People of the Wolf (7 page)

"Tell us," Broken Branch cackled eagerly into the silence.

"Wolf Dream," he said softly, face stony. "But not here in the cold. Let's go inside before Wind Woman takes all our warmth and blows it to the Long Dark."

"Cut up the meat!" Crow Caller snapped sourly. "Don't play games, boy. People are hungry."

"No," Runs In Light responded with eerie calmness. "Wolf gave the meat to me to take us south. He came in a Dream and showed me the way. His body will keep the People strong on the journey. Heart blood runs in my veins—it is the way.''

"Bah! You? You're just a boy! You wouldn't know a Spirit Dream if it—''

"You
dare!
Look at him! Look and see Power! The

Dream's in his eyes." Broken Branch whirled, a crooked finger lancing dangerously up toward Crow Caller's face.

Fox caught her breath as Runs In Light's eyes swirled and shifted, reminding her of the way wolves' eyes gleamed beyond the butchering fires at night.

"We go north." Crow Caller's hand swung, pointing to where Father Sun brightened the far horizon. "I, too, have Dreamed . . .
boy.
Mammoth calls us back the way we came. Like I told you all last Long Light. Remember? Let's go back-"

"Then go." Runs In Light lifted his chin. "Spirit Power comes where it will. It's not a thing of men. Wolf gave me his Power. The Wolf Dream will take me—and those of the People who will follow—to the south. There in the Big Ice—"

'
'Lies death!''
Crow Caller's voice cracked.

As Runs In Light's eyes fell on him, the old shaman wet his lips and stepped backward, as though he feared the boy. Frosty breath plumed white in the feeble glare. Snow-shot wind stinging their faces, the People backed away.

"Death! You hear,
boy!"
Crow Caller's white eye glowed baleful while his black one sparked like flint against granite. "Monsters climb in the ice. The souls of the lost dead sing from there." He turned, pointing to each of the People in turn. "When you get close to the Big Ice, you'll hear them . . . creaking and groaning, their bones cracking under the weight. They'll kill you! We have to go north."

"You go north," Broken Branch shouted. "Maybe you and you alone are supposed to be killed by the Others."

Hobbling to Runs In Light, she hooked taloned fingers in his worn skins. "See me, boy. Look at me. See ... see ... the Dream?" She drew his face so close to hers that their condensed breath mingled in a white cloud to curl around their heads.

For a long second she stood stiffly, fingers tight around the back of his neck. Then she pulled him closer still, eyes almost touching.

"Ha-heee!" she wheezed, letting him go and stumbling back, arms circling for balance. She sat down suddenly, crooning to herself as the People watched in frightened fascination.

"Fools, both of them," Raven Hunter grunted from behind.

"Grandmother?" Laughing Sunshine grabbed one of the crone's withered hands. "What's in Light's eyes?"

"Dream . . ."the old woman whispered. Slack-jawed, she stared absently at nothing. "Wolf's in his eyes. Wolf . . ."

One Who Cries shifted, turning uneasily to Crow Caller. "Is this true? You've led us many places . . . healed us when we were sick. Runs In Light says your vision is wrong. How do we know who's right?"

"He's a boy," Crow Caller said flatly. "He plays games with the survival of the People. Dreams take fasting and preparation. You don't—"

"He hasn't eaten for four days," Laughing Sunshine blurted. "He gave his food to me ... for the baby." She pointed a trembling finger at the death drift.

"Aiieee ..." Gray Rock, age-thin lips twisting in her wrinkled face, turned beady black eyes to Runs In Light. "Four days, eh? Spirit number. Like the way of Father Sun over the heart of Earth. Opposites crossed."

"He's a boy!" Crow Caller shouted, shaking a fist.

Runs In Light trembled as if the shaman's horny hand had slapped him. "Wolf came to me. He'll save those who go south. He showed me the break in the Big Ice where we can pass. Beyond is mammoth. Buffalo are there. Caribou grows new antlers in green grass."

