“It could be Haken,” Keena says.
“He wouldn’t be sitting at a fire with the sun still shining. Besides, he’s not likely to be so far ahead of us,” Shinoni says.
“All right, but we will stop and see who they are before approaching them. We need to be sure they’re not dangerous.” Keena joins Shinoni, and they hunch their freezing bodies against the wind and move toward the inviting promise of warmth.
Before long they hear voices. Keena’s heart leaps. “Krags,” she says. “But women, not hunters.” They look at each other and cut through a small stand of trees that blocks their view of the beach. They duck below some bushes and creep closer.
A small group of Krag women fish by the water’s edge. Some of them empty fish traps made of willow branches, and others dry the fish over a ring of fires on the beach.
“Do you think they’ll be friendly?” Shinoni whispers.
“Probably, but they might be cautious. Let me talk.”
Keena and Shinoni crawl out of the thicket and approach the women. Their sudden appearance and bedraggled condition startle the fishers, who drop their traps and huddle together.
A grey-haired crone comes forward. Her bushy hair is bunched on top of her head, and her stormy grey eyes glitter under brow ridges. Wrinkles crisscross her cheeks like crevasses. She points a spear at them. There is a fish still impaled on its end. Then she lowers the blade and beckons them to come closer.
Keena talks to the crone, who watches Shinoni suspiciously. “She wants to know why I travel with a Kula,” Keena says, and she places a hand on Shinoni’s shoulder. “I told her you’re my friend.”
“Ask her if we can dry by their fire and if they can spare us some fish.” Shinoni smiles at the crone and stretches out her hand, palm up. The old woman ignores her.
Keena speaks to the crone, who then turns to consult with the other women. They babble heatedly, but she finally nods and motions to the fire. The girls gratefully shed their wet furs and hang them by the flames. The women continue talking, voices rising as they gesture and point at them.
“They don’t seem very happy to have us here.” Shinoni holds her hands close to the fire and watches the women anxiously.
“They’re not. They think you’ll bring them trouble,” Keena says. “Their men have been gone a long time hunting a big horn. They fear having a Kula in camp will anger Leeswi and ruin the hunt.”
The crone leaves the others and approaches them, carrying two fur capes and several dried fish. She thrusts the furs and fish at Keena, speaking rapidly. “You must go.” She points down the beach. “This cliff provides a shorter route into the snow pass, but bears dwell in the caves there.” Then she gestures toward the forest, shaking her head. “Or you can go that way, but there is a tarkan in the forest. Take these furs and these fish and leave your wet things behind.”
Keena bows her head to the crone, then turns to Shinoni. “She’ll trade these furs for our wet ones and she’ll provide us with these fish as well,” Keena says.
Shinoni fingers the thinner pelts, frowning. “These aren’t as good as ours.” She holds them against the heavier reindeer skins drying by the fire.
“Our furs will take a long time to dry and they want us to leave now.” Keena shrugs, chewing on a fish. “I don’t think we have a choice.”
Shinoni sighs as she wraps one of the dry furs around her shoulders. “Was she giving you some kind of directions?”
Keena is reluctant to answer. She watches Shinoni out of the corner of her eye. “She says there’s a shortcut into the mountain snow pass down the beach, but bears live in the caves in the cliff.”
“Why did she point into the forest?” Shinoni nods toward the gloomy-looking patch of trees beside the river.
“She says there’s a tarkan in that direction, on the other side of the forest. It’s a place where spirits dwell,” Keena whispers, and she feels the colour drain from her face. “She says we shouldn’t go there.”
“Why does she care where we go?” Shinoni asks.
“Tarkans are very bad places,” Keena says. The words stick in her throat. “This one’s a black thicket of dead trees. It separates the water from the mountain — and the dead from the living.”
“Why’s that so bad?” Shinoni shrugs. “My people often set out gifts and talk with the spirits of dead kin.”
“All Krags know of these tarkans and fear them.” Sweat beads on Keena’s brow despite the cold wind.
“All Krags know this?” Shinoni hoots. “If Haken fears this place, we should be safe from him there.”
“I don’t think we should go there,” Keena says.
