“Maybe a good place to find a meal,” Shinoni says. “We’ve been travelling too fast to look for food.”
“It could be dead already.” Keena slows down, worried about getting too close. “Whatever killed it might still be there, feasting on it.”
“Perhaps they’ll share, if it’s a big kill.”
“Ah, yes.” Keena sighs. “Like the laugh devils did.”
Tewa growls deep in her throat, then bounds toward whatever has attracted the vultures’ attention.
“Come on! We didn’t have Tewa with us when we met the hyenas,” Shinoni calls as she charges ahead around a bend in the trail.
Keena runs to keep up. “Even Tewa won’t have a chance against a clan of laugh devils or a lion. Slow down.”
Shinoni skids to a sudden stop. Keena rounds the bend and crashes into her. They’ve run right into the kill site.
Keena gags. The sharp scent of death hangs heavy in the air. A vulture, its head and neck stained with gore, hisses and claps its hooked beak at the girls. The giant bird spreads its wings, half covering the deer it is feeding on. The deer lies on its side, head twisted back, neck broken, and throat torn. Entrails protrude from gashes in its belly. Off to one side, the deer’s killer, a lion, also lies dead. A long wooden spear protrudes from its chest. Close by the lion lies its killer, a young brown-skinned man, his abdomen badly torn.
“What’s happened here? They’ve all killed each other,” Keena says. The hairs on her neck prickle at the scent and sight of the lion. An image of another lion with a child in its mouth fills her head. Tewa snarls, hackles raised, as she circles the big cat’s carcass.
“They’re not all dead.” Shinoni moves to the young man. “This one breathes, but I don’t think I can help him.” She examines his wounds. His eyes are glazing as death approaches. He’s not much older than the girls, but he’s different from both of them.
The young man waves weakly toward the hillside behind him and struggles to speak. His voice is failing. Shinoni bends low, trying to hear his words.
“Come here quickly, Keena. He’s trying to tell us something, but I can’t understand him.”
Keena cups her ear near the hunter’s mouth. He speaks again, moving his hand weakly toward the hills. What’s he trying to tell them? “His words aren’t Krag. Some are like my people’s, yet different.”
The stranger falls silent. His eyes no longer see them. “Leeswi’s taken his breath,” Keena says calmly. She looks around. Tewa is pulling chunks of meat off the deer carcass. She feeds hungrily, along with some ravens and a growing number of vultures.
Keena backs away from the kill. “We should leave. Other beasts will come and add us to their feast.”
Shinoni tugs at the young hunter’s body. “Let’s just pull him over to the hillside and cover him up. I don’t want him to be torn apart and eaten by beasts.”
“We must go. The beasts will find him, anyway.” Despite her words, Keena hurries over and takes his arm, lending her strength.
The girls roll the body down a small incline into a depression at the foot of the hill. They quickly cover him with brush and place rocks over his head and body.
Keena stands back, confused, while Shinoni chants a song. “Why are you singing? We have to go,” she says.
“This is the song Kulas sing when a hunter dies and is buried.”
How odd to sing to one whose breath is gone. However, when Shinoni’s done, Keena circles her hands over the rocks in a gesture of farewell to a brave Krag hunter.
“We should take some meat with us.” Shinoni turns back toward the kill site, but Keena takes her shoulder and propels her away from the carnage. Shinoni struggles to pull away. “Aren’t you hungry?”
“Kula, that lion was thin and young, but others could be around. We saw what happened to that hunter when he tried to take the lion’s kill.” Keena’s grip tightens as she continues to pull Shinoni along the hillside. “Hyenas will be there soon if they aren’t already. We can’t fill our bellies if we’re dead.”
Shinoni gives in and they move swiftly through the grass at the base of the hills, looking for shelter from the night. Halfway up a rock slope, a dark opening with a solid ledge looks inviting in the twilight.
“I’d like to be farther from the kill site.” Keena anxiously watches the trail, her ears and nostrils straining to detect danger.
“I would, too, but the beasts will be busy eating there. We’ll be safer inside a shelter with fire than travelling at night,” Shinoni says.
