Cave Bear Mountain

by Jo Sandhu

  ‘I see him! He’s on a ledge, about halfway down.’

  ‘Is he alive?’ Kaija crept forward and crouched at Tarin’s shoulder.

  ‘I don’t know. I can’t reach him.’ Tarin strained to see signs of life, but Luuka’s body was still. His face was pale and blood ran from a gash on his head.

  ‘Luuka!’ Kaija called. ‘Can you hear us?’

  But there was no sign of movement.

  ‘We have to get to him,’ Tarin said. ‘If he is alive and wakes, he could roll off the ledge and fall the rest of the way.’ He chewed his lip and considered their situation. ‘I could climb down to him, but . . .’ He paused and looked at Kaija. Her eyes were frantic with worry. ‘I don’t think I could hold him with my arm.’

  Kaija nodded. ‘But I can,’ she said. She peered over the side of the chasm. ‘I’ll have to. It’s the only way.’

  Tarin nodded. ‘I can tie the rope around you, and tie the other end to a tree.’

  They scrambled away from the edge and made their plans. The rain had finally stopped, but the day was still dark. They would have to hurry before they lost all their light, or more rain started. Dark, grey clouds still swirled overhead.

  Kaija removed her backpack and outer layer of clothes, and tied a pouch to her belt. Some bandages of rabbit skin, some leafy bear’s claw to chew and place straight on the wound. A water flask. They hesitated over a flint blade, but in the end decided not to weigh her down with anything she didn’t absolutely need. Finally, the bison hair rope was looped around her and tied.

  ‘I may not need it,’ she said, testing the strength.

  ‘Just in case you do,’ said Tarin. He tied the other end to a sturdy cedar, and looped the slack around his shoulders. He gripped Kaija’s hand in his, as she sat on the edge of the precipice. ‘Stay safe, Kaija.’

  She nodded and pressed her lips together. ‘I will. And I’ll bring Luuka back to us.’

  Kaija’s chest felt tight as she turned and lowered herself feet first over the edge of the chasm. She couldn’t think about Luuka’s lifeless body lying on the ledge so far below, because if she did, fear would squeeze all the life from her, and she wouldn’t be able to move. She wouldn’t let fear stop her. She had to reach Luuka.

  Remember the Spirit Hole, she thought. She had been so afraid then, back at Boar Clan, staring down into the unknown darkness. But she had conquered her fear and found the way down, step by step. She could do the same here. She could find the way down to her brother, one step at a time. She closed her eyes and sent a silent plea to Spirit of Horse.

  ‘But I don’t think Horse would like climbing down into the dark, either,’ she whispered to herself as she began to descend. She wondered if Tarin would mind if she called on Spirit of Owl. Owl could fly through the darkness and carry Luuka to safety.

  Where the ground had slipped away was muddy and slick, but twisted tree roots gave her plenty of holds as she slowly climbed downwards. A rock that had seemed a promising hand hold slipped from her grasp, and she found her fingers digging desperately into mud. But each step down took her closer to Luuka.

  Kaija looked up towards Tarin and the wolves and was surprised at how far she had come. She could no longer reach them with her outstretched arms, and their worried faces seemed a long way off. She turned once more to her descent and found now the walls had become more sheer. She was still too far up to jump the rest of the way, and there was no guarantee the ledge Luuka lay on would hold them both. She took another step down, and realised there was nowhere to go. She was facing vertical rock, with no worn edges to grasp.

  ‘Tarin!’ she called upwards. ‘I’m going to have to use the rope.’

  Tarin’s face disappeared momentarily, then returned. ‘It’s secure,’ he called. ‘I can brace myself next to the tree and feed you a little at a time. Ready?’

  Kaija swallowed. ‘Ready.’

  The rope slackened, and she eased herself away from the rock wall. For a heart-stopping moment, she hung in the darkness. Then she felt a jerk and she dropped further towards Luuka. She was so close now, she could almost touch the ledge with her toes.

  ‘One more loop,’ she shouted, and dropped neatly onto the ledge. Every part of her was shaking as she felt for Luuka’s heartbeat and to feel his breath.

  ‘He’s alive!’ she shouted. From far above her head she heard Tarin’s relieved cry.

