Cale shrugged, smile firmly in place. "I'm a trader." He said simply.
The man barked a laugh. "Come on, then. I'll show ye my own catch." He led them to one of the larger huts. Naked, dirty children scattered as the adults approached, only to stop a few feet away and stare solemnly at the strangers.
The woodsman led them to a roofed, unwalled shelter under which an animal ate contentedly at a pile of vegetation. On a makeshift table nearby was a large, irregular bundle. The man untied a leather thong, and revealed a pile of animal skins. Cale picked up the top one. The hide was very large, almost three and a half meters long. It was soft and supple, and had a soft, lustrous, multicolored fur some four cems long. Dee stepped forward and brushed a hand across it. Her eyes lit. Cale turned the skin over. It was soft and supple, but he realized he knew nothing about how to judge the quality of furs. "Smell it," came Tess's voice through his mastoid implant. "It should not smell sour or spoilt."
Cale raised the skin to his nose. There was a chemical smell, but no sourness or spoiled-meat smell. He smiled at the man. "My compliments. Your furs are well-prepared."
The gap-toothed grin reappeared. "Oh, aye. We know what we're about, here. That's a prime dino pelt, and I've a dozen more. But look at this one." He reached near the bottom, and pulled out a large skin that seemed to ripple with color. "Prime Rainbow cat. Bet you don't see many of those!"
Cale smiled and examined the pelt. The hide was over two and a half meters long, and nearly two wide. The fur was only about two and a half cems long, but when he ran a hand over its smooth softness, an array of brilliant colors rippled across it. "You're right," he replied to the man. "In fact, this is the first I've ever seen."
"Rainbow cat is an alpha predator on Jumbo," came Tess's voice. "According to the old records, they were rare, large and deadly. A rainbow cat hunt was the most expensive and most dangerous land safari Jumbo offered."
"How many rainbow cat do you have?" Cale asked in a neutral tone.
The man's smile turned proud. "I've two of them! Both prime and well-prepared. But you'll not have them cheap, trader."
Cale smiled. So far, they seemed to have passed inspection. But this was the final test. A trader who did not know the value of his goods would generate suspicion and curiosity. But his smile never wavered as he led the hunter back to their cart.
"I've no room in my cart for cheap," he replied in a tone he hoped conveyed professional pride. "I've only a prime selection that will bring pride to any house that possesses them."
He and Dee began unfolding the cart, spreading its sides to better reveal their wares.
"Interestin' cart you have there, Trader," the hunter said from behind him. "I've not seen its like before."
Cale froze for a moment. Tess had only had a view of the outside of a cart at Valhalla. She had designed the cart to resemble the Valhalla cart, but had designed the remainder simply to be effective as a trader's cart.
"Yah," he said casually. "She's a beauty. I bought it at Valhalla last year."
The hunter nodded soberly. "Ah, Valhalla." He eyed the cart warily. "I'm told there's magic about at Valhalla."
"No, no magic here," he replied. "I paid a mage to examine it, and he pronounced the cart free of spells or magic." He shuddered. "I'll have no truck with magic."
The hunter nodded. "Aye, I know what you mean." He shook his head. "Too much risk of bad luck, like in the old time." He made an odd gesture, presumably to ward off evil.
Cale was getting too close to a witchcraft charge. "Aye, but the old time had some marvelous things, once the bad magic is removed." He put some pride into his tone. "Costs me a fortune in mages and sages, but all of my trade goods have been pronounced magic-free." He flipped back a cover with a flourish.
The hunter stepped forward, and his eyes widened as he took in the wealth of pre-collapse items on display. He picked up a hunting knife from the wildlife station. "It's a skinnin' knife," he said in a reverent tone. "Ye can see how the curve of the blade works." He waved the hand holding the knife in a circular motion, apparently mimicking a motion used in skinning animals. The hunter scraped a thumb across the blade. "Aye, 'tis from the Old Time. Not a tool mark nor a speck of rust." With a crafty glance at Cale he replaced the knife on the cart, and his eyes wandered the display. Another knife caught his eye, this one a large kitchen knife. He gave a slight nod, almost imperceptible. "Fer cuttin' up game," he muttered. Only Cale's implant enabled him to hear the man's comment.
The big man replaced the kitchen knife, and then gasped and snatched a drinking glass from the cart. The hunter held it up to the light and admired the brilliant clarity, the lack of the distortion and discoloration so prevalent in current glass products. He reluctantly replaced it on the cart. A cooking pot caught his eye, and he examined it carefully. He turned to Cale.
"Ye told me true, Trader." He said. "There is nothing cheap here. My congratulations on your great wealth." He shrugged. "I almost despair of finding something I can afford. Will you wait while I fetch my wifemate?"
"Of course, Hunter," Cale replied. "though I fear we must leave in time to get to Ham's Town by dark." He shuddered. "I'll not spend another night in the forest!"
The hunter hurried off. With the cart opened for display, it took only moments to attract several prospective customers. Nearly all simply looked, well aware the items were beyond their means.
Cale did manage to trade a small kitchen knife for two dino pelts before the hunter returned, a large, heavy woman in tow. She looked reluctant, until she saw the wares on display.
In the end, they traded the hunter the skinning knife, a cooking pot and a silver identification bracelet engraved with the previous owner's name that they had retrieved from the space station. To the illiterate villagers, of course, the name was merely a design.
In return they received six dino pelts and the largest rainbow cat pelt. The hunter and his wifemate were delighted, as was Cale. Cale was happy to have trade items other than the Old Time metals, glass and plas. It would solidify his persona, and attract less attention.
In the meantime, they had an excellent excuse to avoid the hospitality of the villagers. They folded the cart and left the village, to cheerful waves.
They felt they had passed their first test. As they struggled to pull the cart down the rutted dirt road, Cale said, "Well, it looks like we managed to pass. I wish we could have traded for some clothing, but all they had was furs."
"All they had?" Dee protested. "Those furs were magnificent. Especially that rainbow cat. I wonder how they make them."
Cale looked surprised. "Make them? They don't make them, Dee, they hunt them! Don't you realize that those are the skins of animals?"
Dee froze, and Cale struggled to stop the cart before it hit her in the back.
"Animals? Real animals? You . . . you mean they killed animals?"
Cale suppressed a smile, but he realized how emotional this was for Dee. She had been raised on a "civilized" planet, where meat and furs came from stores. Not from real animals!
He sighed. "I'm sorry, Dee, I didn't realize you misunderstood. Those dino pelts you like so much? Those are the skins of dinos like the ones the nomads were riding." He shrugged. "Oh, these were wild ones, but that hunter went into the forest and killed them. He cut the skin off, and then cut up the carcass to feed his family. Remember when he called that knife a 'skinnin' knife'?"
Dee was still shocked. "They eat animals?"
Cale shrugged. "They eat what they have. They raise some vegetables in those little gardens you saw, and the hunter brings home the meat."
Dee snorted. "'brings home'! You mean he kills things! He kills them and cuts them up – and those people eat them!" She looked furious.