Dancing Fox felt her way through the pitch blackness, her breathing echoing loudly from the icy walls. Water splashed around her feet, making the footing more precarious. Carefully, she placed her foot on a slanted rock and leaned forward. In a flash, her foot slipped off and she tumbled face-first to the ground, groaning softly at the sharp pain in her ankle. The joint raged, but the bone hadn’t broken this time. Would she forever be favoring that four-times-cursed ankle?
The holes had filled with waist-deep water now. The passage not only creaked because of the ghosts, but it echoed with dripping water. Her soaked feet had gone so cold they’d become totally numb. The only dry places to sit were on the larger boulders that she blundered into in the eternal dark. Of course her kindling and fire sticks were soaked; she had no way to dry them.
The light came faintly at first. Icy water leaving her legs awkward and fumble-footed, she splashed on, jaw muscles clenched.
“You’ll never reach your people, Moon Water,” she promised fervently. “I’ll find you.”
The journey seemed to take forever. More than once she thought her end had come, that there had been a branching of the channel—a dead end leading her into the eternal bowels of the very earth.
Still, the light grew, the only sound her splashing feet and the gurgle of the increasing current. Sky appeared in the jagged cracks overhead.
She flailed and splashed her way around the end of the opening, dripping water as she limped up on the rocks to blink out at a gray overcast day.
“I’d have never thought it was true!” a strange voice said from the rocks above her.
She whirled, fumbling for her darts with cold-stiffened fingers. Three Falls shook his head at her. He was dressed in a frayed parka, and his middle-aged face shone like burnished copper from long days in the sun.
“Dancing Fox? What are you doing coming back? I thought only—”
“Chasing an enemy.” She shivered, cold eating into her flesh as the wind sucked the last of her body heat away.
“An enemy?”
“Yes,” she said, trying to relax, too cold to do much else. “But first, I’ve got to warm up.”
“That a proposition?” Three Falls raised an eyebrow, smiling as he saw her expression. “I’ve got some dry stuff. Not much, just a little dry dung and a bundle of willow sticks. Strip out of those wet things.”
She shucked off her pack, teeth chattering as he led her to a sheltered place in the boulders, unslinging his pack, building a fire as she peeled her sopping hides from her body. She wrung out the leather while he bent, spinning his fire sticks with practiced hands. Smoke rose from the charred tinder. Three Falls bent down, blowing softly, coaxing the flame to life. He backed away, motioning her forward.
She twisted her hair into a braid, couching gratefully over the smoking dung.
Three Falls sighed, letting his eyes trace the curves of her naked body. “The other way would have been more fun.”
Dancing Fox looked up at him. “I’ve seen you naked before. No thanks, I’m not up to you. I like my innards arranged as they are.” She frowned. “Besides, I thought you were one of Raven Hunter’s admirers. He’d object, I’m sure, to your association with me.”
“No,” Three Falls grunted, working on her clothing, propping it to air out as much as possible. “His ways and mine are different.”
“Are they?”
He tilted his head, brow lined with thought. “I’ll kill Others. I’ll fight for our land. But he’s done things I think are crazy. He’s taught the young men to torture the Others, cut them apart and eat the captives’ hearts. There’s something wrong with that. He’s … I don’t know, kind of crazy. You can’t tell what he’ll do between one minute and the next.”
“I know.” She nodded, shifting her weight, placing one foot above the fire, gasping ecstatically as warmth caressed her flesh.
“How long have you been keeping watch here?”
He filled his cheeks with air and exhaled furiously. “I’m not keeping watch … exactly.”
“Then what?”
“I heard talk of Heron’s valley and came here to look myself. I left Raven Hunter’s camp in the middle of the Long Dark.” His eyes were downcast. “I’ve kind of drifted here and there, hunting, trying to figure out what to do in my head.”
“You deserted him?”
He gave her a sharp look. “I believed the tales of Runs In Light’s hole in the ice. I came to join him.”
A soft flutter of pride filled her chest. The People’s faith had grown? Perhaps everything would be all right. If … “Did you see a woman come through before me? Moon Water? Jumping Hare’s Other woman? Maybe two, three days ago?”
