Sirius was the only hunter who had gone any distance toward the morning sun and he had only gone to within sight of the tall mountains. He told Canis of what looked to be the remains of an ancient and wide trail that appeared to lead directly toward those mountains.
It sounded to Canis like the remains of a high road. They both agreed that, if he could manage to keep to that trail, it was likely he would find a pass through the mountains.
Adhara made him a necklace from the tiger claws and teeth. Now he had two of them, but the bear necklace still lay hidden with the rest of his things. He had told no one of that bear and had hidden the necklace almost immediately. He didn’t know what he would do with two of them.
The last storm of the winter was like the snowstorms he was more accustomed to, though there wasn’t as much accumulation. It fell soft and wet. The days were getting warmer and it was nearly time for Canis to head out. Many of the villagers came by to bid Canis a safe journey and long life. More than a few of them expressed a desire to see him again, but in truth, few of them expected it to happen. There were a few gifts too, but they were small. No one wanted to weigh him down with such a formidable journey ahead of him.
Two days after the snow stopped, Canis headed out. His sled was full of provisions; he wouldn’t need to hunt for several days.
Rrusharr was pregnant, but Canis couldn’t wait for her to deliver or he could be caught in the pass when winter came down on them again. Debhe sat him down and told him what to expect when she went into labor and she gave him a special jug; it was to deaden the sensations. She told him everything she could and made him promise to drug himself up as soon as it started. “It is very hard on a man to go through their companion’s labor.”
Canis promised to do as she said. He remembered Halley’s ordeal. Privately, he hoped it didn’t happen during a time when he needed to keep his senses about him.
Finally, he set out. The day was bright and the snow was white, so he tied his facemask over his eyes to protect them from the glare. The men of the Yellowstone Clan never used them since their hunting took place among the giant trees. Here on the high plateau, the sun reflecting off the white snow was doubly bright. The hunters covered their eyes with a wide strip of soft leather with slits cut for them to see through, it put their eyes in the shade and protected them from sun-blindness.
Two days from the village, Rranggrr informed him that they were being followed. Whoever it was didn’t want to be found and never approached his camp, so Canis assumed it was one of the hunters following to make sure that his journey was safe.
After three more days of no contact, Canis figured that whoever it was had turned back. He was making good time and traveling fast. His supplies were growing thin so he started to cast around for game. Two days later, he shot a buck and spent the day cutting it into chunks and setting it out on the snow to freeze.
He was packing it all up the next morning when Ggrrawrr, who watched over them all, informed him that another Wulfi approached the camp.
Curious, Canis waited until the visitor came into sight. It was nearly all white with a few gray markings, but despite the coloring, it was obvious that it was a young Wulfi. Vaguely, he placed it as being an offspring of the great gray Wulfi who had first relayed him the news of the striped cat, but he couldn’t remember who or even if it was companioned with anyone. She crept into camp with her head down in supplication. The fact that she was alone was enough. He didn’t need the picture of her companion huddled in the snow unable to continue and unable to turn back. Leaving the camp under the watchful eye of Ggrrawrr, Canis headed back down his trail at a trot.
It was early afternoon before he found the boy staggering along the trail, barely able to manage his snowshoes. There was no sled so he hadn’t brought enough supplies to make the trek.
The boy looked old enough to know better, but perhaps he snuck away from the village and had taken little or nothing with him. Canis gave him a swallow or two from his water skin, then scooped him up and headed back to his camp.
With the day wasted already, Canis saw no reason to hurry. He built his fire up again and laid a slab of meat on the wood to cook, and then he turned to the boy for an explanation. “What’s your name, and why did you follow me?” he asked.
“My name’s Cepheid, and I want to come with you,” said the boy.
“This is no journey for a boy. Does your family know where you are?”
Cepheid hesitated, looking guilty. “No, I just left a couple hours after you did. I figured, if I waited long enough, when I caught up with you, you wouldn’t send me back. I don’t want to go back.”
“Why? It is a good life back there,” said Canis.
The boy pushed his hood back to reveal short gray hair with a brown blotch at his right temple. His youthful face had yet to lengthen into manhood. Canis wondered just how young the boy was. “I suppose it’s good enough; I just want to go somewhere else. I want to see what else is out there. I can help you. No one should make a journey like this alone.”
Canis considered the distance already covered. He had been climbing gradually almost ever since he left the village. For the boy to be able to make it back he’d have to take the sled and Canis couldn’t afford to do without or waste the time to build another. The only weapon the boy brought with him was a belt knife, so he couldn’t hunt or even protect himself. Small game was nearly nonexistent here, and the predators that hunted these expanses were large. He was surely trapped. If he took the boy back, he might as well forgo the trip entirely until next summer.
Canis growled and strode to the edge of the firelight looking into the darkness, back toward the village he’d left far behind. There was something about Cepheid he couldn’t remember.
He rubbed the stone between his brows and shook his head. Bringing the boy with him wouldn’t make the journey any easier, but it wouldn’t make it any harder either. With his decision made, he reached out toward the village until he touched the old gray Wulfi. He delivered the message about Cepheid then turned back to the fire.
