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was a thin, but well muscled man despite his age.  I had caught him practicing with a thick bow on several occasions away from the eyes of the village and knew he retained the strength of a much younger man.  His grey hair shone despite the low, sporadic light provided by the crackling fire as if he had recently applied animal grease to his mane.  It was pulled back with a leather strap tied at the nape of his neck in the style many of their men wore.  Until he saw me his countenance was grim, but his eyes brightened and his eyebrows rose in a silent greeting when he laid eyes upon me.  I acknowledged him with a slight bow of my head, saying “Ahanu, chief I have come to you for I was summoned in your name.”
    Like a shooting star when it is there and then it is suddenly not, the conversation immediately ceased when the others heard my accented words spoken.  To a man they craned their necks to look.  The only sound for a short while was the sputter and hiss from the fire.  Outside, past the thin bark covering of the house, the chatter of the women even subdued to match the men as they hushed to hear more clearly.  Somewhere in the distance Right Ear gave a howl of joy, no doubt finding some new scent in the cold evening to bring him great pleasure.
    Ahanu started his well-known giggling which began slowly then rose to a musical song.  “I have summoned you, though I fear my young men warn me of the grave error I have made in bringing a foreign warrior into our council.”
    I scanned the men’s faces and found that Ahanu was correct; his young men, including Etleloo were outraged at my presence.  My gaze met Nootau, a shaman of sorts, who was about ten years older than me and someone I counted as a friend.  He shifted his seat and indicated I should sit next to him.
    As soon as I sat the shouting began again with the young men all raising their voices.  Most shouted great protests at my being there, but Etleloo lowered his pitch into a deep growl, silencing the others.  Ahanu, Nootau, and three other elders looked on quietly all the while, showing the practiced restraint that comes with age.  I watched them and hoped to master the craft one day.
    Etleloo shouted, “Not only does he invade our village and then invade our assembly today, but now he sits in a seat usually reserved for Rowtag!  This man is not on our council.”
    “I do not see Rowtag here today, Etleloo,” I said icily.
    Etleloo jumped to his feet and leaned forward to run at me, but Ahanu moved with surprising swiftness.  The old chief reached behind his back, grabbing a long smooth wooden spear, flipping it so the sharpened stone point faced his own chest.  In one motion he brought the blunt end to Etleloo’s shoulder stopping just as it touched the young man’s flesh.  Etleloo froze.
    Nootau spoke now, “Young warrior, this is a council set for discussion, not fighting.”  The older, wiser men nodded around the smoky fire.  “Etleloo we value your spirit and heart in battle.  Sit and learn the patience that will keep you alive for many years so that you may live to sire many young warriors like yourself.”  The calm threat served its purpose and Etleloo sat, breathing large packets of air loudly through his nose in order to still himself, unwilling to look at me.
    “Etleloo, please explain again what your hunting party discovered inland today,” continued Ahanu as if nothing out of the ordinary happened.
    “Yes Chief Ahanu.  Rowtag’s hunting band separated from us after travelling from the village for just a few heartbeats.  Hassun’s did the same sometime later so that only ten of us ran out fairly deep into our hunting grounds along the spine of the hills.  My marksmen did well killing hares, but we knew we needed more meat for our people, so we continued on, hoping for larger prey.  We were blessed for our efforts and came upon the deer you saw us bring back to the village.  But Abook was scouting ahead and