“No. I’ve only been here since yesterday.”
“Well, maybe we can catch her.”
“Let her go,” Three Falls said softly, looking out over the piled rocks of the valley. “I’ve seen enough dead women.”
“She knows about the hole in the ice. She’s seen the other side.”
Three Falls’ eyes sought hers earnestly. “What’s it like?”
“Go see for yourself.” She pointed to the hole.
He shifted uncomfortably. “Is it just more rock, more scrubby wormwood and sedge, more of these sloppy rocky lakes? Flies and mosquitoes? Starvation around every esker and moraine? Fog? Blowing snow?”
She smiled and shook her head. “Trees taller than you can imagine. Game that’s tame. A divide that looks like it leads down into another Big River—this one leading south. Maybe to another salt water where we can fish without Others attacking us. And there’s no sign of men.”
“I’m going!” Three Falls cried.
“No, you’re not.”
“But you just told me—”
“I’ve changed my mind. You’ve got to help me catch Moon Water first, or you’ll end up sharing everything I told you with the Others.”
“I won’t kill her.”
“I think her husband, Jumping Hare, will thank you for that.”
He cocked his head skeptically. “Agreed?”
Reluctantly, she nodded. “I just want to stop her before she reveals the path to the other side.”
“Let’s go.”
“Can I dry my clothing first? This is the first time I’ve been warm in days.”
“Of course.” He sighed, crossing his arms. “I like looking at your body. Makes me think of things.”
“Then look the other way. My body doesn’t think of yours.”
“Unfortunate.”
“Too bad you’re a man with a caring soul. If you were a maggot like Raven Hunter, you’d—”
“I wish you hadn’t put it that way.”
“Uh-huh.”
“It’ll be a long hunt for Moon Water.”
“Indeed.”
The small fire of birch and willow had burned down to hissing, popping coals in the fire pit. Singing Wolf leaned forward, awed by these men who had dominated the ways of the People for so long. Beside him, One Who Cries sat, amiable face drawn with an unusually serious expression.
His white hair in two long braids, Buffalo Back carried the aura of age and power. He listened, nodding occasionally, the once-sharp eyes having gone softly brown over the years. His wizened face—like a dried puffball—betrayed no amazement.
Four Teeth—bags sagging under his old fleshy eyes—worked his gums absently, sucking where his cheek teeth had once been. Age spots dotted his broad face, accenting the deeply graven lines of his patriarchal features. With stubby brown fingers, he pulled at the hairy corners of his faded parka.
“You can’t believe it. Buffalo, mammoth, caribou. The tundra there is shorter, but the animals are just fearless.”
Buffalo Back shook his head. “Doesn’t seem possible.”
“But it is,” Singing Wolf insisted. He gestured with his
hands, palms up. “Myself, I wouldn’t have believed it. But it’s there.”
“I don’t know.” Four Teeth shook his head. “Going under the ice? Down in all that blackness? What if something happened? Huh? What then? Our souls—”
“And how much game is there?” Buffalo Back insisted. “How do we know we wouldn’t hunt the place out? Then what? Come back here? Back under the ice?”
“Wolf Dreamer will know.” One Who Cries crossed his arms.
“So we hear.” Four Teeth grunted. “Where is he? Huh? He shows up and disappears into that hole in the rocks. You know what the People say about holes in the rocks? It’s not right that souls go underground.”
Singing Wolf stared wearily across the fire, thinking about Heron’s shelter. His memories fixed on the firelit skulls and he shivered slightly. “I don’t know what he’s doing. Maybe I don’t want to know. Dreaming, real Dreaming, makes a person nervous.”
“Is he really a Dreamer?” A note of doubt lurked in Four Teeth’s voice.
One Who Cries nodded soberly. “Heron told Broken Branch that he’d be better than she was.”
“We’ll see when Crow Caller gets here.” Four Teeth squinted, tilting his old head. The light of the fire made a curious shadow behind his hooked fleshy nose. “Crow Caller, now, there’s a man with Spirit Power.”
