by Dana Davis
Marjordan followed.
Ali scooted off Cait’s lap to hug her mother then skipped off to a group of children.
The little girl’s mother sat on a bench. “My name’s Sagebecca. People call me Becca most of the time. We can start right now, if you wish.”
“Yes,” Cait told her.
Nat and Sam joined them and by noonmeal, they’d learned many things in finger language, including how to form their names and ages. Marjordan had returned after an hour or so and quickly caught up.
Alishara jumped up and down, giggling, when Cait said her name in finger language. The little girl went into a frenzy of gestures until her mother informed her that the others were still learning and couldn’t understand her just yet. Ali was unusually patient for a child of her young age and slowed her fingers to form simple words. After the meal, she took Cait’s hand and pulled her around the area, pointing out the various items. She waited patiently until Cait’s clumsy fingers made the correct gesture for each. This small child was teaching a striker and Cait smiled with amusement.
When they finally made it back to the fire pit, the others were already busy with tasks. A now dry-eyed Drew had joined Marjordan and the two searched through their respective medicine bags, comparing contents.
“Well,” Marjordan said as Cait took a seat nearby. “I hope you’re behaving yourself with your new teacher.” She grinned.
“Very funny, P-Marj. But Ali is a good teacher.” She pulled the tired little girl onto her lap and caressed her braids.
“She ought to be,” Drew said. “Her mother’s been teaching in our forests for many years, and her mother before her.”
Cait found herself rocking the child the way her own primary had done for her many times. She’d watched over young children in her own sub-sanction from time to time but she had special feelings for this little one.
“How’s the finger language coming?” Drew asked. “You making progress?” Her hand paused inside her bag.
“I’m learning more but I still can’t carry on a conversation with her.” She glanced down at Ali and smiled because the little one had fallen asleep.
“You’re an impatient one,” Drew chided gently.
Marjordan smiled. “That she is.”
Cait started to protest but she didn’t want to wake Ali.
“I’ll take her,” Becca said. Cait hadn’t even heard the woman approach. “Looks like you wore her out.” She lifted her daughter and cradled her.
“I’m sorry,” Cait apologized immediately.
“I’m not angry, girl. Believe me, I cherish every moment that my very active daughter decides to nap.” She smiled warmly.
Cait smiled back. “Oh. Then, you’re welcome.”
“Don’t get smart, Caitlanna,” Marjordan warned, but there was a slight smirk on her lips.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Becca chuckled as she carried her daughter to their hut.
“Where’s Becca’s mate?” Cait said without thinking.
“Caitlanna!” Marjordan immediately reprimanded. “You know better than to ask such private questions. You’re not a full-grown, yet.”
“It’s all right, Healer,” Drew said. “Her mate died of winter fever two years ago. His lungs became infected. My mother couldn’t save him.” She focused on Marjordan. “What do you use for lung infections?”
Cait didn’t listen to the women. Instead, she went to find Sam and Nat. They were behind the supply hut, looking over artifacts with two of Drewemily’s young raiders.
“Ho, Cait,” Nat chimed.
“Ho. Need some help?”
“Sure.”
She joined them and the three helped the raiders catalogue their finds. They worked until nighmeal, when Marjordan forced them to stop and eat.
“I won’t have disobedience just because you’ve found new friends,” she told them. “Now get to the fire. All of you.”
The two raiders scurried to the pit, followed by Nat and Sam.
Cait still had two pieces to put down on the smooth bark she was using to catalogue. “I’ll be there in a minute, P-Marj,” she said, not looking up. She felt a light smack on her arm.
“You’ll come now. You can finish here after you eat.”
She put down her tools then sighed and stood. “Yes, ma’am.”
Her primary guided her to the fire pit where the others had already gathered for nighmeal. She sat and glanced around. Everyone was engaged in conversation, mutants and healthies. Even Ianandy talked softly with a mutant warrior, Bradalin. Suddenly, Cait realized that what was happening here was more important than any dig find, including The Mask of Tamirella. She smiled and wondered if the Elders would be as easily swayed.
Marjordan handed her a bowl of steaming harerabbit stew and sat next to her.
