h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Day 18.

Yusna wakes up to the noise of a cock crowing. She doesn’t remember being taken off the wagon, but she is definitely in a house. It looks vaguely familiar. Not her home, but close. She finds Keela sleeping while sitting up next to her, probably watching over her. Since there is no point staying collapsed forever, she decides to go for a wash and make herself presentable for her new parents-in-lore. Much may depend on their approval.
Once the cold water of the river has cleared her mind, Yusna remembers the nightly conversations she had with her late husband. In hindsight, he must have known what was going to happen. In quite covered words, he had been preparing her for this, talking about burial rituals, introducing her to the peculiarities of his family and finally the big ”What if?” question on whether she should move on and find someone else. She hadn’t liked that part at all, but in hindsight it may also have saved her future and sanity, so she is grateful he dared discuss it. For now, it clears up things to make the right decisions. With fresh ideas, Yusna returns to the house. She needs to speak to Pato and Aryna. The best way to move on will be to literally move on. Not to stay here. If Aggen was right there may be another way to get to where the other Clan lives. The way will be much longer, but they won’t have to get near the mountain, so it seems worth discussing that option.

Keela wakes up refreshed. The smooth, round, fist-sized piece of rock her mother gave her worked. Last night, she told her mother about her problem with Joni when her mother gave her the rock and instructed her to shove it underneath Joni’s bedding once he was asleep. The effect was astounding. Every time Joni tried to roll on his back, the stone made him roll back to his side, ending the snore before it could get a foothold. According to her mother, this very stone saved her marriage. Keela is glad it worked. If it hadn’t, she might have used the rock in a more proactive way to silence her husband. She now removes the stone and hides it. Sleepy time is over. She has other plans.

Pato wakes up with a tickling feeling in the nasal area. Apparently, his beard has been braided from the bottom up, creating several upward brushes of hair sticking into his nose. Aryna looks at him innocently and asks if there is a problem. When he tries to answer he finds his jaw locked. His moustache has been included in the braiding as well! After hearing the muffled groaning, Aryna decides that style is one thing but speech is important too, so she gently starts unbraiding Pato’s face. As soon as his jaw comes free, he asks if this was really necessary. She nods and smiles. Once everything is unknotted, Aryna bursts out laughing. If nuclear explosions had been invented at the time, that was what she would have called Pato’s beard. Seeing his chance, he launches his now epic bristle into the nearest bit of exposed skin he can find, leading to more hooting and screaming.

Then, all at once, Aryna is quiet. Looking over his shoulder Pato sees his host standing in the doorway, grinning for a second, then looking grave again. Pato composes himself, unsuccessfully tries to straighten his beard, covers up Aryna, and starts thinking funeral thoughts again before getting dressed.

Once gathered, Yusna thanks everybody for taking care of her the last few days. She continues explaining what Aggen told her to be his last wishes. When she finishes, everybody looks at what she has been drawing on the ground. Bora says it resembles a horse’s hoof print. The others agree.
While letting the constructive details sink in, Pato ponders the implications of there being another, safer way home. Taking Yusna seems a sensible idea, which he will need to discuss with Vinco, later.

Before midday, the first activities are employed to create a fitting burial for Aggen. Using the oxen and the help of a lot of men from the village, an oval stretch is cleared of vegetation. Along the edge, except for one of the more pointy ends, a sloping stone wall is erected from big boulders. The closed pointy end is built up higher, nearly as high as a man. Material from the surrounding ditch they dig is piled up against the outside of the stone wall.
Sunset is near when the basic structure is in place, ready for tomorrow. The men look at a job well done.

Meanwhile, the women have taken the cradle they created for the wagon only days ago and repurpose it to be used to line the grave. Personal possessions are carried in and valued for their merit as grave gifts. Some of the more useful everyday objects are passed on to Yusna instead.

Come darkness everybody retreats for the night, very tired.

Keela massages a strange bruise on Joni’s left shoulder before going to sleep.

and double points for that innovative anti-snoring device!

A nice mixture of personal relations and tribal concerns.

It must be hard to imagine yourself in this environment.

If this is Russia, are there any things about the natural world that would be the same now as in the period being written about -- wildflowers? Cloud formations?

Do the characters have distinctive physical characteristics? All I can tell about them is that they have different names. Should I go back and reread? (By the time I get to this section, I'm apt to be tired and less attentive to detail. the fault is mostly mine, I'm sure.)

Hi Paul.

Thanks for the comments. It is not your fault if you miss details. I try to keep up with the story myself. You may have noticed that I sometimes have to go back in time to fill in details I missed the previous day. I hope I will be excused, since this is only the second piece of fiction of this magnitude I write, and the first in third person perspective. (The names of the brothers came days after they were introduced to the story). Anyway.... Your side order for more descriptions has been noted.

As for the environment, you could actually trace the story on the the current day map. The fact that travelling takes time sometimes leads to slowing down of the story.

As for the environment, I assumed it to be largely similar to what it is today, except that Mount Elbrus was still an active volcano back then. I think I mentioned that the climate used to be different, but that was some generations back in time, before an earlier big eruption.

The difficulty with names is that we just don't know, so I picked some that weren't too complicated and that may resonate through in names that are still existing now. Given the occurrence of Monica Lewinsky and Daniel Craig I suspect I am not the only one running into that probllem.

Also the fact that modern 'celebrities' do not have a monopoly on certain names. Many of the names in my story are actually in the record - you don't think I would have made up a witness named James Crow, do you?