Death in the Time of Ice (13 page)

Gunda had heard his scolding and avoided his eye for the rest of the meeting.

As Jeek shuffled to his wipiti to ready for sleep and the time of no sun, an agitation spread to him. The trouble again came from Doon.

How will it now be possible for Fee Long Thrower to look upon Doon with favor? I failed to bring meat home. I failed to win favor from Fee Long Thrower. Can there be a way to make her eyes shine on me?

Doon was not sending this out, but its emotion was strong and Jeek was close by. Sometimes slow-witted Doon could not control his feelings as well as the other Hamapa could. Even though Doon’s thoughts were somber colored, flashes of bright excitement kept them from being private. Jeek apprehended a clear golden picture of Doon, standing tall before the tribe, the stoop in his shoulders gone, convincing them to kill the giant beaver. Had Jeek’s own daydreams been influenced by wisps from Doon? Or maybe Jeek’s musings had been taken up by Doon?

In Doon’s vision, Fee Long Thrower smiled when she looked on Doon. His head did not look nearly so flat in the back. Then there was a scene with the baby, bloodied and dead. Doon depicted the giant beaver killing Fee’s baby.

Jeek scrunched his eyes shut and closed his mind off before he could hear more. Doon’s thoughts were not good. They filled Jeek with fear, made him afraid of Doon. Could those thoughts bring a beaver to harm the baby?

Then his eyes flew open wide. He must do something. Fee was in the Holy Cave, surrounded by females and safe as long as she was confined. After that she would be vulnerable. He could stay near Fee after she went home from the Holy Cave so that she was not alone. Or he could stay close to Doon. He must ponder this.

Another notion occurred to Jeek. Doon had betrayed feelings of violence. And Jeek believed what Enga Dancing Flower contended, that a Hamapa had slain their leader, not a Mikino. It must take deep, deep violence to be able to slay a person. Could Doon have done it? But Doon was not smart enough to sneak up on a Hama and kill her. Was he?

Jeek’s spirit weighed heavy that night. His mother came to check on him before she returned to the Holy Cave.

I must tend Fee and the baby, but I know there is a sadness in you.

I’ll be all right.
Jeek turned to the wall.

His mother stroked his head.
Do not be too bothered. Our tribe has always made it through times of little meat. We will this time, too.

He knew his sadness bothered her, but he didn’t want to tell her what he had overheard, or to share his suspicions with her. His mother needed to tend the new mother and didn’t need other worries.

Maybe he would talk to Enga Dancing Flower about Doon. Her mind was clever and she always listened to Jeek when he wanted to say something, even though he was not yet an adult.

His birth mother held him, hummed to him, and swayed back and forth to comfort him for a few moments before she left. Jeek kept his thoughts close and, in spite of the rumblings in his tummy, he eventually fell asleep. But his dreams were not good during that dark time. They held giant beavers, even bigger than the ones he’d seen, and bloody babies, and Doon with a huge gaping mouth and wild eyes.

* * *

It was dark time and Enga Dancing Flower was almost asleep. But an odor aroused her. She didn’t associate this smell with her wipiti. She sniffed again, then knew who it was. The New One. He stood near, she could tell, but not inside her dwelling. She thought he must be just outside.

What did she think of this creature? One moment she admired him greatly, the next she was repelled by his appearance. She, along with many in the tribe, valued his talents for sewing. At times it occurred to her that he must be terribly lonely, being isolated by not being able to read thoughts. Vala Golden Hair spent a lot of time with him. Maybe she had figured out a way to communicate with him.

Enga liked the carving he had given her. It had lain in a place of honor, next to her spear, until it disappeared. He seemed to desire to stay and be a member of the tribe. And, usually she was glad he was with them. He would have died if they hadn’t taken him in. But she wasn’t the only Hamapa to be repelled by him. Enga couldn’t make up her mind.

She shuddered and thrilled at the same time to think of touching that milky white skin. And those eyes were so pink. Strange, that those eyes were wide-set in such a narrow face.

