Ember of a New World Read Online Free PDF Page A

customary for a man to call out to a woman to dance with him during a ritual and if she accepted it was understood that they would become a mated pair. Often , these events were well chore o graphed by carefully plotting parents long in advance, but Pak could choose as he wished and be reasonably sure his choice would choose him as well if he could return in triumph, though any woman he called would have the final say. He had several women in mind , too. There was a young blonde he liked, and that one girl with the pointy nose. With thoughts of potential females in mind , Pak pulled his long dark hair back in a ponytail , slung his bow over his shoulder, and did his best to laugh off the events.
    If I found a wife because of this trip, that would make this worth it , he mused.
     
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    The Great Lunar Festival was normally a major event, but this full harvest’s would be more important to Ember's family because Ember's cousin Heather was to be joined with a man from a neighbo r ing tribe. Heather was named for a flower which bloomed a purple color and gave the grassy meadows some needed color in the late thawing season. The lucky man, Vance, would probably come to call Ember's longhouse home and ally himself with her tribe. Both Heather and Vance would stand before the tribe and agree to live as one. This was an exciting and wonderful event which happened on ce or twice a harvest at best.
    It was a common custom for a young man to leave a tribe and join another tribe or wed and bring a wife from another tribe to his own. The practice had originated so far in the past that its rationale was not even considered, though there were practical reasons, inclu d ing the sharing of skills learned from other tribes and the reasons unknown to Ember, such as keeping a fresh gene pool. Often tribes would hold group festivals or rituals where people could meet, aiding this ex change.
    Ember momentarily considered the eventual day when she might be chosen by a man from another tribe. Would he join her tribe or would she be forced to leave her home and venture elsewhere? The thought scared her, yet her fear brought forward a sense of exhilar a tion as well. Ember had always been excited by the prospect of adventure, and soon she might just get it. This was not only the Great Lunar Festival or even a joining, it was also the day chosen as E m ber’s coming of age; on this day she would become a woman.
    Ember continued her alterations between fear and exhilaration as she left the village and strode down the small, but well worn, dirt path which the tribe used to access the river banks. Behind her a sort of token palisade of wooden poles kept the boundaries of the village in order, without truly gaining much security. Tribes farther away from the river, who relied on farming more heavily, or even mining, r e quired better walls and traps to discourage raiders. This was not as serious to Ember's people who fished and gathered from the river much of their foodstuffs. The collected foodstuffs could easily be r e plenished and did a raiding party little good. Not only did the river provide a passive form of protection, but the river was the mainstay of the tribe providing water, food, and building materials. Houses were patched with drift wood, mud, and clay. The bellies of those workers were filled with shellfish, fish, an d animals lured to the waters.
    The river was the center of most of the tribes’ activities. In the morning and evening the younger men and women would fish, pr i marily for catfish and salmon, using simple spears. Many would use nets to catch varieties of small fish which swam in schools close to shore. The older women would clean clothing and gather reeds for weaving at the shores. At the end of the day, the men could often be found cleaning and dressing the animals which th ey had hunted earl i er that day.
    Aside from working by the water, e veryone in the tribe bathed each morning, and sometimes at night, on