“I’d rather face spirits than either Haken or a cave bear,” Shinoni says. “Don’t you see this is the best way to avoid your murderous uncle? Let’s just go in a little way to find shelter. If the tarkan’s on the other side of the forest, we can decide not to go that far.” She pulls a reluctant Keena toward the forest edge.
As they near the trees, the women cry out a shrill warning behind them. Keena feels the hair on her neck stand up and a shiver run down her spine.
A grey figure waits in the shadows near the forest fringe. Tewa slips in beside the girls, rejoining them as if she’s been with them through all the turmoil of their perilous river journey.
“Oh, Tewa, you found us.” Shinoni drops to her knees beside the wolf and throws her arms around her shaggy neck. She buries her face in the coarse silver fur.
The wolf ’s powerful presence is comforting to Keena. She breathes a little easier. “How does she always know where we are?” She strokes Tewa’s face and looks into her eyes.
Shinoni studies the wolf, a puzzled look on her face. “I think she’s guiding us. Perhaps our spirits are joined.”
Keena stands and continues to stroke Tewa for a moment before turning to face the forest. Her fear returns, creeping over her slowly, freezing her blood, choking her breath. “She’s only a wolf, and she’ll be no protection in the darkness of the tarkan.” Her whisper sounds loud in the stillness.
“If Tewa is our spirit guide, she can warn us of danger from spirits.” Shinoni hugs Keena. “Come on, we’ll be safer going ahead than going back and meeting Haken.”
“I will come, but wait. There’s something I must do first.” Keena takes a deep breath and straightens her shoulders. Then she kneels on the ground and gathers leaves into a pile on a flat rock. “Give me your flints, Kula, and hold the wolf.” She takes one of the dried fish from her cloak and places it on the mound of leaves. “I’ll make an offering to Leeswi.”
Shinoni gives Keena the flints, then settles onto a log, her arms around Tewa’s neck. The wolf sits quietly, ears cocked, as Keena lights a spark in the leaves. Tewa whines and salivates at the scent of burning fish.
Keena calls loudly to the Earth Mother. “Kakwa-rau-set, Leeswi. Leeswi. Krag-nu-kik-kwac.” She raises her arms to the sky and calls again. “Mother Leeswi, save us from the tarkan. Protect us from the evil spirits!” She calls until the fish is nothing but ashes, then pours water from her bag onto the small fire.
Keena stands up. “We can go now,” she says. She joins arms with Shinoni, and Tewa pushes her warm, solid body between them. Then, silently, the three disappear into the deepening shadows of the trees, toward the tarkan waiting beyond the forest.
35
TEWA LEADS SHINONI AND KEENA out of the dimness of the forest and into a clearing where a full moon is rising, ghostly over the pale, silent river. Shinoni swallows hard and clutches her eagle amulet in one hand and Tewa’s warm fur in the other. Across a patch of brown grass lies a thicket of trees, tangled and blackened in death. They raise jagged limbs, stark silhouettes against the moonlit sky. As the wind picks up, the bare branches rattle like the disjointed bones of a skeleton.
Shinoni turns to look at Keena, but finds she’s dropped back several paces.
“It’s the tarkan.” Keena’s eyes are orbs of fear. “We can’t go in there.”
&nbs
p; The wind stops blowing. No sounds of birds or beasts break the silence. Absolute stillness blankets the clearing.
“Come, Keena, we’re safer together.” Shinoni startles at the sound of her own voice rippling between them.
“You go, Shinoni,” Keena whispers.
“Haken won’t follow us here,” Shinoni says.
“I can’t move. My legs are frozen.” Tears cloud Keena’s eyes.
Tewa looks at the girls, then turns and bounds into the dismal thicket. She disappears into the shadows.
“Tewa wouldn’t go in if there was anything to fear,” Shinoni says.
A deep sigh escapes from Keena’s throat. She joins Shinoni and they enter the brooding gloom of the tarkan together.
Shinoni and Keena set up camp beside a large hollow tree stump. They light a glowing circle of fire around themselves. Outside the circle, the darkness surrounds them, pushing against the flames. They share their meagre meal of fish with Tewa and settle on a bed of dead pine boughs, exhausted from their long and strenuous day.
Shinoni stares into the darkness. Tewa cocks her ears as though listening to something, but there’s still absolute silence around them.
