by Jo Sandhu
Luuka stared into the eyes of the wolf, as though mesmerised. One of the pups whimpered and jumped up at its mother, startling them all. Luuka shook his head and cut through her bindings. The wolf stood and shook herself. She flung back her head and howled, but this time it was a howl of triumph, instead of pain and hopelessness.
‘Tarin, take this!’ Luuka handed him a bundle of grey fur, pushing the other pup down into his own coat. Tarin had no time to think. He pushed the wolf pup down, aware of the warmth of its tiny body.
‘Hurry!’ Kaija hopped from one foot to the other. She pushed the boys towards the tunnel.
‘Where are my little worms?’ A voice drifted down into the cave, freezing them in horror. A cascade of rocks echoed around the chamber. ‘What are you up to, my little worms?’
‘She’s in the secret tunnel!’ Kaija’s voice squeaked. ‘We’re trapped.’
Tarin spun around, searching the cave. ‘We can hide.’
‘There’s nowhere to hide,’ Luuka said. ‘We just have to leave by the front entrance. It’s our only chance.’ He clutched the wolf pup to his chest and pushed Kaija ahead of him.
‘I can hear you, dirty little worms. I know you’re up to something.’ The Spirit Keeper’s voice was louder now. She groaned and strained as she made her way down the tunnel, closer and closer.
A deep growl rumbled in the she-wolf’s throat. Her eyes blazed and the fur rose along her back.
‘Wolf! Follow me.’ Luuka’s voice was low and calm. He made small noises, calling to the animal. ‘See? Your baby is here. He’s safe with me. Come, you must come.’
‘Luuka, come on!’ Kaija called desperately to her brother as they ran for the entrance.
‘Worms! Little worms! I’m going to mash your bones and suck the marrow.’
‘Wolf! Come.’ Luuka’s voice rose in despair. ‘Please . . .’
‘I have to go back for him,’ Kaija said, looking frantically behind her.
‘No!’ Tarin grabbed her arm and she struggled against him.
‘Let me go,’ she hissed furiously. ‘I have to go back for my brother!’
Tarin shook her. ‘He’s coming. Luuka’s coming.’
The wolf pup in his shirt stuck its head out and whimpered as Luuka and the she-wolf ran towards them out of the darkness. Tarin pushed it down and turned to run.
The entrance beckoned, promising freedom, but as they hurried towards it, a shadow fell over them.
Tarin stopped short at the sight of the stocky girl blocking their way. But to his surprise Kaija leapt forward and grabbed the girl’s arms.
‘Broda!’ she said. ‘Help us!’
‘Give me my bead.’ Broda glared at her. ‘You promised.’
‘Not now – your Spirit Keeper is right behind us,’ Kaija hissed. She shook Broda in frustration. ‘Help us, or you’ll be caught too.’
Tarin held his breath as the two girls glared at one another, neither willing to give way. But then Luuka stepped into the light and Broda’s gaze shifted to the wild animal at his side. Her face, which had been red with anger, turned white, and her eyes opened wide.
‘The wolf!’ She took a step back. The wolf growled and moved closer to the frightened girl.
‘Stop it, Luuka,’ Kaija said.
Luuka frowned at Broda, but he put his hand down to rest on the wolf’s back, his fingers curled in her fur.
‘She’s one of them. She’s Boar Clan.’
‘But she can help us.’
Luuka scowled. He dropped to his knees and made soothing noises to the wolf. ‘She can smell Boar Clan,’ he muttered.
‘We probably all smell like Boar Clan,’ Kaija snapped. ‘Broda, if you don’t help us, we are all dead. You, too.’
Broda sniffed and thrust her jaw out. Then she nodded. ‘This way. And keep low.’
She led them downhill by another path, out of sight of the huts but still towards the river. It was steeper than the main path, overgrown with ferns and treacherous with loose rocks. Tarin’s leg ached, but he clenched his teeth and willed it to stay strong. With each step, agony lanced through him. His ankle turned on one of the rocks, and Broda hissed at him to keep quiet. She paused halfway down to peer through the branches.
All was quiet in the camp. A lone girl sat by the cooking fire, and a muddy child played by the river’s edge. Of the men and women of Boar Clan, there was no sign.
‘Where is everyone?’ Tarin leaned forward. A twig snapped under his feet and Broda pushed him back angrily.
