CHAPTER FIVE

BLUE BIRD

Blue Bird studied the young hunter on the ledge below her. His hair was tied in a loose braid falling down the back of his short tunic of bison hide. A deerskin breechcloth, tucked over the belt from which his hunting pouch hung, revealed long muscular legs. He returned her stare with eyes the colour of burnt wood.

Even though Paska had nuzzled her awake at the sound of voices, she hadn’t had time to escape, which is why she had thrown the first boulder – it had seemed too risky to unleash her only spear. But the boy wasn’t moving. She raised her voice.

‘I said go away, Wild Horse, son of Bear Face.’

‘Why have you run away?’

‘That’s nothing to do with you.’

‘Your father is worried.’

‘I don’t think so.’

‘Then why did he send out search parties?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Blue Bird. ‘I’m sure he’s glad to be rid of me.’

‘Why do you say that?’

‘I’m not the son he wanted. Any use I was to him was spoilt by the arrival of my brothers.’

‘What about your mother? The woman with child?’

‘That is not my mother. My mother died when I was born. That vicious vixen is Burning Fire, my father’s wife.’ Wild Horse knelt down. ‘I said, go away.’

‘I would, but the trouble is that if I don’t find you then it’s likely that Zuni will. And when he does you’ll wish that you’d have let me be your rescuer.’

‘But I’ve told you – I don’t want a rescuer. And who is Zuni?’

Wild Horse shrugged. ‘My cousin. At the moment he’s looking in the woodland on the other side of the river, but when he doesn’t find you there he’ll look elsewhere, here maybe.’

‘Well, I’ll be gone by then.’

‘Gone where?’

Blue Bird said nothing. She didn’t want to admit she hadn’t worked out where to go next.

‘Even if you set off now, we’ll be bound to catch up with you. If not today, then the next. If I don’t bring you back, Zuni will gloat that I failed to find you. It will boost his determination to win, and he will track you down like an animal.’

‘What do you mean – win?’

Wild Horse sighed. ‘We’re rivals. The one who finds you gets to be the husband of your sister, Night Rain.’

‘You are welcome to her – she is not a good sister. And she doesn’t deserve rivals.’

‘Your father Mogoll must think she does. And it is my father’s will that I should win. But Zuni is ready for a fight; he is determined to beat me.’

‘What about you?’

‘What about me?’ said Wild Horse.

‘Are you determined to win? I warn you now that Night Rain does not have a sweet nature.’

‘I am not ready for a wife, but I can’t let Zuni beat me.’

‘If you are not ready for a wife, why are you taking part in the challenge? Why don’t you just leave me here?’

‘I can’t. Finding you will bring me respect from my tribe.’

‘I’ve already said I don’t want to be found – can’t you understand that?’ Blue Bird pleaded.

‘If I fail to find you, then the shame of losing to my cousin will weigh too heavy on my shoulders. And my father will feel so dishonoured if I lose this challenge that he will cast me out of the tribe.’

‘I feel your torment, son of Bear Face, but you should understand my misery too – such misery that I have cast myself out of my tribe. Is your fear of shame so cruel that you’d drag me back to a life I am desperate to leave behind?’ Blue Bird shook her spear to show her despair.

‘Come down here, daughter of Mogoll. You’re asking me to give up the chance of gaining honour for myself and my tribe, so tell me why I should leave you here, why I should risk shame.’

‘Why should I trust you?’

‘I am alone – you watched me cross the river on my own. If you come down, you can keep hold of your spear and I’ll leave mine on the ground.’

‘Be ready, Paska,’ Blue Bird called as she climbed down the rock, clutching her spear and nudging Wild Horse’s spears out of reach with her foot. The dog growled, head down, ready to leap at Wild Horse if she gave the signal.

‘I’ve never met a girl who liked throwing spears,’ said Wild Horse. ‘But why did you run away?’

Blue Bird looked at the boy; the bleakness in his eyes matched hers. And even if Paska could hold him off while she packed up her belongings, they wouldn’t get far before he alerted the other hunters. She had to make him understand. Her eyes filled with tears.

‘Burning Fire killed Paska’s puppies. She hated me training her sons to hunt, and made them tell Mogoll they no longer needed the help of a girl. Then she drowned all Paska’s puppies, to spite me. I managed to pull one out of the water – I think it was still alive – but she was too strong for me and plunged it back into the river. I pleaded with her. I screamed. I scratched her.’

‘I saw marks on her face,’ said Wild Horse. ‘You must fight like a sabretooth.’

‘If I need to. I had to get away from her, especially when she said she would have Paska killed too. Though it meant leaving my dear aunt, who has been the only mother I’ve known.’

‘Where will you go?’

‘Many times Sacred Cloud has told me tales about her childhood with my mother – about the land where they travelled: the mountains and rivers; the birds and animals and fish they caught and ate; the plants they used for medicines. That is where I want to go, to find my mother’s tribe.’

‘Do you know where it is?’

‘Not exactly,’ said Blue Bird, not daring to admit she had never been there. ‘Sacred Cloud said it was many moons away, beyond the Great Plains, the other side of a river known as the Great River. A river they hadn’t crossed again in my lifetime, though they had passed along the sunset side of it since. She remembered looking back at the sun rising over her tribe’s camp as she and my mother left their family behind. And as they travelled the sun passed overhead and they walked towards the setting sun. Sacred Cloud told me that when she dies she knows her spirit will fly to where the sun rises, to find her family before it soars up to the stars. That is where I shall look for my mother’s family.’

‘How will you find them on your own?’

The sun and the Spirits in the stars will guide me.’ Blue Bird stood up, glancing skywards, as Sacred Cloud did. But as she turned back she glimpsed a group of hunters approaching in the distance on the opposite riverbank. Fear clutched her throat and she almost dropped her spear.

‘It’s my father!’ she gasped.

Wild Horse jumped up.

‘What are you going to do?’ said Blue Bird, unable to move as the dread of returning to Mogoll and Burning Fire gripped her so tight she could barely breathe. Her voice was little more than a whisper. ‘Please don’t tell them you’ve found me.’