“What does she hear?” Keena whispers. “There’s no birds, no insects, nothing.”
“Get some rest.” Shinoni looks around wide-eyed. Her breath catches in her throat. She can’t let Keena see her fear. “I’ll keep watch for awhile.”
Keena gulps and takes one last look around, then curls into a ball, covering her head with her cape. “Wake me if you see anything strange,” she murmurs, her voice muffled by the fur.
Shinoni sits with her back to the tree stump, stroking Tewa. She surveys the darkness beyond the flames. Keena moans in her sleep, tossing fitfully on the pine boughs.
Despite her determination to stay awake, Shinoni’s eyelids become heavy and her head begins to droop. The harrowing events since the last dark time flash in her mind’s eye. She sees the escape from Haken, the river sweeping her away, the crone, the gloomy forest. Then slowly, out of the stillness, a hot wind begins to rattle the treetops, making them moan like lost souls.
Tewa whines and yips, then gets up and trots into the gloom.
Panic pounds in Shinoni’s chest as the wolf disappears. “Tewa, come back!” Her call echoes in the hollow stillness as the wind fades to a whisper. A light begins to glow in front of her, dimly at first, then growing until it lights up the thicket around her. Tewa sits in the centre of the glow between two familiar figures.
“Father. Grandmother. How can this be?” Shinoni gasps as Shazur and Reza smile at her from within the golden glow. She stretches out her arms, but her body is heavy. She can’t move toward them.
“Shinoni, my daughter, I’ve been watching you.” Shazur smiles even more broadly.
“You’ve grown in many ways, granddaughter.” Reza looks just like she did when Shinoni last saw her in the berry patch by the marsh.
“I’ve missed you both so much,” Shinoni says.
“I know, and I’m proud of the way you’ve handled yourself in this time of danger.” Shinoni senses her father’s pride surrounding her, and her body warms.
“It seems that being able to fight and hunt has proven useful.” Reza beams. “But so has healing.”
“What happened to our people? Are they all in the spirit world? Am I the only Kula left from our band?” Shinoni struggles to control her tears.
“Many of our band dwell here, but others remain, scattered to the four winds,” Reza says. Shinoni feels her grandmother’s touch and hears her voice right beside her, although she hasn’t left the glowing circle.
Shazur’s voice joins in, strong and reassuring. “There are other bands of Kulas. You’ll still be a great leader of our people.”
“How, Father? I’m all alone.” Shinoni lowers her head, overwhelmed by her loss.
“Nonsense. Hasn’t the great wolf been guiding you?” Reza’s voice is as scolding as Shinoni remembers it. Tewa looks at Reza and whines.
Shinoni nods, wiping away a tear. “Tewa’s been a faithful guide and friend.”
“Shinoni, who’s been your greatest help these past days?” Shazur points to where Keena lies, still sleeping, by the fire.
“I couldn’t have travelled this far without my friend Keena.” Shinoni looks over at her. It looks as if a mist has spread between them.
Her father nods his approval. “The Krag woman-child is a brave and true friend. She’ll also be a leader of her people. Your friendship is a powerful medicine.”
“Both of you girls come from lines of strong women. You carry their knowledge.” Reza smiles as her image begins to waver.
Slowly, another image appears in the light. A young black-haired woman with friendly eyes lifts a swan-bone flute to her lips. High-pitched, haunting notes trill in the silence. Shinoni’s mother, Teenoni, is as beautiful as Shinoni remembers her. Father said Mother would talk to me when I was ready to hear her. Tears well in Shinoni’s eyes and slide down her cheeks.
Teenoni lowers her flute. “Daughter, be brave. Remember, the snake is not your enemy. Control your fear and use it to your advantage.” Shinoni feels her mother’s embrace envelop her as it did when she was a young one.
The glow begins to fade and Shazur, Reza, and Teenoni disappear as quickly as they appeared. Soon only the flickering firelight holds back the night.
“Don’t go,” Shinoni whispers. “I’ve more to ask you.”
“What would you ask me —?”
Keena peers into Shinoni’s face as she shakes her awake. “It’s time to leave this cursed place. Tewa had the sense to leave already.”
