Heart of Ice

by Barbara Pietron

Chapter 5

  Ice left the walk-in clinic with a bandaged left ankle and instructions on how to minimize the swelling. Because he'd made the fortunate decision to wear boots with his jeans, he was lucky and suffered only a few lacerations and bruising from the steel jaw trap. The doctor said he didn't expect any lasting nerve damage.

  Nik had called Ice's mom and she met them at the clinic. "When I agreed to let you apprentice Nik, I never thought you'd be in any dangerous situations," she commented as she helped him into the passenger seat. "It's not supposed to be a hazardous job."

  "It's not, Mom." Ice sighed. "This was an accident. I should've been paying attention to where I was going."

  "What were you two doing out in the woods anyway?"

  "Checking up on a guy. Nik thought he may be sick." He chose his words carefully, not wanting to lie to his mom.

  He hadn't told her about his visit from the North Wind, unsure how much her traditional background would allow her to accept. She'd grown up in Chicago, a baptized Catholic who attended private elementary and high schools. She met Ice's father while at college in the Twin Cities metro area and not long after, she became pregnant.

  Since she was unwed, her conservative parents insisted she give the baby up for adoption, and when she refused, they cut off support. So Ice's parents moved to the reservation. Just months after he was born, Ice's father disappeared, but his mom chose to stay anyway, preferring her adopted Ojibwe family to the one that'd shunned her.

  Ice knew she recognized the Native American ways, but she'd been raised under a different doctrine and he wasn't sure she embraced all of the realities of their spiritual world.

  "Well it looks like no hockey practice for you today," she said, not quite placated by his explanation, but willing to move on. "Do you need me to call someone?"

  "No. I'll text Troy." He waited until his mom swung the door shut and then fished his phone from his pocket. "Guess I'll find out if it survived sitting in the snow," he mumbled to himself, doing his best to ignore his throbbing ankle. The screen lit, which was an encouraging sign. He typed a message, saying simply that he'd injured his ankle, but should be fine in time for the upcoming game. That's all Troy would want to know. He pressed send, holding his breath and willing the phone to function.

  When the display announced that his text was delivered, he exhaled, relieved. Then he realized he'd better tell Lynn what was going on. If she didn't see him at practice and asked her brother where he was, Ice didn't want her to think their date was off tomorrow. Wrapped ankle or not, Ice was determined to make it to the dance.

  His main objective, of course, was spending some time with Lynn and getting to know her, but after today, Ice was motivated to learn anything he could about Mr. Nesbitt from other kids. Nik was now fully convinced the man was under a Windigo curse.

  When the police had arrived at Nesbitt's cabin, the man was gone, as was his SUV. They'd excavated the mound of earth behind the shed, finding only animal bones, but because he'd come after Ice with an axe, they'd issued an all-points bulletin for local law enforcement to look for the missing teacher.

  Now that finding Nesbitt was a police concern, Nik and Ice needed to concentrate on who might have called the North Wind to curse the man. If they could find that person, there may still be a chance to lift the curse before anyone fell prey to the Windigo.

  How they would do that, Ice had yet to find out.

  Until his mom reached over and stilled his hand, Ice hadn’t realized he'd been tapping the phone against his leg. He had to tell Lynn something, but unlike Troy, she'd want details and Ice wasn't sure he wanted to share the true story. It made him sound careless and raised too many questions.

  Finally he decided to tell her he wrenched his ankle in the woods while hunting. It was at least close to the truth and sounded better than stepping into a trap. He added, "So I can't play hockey today but don't worry, we're still on for the dance. Probably no fancy moves though…"

  It took a few minutes before Lynn replied. "Oh no, hope you feel better! Glad we're still on… maybe we'll just slow dance all night ;)" Ice felt his cheeks warm and was glad his mom's attention was on the road. He deliberated over how to respond when Lynn spared him by changing the subject. "Hey I talked to Audrey—they'll go with us."

  "Ok cool. Will they meet at your house or am I picking everyone up?" He didn't mind chauffeuring for everyone as long as they didn't live too far from town, and he'd definitely want to get Lynn first to avoid awkward silences in the car with people he didn't know.

  Ice's mom pulled into the driveway. "Wait for me to help you," she commanded as Ice reached for the door handle.

  He swung the door open, but did as he was told and waited for her to round the car and help him maneuver his bandaged foot over the door jamb. The dull ache escalated to a pulsing pain as soon as the foot was no longer in a resting state. Although he could've made it to the house by himself, he let his mom take his arm to satisfy her mothering instincts. "On the couch," she ordered as they came through the door.

