by C. S. Bills
“I have had much practice throwing it,” Bashoo replied. “But the prey was much larger and easier to hit. This is more of a challenge.” He grinned and the other hunters grinned back at him.
The nuknuk was prepared for dragging off the ice before the men settled back around the two holes to wait for another nuknuk.
Attu’s mind was drifting, his eyes on the hole in front of him, his thoughts on the thieves.
Attu! It was Rika.
Tell Rovek Meavu labors. His child is about to be born.
It’s not her time yet.
Perhaps, like her mother, Meavu delivers early.
Attu caught the worry in Rika’s voice and told the others they needed to leave.
The men had barely made it off the ice when Suka came running down the beach. Rovek dropped his hunting gear and ran to meet him.
Ubantu threw down the rope he and Bashoo were using to pull the nuknuk and hurried to join Rovek and Suka.
Rusik took Attu’s tools from his hands. “Go. Find out about your sister.” Attu nodded his thanks and followed his father.
“It’s all right,” Suka reassured Attu as he neared Suka and Rovek. “The poolik has come. Both Meavu and the child are fine.”
“Already?” Attu asked.
“Rika said it was the fastest delivery she’s ever seen.”
“And?” Ubantu asked.
“A boy.”
“A son. I have a son.” Rovek looked as if he were about to faint. The other men laughed as he sat down hard in the sand.
“You would think by his shocked face Rovek didn’t even know his woman was growing a child within.” Suka laughed. He was clearly delighted to have been the one to tell Rovek.
Attu well understood Rovek’s bewilderment. He must have looked like that when Suka had told him of the twins. And I just sat in wonder like Rovek is doing. This moment doesn’t seem real to you now, Brother. But it is one you will never forget.
“Go, hunter. See your woman. See your strong son,” Attu said. He reached down for Rovek. A grin widened across Rovek’s face and he leaped up, ignoring Attu’s outstretched hand, and ran for his shelter.
Attu held his tiny nephew in his arms. “Isn’t he small?” Attu whispered his question to Rika, not wanting to disturb his sleeping sister.
“No, he’s a good size. And appears to be very healthy.” Rika touched the newborn’s fuzzy cheek. “He looks like Rovek, don’t you think?”
Attu couldn’t tell. He studied the little face. His nephew’s eyes were scrunched shut, and he looked like he’d just eaten something sour. To Attu, he didn’t look like anyone in particular except for his own little wrinkled self. The women were always saying things like, “Doesn’t Yural’s poolik have eyes like his father?” and “Rika, your daughter has your nose.” Sometimes Nuka would look at a child and announce the babe looked just like some long gone Between relative.
Attu could see some resemblance to Rika in their pooliks now, but he hadn’t been able to when they were first born. Still, he nodded at Rika now as if he could see a resemblance to Rovek and handed the squirming baby back to his woman.
She gave him a sideways look then grinned knowingly at him. “You don’t see any resemblance. You never do.”
“What?” He felt his face turning red. “Of course I do,” he lied.
“Meavu will need to feed him soon.” Rika changed the subject as the poolik squirmed even harder and mewled. “Nuka has our children, and I’m fine here with Meavu. There is plenty of wood and water, food and wetness coverings. Rovek and Meavu were prepared early.”
Attu wondered if Meavu had known she would deliver before her expected time but hadn’t said anything to them.
“Go join the men at the fire, celebrating with Rovek.” Rika turned away from the door flap as Attu opened it, pulling a fur over the baby’s face to keep him from the cold draft.
Attu stepped outside, pausing as he realized it had begun to snow.
“After those first few bows we made proved to be too flexible, Kossu and I found some harder wood to try. Here’s what we made.” Suka and Kossu stood with Attu, Ubantu, and some others near the edge of camp. “These two didn’t break, like what happened to Toonuk, but you can see they’re too hard,” Suka pointed to several cracks along the length of both bows. “They will break with a few more pulls.”
“Mine broke,” Kossu said holding out a bow that looked like it had been snapped in two over Bashoo’s knees. “I was careful to hold it away from my face the first few times I pulled it.”
