what to be doing. He collected firewood, and clay; things he would normally do with Lucy.

"Life isn't all about work. Go find something interesting." Lucy told him.

Lucy checked craw fish traps that she made out of special baskets tied together. They were baited with cooked mussels. Her diet consisted of seafood for protein, unless she traded with Hess for terrestrial meats. Lucy didn't like hunting animals that struggled for their lives. Fish were okay, because they don't make verbal noises that made her uncomfortable. Lucy had built a very small farm for growing flax, the size of a large rug. Her future plans included farming edible plants, when she had better tools than a hard stick to turn the dirt.

"I found something!" Rual yelled while running to Lucy, and handing her a green rock.

"Where did you get this," Lucy asked with excitement.

"Do you like it?"

"This rock is very special," Lucy spoke to Rual, "Can you take a basket and collect as much of it as you can. No, wait. I'll go with you."

"What is it?" he asked her.

"Malachite."

Rual and Lucy went on a trek, and found an area full of malachite. Lucy was excited, because it could yield metal. Copper metal. Lucy had been wanting metal tools. She had been held back by sticks and stones.

"We're gonna be able to cut down trees." Lucy cheered.

Lucy had a stone ax, but it was very slow and tedious for felling wood. More like smashing wood, than cutting it. Rual jumped up and down in excitement, and ran around while Lucy smashed pieces of malachite loose with a large rock. They carried two heavy baskets full of green rocks back to their home.

"Hide these rocks in my hut, and don't tell anyone about them." Lucy instructed Rual.

Lucy was worried that the pretty rocks would be stolen for decoration.

"I'm here for my food," Hess spoke.

Rual ran outside to get the next basket, but Lucy shook her head at him.

"Is he giving you trouble," Hess asked.

"No," Lucy responded quickly.

"My house keeps out the wind. It is good."

"Are you going to take the next one, if I build it?"

"I only have what is best for me," Hess responded to Lucy.

"Go check the fishing traps," Lucy told Rual.

"You seem nervous." Hess squinted.

"I have to worry about my stuff being taken." Lucy spoke coldly.

"I take tribute as leader."

"Leading is hard, when more people come."

"Are you saying that I'm a bad leader?" Hess asked.

"No," Lucy quickly responded, "It's just harder to lead more people alone."

"I can lead what I have."

"What about trading with other groups?"

Hess thought for a moment, "They give me what I want, or I take it."

"What if we give things for other things," Lucy asked, "And don't have to risk getting injured in a fight. Work together peacefully."

"Injuries are bad," Hess nodded, "But people fight for what they want."

"We can live without fighting all the time." Lucy spoke, "Being able to defend and protect oneself is good, but we can live better without threatening each other all the time."

"What is your trick," the leader asked.

"It's not a trick," Lucy raised her hands, "Hess village protects me from wild animals. I'd be in danger, if I lived alone. I give you food, because I am kept safe. More things can be given, if we work together more."

"More food?" Hess asked.

"More food. Better living. Safer living." Lucy answered.

"What is the cost?"

"Protecting my things from being taken wastes time." Lucy said, "If I can have things, without people taking them, I can make and give more things to you and Hess village. I can help you all have more and better things."

"You'll give me more food," Hess asked.

"No, not give. Trade for other things. You get more without having to take by force."

Hess contemplated and spoke, "I wont take your things, unless I want them."

"No, not like that," Lucy spoke, "If you want something from me, you have to offer me something. Threats are not fair trade. If you want more food from me, I need something from you?"

"You want sex," Hess asked, "I let you pick a man."

"No men," Lucy said, "I want to live without having my things taken from me. I want to trade food for things, like safety from animals. I'll trade more food for other things, or things for other things."

"Why trade, and not just take?"

"We are good at different things, right?" Lucy told Hess, "You are good at hunting animals. I am bad at hunting animals. I am good at fishing, and finding edible plants. Sometimes hunting is harder than fishing, and sometimes finding edible plants is harder than hunting. We trade food for other food with each other to stay better fed. We do what we're good at."

"Hunt if you want animal." Hess answered.

"But I am bad at hunting, and you are good at it. You can catch more animals than I can. I can do better at doing other things. Things that can help you hunt more, if you want, or give you more time to do other things."

"Time for sex, and having baby?"

Lucy hesitated to talk, "You can choose what you want to do. That is what makes trading good. We do things that we are good at, and trade those things for things other people are good at."

"My house took a long time for you to build. Does that mean you are bad at houses?"

"I needed to find and work extra materials to build that concrete house." Lucy said, "The extra work was justified by the house being stronger. I need more resources and better tools to make concrete faster. I can't collect bones and shells very quickly. I would need limestone rock to make even more cement than usual, but I don't have tools to mine rock. If I could have things without people just taking them, I could have more things that could help me, then help you all, like tools I build for myself. I can't keep making more pottery for free, and lose it when people chose to take it from me. They can make their own pottery, or pay me with things or favors for my pottery."

"What do you want for pottery?" Hess asked Lucy.

"I need help building more basket traps for catching craw fish for a start."

"Those are hard to make," Hess spoke.

"Yes, and making pottery takes away from time for building new fishing traps. There are other ways to trade. People could collect mussels from the beach for me, or do other things that I do, so I can do other things that help them and me."