Shinoni rubs the sleep from her eyes and sees sunlight streaming through the blackened boughs of the twisted trees. She sits up, shivering in the frigid morning air, as Keena stamps out the fires. “Did you hear anything during the night?”
“I only heard you snoring and mumbling.” Keena eyes her friend. “You must’ve fallen asleep while you kept watch.”
“You saw no one, Keena? No lights?” Shinoni looks around the camp to see if anything’s amiss.
“Only you and Tewa, sleeping by the tree stump.” Keena drapes her cape around herself and helps Shinoni to her feet.
“Tewa was here when you woke?” Shinoni wraps her furs around her shoulders.
“When I woke, you and the wolf were sleeping. I stayed up the rest of the night to keep watch and saw nothing. Tewa left when it got light and I woke you.” Keena turns toward the path that will take them out of the tarkan. “We really must go now. We can’t stay here.”
The girls begin to walk through the trees, which seem less scary in the morning light. Shinoni walks in silence, remembering the sound of her mother’s swan-bone flute.
Keena looks at her anxiously. “Did you see anything last night, Kula? You seem strange.”
Shinoni hesitates, unsure what happened during the dark time in the tarkan. “Perhaps I did. Perhaps this is a place where the living and the dead can meet.” She sees Keena’s worried face. “It wasn’t a bad thing, Keena. I saw my family.”
Keena stops, looking confused and concerned. “You saw the spirits of your family?”
Shinoni hugs her friend and they walk along the trail arm in arm. “Don’t worry, they like you.” Her voice rises on the wind. “They said we’d both be leaders of our people.”
Keena’s voice also carries on the wind. “You are strange, Kula.”
36
DAYLIGHT FINDS Shinoni and Keena closer to the limestone cliffs that hide the entrance to the snow passage. Keena leaps along the trail, giddy with relief at surviving the tarkan. She can’t quite believe that Shinoni’s dead family spoke to her there, but still, it is a place of spirits.
Shinoni follows Keena’s lead, leaping down the trail as well. Her legs take her much farther than Keena’s on each bound. “It’s time for a little fun,” she shouts. On the next bound she playfully kicks sideways, but she catches the less-agile Keena
off guard in mid-leap, knocking her legs out from under her.
“Yiiiiii!” Keena hits the ground hard.
“If you’re going to be a leader of your people, you better be more alert than that.” Shinoni laughs and extends her hand to help Keena to her feet.
“Leaders don’t ambush their friends,” Keena growls. “It takes more than leaping like a hare to be a leader.” Keena dusts herself off as they continue on their way. Soon they come to a section of the trail blocked by a fallen tree.
“If you’re so great, Kula, let’s see you beat this,” Keena challenges. She grabs a low overhanging tree limb and swings over the obstruction, landing on her feet.
“Like scooping fish from a puddle, Krag.” Shinoni laughs and grasps another branch. She swings over the fallen tree and somersaults in the air before landing. “Let’s see you top that.” She smirks.
Keena takes a deep breath and runs at the branch, grabbing it and again swinging over the fallen tree, but her stocky body can’t make the twist into the somersault. Thud! She crashes heavily to the ground. Keena grinds her teeth. What a show-off. The Kula should try carrying a log like she can. Then Keena spots something moving in the shrubbery by the trail. Wait, this is even better! She reaches in and pulls out a small harmless snake. The serpent is sluggish from the cold and barely moving as Keena wraps it around her neck. She grins at Shinoni. “Let’s see you do this, Kula.”
“That takes no strength,” Shinoni says, but her voice shakes. She backs away, stumbling over her own feet.
“Surely a great leader who rides horses and mammoths can handle one little snake,” Keena says.
“I could if I wanted to, but I don’t.” Shinoni turns and starts walking along the trail, her strides long and quick.
“It’s a good thing we didn’t run into a group of snake worshippers instead of mammoth hunters.” Keena chuckles and releases the snake back into the bushes.
“Only Krags would worship snakes,” Shinoni snaps over her shoulder. She stops and points at a large pile of brush blocking the game trail just ahead. “Bet you can’t do this.” She sprints toward the brush pile and sails over in one tremendous leap.
Sisters of the Wolf Page 16