Clan of Wolves

by Jo Sandhu

  ‘Ruva,’ Yorv said, and pointed to her. He pushed a cup close to Tarin’s mouth, and he took a sip. He tasted willowbark and yarrow and something he wasn’t familiar with. It tasted good.

  ‘Luuka?’ he asked.

  Yorv pointed to another fire across the cave. Luuka was sitting up, a fur clasped around his shoulders and a dazed expression on his face.

  ‘Tarin!’ he called, seeing the other boy. His face lit up in a smile.

  Tarin’s beaska wriggled at the sound of Luuka’s voice. A pup poked his head out. He yipped in delight and squirmed free, frantically trying to reach his rescuer. Luuka released the other pup and placed her on the cave floor, where she shook herself thoroughly before her brother bounded toward her and wrestled her to the ground. Then they both leapt on Luuka and joyfully licked his face. A gasp travelled around the cave, and Tarin was suddenly aware of the other occupants clustered around five or six small fires. Men, women and children, all small and solidly built, were wrapped in a mixture of furs and skins. Some prepared food, and the smell made Tarin’s stomach grumble. Some were sipping tea and staring in wonder at their strange visitors and the wolf pups.

  Luuka limped across the cave to join Tarin, his eyes shining, the wolf pups at his heels.

  ‘I was right. The Esi! Can you believe it?’

  ‘The Old Ones!’ Tarin murmured. The ones who were here long before Old Father was born. They were the First Ones, but as the clans of men grew and spread out over the steppes, the clans of the Esi retreated to the forests. ‘I didn’t know there were any left.’

  ‘There’s a small clan living on the western slope of the mountains, upriver from my home. We trade with them occasionally. Dried fish for flint, and they will trade anything for cave bear bones,’ Luuka said.

  ‘You trade with them? But that makes them sound like real people.’

  ‘They are people.’ Luuka’s voice was low and sharp. ‘Do Mammoth Clan think they are no better than animals? I know some in River Clan who think the same way.’

  Tarin scratched his nose and suddenly felt unsure what he thought. He had heard Miika and Taavo and the other boys laughing about hunting the Esi. To many, they were neither people nor animals, but something even lower. But would animals take strangers into their homes, Tarin wondered. Give them food and shelter? Tend their wounds?

  Luuka grunted, pointing at the plant Ruva was placing over Kaija’s wound. She looked up in interest.

 

 

  Ruva nodded and wrinkled her face. She looked at Tarin.

  ‘No.’ Tarin shook his head regretfully. ‘I don’t speak your words.’

  Yorv squatted next to the boys and pointed at Ruva.

  ‘Water plant.’ His voice was deep, and some of his sounds softened and blurred, but Tarin understood.

  Ruva took a mouthful of the root and chewed it, before spitting the pulp onto Kaija’s shoulder. She smiled at them with black-stained teeth.

  ‘Kills bad spirits,’ Yorv said. He scratched his chin and frowned. ‘Ruva says, good.’ He wrinkled his face again and shook his head, unhappy with the words. He spoke to Luuka in more words Tarin didn’t understand. Luuka tried to translate.

  ‘She says Tarin did a good job.’

  Tarin chewed his lip. He could hear the worry in Luuka’s voice.

  Ruva finished binding Kaija’s shoulder and leaned over to poke Tarin in the stomach. ‘Yaiya?’ She opened her hands and shrugged.

  Tarin chewed his lip. He didn’t understand.

  Ruva looked at Yorv and punched his shoulder as she uttered a stream of words that made him bob his head up and down.

  ‘How?’ Yorv motioned to Kaija’s wound.

  ‘How did Kaija get hurt?’ Tarin asked, and Yorv nodded.

  So with Luuka’s help, Tarin told Ruva and Yorv the story of their escape. As their story unfolded, many of the others in the cave crept closer, listening. Tarin didn’t know how much they understood, but he felt better for talking. They were safe. They were warm. And as his story tumbled out, he felt many of his fears lift from his heart and float upwards with the smoke of the little fires. Sometimes he paused, unsure of what to say, or how to make himself understood. Then Luuka used his hands to fill in the gaps that their words couldn’t.

  ‘Ah!’ Ruva nodded thoughtfully. ‘Yaiya.’ She closed her eyes and mimed Kaija sleeping. Then she looked at Tarin, her eyes as bright as a bird’s. Tarin strained to understand. Ruva poked him again, then carefully formed the unfamiliar sounds. ‘Yuud . . . youd . . . gyood . . . djog . . . djob.’ She turned her hands palm up and shrugged her shoulders in question.

