The Moon Worshippers (9 page)

“Oh!” said Olatz, noting his discomfort and embarrassment. She giggled.

“So you like what you see, do you? Have you never seen a naked girl? I’m sure you have many times,” she teased. “Never mind, the cold water will soon restore you.”

She let out a peal of laughter and turning, ran into the river, followed by Storm and then Inaki, still with his pants held on firmly. Over the next few weeks Inaki and Olatz would often go down to the beach together. Inaki soon learnt to swim and he had fallen in love. Unbeknown to him, Olatz had chosen him from the moment she had set her eyes on him. From that time, she had decided to be his and that he would be hers.

Sometime, months later, when they were all sat round the table Patxi, turned to his wife and said, “Mother, I think it’s time we had a union in this family.”

Inaki and Olatz looked at each other and smiled, then broke into laughter.

“The sooner the better,” Olatz said to her father with a smile.

“It is the custom for a father to receive a gift for his daughter.”

Inaki looked stunned. “I have nothing to give unless you accept my working for you?”

“No, that is not acceptable.”

“Father! How could you be so cruel?” Olatz exclaimed.

Patxi had held up his hand and silenced her. “There will come a time when I shall ask something of you. Will you grant my wish without question?”

Inaki nodded.

“I have your oath,” said Patxi.

“You have my oath,” said Inaki solemnly.

“So be it, you may have my daughter,” her father said, returning to his food.

Inaki wondered what Patxi had seen to make him take such an oath. It had to be something serious or he would not have asked, but what could it be? He could not think of anything and anyway, the thought of wedlock with Olatz filled him with happiness and any unease that he felt was soon banished from his thoughts.

The next day preparations began. The pagan wedding would take place on Midsummer’s Eve. The messages were sent and over the coming weeks the guests began arriving. The first to arrive were Inaki’s mother and uncle. There followed many members of Olatz’s family: her seven uncles and their wives and children. Grandparents, aunts and friends. Finally, Aguirre Aguirre who none had seen for so many years in the village. With him he brought a dog, nearly sixteen months old, and as black as a moonless night. He had called it Roka.

“You left me with a present when you had gone,” he said to Inaki. “Or to be more correct, Storm had.”

Inaki looked at the dog. There could be no denying it. It was the spitting image of his father.

“How many puppies did she have?” asked Inaki.

“Five, three bitches and two dogs. I sold the bitches and kept the dogs for some reason. He’s just about trained.” Aguirre’s face shone with pride.

The young dog had gone over to his father and licked his face. Storm stood stiffly and sniffed the dog.

“Well, seems to recognise his offspring. Otherwise he would have killed it,” Aguirre observed.

Olatz came over to Inaki and took his arm. Inaki looked into the dark eyes, like forest pools. She spoke.

“I think Storm gave Aguirre something greater than anything he could have wished for.”

“So do I,” Inaki said pressing her arm. “Roka the second, is a very fine dog.”

On Midsummer’s Eve in the year 775 AD, the pagan wedding of Inaki and Olatz took place. Inaki was sixteen, Olatz just fourteen. The wedding feast that followed lasted two days, by which time many of the guests could hardly stand. The whole village had turned out for the wedding. Over the following months, the villagers helped Inaki build his own house in the tradition of their own houses. The bottom half was of stone, with stables for cattle and sheep, the living quarters were on the second floor and on top a slopping roof made of wooden beams and planks, topped with earth and grass. For the first time in his life he felt he had found a place were he was truly accepted. The following year was the happiest of his life.

There passed two years in absolute happiness and tranquillity. Then on a May morning of 777 AD, Inaki was in the hills hunting. The air was full of the scents of summer and the hunting had been good. Dog and man were in high spirits as they made their way back to the village, four rabbits and some partridge all tied with a piece of leather and hung over his shoulder. They passed through a small wood of cork oaks. Storm was moving steadily, quartering the ground ahead of his master, lingering to smell the ground or a tree as an interesting scent caught his attention. Suddenly he stopped, head upright and alert. For a moment Inaki thought that he had seen something for him to shoot with his bow. For a time neither of them moved. Inaki searched the area ahead of him, trying to identify the animal or bird that had caught the dog’s attention. He could see nothing. Slowly, the sound of two drawn-out whistles penetrated his consciousness. From somewhere in the mountains the message was being passed on and on. ‘Zutik! Zutik!’ Each time it was clearer and more urgent. Inaki put his fingers in his mouth and turned towards the village. He blew hard and long, repeating the signal. He broke into a run with Storm ahead of him. In the distance, when they could see the village, he could just make out people running in all directions. Beyond the village he could see the sea. The boats were making their way home after hearing drums. Soon the whole village would be gathered under the village oak.

Chapter Seven

Zutik!

As he entered the village, the men were rushing in from all directions. Some came from the fields where they had been working others came from the beach or their homes. All made for the oak tree at the centre of the village. Near the tree, two men were beating on a hollow log, vigorously with sticks, furiously relaying the message. It was just one word over and over again, ‘Zutik, Zutik,’ the word was echoed. In the distance other drums could be heard. ‘Zutik, Zutik, Zutik,’ they repeated. That single Basque word which would gather the Basque nation. ‘Arise! Arise!’ Patxi was already there and Inaki made his way to his side. Men stood in groups talking sombrely, waiting for all to arrive before the meeting started. Finally, when all the men had assembled, Patxi moved under the oak.

He raised his arms, and said: “You all know why we are gathered here. You have for many months heard the rumours and the stories that have come from the east. You have, this day, heard the battle cry: Zutik. The waiting is over. We must elect a leader.”

The men murmured in consent and agreement.

“I propose Inaki,” said Patxi

There was an astonished silence. Then a voice shouted out.