‘All are preparing for the Spirit Ceremony,’ she said. ‘This is your chance. When you get to the river, turn downstream. If you can reach Deer Clan territory by nightfall, you’ll be safe. If not . . .’ She shrugged, and a smile lifted the corners of her mouth. Tarin didn’t like the gleam in her eyes. He wanted to ask more questions, when a scream shattered the quiet. It was high-pitched and furious. A flock of startled birds took to the sky, momentarily blocking the sun.
‘Hela!’ Broda’s face paled. ‘She’s reached the main cave.’
‘Run!’ Kaija said.
‘Wait!’ Broda grabbed for Kaija’s arm. ‘My bead!’
But Kaija was already flying down the cliff path, followed by Luuka and Tarin.
Fear spurred Tarin on. His leg twisted beneath him, but still he ran. Rocks slipped under his feet, his knees hit the ground. Kaija grabbed him by the arm and hauled him up. Branches slapped his face and tore his clothes. Behind him, he was aware of Luuka’s pained gasps.
‘Kaija! I . . . can’t . . . make . . . it . . .’ The words seared Tarin’s lungs as he forced them out. He felt as though small slivers of flint lined his throat, digging deeper with each breath. His leg had no strength and it collapsed beneath him.
‘You have to!’ Kaija grabbed him by the front of his beaska and lifted him to his feet. She shook him, and he saw his own fear reflected in her eyes. ‘You have to, Tarin. You can do it.’ Her voice was softer this time . . . pleading.
Tarin gripped his lips together and nodded.
More screams filled the air. Raw, hateful. The screams of a savage animal.
Kaija’s face went white. She urged her brother on, helping him. He clutched his ribs, his mouth a grim line, sweat running down his face. The wolf still ran at his side, but her chest was heaving and her tail was tucked between her legs. She flinched and snarled as another scream burst from the cave behind them. Tarin heard answering cries – the shouts of men and running feet.
‘Down!’ he hissed. He stooped low and pulled Kaija and Luuka into the overhanging branches of an old willow.
Boar Clan hunters clutching spears rushed past them towards the cave.
‘The coracles!’ said Kaija, pointing. ‘They’re right there.’
Two small boats were pulled up onto the riverbank. A third bobbed in the current, tied with a leather thong. The girl minding the fire stood in the middle of the camp, the muddy child clasped in her arms, but her attention was on the cave and the screams of the Spirit Keeper. Tarin wanted to cover his ears and cower in the mud, but they had only seconds to act.
‘Go!’ he said. ‘Go! Go! Go!’ He pushed Kaija ahead of him and turned to give his shoulder to Luuka. The River Clan boy was in pain. His eyes were glazed and he breathed in short, sharp gasps. Luuka leaned heavily on Tarin’s shoulder and together they stumbled towards the coracles.
Spirit of Owl . . . give me strength.
The she-wolf hurried ahead of him and he felt the wolf pup squirm inside his shirt.
Spirit of Mammoth . . . give us courage . . .
Kaija waded out into the water towards the third coracle and unlooped its tether. She pushed the boat towards the boys as they reached the water’s edge.
‘Where’s the knife?’ Tarin asked, propping Luuka against one of the upturned boats on the riverbank. Luuka pressed his lips together and pulled the knife from his belt. With a mighty swipe, Tarin brought the blade down sharply, slicing the aurochs hide hull of the boat. But the hide was thic
k and tough. Again he slashed, and again, finally ripping the skin apart.
‘They are there! I see them!’
Tarin, Luuka and Kaija looked up towards the mouth of the cave. The Spirit Keeper stood with her arms raised in the air, her staff held over her head.
‘Get them! Bring them to me! I want to rip the beating hearts from their bodies.’
Panic seized Tarin. His ears filled with the sound of the Spirit Keeper’s screams and the sound of his own blood pounding through his veins. Savagely he slashed the other boat, unaware the knife blade was cutting into his hand. He saw Kaija shouting – her mouth open, her eyes wild – but he couldn’t hear her above the chaotic throbbing in his head.
He felt the knife pass through the hide, but as it did he fumbled and it fell into the thick mud at the water’s edge. Before Tarin could reach for it, he heard Luuka shouting, ‘Look out!’