  ‘How did I make Kaija sleep? Is that what you’re asking?’ Tarin passed her the empty mustara leaf wrapping, Old Mother’s hair still wrapped around it. ‘I made tea, and Kaija drank the tea.’ Tarin mimed the actions.

  Ruva sniffed the wrapper and looked in interest at the strands of hair. She snorted and touched the tip of her tongue to the wrapper.

  ‘Ah!’ She nodded and handed it back to Tarin. She asked Yorv a question, but her bright black eyes never left Tarin’s face.

  ‘Leaf make Yaiya sleep long time. Maybe not wake.’

  ‘I use little.’ Tarin drew a circle on his palm to show Ruva how much he used, and she laughed and slapped his shoulder.

  ‘Ruva say you good medicine man.’ Yorv stopped as Ruva hit him hard on the chest. He bobbed his head and his face creased into a smile. ‘Ruva say you not man. She say you boy. You good medicine boy.’ Then he turned to Luuka, who was now holding both pups in his arms. ‘And you wolf boy. Now, must sleep.’

  Suddenly, Tarin felt exhausted. They had only had small snatches of sleep as they journeyed downriver. A shaft of weak sunlight crept into the cave as the new day began, and he could no longer keep his eyes open. His knees buckled, but Narn was there to catch him. Ruva pulled the wet boots from Tarin’s feet. He tried to stop her stripping him of his beaska and leggings, but she slapped his hand away. It’s as though I’m home in the earth-lodge, Tarin thought, and Old Mother is scolding me. He gave in and let her take his wet clothes.

  She wrapped a soft, warm fur around him, chiding him gently all the while. The fur felt like bison and smelled of wood-smoke. Tarin snuggled deeper into its warmth. A wolf pup nudged him with his cold, wet nose, but Tarin had no strength to push it away.

  Ruva poked him to see if he was still awake, then she grunted.

  ‘Boy home now,’ she said, and she moved away.

  Tarin let his gaze move around the cave – so many curious eyes watching him, but none of them threatening. He felt the wolf pup sigh and relax next to him. Over the other side of the cave, Luuka and the other pup were already asleep. Kaija was no longer fretful, and her breathing was slow and steady.

  Tarin felt the dread of the last couple of days melt away. Outside, the snow still fell, but for now they were warm and safe.

  ‘There! Through the branches. Can you see it?’ Luuka grabbed Tarin’s arm and pointed.

  Tarin, Yorv and Narn froze.

  A snow-white ermine stopped and sniffed the air, but the boys were downwind. The black tip of its tail twitched, sensing a danger it couldn’t smell. Quickly, Narn fitted a rounded stone into his sling, and sent it spinning towards the animal – a silent, deadly projectile. The ermine dropped, and the boys hurried forward.

  ‘Ruva like fur,’ Narn said, claiming his prize. He dusted it free of snow and slung it over his shoulder.

  ‘Ruva is the leader of your clan?’ Tarin asked. The boys were trekking through the forest, checking snares. So far, the snares had yielded three rabbits and Yorv had found a squirrel’s horde of hazelnuts and acorns. Yorv scratched his chin and frowned.

  ‘Ruva eldest. Worj leader. Clan is Worj’s Clan.’

  ‘But Worj not here?’

  It was the sixth day since Yorv had brought them to his cave. The first day, all three had slept, recovering from their ordeals. Tarin had vague memories of concerned
faces, curious stares, deepset eyes. He had been fed nourishing broth and forcibly bathed. His cuts and bruises were anointed with soothing herbs. But he was sure he hadn’t met Worj.

  Yorv frowned again. They were slowly becoming more familiar with each other’s words and phrases and the different ways they had of making sounds, but sometimes it was still difficult to find the words. Tarin had come to recognise the look of intense concentration on Yorv’s face each time he tried to speak.

  ‘Worj and Iva go . . .’ He strove to make himself understood with a mixture of words and hand movements. He looked at Narn helplessly.

  ‘They go to another clan? To trade?’ Luuka asked.

  ‘Ah!’ Yorv nodded. ‘Trade. And talk. Bad things.’ He waved his hands toward the West. ‘Clan with boar marks, make forest bad.’

  Tarin shivered. He understood.

  ‘Boar Clan!’ Luuka scowled and kicked the snow. ‘They never used to be in this part of the forest. They always kept to the other side of the river.’