“Why not you? He’s too young and inexperienced.”

Many voices shouted their approval. Inaki looked at the ground.

Patxi lifted his arm for silence. When the noise had died down, he began to speak.

“He may be young, of that there is no question, but he has a shrewd head and he is the best pupil I have ever instructed into the hidden arts.”

The discontent was still evident in the men’s faces. Other names were put forward; some names were met with cheers.

“All right, all right,” said Patxi, “let me make another proposal and my reasons for it! He is young, therefore, I will act as a counsellor for him, but he has the gift and he will need the authority, when the time comes, to lead us in the plan that the Gods put before him.”

The men fell silent, but the discontent was still there.

“Take your time; it is important that you come to the right decision.” A black cloud had descended over the men. Patxi said: “As for me I will follow no other and if you wish to go to battle without a Nagusi and your Gods, so be it!”

“That’s blackmail!” Inaki whispered.

“I know,” Patxi winked.

For over an hour the discussion raged backwards and forwards. In the end a vote was taken and Inaki elected by the narrowest of majorities. After more talk it was decided to bring in the flocks from the surrounding hills. A hundred sheep and goats would be taken as food by the men; the rest would remain with the women and children. The men would leave at dawn the next day. The meeting slowly broke up. Some of the men remained talking, others left to collect weapons and prepare for their departure at dawn. Patxi and Inaki left together and walked to Patxi’s house. Olatz was already there, waiting at the doorway. She ran to meet them.

“What does it all mean?” she asked breathlessly.

“We don’t know yet,” said Patxi, “but its war that’s for certain.”

“Against whom?” Olatz said.

“Don’t know.”

“So you men are frightening us to death and you don’t know who the enemy is, or where he is!”

“That’s about right,” her father smiled.

“Typical!” Olatz said, stamping her foot.

“Tonight we eat together, it maybe a long time before we can eat together again, and what makes you think there is only one enemy Olatz?” There was a wicked look in Patxi’s eyes as he spoke to his daughter.

That night the whole family gathered at Patxi’s house. Patxi’s seven brothers were there together with Inaki and Olatz. The talk began slowly at first, everybody avoiding the subject uppermost on everyone’s mind. Finally, Olatz’s quick temper got the better of her and she burst out: “Why are we not talking about the call to war?”

Everyone fell silent. Patxi eventually broke the silence, speaking softly and choosing his words with care.

“It has been a long time since the Basque clans have been called to rise as one. It can only mean that we face the most pressing danger. Many will die. Some of the men you know and love will not return. In the face of such danger, men prefer to keep silent and not worry their families; also, they need all their courage for the trials to come.”

Olatz fell into Inaki’s arms sobbing uncontrollably. Inaki’s eyes filled with tears. He knew that the time was short and they had had such a short time together.

“Don’t leave me!” Olatz cried, her arms clasped around Inaki’s neck.

“Olatz!” Her father’s voice was sharp. “Don’t ask your man to disgrace himself. In a fight, he and that Devil’s dog are worth ten men!”

Storm forced himself between Inaki and Olatz, so that they looked like a body with three heads. Olatz drew away, wiping her tears with the back of her hand.

“You are right, Father.” She made an enormous effort to compose herself. She was pregnant, but it was not the right time to burden Inaki with the knowledge of their first child.

“He must go,” she said simply.

*

At dawn, forty fully armed men set out for Guernica. At the back of the column a flock of a hundred sheep and goats. At their head was Patxi and Inaki, Storm ran on ahead, his tail high in the air. The women watched them go; black shawls around their heads protected them against the cold morning air.

The next day the men marched into Guernica. They stopped beside the sacred oak of the Basque country. Many men where already there and over the next few days more arrived. From the province of Vizcaya, were swordsmen with two-edged short swords and small round shields. At the front of 200 strong columns, twenty Txistularis with their flutes and side drums played as they marched into the town. From the province of Alava came spearmen, slingshots and archers, 500 men in all. Navarra the largest province sent a token force of twenty axe men and some important news. There would be a thousand more waiting in Navarra. From the Basque French provinces of Labourd, Basse Navarre and Soule, small numbers of men with disturbing stories of the gathering forces of Franks in France. Altogether over the following days, 6,000 fully armed Basques gathered in the town.

Just outside the town a group of twelve Nagusi made camp. Inaki and Patxi joined them. Next day the seven captains came to see them, each elected from their own province.

“We have disturbing news,” Zumalacarrequi said. He was the most senior of the captains.

“What might that be?” Larraga replied, an old and wise Nagusi from Alava.

“You will be aware of part of it, ancient one,” said Gorka the captain from Avala, smiling.

“No doubt, bad news travels fast, but don’t treat us like children and tell us all you know.”

Zumalacarrequi began. The Visigoths had gathered under Palayo, 600 strong, together with an unknown number of Asturians. Marching to face them were 20,000 Moors. To the east 60,000 Franks, under Charlemagne, were gathering to march into Spain through the Basque province of Navarra. All were battle-hardened veterans of many campaigns and by far the most dangerous. The men of Labourd had raised the alarm when Charlemagne and a great army had joined with Roland, his favourite nephew, in northern France. Rumours were that Charlemagne was making for Zaragoza, where he had made a pact with the Moslem governor of the city.

“We are like a nut between two rocks,” Zabala said, interrupting Zumalacarrequi.

“I see,” said Larraga. “What do you propose to do?”

“Nothing, for the moment,” said Zumalacarrequi, “until we have a better knowledge of what we are facing.”

Patxi spoke for the first time. “You cannot keep all these men here. How will you feed them?”

“Oh, we do not intend to stay here. We will deploy them. The question has to be to where?” said Zabala.