Chapter Ten - Emotional Intelligence
-Summer-
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With the sundial properly marked (turned out Dahnei was the quickest to learn how to tie a bowknot), Belbet was practically vibrating with excitement. Now she just had to wait for three hours, and then mark the dial again, and she’d know which stick was three o'clock in the afternoon. Ah, how exciting to be able to tell time again! Victoria wondered if this was how her ancestors felt when they discovered how to mark time.
That said, the burning summer sun overhead was not doing any favors for her, sweatiness-wise. So, she made an executive decision. “Alright, everyone! Bath time!” It had been far too long since their last bath, anyway, This got Belbet’s children shrieking in joy and running for the river, with a confused-looking Eefim following behind. Belbet shrugged her way under a struggling Kaion’s shoulder and helped lift him to his feet.
“Lean on me, don’t put weight on that. Bring your stick though, that’ll be useful.” Belbet reminded as she helped the big man hop down the rocky shore to the bank they used for all sorts of activities. It had plenty of nice flat rocks, and a reasonably deep, safe pool beneath the waterfall. Belbet shouted once they were there, to be heard over that waterfall, “Eefim! Look after your baby cousin!”
Eefim nodded and picked up Mohniit, who cried havoc at being taken away from slapping the water’s surface. He quickly settled, however, once his cousin took him into the water proper, and began pouring water over him.
Belbet helped Kaion settle onto one of the flat rocks, his good hoof in the cool, refreshing water. She ran back to camp quickly and grabbed a bowl, bringing it to him. “Don’t drink the water here, it has to be boiled first. But use the bowl to pour water over yourself. Do NOT get this foot wet.” She tapped the still-injured hoof. Technically, he could, but then she’d have to re-apply the poultice and re-apply a bandage, and that takes time. Not to mention until Deenat got back, they didn’t have any more echinacea.
The man nodded ponderously, his curls swaying. Belbet grinned, and then turned back to her children, splashing wildly through the water to elicit screams of joy as the cold droplets hit their overheated skin. “Alright! Come here, Mohniit, it’s time for swimming lessons!”
Her baby boy reached out for her, and she took him into her arms, and then waded out further in the water. Naturally, he started to get nervous and cling harder once the water was up to his waist, which equaled chest height for Belbet who carried him. “Sh, shhh, sh, baby boy. It’s okay. The water’s not going to hurt you. We’re going to teach you how to beat the water, so it can never hurt you, okay?”
He seemed reluctant but allowed her to slowly lower the two of them into the water fully. That is until his nose hit the water, and he panicked, flailing to try and get to the surface. Belbet quickly ducked back up so that his face was out of the water, and she smiled, “It’s okay, it’s okay!” He was crying, and she lifted her hand to wipe his face off.
“Noooo! No!” The toddler sobbed, terrified and shaking in her arms.
“It’s okay, baby. I’m right here. Mama won’t let anything happen to you, okay? You’re safe.” Belbet promised, “We’re just gonna blow bubbles, okay? Mama will show you.”
She bent over awkwardly, pressing her mouth in the water, and blowing out, bubbling her breath to the surface. Mohniit was rapt, eyes wide as he watched the bubbles pop. He reached out and slapped the water a bit, sending cold drops into his mother’s face. She came up, shaking them off, and sighed, “There, see? Just bubbles. Nothing more.”
Mohniit gave this due consideration and then nodded, consenting to be lowered to the water again. This time, Belbet was quite careful to keep his nose out of the water and watched him blow bubbles for a very long time. Luckily, the water buoyed his weight, so she didn’t have to hold all of it, and the coolness of the river water helped keep them from overheating.
She let her eyes roam, seeing Eefim and Dahnei playing near the shore, the two of them splashing each other. Laughter was filling the air, and honestly, Belbet adored it. Her eyes turned then, lingering on their guest who was watching her. She seemed to startle him by looking back, so he turned away and picked up his bowl. She watched him ladle out some water and fling it onto his back and shoulders.
Belbet decided she’d have to make some berry-water for them all later, to replenish the electrolytes they were losing thanks to that overbearing sun. That would be a fun little project to teach the kids. She found herself smiling up, the sun warm on her face. Eventually, she called Dahnei and Eefim to join her in the deeper section of the water.
They were fine, so long as they had their feet on the ground, which was good. So, she started them blowing bubbles too, which delighted her toddler. Then, she deposited Mohniit onto the rock next to Kaion. “Do not allow him into the water. Pour water over him if he looks hot, or if his skin starts to dry out too much.” She ordered, pointing a finger at the ram who raised an eyebrow.
He did, however, immediately pick up a bowl of water and splash it over the child’s head, earning him a shrieked, “NO!” from Mohniit.
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Deciding he was in decent hands, at least a little bit, Belbet returned to her daughter and nephew. “Alright, I’m going to teach you both to float. If you ever end up in the water, and you aren’t sure how to get back to land, and you’re too tired to swim, this can save your life, okay?”
They both sobered, serious, and nodded. Belbet reached out, setting a hand on her daughter’s shoulder, and another on her lower back. “Alright, I want you to lean back into my hands, and let your feet rise, okay? I’ll keep you steady.”
