Wolf's Brother tak-2

by Megan Lindholm

  She heard and smelled the river long before she saw it. The reindeer picked up the pace as they scented the water. Her hips and lower back complained as she stretched her stride, and her buttocks ached as if she had been kicked. The sinking sun glinted off the wide swatch of moving water, rainbowing over its rocky rapids. Tillu saw the line ahead of her pause and drink, but then rise and follow the noisy river and its trimming of trees. Her heart sank. Surely, they must stop soon! She paused at the river to let her beasts drink and take a long draught of the icy water herself. The cold made her teeth hum. Wiping her mouth, she rose to follow Joboam and his string of harkar. They wended through trees, naked birches and willows and oak hazed with green buds, following the river. Shadows lengthened and the day began to cool as the earth gave up its harvested heat to the naked skies. And then, far down the line of animals and men, she glimpsed a sheen of silver through the screening trees.

  Abruptly they emerged on the shore of the lake. With relief Tillu saw the red glow and rising smoke of fires. Hasty shelters went up, a mushroom village sprang up from the warm earth. Unladen animals grazed on the open hillside above the lake. Gray boulders, rounded and bearded with lichen, poked their shaggy heads out of the deep grass of the slope. Children raced and shrieked among them or splashed and threw stones along the water's edge, enlivened rather than wearied by the day's travel. Dogs barked and bounded with them. Tillu envied them their energy. She would have liked nothing better than to sink down and rest. She watched Joboam glance about the scene, and then move surely into it, his campsite already selected. A child and a dog playing tug with a leather strap scrabbled hastily from his path. Tillu hesitated, wishing she could settle in a less central area of this hive of activity. But she couldn't risk offending some custom of theirs. She would camp where Joboam told her. She began to lead her harkar after him.

  From the shadow of a boulder, Kari rose, startling Tillu and spooking even the stolid harkar. But as it jerked the rein from Tillu's hand, Kari caught it and turned to Tillu with her narrow smile. 'Come!' she said, and put up a swift hand to cover a giggle. Her eyes were bright. Without another word, she led them off up the hill.

  One boulder, larger than a sod hut, jutted from the earth halfway up the hillside. To this Kari led her, and then around and above it. On the high side of the boulder, lacing away from the camp by the lake, was a shelter of pegged and propped hides. A small fire already burned and a pot of water was warming. A jumble of hides was spread inside the shelter, and Kari's harkar grazed outside it. Kari grinned at Tillu. 'In the talvsit, I live in my father's and mother's hut. But here, in the arrotak, I have my own shelter, and invite my own guests. You will stay with me? You and Kerlew,' she added hastily when Tillu hesitated.

  Tillu did not relish the idea of company this weary night. But the fire was bright, the sky already darkening, the shelter welcoming and Kari so pleased with herself that Tillu could not refuse. She nodded. With a glad cry Kari sprang to unloading the harkar.

  Tillu moved to assist her, her weary fingers fumbling at the unfamiliar harness. Kari's experience showed as she capably stripped one animal, led it to grass, and hobbled it before Tillu could unload the other. Soon both beasts were grazing. Kari stepped into (he shelter, sat down on the hides, and patted the place next to her invitingly. Tillu sank down beside her with a sigh. The new aches of sitting down were a relief from the old ones of walking. Tillu slowly pulled off her boots, pressed her weary feet into the cool new grass.

  'I should find Kerlew,' she reminded herself reluctantly. 'Heckram must be sick of him by now.'

  'He will be here soon,' Kari assured her. She leaned back on the hides and rolled onto her side to watch the hillside above her as the night stole its colors.

  'It is kind of you to invite me to stay with you,' Tillu observed belatedly, but Kari only shrugged.

  'You are someone to talk to, and as you have shared your tent and tea with me, I would do the same for you. Besides, if you are here it will be less problems.'

  The last remark puzzled her until Lasse rounded the boulder and dropped an armload of firewood. 'I told you I'd find plenty,' he said, and ducked into the shelter with a pleased smile. It faded abruptly, to be replaced with an abashed grin as he found himself face to face with Tillu. She guessed instantly that he had hoped to find Kari alone. She glanced at Kari, but the girl seemed immune to Lasse's disappointment.

