Ujurak frowned, puzzled. What’s money? What’s ‘oil’, and why do these men want it?

He shivered. Pain had begun banging in his head like a woodpecker rapping on the trunk of a tree. The voices of the flat-faces pulsed loud and then soft in his ears, and he missed the next few words.

‘. . . a poor living here,’ the man in black was saying when Ujurak could listen again. ‘You need jobs. You need hospitals and all the benefits of modern development. Allowing the oil companies on to your land will give you all this.’

Tiinchuu, who had been sitting with his eyes fixed on his clasped hands, looked up. ‘Senator, we are not poor,’ he stated calmly. ‘Not in the things that matter. We drink clean water and breathe pure air. The spirit of the land is strong. We –’

The male flat-face Tiinchuu had called ‘Senator’ let out an irritated snort, and gestured with his fistful of papers as if he was flicking away a fly. Ujurak didn’t think he looked quite so kind now.

‘We are rich in our hearts,’ Tiinchuu finished, ignoring the visitor’s reaction. ‘Not even the oil companies can put a price on that.’

‘Just a minute.’ One of the younger males standing by the wall of the hut took a step forward. ‘You’re not speaking for all of us, Tiinchuu. It’s hard to make a living here, and not all of us want to struggle for the rest of our lives.’

‘He’s right.’ Another young male at the far side of the hut sprang to his feet. ‘And the Senator’s right. We have families to think of. I worked for an oil company in the east, and life was better there.’

‘Then what did you come back for?’ someone called out.

‘You know why he came back,’ another villager replied, sounding annoyed. ‘To look after his parents.’

Ujurak could hardly make out the last few words as comments rose from every part of the room. Someone else yelled, ‘Sit down!’

‘We have a right to be heard!’ the first young man protested.

Ujurak shrank into the shadows as the angry voices rose. What if they start fighting? Will they get out their firesticks? A hubbub of voices rose around him, and he lost track of what the flat-faces were saying. But he could smell the adrenalin scents of anger and fear.

Ujurak could sense the mounting impatience of the three black-clad men as they listened to the villagers’ arguments. The Senator spoke again. Ujurak missed what he said because another wave of heat swept over him. His knees felt weak, and he leaned back against the wall to stop himself from falling.