Children of the Dawnland (North America's Forgotten Past Series) (16 page)

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Authors: Kathleen O'Neal Gear,W. Michael Gear

BOOK: Children of the Dawnland (North America's Forgotten Past Series)
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T
HE MOONLIGHT WAS bright enough that every pebble cast a shadow across the tundra.
Which didn’t help Greyhawk where he hid in the crevice in the rocks. Every time he even thought about crawling out and running, he was clearly visible.
Twenty paces away, two raiders searched the rocks for him. Both men carried quivers filled with spears over their shoulders, and atlatls in their hands.
“I saw the brat come this way,” the tall warrior said. As he moved, he was little more than a black shape.
“Maybe, but we’re never going to find him in the darkness, Copper Falcon,” the shorter man replied. “We’ve been
blundering around for three hands of time. We should wait until morning and then track him down. He’s a boy. We’ll catch him quick once we can see his tracks.”
Copper Falcon stopped and stretched his tired back muscles. “Yes, and if I were war chief, that is the order I would have given. But I am only Hook’s deputy. I can’t disobey his orders, and he ordered us to catch the boy. So we keep hunting.”
The short man flapped his arms in irritation. “But we’re accomplishing nothing. We’re probably just getting farther and farther from the boy’s trail. When dawn comes, we’ll have to go right back to the village and start over again at the place where his trail begins.”
“Well, if we have to go back, at least we’ll be able to steal something for our trouble.”
Catfish heaved an annoyed sigh. “I wish we’d been assigned to the party hunting for the girl. If we could get our hands on that Stone Wolf first, we’d be heroes.”
“I’ve been thinking about that.”
“You have?”
“Of course.” Copper Falcon continued in a low voice, as though he feared someone might overhear him, “If we could get our hands on that Wolf, we could run straight home and personally present it to Chief Nightcrow. He would be very grateful.”
“Maybe grateful enough to make you war chief?”
Copper Falcon smiled, and his teeth glinted in the moonlight. “Maybe.”
Catfish chuckled. “You are an ambitious man, did you
know that? Don’t forget that Shrike will object. He’s been one of Hook’s deputies longer than you have.”
“I’m not greedy, just hungry for power that should have been mine two summers ago. I don’t know why Nightcrow picked Hook over me, but it was an idiotic choice. As for Shrike, he’ll have to fight me for the right.”
Catfish lowered a hand to his belly and rubbed it. “Speaking of hunger, I’m hungry, too, but not for power. We haven’t eaten since yesterday morning. I’m starving, aren’t you?”
Copper Falcon nodded. “My stomach is so empty it feels like a hole goes all the way through me.”
Copper Falcon walked to the crest of the ridge and peered down across the starlit tundra. A short distance away, a giant sloth, the size of a buffalo, snuffled the tundra while it used its huge claws to dig for roots. Covered with coarse, shaggy hair, the slow-moving animal made an easy target for supper.
Copper Falcon said, “Let’s kill that sloth and fill our bellies before we continue. We’ll both be happier.”
“Now you’re making sense.” The short warrior drew a spear from his quiver and nocked it in his atlatl.
They both crept out of the rocks and began circling around, hunting the sloth.
Greyhawk waited until all of their attention was focused on the sloth; then he edged out of the rocks and sneaked away, heading in the opposite direction.
A
S NIGHT DEEPENED, the rumbling moans of the Ice Giants grew so loud the ground quaked beneath Twig’s feet. She shivered, and tried to stop crying. For most of the night, she’d lain curled on her side in this willow thicket, with her head pillowed on her arm, watching the trails below. Moon Maiden cast a silver glow over the night.
“Oh, Screech Owl. Where are you? Are you coming to find me?”
Maybe he was dead. Maybe they were all dead, and she was alone.
Twig covered her mouth with her hands and sobbed.
All her life, whenever Mother had shouted at her, she’d come to hide in this thicket until the hurt went away. Tonight, she would have given anything to know her mother was alive and angry with her at home in their lodge.
“Mother? Please be alive, please?”
She tucked the edges of Screech Owl’s green shirt around her toes. Her teeth had been chattering all night. She was tired … so very tired. It took great effort to stay awake, to keep watch on the trails.
“Eagle-Man!” she called desperately to her Spirit Helper. “Help me stay awake. I have to wait for Screech Owl or Mother. They might not see me here. I have to stay awake.”
Her voice faded as though the wind had sucked it away and blown it up to the Star People. Twig fought the heaviness of her eyes, but weariness overcame her, and sleep finally numbed her body and began to coil around her thoughts.
She was almost asleep when a sudden spot of warmth grew in the middle of her chest, the place where the Stone Wolf rested.
Faintly, a voice whispered,
“No one wants to be a dreamer, Twig. But someone must be … .”
The hiss of a moccasin against stone brought Twig scrambling up in the darkness, crying, “Who—who’s there?”
“Twig? Twig, it’s me!”
Greyhawk slowly made his way through the willows and crouched beside her. His black hair was filled with
sticks and old leaves, as though he’d been crawling through brush all night.
“Greyhawk,” she panted. “Where did you come from? I’m so glad to see you.”