Durk was rushing towards them, fury twisting his face. He clasped a spear in his hand and he drew back, ready to launch it towards the boys. Tarin turned to stone. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t run. He saw Durk’s muscles tense, his eyes narrowed, focused on his target. His feet pounded as he charged forward, a mighty bison. The image of the spear slicing through the practice bag flashed through Tarin’s mind, and he imagined his own stomach sliced open, his insides spilling into the mud at his feet.
But before Durk could make his cast, a snarling blur of grey fur launched itself towards him. The she-wolf bit hard into his arm, her teeth sinking through Durk’s leather shirt and into his flesh. She held on, even as Durk dropped his spear with a scream and tried to pull his arm away from her. The wolf dug her teeth deeper and shook her head from side to side. Durk’s blood flowed, warm and red.
‘Luuka! Get in the boat!’
Kaija’s voice broke Tarin’s trance. Noises crowded him. Kaija screaming. The Spirit Keeper screaming. The snarling wolf ripping Durk’s flesh.
‘Wolf! Leave him! Stop! Wolf!’
Luuka lunged for the frenzied animal, trying to pull her away. Durk was a strong man, and with his free arm he pounded the weakened wolf in the ribs. He gouged her eyes and wrestled her to the ground.
‘Luuka, they are coming!’ Kaija screamed, as the rest of Boar Clan poured down the path from the cave.
‘Wolf!’ Luuka grabbed hold of the wolf, and tried to pull her off Durk, but the tortured animal could no longer tell friend from foe. As Luuka wrapped his arms around her, she turned and sank her teeth into his hand.
It was the chance Durk needed. He picked up a spear with his good arm and plunged it into the wolf’s neck. Red, hot blood spurted out, covering them both. The wolf released Luuka and turned towards Durk with a final snarl. Then her body went limp and the fire in her eyes died. Durk lay back, his eyes closed, his chest rising and falling. Blood flowed from his arm.
‘No!’ Luuka fell forward over the fallen animal. He buried his face in her bloody fur.
‘Luuka!’ Tarin’s throat felt raw. He grabbed Luuka and shook him.
Tears streamed down Luuka’s face. ‘She didn’t mean it. She was just defending herself.’ He held his arm against his chest, staining his beaska red.
‘We have to go. Now!’ Tarin pulled Luuka to his feet and forced him towards the boat.
Spirit of Horse . . . give us speed.
He pushed Luuka into the boat and scrambled in after him. Kaija was knee-deep in the river, unwinding the tether from a semi-submerged tree. Durk raised himself on one elbow and cast a spear towards them, but his throw was weak and splashed harmlessly in the water.
‘Hurry!’ Tarin reached out of the coracle towards Kaija.
Durk staggered to one knee and readied himself for another cast, but before he could, Broda rushed forward and hit him on the side of the head with a tree branch. The big man collapsed, facedown in the mud.
Tarin reached for Kaija’s arms and hauled her into the coracle. The little boat listed to one side, but it stayed afloat.
‘Give me my beads!’ Broda caught the floating tether and pulled back on it. Her feet dug deep into the mud and her shoulders strained against the current that wanted to carry the little boat away. ‘You promised.’
‘Broda, let go of the rope!’ Kaija screamed. ‘You’ll tip us.’
‘My beads!’
Kaija hissed in frustration but she knew Broda was right. It was only because of the Boar Clan girl that they were escaping. She ripped a small pouch from around her waist. ‘Here!’ She tossed the pouch towards the Boar Clan girl. ‘You can have them all – you’ve earned them.’
Broda let go of the tether and caught the pouch as it sailed through the air. Her lips curved in a smile of triumph.
Kaija leaned towards her, her voice urgent. ‘Broda, come with us. You’ll be in trouble for helping us.’
But Broda shook her head and clutched the pouch. The little boat, free at last, spun around as the river current picked it up.
‘They attacked Durk!’ Broda’s voice carried across the water. ‘They’re getting away!’
Tarin ducked as a spear splashed into the water next to him. The hunters were in range. He grabbed one of the deer antler paddles and plunged it into the water. Slowly, the boat moved away from the riverbank.
‘Get down!’ he cried. Another spear came perilously close to the coracle. The little boat was now in the middle of the river, but Tarin knew the spear throwers would still reach them.
‘Paddle deeper, Tarin! Don’t just splash the water!’ Kaija grabbed the other paddle and showed him how to manage the little boat. ‘We have to get further downstream.’