  ‘Luuka, Luuka,’ she murmured, sponging his face with a wet rabbit skin and checking for broken bones. Incredibly, he seemed to be all right, besides the gash on his head. As she tried to trickle water into his mouth, Luuka groaned and stirred.

  ‘Don’t move,’ Kaija said. ‘You’re safe, but we’re on a ledge.’

  Luuka opened his eyes slowly and looked around. ‘What . . .?’

  ‘A landslide,’ Kaija said. She held the bottle to his mouth and helped him drink. ‘The ground just fell away.’

  ‘Rohk? Nilkka?’ Luuka touched his head gingerly.

  ‘All safe. You were the only one who decided to fall down the hole.’

  A smile flitted across his face. ‘And you jumped in after me.’

  ‘Can he climb?’ called Tarin. ‘We don’t have a lot of time.’

  Rain had started falling again, and Kaija looked up at the heavy clouds building. Once the rock became wet, they would have no hope of climbing. She glanced at Luuka, worried, but he nodded.

  ‘He thinks so,’ Kaija called. ‘I’m going to tie the rope around him now. I’ll let you know when we’re ready.’

  Kaija pulled the rope firmly. It had held her weight easily, but Luuka was bigger and heavier and might have to rely on it more.

  She studied the wall above them. The sheer rock she had had trouble with jutted outwards, making it hard to climb around, but if Luuka took a slightly different route, a small ledge to the right might give him enough leverage to push upwards.

  ‘Luuka! See!’

  She pointed the rock out to him and he nodded. His head wound still bled slightly, but his hands were steady as he gripped the first handholds and pushed himself upwards.

  ‘I feel like the whole mountain landed on me,’ he muttered.

  ‘Save your strength for climbing,’ Kaija said. ‘Not talking.’ She was sure his head and limbs ached badly, but if they didn’t get out of the hole before the rain came, they were in grave danger.

  Luuka nodded and started his ascent. He had to pause several times, and each time Kaija held her breath and urged him silently onwards.

  ‘Spirit of Owl, help him to fly,’ she murmured.

  Luuka was within reaching distance of the top when the rain started. The mud started to move and he grabbed a protruding tree root in time to stop being washed back down into the hole. Then Tarin reached down and hauled him up and out onto firmer ground.

  Luuka lay stretched out, his eyes closed and his breathing laboured. Tarin struggled to untie the wet knots and then tossed the rope back down to Kaija.

  ‘Ready?’ he called. He could hardly see her through the rain, huddled down on the ledge.

  ‘Ready.’ Her faint voice carried upwards.

  Luuka crawled over to the edge of the chasm where the ground was firm.

  ‘I can help,’ he said, and together, he and Tarin kept the line taut as Kaija made her way upwards. She was nearly within their grasp when Tarin realised the rope was fraying on the sharp rocks at the edge of the chasm.

  ‘Luuka!’ he said desperately, nodding at the rope.

  ‘Kaija, we’re going to pull you up!’ Luuka shouted above the rain. He gathered the rope in his hands and started to haul it in.

  ‘Wait!’ Kaija called. ‘Ouch . . .’

  Her head appeared above the edge of the chasm and the boys grabbed her arms and pulled her to safety. More mud and rocks cascaded into the hole as they scrambled to firmer ground and collapsed in a muddy pile. Luuka wrapped his arms around his sister and hugged her until she complained she couldn’t breathe. The wolves danced around them, licking fa
ces and scraped limbs.

  ‘Stop it Rohk,’ Luuka said with a laugh. ‘If you want to help, go and find us some shelter.’

  And as if they understood, the wolves yelped in joy and disappeared into the gloom.

  Kaija cracked open a crayfish and used a twig to pull out the sweet flesh. She smiled at the wolves sitting drying themselves by the fire.

  ‘You must admit it was clever of them to find us this lovely cave.’

  ‘Pure chance.’ Luuka winked at the wolves. ‘I don’t know why you two put yourself in such danger to rescue me, again. But I’m glad you did. Again.’

  Tarin grinned at him. ‘You were carrying the crayfish.’

  ‘Ahhh, so that’s what saved me,’ Luuka said.

  Kaija threw a few morsels of cray to Utu and the wolves. Utu fluffed up his wings and hissed at the wolves, who were trying to snatch more than their fair share. They all laughed when Rohk and Nilkka backed away from the fierce little owl.

