Bonesetter 3 -summer- (Bonesetter series)

by Laurence Dahners

  Pell seemed not at all perturbed. He simply shrugged and said, “I didn’t say we killed a lion.”

  “So,” Indo crowed, “you admit it’s a lie!”

  Pell shrugged again, “No, we did kill a lion. I’m just saying I didn’t tell anyone about it.”

  “Liar! There’s no carcass out there.”

  Pell shrugged again, “Okay.”

  “How do you explain that?!”

  To Nolo, Pell looked thoughtful, though it was hard to tell in the dim lighting. “Well, it looked like the lion died, but maybe it didn’t. Perhaps it recovered, got up, and walked away. Or, perhaps other predators carried it off?” He tilted his head curiously, “Or, maybe you looked in the wrong place?”

  “Are you calling me a liar?” Indo asked in a dangerous tone.

  Pell shook his head. “No, I believe you, you didn’t find the lion,” he said, speaking quite placidly.

  Having failed to provoke Pell into attacking him—which was what Nolo thought he’d wanted—Indo suddenly lunged at Pell. “I’ll teach you to make claims…” Indo said as his arms went around Pell’s waist.

  Nolo expected Pell to be bowled over with the two men going down to the ground. Indo had thrown many men down with this move in the past. A fearsome wrestler, it usually didn’t take long for Indo to make another man beg for mercy once he had them on the ground.

  Pell, on the other hand, simply gave way a little as Indo crashed into him, throwing one leg back behind him to resist the force of Indo’s onslaught. Then he stood there looking down at the back of Indo’s head as if puzzled, while Indo twisted, turned, shoved, and pulled in an attempt to throw Pell down. Pell shifted his feet and arms as needed to stay upright, but otherwise looked much as if he were an adult holding off the attack of a child. After a moment, looking curiously down at the back of Indo’s head while the man grunted, he said, “What’re you doing?”

  Indo pushed off Pell and stood for a moment, rage on his face.

  Once again, Pell shrugged, “Is this still about the lion?” He lifted his palms as if in surrender, “It doesn’t matter to me. If it’s important to you, it’s okay with me to say we didn’t kill a lion.” He tilted his head inquisitively, “Does that make you feel better?”

  Indo pulled out his large flint knife and stabbed at Pell with an overhand thrust.

  Pell blocked Indo with his own left forearm, then boxed the side of Indo’s head with the flat of his right hand.

  Hard.

  Indo staggered a step to his right, then his knees buckled and he fell, unconscious. He landed with his head in the coals of the fire pit. Nolo’s initial reaction was to leave him there; everyone would certainly be better off if Indo died. However, Pell immediately grabbed him by the feet and pulled him free of the fire. He stomped Indo’s smoldering hair, then turned the man’s head to look at the side of his face that had been against the coals. Pell sucked in a distressed breath, then looked up and called out to Gia, “Do you know a good treatment for a burn? Some salve or something?”

  From the back of the crowd, someone shouted, “For the spirits’ sake! Don’t treat his burn, put a spear in him before he wakes up!”

  Despite a large number of affirmative cheers, Pell seemed taken aback. “You’d kill a man who can’t defend himself?”

  “Hell yes,” someone shouted from the back. Up front, another man grumbled, “If we tried to kill him while he was awake, he’d probably take several of us with him. He’s killed several men and forced himself on a lot of women. He’s a horrible person who doesn’t deserve to live.”

  Looking puzzled, Pell said, “Why don’t you cast him out?”

  “Who’d make him go?”

  Gia came up, knelt beside Indo and started smearing some greasy mixture onto his burns. Pell watched her do it, asking her a few questions about it. When she was done, he stood and turned. He took in the crowd, apparently recognizing their sullen anger. After a moment he glanced back down at Indo, then shook his head. “I’m not going to kill a man who’s unconscious.” As he walked away, he said, as if to himself, but loudly enough that the crowd could hear him, “If you want him dead, you’ll have to kill him yourself.”