Dancing Fox's mouth parted as she met Light's eyes. "I see the Dream," she whispered. "It's there. Reflected in his—"

"Get inside the shelter!" the old shaman ordered. "Go warm my robes. We go north tomorrow . . . and I want a good night's rest first."

"No," she said. Stunned by his anger, she looked up at him, uncomprehending, feet rooted to the spot. Rage burned fiercely in the old man's thin face. He drew back his hand to strike her.

She threw up her arms in defense, stumbling away, murmuring, "Don't touch me!"

"Go!" Crow Caller shouted.

As she scuttled toward the shelters, she glimpsed the

sharpness in Runs In Light's face as he stepped forward. Broken Branch placed a restraining hand on the youth's shoulder.

Crawling through the flap, she heard her husband's powerful voice: "Don't listen to this child! Mammoth lie just over there ... to the north! I've seen our hunters surround them, driving darts deeply into bawling calves. The mothers whirl, trunks lifted to seek Wind Woman for our presence. But we're cunning! The calves flounder in the deep snow, their blood soaking our darts. The herd stampedes, running north, and we harvest—"

"Liar!"
Broken Branch raged. "You see nothing. You make this up as you speak. There's no Dream in
your
eyes."

Fox cringed as the sharp slap carried through the shelter. Huddling in Crow Caller's robes, she pulled them over her head to block the continuing sound of flesh on flesh. Anger so violent filled her that she retched suddenly into the corner, her stomach twisting in pain.

She feared for the old woman, and for herself, for defying Crow Caller. As she had shamed him today, he would shame her tonight. She curled into a ball, wincing against the agony she knew would come.

Crow Caller drew his hand back to strike Broken Branch again. The old woman rocked away, crabbing over ice, muttering to herself. Cloud Mother crept through the grayness overhead, streaking the sky with ribbons of pink and orange.

"Leave her alone," Runs In Light said tightly, the vision of Dancing Fox's terrified face sharp in his mind. Wolf flowed rich and strong in his veins. Deep in his soul, a hatred rose for this old man who tortured his people.

"What? Words of valor from my brother?" Raven Hunter said, arms crossed as he watched.

"You would break the People's peace?" Crow Caller accused. "You?
You
would threaten me?"

"There's no peace when an old woman suffers. You've already broken the—"

-''Don't tell
me.
" Crow Caller pulled himself straight, chest thrown out. "I have the right to punish where—"

"No one has that right. Not even—"

"I'll kill you, boy. My Spirit Power is great!" Livid, the old shaman grinned, revealing yellowed and broken teeth.

Crouching low, his skinny arm snaked out of his sleeve, tracing magical signs in the air.

Runs In Light took a deep breath, nervously fingering his darts. "Wolf protects. I don't fear you." But he did. Once too often he'd seen the powerful effects of the old man's magic. Silently, he prayed to Wolf for courage.

Hushed whispers swirled behind him, feet sliding on snow to clear a space so the two shamans could face each other alone. Power sizzled on the frigid air.

"In four weeks," Crow Caller sang in a haunting melody with his head thrown back, "your stomach will ache from turning itself inside out. . ." Soon the chant became incomprehensible. The old man raised his arms, and his voice trembled to the sky as he cavorted in an unknown dance.

Runs In Light squeezed his eyes shut. Crow Caller's Spirit Power chafed at the edges of his soul. "Wolf protects me. ..." he repeated over and over, heart throbbing. "He won't let me die until I reach the land beyond the Big Ice." He touched the blood-wolf effigy on his forehead. "Wolf leads me south to the land of the Father Sun. I follow the" Wolf Dream."

Crow Caller's Power seemed to ebb at the edges of his being. Runs In Light opened his eyes and smiled his relief at the old shaman where he danced.

Awed exclamations erupted behind him, at the demonstration of his Power. Broken Branch grabbed up her toes, rocking back and forth like Grandfather Brown Bear. A grin exposed her toothless black gums and pink tongue.