Attu looked at the young hunter’s bandaged hands.
“Next time I’ll wear miks,” Kossu said. “I had my heaviest parka on, or I would have gotten shards through my arms and chest, as well.”
“So, what next?” Ubantu asked.
“We’re going to look for wood that’s harder than the first ones we tried, but less hard than these. These are the saplings that grow along the beach between the water and the pines. Kossu’s is from the ones that grow near the river. We need to check the ones that grow in the swampy area near the ocean.”
“And I’ll look among the pines growing north,” Ubantu said. “Rusik, can you come with me?”
Rusik nodded.
“Some of the other hunters are going to check by the lake,” Tingiyok said. “Kossu and I will look beyond the first set of hills, more toward the grassland. There are a few stands of trees near the edge of the next set of hills.”
“The wood is out there,” Suka said, seeing the look of frustration on Attu’s face. “We’ll find it.”
The men moved to begin another search for bow wood.
Two cries pierced the air. “What is it?” Rika asked, scooping up her son as Attu grabbed for his daughter.
“What is wrong, little one?” Attu focused on his daughter’s mind. Something was wrong. He felt it. Panic. Desperation. Then nothing.
“What was that?” Rika asked as a shout, then another, alerted the camp.
It’s Keanu and Soantek, Tingiyok mind spoke to them. They’ve been attacked, but it’s over. Come quickly. Rika, bring your healer’s bag.
Attacked? Thieves? How many? Who’s hurt?
There seems to have been only one. Soantek is injured. Hurry!
Farnook, come get our children, Attu heard Rika mind shout to Farnook as he grabbed his spear, Rika threw her healer’s bag over her shoulder, and they ran for Keanu and Soantek’s shelter. Tingiyok was standing near the entrance, and Rika ran in before Attu could stop her.
“We’ve only seen this one,” Tingiyok said, pointing to a body on the ground as the men gathered around. “It’s just Keanu, Soantek, and Rovek in the shelter. Rika’s not in danger.”
Attu looked at the body. “Hand me your torch,” he said to Mantouk.
Attu passed the flame over the body. He was wearing the same clothing the Tuktu and the thieves wore, but torn in several places, blood oozing from multiple wounds. A gash ran from the man’s neck up across his face, almost to his hairline, and his face was so bloody it was hard to see what he looked like.
Rovek came out of the shelter. “Rika said Soantek and Keanu will be all right. But Keanu is still badly frightened. Rika said I needed to leave.”
Others were running toward them. “Hunters, surround the camp,” Attu ordered. “Be ready for an attack. Stay low and hide behind the rocks and trees. I’ll be with you as soon as I can.”
The men turned away, led by Ubantu. Rovek went with them.
“Mantouk, wait a moment. You can’t fight with one arm.”
Mantouk scowled, but stayed back with Attu. “Stay by that body. Watch him, just in case.” Attu handed the torch back to Mantouk. The hunter stood by the body, the torch he’d been carrying lighting up the area for the rest of them.
Yural ran up. “Should I ready the women and children to flee to the caves?”
“Yes. Hurry.”
Yural nodded and trotted away, calling to the other women.
Attu turned
to Tingiyok. “Do you know which direction the man came from?”
“No.”
Someone in the shelter moaned, then Attu heard crying.
“Don’t come in,” Rika called out to Attu as he reached for the door flap. “Keanu’s upset and needs to calm down before you question her.”
The two waited for a short while. The sounds of crying stopped. Then Rika came out of the shelter. “Soantek will be all right.” Rika moved to the body.
“Hand me that torch,” she said to Mantouk, and he gave Rika the light. She held it over the body, trying to see the man’s face and hands without getting any closer to him than she had to.
“Soantek said the man was crying out something when he came into the shelter. Something about being left behind, about being sick and starving. He demanded food. Then Soantek said he got a wild look in his eyes and attacked.”
“What was wrong with him?” Mantouk asked. He leaned over to look closer.
“Don’t touch him,” Rika said. “Look.” She pointed to his hands. “He has sores on his skin.”
“Keep guard over him,” Attu instructed Mantouk.