  ‘A big pine has fallen across the river,’ said Tarin. ‘They use it like a bridge.’

  Luuka raised his eyebrows. ‘So that’s it!’

  ‘Ah,’ Yorv bobbed his head. ‘Yorv go. See big tree. See Yaiya. We tell Worj when he return from Yoben’s Clan.’ Then his eyes twinkled and he glanced at Narn. ‘Worj also go see Aba. Maybe Aba hearth-mate for Narn.’

  Tarin and Luuka stared at Narn, who turned red and pushed Yorv into a drift of snow. Yorv threw a ball of snow back at his friend. Soon, all four had joined in the game, shouting and hurling snowballs at each other.

  Kaija sat with her back against a comfortable rock and looked around the cave. It was smaller than the River Clan cave, and the fires made it snug and dry. Her hand rested on the soft lynx fur and she smiled, remembering her first meeting with Yorv. She moved her shoulder, surprised at how much better it felt.

  A girl with reddish-brown hair and large hazel eyes knelt down beside her. She held out a wooden cup and Kaija noticed she was expecting a baby.

  ‘Yaiya? Drink?’ The girl smiled shyly.

  ‘Thank you,’ Kaija smiled back, taking the cup. She sniffed the steaming tea, trying to place the herbs. Mint, she thought, and probably chamomile.

  The girl squatted next to Kaija and stroked the lynx fur.

  ‘Yorv give to Novi for baby. Novi say Yaiya use first.’

  Kaija frowned in concentration, straining to understand the girl’s words.

  ‘Your name is Novi?’

  The girl smiled and nodded. ‘Yorv hearth-mate to Novi.’ She struggled to her feet and rested her hand on her swollen belly. ‘Baby not come yet. Yaiya use fur. Keep warm.’

  Kaija said carefully. Novi giggled and dipped her head.

  ‘Oh!’ Kaija realised what she had said, and she laughed, too.

  she tried again, and Novi nodded in encouragement.

  Kaija stood up and stretched her cramped legs. She wandered over to the cooking fire where a young mother was chopping root vegetables and tubers and adding them to a large skin of hot water. A small girl tried to hide. Kaija chuckled as curiosity overcame shyness, and the girl peeked out from behind her mother, staring at Kaija with solemn eyes.

  Kaija said slowly, in the way Ruva had taught her. The girl gasped and disappeared. Uva, her mother, smiled, but kept about her task.

  Kaija watched her, noting the similarities and differences. Bowls and platters made from the pelvic bones of large animals were stacked near the cooking area. Baskets of woven grasses and smaller bowls made from curved bark held a variety of dried plants. The broth heating in the skin smelled of wild onions and garlicky ransoms, herbs that were familiar to the River Clan girl. She picked up a ladle made from the jaw bone of a young deer, and stirred the broth, recognising thistle stalks and small, yellow wild carrots.

  Uva piled the tubers onto a bark platter and placed it next to Kaija. She motioned for her to add the tubers to the pot, as well as dried nettle stalks and coltsfoot flowers. She sat back on her heels and watched as Kaija stirred the broth, and nodded in satisfaction.

  Ruva returned from the storage area at the back of the cave with a woven basket of dried mushrooms and late bilberries. She passed a small handful of the berries to Ela and then to Kaija, before popping a few into her own mouth with a smile and a wink and a finger over her mouth indicating silence. Ela giggled. A wolf pup came sniffing at Kaija’s fingers.

  ‘Nilkka! Where have you been all morning? And where’s your naughty brother?’ Kaija scooped the pup up with her good arm and scratched beneath her ears. Ela reached a sticky hand toward the pup and laughed as Nilkka licked her fingers and then her face. Kaija put Nilkka back down.

  ‘Meat bone,’ said Uva, smiling. She passed a bone to the pup. Nilkka took it in her mouth and retired to a corner to chew the dried meat. ‘Ela like wolf,’ she said. ‘Make laugh.’ Then she screwed her face up to think. ‘We no . . . we never . . . have animal before in cave.’

  Kaija nodded her understanding. ‘My brother, Luuka, he loves all animals. Even when he hunts, he doesn’t like to hurt them.’

  ‘But must hunt,’ said Uva. ‘No hunt. No eat.’

  Suddenly, Nilkka yelped. Her brother, Rohk, seeing his sister gnawing at the meat bone, had gone to investigate. He grabbed the bone and ran.