  ‘Seriously, though,’ Luuka said, when their laughter died down. ‘It was a dangerous thing to do. We could all have died.’

  Tarin studied the fire and prodded a stick into place. ‘We’re Clan. We don’t leave anyone behind.’

  ‘Is that why you came with us to find our mother?’ Kaija asked. ‘I know it wasn’t what you wanted to do.’

  Tarin scratched his nose and thought about what he wanted to say. He wondered what they would say if he told them of the Shadow Wolves, and how Raven and Utu had blocked his way. Finally, he looked at Kaija and Luuka.

  ‘Mammoth Clan is in trouble, yes, and they have dark times still ahead, I’m sure. But there are many of them. You and Luuka and I have only each other. After all our travels, I feel like you are family, and that’s even more than Clan.’

  ‘Don’t forget the wolves,’ Luuka said. ‘And Utu.’

  ‘Never,’ Tarin said, and he ruffled Nilkka’s fur.

  It was in the bright sunlight of the new day that Tarin made a discovery. He stood at the entrance to the small cave and looked out over a sea of deep green – pines and firs and larch – down to a rocky river that cut through a narrow valley. He was just deciding whether the strangely formed rocks jutting above the trees could be the rocks Osku had described, when he realised there were people moving down near the water. Five or six of them were threading their way across a rocky ford. A hunting party, Tarin thought, but they were too far away to be certain.

  Kaija joined him. ‘Tarin, we’ve been travelling so long now, surely we should have reached the Karvkh by now, or at least seen some sign of them.’

  ‘Hmm,’ Tarin murmured.

  ‘And what if we’ve completely missed them? We can’t go back. We have no idea where we are . . .’ She rubbed her face with her hands. ‘And you’re not even listening to me, are you? What are you looking at?’

  ‘I think,’ Tarin said, ‘I’m looking at the Karvkh.’

  From the rocky ford, Tarin looked up towards the two rock formations and decided they did look like squat women. They picked their way across the river and followed a well- worn path up through the forest cover. People obviously lived here, but there was still no indication who they were.

  ‘I feel like I’m being watched,’ Kaija whispered.

  ‘We probably are,’ Luuka said. He laid a hand on Rohk’s back. ‘Stop growling, Rohk. That’s not the way to make friends.’

  ‘Nilkka is upset, too.’ Kaija scratched her ears. ‘Luuka, why don’t we use the rope to loop around their necks, just until we know they’re not going to run and attack anyone.’

  ‘I don’t like the idea of tying them up,’ Luuka said.

  ‘But we don’t want the people scared of us, or trying to chase us away,’ Kaija said. ‘What if we lose our chance to find Mother because we weren’t allowed to come close to the settlement?’

  Luuka still frowned, but eventually agreed. ‘Just for a little while,’ he said to Rohk, who scratched and bit at the rope around his neck.

  ‘Look!’ Tarin said, and pointed ahead.

  Two rock cairns stood either side of their path, each the size of a tall man. And on top was the skull of a huge cave bear, glowing white in the dim green light that filtered through the thick forest canopy.

  ‘I think we’ve reached the Karvkh.’

  Tarin felt a chill as they walked between the two rock towers, as though the bear skulls were warning him to come no closer. By his side, Rohk growled, a sound so low it was like a vibration. Utu hissed and ruffled his feathers.

  ‘Shhh,’ Tarin whispered.

  Nilkka whined and butted Luuka’s hand with her head, pressing her body against him. ‘Be brave, girl,’ he crooned to her.

  ‘Let’s go slow,’ Tarin said, and Luuka nodded.

  Cliffs rose around them as they wound their way upwards into the forest. Dark hollows, caves and overhangs dotted the cliff face, and Tarin was sure he saw movement in the shadows. Then the movements became people coming out of the caves and watching the travellers pass by. Some held spears lightly in their hands, and Tarin was sure that at the first sign of danger those spears would fly towards them. He exchanged a wary look with Luuka and they continued onwards.

  Around a bend, the forest opened out once more. They passed now through birch trees black with lichen and heavy with trailing wolf moss, then the incline levelled out and they were finally at the camp of the Bear People.

