“I can’t believe this!” Singing Wolf shook his head, staring across the snow flats at the herds of animals. A small group of long-horned buffalo stood no more than a dart’s throw away, watching curiously, ears flapping, tails switching, a curious gleam in their black eyes.
To the south, the divide they camped on stretched away into a white maze of ridges and dendritic drainage channels. Around them, black spruce stood, their ratty branches shifting with the wind that scoured the ridge top.
Behind, the Big River made a bend to the west, a narrow defile leading into the rugged ice-capped mountains beyond. Like a series of teeth, the range rose ominously, gouging at the gray scudding clouds. To the east, several days’ walk, the Big Ice stretched, the horizon foggy and obscure. Where they sat on the wind-blasted ridge, the freezing currents carried the interminable cold up from the ice, blowing ever northward.
Beyond them, the caribou that had stopped to study them earlier grazed slowly as they moved away, nubbins of antlers beginning to form.
“And there’s fresh mammoth sign.” One Who Cries smiled happily.
“Wolf Dream. No Others here.” Singing Wolf sighed. “I’m going to hate to go back.”
One Who Cries stiffened. “Go back? Wait a minute. I thought you said ‘go back’?”
He eyed his cousin seriously. “Wolf Dreamer is going for
another group. I think Buffalo Back will bring his people through this time.”
“Go back? Like, from where we just came from?”
“Yes. Though I’m leaving Laughing Sunshine and my child here. The Others will be pushing closer to the People on the other side of the Big Ice, corralling them like deer for the slaughter.”
“And you want to go back? You’re crazy. Touched by the Monster Children’s light. Why should we—”
“Someone has to tell of it besides Wolf Dreamer. Too many would refuse to believe him after—”
“That’s true.”
The voice behind caught them both by surprise. “I need both of you.”
One Who Cries whirled. Wolf Dreamer stood there, a faraway look in his eyes. The white bearskin covered him from head to toe, a stark reminder of his Power. Now the hair seemed to gleam with a life of its own, trapping the light of the distant sun, ruffling in the chill wind.
“Both?”
“Raven Hunter,” Wolf Dreamer whispered absently. His eyes had lost their focus, lips slack. “I … I can sense that there’ll be danger. The Renewal … I’ll have to Dream. I don’t know what Raven Hunter might do. But I … I feel trouble. Blood.”
“I’m going,” Singing Wolf said.
“I knew you would.” Wolf Dreamer gave him a grateful smile. “Jumping Hare will stay and hunt. Green Water will help him as will some of the others. They can keep the bears off. Keep our people safe.”
Wolf Dreamer’s serene gaze lit on One Who Cries and he seemed to fold in upon himself. He looked out over the plain before them and stifled a cry. The land called to him, its song sweet, trilling, that of a young woman to a lover. In the distance, he could see a family group of mammoth, their huge bodies mere dots as they used their long tusks to sweep the snow free of the sedges, grasses, and bushes.
“When will you leave?”
“The sooner the better,” Wolf Dreamer responded. “The Long Light is growing. We can’t know when the water will begin running again.”
“You mean—”
“I mean it could begin tomorrow and forever close that hole.”
In the silence, the three men met each other’s eyes in turn.
“Green Water will want you to go,” Singing Wolf murmured, eyeing his cousin askance.
“Of course she will,” One Who Cries lamented. “Why couldn’t I have married one of the whimpery ones who’d demand I stay and tend to her. Instead I had to marry rock-steady Green Water, who will nod her acceptance, hug me tight, and shove me down the mouth of the monster.” But in his mind, he imagined the knowing, loving look she’d give him as he bravely set off back through the horrible hole in the ice—and his heart warmed.
With an almost physical pang, he turned away from the vision of the vast game-filled meadows. “Well, let’s hurry, then.”
Moon Water waited, seeing no movement. Her eyes darted to the powerful Dreamer, fearful he might have had visions of her plans. But he slept so still he seemed dead. Heart in her throat, she carefully placed each foot, fear making her movements lissome. She bent over him, easing the hide covers aside to lift the ground-stone lamp. Not even daring to breathe, she plucked up the straps for the pack that carried the all-important fat. Step-by-step she backed away. Like smoke, she drifted across the camp and into the darkness.
Taking care to hide her tracks, she lifted a flat stone from an abandoned burrow she’d found earlier and hid the items, carefully resettling the stone in place.
Quietly, she returned to her robes on the other side of Jumping Hare’s woman. Soon Wolf Dreamer would return to his people on the other side of the Big Ice. Then she would be free to go herself, to return to her own people. Desperate longing filled her breast as she closed her eyes. Oh, they’d search for the lamp—but who’d believe she’d stolen it? They would search all the bundles, all the possessions, but Moon Water planned well, as befitted the great Singer’s daughter. When she went, no one would know the secret of the passage to this wondrous land went with her. No one would know she carried salvation to the Mammoth People.