by Dakota Chase
She shrugged. “Not yet, but who knows what will happen later? You may bring me back just to kill me in front of the rest of the Bison Clan, to prove how brave you are.”
Grant was practically seething, and she was even starting to piss me off now. “You’re being a hypocrite. You say we’re killers, not to be trusted, but at the same time you say the Deer Clan kill people just because they aren’t Deer Clan.”
She shrugged. “It’s the way. Kill or be killed.”
“Yeah? Well, it’s not our way.” Grant hissed and dropped his arms, letting her go. I released her other arm and took a step back.
She looked startled to be free, but then she tensed. She was going to make a break for it. “Go ahead, run away. You talk about how brave the Deer Clan are, but you’re just a coward. You hate everyone just because they aren’t the same as you, and you think everyone is out to get you. We call that paranoid where we come from.”
Grant nodded. “Make sure you tell your people, when you find them, that the friends of the Bison Clan didn’t hurt you, even though we could’ve. We let you go.”
She started to run, but after only a few yards, she stopped and looked back at us. We hadn’t moved an inch, and she couldn’t seem to understand why we weren’t chasing her.
“We speak the truth, Silver Water. We don’t want to hurt you. If you don’t want to come back with us, we won’t force you. Go on, go find your people. Just remember not everyone wants you dead.” I turned my back on her and began walking in the direction of the cave. Grant followed right behind me.
Silver Water didn’t chase after us, not that I expected her to. In fact, after a minute or two I glanced back and saw she’d melted into the forest. I hoped when she found her people, Gray Wolf and the other hunters hadn’t found them first.
“We need to talk some sense into Gray Wolf. Why does everyone always think the worst of everyone else?” Grant was still angry. I could hear it in voice. I got the feeling he wasn’t just thinking of the Bison Clan and the Deer Clan.
“What do you mean?”
He shrugged. “Things haven’t really changed so much. In our time some people still hate because others are different than themselves.”
“I know. It’s stupid, and it sucks. But not everyone feels that way in our time. Maybe not everyone feels that way here either. Let’s talk to Gray Wolf. Maybe he’ll see reason.”
Grant snorted at me. “Yeah, sure. We have to tell him the Deer Clan might be scheming to take the Bison Clan hunting grounds and cave. Do you think he won’t march right out and try to catch and kill as many Deer Clan as he can then?”
“Maybe. But maybe we can talk some sense into him, get him to understand he can get ready to defend his lands and people without purposely murdering people he thinks might hurt him.”
Grant didn’t look convinced, and I had to admit, I wasn’t so sure we could convince Gray Wolf to attempt peace with the Deer Clan. But at least we could say we tried.
And hope our heads didn’t end up on pikes outside somebody’s cave.
Chapter Fourteen
“YOU LET her go!”
It wasn’t so much a question as an exclamation of disgust and dismay. Musk Ox shook his head, obviously dumbfounded by our behavior. “Why would you do this?”
Grant tried to answer for both of us. “What else could we do? She didn’t want to come with us, so—”
Musk Ox cut him off, obviously not interested in whatever excuse we might give. “Gray Wolf will not be happy.” He rubbed his face with his hands. “Go, leave me. I need to think.” His expression was bleak and dark and slightly terrifying. It made me really worried about Gray Wolf’s reaction.
Grant and I exchanged a look and seemed to read each other’s minds, as if both of us decided speaking and trying to defend ourselves probably wouldn’t be a great idea.
We didn’t want to sit alone, so we joined Rabbit at Summer Wind’s fire. Even Rabbit, usually our biggest supporter, looked at us like we’d lost our collective minds. “Is it true? You had one of the Deer Clan and you let her go?”
What the hell were we supposed to do? Tie her up and drag her kicking and screaming to the camp of her enemies? I was starting to get pissed off. What was wrong with these people? “Yes, we let her go. She didn’t want to come with us, and from what everyone is talking about the Deer Clan around here, I’m not sure I blame her.”
“What does what she wanted have to do with anything? The Deer Clan are enemies of the Bison Clan. They have invaded our territory.”