Enga rose from her bed on one elbow, concentrated, and sent the New One a question.
What do you want?

No answer came. Enga drew her brows down. She didn’t know what to do. Did he wish to communicate with her? If she felt more alert could she receive his thoughts?

After she heard him depart she lay awake a long while, feeling thunder booming in her chest and pounding in her ears, fearing he would return. And afraid of what she might want to do if he did.

Chapter 10

Neanderthals build homes with mammoth bones…
The bone structure was found near the town of Molodova in eastern Ukraine on a site that was first discovered in 1984. It was constructed of 116 large bones including mammoth skulls, jaws, 14 tusks and leg bones.

Inside at least 25 hearths filled with ash were also discovered, suggesting it had been used for some time.

—From http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8963177/Neanderthals-built-homes-with-mammoth-bones.html

The Hamapa traders reached the site of the next village after a journey of three suns, as Goe the Cuva had said they would. The sparse trees were mostly birch. When they thinned out, the land opened into a rolling plain of short, blasted grasses. On the tundra, the breath of Mother Sky blew harder and colder with every step. She seemed angry.

Bahg Swiftfeet lagged behind the others as Sister Sun dipped low, focusing his mind on his warm mate and his soft, chubby, newborn son, until Tog Flint Shaper summoned him. Bahg sent a quick loving message to Fee Long Thrower and ran to catch up with the others.

He almost bumped into his tribal brothers at the edge of the village. Sister Sun had gone to sleep, leaving the bosom of Mother Sky, but Brother Moon, becoming slim now, had come out early this night. He shone his eerie half-light on the village. Goe had not told them the name of this tribe. Maybe the Cuva called them by a name they made up, as the Hamapa had done with the Cuva.

This is as deserted as the Cuva village,
thought-spoke Bahg.

Maybe more deserted,
answered Tog
. I don’t detect anyone here. Nothing is stirring.

Even the wind died down suddenly. The puzzled males, their necks prickling with the eeriness, stepped softly across the central meeting place, paved like that of the Hamapa. The stones, the color of dark blood rather than the snow white of their own, absorbed Brother Moon’s pale beams.

I smell no life here,
thought-spoke Bahg, his nostrils distended.

The empty homes were wrapped in skin and piled with reddish rocks around the bases, and the staves were of mammoth tusk, like those of the Hamapa. Bahg stepped closer to one.

Look at this,
he thought-spoke to Teek.
It is not whole.

Teek, at the dwelling next to that one, agreed.
Not a single one of these could shelter anyone for the night.

The skins were torn and some of the sturdy tusks snapped into two and three parts. Bahg walked from one to another, trying to see what had done this.

A set of parallel rips in one of the skins told him a long-legged, short-faced bear, a fearsome animal with huge, dexterous claws, was probably responsible.

Tog saw him examining the skin and overheard his pondering.
But this bear usually lives on scraps that other creatures leave. Why would it attack a living being?

Do you remember a Saga by Panan One Eye recently?
asked Bahg.
We were on the hunt, and we sat and received it. He told of a time of great hunger, when a short-faced bear attacked the birth mother of the birth mother of our Most High Female who was just slain.

They recalled that Saga, and they cringed, half expecting a bear to rise up from the silent, empty space surrounding them.

Bahg sent a thought.
I hope these people were gone when the village was attacked.

I’m not sure they were,
answered Tog. They all looked to where he pointed, at a pile of bones, white in the moonlight, beside the cold, black fire pit. Bahg ran over and saw the bones had been snapped apart and gnawed upon.

More evidence of a bear,
Bahg thought-spoke.

He saw terror in Tog’s tight jaw. Would a bear attack them soon? They all searched the surroundings for scents.

But look at these,
thought-spoke Tog, relaxing a notch and running his fingers over the rough edges of the bones.
They are not new. They are old and have been in the dirt.
He sent a picture of a bear digging the bones up from the dirt, then gnawing on them.

When Bahg bent and picked one up, he saw what Tog meant. Dirt clung to the fissures in the dry bones. The bears must be very hungry to dig up old bones like this. Is there not even food for them? he wondered.
Let us try and locate their burial ground. We can see if these bones came from there.