Using his belt knife, he turned the meat over on the coals then passed over the water skin. He looked over at the remains of his kill. Little was left that hadn’t been shredded. He would have to make a new water skin when he killed again. He could make the kid a bow too; he could do that on the trail. He was unwilling to part with the arrowheads Auriga had made him. He looked at the kid again; he looked so young. He wouldn’t be able to pull a full sized bow for some time yet. He could use fire-hardened arrows until they found a stone deposit and could make more tips.
Canis packed up again early the next morning and they were on the trail before the sun cleared the horizon. It didn’t take long for Canis to discover other woeful lacks in the boy’s gear. It looked as though all he had done was throw his coat on and grab a fur to use as a blanket.
“How long did you plan coming with me?” asked Canis as he gave his facemask to the kid.
“I don’t know, a couple days, I guess,” he replied.
“Are you sure it was that long? It looks to me like you might have planned it for about five minutes at the most.”
Aside from looking guilty, the kid didn’t reply.
Puppies
With food under his belt, Cepheid didn’t slow Canis down too much, and he was quick to build a fire in the evenings. He did everything he knew how to do in order to justify his presence. He didn’t want Canis to regret letting him stay.
It wasn’t long before the two of them settled into a routine that was comfortable for both of them, and with the snow-capped peaks of the mountains finally distinguishable from the white clouds, it was important that they iron out any difficulties. Canis took to practicing with his sword again in the predawn light while Cepheid cooked their simple breakfast.
Cepheid liked to watch these sessions just as he liked to watch Canis comb through his long hair every morning. In fact, he found everything about Canis fascinating, which was the biggest reason for
following, though he would never tell him such a thing.
This morning started out no different from the others already past. Cepheid was watching Canis perform a complicated spin that would end in a powerful thrust, only this time, it ended with Canis doubling over. The sword went flying and Canis piled in a tangle of arms and legs with an inarticulate cry of inexplicable pain.
Cepheid pulled the pan from the fire and ran to his side. “What is it? Did you hurt yourself?”
Canis was panting and slowly pulling himself up. “I am fine,” he hissed. “Rrusharr has started to have her pups.” He had never experienced such a thing before. He stumbled the few feet back toward the fire doubled over. Some of what Debhe had warned him of surfaced in his memory, but he couldn’t remember what she had told him to do.
Another pain came and he curled on the snow writhing and panting. Cepheid struggled to pull him to his bedroll only a little farther away.
When the pain passed, Canis rolled over onto the fur and lay panting. The next thing he knew, Cepheid was pulling his head up and pressing something to his lips. He drank, swallowing a mouthful of the bittersweet liquid then gasping at its violent ventilation of his head.
A brief thought of stopping Rrusharr’s pain passed through his mind, but the constant interruptions of Cepheid with the heady drink kept him sufficiently distracted.
Eventually the drink did its work, and Rrusharr’s labor pains were muffled somewhat, allowing Canis to uncoil enough to sit up, though the strong drink did more than deaden the pain.
Cepheid put the jar in his hands then went to tend to the pup that had already been born. He took his own fur and wrapped the chubby little thing in it while its sibling was being born, then he guided them to their mother’s warm belly to nurse. After a few minutes, he was able to entice Rrusharr to move onto the fur so her pups wouldn’t be in the snow.
Cepheid went back to Canis to find his head drooping. He took the jar before it spilled and replaced the cork, then he lifted Canis’s head to look in his eyes. They were unfocused and blank, so he pushed him down onto his furs and covered him up. They were going nowhere today.
He checked on the new family again and folded a corner of the fur over their damp backs, then he went out to retrieve Canis’s sword. He emptied the rest of the contents of the jar onto the snow. It wouldn’t keep much longer anyway and it had served its purpose.
The camp was suddenly quiet and Cepheid had never felt so alone before. People had always been around; even out here, there had been Canis’s solid and comforting presence, but now, with Canis drugged out of his senses, he was on his own.
Cepheid paced the camp restlessly, gazing at the horizon around their camp. A birthing out in the open like this was dangerous. The scent would carry for miles on the lightest winds and advertise their vulnerability.
Accompanied only by Nnarr, his companion, Cepheid roamed around and collected all the firewood he could find. He was going to sit up all night and keep the fire going. It was the only defense he had.
It was well after dark when Canis woke up from his stupor. He pushed himself upright and took in the scene of the camp. Still muzzy-headed, he saw blazing fire and spotted the boy pacing the edge of the light in search of glowing eyes out in the darkness.
“Cepheid,” he called only loud enough to be heard.
Cepheid returned to him at once. Even in the firelight, Canis could see that Cepheid’s eyes were wide and his face was drawn. “You’re awake; I’m so glad. I’ve been so afraid.”
“I am awake, though I am probably not much use. Is there anything to eat?”
Cepheid went to the edge of the fire and retrieved a pot. “I made some stew out of the leftovers from breakfast. It’s not too bad.”