  After some rumbling, several of the men gathered around Indo. One of them picked up Indo’s oversized flint knife. The man had leaned down, moving the knife toward Indo’s rib cage when Indo moaned and rolled onto his side.

  Nolo thought, Hurry. Now, before he fully wakes!”

  But the man had jerked back when Indo moved. Gathering his resolve, he leaned closer again and looked about ready to plunge the knife into Indo’s back, but then Indo groaned and rolled to his knees. Moments after that Indo was unsteadily on his feet, saying “What happened?” Then, reaching up to his burned cheek, “What in all the hells happened?!” he asked again, this time angrily.

  Do it! Nolo willed the man, but he didn’t.

  Indo grabbed one of the men by his vest and jerked him close, “What the hell happened?!”

  Wide-eyed and drawing back, the man said, “You got in a fight with the big visitor, Pell. He knocked you out and you fell with your face in the coals.”

  Indo shoved the man back, then turned to glower toward Pell who was over with the other visitors now. In a low grating voice, he said, “I’m going to kill that son of a pig and screw his woman on his grave.” However, rather than try to attack Pell again as Nolo expected, Indo shouldered through the crowd and went to his own hut. A little while later, Nolo saw him come out of the hut with his spears and traveling pack.

  Indo disappeared into the darkness, apparently leaving the camp.

  Nolo fervently prayed he’d never return.

  ***

  In the morning, when Nolo got up to empty his bladder, he felt hungry. He wondered whether their visitors had smoked all the rest of the aurochs or whether the village could eat some of the meat for breakfast. He ran into Pell and Woday approaching the village and thought about asking them. At first, Nolo thought they’d gone out to urinate as well, but then he realized that Pell was carrying four rabbits and a raccoon while Woday had four more big fish. Nolo’s eyes widened and he said, “Is that for breakfast?”

  They nodded cheerfully. Woday held up the basket he was carrying and said, “We still have the crayfish from yesterday plus these crayfish today. We’ve got a lot of food.”

  Nolo remembered something about Woday having some crayfish yesterday that he’d been wanting to boil. Nolo had assumed that someone else ate the crayfish, after all, a few crayfish wouldn’t make much of a meal. Curious, he asked, “How many crayfish do you have?”

  Woday lifted the basket he’d been carrying, saying, “I don’t know, quite a few.”

  Moving his head, Nolo peered into the basket, then drew back sharply. The bottom of the basket was covered with a seething mass of crayfish. “Wha’, how…?”

  Casting an admiring glance at Pell, Woday said, “Just one of the things Pell taught me.” He didn’t elaborate further, though Nolo had hoped he would. Nolo would have asked questions, but he had to pee too badly. He said he’d see them later and headed out into the woods.

  On his way back into the village, Nolo saw Gia on her way out, presumably answering her own call to nature.

  Back in camp, he found the visitors cleaning the fish and butchering the rabbits and raccoon. He asked if he could help.

  The pressure in her bladder relieved, Gia stepped onto the path back to the village. She was startled and uncomfortable to see Indo standing there. Trying to make the best of things, she said, “Let me see your cheek. Would you like some more salve?”

  He turned his burned cheek toward her and crouched a little so that she could see it. However, when she stepped close, he clapped one hand over her mouth and the other around her arms.

  Then he dragged her into the bushes.

  Gia kicked and flailed with her legs but could do him little harm with her arms trapped under his. At first she thought he wanted to force her to have sex. She
knew from talking to other women that many of them had been forced by men at some time in their life. She’d heard from the river falls women that he’d raped several of them. She’d felt fortunate that Aganstribe and the Cold Springs tribe didn’t have men like that, but she had a fleeting thought that she was about to find out what it was like. Then she realized he had the hand over her mouth jammed up against her nose so she couldn’t breathe at all. Surely he’ll let go pretty soon. He can’t be intending to kill me can he?

  He didn’t let up.

  Gia quickly became more and more desperate, flailing her legs, jerking her head about, opening her mouth and trying to bite his fingers. All to no avail. Indo just relentlessly strode through the bush as Gia felt herself becoming weaker and weaker. I’m going to die, she thought as consciousness slipped away.