  ‘Rohk! You naughty pup. That was Nilkka’s bone!’ Kaija jumped to her feet and ran out of the cave after him.

  Tarin lay on his back in the snow, puffing and red in the face. After the horrors of Boar Camp, it felt good to be free and with friends. His stomach ached from laughing so much, but he felt warm inside.

  Luuka threw a final snowball at him as he staggered to his feet. ‘We’d better get these rabbits back to the cave. Uva will be waiting for them.’

  The boys tramped up the steep incline leading back to the cave, helping Tarin over the rougher parts. He still hated being so helpless, but there was little he could do about it. He rubbed his leg as they paused to catch their breath and looked out over the land. Rolling hills unfolded beneath them, covered in Winter white. In the distance, Tarin could just make out where the forest ended and the steppes began. A sudden pang of homesickness shot through him.

  ‘Look!’ Yorv pointed in another direction.

  At first, Tarin thought he was pointing at the clouds building up from the east. There would be more snow tonight. But then he saw the small black figures jogging towards them.

  Yorv cupped his hands together and made a howling noise like a wolf. It carried clear and far. The figures below stopped and looked up, then changed direction slightly to join the four boys on the top of the ridge. As they came closer, Tarin saw two men, similar in build to Yorv, but taller and broadchested, and a girl following them. She hung back fearfully as they approached.

  Yorv moved forward to greet the men. Worj gripped Yorv’s arm, then greeted Narn. He turned to Tarin and Luuka, surprise in his deepset eyes.

  As Yorv explained their presence, Tarin studied the two men of the Esi. Although they would only reach Kalle’s chest, both men were powerfully built, and Tarin wondered who would be stronger. One of his father’s favourite games at Summer Gathering was arm wrestling. Opponents would sit opposite each other and grip each other’s hand. Then, at a word, they would try to force the other’s hand to the ground. Kalle was usually victorious, but Tarin thought both Worj and Iva would give his father a fierce contest.

  Tarin caught his breath sharply as Worj stepped forward and raised his spear. The tip of it touched Tarin’s throat.

 

  Tarin understood what the leader was asking and answered quickly.

  ‘Not Boar Clan. Mammoth Clan, now Wolf Clan.’

  Worj grunted and but didn’t lower his spear. Yorv looked unhappy. He spoke rapidly to his leader, then turned to Tarin and Luuka. His eyes were apologetic.

  ‘Worj think you Boar Clan. Play trick on Wo
rj’s Clan. Then attack.’

  ‘Attack? The two of us against a whole clan?’ Luuka exclaimed. Yorv shrugged helplessly.

  Luuka grinned and turned to Worj. he said, showing a skinny arm.

  A muscle at the corner of Iva’s mouth twitched, but Worj remained stony-faced. The girl standing quietly in the background coughed, then dropped her gaze to the ground as Worj glared at her. She glanced shyly at Narn, who was trying to stand very tall and strong, but didn’t realise his thick brown hair was covered in snow from the fight.

  ‘Hmm,’ Worj grunted. He lowered his spear and motioned for the boys to precede him, and they started back to the cave.

  On the way, Tarin whispered to Yorv. ‘Is that Aba? The hearth-mate for Narn?’

  Yorv nodded and glanced behind him.

  ‘I thought you and Narn were the same age as Luuka and I,’ said Tarin.

  ‘Same,’ said Yorv. He touched his fingers as he thought of the counting words. ‘I see thirteen Summers. Narn see twelve. Time for Narn to take mate.’

  Tarin stared at him, surprised. People in Mammoth Clan didn’t join together until they were fifteen or sixteen. Tuuli was just fifteen. Tarin thought of his sister and felt sad. She was going to join with Jarkko at Summer Gathering, and now he would miss it. His steps slowed as he thought of his home.

  Worj grunted and prodded the boys to walk faster.

  ‘Rohk, you naughty wolf. Come here!’ Kaija’s voice followed the running pup out of the cave. Rohk sped across the snow with leaps and bounds, his prize clamped firmly between his teeth. Then, to Kaija’s surprise, he skidded to a stop. She ran to his side and saw a strange procession crossing the small stream and coming up the slope towards them.

  Rohk yipped in recognition as Tarin and Luuka crested the hill, and prepared to leap, but the man following them let out a startled cry and raised his spear. Rohk fell back, flattening his ears and snarling. The man drew back his spear, but before he could throw, several voices shouted as one.