“We leave now,” he announces.
It’s a good idea. Get it over and done with. I really wish Finn was coming with me.
“You can’t come,” I say. “It’s too dangerous.”
Finn always does what I tell him. But this time is different. Crossing his arms, he glares and dares me to say “no” again.
Nana surprises me even more. “Of course you can go,” she tells Finn.
“I knew this would happen,” Tuaq whispers, “but she wouldn’t let me tell you. She said I’m not allowed to go. When I tried to argue, Nana threatened to chop off an ear to make me listen better.”
He avoids my eyes and stares into the snow.
“That’s good,” I whisper back. “She says the same thing to me all the time. I’ll be all right. You can’t come because you belong here. You’re a shaman now.”
Tuaq smiles and Nana nods approval. No words are soft enough to escape her ear. And no pretending can fool her. She places her hand on my arm, looking deep into my eyes. “You are already brave, Iluak. Remember, this is the Bear who has what you want.”
The only thing I want is to stay home where it’s safe.
Mama and Miki pack my bag, while Finn’s mother does the same for him. A blanket, dried fish to munch on and spare gloves. Our bows and arrows.
“You are his invited guest,” Papa reminds me. “Don’t forget your manners.”
Please don’t kill us, Bjalki.
Miki hugs me tight and Mama sniffles in my ear. “Be careful, Illy,” she says.
Quiet settles on the shoulders of my family and friends as they realise they might never see us again.
“You’ll be there before the sun drops,” Papa’s voice booms. “And back in no time.”
Uncle and Raynor never came back and Finn and I probably won’t either. But it’s even worse than that. If I don’t succeed, we’ll all be dead. I’m just a boy and Bjalki the Bear is a monster. How can I possibly save our people from this man?
Nana pokes the back of my knees with her story stick. “It’s not far for young legs.”
“After this, maybe I’ll write a song about you,” Miki teases. But her voice shakes and trails off. No one wants to hear my funeral dirge.
Hoisting my pack over my shoulder, I gesture to Finn. It’s time to go.
“Be truthful, Iluak,” Nana calls.
I tuck her last words of advice safe inside my heart. Even walking fast, I struggle to keep up with Finn’s long strides. He whistles and waves to the gulls flying overhead.
“What are you so happy about?” I grumble.
“Sun. Birds. It’s good.”
I shake my head. “No, it’s not. What about Bjalki? What about all those heads on sticks?”
“Not here.” Finn waves his arms out over the ocean and up to the sky. “See?” Sticking his hands in his pockets, he whistles even louder.
I bury my hands in my trouser pockets and whistle too. My imagination flies with the gulls, across the sea and up the coast. For a while, I even forget about being afraid.
Until Bjalki’s camp comes into view. The settlement is a large cluster of sod homes, dug half into the ground and covered with a dome of packed dirt and snow. It’s easy to see which is Bjalki’s house. It’s the biggest, darkest cave of all. Raynor’s wife was right: the path is lined with spikes and on top of each point is a bleached white skull. As we get closer, the skulls morph into human faces, their skin still shiny with blood. Northman faces. The Bear even murders his own people.
“Don’t look,” says Finn, staring straight ahead.
I follow his advice but the images are stamped in my brain and my churning stomach has a good memory. Breathing deep, I count to forget.
Two men are standing outside the entrance. One walks forward to meet us, lance raised. I’m not scared of him because I know it doesn’t end out here.
“What do you kids want?”
“I am Iluak and this is Finn. We are the messengers of the Too-lee people, invited by Bjalki.” We place our bows on the ground as a gesture of trust.
Grinning, the man lowers his lance.
“The Bear asked for you two?” He laughs, a huge walrus belly laugh. It grows and swells until his friend joins in. I don’t see anything funny.
“Wait here,” the sentry orders.
We can hear the Bear yelling inside. “That’s not what I asked for. If he can’t make it right this time, hack off his arm. Then I won’t have to see such shoddy workmanship again.” Thump. The ground shakes with the strength of his anger. I shake too, imagining a great white bear with a cruel warrior face, teeth bared and dripping with blood.