Mantouk nodded. “I won’t let anyone near him.”
“Good,” Rika said and turned back into the shelter. Attu tried to follow her, but she stopped him. “I don’t want anyone else in here besides me.”
Meavu ran up “Farnook and Nuka are getting the pooliks ready to move to the caves. I don’t think there are other thieves nearby. I can’t be sure, but it feels like this man was alone.”
“Soantek said the man spoke of being abandoned by the others. He could have been desperate for food,” Tingiyok said. “He might have wandered a long time before he saw our fires and headed toward us.”
Keanu began talking to Rika, her voice loud enough for them all to hear, and full of despair. “Why didn’t I see him when I flew? I covered a large area yesterday. I saw nothing. What good is my searching if I can’t see a thief before he attacks?”
Ubantu joined them again. “Suka has run the entire perimeter of the camp and up the nearest hill. He sees no one else. I don’t think we need to move the women and children into the caves just yet. This man’s attack seems all wrong.”
“We think he might have gotten sick and been left behind by other thieves,” Attu said. “As soon as it’s light out, we’ve got to try to find his trail. Are you sure we shouldn’t move the women and children, just to be safe?”
“It’s too late to go to the caves if there are others and they’re watching us,” Ubantu said. “Then our women and children would just be trapped in the caves, not hidden. I’ll go tell Yural to stop the move.”
Attu went to check on the perimeter guard. Tingiyok and Mantouk stayed behind to guard the body and that edge of the camp.
“I awoke to put another log on the fire,” Keanu explained from the shelter’s entrance. Attu had come back to check on them, but again, Rika wouldn’t let him in. She made them all stand back several spear lengths as first Keanu and then Soantek recounted what had happened. “It felt as if someone were trying to mind speak to me but couldn’t. It felt like a warning. I woke Soantek, and he just had time to grab his spear before the thief came in through the door flap. He began shouting at us, demanding food, yelling about how he’d been cast out of his group and was starving. When I didn’t move to get him some food, he must have somehow gotten past Soantek and hit me. I remember nothing after that.”
“He leaped past me.” Soantek shook his head. “I couldn’t stop him before he hit Keanu.” Soantek turned toward Keanu, his eyes filled with guilt.
“You killed him,” Keanu said. “And I’m fine.”
Soantek touched the bandage on his arm. “I fought him off with my spear, got him out of the shelter, then Rovek came.” Soantek reached for the shelter pole with his good arm, swaying on his feet.
“You need to lie down,” Rika said. But Soantek ignored her.
“Rovek and I fought him. He kept screaming at us that he was going to kill us all. I finally struck him across the neck and must have hit the large vein there. He fell and did not get up again. I went back into the shelter to see how badly Keanu was hurt, and then Tingiyok came. It all happened so fast.” Soantek leaned heavily on the shelter pole. He looked about to fall.
“That’s enough,” Rika said. “You can ask Rovek the rest.” She moved to help Soantek back to his sleeping furs. Keanu stepped away from the entrance. As the door flap closed behind them, Keanu clutched her head where the thief had struck her.
“He has a bad cut on his arm, but he’ll be fine.”
Rovek had come back to check on Soantek and Keanu. Attu was standing outside the shelter, guarding that side of camp with Tingiyok.
“Why were you and Tingiyok here so quickly? Did you hear something?” Attu asked Rovek.
“Meavu Saw the attack. She woke me. She’d been feeding our son when she Saw Soantek and Keanu being attacked by a Tuktu thief. She said there was no time to spare. I had to go now. So I grabbed my spear and ran toward their shelter, shouting all the way for help.”
Rika stepped out of the shelter. “I’ll stay with Soantek and Keanu tonight,” she said. “Rovek, you have to stay here. Do not go back to your shelter.”
Rovek eyes widened as realization dawned on him.
“I can’t be sure until it’s light and I can examine the dead thief more closely, but we can’t take any chances. You fought the thief and you were in Keanu and Soantek’s shelter.” Rika looked with compassion on her younger brother.