Let’s look for it at new sun,
suggested Tog Flint Shaper. They all agreed they were tired and hungry and it would be best to rest for the night. Tog picked a place to camp among some aspen saplings next to the nearby stream. Bahg had trouble falling asleep, hungry from eating very little jerky for several suns now.

* * *

Enga Dancing Flower rose early, to be ready if Ung Strong Arm needed anything. It had been many suns since the goring of her leg, and Ung was getting restless spending most of her time inside.

Help me to sit outside, Sister,
requested Ung after they had braided each other’s hair and donned cloaks. Enga fastened the door flap open and the light of Sister Sun poured in. The air was crisp and clear, carrying the scent of drying leaves and needles, a beautiful day for this season of shorter sun times.
If only we weren’t so hungry
, wished Enga.

Lakala Rippling Water sat nearby, braiding strips of leather together.

Would you like help?
Lakala thought-asked.

Enga, grateful for the assistance, noticed, with a flood of inner warmth, the tenderness growing between her birth sister and the official Singer of the tribe. She had seen Sannum Straight Hair smile at those two, also. At least Enga could rely on the support of Sannum and Lakala, even if the rest of the tribe turned against them. Enga still stung from Hama’s accusation in the last meeting. How many of her Hamapa brothers and sisters would side with her? Could some of them suspect she killed Aja Hama? Did more than their new Hama want to expel her and Ung?

You can help me get Ung Strong Arm to a seat by the fire, Lakala Rippling Water,
thought-spoke Enga.
Ung can not yet put much weight on her injured leg.

Of course I will help.

We are grateful for your help,
put in Ung.

Enga and Lakala supported Ung across the square and got her seated close to the fire. The tribe was gathering for the first meal of the day. At the edge of the flames, a thin gruel of nuts, seeds, and water sat warming in a wooden trencher, a hollow log smeared with mud on the outside to keep it from burning.

This brew smells vile,
remarked Ung.

We have this and some dried fish,
thought-spoke Lakala.
That is all we have for this meal.

Enga made a face. Like all Hamapa, she disliked eating anything but meat, and occasional berries.

Gruel should be for elders who have lost teeth and can no longer chew meat,
she thought-spoke.

I remember chewing meat for the mother of my mother,
thought-spoke Lakala.
But I do not remember eating this stuff.
She tucked a skin around Ung.

Sannum carefully scooped up some gruel in a hollowed half-gourd and brought it to Ung.

Enga knew that Sannum and Lakala and, of course, Ung, would always stand at her side if needed.

Zhoo of Still Waters trotted down the hill, ate quickly, then took some food with her for Fee Long Thrower, still in the cave with her baby. Enga watched her go. This nurturing female with the caring hands surely would not turn against her either.

The New One arrived after Zhoo left. His eyes, usually merely pink, were an angry red today, like the robes Sister Sun sometimes wore when she was ready for sleep. Enga tried to penetrate his mind, but could not, as usual.

Cabat the Thick grunted as he crouched and scooped out a large portion of food into an eating gourd, then carried it toward the wipiti of Hama, who had not joined them. Cabat had to know there was no truth to what Hama had said, that she and Ung were not unwanted by Aja Hama. The only one who had never wanted them was Nanno Green Eyes, now Hama.

Panan One Eye jumped up, very quickly for a male of his age, which was more summers than twice the number of fingers and toes. He planted his feet wide in front of Cabat, blocking his way.

Enga Dancing Flower watched the two carefully, fear vibrating inside her. Panan, while muscular, was not nearly as big around as Cabat, and a little shorter. After the spear had destroyed Panan’s eye so long ago, a fall had caved his head in slightly on the same side. This was even more obvious because of his baldness; his head was as smooth as a river rock. If Cabat’s head had possessed dents, they would not have been visible through his glossy curls. The thickness of Cabat, while it slowed his walking and running, gave him an aura of physical power that Panan did not possess.