Canis dug in. He was hungry enough to eat most anything. “How is our new family?” he asked after a few minutes of gobbling.
“Two, a boy and a girl,” replied Cepheid.
Canis found her comforting presence and had to chuckle. He didn’t find much regret there for what she had put him through; she was too busy being a mother. “And we know who the proud papa is too,” he said as he turned his gaze to Ggrrawrr who was lying alertly near Rrusharr. Their brief tryst had been reason for another night in the snow, though he had made a conscious decision to dress accordingly that time. “You are accumulating quite a family, three females now, with no competition for your attention, and now pups, quite a pack.”
Ggrrawrr’s only response was to hold his head a little prouder, if that was possible.
A New Scent
They traveled slower since the pups needed to nurse several times a day. In between times, Canis carried them in pouches under his coat. When Rrusharr decided it was time to stop, they spread out a bedroll and let the pups have their way with their mommy until they were full again.
Two weeks of this and well into the forever snows, Canis caught a new scent. It took him most of a day to identify it on the harsh air, then to place its source in the temperamental winds that swirled around them almost constantly now. Suddenly the memory came back to him. He whirled on Cepheid who recoiled in surprise. “You are a girl, a woman. You are Castor’s daughter. You are having your menses. Why did you not tell me?”
“I wanted to come with you,” she said, her eyes wide. “If I told you, you would have sent me back, or taken me back yourself, so I let you think I was a boy.”
Canis was furious. “How could you do this to me?” This explained why she looked so young. She was young, but she was older than she looked.
“I never slowed you down. I took care of you when the pups were born,” she cried in her defense, but he was so angry.
Canis had never come so close to striking another person in anger. He’d fought them, he’d killed some, but he had never wanted to punish someone. To avoid doing so now, he whirled and strode off down the trail. His long legs carried him away from her, but she dug in and came after him tenaciously.
By evening, Canis had calmed down some, but he was still angry. He had been angry enough at being saddled with a boy, but a woman…one little more than a girl…
Canis sat and watched as she set about preparing their supper. She didn’t speak to him. He watched as the occasional tear leaked past her control and her finger trembled and fumbled with their tasks.
Women never went on hunting trips and seldom went on such treks. The only time women went anywhere that didn’t have something to do with their home or the food on their table was when the clan had split and one branch left to find new hunting grounds. That happened so seldom that no living member of the clan today had seen it.
He thought back on the day Rrusharr had gone into labor. She must have been so terrified. Sure, there were three Wulfen who would have protected her, and it’s likely they would have done just fine. It was also likely, that if they had come under attack, he would have woken up, and most likely, he would have still been able to hit a target if he had to. But there was also the possibility that it would have worked out entirely different, and it would have been a disaster.
When she brought him his meal, Canis pulled her to sit down beside him, startling her from her thoughts. He spoke with carefully measured words, like he always did. “You are worrying; I can see it. I am not going to leave you, if that is what you are worried about. I am mad at you, and I will probably be mad for a while, but I will get over it. You have done all right so far. I have nothing to complain about, but I do not like being lied to. Never lie to me again.” He put her uneaten supper back into her hands then went to his bedroll.
Canis was almost normal to her the next day, and the day after, it was as if nothing at all had been amiss. They made another kill and she made a second water skin. She also improved on the slings Canis used for the puppies. She used the rest of the hide as a cloth for Rrusharr so her family didn’t have to be on the cold snow when they weren’t being carried by Canis.
It didn’t take the puppies long before they were lifting their fat tummies o
ff the ground far enough to totter around, but they cried when they ran out of strength and had to sit down anywhere off the hide blanket.
They had been traveling for six weeks now and the wind-scrubbed rocks of the closest peaks were in sight both to the north and to the south. If they could make it to the downhill side by the time winter tried to come after them, they would be home free.
When Canis crossed these mountains before, it was dead of winter and much farther north, and it had been no joy ride. Having been utterly unequipped and ignorant, he had nearly starved to death before he found the Yellowstone Clan. He would never forget the constant need to hunt and the constant hunger. He didn’t expect this crossing to be any better, but he was much stronger now and far better prepared.
He carved a bow for Cepheid and every day he had her practice with it. The things she succeeded in shooting went into the supper pot, something she was very proud of. When she missed a shot – and she missed many, he made her try to find the arrow. Most of the time this was all but impossible since the slim shaft would punch deep into the snow and be gone, but she got good at spotting where it hit and managed to recover some of the lost arrows.
As they approached the mountains, they came upon trees again, and they became taller day by day. Their height deflected much of the wind, thus making it possible to find straighter underbrush. Canis taught her where to look and how to make new arrows. He also promised to show her how to make arrowheads when they found some flint.
Strangest of all, he started to show her how to use his sword. “Should anything happen to me, you need to be able to take care of yourself,” he told her one day.
“Nothing is going to happen to you,” said Cepheid.
“Well, I certainly hope not, but you never can tell. There is always the next time Rrusharr has a litter of pups.”
Half-Breed Page 24