“We know, but she was our age—”
“If she came with her tribe to invade our lands, she is a warrior.” There was a defiant tilt to Rabbit’s chin. I realized he wasn’t going to give an inch. In his mind, young as he was, Silver Water was as much a killer and enemy of his people as the rest of the Deer Clan and should have been brought back kicking and screaming. In fact, I got the impression Rabbit, along with the rest of the Bison Clan, wouldn’t have protested if we’d killed her outright. The only good Deer Clan is a dead Deer Clan, and all that bigoted nonsense.
I was starting to feel both pissed off and depressed at the same time. Nothing had really changed much in the past ten thousand years. Was hate really a part of the human condition? I didn’t want to think so, yet even in our own time, some people blindly hated because they were afraid of someone who looked different from themselves or worshipped a different god. “Why do you hate them so much, Rabbit? What did they do to the Bison Clan?”
Rabbit cocked his head and shrugged. “They are Deer Clan.” As if it explained everything.
“I get that, but what exactly did they do to you?”
He looked positively stunned we didn’t understand and a little bit frustrated and angry that I was pressing for details. I began to realize it was because he didn’t have any. He’d simply been raised to believe the Deer Clan were the enemy, and if they weren’t exterminated, they would kill the Bison Clan as soon as the opportunity arose. Or, at the very least, steal their lands and home.
I knew, after speaking with Silver Water, that last part was true enough, but I wasn’t about to add any fuel to Rabbit’s biased fire. I kept the tidbit of information to myself. For now. I already knew I’d need to tell Gray Wolf. The Bison Clan needed to know the Deer Clan intended to try to throw them out of their home and take over the Bison Clan hunting grounds.
“Rabbit, think about it. All you know is what you’ve been told about them.” Grant was trying, but I doubted logic would work. It rarely did when it came to prejudice arguments. “There are probably good Deer Clan, as well as bad.”
Rabbit bared his teeth and shook his head. “No. There are no good Deer Clan.”
“Come on, Grant. It’s no use.” I was feeling suddenly tired, as if everything that’d happened since Merlin dropped us on the beach suddenly caught up to me and punched me in the gut. I wanted to lie down and sleep for a week. I’m pretty sure part of it was depression. It was super upsetting to realize someone I liked as much as Rabbit was a stone-cold bigot, bred since birth to detest people he didn’t even know personally. It was stupid and hateful and made me feel like I wanted to hurl. Standing was a chore, but I managed to pull myself to my feet. “Let’s go.”
Grant nodded and stood up. He sighed. “Rest, Rabbit. We’ll talk more later.”
“If you are friend to the Deer Clan, we have nothing to talk about.” Rabbit snarled, his lip curling over his teeth. He looked as if he could happily run us through with a spear given half a chance.
It was sad and disturbing, disappointing and infuriating all at the same time. I’d believed Rabbit was a good kid, sweet but irritating, like an annoying little brother. Now he looked like a stranger to me again, one I didn’t like very much. All I wanted to do was shake Rabbit until he understood how stupid he was being. I turned away and stalked off, unable to bear it another moment.
Word must’ve spread quickly through the rest of the tribe. I caught people looking at us from
out of the corners of their eyes, although they were quick to look away if I glanced in their direction. There was no mistaking the hostility in the air—Grant and I were no longer brave heroes who’d saved one of their own. Now we were two strangers again, people not to be trusted.
Grant and I hunkered down in the corner of the cave Gray Wolf had designated ours. Our hearth was tiny, meant only for two people, but not even the warmth from the flames was enough to ward off the chill I sensed coming at us from the Bison Clan. I had to wonder what Gray Wolf would do to us. Would he believe us to be traitors for letting Silver Water go? Were we in actual physical danger from the people we’d thought of as friends?
“What do you think is going to happen now?” I poked at the fire with a stick, just to have something to do with my hands. Sparks jumped up like fairy lights. I sighed, barely noticing.
Grant shook his head. “I have no idea. I didn’t think it was such a big deal, letting Silver Water go free. I mean, I knew they’d be disappointed not to have a Deer Clan to interrogate, but she’s a kid, like us. I didn’t think they would be….” His voice trailed off, but he didn’t need to finish his sentence. I knew what he was thinking.
