Chapter 22

Benjamin was put up in the shaman's hut since he was a God. Over the next two months he lived as the natives did, hunting with them, sharing the kill with the widows and young, and learning the language. He found that the native's language had fewer words than the English language that he had grown up with. The language was a combination of words, facial expressions and hand signs.

His clothes, which had been stolen from the priest, became ragged and they barely covered him. Several of the women made him clothes out of skins from the hunts and he later found out that he was expected to take one of them as his wife. He declined, letting the natives know that Gods didn't take human women as wives.

The decision to not take a wife was made after long reflection. Apparently the curse was working. His beard had stopped growing and the fact that his wounds had healed almost immediately convinced him that the wizard's curse was real. He knew that if he took a wife and later had children, the children would grow older and pass him in age. Besides, he did not know how long he could stay with this village. The Spanish might come back.

After several months of living with the natives at the village, Benjamin was getting quite proficient at the language. His hunting was becoming equal to the best hunters in the village. The shaman monitored any social interaction with the rest of the villagers. The shaman's importance in the village went up considerably because the God was living with him and because the two were always seen together.

At 6 feet, 1 inch tall, Benjamin was much taller than the natives, he was even taller than most Englishmen. The average height of the natives was five feet. He was appalled with the medical care that the natives received. The shaman would intone, chant and burn foul smelling herbs in hut of the sick person. They had a few herbs that seemed to be effective, but for any serious illness, the native either recovered slowly or died.

He was disturbed when, after a long hunt, he returned to the shaman's hut to find that the shaman had fallen ill. A horrible rash had broken out over the old man's body. Within a week, the entire family of the shaman was sick with the same malady. Slowly, within, days of each other, the members of the family died. Just before the shaman died, a native in another hut came down with the same illness. Within a few weeks the illness started spreading through the village. Soon, two thirds of the village had the symptoms of the disease and many died.

Benjamin lay awake in his hut thinking. He had taken over the shaman's hut after the family had died. The illness was advancing through the entire native population. While he knew that he could not die, he was afraid that he would catch the disease. He did not wish to have to suffer as the natives were doing. He decided that he would leave the village and get away from whatever was causing this epidemic.

He struck out after all of the native's huts became quiet. He gathered what few belongings he had and started away from the village. He was not challenged and he was pleased that he could get away so easily. He did not see two of the natives watching him go. The natives were sure that with this God gone from their village, the sickness would go. The new shaman had told them that this God had brought this illness to the village because the village had angered the Gods.

Benjamin traveled for several days before he sighted any other natives. He ate the dried meat that the women prepared with the meat of the deer from the hunts. He often heard sounds in the brush, convincing him that he was being watched. As he approached a stream to get water, he noticed a native watching him from the opposite side of the stream. The native had been getting a drink from the stream and had not noticed Benjamin approaching. The two looked at each other for a few seconds. Benjamin gave the native the signal for greeting that he had been taught by the natives that he had lived with for that past months. The native on the other side of the stream cautiously returned the greeting and crossed over to meet the God he had heard about.

He found that the native's language was different from what he had learned since he had landed on this new land, but there were enough similarities that he had little trouble making himself understood. After an awhile he made the native understand that he wanted him to take him to his village. There were benefits to living in a village and he needed the company of others.

Benjamin was taken to the village. As he walked through the village, the natives seemed to be terrified of him. Only the shaman and leader would talk to him. They offered him food and sat around the cooking fire telling him how pleased they were that this God had come to them. They asked him to bless their hunts and to make the game plentiful. The leader took him to a hut that was apparently not used. He found out later that another village had killed the owner of the hut in a war. The village had heard about the sickness in the other village that Benjamin had lived in. The leader felt that by giving this God his own hut, he would be pleased and not cause the sickness to come to this village.

Within a few weeks, a native came down with the same illness that had almost wiped out the other village. Soon the sickness started to spread rapidly until many were sick and many died. Benjamin wondered how these people had survived so long, they seemed so fragile. It would be several months before he realized that he was making these natives sick. With the limited medical knowledge of the time, he did not know that the white man would bring sickness to the natives that the white man had long been immune to. The white man's sicknesses would end up killing many of the native population.

He left the village after most of the natives started to show symptoms of the disease. He would travel several more months and live in two more villages before he came to the realization that he was causing these illnesses. He decided to strike out on his own and to avoid contacting the natives. He knew that he had been the cause of many deaths and he did not want more on his conscience. By now even the natives had made the connection between the God and the illnesses. Although they were afraid to harm the God, they knew he couldn't be killed; they were glad that he stayed out of their village. They felt that since the God had not sent the illness to their village, maybe they hadn't displeased the Gods.

Benjamin traveled west. He was afraid that the Spaniards would come back and he wanted to put a lot of distance between him and the coast. He knew that the Spaniards would not venture into the forests until they had established settlements. He was not sure if the Spanish King had found out that he had escaped to the new world. What had happened when the Cardinal and the priest's bodies had been found? Would the Spaniards tie the cleric's deaths to him? He was sure that they would eventually make the connection. He wondered if the English were looking for him. They might blame to sinking of the merchant ships on him. He made the decision to avoid all contact with the English and Spanish. He knew that the French had no love for him either because of his harsh methods when he took French cities in battle.

He avoided all contact with the natives. He was ashamed that he had caused so many of them to die. He didn't understand why his contact with them caused them to die. The natives gave him a wide berth also. Often the two would meet, but would not get close to each other. It was known by the natives across the continent that a God was on the earth. Stories were told that the God was angry with the indigenous population of the continent and it was best to avoid contact with him. Often he would find food or clothing left at his campsite when he was out hunting, and would occasionally return to find a rudimentary hut had been built for him in his absence.

Game was plentiful and the natives had taught him well. He had no trouble living off of the land. If game became scarce, he would move west until he found a suitable place to hunt and to live. He moved ever west. He figured that the Spaniards would be coming back to the new land soon. After several years the natives started to make sure that he did not even see them. The stories about the fierce God grew until his powers became legend. It was said that he could make an entire people disappear in the blink of an eye. He could even erase the knowledge of them from men's minds so that everyone forgot that the people had even existed. Every calamity was said to be caused by his anger. It was over two hundred years before he saw another white man.

Chapter 23