by Jo Sandhu
‘How do we get past this lake?’ Kaija asked.
‘We swim,’ Tarin said. ‘See that ledge of rock toward the left. Yorav said you climb on that, and then up to a higher shelf and another entrance that leads to the inner chambers.’
‘We can cut some branches from those fir trees we passed,’ Luuka said. ‘They make good torches.’
‘And Tarin and I will try for a couple of rabbits for dinner – if Rohk and Nilkka can stop chasing them for a moment.’
They retraced their footsteps to prepare for the final swim to the Mother’s Cave.
Tarin tied the brace of rabbits to his backpack and looked out over the blue lake. It wasn’t very wide, but it was freezing cold, and deeper than any river he had crossed. No matter how far down he looked, he couldn’t see the bottom.
He pulled the laces around his pack tighter. ‘Ready?’
‘Ready,’ Luuka answered. Kaija nodded and adjusted her own straps. She cast a final look at the sky above, now tinged with late afternoon pink, then waded out into the water. Tarin followed, whistling for the wolves. He caught his breath as the icy water seeped into his boots and up his legs. He felt the weight of his pack pull him down until his body adjusted to the water. Then he kicked his legs and started swimming.
The mouth of the cave rose above him. The temperature dropped. Tarin shivered and drove his arms and legs faster toward the rocky ledge. Rohk paddled beside him.
Even inside the cave, the water was still blue. It lapped against the grey rock walls and echoed around the chamber. Tarin looked up towards the roof of the cave, far above, but it was lost in shadow.
He felt his legs scrape against rocks and he staggered to his feet. He pulled himself out of the water and onto the rocky ledge. Rohk followed, shaking his fur and spraying water. The wolf sniffed around the edge of the rocks, searching for new scents.
Kaija, Luuka and Nilkka joined them on the ledge, breathing hard.
‘I hope the firewood is still dry.’ Kaija dumped her pack on the ground and wrestled with the knots.
‘There’s the chamber Yorav spoke of.’ Luuka climbed higher, toward a rocky shelf and the dark cavity leading further into the mountain.
Kaija followed him, grabbing his arm. ‘Wait! You know not to just enter a strange cave like that. What if there’s something else in there?’
Luuka scratched his nose and looked back at the lake. ‘I don’t think any animals would swim across here.’
‘It’s better to be safe,’ Kaija said sternly. ‘There may be other entrances we don’t know about.’ She approached the entrance to the chamber and sniffed the air. ‘I don’t smell any animal smells.’
‘I think the wolves would warn us if there was anything in there,’ Tarin said. He took a step inside, letting his eyes adjust to the difference in light. The sound of running water was loud in the darkness. ‘Luuka, we need one of those torches.’
Luuka untied his pack and pulled out the fir torches, which were wrapped in leather and deer stomach to keep them dry. Tarin built a fire. In the cold cave, his hands shook as he struck the firestones together. The fire hissed and spat as water from his clothes dropped onto the flames.
‘We need to get dry,’ Kaija said firmly. ‘We can change into dry clothes and spread our wet ones out here on the rocks. Then you can explore,’ she added, as both boys frowned at her.
They changed out of their wet clothes, and quickly drank a cup of nettle tea.
‘It keeps your blood warm. And takes the cold from your hands and feet,’ Kaija said.
‘You sound like our mother,’ Luuka replied with a wry smile.
Kaija didn’t smile back. ‘Do I?’ Her hands shook as she set her cup down.
Luuka began preparing one of the torches. ‘The Third Cave of the River Clan is a very long cave,’ he said. He peeled back the bark from the tip of the silver fir branch and watched the sap rise. He wrapped beard-moss around it, and held it into the flames. ‘We have fires going all the time, but there are many chambers that are always dark. We use them for storage, mostly, but there is one chamber, deep in the ground, that the Spirit Keeper uses for his secret ceremonies.’
Kaija shivered. ‘The Spirit Keeper . . . he thinks he is very powerful, but he’s not. He couldn’t save anyone when the sickness came, any more than our mother could.’ She dropped her chin onto her knees and studied the fire.
‘Are you coming?’ Luuka asked.
