by Sandra Lang
True to Natoak’s word, the rains begin at mid-day. The tribe stays in their huts to wait out the storm. The waters of the ocean swell up into our village and the wind howls. I am glad of the sturdy door Tarok built to keep out the worst of the weather. The door helps to keep out the worst of biting cold while the fire and shared body heat prevent the rest from seeping into our bones and our bed.
For nearly a quarter cycle we are forced to stay in our huts before the winds die down and the waters begin to recede. I do not mind getting to spend this much time with Tarok. It has been pleasant to just talk or lay together in silence. He listens to the stories from my journey and tells me about the Hunts he has been on.
“What would you like to hear next?” I ask, running the tips of my fingers along the length of each of his fingers.
“You still have not told me how you found out you were sick. Or is that something I should not know?”
“It is not as eventful as you might think,” I say leaning my back into his chest and tilting my head against his shoulder to look up at him. The dark brown stubble running along his jaw catches along my hair. I remember the last time we were like this my toes were burnt and in need of medicine.
He wraps his arms tighter around me. “I just want to know what to expect. That is all.”
“I had been staying with Masha in her small hut. One morning I woke up feeling so nauseous I was dizzy. I spent the rest of that day with my head in a pot. We both assumed I had eaten something that did not agree with me. I could barely keep food down. Water tasted like ash in my mouth. We were in the hottest part of summer, but I felt like I was in the middle of winter.
“The next day I felt even worse. I continued to vomit even though there was nothing coming up. My hands began to shake and my toes were cold to the point I was not sure I could feel them anymore. Masha put all the blankets from her bed onto mine and wrapped me up in the winter clothes I had brought, along with her own. Neither of us knew why at the time, but I could not warm up. Erak brought me unused blankets from his own hut and some from his mother’s. He stayed with me while Masha went to Sinak, the Shaman of Mosh’ilan.
“We tried so many different herbs but nothing worked. Finally, Sinak gave me a strange concoction that was far too sweet. It was the only thing that stayed down. Masha and Sinak performed ritual after ritual to ask the ancestors and spirits what was wrong with me. When they got the answer, it was worse than any of us had dreamed of.
“Children born beneath the moon in winter get what they call a Moon Sickness. The children are often dead before a treatment can be found or acquired and they are too young to tell their parents what is wrong with them. They did not know what would happen to me because I am the oldest person to contract Moon Sickness.
“The tea Sinak crafted worked and my ails went away and stayed away. During the winter I could not drink as much because there was very little water and I did not want to raise any suspicion. I never got sick and I was all right. It has been almost a full cycle since I finished the last of my herbs and nothing has happened yet.” I hang my head. There is more to tell him, but I am afraid. I do not want him to know… I will tell him anyway. “I feel it though. I feel something growing inside me that is just as unnatural as it is natural.”
“How long do you think you have?”
“If we are lucky, and so far we have been, I may make it until spring. Natoak and I will leave the village for Mosh’ilan so we can get more herbs.”
“Then I will do everything in my power to make sure that you reach Mosh’ilan in the spring.”
“Even if it means letting me go without you?”
He breaths a laugh. “I would like to see you try to stop me from taking you there myself.”
“I suppose a tour of the villages will be a good thing for you. How often have you met with other Chieftains and their villages?”
“Not many Chiefs go to the Summits. They often send their sons in their stead.”
“Then it is settled. You and I will travel the villages in the spring then return home to prepare for the Summit in the summer.”
“That sounds like a fine plan. But you have to hold up your end of the bargain.”
“I will do my best, my love.”