  Gia woke, prone, with a pounding headache. When the confusion cleared, her first thought was a surprised, I’m alive! But she quickly recognized that her situation remained dire. Her hands were tightly bound behind her back, and her mouth had been stuffed with a large wad of leather held in place with a tight strap. She doubted she could make much noise, but decided not to try until she understood her situation better. As she took stock of herself, she realized she’d been fondled. And not gently, that she could tell it after.

  Gia moaned and rolled onto her side, partly to see if she could make any noise through the gag, but also to make it possible to pretend she remained unconscious. To her dismay, her attempt to let out a loud moan produced something barely audible even to herself.

  A hand grabbed her arm and jerked her to her feet. Indo’s voice growled, “It’s about time you woke up.”

  Gia cursed her legs for holding her up momentarily when Indo set her on her feet. Hoping he hadn’t realized she’d been awake enough to catch herself, she let her knees buckle.

  He let her fall, then said, “I can tell you’re awake from the way you twisted to keep your face from hitting the ground. Get up.”

  Gia continued trying to pretend she was unconscious.

  Indo said, “Okay, I kind of like doing it the hard way.” He reached in the armhole of her jerkin and grabbed her nipple, pinching it hard as he pulled it and part of her breast out of the armhole.

  At the pain, Gia’s eyes flew wide open and she stared down at her tortured nipple. He’d stretched it until it felt like it was about to rip off before she could sit up enough to take the tension off.

  Indo held up a long thorn with his other hand. With a cruel smile, he said, “You can get up and walk. Or, I’ll stick this thorn through your nipple, tie a cord to it, and drag you along by the tit. What’ll it be?”

  Her heart pounding at just the thought of it, Gia shook her head and started struggling to her feet. This was difficult with her hands tied behind her, but Indo relented and lifted her by the arm once again.

  He towed her some distance through the thick brush then started looking first one way, then the other. When he stepped out onto a path, Gia realized he’d been checking to be sure he didn’t see anyone nearby. He turned her to the right and said, “Let’s go.”

  Gia’s mind was working furiously as she tried to think of a way to get away. Unfortunately, she suspected Indo could run much faster than she could; especially with her hands tied behind her back which would throw off her stride.

  She had a thought that if only she’d had her medicine pack, she could’ve hoped to slip something into his food when they stopped to eat.

  Her eye caught on a stand of highly toxic oleander. She wondered how she could get some, but before she thought to stumble into them—hopefully grabbing a few leaves—they’d already walked past the last of them. Now, as she walked, she carefully kept an eye ahead for medicinal plants. She normally watched for herbs whenever she traveled, but now she had a laser focus. She especially looked for soporific or toxic plants. As she thought about how to grab a few leaves she remembered Yadin’s brief lesson on tracking. Pell, Manute, and Yadin will be looking for me soon, she thought, I should be thinking about how to help them track me.

  Gia stumbled, taking a couple of clumsy steps as she turned and fell with her back to the brush lining the path. Trying to appear a cooperative prisoner, she immediately started shifting her weight and trying to get back up. With a curse, Indo helped her to her feet and they continued down the trail.

  Gia hoped that the broken branches where she’d fallen against the bushes stood out to anyone tracking them, but most importantly, her hands had come away with a wad of leaves. Now, she walked just slow enough to avoid angering Indo. When they had to walk single file, he insisted she walk in front. Then she hid her left hand with the leaves in front of her right hand. When the trail widened, they walked side by side, but she walked just behind abreast of Indo. That way he didn’t see her tearing off small pieces of leaf and dropping them behind her.

  As the trail took them down into little dips where the soil was soft and damp, she carefully stepped in the softest looking areas, twisting her right foot in hopes it would appear to be some kind of signature.

  Gia recognized they were probably following the main trail that paralleled the river on its way down to the sea and thought to herself that—if Yadin recognized her footprints and her dropped leaves—then all he would have to do is follow the trail.

  And, of course, bring Pell.