“Come on now,” the second sentry waves us on. “I think I’ll come too. This should be good.”
It’s not good.
As soon as he sees us, Bjalki’s face prickles into ugly red and purple blotches of anger. His bellow fills the room.
“What is this insult? They send me children to talk with!” A monster fist slams onto the stone table and the world trembles again. A lesser man would scream in pain, but not the Bear. He just glances to check the table is not broken.
Whalebone pins and needles prick at my feet. Icy beads of sweat form on my brow but, too scared to move, I can’t wipe them away. Transfixed, I watch them drip onto my nose.
Fear rushes through me like freezing sea water as Bjalki’s roar rises on a wave to batter our ears. “I will not be made a fool of.”
I wait for the fist to strike.
“Throw them in the locker,” the Bear thunders.
My stomach fights to empty itself on the floor. Papa keeps our dog meat in a locker beside our igloo. Bjalki is going to eat us! Hulag was right, the Bear eats children.
Pinning my arms behind my back, the two sentries shove me towards the door. As if it takes two of them to manhandle a boy. They walk so fast my feet drag across the icy floor.
It’s dark outside and hard to see through the gloom. Finn and I are taken to a smaller house nearby.
“In you go.” Pushed through the entrance, I skid across the floor and trip onto a smelly heap of skin and fur. Ka-thump. Finn lands beside me as the gate slams shut.
With a grunt, the pile of furs heaves and rolls me onto the ground. In the half-dark, I see two eyes, a big scruffy beard and dirty red-blond hair.
Once when I was out on the ice with Papa, we found a half-eaten walrus. The carcass stank. Now the same rancid odour fills the room. This man looks and smells like dead walrus. Strange words dribble from his mouth. He gulps, spits and stares.
I’m not afraid and neither is Finn. He sits down beside our fellow prisoner. We’ve got much bigger problems than this smelly, sleepy man. We need to find Uncle and Raynor and, somehow, I have to fulfil Nana’s prophecy.
The strange man starts speaking again in a language Finn and I can understand.
“You two are just kids.” He leans close, his dirty face right in front of my nose.
Gagging, I hold my breath.
“What did a couple of kids do to upset the Bear?”
As he leans back I breathe again. “Nothing,” I say.
“Everyone who ends up in here does something. Bjalki has a bad temper but he wouldn’t toss you in his locker for nothing.”
“What did you do?” I ask, changing the subject.
“Fighting. Drunk.” He belches. “She was a woman worth fighting for. Still, I should have known better. I drink too much but that mead is good. It makes you warm inside.” He licks his lips, then coughs, spraying Finn and me with foul-smelling spittle.
“Ever had honey wine, boy? It’ll make your head spin.” He peers into my face.
If that’s what mead smells like, I’m never going to try it. No matter how cold I am.
“What about you?” he says, pressing close against Finn, who tries to look polite while holding his nose. “It’s not good manners to keep secrets. We might be here a long time so we may as well swap our tales. What were you two fighting about?”
The Northman chokes on his laughter, spluttering more spittle, and losing his balance to roll onto his back.
“You can’t marry a whale, boy. You want to get yourself a girl worth fighting over.” He struggles to sit up again. “What’s wrong with you?” he stares at Finn. “Fox got your tongue? Bird got your brain?”
Finn glares back.
It makes me angry when people tease Finn.
“There’s nothing wrong with him.” I’m leaning into the Northman’s face now. I was wrong. He reeks worse than dead walrus. “You leave Finn alone. He’s quiet but he thinks a lot. He’s not good with words but he’s clever with ideas. He invented a new seal harpoon,” I boast. I don’t mention the idea about herding caribou. That doesn’t make Finn sound smart at all.
The man studies Finn carefully. His glazed eyes brighten and his tongue clicks against his teeth. I’ve seen that look before, on Papa’s face when he sights a lone wolf, limping injured through the snow.
“Who’s your father, lad?” The Northman is paying close attention now, studying Finn’s face.