They gather brush and some branches from a lone tree nearby and hoist their load of firewood up the slope and onto the ledge. What’s that? Keena freezes in fear. The sound of scraping and shuffling comes from the darkness of the cave. Keena and Shinoni recoil, stumbling backward. The cave isn’t empty.
“Dak? Dak, to-taw?” a voice calls softly.
A scent wafts out on the breeze, one they’ve already smelled today. Then a face appears in the cave entrance, a woman’s face, brown with small brow ridges and large cheekbones. Sweat glistens on her cheeks in the fading light and plasters her wavy black hair to her head.
“Dak?” she calls again, then gasps at the sight of the girls. She withdraws into the safety of the cave.
Keena exchanges a shocked look with Shinoni. Another stranger, and in their shelter. It’s too late to find another place.
“She must be calling for the hunter that was killed. She’s frightened,” Keena says. The deep cough of a lion sounds in the distance.
“We’d be frightened, too, if strangers showed up at our cave.” Shinoni approaches the entrance. The shadows are deepening around them. They must go inside.
The woman appears again, and this time she holds a spear like the one they saw buried in the chest of the dead lion. She shakes her head and points down the hill. Shinoni stands her ground and smiles at her. She folds her arms across her chest, touching opposite shoulders, then stretches her arms out toward the woman, palms up, showing they’re friends. Keena does the same.
The woman moves onto the ledge, still brandishing the spear. She waves the girls away. It’s obvious that she’s carrying a young one in her belly and that it will come out for breath soon.
“We’re friends. We can help you.” Shinoni points to herself and Keena and to the woman, then makes a hugging motion. “We have to make her understand or we’ll all die in the dark,” she whispers to Keena.
Keena points to the firewood. “We can make a fire. You’ll be safe.” Why won’t this stupid woman understand? She and Shinoni won’t survive the night out here.
The terrified woman shakes her head, but then drops her spear and collapses on the ledge. Shinoni and Keena clamber up beside her and carry her limp body inside. Shinoni moves the spear out of the woman’s reach and stacks the kindling on the earth by the entrance.
“Why don’t you make the fire, Keena?” Shinoni says. “I’ll make her comfortable and see if I can help her. The flint and firestones are in my pouch.”
As Shinoni covers the woman with her cape, Keena rummages in the pouch for the flint and firestones. Can she do this? Her hands shake and sweat drips from her brow ridge. She’s helped Shinoni make a fire, but she’s never started one by herself. Will she remember how? She makes a small pile of firewood and brush, then strikes the firestone with the flint. Nothing! She gulps but remembers Shinoni doesn’t always strike a spark the first time either. Keena steadies her hands and tries again. A spark glows in the kindling and spreads quickly as the fire springs to life. Her cheeks glow with the heat of the flame and her heart swells with pride. She, Keena, daughter of Ubra, did it! She made a fire!
A scrabbling noise on the rocks outside brings both Shinoni and Keena to the entrance. They peer over the ledge. To their relief, Tewa bounds up the hill. She drops part of a deer haunch on the ground and stands panting as Shinoni rumples her fur.
“Thank you, sister. You haven’t forgotten us,” Shinoni says.
Tewa wrinkles her
nose at the unfamiliar scent of the woman. She jumps down from the ledge and turns in a circle, making herself a bed in the shrubbery nearby.
Keena sharpens a stick to hold the deer meat over the fire and tends to supper while Shinoni tends to the still-unconscious woman. Shinoni raises her head, bringing the water bag to the woman’s parched lips. The stranger chokes and sputters, then sips the cool water. Her eyes fly open with alarm as she becomes aware of them. She looks around but seems to calm a bit when she sees the fire and smells the roasting meat.
Shinoni smiles at her and points to herself. “Shinon-i.” She points to Keena. “Kee-na.” Keena smiles and gives a small wave as she turns the meat.
Shinoni points to the woman, who looks at her confused. Slowly her eyes light up. She points to herself. “De-ka.”
27
EARLY DAWN STREAKS THE SKY a pale pink as Shinoni and Keena lie on their capes on the earth floor near the fire. Their stomachs are full but their sleep has been uneasy.