Tarin tried to copy the River Clan girl’s movements, and the coracle picked up speed. He glanced at Luuka, lying on the bottom of the boat. The boy’s face was white and his arm was still bleeding.
‘Don’t let Ristak sleep,’ Old Mother had said. ‘If he sleeps, the Spirits will think he is ready to journey with them to the Spirit World. You have to keep him awake, Tarin.’ But the pain had been too much, and Old Mother had brewed the special tea to help Ristak on his journey.
‘Don’t let him sleep,’ Tarin urged Kaija.
‘I’m fine,’ Luuka groaned, and pushed himself upright. ‘Tarin, give me that paddle before you drown us.’
Tarin turned to pass the paddle, but as he did, he saw a blur of movement out of the corner of his eye. Even as he opened his mouth to yell, the spear hurtled towards the boat and pierced Kaija in the shoulder.
The impact threw her backwards, and Kaija fell.
‘Kaija!’ Luuka dropped the paddle and reached for his sister.
Tarin turned to search the riverbank. There, high on the cliff, he saw the hunter. He thought it was the girl, Farla, but he couldn’t be certain.
The hunter stood a moment, a spear thrower in her hand, then she turned and disappeared into the forest as the river swept the little coracle away.
Tarin turned his attention back to Kaija. She lay on the bottom of the boat, the spear still stuck in her shoulder. Blood oozed from the wound and her lips were white.
Luuka had eased a hand beneath her head. ‘Kaija, speak to me,’ he said. ‘Are you alive?’
Kaija stirred. ‘No,’ she said, and groaned.
Tarin stared at her in consternation. ‘You’re not a Spirit. Spirits don’t bleed. At least, I don’t think they do.’
Kaija drew a shuddering breath and tried to smile at them. ‘I’m alive,’ she said. ‘We need mistletoe and golden flower to staunch the bleeding, but we don’t have either of them.’ Her voice rose in panic. ‘And you need to pull the spear out.’
Tarin chewed his lip. He wasn’t sure what to do. ‘Luuka? Can you reach into my pack? See what you can find to stop the bleeding.’ The front of Tarin’s beaska wriggled and a wolf pup stuck out his head. He pulled the pup out and it huddled miserably in the bottom of the boat.
Kaija groaned as Luuka unstrapped the pack from her back. He struggled with the lacings and drew his breath in sharply.
‘How
are your ribs?’ Tarin asked him.
‘Not good.’ Luuka grimaced as he dug into the pack. ‘But I’ll live.’
‘Both of you need medicine.’ Tarin ran his hand through his hair and studied the riverbank as the boat floated downstream. ‘I don’t know where we are. We need to dock, but what if Boar Clan is following? We can’t risk it yet.’
Luuka nodded. The pup down the front of his beaska wriggled out and licked the wound on his hand. The bleeding had slowed, but the puncture wounds on his hand and forearm were deep.
‘I think he’s sorry,’ Luuka murmured with a slight smile. He pulled Tarin’s fox furs from the bag. ‘Can we use these?’
‘Of course.’ Tarin pulled sharply at the pelts, and the sinew holding them together ripped apart. One of them he passed to Luuka to wrap around his forearm where the deepest wounds were.
Tarin wished Old Mother were here with her special bag of dried and fresh herbs, soft strips of rabbit skin bandages, and specially carved bones to ward off the evil Spirits of sickness. But she wasn’t. He clasped his owl pendant in his hands.
Spirit of Owl, help me. Help us.
He had seen spear wounds before, but then Kalle or one of the men had been there to pull the spear from the wound. Once, Kalle had pulled a spear from his own shoulder. He had laughed about it, and refused Old Mother’s golden flower tea, but by nightfall his face was white and he sweated as though he were sitting next to the coals in one of the clan’s sweat baths. Aila told him to lie down and made sure he drank the tea. Then he slept for a whole night and the next day as well.
Tarin looked down at Kaija and realised she was watching him. She nodded as if she could read his thoughts.
‘You have to pull the spear out, Tarin. Be quick. Be strong.’ Her voice trailed away and she closed her eyes.
For a moment, Tarin thought she had fainted, but then she reached a hand towards the wolf pups. They licked her fingers and curled into furry balls next to her. A shudder shook her body. ‘Just do it, Tarin. Don’t worry about the pain.’