Singing Wolf averted his eyes to keep from offending an elder. “I don’t mean disrespect, Grandfathers, but many starved following Crow Caller’s … ‘dreams.’ Broken Branch says his Dreaming is false.”
“She’s old.”
“She’s seen Dreamers,” Singing Wolf countered gently, knowing this conversation was crucial. If he offended the dignity of the old ones, the clans would never follow them through the hole. “She saw the Dream in Wolf Dreamer’s eyes.”
Four Teeth scowled at him, obviously disgusted by his challenge. “You think you know more than I do? Huh? I’m twice your age.”
Singing Wolf clamped his jaw a moment, then replied softly, “No, Grandfather. I was just—”
“Crow Caller will tell us the truth of this young Runs In Light,” Four Teeth insisted stubbornly.
Singing Wolf leaned his head back, choosing his words carefully. “I have no doubts of the sincerity of your beliefs, Grandfathers. But we’ve seen them face off before, watched them stand in each other’s Power. One Who Cries was there. I was there. Others can verify our words, though I speak with an open heart. Crow Caller cursed Wolf Dreamer, cursed him to have his stomach eat itself. Prophesied death for everyone who followed the trail south. Called down all kinds of trouble from the Long Dark. We all lived but one little girl. And Crow Caller said the Big Ice was death. We live—and our families are on the other side living in a beautiful land of plenty as we speak.”
One Who Cries averted his eyes. “I was part of Crow Caller’s band for years. But I’d never seen a real Dreamer until I saw Wolf Dreamer, and then Heron. I’ve watched these Dreamers call game. I’ve seen the Power in the dead eyes of a Dreamer. Crow Caller had nothing like it.”
Four Teeth muttered under his breath. “Always thought Heron was a legend. You both know bad things are said about her. That she could suck a man’s soul from his body … blow it out in the Long Dark.”
“She fed us. Kept us warm,” One Who Cried added uncomfortably. “For myself, I received nothing but kindness from her.” He waved absently. “Sure, she scared me. Anyone with sense is scared around Dreaming like that. But she wasn’t bad like the stories make her out.”
“Then what was she doing out all alone like she had no relations, no people?” Four Teeth demanded. “You tell me, huh? What? That’s not right! Good people don’t run off like that.”
“The Dreaming was better, she said. I heard her explain. She could keep her mind clear. Uh, uncluttered, she said.” Singing Wolf shot a quick glance at One Who Cries. It wasn’t going as he’d hoped.
“My mother knew her,” Buffalo Back added. “I’ll wait. I’ll see what happens during Renewal. Maybe Heron gave
Runs In Light bad powers.” His voice dropped to a hoarse whisper. “To hurt us.”
“Why would—”
“For revenge. You know the stories of how the People scorned her Dreaming. It was strange and people feared it.”
“Let’s hear Crow Caller’s words,” Four Teeth interrupted. “Let’s see what he Dreams.”
In the uneasy silence that followed, Singing Wolf stared emptily at the fire. Would they never listen?
“Besides …” Four Teeth shook his head. “I can’t believe it’s right for us to leave the place Father Sun gave us for a hole in the ice. My father’s father lived here. I sang my wife’s soul to the Blessed Star People here. I know this land. I can feel this land in my soul.” He paused, letting his words sink in. “Raven Hunter’s right. We have to—”
“The Others are coming.” Singing Wolf rubbed the back of his neck. “We have to do a lot of thinking this Renewal. Things are changing. No disrespect, Grandfather, but this isn’t really our land. Here? At Heron’s? Five days’ walk from the Big Ice? How much farther south are we than in the past?”
“We’re not that far.”
“I remember as many Long Lights ago as I have fingers on one hand.” Singing Wolf held them up, wiggling his digits. “Remember that place we had Renewal five Long Lights ago? Out on the flats where the Big River flows into the salt water? It’s how far north of the camps of the Others now? We’ve already had to move because of the Others. We can’t hunt clams and shellfish and seals along the salt water anymore. For that matter, the salt water is more than three moons’ journey to the north. The Others are there. Let’s face it. We can’t keep the Others back. There aren’t enough of us!”