  A cluster of wood and hide huts huddled in the shadow of stark grey cliffs, protected by a heavy rock overhang. To one side of the clearing, a waterfall tumbled into a muddy pond, and on the other was a dark cave like a huge gash in the cliff face. But what made Tarin catch his breath was the circle of people waiting there for them, and, in their midst, a large, shaggy cave bear.

  Then the cave bear raised his arms, and Tarin realised it was only a tall, broad-shouldered man in a bear’s skin cloak with the head and claws still attached to it. He wore the flap of the head like a hood and stood on a rock so he towered over everyone else.

  Tarin raised his arms and stepped forward. ‘I am Tarin of Wolf Clan, also of the Mammutti . . .’

  But he got no further. With a cry, Kaija dropped Nilkka’s rope and ran toward a woman standing on the outer edge of the Bear People.

  ‘Mother!’ Kaija cried, and flung her arms around the woman.

  Beside him, Tarin felt Luuka begin to move, then stop. He growled low in his chest, just like the wolves, and glowered at the woman.

  Tarin looked at her – at Senja. The same fair hair. The same build. She did look a lot like Kaija, only older. But where Kaija’s face was alight with joy, her mother’s was closed and pinched. Tarin wondered why, after all they had been through, the look she gave her children was full of anger and distress.

  The man in the bear’s skin stepped forward.

  ‘We do not know you,’ he said, and his voice was as deep as a bear’s. ‘We do not know you, or why you would travel with these animals.’

  Tarin took a step forward, his hands still raised in friendship. ‘These animals will not hurt you,’ he said.

  ‘But why do you bring them here at this time?’ The leader waved his people away and they reluctantly dispersed, all except Senja and her companions. The traders were easy to identify because they were dressed in the reindeer hides of the steppe dwellers. Here in the forests and mountains, bears, wolverines, stoats and fox were more plentiful.

  ‘We came looking for the traders who were heading this way,’ Luuka said. He flicked a warning glance at Tarin and Kaija.

  Kaija dried her tears and pulled away from her mother. ‘Mother?’ she whispered. ‘What is it? What is wrong?’

  ‘We will talk later,’ Senja said, and her face was a pale mask. She swallowed and walked towards Luuka, holding out her hand. ‘You have found us, and I see you have brought with you interesting companions, including the daughter I thought lost . . .’

  Kaija gasped, but Luuka raised his hand to stop her speaking further. Tarin moved to her side and gav
e her Nilkka to hold on to. She clasped Nilkka’s fur so tight the wolf whined and nipped her fingers.

  One of the traders moved forward, a tall, lean man with a narrow smiling face. ‘We are happy you have found us. Come, Fredik,’ he said to the Bear Clan leader, clapping him on the back. ‘You should welcome your guests. It is going to be a wonderful Bear Festival this year.’

  Fredik growled, a sound that reminded Tarin of Rohk. ‘We do not have many visitors here in our mountains,’ he said. ‘Except Vas here and his traders, and even those we try to keep away.’

  Vas threw back his head and laughed. ‘But we don’t listen to you, do we? Come now, what would you do without our reindeer pelts and fine bone ware?’

  ‘Survive,’ said Fredik.

  ‘And now we have brought your daughter back to you. Two daughters!’ He looked at Senja and Kaija with a speculative gleam in his light grey eyes. ‘You should be feeling extra generous when it comes time to talk trades.’ He laughed at Fredik, but the big man just scowled.

  ‘Come,’ Vas said, and clapped Luuka on the back. ‘You and your companions shall share my shelter. A snug kota of reindeer hide, not a gloomy cave filled with bones. You can share with me and my son, Sasha.’ He waved a boy forward.

  Sasha dragged his eyes away from the wolves to make his greetings.

  ‘Are they really wolves? The only wolves I know try to steal from our snares, or they watch us sometimes, out on the steppes. At night I see their eyes shining. Can I touch them? Will they let me? They won’t bite, will they? But their teeth look very sharp. Why don’t they bite you . . .’

  Vas laughed again and ruffled his son’s hair. ‘Enough,’ he said. ‘Come and meet our other companions.’

  Tarin sat cross-legged by the fire-pit and tried to follow Vas’s introductions, although the boy Sasha was making it difficult. He couldn’t stop touching the wolves’ soft fur, or trying to see their teeth or their eyes. Rohk and Nilkka put up with him hugging them and sticking his fingers in their mouth, but when he pulled their tails they growled low in their throats as a warning.