“But I only touched the man with my spear. And I didn’t touch either Soantek or Keanu. I didn’t even sit down when I was in their shelter...” Rovek’s objections faded as he realized he couldn’t put anyone, especially Meavu and their newborn son, at risk.
The light snow had stopped before the attack, leaving the ground with a thin covering of white. Bashoo was the first to find the tracks.
“We follow them. Prepared to fight,” Attu said. He grabbed his weapons.
“But we stay hidden until we see how many might be in their camp,” Ubantu added.
The men set out, keeping low to the ground in the open areas and staying behind ridges and trees where possible. The ground was fairly flat, and the thief’s tracks were clearly visible in the new snow. Attu thanked the spirits there’d been no wind.
Rounding the corner of one of the hills to the east, Suka pulled up and dropped to the ground. The others dropped also.
Suka gave the signal for ‘wait,’ and the others remained motionless. He shielded his eyes and studied the horizon. Then he pushed himself up and crawled to where Attu lay.
“There is a sled up ahead. I see no people, but there’s a dog tied to the sled. We are downwind of it, so it hasn’t smelled us yet.”
Attu motioned for his hunters to make a wide circle, coming at the sled from all directions, in case thieves were hiding in wait. But as they moved closer, Attu saw no one else nearby. Just the dog, which spotted them and began barking wildly, straining on its rope.
“No one?” Attu asked.
The others shook their heads.
As Attu got closer, the dog leaped at him, teeth bared. “I won’t hurt you,” Attu said, and pushed his mind toward the dog, sending images of a warm fire and food. The dog stopped straining at the rope, but growled low in his throat.
“Careful,” Rusik said.
“Won’t he attack us if we get closer?” Suka asked.
“No. I think I can control him,” Attu said, pushing his mind back into the dog’s for a moment.
“The thief was alone, I think,” Attu said. “But the dog wants to return to where he came from.” He paused, his heart sinking at the mental images he saw in the dog’s mind. He felt Tingiyok’s mind as well, probing.
“So there are others,” Tingiyok said. “Many others. But they were at least two days’ journey to the east, at the foot of the mountains, when the man and the dog left.”
“Yes. The man said he’d
been cast out,” Attu said. “But maybe he was forced to leave because he was sick? Who knows where the rest of them are now. We’ve got to get back. And we’ve got to burn this sled. Don’t touch it.”
Ubantu looked to the blue sky. “It should be a clear, still day. If you let the dog go now, you can fly and follow its trail as soon as we get back to camp.”
The others agreed. Attu hurried to slash the rope with his knife where the dog had been biting at it. The rope broke, and the animal took off at a dead run to the east, disappearing over the next rise.
“Look!” Mantouk had walked up to the sled while Attu was cutting the dog’s rope. He pulled out a bow and arrows. “It’s huge and well made.”
“Don’t touch those!” Attu pushed Mantouk away from the sled. The bow and arrows scattered into the snow.
“Why did you do that? We have to burn everything.” Attu glared at Mantouk. “I told you not to touch anything.”
Mantouk scowled at Attu. “They were sitting on top, and I just wanted to...” his words trailed off when he saw the fear in Attu’s eyes. Mantouk’s face paled as he realized what he’d just done.
We found the thief’s sled. Mantouk touched it. Attu mind spoke to Rika. When she answered him, his heart sank even lower. “Mantouk, you need to step away from the rest of us.” Attu tried to keep his voice even.
Mantouk looked down at his hands. He’d spent the night guarding the thief, looking at his sore-infested body. Now he pulled the sleeves of his parka up as if he would already find sores there. “What do I do?” Mantouk asked. Attu had never seen a man more terrified.
“Head back to Keanu and Soantek’s shelter,” Attu said. “Don’t let anyone else near you. I’ll tell Rika you’re coming. She’ll know what to do.”
Mantouk turned back toward camp. “I’ll go with him,” Ubantu said. “At a distance.”
Attu turned toward the others. “Tingiyok, can you oversee burning the sled? The bow and arrows, too. Touch them with a hide covering your hand and burn the hide as well. I’ve got to track that dog.” He turned and ran back toward camp.
Chapter 10