Finn stares back. Ice-blue eyes lock. “Thorvald.”
Holding his shaking belly, the Northman laughs until tears roll down his cheeks to drip with the spittle from his chin. My stomach jiggles in reply and beside me Finn begins to chuckle. We don’t understand the joke but that doesn’t matter.
Finally, the Northman manages to speak.
“Well, I’m very pleased to meet you Finn, son of Thorvald. My name is Asmund, the far-travelled. I’m an explorer. And you are …” He looks at me.
“I am Iluak, the skraeling.”
Asmund chortles again. “So you’re a scrawny skraeling and proud of it. I like a kid with a sense of humour. I heard one of your people saved Bjalki’s daughter.”
“Iluak did.” Finn beams.
“This gets better all the time.” Asmund thumps his great fist against the door. “Guard!”
“What do you want, Asmund? Bjalki said you’re to stay in there until you sober up. And then you’re to have a bath. Ice-cold.” They’re laughing outside too. The Northmen laugh a lot.
“What crime did my fellow inmates commit?” Asmund calls.
“Bjalki granted the Icelanders an audience and they sent a couple of kids. He was so mad he went purple.”
Asmund chuckles. “Then you better hurry to tell old Bear Bones he’s got Thorvald’s son in here.”
“Are you sure?” The guard gapes through the bars.
“If Bjalki had bothered to look before he lost his temper, he would have seen his brother standing in front of him. And there’s something else.”
“What?”
“The other kid is the one who rescued Elga from the bear.”
Asmund sits down beside us. “We won’t have long to wait,” he says. “Bjalki’s your uncle, Finn. And he owes Iluak a life debt.” He points his finger at me. “You can ask him for anything and he has to give it to you.”
The bear has something you want. Nana’s words echo round my head. Now with a debt owed, perhaps I can save our lives! Not just Finn and I, but Raynor and Uncle and all our people. Will I be a hero after all?
But there’s something more. What have I got that Bjalki could possibly want? Maybe it’s the bear claw?
“What’s an explorer?” Finn asks Asmund, interrupting my thoughts.
“Someone who travels places where there’s no trail to follow.” Asmund’s eyes shine over-bright. “An explorer can go wherever he chooses. He doesn’t have to follow lines in the snow. He follows his heart.” The Northman leans forward and I can feel the excitement in his voice. It runs between us and flows into my blood. “Do you know where I’m going next?”
We shake our heads.
“I’m going south, far away from the ice. I’ve heard it’s green down there, with plants that reach to the sky. It’s warm, even at night.”
I edge closer. I don’t care about the stink any more. I want to breathe in every word.
“How do you know?” I whisper.
“I’m not the first Northman to go that way. You know what else they say?”
Spellbound by his magic, I shake my head.
“They say the bears are brown.”
I don’t care what colour they are. I don’t even care how many there are. I still want to go.
Asmund leans back, eyes half-closed. If he had a story stick he’d scrape it across the floor.
“Thorvald was a great explorer and Bjalki’s only brother. Young Thorvald was the first Northman to travel along this coast, many years ago. He turned inland looking for the greatest prize of all, the white bear. But Thorvald was lost and never returned. Bjalki–”
Clang! The door bursts open. There’s no pushing and shoving this time, but it’s still a rush as all three of us are hurried into Bjalki’s house.
Dread reaches like a polar bear to rip at my innards. The sick feeling in my stomach tells me I do know what Bjalki wants. He wants his brother back and Finn is all that is left of Thorvald’s flesh and blood. Well, the Bear isn’t getting his claws on my best friend. I’ll claim Finn as the life debt. That’s what I need and Bjalki will be honour-bound to say yes. Surely he wouldn’t harm his nephew’s people?
The Northman leader’s huge hands are twisted tight and his knuckles are white as polished whalebone. His face looks grey but his eyes twinkle like sun on ice water. He’s pleased to see us this time.
“Why didn’t you tell me, boy?”
Finn clamps his mouth and points to me.