"Wolf Dream!" her gravelly voice cracked. "Ha-heee! I go south with Runs In Light. I go south with Wolf!"

Father Sun slid below the jagged horizon to the southwest, darkness accenting the hollowness of the People's cheeks and eyes. Dusk descended like opalescent veils of smoke. The wavering brilliant fires made by the Monster Children's war rose in rainbow patterns to light the northern sky. The Twins had fought from the beginning of time, one good, the other bad, locked in eternal combat.

"You go south to
death!
Hear me, Father Sun! I, Crow Caller, have your Dream. Feel my Power? I curse these . . . these traitors! Their souls will never reach the Blessed Star

People. Death!" he shrieked, pirouetting, arms spread like an eagle to end in a low crouch facing Runs In Light.

' 'I follow Wolf. Anyone who eats the meat of Wolf follows my Dream." Turning, Runs In Light weaved through the crowd to duck beneath the shelter flap.

Crimson light flickered over the hide walls of the shelter, accenting the fear and longing in people's eyes. They huddled silently around the low flames, letting the dark smoke warm them.

One Who Cries lifted the hafting of his new stone dart point to his teeth, finding the nub of sinew with his tongue., He clamped it tightly between worn incisors and pulled hard, feeling the knot go tight. With a critical eye, he examined the binding, grunting satisfaction at the set of the stone point in the split end of the dart shaft.

Singing Wolf poked at the smoldering chunk of mammoth dung in the fire pit. Along with dried moss, it made a meager source of heat. It had been a day of good luck; one of the children had found the fuel where the wind had stripped the snow away. The sadness of his baby's death still rested heavily in his eyes. The dung glowed red, smoke hanging thick and musty in the air.

One Who Cries sighted down the long shaft of his dart to the chunk of wolf meat in the middle of the floor. ' 'Do I have to sit here all night and stare at that pile of meat?''

"What's stronger? Your stomach? Or your fear of what Crow Caller will do to you if you eat wolf?" Singing Wolf wondered aloud, hungry eyes on the thawing wolf quarters. The side of meat nearest the fire glowed eerily red. Singing Wolf swallowed hard, as if the watering in his mouth irritated him.

"Shamans!" One Who Cries muttered, twirling the dart

anxiously in his fingers. "Playing for Power while the People starve . . .I'm eating the meat." He started crawling across the floor.

"And going south with Runs In Light?" Singing Wolf lifted an eyebrow.

One Who Cries stopped short, hovering over the meat. Perplexed lines gouged his brow. He set his stubby teeth in his lower lip. His round face looked almost pudgy in the light cast by the fire. High broad cheeks emphasized his mashed-flat nose. Hunger ate at the perpetual merriment in his eyes.

Uncertain now, One Who Cries lifted a shoulder. "Raven Hunter says his brother's a fool. A fool can talk himself into believing things. You know Runs In Light, he's always seeing things. Maybe—"

"Raven Hunter, now there's a man with sense. How can two brothers be so different?"

"So, what do we do? Look at that meat." He stabbed a hand at it. "Why do spirits have to get mixed up with my stomach? Get mixed up with us at all with death all around.''

"Because shamans are all crazy," Singing Wolf groaned,

"I'm going to eat it. You trust spirit meat?"

Singing Wolf scratched under his arm, eyes squinted thoughtfully. "Don't be an idiot. Of course not. Spirits are unpredictable." A pause. "Crow Caller didn't want to sing for my child. Didn't
want
to!" Behind him, Laughing Sunshine's eyes grew bright with tears. He clasped her hand firmly.

One Who Cries gave him a pained look. "You saw Light's eyes, huh? Did you see the Dream in them?"

He shrugged uncomfortably. "I don't know. There was something there, but ..."

"But what?"

'' Raven Hunter said— "

"I know what he said," One Who Cries grunted in disgust and rocked back on his heels, jaw vibrating with grinding teeth.