by Dakota Chase
Smart man, Grant was. I might even have to tell him so someday.
Gray Wolf opened his mouth to speak, but Grant went on talking before he could. I guess Grant was afraid Gray Wolf would dismiss the story. “What I’m saying is that no matter who those people are, even if they’re Deer Clan, making friends with them and agreeing to hunt mammoth with them could only benefit the Bison Clan. More hunters mean more animals killed, right? Better chances of a successful hunt? Certainly, better than if we fight them and maybe lose some of our hunters to their spears. Even if we win, we may lose.”
Brilliance. Pure brilliance. I bit back a grin.
Bear Paw and Musk Ox both shook their heads as if they’d never heard anything so ridiculous, but Gray Wolf didn’t. I began to understand why he was leader of the Bison Clan, why they followed his orders. He was sharp and maybe able to see wisdom in a point of view that would seem like blasphemy to the rest of the Bison Clan.
A deep scowl creased Gray Wolf’s forehead, and he held up a hand to silence everyone. His gaze remained on the fire flickering across the dark expanse. “What you say has merit. Your tribe is wise. But how can we know the minds of the Deer Clan?”
“We can’t. But we can try. Wouldn’t it be better to try to avoid bloodshed? If we attack, nobody wins, except maybe the mammoth.” Grant elbowed me, as if to urge me to agree.
“Um, right! He’s absolutely right, Gray Wolf. Among our people, when one side wants to talk to the other without fighting, they approach with a white flag.”
“Don’t be stupid. The Deer Clan won’t know what a white flag means.” Grant might be smart, but he was also as irritating as ever. Some things never changed.
I growled at him, then turned back to Gray Wolf. “What I mean is, a small group of people approaching wouldn’t seem like a threat. It might be easier to get them to talk then.”
Gray Wolf nodded and remained silent. I could see he was thinking it over. “We will try Grass and Ash’s suggestion. They are correct—if we war with the Deer Clan, or whoever those people are, we risk our lives, the mammoth hunt, and by extension, the lives of the people we left at the cave. If it works, we may gain powerful allies, at least for the duration of the hunt. If it fails, we are no worse off than if we fought from the beginning.”
Bear Paw didn’t look convinced, although he remained silent. Musk Ox showed no hesitation to express his opinion. “You would make peace with the Deer Clan? The ones who plan to steal our hunting grounds and cave?”
“Only because their people are starving. Tell me you wouldn’t do the same if the Bison Clan were dying.” Yeah, I had a big mouth and had a habit of talking without thinking first. That hadn’t changed either. Luckily Bear Paw agreed with me.
“Ash speaks truly. We would do whatever it took to save our people.” Bear Paw turned to Gray Wolf. “If we cooperate on the hunt, they will have plenty of meat and hides to bring to their people and may be less willing to try to take what is ours. I will go and try to make peace with them.”
Gray Wolf nodded. “No, I am leader of the Bison Clan. I will go. You and Musk Ox must stay here. The hunters will need you if they will not talk and attack.” He looked at Grant and me. “These two will come with me. Their people have experience making friends with enemies.”
Grant and I stared at each other. Grant stammered a reply. “I-I don’t think you quite understood, Gray Wolf. I meant—”
“You said what you meant. I understood. Now rest. We go at first light.” Gray Wolf stalked away, followed by Bear Paw and Musk Ox, leaving Grant and I standing there with our mouths hanging open.
I gaped at Grant. “Please tell me you saw a documentary on peace treaties.”
“Um, no.”
“Then we’re in deep shit.”
“No kidding.”
I got the feeling it was going to be a long night.
DAYLIGHT FOUND the three of us walking across the wind-burned plain toward the spot where a thin wisp of smoke curled up. As we drew closer, we could see figures standing in small groups around the fire, no doubt watching us approach and wondering what the hell we were up to.
There were only three of us, and while we carried spears, we obviously weren’t ready to throw them. We didn’t pose much of a threat. Why would we risk coming at them with only three men? I found myself hoping Silver Water’s father was as curious and open-minded as Gray Wolf.
