Grizzly Tooth climbed up from below, a worried look on his face. The bear-tooth necklace clattered with each step. The warrior’s hard fist had tightened around the atlatl at his belt. “Do you see anyone?”
“I can just make out a small party of people up there.” Wolf of the Dead pointed. “From this distance, I can’t tell who they are. Maybe Ilini. This accursed land is too full of them.” ‘
“Perhaps. Their actions don’t look dazed enough to be Khota.” Grizzly Tooth took his time, shading his eyes as he searched. “Nothing, only water and sand dunes and more of that thin grass.”
“How many do you think might have survived?” Grizzly Tooth sighed and seated himself on the sand. He looked out over the water. “I don’t know. We’d have drowned out there ourselves if Round Scar hadn’t had the sense to head us right back into the wind and race for the safety of the shore.
As it was, We just made it.”
“And Pearl and the Water Fox?” Wolf of the Dead turned his attention eastward, toward the horizon, searching vainly for any dots that might be boats.
“Who knows?” Grizzly Tooth scooped up a handful of sand and let it trickle through his fingers. “That Trader’s canoe is big; it floats high in the water. Would the wind have capsized it? Or would they have been able to ride out the storm?”
“How should I know? What do I know about the Fresh Water Sea? Or of canoes in water like that? Maybe they drowned. We came within a thread of swamping.”
Are you alive, woman? And you, Water Fox? Are you out there? Laughing at me? Wolf of the Dead closed his eyes, searching with his soul. What was that hint of feeling? Could he detect them? Sense them out there? In the end, he bowed to a warrior’s pragmatism. “I think … I think they are alive out there. That big canoe, with its keel, might have saved them. We must assume they live.”
Grizzly Tooth grunted as sand streamed between his fingers.
“Our only salvation is to hunt them down, kill them, and bring their heads home as a signal to all peoples that no one insults the Khota.” Wolf of the Dead ran his tongue over the gap in his front teeth. “Now, show me how this Fresh Water Sea lies upon the land.”
“I have been told it looks like this.” Grizzly Tooth drew a long loop in the sand. “We crossed the passage here, on the southwest side. This shore, south of us, curves gradually eastward along a series of giant sand dunes. Then the coast runs northward.” Grizzly Tooth drew another loop like a big thumb.
“This is the land beyond the eastern shore. You’ll notice that it’s a big peninsula. More of the Fresh Water Sea lies on the other side. I’ve never been here before, let alone to the other side of the peninsula. I only know what I’ve learned from the Traders. They say it’s a long way around.”
“What kind of lunatic would paddle right out into the middle of the Fresh Water Sea with a storm coming pn?” Wolf of the Dead glared angrily at the silver sheen glinting off the water.
“A desperate one.” Grizzly Tooth rubbed his map away and looked up. “And speaking of desperation,- what do we do? If our warriors have survived, they’ll be scattered all along this coast.”
Ah, old friend, you do not wish to mention the fact that I may have killed the finest of our young men. And for that small favor, at least, Wolf of the Dead felt a welling gratitude. “You used the word desperation. What choices are left to us? Retreat back to our territory? I think not.”
“You are right, my leader. No matter what, we must proceed.”
Grizzly Tooth shook his head. “The Ilini would see our weakness. On top of the stories of Water Fox’s massacre, we can’t allow them to spread this news.”
Wolf of the Dead nodded. Another of his blinding headaches was building. By afternoon, the hammering pain would sap him into uselessness. “If the Ilini see the remnants of our party slipping home like cowed dogs, we will be condemning our people to destruction. On the other hand, if we gather those whom we find alive and continue the chase, the Ilini will not know the disaster that has fallen upon us.”
Grizzly Tooth rubbed his face wearily. “I think you’re right.”
“You don’t look pleased.”
“I’m not. I would have liked a moon at home. After all those days in the canoe watching Pearl’s inviting body, I’m ready for some time under the robes with my woman. But enough of that.
Yes, we should do as you say. And if we can find enough men alive, we should send one canoe back to reassure people that all is well.” Grizzly Tooth frowned, his fingers pressed to his lips. “Have them … yes, tell a story about how we tied all the boats together, rode out the storm. Some of the canoes broke loose and you and I took it upon ourselves to scout for those missing boats. The others, meanwhile, are paddling straight across the Fresh Water Sea.”