  They were nearly finished making a morning meal for the falls people when Pell realized he hadn’t seen Gia for some time. He stopped and looked around, but she wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Pausing, he wondered when he’d last seen her. With a sudden stab of worry, he thought, She was going into the forest, I assumed to answer nature’s call.

  Pell turned to Yadin and Woday who were nearby, “Have you seen Gia?”

  Both of them looked around as if expecting to see her there. “Um, no,” Woday said. Looking unhappy, he said, “Could she have gone gathering?”

  Pell looked at Yadin and saw his eyes looked grim. He turned to call over to Manute, Frinca, Gurix, and Nuna, trying not to seem alarmed, “Have you seen Gia?” He thought it unlikely that she would have gone gathering by herself, especially in a strange place, but surely if she had, she would have let one of them know.

  They all shook their heads, looking around and beginning to look concerned as well.

  “The last time I saw her she was going into the woods over there,” Pell said, pointing. “I thought she had to pee.” Unconsciously he started moving that direction. The others followed him.

  Young Nolo was nearby. He’d been shadowing the Cold Springs group and eagerly trying to learn everything he could. As soon as they started moving toward the woods, he got up to go along as well. He called out to several of the members of the falls people asking them to help.

  Out in the woods, they called Gia’s name and tramped about the various trails looking for her. Pell realized that someone like Yadin would be invaluable in reading any signs of what might have happened.

  That something had happened he thought was a given. Pell couldn’t imagine Gia going off by herself for this long without telling people where she was going. His gut was congealing around the notion that the always angry Indo might be trying to win the battle he’d lost with Pell by taking it out on Gia.

  That was horrible, but at least that left a better chance that she might be alive and could be rescued. The alternative, that some predator had taken her, would mean they were probably too late. Trying not to panic, Pell started looking for sign, rather than just looking for Gia.

  Suddenly he saw recognized some freshly broken stems and torn leaves at the side of the path he’d been walking. He looked around for Yadin, and not seeing him, he shouted Yadin’s name. Yadin jogged up a few moments later carrying a substantial bundle of equipment. He looked at the damaged foliage next to Pell and laid down the bundle. Pell recognized his own spears, throwers, and light traveling pack in the bundle with Yadin’s weapons. Obviously, Yadin had earlier come to the same conclusions about Indo that P
ell’d just been contemplating. Better yet, he’d come prepared to do some tracking and then to fight if needed. As Pell chastised himself for not getting his own gear before he left camp, Yadin bent down to examine the damaged bushes.

  Manute ran up, probably responding to Pell’s call for Yadin. “What’ve you found?” he asked, his face looking stricken.

  “I’m not sure,” Pell said, pointing out the broken stems and leaves. Yadin stepped through the high brush, leaving the trail. Pell suddenly recognized that someone had done the damage to the bushes by forcing their way through them earlier this morning. He lifted his eyes to Manute, “But I think we’d better be ready for a fight.” He pointed to the bundle Yadin had brought and said, “You’d better go back to the camp and get your gear.”

  Manute spun and ran back towards the camp. Pell pushed his way through the bushes behind Yadin. He was a substantial distance into the brush before he caught up. “Have you found anything?”

  Yadin didn’t lift his eyes from the ground he’d knelt to examine. He said, “When he dragged her in here she was fighting and kicking. You can tell because she really tore up the brush down low. He laid her down here,” Yadin waved his hand around a little area on the ground, “but she’d stopped fighting by then.”

  Pell’s heart thundered in his chest. He could see the evidence now that Yadin had pointed it out, but wasn’t sure exactly what Yadin was saying. Surely he isn’t saying she’d started cooperating? That she’d laid down to… or… After a moment he decided to confront the worst of his fears. He opened a dry mouth and rasped, “Are you saying she’s dead?”

  Yadin looked up, startled, “No. Not…” It didn’t take any great insight to understand Yadin’d trailed off before saying, “yet.” Yadin stood and pointed, “They left this area going that way.”

  As soon as Yadin pointed, Pell saw the broken twigs and torn leaves in that direction as well. He looked entreatingly into Yadin’s eyes, “Can you help me track them?”