Four Teeth shook his head. “We’ll drive them out, push them back. Father Sun gave us that land. He’ll keep us safe. You’ll see.”
“I did see,” Singing Wolf said passionately, keeping his eyes lowered so as not to irritate the elders. “I went to raid with Raven Hunter last Long Light. I saw. I killed a handful of Others in the fighting. I acted with honor. But I watched our young men rape women like they were rutting animals. I watched babies smashed and kicked and gutted. I watched
men left to die of gut-juice poisoning. I fought for the People, and I saw what the chances really are.”
“You’ve lost faith! We’ll win by next—”
“I won’t wait! I’ve taken my family beyond the Big Ice. I won’t watch my family and people slowly worn away like sandstone on a grinding slab. It’s not dishonorable for a man to—”
Four Teeth sighed wearily. “I know you have honor, Singing Wolf.”
“And he has something else,” One Who Cries added. “He has seen both sides for himself.”
Four Teeth frowned at him, lifting his chin ominously. “You didn’t fight, what right do you have to talk?”
“No, I … I …” He stumbled over the words, shame rising crimson in his cheeks. “I hate war.”
Buffalo Back smiled grimly, accusingly. “So we’ve heard.”
“Coward!”
“I’m not a coward!” One Who Cries defended bravely, lifting his eyes to meet his elders. The fire-stained pallor of the old men frightened him. Their cheeks caught the fire flickers hollowly, mouths pursed tightly. “I just want to be left alone in life—to hunt. That’s all. And I’m a fine hunter. No one can run mammoth like I can.” He dropped his eyes again, fumbling with the hem of his shirt. “But I don’t want my Green Water taken by some Other while I die with a dart in my gut. Singing Wolf has been my eyes and ears. I’ve listened to him and spent many long nights in thought, trying to decide what to do, who to follow.”
Four Teeth relented, sucking his cracked incisors—the only teeth left in his head. “A man has to do what he thinks is best.”
“That is the way of the People—the way I was taught. And the best I could see was to take my wife and my child to safety on the other side of the Big Ice. I’ve seen it—and it’s as glorious as Singing Wolf says. I only came back to tell the People.”
Buffalo Back shifted uncomfortably. “I’m here because the Others raided my camp. Drove me out. Many of my young men are dead.”
One Who Cries jerked forward, spreading his arms, pleading.
“There’s a place beyond the ice where there’s no war! Come with us.”
“I don’t want to go under the ice. Souls get lost in darkness. Trapped, you know? I just want to keep my people safe while Raven Hunter chases the Others away.”
Singing Wolf exhaled tiredly. “Think about this. We’re holding Renewal here this year, as far south as men can go before being stopped by the Big Ice. The Others are pushing. Where will we go next year?”
“Father Sun gave this land to us. Gave it to us!”
“Why should we let the Others have it?” Buffalo Back growled.
“Because we may not be able to stop them.” Singing Wolf said it coolly. “You’ve heard Blueberry? We’ve had captive women for a year. They talk about the journeys the Others take over great stretches of land. Walking for a whole Long Light and never leaving their territory. Can we, who are so few, stop so many?”
“The People won’t run away through a black hole in the Big Ice!” Four Teeth thumped a fist on a bony knee in finality.
Buffalo Back nodded. “Let’s wait and hear what Crow Caller and Raven Hunter say. Maybe even now they’ve driven the Others from the north and we can go back.”
“Grandfathers,” Singing Wolf murmured. “I know your respect for Crow Caller, but a new Dreamer has come to the People. Please, do not blind yourselves to his powers just because he is young. The People are at stake here. Our way is balanced between a rebirth and death.”
“A new Dreamer?” Four Teeth scoffed, spitting into the sand beside him. “Runs In Light won’t even face his own people. He hides in a witch’s hole to avoid the shame he deserves.”
Singing Wolf closed his eyes painfully. Is this how it will end? What can I do to make them see? What?