We stopped about fifty yards away and stood watching them watching us. I could feel the tension and saw it in the stiff postures of the men standing across the field from us. One of them lifted a spear and began to slide it into place on an atlatl, but another man called out, and he lowered it.
The man who’d shouted took a couple of paces forward. “What do the Bison Clan want from the Deer Clan? These are not Bison Clan hunting grounds.”
Gray Wolf stepped forward. “No, they are not. We come to make peace.”
The man laughed. “Peace? Where was your wish for peace when the Deer Clan came to the land of the Bison Clan?”
To his credit Gray Wolf recognized a trap when he heard one. There was no way he could answer that question without sounding hostile. So instead he tried another tack. “You are leader of the Deer Clan? These two young men say they know your daughter.” He motioned for Grant and me to step up, which we did.
The men on the other side of the field conversed among themselves for a minute. Then the first man beckoned another figure to step up. “I am High Rock, chief of the Deer Clan, and this is my daughter, Silver Water. She has told me of her meeting with your young men.”
I waved at Silver Water, although she didn’t return it. She stood next to her father, stone-faced. I hoped she remembered we didn’t try to kill her when we had the chance.
Gray Wolf spoke again. “These two are young and come from far away. Their people are strangers to us, yet they gave aid to one of our young hunters who otherwise might’ve died. The young hunter is my son, and they saved his life. They proved themselves friends to the Bison Clan.”
High Rock tilted his chin up. “It is rare for strangers to show mercy to those unknown to them. Your young hunter was fortunate.”
“True.” Gray Wolf nodded. “Ash and Grass have told me your daughter speaks of hunger among the Deer Clan.” I noticed he didn’t mention the Deer Clan invading the Bison Clan hunting grounds, which was probably a smart tactical move on his part.
High Rock didn’t mention it either, also a good move. “She speaks truly. We found need to travel far from home in search of food. It is why we chose to come to hunt the Great Ones.”
“It occurs to me that the Bison Clan and Deer Clan are strangers now, but we were not always thus. We were brothers once and hunted together.”
“This is true. Our legends speak of the time.”
“As do ours.” Gray Wolf gestured toward Grant and me again. “Again these two fine young hunters have shown us the wisdom of their people. They have suggested that perhaps the Bison Clan and the Deer Clan might hunt together again.”
High Rock didn’t respond, but it was clear he was listening.
“The mammoth is mighty, the most dangerous quarry in our world. Separately, we risk much hunting them. Together, we would increase our chances of a lucky hunt for both our tribes.”
“It is so.” High Rock turned and talked quietly with the other hunters standing behind him. Then he turned back to us. “Silver Water vouches for your young hunters. She says they are trustworthy. I cannot doubt her word. We will hunt with the Bison Clan.”
Gray Wolf smiled for the first time and gave a short nod. “Good. It is done. I will go gather the Bison Clan hunters, and we will come here. Then we can plan the hunt together.”
Grant beamed a grin at me as we turned away to return to our camp. Phase One: Friendship Between Tribes had gone far more smoothly than either of us could imagine. We only hoped the actual hunt would go as well.
Chapter Eighteen
I WOULD be lying if I said the hu
nters of the Bison Clan and those of the Deer Clan met each other like long-lost brothers. It was more like a pride of lions being put into the same cage with a group of tigers. Both knew they were of equitable size and strength, so kept to their own side of the pen, but by the same token, both would be equally happy to tear out the other’s throat given half the chance. At first, the only ones who spoke to each other were Gray Wolf and High Rock, and even they seemed to do so with great reluctance and misgivings.
“Our scouts reported the herd has been moving steadily northwest. We must strike soon or risk losing the herd.” Gray Wolf’s hunters nodded in agreement with him.
“They are in a good position, I agree, but waiting one more day may put them in a better one. Less than a day’s travel from here is a sheer drop-off. There is a way down to the bottom, but you must circle around to get to it. It will be an easy hunt if we can drive the herd over the edge of the chasm.” This time High Rock’s hunters muttered words of encouragement.