  'I wouldn't call it plenty, but it's enough,' Kari observed heartlessly. 'Lasse, go and find Tillu's son now, please. He was walking with Heckram. They should be at the lake by now. Bring them here. We may as well all eat together.' When Lasse hesitated, Tillu saw Kari tip her head back and, after a cool silence, suddenly smile at him with such melting warmth that the boy all but staggered with the impact. He nodded quickly, and left, face flushed, to obey her. As soon as he was gone, Kari's smile faded, to be replaced with her usual pensive frown. 'I want to show you something,' she said suddenly. She swiftly unlaced the leather jerkin she wore. She tugged it open and turned to Tillu, a smile of anticipation on her face.

  Tillu recoiled. Kari had a long, lovely neck, and proud young breasts jutted high on her chest. But incised into the soft rise of each breast were Kari's four-stroked symbols, as if indeed an owl with fiery talons had rested upon them. 'Carp told me about the soot,' Kari said proudly. 'Now the cuts may heal, but the mark will remain.' She looked up from her handiwork to Tillu's averted eyes and sickened expression. The girl's smile vanished. 'What's the matter with you? I thought you'd be happy to see that they didn't get infected!'

  'Carp.' Tillu said the word with loathing. 'Yes, he'd be glad to tell you how to scar yourself.' And she had left Kerlew with the old man for the whole day. What had she been thinking of? If this was what Kari had learned from him, what grisly marvels was he teaching Kerlew?

  'Yes, Carp. Last night he ate at my father's hut. He spoke of the people he used to live among. At birth, the baby's spirit guide is found, and the mark of it is sliced into the baby's thigh, and soot rubbed in. It binds the guardian to the child. Now Owl is bound to me as I am to him.'

  'Yes. All will know now.' Tillu's voice was flat. It was done, there was no sense in rebukes, in making her miserable over what could not be undone.

  'Yes!' The hard pride in Kari's voice challenged Tillu's regret. Tillu chose silence, letting the challenge pass in the darkening evening. After a moment, Kari laced up her jerkin again. Tillu watched her covertly, marvelled at the intensity of her features. Life roared in the girl, like a torrent of water in a narrow chasm. She was never at peace, for even when she sat still, as now, with her eyes fixed on some distant place and her lips parted over her white teeth, she seemed to be moving. One sensed her mind traveled far and swift while her forgotten body poised here. Tillu could understand how her impassivity would distance many folk. Yes, and intrigue a young man like Lasse.

  'It was kind of Lasse to bring firewood all the way up here,' she ventured.

  Animation snapped back to Kari's face. 'He is a kind person,' she said softly, and then, with more vehemence, 'with most peculiar ideas.' She sat up straight, then crawled out of the shelter. 'I am going to cook for us,' she announced, and went to the packs and began to dig through them.

  Tillu rose, feeling uncomfortable watching someone work. 'I wish I'd had more time to myself today. I could have gathered fresh greens for us, and replenished some of my healing supplies.'

  'I suppose you look for your healing herbs in far and strange places?' Kari's voice had a strange, sly note.

  'No. Most of them grow in the meadows and woods among the ordinary plants.

  Today I saw stink lily, and I think violets. And of course ...'

  'Violets?' Kari's voice was incredulous.

  'Yes. Picked and dried, they are good against skin rash. They can be used against illnesses of the lungs, also.'

  Kari looked at her in wonder. 'Why do you tell me this?'

  'You seemed interested.' Tillu stopped, confused.

&
nbsp; 'And you do not mind telling me?'

  'Why should I?' In the dying evening, a cuckoo called and was silent.

  'The old midwife Kila was our last healer. She would never say what herbs were in her mixes, or where she got them. She learned from her mother, and said it was her wealth, and not to be shared. So when she left, only the commonest healing was known.

  I thought all healers would be jealous of their secrets.'

  'Selfish, if you ask me.' Tillu was appalled.

  'Then, if I wanted to learn the herbs of healing, would you teach me?'

  'Of course. When we have time, I will be happy to show you how to gather herbs and how to use them.'