He didn’t think the Bison Clan would hate us for it. I didn’t either. I sighed again. This was bad. Really bad.
“We have to convince Gray Wolf we didn’t mean any harm to the Bison Clan by letting Silver Water go. We found out about the Deer Clan plans and wanted to warn the Bison Clan about them—that should mean something.”
He nodded. “I hope so. But just in case, we should be ready to run.”
I looked up from the fire and blinked at him. “Run? Run where?”
“Anywhere away from here.”
Unsurprisingly, I didn’t find the thought of running away into the prehistoric wilderness comforting at all. Where would we go? Off to try to join the Deer Clan or some other tribe? Did they use hunting talismans? We couldn’t forget our primary goal for being here. If we didn’t find the talisman we needed, we couldn’t go home. So instead, I found myself praying Gray Wolf would react more rationally than Musk Ox or Rabbit had.
It was all I could do.
FULL DARK had fallen, and most of the Bison Clan had already eaten. The younger children were asleep, the older ones talking quietly around the hearths when Gray Wolf and the other hunters returned, pulling and dragging a makeshift sled with the carcass of a giant sloth, much like the one Grant and I had seen when we first arrived. The thing was even bigger close up and had a rank, primal odor.
We’d hurried out of the cave along with the rest of the Bison Clan who were still awake when a woman announced the hunters’ arrival, but we hung back from the tribe crowding excitedly around the kill.
Musk Ox wasted little time telling Gray Wolf about our encounter with Silver Water earlier that day. He, Gray Wolf, and Bear Paw walked a few paces away from everyone else and talked for a few moments, but the glances they cast in our direction left no doubt who they were talking about.
Gray Wolf’s expression began to darken, and at last he barked an order to Musk Ox, who trotted over to us at once.
“Come. Gray Wolf wants to speak with you.” He motioned us forward, then turned to escort us back.
We trailed Gray Wolf to the clearing where we’d had our first meeting. This time there were no other hunters in attendance except for Bear Paw. Neither of them looked happy. When Gray Wolf spoke, it was straight to the point. “Tell me what happened with the Deer Clan girl.”
Grant took point on this one, and I was happy to let him. “We were out in the forest and we spotted a girl. We chased her, and when we finally caught up, we weren’t sure what to do. She hadn’t hurt us, and she was really scared.”
I nodded and picked up the thread of the story. “She told us her name was Silver Water, and she was the daughter of the chief of the Deer Clan.”
Maybe I shouldn’t have included that little detail, because when they heard it, all three hunters’ eyes grew wide with surprise, their mouths hanging open. I hurried on, before they had the chance to comment on it. Maybe if I threw enough verbal vomit at them, they’d forget we let the daughter of the chief of their enemies go free.
“Like Grass said, she was really scared. She didn’t have a spear—maybe she lost it or didn’t have one to begin with. She had a knife, but it was a small one, and she didn’t cut either of us. We asked what she was doing in the Bison Clan hunting grounds. She said her people were starving, that the big herds stopped grazing in the Deer Clan territory. Her people came north to hunt. I don’t think she meant to hurt us. She was just afraid of us, and we tried to get her to come back with us, but she panicked and ran. I mean, if I was caught by the Deer Clan, I’d want to run. It made sense to me that she’d try to get away. They think we’re their enemies too, right? So—”
“Silence!” Gray Wolf’s voice thundered. He rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache. I probably added to it with my babbling. “Musk Ox said you asked her why her people came north. Was it just to hunt? Speak the truth to me.”
Grant and I exchanged a wary look. “No, it wasn’t only to hunt. Silver Water said the Deer Clan want the Bison Clan lands and cave. There’s no game in their territory, but the hunting grounds of the Bison Clan have lots.”
“And yet you let her go!” We looked up and saw Snow Owl standing behind us. He was so angry he was trembling.
To our shock, Gray Wolf held up a hand. “I did not request your presence at this meeting, Snow Owl.”