“We have hunted the Great Ones here for many generations!” Musk Ox spoke out, the first of the hunters to do so. “The Bison Clan knows the best way to hunt mammoth!”
One of High Rock’s hunters took exception to that. He sneered at Musk Ox. “The Bison Clan knows nothing. The Deer Clan are great hunters. We know the best way to bring down the big beasts.”
The camps erupted, men and women trying to shout each other down, all claiming their tribe were the best hunters and knew the best way to hunt the mammoth. It was chaos and growing worse by the minute.
Gray Wolf’s voice rose above them all. “Enough! A man can’t hear himself think over all this noise! It does not matter which camp has the best hunters. The only thing that matters is making sure we have a successful hunt.”
High Rock seemed to agree. “We did not come together to argue. We came to work together so that we may feed our people.”
A hand tugged on my arm, and I looked over. Silver Water beckoned me and Grant to go with her. Since I couldn’t think of anything I wanted to do less than stand there and listen to adults argue, I nodded.
We walked a few dozen yards away, to the very last campfire. It was empty, the fire beginning to die. Silver Water added wood and poked it back into life. Then the three of us made ourselves comfortable. Several others close to our age, Rabbit among them, joined us.
The kids were quiet, the Bison Clan staring at the Deer Clan, and vice versa. A flint knife could’ve sliced through the tension. It was as uncomfortable as standing with the adults had been.
Grant was first to break the uneasy silence. “Have you hunted mammoth before, Silver Water?”
She shook her head. “Last spring was the first time I went on a hunt. We were after bison. I didn’t get one, but not everyone does on their first hunt. A wolf pack stalked us afterward, trying to steal the kill.” She held up a tooth she wore suspended from a thong tied around her neck. It was a large canine, easily over an inch long. “My father killed the biggest one, the pack leader. The rest scattered after. He gave me this tooth. But I killed a wild cat on that hunt.”
That was enough to break the ice. The Bison Clan peppered Silver Water with questions. The Deer Clan hunters, who’d no doubt heard the story before, listened quietly with adoration in their eyes.
“The bison herds rarely come to the land of the Deer Clan anymore. We don’t know why their spirits no longer lead them to our hunting grounds, but when a scout saw a small herd, we thought perhaps our luck had changed. My father planned a hunt. I was supposed to earn my talisman on that hunt, but my spear slipped when I cast it, and I missed. The herd was in full stampede, and I didn’t get another chance to hurl a spear. I thought for sure the gods were angry with me.” Her cheeks blushed red, and I knew it had nothing to do with the heat of the fire. Retelling this part of the story was embarrassing for her.
The kids all nodded in sympathy with her, as if they all understood how disappointed and humiliated she must’ve felt. I don’t think any of them feared anything more than missing on their first major hunt.
“The hunters managed to get several bulls and a heifer, and it took a long time to get them all butchered and ready to carry back to the cave. It was already after dark, and most of the hunters were gathered around the main fire, eating. I was sitting at a smaller fire a ways off. I didn’t feel like eating.”
Again, the kids nodded and offered words of encouragement. They probably wouldn’t have felt much like chowing down either. Like kids at two rival schools, they were discovering they had a lot more in common than they thought.
“I suddenly heard a low growl. No one else heard it. They were all too busy talking and eating. No one was paying much attention. I grabbed my spear and slowly stood up. When I turned around, I could see a pair of eyes glowing in the dark. Before it could attack, I hurled my spear.” She smiled and lifted her chin with pride. “The cat was dead before it hit the ground. Now its pelt keeps me warm.”
Even the Bison Clan kids were properly awed by her tale of facing down a wild cat. They stared at her with big eyes and open mouths.
“That was a good story,” I said. “Wasn’t it, Grass?”
He frowned at me and hissed under his breath. “Will you stop calling me that?” Then in a louder voice, he agreed with me.
“I hope my spear doesn’t slip,” Rabbit said aloud what all of them, myself included, had been thinking, although for different reasons. They didn’t want to be embarrassed in front of their tribes by missing. I just wanted to get the damned mammoth-hunting talisman and go home.