  'Tomorrow?' she pressed.

  'Don't we move on tomorrow? We'll both be leading animals tomorrow. We'll have no time to stop and gather herbs and talk.''

  Kari grinned knowingly, looking girlish and less strange. 'Oh, we may. One never knows.' Taking wood from the pile Lasse had brought, she built up her fire, and began preparing food. The savory smell as the meat simmered in the pot made Tillu aware of her hunger. She came out of the shelter, stretched, and suddenly felt every pang of the day's long hike.

  'Here we are!' Lasse strode into the firelight, pleased at having accomplished his task.

  'You were long in coming,' Kari observed coolly.

  'They had stopped on the riverbank, to fish!' Lasse's voice was between annoyance that they had been hard to find and wonder that they would do such a thing.

  'See what we caught! Carp said they'd be there, under the bank behind the roots!

  And they were. See, Tillu.' The char shone silver in Kerlew's hands, fat and slippery.

  They flopped from his grasp onto the grass. Kari eyed them with approval.

  'Gut and spit them, Lasse, and we'll grill them over the coals,' she ordered calmly, never doubting that fish and boy were hers to command. Lasse moved meekly to her directions. Tillu and Heckram both stared after him as he took the fish to one side.

  When they lifted their eyes, their gazes met, sharing amusement and sympathy for the boy. Then Heckram's eyes warmed to something else. Tillu turned from him hastily, to watch Kerlew wiping his slimy hands on the grass.

  'Did you behave today?' she asked him automatically.

  'Yes.' He didn't seem to feel any need to enlarge on his answer. His deep eyes were guileless as they stared up into hers. She wanted to ask how his day had been, if he had missed her, what Carp had taught him. But she could not in front of all these people.

  She had been stupid not to put up her own shelter. She would have no time alone with her son tonight, or tomorrow. Deep frustration edged with loneliness overtook her. She was severed from Kerlew, blocked by the layers of people around her. And to have Heckram so near strained her resolution. Every time he caught her eyes, her skin tightened. She had not found a way to let him know that she had changed her mind. He was looking at her again, his brows lifted slightly. The fuzzy beginnings of a beard softened his jawline. She stared at it, wondering if he had known she would find it attractive. Then she asked herself why she imagined he would even think about such things. Did she fancy she was the only woman he might consider bedding? Did she imagine he slept alone each night as she did? The thoughts stung her. She turned aside, avoiding him. Kari was directing Lasse as he cleaned the fish. His eyes were bright with her attention, and neither seemed to mind Kerlew crouching nearby and sorting curiously through the entrails. Tillu dropped to one knee, to crawl into the shelter and rest until the food was ready. Perhaps it would ease her aching muscles.

  But Carp was already there, lying on the skins as if he were lord of all. His mouth hung ajar and the light from the fire revealed an occasional tooth behind his slack lips.

  It reflected off his grayed eyes like a sunset in a scummy pond. He nodded at her, his mouth widening. His hand gestured her in. Tillu drew back, stood again. Until she had met the herdfolk, she had never known how to describe Carp's smell. But now she knew he smelled just like a wet dog. It did not make him any dearer to her.

  The evening was cooling the land; moisture was settling to the ground. The cooking food gave off a marvelous aroma, making her dizzy with hunger. She put one hand against the rough side of the boulder that backed the shelter, and then, without thinking, began to walk around the boulder, away from the firelight and the murmur of Lasse and Kari. The soft lichen on the stone was warm with the day's heat, like a man's rough beard against her skin. She leaned back against it, looking out over the lake and wide valley below her.

  The small fires of the herdfolk blossomed like white wildflowers on the shore. Their tents were an unevenness in the dark. The people and dogs were moving shadows that passed before the fires. Beyond them, the lake was a shining blackness, and in the deepest part the moon and stars shone. Tillu felt dizzy looking at the sky at her feet. She lifted her eyes and looked beyond it, and realized for the first time how far they had come in one day. Kari had said they would travel for ten days. Where would they be then?

  Far behind her were the mountains that were the winter grounds of the herdfolk.