Kaija shook her head. ‘No. I think I’ll stay here. I’ll make something to eat.’ She looked at them sharply. ‘Don’t go too far. You know how some of these caves twist and turn, Luuka.’
The boys nodded and disappeared into the inky chamber, Rohk walking closely by their sides.
Kaija watched the darkness swallow them, and then turned to Nilkka. She stood by the mouth of the chamber, whining.
‘What about you, beautiful girl. Are you going with them? Or will you keep me company?’
Nilkka licked her fingers and whimpered.
Kaija found it hard to explain why she was reluctant to enter the chamber. It made her shiver, and her heart beat faster. Maybe, she thought, it reminded her too much of the River Clan cave.
Bring me the powdered horseradish and the wormwood.
She closed her eyes as she heard her mother’s voice once again.
And the coneflowers. You’ll find them in the medicine store.
And Kaija, tearing her eyes away from her mother’s tortured patients, with their red eyes and weeping sores, hurried through the darkness to the small chamber deep within the cave. How clearly she remembered the feel of the rock walls, the way she stumbled and cut her knee. Her feeble torch flickered, casting shadows all around. The cries followed her as she delved deeper into the cave.
And then she heard a new sound – a new cry. Fearfully, she peered into the chamber the Spirit Keeper claimed as his own.
‘Spirits, I beseech you. I beg you!’
Kaija caught her breath at the sight of their mighty Spirit Keeper lying on the dirt floor, saliva running from his mouth. He pounded the ground with his fists.
‘I beg you, please, take the rest of them. I care nothing for them. But take this plague from my body. I don’t want to die!’ He rolled over and vomited. The stench hit Kaija, and she turned and ran.
Kaija drew in a deep breath. The air tasted clean. She rubbed her cheeks, surprised to find them damp. When would the memories of the sickness fade? She had thought less and less about River Clan during the long Winter with Worj’s Clan, but the familiarity of this cave and their encounter with the reindeer had brought the memories back to her in a flood.
Maybe they will always be with me.
She jumped to her feet to see what they had to eat. Dried bison, nettles and some grains, made into a broth, she decided. And the fresh red sorrel leaves she had picked just that afternoon. Rohk and Nilkka could eat the same. She made her preparations and added some camomile to the last of the nettle tea.
‘Do you know what I miss?’ she asked Nilkka. The wolf stopped sniffing at the bison meat and looked at Kaija. ‘I miss birch sap. My clan would be collecting the sap now, and boiling it until it went hard. Sometimes, I’d add some to my tea. My mother said it was a good thing to do . . .’ Her voice trailed away. Nilkka yawned and returned to her study of the cooking pot. Kaija pushed her away. ‘Not yet, silly girl. You’ll burn your nose.’
Nilkka settled with her head on her paws and sighed deeply.
Tarin and Luuka followed the twists and turns of the narrow corridors as they delved deeper into the cave. Columns of rock rose around them, twisted into fantastic shapes. The sound of running water was close, and when they turned a corner and the noise grew louder, they stopped. Luuka held the torch up high, and light flooded the rounded chamber.
Tarin caught his breath. They were looking down on an underground channel of water that flowed through a chamber before disappearing into the rock. Ice crystals sparkled on the walls, and when they exhaled, their
breath steamed into vapour.
‘That must flow out to the blue lake,’ Luuka said.
Tarin nodded. He started to climb down, but Luuka grabbed his arm. ‘We should go back for Kaija,’ he said.
Tarin bit his lip. He was eager to keep going, but he knew Luuka was right. He stared down at the stream, and the floor of the chamber, then he pointed.
‘Look! There’s a firepit down there. Someone’s camped here before.’
‘Yorav said his clan came here. That must be their camp,’ Luuka said.
‘Then we can camp here, too. We’ll go back for Kaija and Nilkka, then tomorrow, we can continue our search.’
Nilkka heard the boys and Rohk returning before Kaija did. She jumped up and ran back and forth, whining. She yelped in delight as Rohk pranced out of the dark cavity, and licked his face. Tarin and Luuka followed. They both started talking at once.
‘So many chambers –’
‘Rocks shaped like . . . like wings and waterfalls –’
‘The river runs underground –’
‘And ice covers the walls–’
Kaija listened as their words tumbled over each other. She handed them each a cup of broth and they ate hungrily.