Keena props herself up on one elbow and looks at Deka sleeping fitfully behind them, snoring in a low growl. In the flickering firelight, the strange woman’s belly throws a huge shadow on the cave wall.
“We must be on our way,” Keena says. She nods toward Deka. “If we’re quiet we can slip out before she wakes up.”
Shinoni gasps. “What do you mean? You know she won’t survive on her own. She can’t hunt, and her mate’s dead. She’ll starve or be eaten by beasts.”
“We can leave the rest of the meat with her. It’ll last her a few suns if she’s careful.”
“But you saw she has no fire for protection.” Can’t the Krag girl see how helpless Deka is? “We can take her with us,” Shinoni insists.
“She’ll slow us down.” Keena shakes her head. “It’s sad, but we can’t help her more than that.”
“She’s young, like us. Soon her small one will have to be pushed out and she’ll need help giving it breath.” Shinoni knows Keena’s right — Deka will be a burden. But she can’t abandon her.
“I know that, but Haken’s not far behind us. We must move quickly.” Keena looks away from Deka and blinks back tears.
“Will Leeswi be angry if we leave her? Perhaps Leeswi doesn’t want the breaths of Deka and her young one to return to her before she calls for them,” Shinoni says.
“Deka’s not Krag,” Keena mutters, but she sounds doubtful. “One can never know who Leeswi will help — or harm.”
Deka has woken up, perhaps from hearing her name repeated several times. She struggles to raise her heavy body from the floor.
Keena starts rolling up her belongings. “She won’t want to come with us. She’s waiting for her mate, and we can’t talk to her and tell her he’s dead.”
“Deka, Shinoni, Keena go now.” Shinoni points to herself and Keena, then points toward the entrance. She points to Deka and then to the entrance again, taking Deka’s arm and pulling her up and slowly forward.
“Deka sa ni. Dak. To-taw, Dak.” Deka shakes her head, fear clouding her eyes.
“I told you, Kula.” Keena sighs. “We’ll build up the fire and leave her the meat.”
Shinoni tries one last time to communicate. “Dak. Dak no come.” She points to the entrance, shaking her head from side to side.
Deka watches, frowning.
“Dak dead.” Shinoni makes a slitting motion across her neck. “Dak dead.” Shinoni falls to the ground and closes her eyes. “Dak dead.”
Deka continues to watch, starting to mouth sounds. “Dak matik?” She moans and tears well in her eyes.
“Help me here, Krag,” Shinoni calls to Keena. “Act like a lion.”
“You’re unreal.” Keena rolls her eyes but comes to stand beside Shinoni.
“Dak.” Shinoni says loudly to Deka as she points to herself. “Quickly, leap on me, lion,” she instructs Keena.
Keena makes a fierce face, opening her mouth wide and showing her teeth. She swipes with her arms and jumps on Shinoni, knocking her to the ground while growling loudly.
Shinoni shouts at the horrified Deka. “Dak dead.” She points at Keena. “Lion kill Dak.” She stretches on the floor, eyes closed.
Deka kneels awkwardly beside Shinoni. Tears flow down her face, and she lets out a deep, keening wail. “Dak matik.”
Shinoni helps Deka to her feet and points to the entrance. “Deka come with Shinoni and Keena.” Deka turns her back and continues wailing.
“Come on, Shinoni, we’ve done what we can. If she won’t come, we can’t make her. We must leave now.” Keena packs the meat, puts out the fire, and moves outside.
“Come, Deka. Shinoni friend.” She pulls her toward the cave mouth. She pats Deka’s belly. “Come, help with little one.”
Deka shuffles to the entrance, where she stands, moaning and wailing.
Shinoni follows Keena down the path through the vegetation to the trail by the hillside. She turns and sees Deka still standing on the ledge.
“You took the meat and fire. How will she survive?” Shinoni says. “I can’t leave her.”
“She won’t survive, anyway. We have to go quickly now. She’s free to come or not, but it’s her choice.” Keena firmly propels Shinoni down the trail. Tewa trots far ahead.
A few heartbeats later Shinoni looks back one more time. Her heart lifts. Deka has picked up her spear and is moving down the hill, slowly following on the trail behind them.