“I love you, P-Marj,” Cait said in a low voice. She kissed her primary on the cheek.
“I love you, too, my Cait.”
Chapter 26
Home
Cait sat outside her front door and enjoyed the autumn air and the vibrant colors nature provided this time of year, as she washed tubers for noonmeal stew. Nearly a year had passed since they’d returned from the mutant forest. Because she hadn’t located the Mask, the Elders didn’t grant her finder’s status. But with what they did bring back, her sub-sanction got two thirds of the promised supplies.
The Elders created a new title for Caitlanna, that of junior-finder. Though she didn’t have all the rewards of full finder status, she was allowed to participate in finder meetings and vote on site locations. She also received a larger profit than she had as a striker. All in all, junior-finder was a decent promotion, and she was proud to have something to make up for her actions in the Shore Sanction. Without her mistakes, they might not have met Drewemily and the other mutants. And Drew’s people might not have gotten a renewed chance at survival. That took some of the sting out of her transgressions, too.
The Elders never explained why the doll faces had been so important to them, but Marjordan guessed that they were trying to acquire anything that would link Tamirella to the mutants. The Elders certainly didn’t seem surprised to find out that the famous girl had belonged to the forests, and they couldn’t deny the artifacts Drewemily presented, along with the diary tablets. They had also announced that The Mask of Tamirella no longer held value, so naturally, any archaeologists looking for one abandoned the search. Cait suspected the Elders had created tales of a Mask curse in an attempt to deter undocumented searches and keep Tamirella’s mutant past a secret. Drew had been right about fear causing people to create such desperate rumors.
Cait didn’t fear the mutants, not anymore. She looked to the forests with new hope. The Elders’ knowledge intrigued her, too, and she thought that she might actually apply for Eldership someday. There were things she wanted to change, especially where the mutants were concerned, and Elders had that power. She hummed to herself as she worked.
Ian had gone inside for a private conversation with Marjordan, and Cait wondered what they were discussing. The man had come to dinner every night for the past several months. It was all she could do to keep from sneaking around to the side window to listen. She pulled the most recent letter from Whit out of her tunic pocket and read it again.
To Healer Marjordan and Junior-Finder Caitlanna Mullen,
Sub-Sanction M3:
Little Brenlaura is doing just fine. Into everything. I thought warrior lessons had prepared me for anything but motherhood is quite a challenge. Paul says to tell you, ho, and we wish we could go on this next dig with you. But I’m afraid Laura’s just too young, yet.
I think she might be a finder someday, Cait. She loves to dig things up. Just last week, she burrowed into an old pisspot latrine. The smell was pungent, to say the least, and it was pure luck we got to her quickly. Gave us quite a scare. Don’t worry, Marjordan, she’s fine. Our healer says she didn’t ingest anything.
Nat and Sam are doing wonderfully and haven�
�t spoken much about their future knot-tying lately. I think having the baby around has curbed their urges to mate. At least, for a while. Nat doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to experience birthing pains or loss of sleep. You delivered quite a bundle of mischief here, Marjordan. Be sure and stop by our sub-sanction on your way to the new site. Can’t wait to see you both. I’m sending letters to Ian, Quin and Jen, also. I certainly hope they’re coming with you.
Love and prosperity,
Warrior Whithelen, Warrior-Finder Paulucas, and Brenlaura Tompkins
Sub-Sanction M37
Cait smiled, folded the strongcloth, and put it back in her pocket. The chance to see Whit and the others again excited her. She and Marjordan had signed up for another dig to start the end of next week, and she didn’t think next week could get here fast enough.
“Ho, girl,” Quin said as he trotted up to her. “You seen Ian?”
“Inside. Private talk.”
“Oh.” He gave her a slight smile. “Well, I’ll wait.” He pulled up a stool and took up some tubers. “These look clean, Cait. How many times have you washed them?”
She gave him a guilty smile. “Three. I’m afraid to leave this spot, in case—” She raised her brows at him and cocked her head.
“Ah. In case they come out with some news.”
“P-Marj has been alone for a long time.”
The man nodded.
“There you are.” Jen strode up and placed her hands on her hips much the way Marjordan always did.