‘Yorav spoke of a corridor of ice,’ she murmured. ‘He said there’s always ice deep in the cave.’
‘Then that must lead to the Mother’s Tears.’ Tarin put down his cup, still half full of broth. He was too excited to eat, or to notice Rohk lapping up the remaining broth. ‘Kaija, you have to come now. We can leave our wet clothes here to dry and bank the fire.’ He jumped to his feet and picked up his cup. He looked at it, surprised to find it empty, then shrugged. He stowed it in his pack, which he then hoisted onto his back. ‘I’d like to live in a cave like this,’ Tarin continued. ‘Or any cave, really.’
Kaija shook her head ruefully. ‘And I’d prefer to camp out in the open. After living all my life in a cave, I find I prefer to see the stars above me, and hear the wind in the trees.’
‘Even in Winter?’ Luuka asked.
Kaija hesitated. ‘Maybe not in Winter.’ She picked her pack up and prepared to follow the boys. ‘I think I like the sound of Tarin’s earth-lodges. No secret chambers.’ She paused at the entrance to the inner chamber, peering into the darkness. ‘Stay close, Nilkka,’ she said, and the wolf licked her fingers.
It took them little time to reach the river chamber, now that Tarin and Luuka knew the way. Luuka went first, holding one torch, followed by Rohk, Nilkka and Kaija. Tarin brought up the rear, holding aloft another torch.
‘See how beautiful it is?’ Luuka whispered, as they stood at the top of the chamber. They clambered down over the rocks to the small fire pit. The ground was even, with a few large rocks placed strategically around the fire pit at the perfect height to sit. And that wasn’t all they found. Now they were down at floor level, they found the bones of many different animals.
‘These animals would never have come here.’ Kaija picked up a large deer bone.
‘I think they brought them here, like Worj’s Clan carried the bones into their chamber for the hunting ceremony,’ Tarin said. He picked up a large knee bone. ‘This belonged to a mammoth.’
‘And look at this,’ Luuka said. They all stared silently upwards at the walls and domed ceiling. Paintings of bison, aurochs, deer, hyenas, bears and mammoths covered the walls. Some of the paintings had used the shape of the rocks to form the bodies of the animals.
‘Amazing,’ Luuka whispered. His fingers trailed across the shapes. ‘I’ve seen paintings like this in one of the River Clan caves,’ he said. ‘They use the paintings to call the animal spirits to the hunt and also to honour their Spirit guides.’ He craned his neck upwards. ‘But I’ve never seen such perfect colours and shapes.’
Tarin let his hands rest on a picture of a mammoth. Beneath his fingertips, he could almost feel the soft fur and smell the earthy, sweaty scent of the huge animal. It reminded him sharply of his home. His hand fell and he took a deep, shuddering breath.
‘This is definitely a sacred place,’ he said.
‘It reminds me of the Boar Clan caves and the tunnel to the Spirit Hole,’ Kaija said in a quiet voice as Tarin lit a fire. She held her hands out to warm them. ‘I was so scared . . .’
Tarin added rounded cooking stones to the flames and poured water into their pot to make tea.
‘You? Scared?’ He looked at her in surprise.
‘I was.’ Kaija glared at him. ‘I was scared of not finding you and Luuka. I was scared Broda had double-crossed me.’
Tarin fished a rock from the flames and added it to the water. It hissed and steam rose in the air.
‘And when the wolf howled . . .’ Kaija smiled reluctantly. ‘When the wolf howled, I was sure Spirit of Wolf had come to take me.’
As though on cue, Rohk lifted his head and howled. The sound echoed through the caverns. Kaija jumped. Tarin fumbled a hot rock and dropped it. Luuka nearly fell off the rock he was climbing on.
‘Rohk!’ Kaija scolded, as the sound continued bouncing around the chamber. Rohk wagged his tail and looked proud of himself.
‘I think we should add our marks,’ Luuka said. ‘To show we’ve been here.’
‘What do you mean?’ Kaija asked.