  Before her was the wide lake that tomorrow the herd would skirt. And beyond it, beyond the last dwarfed trees and bushes, rolled the tundra. It was featureless in the darkness, and it was hard to tell where the lake left off and the tundra began. She had heard of the tundra, in legends of Benu's tribe, but she had never walked upon its wide flat face. A nameless dread of such a barren place rose in her, followed by a more pragmatic fear. In such a place, where would she gather willow and alder barks, birch cones to burn for a congested head, birch roots to boil down for cough syrup, willow roots for colic medicine, and a thousand other remedies that came from the tall trees of the hills and mountain valleys? A feeling akin to panic rose in her, to be replaced by resolve. Tomorrow she must be free to gather as the herd moved along the forested edge of the lake. She must have her supplies before they left it for the barren vast lands to the north.

  She felt more than heard the step of the man who approached her from the darkness.

  Had Heckram followed her, mistaking her leaving the fire for an invitation? Dread of the confrontation rose in her, even as her body betrayed her with a tingle of excitement.

  She turned to him in the darkness, taking a deep breath to speak. She gasped in surprise instead as hard hands gripped her shoulders and shook her.

  'Where have you been?' he demanded gruffly. She pushed away from him, but he seized her wrist in a grip that numbed her hand. Joboam shoved his face close to hers.

  'Capiam tells me to watch over you and see that you are cared for. When I tell you to follow, you wander off, so when he comes to my fire to speak to you, I must say 1 do not know where you are. I lose his confidence. The healer, the najd, and her idiot boy, all are vanished. Capiam thinks you have changed your mind and left us, that the herd will face another summer without a healer. He asks me if I have offended you. Me! And I must leave my fire and my food and come seeking you, going from tent to tent, fire to fire, like a fool, asking if any have seen you!'

  Fury tightened his relentless grip on her wrist, and when she pulled at his fingers with her free hand, he captured it, holding both her hands in one of his as he spoke. He made the differences in their sizes obvious by drawing her hands up high. She stood on tiptoe trying to ease the pull, feeling she couldn't breathe, made speechless by fear as much as by pain. Joboam's eyes glittered in the dark. Her aching muscles screamed with the stress of being stretched up.

  'Kari ... invited me ... to stay with her... ,' she gasped the words. The man was huge.

  She stifled the fury that rose in her, the desire to kick and scream and fight. As well take on a bear. If this was all he was going to do, she could stand it. She had endured worse from men just like him and survived. But if she screamed and Kerlew came, if he turned his anger on him—

  'Kari?' There was puzzlement in his voice, and a sudden easing in the strain on her arms. Tillu took a gasp of air.


  'Yes. Kari. She ...'

  'Get the boy and your things. And the two harkar. Thank Kari, but say you must join me now, so that her father will know I am doing my duty. Do it now.' His voice was an odd mixture of emotions. There was the anger still, and the hard pleasure he took in domination, but a discordant note of uneasiness as well.

  He released her wrists abruptly and Tillu almost cried aloud at the relief. She could not keep from rubbing at them, even though she knew he took satisfaction in it. Which was more dangerous for her, to go with him as he commanded, submit to his control, or to defy him and stay with Kari, keep herself and Kerlew out of his reach? She wished she knew. The night was full dark around her, and all choices equally black.

  She turned away from him and headed for Kari's fire. Her heart pounded still, and the night seemed to tilt around her as the uneven turf rose to trip her. She put out a hand to catch herself. But big hands caught her and set her on her feet. She found herself gripping the front of Heckram's tunic. He didn't make a sound. He stared at Joboam over her head. She felt the tension in his wide chest, the catch in his breath, smelled the anger that rose in him. This time she would not be able to stop them from fighting.

  Kari swooped past them in the darkness, flying into Joboam's path. He recoiled from her and when she spread her arms wide, he retreated a step. She hung before him like a hide stretched to dry, her garments as black as the night, her face more pale than the moon's. A light wind stirred her flapping garments, ruffled her black hair. Even Tillu found herself swallowing dryly at the sight. Heckram's hands on her shoulders tightened. He moved to step forward, and she found herself clutching at his chest, holding him back. A killing energy coursed through him.