28
“WE MAY HAVE TO choose her life or ours. She can’t travel much farther, and Haken will find us if we don’t move faster.” Keena scans the hills and brush around the stand of willows where they rest. “He could be anywhere. On the trail or in the grass, waiting to pounce.”
Shinoni puts her hands on Deka’s bulging abdomen and probes gently. “Her young one’s moving low in her belly. She’ll give breath to it soon, so we need to find a safe place for this to happen.”
“Didn’t you hear me?” Keena balls her fists and clenches her teeth. “We can’t take more time. Haken will be here soon and there won’t be a safe place for any of us.”
“I can’t just leave her. We can find a cave and hide the entrance with brush. I’ll help her give breath to the young one,” Shinoni says.
“We’ll all die then,” Keena says. “How can you help her?”
“I’ve watched Reza guide young ones out of their mothers, and I’ve helped her sometimes. I have some leaves of the belly plant in my pouch to help speed births.”
“Belly plants? What don’t you have in that pouch?” Keena scoffs.
Shinoni bristles. “I picked them to help a woman in my band who was ready to give breath to her first young one.” She pushes down a lump in her throat as Etak’s smiling face and big belly flash before her. “I picked them just before Haken attacked my people. We’ll use them now, before he attacks us.”
“Let’s move, then, while she still can,” Keena says. “There must be a better hiding place than this.”
Shinoni pulls Deka to her feet. Deka wobbles onto the narrow game trail between Shinoni and Keena, using her spear as a walking stick.
They haven’t gone far when Keena stops abruptly. “Something’s moving out there. Looks like hunters, maybe two of them.”
“It can’t be Haken. He’ll be behind us.” Shinoni sniffs but catches no hint of the hunters’ identity.
“Maybe they’ll care for Deka if they’re friendly,” Keena says. “Let’s get closer, but don’t let them see us before we know who they are.”
Shinoni steadies Deka, who clutches the bottom of her belly. The young woman begins to pant, her eyes wide with fear. Not the best time for the belly squeezes to start. Shinoni places her hand on Deka’s mouth and puts a finger to her lips. Deka must be quiet.
Soon the girls have moved close enough to see the figures more clearly. There are two of them, draped in reindeer hides, the hoods protecting their heads from the wind as they bend over something in the grass. The hunters stand up, their backs to Shinoni and Keena.
One holds a small animal and drops it into a bag held by the other. Their scent comes faintly on the breeze to the girls, who are crouching in bushes downwind of them.
“They’re Kula. Perhaps they’ll help.” Shinoni jumps to her feet. The rustling from the thicket startles the hunters. They whirl around clutching stone-tipped spears. Their hoods slip back from their heads, revealing earth-brown faces lined with crevices. Their long black hair is streaked heavily with grey.
“They’re women, Keena. Elders like Reza, my grandmother,” Shinoni says.
“Grey hairs? Why would they hunt alone? Their band must be close by.” Keena ducks behind Shinoni as the two women approach, spears raised.
“We mean no harm, grandmothers.” Shinoni greets them, hand outstretched, palm up. “I’m Kula like you, and these are my friends.”
The grandmothers come closer but keep their spears high. One points to Keena and Deka. “You travel with a Strange One and a Dark One. Why?”
Shinoni places one hand on Keena’s shoulder and the other on Deka’s. “These are my friends,” she repeats.
Deka trembles and lurches sideways, dropping her spear. She falls on her knees, moaning, in the throes of a belly squeeze.
“They’re just girls, Seezel,” one grandmother says to the other. “The Dark One is carrying a small one in her belly.” She lowers her spear and goes quickly to Deka’s side. She squats beside her, feeling Deka’s abdomen as another squeeze seizes her in its powerful grip.
“The young one will come soon, Fadin, and she’ll attract predators.” Seezel lowers her own spear. “We should take them to our hunting hearth.”
Seezel and Fadin help Deka to her feet, supporting her on both sides. They begin to hurry off across the steppe, away from the row of hills. With her free hand, Fadin motions Shinoni and Keena to follow.
“Should we go with them, Kula?” Keena picks up Fadin’s skin bag, opens it, and looks inside. It contains snares and two dead hares. She slings the bag over her shoulder.
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