"I make them do things for you, and you give me more food."

"You shouldn't force people against their will," Lucy said, "If they don't want to do something for me, they shouldn't have to do it. No threats allowed."

"Why would they want to help you?"

"I can do things that help them or others get more, if they do things willingly for me."

"What do I get from all this?" Hess asked.

"If I get more help, you can get more things like food. I can have more time to find more edible plants. Then you don't have to risk hurting yourself to hunt more food to eat the same amount. Everyone is safer. Less injuries. I can make food that doesn't rot quickly, it's called pickling, if I have time to do it."

"Does it taste good?"

"Most people like it. It's food you can save for many days without it going bad."

Hess stared at Lucy, "Are you lying to me?"

"No lies."

"I am the leader of this village."

"I don't want to be the leader."

"What do you want?"

"I want to be safe from harm, and be able to keep doing things for myself without fear of them being stolen from me," Lucy responded.

"You want me to trade, and not take." Hess asked.

"I want everyone to trade. It's better for everyone. It keeps us safer."

"What prevents others from taking?"

"There should be a punishment for taking things that aren't yours."

"Kill thieves!" Hess roared.

"No, not that much," Lucy tried to calm Hess, "They have to give what they stolen back, and do or give more than they took. Make stealing bad for them. We shouldn't jump straight to killing. People deserve the chance to do better."

"Trade for things." Hess thought out loud.

"Look at all the food I caught, Lucy." Rual spoke while holding up a basket.

"This is why trading is good," Lucy began speaking, "Rual helped me get more done. I could have gotten traps by myself, but then I wouldn't be able to make this deal with you without his help."

"There's so many inside it!" Rual said cheerfully.

Hess looked at the trap holding at least 50 craw fish and said, "Why is Rual good for you, and bad luck for village?"

"Rual isn't bad luck, he needed the opportunity to help in a way he could. Rual is bad at hunting because he is very noisy and energetic. His energy helps me do more things. Thank you for your help, Rual."

Rual smiled.

"He obeys you, yes?"

"He is not my servant or slave," Lucy said, "We help each other."

Rual looked confused.

"Men will take advantage of women, if given power over them," Hess said.

"People should only have power over themselves," Lucy told them, "No one should have power over others."

"No system of control makes the village weak." Hess commented.

"The system should be rules people follow. A leader should make fair rules that help everyone. The leader should also obey those rules. You help the village as the leader make decisions that effect everyone," Lucy responded.

Hess thought aloud, "Make women and men equal."

"People hold resentment when things are not fair, rebellion always follows. People will fight to have more, when they have less" Lucy said.

"I will kill all men who disobey me!" Hess yelled.

"What if we treat everyone equally," Lucy said, "So no one has an unfair advantage over anyone else. Everyone should have to follow the rules, and we should punish those who don't."

"Don't make the leader angry," Rual warned Lucy.

"Men have no authority over women!" Hess yelled at Rual.

Rual stared at the ground, and shook with fear.

"He didn't do anything wrong," Lucy defended him, "He was just trying to help me."

"You do not speak for women," Hess shoved Rual to the ground.

"Don't hurt him," Lucy got in between Rual and Hess.

Hess smacked Lucy across the face, and Lucy rolled away in pain. Hess smacked Rual around on the ground, saying, "Men obey women!"

Lucy tried to tackle Hess, but Hess was much stronger, and she started beating Lucy.

"I am the leader. You obey me!"

"Stop," Lucy begged while covering her face, but Hess didn't stop until all of her anger came out.

"This is mine now," Hess said, and walked away with all of the crawfish.

Lucy laid on the ground in pain.

'Divine Points plus 10,' the system told her.

Lucy had gained more faith from Rual, because she tried to protect him. She looked at him, and asked, "Are you hurt?"

Rual shook his head, but it was obvious that Hesse's strikes weren't soft.

"Bring the other basket of green stones into the hut, and don't let anyone see them."

"Yes, Bone Taker." Rual responded.

"Call me, Lucy."

'What is her problem with men," Lucy wondered to herself.

Lucy felt wet between her legs, and touched it. There was blood on her fingers. Her period had started. Having no sanitary pads or tampons or underwear, meant the blood would freely flow down her legs.

"Are you injured?" Rual asked.

"No, it's my period," Lucy spoke, "I leak blood from my vagina once a month."

"What is a month?"

"It's the tomorrow after many days," Lucy responded.

Hess village didn't have many numbers. Ten was called two fives, and numbers above ten were estimated in approximate multiples of five. Lucy could have said five five and five days days, but she wasn't sure Rual would understand very well. Lucy washed off the period blood on her legs in the sea water. It was a temporary solution, but it made her more comfortable in the meanwhile. Lucy and Rual started their next project over the coming days of building mud brick domes covering piles of firewood. The firewood was lit, and covered. Lucy needed charcoal to make copper. Working with plain wood wouldn't suffice. The charcoal was made by burning wood in an oxygen deprived environment.

"This black stuff will do something to the green rocks," Rual asked.

Lucy smiled, "We are going to make something you never seen before. It's going to help us get a lot more work done."

Lucy and Rual piled charcoal into large baskets.