“I’ve been searching for you since the attack. We have to get out of here. There are raiders right behind me, and they’re searching for both of us.”
She rubbed the back of her neck, trying to wake up. “What do you mean … both of us?”
“The raiders are after you and the Stone Wolf. They won’t give up until they find you.”
Twig rose to her feet. Her knees were knocking. “Why do they think I have it?”
“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you as we run.”
Twig blinked. “Where’s Yipper?”
Greyhawk’s eyes filled with tears. “I—I don’t know. He may be dead. He tried to protect me when a raider found me.”
“The raiders found you?”
“Yes, just outside the village. A big man was going to club me, and Yipper jumped on him and knocked him down. I—I ran.” A sob caught in his throat. He looked away. “I should have stayed, Twig! I shouldn’t have left Yipper to fight the warriors alone!”
Grief made Twig’s entire chest ache, but she put a hand on his shoulder. “Greyhawk, look at me.” He swallowed hard and turned to face her. “Yipper wanted you to run. He was trying to give you time to get away. And he
did. You’re alive because of him. That’s what he wanted. He loved you.”
Tears silently ran down his cheeks. “I know.”
“Besides … I’m sure he got away. He’s probably sniffing out your trail right now.”
Hope slackened Greyhawk’s face. “Do you think so? Really?”
“Yes. You know how fast he is. He can outrun the wind.”
Greyhawk blinked back his tears. “He is fast. Do you remember that time he outran the pack of wolves that were chasing him?”
“I remember. Compared to wolves, outrunning warriors would have been easy. He got away, Greyhawk. He’s alive.”
That seemed to make him feel better. Greyhawk wiped his eyes on his sleeve and swallowed hard. He looked around at the night before he asked, “Twig, where should we go? We have to find a place to hide!”
“We can’t hide. We have to go west.”
“West? Why?”
She turned to stare at the shining slope of ice that ran down to meet the land in the distance. “Because that’s where Cobia’s cave is.”
Wild with fear, Greyhawk hissed, “Twig, we can’t go after Cobia! Our village was just attacked! We have to find a place to hide, and then we have to find our families to make sure they’re all right!”
Twig took a moment to steady her nerves before she
said, “Greyhawk, I—I think my dream is coming true. The attack on our village … I saw the flaming spears days ago. If my dream is coming true, we
must
find Cobia. Every Spirit Helper I’ve ever talked to told me that she’s the only one who can truly save our families.”
“But the raiders will track us!”
Twig shivered violently before she managed to control it. “Greyhawk? How long will it take us to get to Cobia’s cave?”
“I don’t know for sure. Puffer said that if she left early in the morning, she would be back to Buffalobeard Village by nightfall—if her scouting party ran the entire way.”
“That means it will probably take us around twenty-four hands of time. We can go hungry for that long, and we can eat ice for water. We can do this, Greyhawk. Come on.”
One step at a time, she forced her feet to walk toward the lakeshore trail.
Greyhawk glanced around at the darkness before he ran to follow her.
S
CREECH OWL SAT beside Riddle, watching the ten raiders that Hook had left to “finish the job.” The men were taking turns smacking the wounded in the heads with their war clubs while they searched the smoking lodges, stealing anything of value they could find. Chub trotted back with a polished conch shell necklace that had belonged to Chief Gill’s wife. The shell had been traded from the far southern ocean. It was rare and beautiful.
“Look what I found!” he announced, and grinned as he held it up.
The tall warrior, Shrike, reached out and ripped it
from his fist. “Very nice. I appreciate the gift.” He slipped the necklace over his head, and chuckled at the surprised expression on Chub’s face.
Chub shouted, “That’s mine! Give it back, or I’ll bash your brains out.” He reached for his war club, but not fast enough.
Shrike lashed out with his atlatl, slammed it into Chub’s hand, and bone snapped loudly as the raider dropped to his knees, yelling in pain. Chub’s left thumb stuck out at an odd angle.
“You broke my hand!” he shouted at Shrike.
Shrike laughed. “Get up. Let’s kill these prisoners and go find War Chief Hook. He’s probably already captured the girl and is headed home. Besides, we’ve stolen enough to last us moons.”
Screech Owl bent down and whispered in Riddle’s ear, “Get ready to run.”
Her eyes went wide. “What are you going to do?”
“Try to stall them long enough for you and the others to get away.”
As he started to stand, Riddle grabbed his arm and hissed, “No, Screech Owl, don’t—”
Shrike said, “What are you doing, old man? Sit down!”
Screech Owl grinned. “Well, I will if you want me to, but I think I know where the Stone Wolf is hidden.” He cautiously lifted a hand to point to the rocky ridge east of the village. “There’s a little hollow where Chief Gill used to hide precious things.”
Shrike turned to look at the ridge, and Screech Owl
readied himself to leap, but hesitated when he glimpsed movement among the rocks. There was something out there. Maybe …
Shrill war cries erupted from the rocks, and Elder Halfmoon charged out wildly swinging his war club, as though he couldn’t quite see the raiders. Fifteen warriors followed him, including Searobin, who shouted at the captives, “Go on, run! Run!”
The captives went crazy. Women grabbed children by the hands, careened to their feet, and dashed away into the darkness, while Screech Owl and the other men leaped for discarded spears and raced to join the fight.

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