People of the Wolf (39 page)

"Bah!" Talon hissed. "Crow Caller? He's no Dreamer. Oh, he had glimpses, once, years ago. Then the status got to his head, muddled it all up. That's why he lost it, child."

Dancing Fox squeezed the woman's hand, steering the conversation back to Runs In Light. ' 'What about Light, Grandmother?"

"Real Dreamers lose interest in everything but the Dream. Nobody knows why it happens, but it does. I remember hearing about lots of broken hearts when I was a girl."

Fox breathed in the chill night air, filling her lungs. A weight lay heavy on her chest. "You mean he may not want me anymore?"

"That's what I mean."

Fox swallowed and let her eyes dart anxiously over the patches of snow glistening in the wavering lights of the Twins' northern war. Stubbornly, she murmured, "He'll be there, waiting, I know it."

A white haze grew on the horizon as Moon Woman gathered herself to spring into the sky. "He didn't come to the Renewal. You know why?"

"He couldn't. He was busy."

"If he'd really wanted to see you he'd've been there. He stayed with Heron because the Dream was more important."

"Why didn't you tell me, then? I could have prepared."

"At the time, well, it didn't make sense to lay another burden on you. Not with Raven Hunter making trouble. And ... I thought I'd be there when you finally saw Light again and I could make the landing softer for you. I didn't know I'd give out so quick."

"I just can't believe he'd . . . can't." She shook her head,~ hope and anticipation mixing with premonition. All those long months, the suffering, the loneliness. Only his promise of love had kept her going.

Talon swallowed, the sound loud in the night. ' 'This is the girl who worked so hard to make herself independent? You're stronger than this. Get your head back to earth. Only crows fly up there." She pointed a gnarled finger at the crystal night sky. "You're worth more than that."

Fox's heart throbbed as though it would burst. "He won't have me and you're leaving. I don't want to be alone. I need—"

"You don't need anybody, you've just been fooling yourself into believing that because it's the way of the People. A woman's supposed to depend on others."

' 'People need each other.''

"Do they?"

"Of course."

Talon pointed a thin bony finger. "There's only one reason people are afraid to be alone. It's because they fear themselves deep down, child. They're scared to death there's not enough in them to survive without help."

"I don't fear myself," Fox insisted.

Talon smiled faintly, pride in her eyes. "Good. Because of all the women I've ever known, there's only two I thought could make it on their own."

"Who?"

"You and Heron." Talon sighed weakly and gazed out across the moonlit jumbles of rock. "I didn't know her so well. I was only ten when she left camp. But even then, I remember admiring her for going."

"What if it's not Heron who's keeping Runs In Light

away?" Fox asked shakily, her mind seeking other possibilities.

"You mean what if you walk into his camp and find him with three wives?"

"Yes."

"You going to throw yourself off a cliff?"

Fox bowed her head, blinking at a long-abandoned bird nest tucked in the rocks no more than a foot off the ground. The sticks were crusted with frost. A broken speckled shell nestled inside, gleaming in the night. "No."

"Ah, it's easier to think about him belonging to another woman, is it?"

"I can fight another woman. I can't fight the whole spirit world."

"No, you can't. But he won't be the first person you ever lose in your life. There's worse things."

"Like what?" she scoffed miserably.

Talon eyed her seriously. "Like the death of the People. If he's sacrificing himself to the Dream, it's for the People. You understand that? It's not because he hates you."

Dancing Fox stared at the dark figure of the old woman, heart in her throat. "I'll learn to understand it."

Talon's voice warmed as she looked longingly up at the dim stars. "I know you will."

Long minutes passed while they listened to the rasping of Wind Woman over the rocky plains and watched the flickering northern lights.

"You're not coming back to camp . . . really?"

"No, I'm going to wait here and talk to the Star People." Talon squinted upward a little fearfully.

"I'm staying with you. It's not right that you die by yourself."

Talon shooed her away. "Dying's a private thing. I don't want you here."

A sob welled in Dancing Fox's throat. She forcibly choked it back. "Are you sure?"

Talon scrutinized her tormented expression. "You really need to be close to me to the end?''

' 'I can't stand the thought of you getting weak . . . and the wolves ..."

"Well, I can't much either. You going to keep them off?"

"If you'll let me."

"You think you can face it? It'll mean that much longer before you find out what's happened to Runs In Light."

Dancing Fox's eyes locked with the wrinkled old woman's and some silent communication passed between them, tender and intimate. "I can face it."

She lifted the broken shell from the nest, tender fingers caressing the sharp edges.

The lodge stretched twenty feet across the base, rising six feet over Ice Fire's graying head. Caribou and mammoth robes were stacked neatly in the far comer, their hair glittering in the light of the fire burning in the rock-lined fire pit. Multicolored medicine bundles dotted the walls, each carefully placed to correspond to the direction that gave it Spirit Power.

He looked up, frowning at the bundle on the southern wall, the sea bundle. For days it had taunted him, its sweet voice disturbing his sleep. "I haven't closed my ears," he assured it softly, reaching out to stroke the bundle. "Keep talking. Eventually, I'll understand your message."

"Ice Fire?"

He dropped his hand, seeing Broken Shaft's face peeking through the door flap. He motioned the young warrior in, getting to his feet to hug him. Twenty Long Lights old, Broken Shaft stood tall and heavily muscled with a button nose and round face. His full lips were sensual as he smiled and pushed back a little, eyes drifting over the elder. ' 'Thank the Great Mystery that you're all right. With all the attacks from the Enemy, I feared for your life."

Ice Fire smiled. "Don't worry. I know the time of my death, and it isn't for a while yet."