“Ho, love.” Quin squinted up. He stood and gave the woman a quick kiss on the lips then caressed her slightly swollen belly.
“I can’t seem to get you to wash tubers for our supper. Ho, Cait. Where’s Josh?”
She smiled up at the couple. “Fishing with his father.”
Cait’s feelings for Quin had changed over the last year when a new family joined her sub-sanction. They had a son, Joshalex, who was only a month older than she was, a handsome boy with penetrating eyes and a warm smile, to whom she took an immediately liking. He returned her feelings and, after three months, confessed them to Marjordan one evening. The two planned to be knot-tied when they reached full-grown, less than two years now. Both of Josh’s parents were healers and had been assigned to this sub-sanction now that Marjordan chose to go on numerous digs. The three worked well together. And Cait was grateful to go on so many new digs. In the past, she had to stay close to home, since Marjordan didn’t like to leave patients. Now her primary enjoyed getting away just as much as she did.
Quinpatrik hadn’t felt for Cait the way she had for him. She never told him and saw him more like a sibling now, which is exactly how he’d always viewed their relationship. She was glad he’d taken an interest in Jen. The couple had been knot-tied for nearly six months and were expecting their first baby in another five.
“Did you tell her?” Jen said to her mate.
“I’m waiting for Marjordan. She and Ian are having a private talk.”
“Not as private as we thought,” the healer said, eyeing Cait as she stepped from her front door with Ian. “What’d you want to tell me?”
“We received word from Healer Drewemily,” Jen told her. “The negotiations are slow going but she says the Sanction Elders have finally granted a trade agreement. All mutant tribes are involved now. Even those in Shore Sanction. The Elders also agreed to study Drew’s findings and fund healers to check on the forest healthies.”
“That’s wonderful news.” Marjordan grinned. “That young woman has a stubbornness even I admire.”
The group chuckled. Cait’s heart soared at all of the good things she’d heard lately and she gave her primary an expectant gaze.
“I suppose you want my news?” the woman said.
“You have some?”
Marjordan gave a quick glance at Ian and back to Cait. “Ian has asked for my hand in knot-tying.” Her face gave nothing away.
“And?” Cait said, impatiently. “Out with it, P-Marj. You accepted, right?”
“Of course.” She smiled warmly, and Cait jumped into her arms, kissing her with congratulations. Then she did the same to Ian.
A few younger children had slipped up on the group and they ran through the sub-sanction, calling out the news to everyone there.
“About time!” Jilpatsy called from her garden across the street. The old woman had hands on her hips and a large straw hat on her head.
Marjordan blushed and Cait thought the color suited her. She would never tell her primary that. At least, not until she became full-grown, so she simply grinned.
After all the hugging and back-slapping, Marjordan studied her. “There are more tubers in the kitchen, girl,” she said, raising a brow. Her lips curled into a grin that lighted her dark eyes.
Caitlanna gave a hearty laugh. “Yes, ma’am.” She headed inside, humming to herself.
The ancients definitely smiled down on them today.
About the Author
Dana Davis is an award-winning author of fantasy and science fiction, with an entertainment background in stage and television. When she’s not writing, she loves to read, travel, peruse graveyards, investigate haunted locations, or hang out at the beach. Dana lives in the west with her husband, where she is writing another book.
Table of Contents
The Mask of TamirellaDana Davis
Copyright 2006 by Dana Davis
For my husband, Darryl,
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1The Getaway
Chapter 2The Elders’ Ruling
Chapter 3Lost River
Chapter 4
Chapter 5Rotted City
Chapter 6Urges
Chapter 7The Dig Site
Chapter 8
Chapter 9Dig Days
Chapter 10A Great Find
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13The Copper Sphere
Chapter 14
Chapter 15Close Quarters
Chapter 16An Unexpected Discovery
Chapter 17
Chapter 18Stormy Nights, Stormy Days
Chapter 19Delays
Chapter 20
Chapter 21The Buried Room
Chapter 22Fever“Cait? Cait?”
Chapter 23Headed Home
Chapter 24Mutants
Chapter 25A New Trust
Chapter 26Home
About the Author