  Ice had no objection to her command and eased onto the couch, propping his injured foot on the coffee table with a sigh of relief. Then he checked for Lynn's reply.

  "Actually, Audrey will be here. She's spending the night. I can ask if Dale can get a ride over here if you want."

  Ice drew in a sharp breath when he saw the name 'Dale.' No, he told himself, it probably wasn't him. There must be more than one Dale at Cass High. "Ok just let me know."

  "Hang on. Audrey's right here."

  He stared at his phone, wondering if he should ask for Dale's last name. He had no reason to—technically, all he needed was the guy's address if he was going to pick him up. His mom appeared in the doorway. "Grilled ham and cheese?"

  "Sure, sounds great." His stomach rumbled, as if in agreement. It'd been a long time since the doughnut Nik bought him.

  Then Lynn was back. "Ok so Dale could use a ride if it's not out of your way." Ice felt his chest tighten as he read her general description of where Dale lived. He swore under his breath.

  "That's right by me. What street?" Ice knew the answer before it arrived. He'd spent a good portion of his childhood around the block on—

  "Wayside"

  "Dale Quinn" He didn't bother with a question mark.

  "Yeah! You know him?"

  Sure, he knew Dale. In fact, Ice and Dale had been best friends from kindergarten up until middle school, when Nik had chosen Ice as his apprentice. Ice typed, "I used to when we were kids."

  "Cool! You guys can catch up"

  Ice snorted and shook his head—what were they? A couple of middle-aged women? Besides, he very much doubted Dale wanted to know what Ice had been up to. If he had, he wouldn't have let their friendship die in the first place.

  In the beginning, Ice and Dale were thrilled to be two of the five candidates Nik had selected as possible recruits. At least forty kids had shown up for the initial screening—which appeared to be little more than a handshake. Ice would never forget the feeling as the medicine man engulfed his smaller hand in both of his hands. The room around them fell away as a vision filled Ice's head: some kind of ceremony, the participants wearing traditional dress, chanting and waving stalks of grain as they circled a roaring fire. Then Nik's face materialized, his eyebrows arched thoughtfully and his lips curved in a slight smile.

  Ice was directed back to his seat where Dale soon joined him and they listened with growing excitement as Nik murmured his thanks to most of the other kids and gently sent them out of the room. In the end, four boys and one girl remained.

  Over the next month, each child met with the medicine man individually, and in the end, Nik chose Ice to be his apprentice. This didn't mean the other candidates couldn't become shamans in their own right, only that Nik would not mentor them. The medicine man considered the passing on of his wisdom and knowledge a personal process to be shared on a one-on-one basis.

  At the time, Dale was happy for Ice�
�or so he said. But as Ice began training, Dale never wanted to hear anything about it, claiming he wasn't interested, and the awkward space between them grew quickly. Finally, when Dale started middle school and Ice began homeschooling, it seemed they no longer had anything in common, and their friendship fizzled out.

  Ice sighed heavily, staring at Lynn's words, searching for a reply. He refused to dignify her suggestion with a response, even though he knew she had no idea of the history involved. He settled on, "Guess it makes sense to pick him up first—as long as he's ok with it." He hoped she passed the message on to Audrey, and Audrey to Dale. He didn't want Dale to be surprised to see Ice show up at his house tomorrow night.

  "I'll tell Audrey to let him know."

  "Thanks I'll get Dale around 6:15. That should get us to your house a little after 6:30."

  "I can't wait"

  Ice slapped his phone down on the couch cushion next to him just as his mom entered the room with his sandwich. Her eyebrows peaked as she scrutinized him. "Something wrong?" She handed him the plate and waited.

  "Thanks, Mom," he said and set the plate on his lap. "Remember I told you Lynn and I are going to the dance with Corey's ex-girlfriend?" When she nodded, he continued. "Her new boyfriend is Dale Quinn. And I have to pick him up tomorrow."

  "Ohhh," she let the sound trail off. "Well, you do know him. I mean you two never hated each other or anything."

  "No—not that I can speak for him. Although he did get pretty hostile."

  "I remember." She gazed at her son sympathetically. "Maybe enough time has passed. Maybe he's gotten over his disappointment or jealousy—whatever his problem was."

  Ice sighed. "Yeah. Maybe."

  Not every sweet root gives birth to sweet grass.

  Native American Proverb