Broken Shaft cocked his head skeptically. "On occasion, I've known your visions to be wrong."

Ice Fire laughed. "But only on occasion."

"True, but it worries me nonetheless."

They exchanged a warm smile.

"You made excellent time." Ice Fire changed the subject. "I hope that means it was an easy trip with no troubles."

'' Smoke proved difficult

Ice Fire frowned. "Why? He's a good—"

"He met a girl from the Round Hoof Clan and lost his head. He brought her bouquets of autumn leaves for days before she reluctantly gave in and agreed to spend time with him. But the rest of the trip was uneventful."

Ice Fire's eyes crinkled in amusement. "Smoke stayed, I take it?"

"Indeed, he did."

Putting an arm around Broken Shaft's broad shoulders, Ice Fire guided the warrior to the fire, where they both settled on the sandy soil. "You look tired. Can I offer you a hot meal?"

"That sounds wonderful. I could eat an entire mammoth." The young man placed his darts to his lips a moment, apologizing for letting them out of his hands, before he carefully laid them to the side.

Ice Fire scooped up a horn full of the thick musk-ox stew, handing it to the grateful warrior.

"Thank you, Elder. I've much to tell you."

"Ice Fire?" Red Flint appeared in the doorway.

"Thank you for coming, old friend. Come in."

The middle-aged man ducked beneath the flap and ambled tiredly to settle on his knees across the fire. His eyes looked down, the lines around his mouth remained tightly drawn— as they had since the Enemy carried off his daughter, Moon Water.

Ice Fire's thoughts drifted, mind leaping space and time to imagine the pretty girl doing chores in the camps of the Enemy. The thought of her there left a burning resentment in his stomach. They'd have raped her by now. For all he knew, she already carried a child in her young womb. Pray to the Great Mystery they hadn't hurt her.

He'd become so lost in his thoughts, it took Broken Shaft

clearing his throat to bring him back. He looked up, somewhat startled to see the stew depleted by several horns, the haggard Broken Shaft looking respectfully his way.

"You have been to the Round Hoof Clan? And to the Tiger Belly Clan, too?"

Broken Shaft nodded, slipping into formal tones. "Yes, Most Respected Elder. The tidings are mostly good. Some of the pressure is easing to the west. Something happened out there. The Glacier People are moving south along the coast. Some of the other tribes are moving north still, others . are slowing as our clans hunt out the game. The Great Mystery also punishes those who seek to drive us. Some terrible disease, a sickness of the soul, wastes their warriors. Oozing sores cover their bodies. For the moment, they aren't fighting as fiercely as before."

Ice Fire digested that, lost in thought. "Then our clans didn't lose so much land this year?"

"No. In fact, we gained some back." Broken Shaft grimaced and shook his head, glancing briefly at Red Flint.

Ice Fire followed his gaze, noting the older man's absent-prodding of the fire with a willow branch. He turned back to Broken Shaft. "What's bothering you?"

The warrior raised his eyebrows expressively. "The salt water, Most Respected Elder.''

"The salt water?"

Broken Shaft gazed nervously at the fire for a moment. "The land between the Round Hoof and Tiger Bellies." He shook his head. ' 'Smoke and I passed at the beginning of the Long Light and traveled through Buffalo Clan to the Tiger Bellies. On the way back, not more than two moons ago, I tried to follow the same trail with Caribou Foot of the Buffalo Clan. The water had covered the old route. We had to go several days' journey to the north. It's eerie, plants sticking up as the water covers them. The land is narrower through there now. The northern salt water moves south, too. The seas are trying to meet. Not only that, but Caribou Foot tells me the rivers have never been so full. Half his clan were cut off from the dancing this year by the great western river. You know, the one that runs out of the other side of these mountains to the west. Not even the strongest and bravest would try to cross the swollen flood."

"So soon ..." Ice Fire reflected to himself, a tendril of anxiety winding through him. A sweet child's voice penetrated his mind. His gaze drifted slowly to the sea bundle. "Is that it?" he whispered, eyes narrowing. "It's happening sooner than I'd thought?"

Broken Shaft swallowed uneasily. "What is, Elder?"

Ice Fire continued staring at the green and blue bundle, but it had hushed again. Blinking, he looked back to the warrior. ' 'The seas are going to cut us off from the Glacier People."

"How?"

"By flooding the land."

Broken Shaft sat still and somber. "What if the water cuts us off from the Tiger Bellies? They're pushing back into land abandoned by the Glacier People."

Ice Fire lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "Then they'll have to face the Glacier People alone—as well as this horrible disease."

Broken Shaft swallowed and shifted, eyes turning to his darts. "If the water is going to drown the world, are we safe?"

"Don't worry about it. You'll be long dead by the time it follows us this far." He smiled, glancing at the bundle from the corner of his eye.
Won't he?

Red Flint licked his lips and straightened. "Are the other clans sending warriors to help us fight the Enemy? We have to get our families back!" Viciously, he slammed a fist into the dirt floor.

Broken Shaft lowered his eyes as Ice Fire reached a comforting hand across to squeeze his friend's shoulder. "We'll get her back," he softly affirmed.

Red Flint relaxed a little, nodding tensely. "I . . .1 know, Elder."

Ice Fire released his grip reluctantly, asking, "How many are coming?"

"Many," Broken Shaft said certainly. "With the Glacier People going south to take the land of the sick tribes, there is no one brave to fight. Warriors from all the clans are on their way here, to find honor fighting the Enemy with us."

Red Flint nodded again, a fist clenched. "This year, our warriors will win the Sacred White Hide back for our clan."