“The young should listen to their elders when planning a hunt,” Musk Ox called to us from the main fire. “Come now.”
We got up and went back to the adults, but I think the ice was broken between the young hunters, if not the adult ones. I wondered whether that was what Silver Water had in mind all along, and when I caught her smiling to herself, I figured it was. Smart girl. Subtle and a little sneaky. I liked it.
“We have decided to go after the herd tomorrow. If we wait for the herd to get into position for us to drive it off the cliff, we risk losing it.” High Rock spoke as if it was his idea, but I’m pretty sure it’d been Gray Wolf’s position. I noticed Gray Wolf didn’t correct him, probably to save High Rock’s pride. After all, High Rock seemed to have lost the argument.
As for me I was just glad the fighting was over. All the yelling had been giving me a headache.
High Rock was still talking. “The young, unproven hunters will bring up the rear. Remember, always keep the position of your fellow hunters in your mind—death doesn’t always come from claws or fangs. Sometimes it comes at the point of a spear.”
I whispered to Grant, “In other words, don’t get in the way of friendly fire. Good tip.”
Gray Wolf spoke. “The experienced hunters will go downwind of the herd and circle around. When we are in position, I will give the signal for those with torches to set the fires. The herd will be cut off. More fires will be set behind them. They cannot go north because the great ice wall stands in their way. Only the south will be open to them, and that is where we will make our stand.”
High Rock addressed the younger hunters. “Aim for the eye, the throat, or between the ribs. Anywhere else will only slow them, not kill them. Wait until the experienced hunters choose the animals, then cast your spears at those. With luck, we can bring down two of them—one for the Bison Clan, and one for the Deer Clan. If we manage to bring down only one, we will share it.”
Gray Wolf smiled. “Go, rest now. Sleep if you can. If the spirits favor us in the hunt, we will have long days of work ahead of us.”
I DIDN’T think I would sleep, but I must’ve been exhausted because it seemed I no sooner lay down and closed my eyes than Grant was shaking me awake.
“Get up! It’s time.”
We woke, had tea and another of the traveling cakes—which I was beginning to hate and would be glad not to have to eat again—then picked up our weapons and broke camp. W
e left our backpacks, eating implements, and any unnecessary items. If we were lucky in the hunt, or so Bear Paw told us, we’d be back to gather up the rest of our things to move closer to where the kills were, since it would be impossible to move entire mammoth carcasses back to camp.
We hiked closer to the great ice wall, and both Grant and I, along with the other young hunters who hadn’t seen it before, were awestruck by it. It was majestic. There just wasn’t another word for it. I’m not being sappy. Sap just isn’t in me, but the soaring wall of ice that rose straight up from the ground, its top disappearing somewhere in the clouds, was unbelievable. White ice glittered like a giant diamond under the sun, but within it were streaks of a deep and vivid blue. It was stunning, incredible, and that’s saying something.
Several of the hunters who’d earned their talismans recently were armed with torches—stout branches dipped in sticky pitch. They would light them and use the torches to set fire to the wind-burned grass. The wind was blowing north and would drive the fire to the base of the great ice wall. By then, it wouldn’t matter—the fire was only needed for a short while, to provide a corridor to channel the herd to the hunters.
The young hunters trailed behind the experienced ones, all clenching their spears and atlatls. We took up positions behind the older hunters and lay our spare spears on the ground within easy reach. Then each of us nocked a spear into his or her atlatl and began the long wait.
My heart was beating so hard, I could hear blood pulsing in my ears. I glanced to my right where Rabbit stood, but he didn’t look back. His entire focus was on the swath of golden-brown grass in front of us and the mammoth herd we could only see dimly in the distance.
Grant was on my left, and our gazes locked when I looked at him. “You okay?” I mouthed words since we’d been instructed to make no noise whatsoever while waiting in fear we’d alert the herd to the danger.
He nodded. “Good luck.”
“Yeah, you too.”