Day 1 of the 5th week before midwinter point
Now fur clad, in the ill fitted suit that it was, Tuukka decided it was time to probe what distance he could travel. Before going he made a bowl and a water carrier. The last really a hollow with a branch for a stopper. Tucked inside his furs his body would prevent the water inside from freezing. The weather was moderately cold and certainly below zero judging by how is breath hovered before him. Exploring out he cut some trees but left sections out in the wilds for emergency fires. Branches as trail markers were set in the 1-1-1-3 pattern. All the while he was cool but not cold.
“Time to see if the landing is connected to the village,” Tuukka said.
He was pleased that it was so. In the morning with the tip of sun just starting to rise over the winter horizon he entered the village of Aijonphja, “Aijo’s bottom”.
He stopped on the edge to eat roasted elk. It is polite to let a camp or settlement wait to decide to approach. As he ate a sage and an old man wandered over. Greetings were exchanged. The sage Torkel rubbed his hands reciting a chant as he held where the frost bite had been. A peasant named Aaro was in need of someone to do chores. Chores for payment of course.
Tuukka also asked about directions, to get a feel of where the adventure had placed him. There was another village to the north-east in the “Maiden’s rear”. Tuukka wondered about the local obsession with back sides. As it is an Islander villager it would be on a different island. Perhaps something to find in the spring.
The old man was Kalle. He and Torkel listened as Tuukka outlined his adventure so far. They both agreed that such an island challenge is quite deadly. Arriving fur clad into a village had been a great accomplishment. Now a more normal life could resume.
Tuukka explored the storehouses. Some were bare already. Others held beans, peas and turnips. What frightened him was the trident. It reminded him of the tale of the foreign spirit. That had claimed the lives of Iltros and Pekka. Was the trident really here? Tuukka didn’t touch it. Maybe he was seeing it to be shown it was now at peace. That is what he hoped.
Aaro’s task was a simple one. Collect kindling branches for their fires. This done the very first thing he traded for was a small metal knife. Ah, such a simple tool. Yet it would make a difference compared to the now battered stone knife Tuukka had used the past weeks.
Most importantly though the villagers of Aijo’s Bottom accepted his story. Torkel convinced them to let Tuukka sleep in their main hall.
Torkel had said, “This main Tuukka is a survivor. Washed ashore. What if our kin, even distant kin, were challenged a he was. Even more than a survivor he is of our people and more than that of Islander clan. We must see to our own. Let him know the chores you need doing. Let him work for us. Surely he can earn his keep. We will not let him suffer in the deep winter. Hospitality binds him in that if we look after him he should look after us. The spirits have blessed him a frozen elk gift. He wears that gift now. If the spirits are gifting a questor it should not be for us to send him away. Who among you would wish it otherwise if your kinsman was spirit blessed and turned away in the deep winer?”
Everyone agreed that it was fair to let him stay. He could have roof and warmth. As for food though he could do chores for them, as they were needed. Tuukka added he could use his camp for the traps already set there and make goods for them. Tuukka discussed his plan to make a nearby shelter as a logging camp. This they also agreed to.
A few days he spent in the village. Happy, very happy, to be around people. The children loved his stories. Tuukka used the logging camp where he dragged over an already fallen trunk and split it into block chunks. Some of these he carved into bowls, using that small knife he has traded for.
Kyosti a woodsman visited Tuukka, “Us Islanders are fishing folks. You say you ran a fishing boat. You should be able to fish! This is my old fishing rod. What you have done and shared with us is already payment enough.”
Tuukka held onto Kyosti’s shoulders. His head leaned down Tuuka wept a pair of tears. He had been accepted back from where the spirit’s challenge had taken him. Tuukka also knew this was a gift of life. With it he could catch so much more fish than striking and grabbing.
Having been gone a few days Tuukka stored his trade goods in the logging camp then went to check the landing camp. A squirrel had been caught adding a little more meat and fur to his stores. The next day Kyosti’s fishing rod brought in a pike and two perch. These were caught while warming in the matted shelter.
Tuukka looked to his snow dabbled raft. If the furs could keep him warm enough he could paddle out into this patch of open water for deep water fishing. It did get quite cold out there! There was more fish brought in. A lot of small roaches, useful for bait instead of elk cuts, and a pike-perch.
This then is how he spent the next weeks. At the landing camp fishing for his own food and working the traps there. At first fishing in shelter to get warm. When he was nicely heated Tuukka paddled in the raft farther out fishing a few hours with better returns. It was the chilling that would send him back to shore for the warmth of a fire. Traps were added with a fox-paw board and triple log heavy bear trap with the expectation that all the bait, cooking and fire smells might one day draw in such predators.
A few days at the fishing camp would see Tuukka hike back to the logging camp, with its traps, to fell a tree or split it into blocks. Then into the village hall. A few days would be spent on carpentry and whittling to make all manner of different things for the village. Bowls, cups, combs and figurines. While in the hall he ate his fish. They would all trade stories with the children enjoying seeming the wood shapes come to life. The hall fire fed by the villagers was ample enough for them all.
During one bartering Tuukka got a proper sized knife. He still had that first small one. The larger knife was a trade good far lighter than all the wood crafts. Though it was proving so handy Tuukka doubted he would ever trade it away. What he really wished for was an iron axe not the simple stone one he was using. This is why he was favoring whittling things like old Iago was spoken of in stories. It was knife work with skill to make a figure look more life like or a comb to make finer sweeps through hair or wool.
On another return the villagers asked Tuuka to play a part in fixing their sauna. Frostbite was stinging one of his feet. The cold winter and snow was out there. Water had gotten in a bad seam and that had seeped in the cold. It would mend in a few days of keeping warm and dry. A village women sewed over the opening to guard against a repeat. Many large stones would be needed. They recalled Tuukka talking of how handy those pack frames are. There was a rocky cliff that Tuukka had recently climbed to look at the sea. Old Henrik said to look there. This was Day 5 of the 3rd week before midwinter point.
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