Luuka dug in his pack and came up with a small box made from birch bark. Inside, was a fine, red powder. ‘Red ochre,’ he said. ‘And we have ash from the fire.’ He tipped some of the powder onto a flat rock and then added water and mixed it to a paste. He pulled a twig from one of the torches and crushed the end between his teeth. Then he dipped it into the red paste. ‘What shall I draw?’ His twig brush hovered over the rocks
‘A wolf,’ Tarin suggested with a smile. He handed Kaija a cup of mayweed tea and she smiled her thanks.
‘Two wolves.’ Luuka frowned and stuck his tongue out between his teeth. With flowing strokes, the image of two wolves took shape. ‘And they can be hunters,’ he said. ‘They can be hunting a mighty mammoth.’ He deftly outlined the shape of a mammoth, then dipped his brush into the black paste made from the charcoal to fill in the detail.
‘No one’s going to believe two wolves brought down a mammoth by themselves,’ Tarin said.
‘But these are very special wolves,’ Luuka said, smiling. ‘They are accompanied by an owl and two horses.’
‘Who also cannot hunt mammoth.’ Kaija frowned at her brother. ‘Luuka, you said yourself this is a special place. You shouldn’t paint things that aren’t true.’
‘Fine,’ Luuka said with a sigh. ‘They are not hunting; they are merely passing by. They have journeyed far across the plains, seeing herds of mammoth and deer, but they are not hunting them.’
‘They’re travelling to the mountains,’ Tarin murmured, watching the paintings take shape.
Luuka nodded. ‘They are on a quest to find the Mother’s Mountain. Now they are passing bison. Many, many bison.’ His hands moved quickly across the rock, bringing the shaggy animals to life.
‘I think they passed a cave bear, too.’ Kaija sipped her tea to hide her smile.
Luuka grinned, the cave bear taking shape, then finally put down his brush. He picked up his tea and sipped the warm liquid. The smile remained on his face. ‘I wonder if some day others will see these paintings?’
‘I’m sure they will,’ Tarin said. ‘They’ll see them and wonder about the artist. And why he painted them.’
‘And they’ll all say what a great artist he was.’ Kaija pulled her sleeping furs around her and huddled under them. ‘It’s cold.’ Nilkka settled next to her and she put her arm around the warm animal.
Luuka tilted his head to one side. ‘They are not very good paintings. Tomorrow I think I’ll cover them in our handprints.’ He reached into his tunic and brought out the flute Lorv had given him. ‘Maybe my music will please the Mother more.’ And he blew gently, letting the chamber fill with the beautiful sounds. The rocks picked up the notes and made them louder, until the whole chambe
r filled with music.
Tarin lay back and closed his eyes. He imagined he was back at Worj’s Clan, the first time he had heard the music.
‘Are you sleeping?’ Luuka asked.
Tarin shook his head. ‘Not yet.’
He was too excited to sleep. He was so close to his journey’s end. Tomorrow, he thought. Tomorrow he would find the chamber Yorav called the Tears of the Mother, and give her his Offering. His hand strayed to his pack and rested there. Ilmi’s bead was all that remained of the original Offering, now that he had given the flint to Narn, but the packet of food and dried herbs was tucked safely away. He hoped it would be enough.
Tarin yawned and snuggled deeper into his furs. His eyes drooped. Around him, Luuka’s paintings danced in the firelight and the music wrapped him in a warm glow, like a swaddling fur. He thought he should bank the fire before sleeping, but he was feeling too warm and too sleepy to bother.
Tarin closed his eyes, and slept.
The boy was hunting . . . Tarin Owl could see him, tracking his prey through the snow. He ran low to the ground, like the wolf, but his feet were slow and clumsy. Tarin Owl banked in the sky and rose higher. There was something wrong. The Mother was unhappy. Her mountains groaned and moved, her rivers were turbulent. In the forests, trees dug their roots deep into the earth and sang their ancient songs of strength. The animals raised their noses and sniffed the air, before scurrying to burrows deep and dark. In the air, the birds all rose as one and darkened the sky.
The hunter paused and looked skywards, and for the first time he saw all the Spirit Animals and he felt afraid. But another was there with him – Old Father! They stood together at the top of the cliff, the wind scouring their faces and whipping their hair to wild tangles. The hunter drew in a deep breath and knew he was home. Before him, the great steppe opened out. Behind him, snug earth-lodges huddled on a terrace above the river.