Chapter 15 . . . (Where last we left Cain)
This week I didn’t have quite enough time to finish writing this chapter, so, I present this chapter in two parts over the next two weeks. May it be enjoyed!
Chapter 17: Part 1
“Why would God mislead us into believing that what we saw was what is, when it was not? How is it possible there are other adam?”
“Are you accusing It of lying to us?”
“Have we had news back yet about Cain?”
“Are you now trying to evade my question? Did you just accuse God of lying to us?”
“I’m not evading you. Before attempting to answer what you just asked, I’d like to know that what I’m seeing isn’t merely a figment of my mind and that there are in fact people there, and what exactly the nature is of Cain interacting with that person. Has there been word back, or have Ternaddain and Darwith not been closer than this, and did Telnaxson and Ceaslar decide to be the first to undergo this unheard of task?”
Ternaddain spoke up, “We sent for them quickly after noticing that their smaller frames would be more helpful to observe unseen amidst so many people.”
“Then there are other people! She may not have lied to us, but why would He show us only one, then two created, and not the rest?”
Gendlebleth spoke up at this point, “We were not looking at the rest of creation that third day. Nor were we the sixth or the eighth. Our focus, though it could have been otherwise had we chosen, was only ever on the garden for we believed our focus there to be the will of What we served then exclusively. Had we chosen, which we would then not, perhaps then we would have seen the entirety of the creation of the species of animal known as humanity.”
They all nodded gravely in agreement at Gendlebleth’s recollection of what they had all experienced.
So spoke Antagnous, “If they were not there too in the garden, do we serve them as we do Cain?”
. . .
Shortly after arrival with the rest of the group, Ternaddain had met with Telnaxson, Ceaslar and the others minus Antagnous, Gendlebleth, Lousitous, and Casarta. While Cain still slept mid-way down the hill, she had advised Telnaxson and Ceaslar continue watch due to their size and ability to hide themselves from those they might encounter. Telnaxson and Ceaslar arrived just in time to relieve Darwith and observe Cain make his way slowly and groggely to the inn below in the town of Nod.
It was there they observed the inn-keeper feed Cain; clothe him, give him a place to rest, and converse with him about his life. Cain said merely that he was a traveler who was too ashamed of his past to speak of anything more than the joy he had once know tilling soil and harmonizing with the rising vegetation which had always sung its splendor unto him. The inn-keeper smiled as Cain spoke and responded to him, “Upon the morrow there’s a man I’d like you to meet . . .”
Before long a second watch was sent mid-way down the hill to observe movement from a distance to keep track of the first watch should Cain be moved elsewhere in this small town that was bigger than any communal construct the angels had seen before.
Before daybreak a network of six watched at various distances they deemed to be safe from being found by the other inhabitants of Nod while they continued to watch what was happening to Cain.
Cain awoke with the sun and was taken by the inn-keeper to a small farm at the outskirts of the town. Remblelok and Lajiel listened at the door to the conversation that took place there between the farmer and the inn-keeper. “This young man wandered into my inn just yesterday morning looking like he’d never seen civilization in his life. It’s not like me to give free food and lodging, but he looked like he could use a friend for a moment to help him find his way. Anyhow, when he mentioned something about taking joy in singing with food from the ground, it sounded like he might make a half-decent apprentice to you. I figure if he works out well, you’d perhaps be willing to supply me food from the ground trade-free for two planting seasons. And of course, if I have merely burdened you with an imbecile who likes to talk to plants, I’d be happy to give you free intoxication at my bar for a half of a year, and I’ll split with you whatever profit I could glean by selling him off as a slave at the season of the market two weeks past the large mountain. Win-win. What do you say?”
Upon hearing the word “slave” Remblelok and Lajiel looked at each other and shrugged. It was a word neither had heard before, and had no intuitive knowledge of as they had with the other words of Man.
The farmer replied, “A fair trade indeed. This will give him a fine way to earn his keep in Nod, and I think that we will be grateful in feeding each other in accordance with the creation this young man’s work yields for us all accordingly. Does he have a name?”
“Cain, sir.” Replied Cain.
And the farmer began to address him directly now. “And does this arrangement seem fair to you Cain, or shall we sell you to others immediately as a way to replenish the resources already expended on you by Len and the time that I could have been spending already this day in my fields?”
“The opportunity you give me to work for my pathetic existence is more than generous sir,” responded Cain.
“So it shall be, Cain. Call me Growvner. I am happy to have a new pair of hands to help me bring up the food with which I share with the town.”
And so Cain began his life with the farmer called Growvner.
. . .
Initially Cain was taught how to make tools for working the soil. Since the town relied greatly, in part, on Growvner’s farm for the food for the year, he was cautious not to let an apprentice actually touch seed to soil before they had been observed for a full year’s time. Cain was a quick study, however, in learning to make new tools, and cultivating fertilizer, and learning about the local fruits and vegetables that were grown in the region.
Meanwhile, as Cain studied under Growvner, the humanly-embodied angels observed not only Cain’s new life, but also the town of Nod. They studied the clothes the people wore, the foods they ate, and the way they conducted their community. They also observed when anyone from outside the town entered and left and also how they were dressed.
After a short time watching the techniques of making clothing employed by the townsfolk of Nod, and the garments warn by those apparently only passing by or through the town, the men and women angels began to make garments closely resembling those they thought would pass for an indicator that they were visitors from elsewhere looking for temporary lodging, and perhaps to briefly sell in the town their wares. Before the first year in Nod was through, four angels managed to pass unnoticed through the town to keep track of Cain while many people passed by virtually unquestioningly. Even Cain, who had ever only met Gendlebleth, never suspected the “visitors” he briefly met in passing were angels who had been observing him for as long as he had been alive.
Now watching over the boy took place in shifts of two months rather than half a day, and monitoring was establish from very close in broad daylight as well as in the shadows as well as at a long distance barely within sight. Before leaving the community so that “new visitors” could take up the watch, the angels made sure always to trade goods for raw materials with which they could make new goods for the next watch to sell when they arrived in town. The angels, in this way, became rather inventive in crafting exotic-seeming jeweleries, clothes, and tools they could trade with the town to maintain the premise that they were in fact passing through to do business. And, they pleased themselves with the notion that perhaps they were in some way making the lives of these human beings better as they introduced new objects for them to enjoy into their community.
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