“Why doesn’t he speak?” Bjalki demands.
“Finn doesn’t like to waste words,” I say. “He only says important things.”
“Talking to me is important.” Bjalki’s voice rises to rage louder than the winter wind. “I’m his uncle, the greatest Northman chief ever. I am Bjalki the Bear.”
I was wrong. This man would kill anyone who provoked him. Even his nephew and, certainly, his nephew’s best friend.
Be truthful, Nana said.
My mouth tastes like feathers. My knees shake.
“You’re not important to Finn,” I say. “Yelling doesn’t change that.”
I wait for the avalanche to drop and suffocate me but the only sound is Asmund’s laughter. Bjalki glares at him but he doesn’t yell. “What is important?” Bjalki asks Finn, quieter now.
“Whale,” Finn says. “Seal. Caribou. Nana, Tuaq and Iluak. Miki, Buniq and my mama.”
Bjalki tugs his bushy beard. “Land, family and friends. My nephew is right. These things are truly important. If Finn wishes, I will speak with his friend.”
Finn’s uncle smiles but I’m not fooled. He grins like the bear that swallowed the boy. I smile back and hope I stick in his neck like splinters of dried caribou.
“Why don’t you like me?” the Bear rumbles.
Swallowing hard, I stand tall, almost up to his armpit.
“Give back our people,” I demand, my voice trailing into a squeak.
Bjalki shakes his head. “Those who skulk around my camp must stand trial. I will not take the lives of those who returned my daughter to me, but I must see that justice is done. I must maintain order in my camp.”
I don’t trust Bjalki’s sense of justice.
“You are a murderer of women and children,” I stammer.
The Bear’s face turns purple again. “Never. I’ve killed men but they would have killed me. What right do you have to slander my honour?” Slow and soft, his voice cuts through the room to press its knife edge against my neck. But I can’t run or hide. I was chosen to face this bear.
“Hulag told us what you did to his village. He told us how the women screamed and the children died.”
“And yet you still came? You have the gut of a Northman.” He shakes his head but ther
e’s admiration in his voice now. And something else. Respect.
“Listen to me, lad, and repeat my words to all you meet. Bjalki is a great warrior and a mighty battle chief. He has washed his hands in the blood of his enemies. But he did not kill the people of Hulag’s village.”
The Bear’s eyes flash like lightning and the storm builds. “If I get my hands on Hulag, there will be blood,” he thunders. “Not murder but vengeance. Hulag killed his own people.”
Nana knew all along.
“I gave Hulag’s people gifts of metal, weapons and wood, tokens of our friendship. In the morning the tents were smouldering and Hulag and the gifts were gone. My men tracked him into the icelands but we didn’t follow. In time he will answer to me.”
The Bear’s blue eyes are harder than ice and sharper than iron. I wouldn’t want to wear Hulag’s boots.
“I have made my decision,” the Bear rumbles. “I will not punish your people for taking my whale. They may keep it.”
I breathe a sigh of relief. But the Bear hasn’t finished yet. He wields a great war hammer to crush my heart against my ribs.
“In return, Finn must stay with me.”
Inside my head, an avalanche falls. I’m numb all over.
Finn shakes his head. “No,” he says, crossing his arms against the storm.
“He doesn’t want to,” I stammer. “Finn belongs with me.”
Teeth flash and the bear snarls.
Two guards move to stand either side of Finn, waiting for the Bear’s command.
“If I have to bind you here, I will,” the Bear threatens.
“We do not even tie our dogs with rope,” I say. “Nana says you cannot make someone love you.”
“Nana.” Bjalki scoffs. “Little old woman with fiery eyes? As high as Ottar’s chest?”
I nod.
“She might have impressed him, but I am not afraid of old women.”
Then you are a fool. Nana will carve you into strips of blubber. There’s plenty to work with.
“Let him go,” I command.
Bjalki laughs. “You will have to make me.”
My bravado melts. How can I defeat this bear to save my people? I can’t even protect Finn. I wish Nana was here. She would cut him down to size.
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