“I am shaman of this tribe.” He pointed a long, thin finger at us. “They have brought nothing but bad luck to the Bison Clan. First Rabbit breaks his leg, and now the Deer Clan have come to our land.” He snarled, his voice growing louder and louder until he was yelling.
“Calm yourself!” Gray Wolf’s teeth were gritted, as if he was fighting to keep from losing his temper. “Grass and Ash are friends of the Bison Clan. They have brought nothing but luck. Rabbit is still alive because of them.”
“You can’t be sure of that. Rabbit may have survived anyway. We may have found him ourselves. Worse, you don’t know if they led the Deer Clan here. Perhaps they are Deer Clan themselves!” Snow Owl didn’t seem as if he was going to give up easily. It was obvious he hated us and wanted us gone.
Gray Wolf glared at Snow Owl and refused to concede the argument. “Grass and Ash are not Deer Clan. I know this as well as I know I am Bison Clan. A man of the Deer Clan wouldn’t have saved Rabbit or carried him all the way to our cave. Now, sit down and behave as an adult, or leave.”
It gave me hope that for as angry as I knew Gray Wolf was at us, he still defended us to Snow Owl. Maybe Gray Wolf wouldn’t banish us or kill us outright after all.
For a minute I didn’t think Snow Owl would obey the order. He locked gazes with Gray Wolf as long moments stretched between them, but in the end, he looked way first. He didn’t leave, though. He sat down on a tree stump, a scowl painted blackly on his face.
Gray Wolf nodded almost to himself and continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted. “I don’t think Grass and Ash understand our history with the Deer Clan. If they did, I don’t believe they would’ve let the girl go so easily.” He looked at us and sighed. “The children of the Bison Clan learn this while still at their mother’s breast, but you were not born Bison Clan. Listen well and learn. In the time before time, there were no tribes, only the People. There is a legend told of a great warrior named Golden Lion and how he tamed the Great Waters to bring the People across the Endless Sea.”
We gaped at him, and he nodded. “It is true. The People were happy and content. They were travelers. They lived in hide tents, always moving from place to place, following the herds. In that time the number of animals in the herds—the bison, the reindeer, the antelope, the horses, the musk ox—were uncountable. There were so many, their hooves striking the earth made the ground tremble. Even the Great Ones, the mammoth were many. Hunting was easy.
“But then, after many
generations, the herds began to dwindle. No one knew why. Maybe the spirits were angry with the People, or maybe the animals’ spirits wanted to leave. The People had to travel farther, the time between hunts grew longer, and the number of animals they killed, fewer. They began to know hunger, something our people never experienced before.”
Musk Ox nodded, agreeing with Gray Wolf’s storytelling. “It is true. The People began to suffer, the young and old especially. Their bellies were empty, and they grew weak. The People began to die.”
Gray Wolf looked up at the sky, seeming to study the stars. He didn’t speak for a few moments, maybe out of respect for his ancestors who’d suffered, or maybe gathering his thoughts. “Golden Lion prayed to the spirit of the land and made many sacrifices, but still the People went hungry. Then one day, Golden Lion knelt at a stream to drink, and the spirit of the water whispered to him.
“‘Bring the People to me, and I will save them.’”
The men of the Bison Clan nodded and murmured in agreement. It reminded me of the church my family attended, with congregants nodding and amen-ing to the preacher’s sermon. It was obviously a favorite story the Bison Clan had heard many times before.
“Golden Lion ran back to their camp. ‘We are saved! The spirit of water has spoken to me and ordered us to go to the sea’s edge.’
“There were many who opposed Golden Lion. ‘The water of the Endless Sea is deep. We will drown!’
“But Golden Lion stood firm. He gathered those he could convince to come with him, and they marched to the edge of the sea. He fell to his knees and implored the sea spirit to keep good the promise made. ‘Great spirit of the sea, the People fear they will drown in your waters. We can’t swim like your fish or fly like your seabirds.’
“The spirit of the sea rose up as a wall of water that towered over Golden Lion. ‘I shall make the water hard enough to walk upon, so the People may cross my sea to a new land. Behold!’