Dahnei did as ordered, but panicked halfway through, spluttering terribly at her ears being filled with water. She batted at the soft velvety things and whined. Belbet reached down and took her face gently in her hands to get her attention. “Hey, you’re going to get water in your ears. That’s okay. It’ll come out. It’s not going to hurt you in any way. This is important, remember? You need to know this to save your life.”
This didn’t stop her shaking, but Dahnei allowed herself to be lowered to lay on her back, with her mother supporting her. Belbet made sure to smile down at her young daughter, and nod. “You’re doing fantastic, baby.”
She praised the girl, holding her steady, knowing it would take more than one attempt before she could pull her hands away. So she let her daughter float on her back, watching her watch the sky. She turned to Eefim and grinned, “You’ll be able to do this too. For the first few days, I’ll hold you up when you’re doing it. Then, slowly, I’ll start taking my hand away. Your goal is to be able to float even if I’m not holding you, okay?”
Eefim nodded, watching his cousin float gently in the water, her limbs loose and splayed and her eyes closed. Belbet wondered what the boy thought of all of this. “Talk to me.” She coaxed, “If you’re worried bout something or if you’re scared, tell me or your mom, okay? That way we can help you think of a solution.”
The boy frowned, turning his eyes from his cousin to his aunt. He lifted a hand, sheering it through the water to watch the water curve over it. “...I...Should be hunting.”
An odd nonsequitur that Belbet decided to chase further, “If you’re worried about our food, we have enough for today and tomorrow. Missing a few hours of hunting won’t hurt. So… why do you think you should be hunting, instead of cooling off, and learning how to survive falling in deep water?”
He looked away sharply, clearly not liking how she’d said it, which Belbet regretted. She continued, “You spend quite a lot of time hunting. I don’t like that you’re out there that long without any way for us to know if you’re okay. It’s nice when you’re here.”
That sent his eyes skittering over her face, his lips quivering. For a second, Belbet thought his eyes reddened, and she was about to see this precious thing cry. Then, he opened his lips, and a flood started coming out.
“I just want to make sure that you don’t have any reason to send me away. The hunters would send me away if I wasn’t useful, or if I made noise, and you guys said that hunting is useful. I bring in a lot of stuff you use, and that makes me useful. So… I don’t want to be lazy and then get chased away from camp. And I have to bring in more meat because soon the animals will run away, and I can’t chase them as far because I’m little, and if they run away we’ll starve. And I have to make sure that I can teach everyone how to hunt too because we’ll need more hunters, but Mohniit’s too little, and Dahnei’s good with a spear, but she gets bored easily, and that’s not a good hunter.”
He took a deep breath and then continued, a miserable, soft tone that she almost couldn’t hear over the water. “And we don’t have any food stocked for winter, and I can’t go up the cliff for better prey because that’s Tribe territory. And the wolf keeps coming back because I’m feeding him, what if he attacks Mohniit or something? I don’t understand half the things you do, auntie, and that scares me. What if it fails? What if another tribe won’t take us in?”
Ohhh wow, there was a lot to unpack there, but first and foremost. “Eefim… We’re never going to chase you out of camp, unless you hurt someone very badly, on purpose. You understand that, right? You’re our family, and this is your Home. You don’t ever have to leave if you don’t want to.” Belbet tried to reassure the child, because god, that was just sad, to realize the boy was working so hard because he thought they’d throw him away.
His frown scrunched further, and Belbet sighed, gently settling her daughter back on her feet and kissing her forehead. “Go ahead and go practice that, sweetheart. Or play either way. I need to talk to your cousin.”
Dahnei blinked, frowning herself as she looked between her mother and cousin as if she could puzzle out what had just happened. In the end, after a long moment, she agreed and splashed her way through the water towards the shore.
Belbet opened her arms, demanding a hug. Eefim blinked. Hesitating, he slogged forward and let his aunt wrap him up in a hug, only to squeak loudly when she picked him up like he was a baby. She shushed him when he made a move to get down, however. Belbet could lift an eleven-year-old so long as the water was helping her, after all. The quicksilver light on the top of the river reminded her of how fleeting the time where she could hold him like this would be.
She pressed her lips to his forehead and tucked his head against her throat so he could hear her easily. He was just a child. Her heart ached at how uncertain he seemed, how unused to being cuddled. “It’s going to be okay. No matter what, your mom and I are going to make sure you three kiddoes, and even the one in my belly, are fed and safe and warm. And if our plans don’t work? That’s okay. We rethink them, rework them, and try again. If a hunt goes south-” here she paused and realized he may not know what that meant,” -if a hunt goes badly, you don’t just stop hunting forever, right?”
He nodded against her jaw, and she continued. “Right. And you know what? It’s okay to be a little lazy sometimes too. No one’s going to chase you away just for resting. Resting is just as important as working. If you use a spear for too long without properly caring for it, the shaft will splinter and break. People are the same way. So let yourself have fun when it’s time to have fun. And let yourself rest.” She gently rocked him with the flow of the water, and his arms around her neck made her want to sing to him. She didn’t, only because she’s not sure he’d hear her.
“If you want a hug, ask for a hug. If you want a hand to hold, ask for a hand to hold. Do not ever be afraid to ask your mother or me for anything. We live so that you and your cousins can live. Understand?” He nodded again, and she couldn’t see his face, but his shoulders relaxed a little. “And like I said. Unless you intentionally hurt someone in the Farm, you’ll never be asked to leave. This will always be your home, your safe place, your rest.”
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