"Bear Power," Singing Wolf added under his breath.
"No matter how he got there, he came, following my scent." Wolf Dreamer smiled at the memory. "I tried to run at first. Then I called him, like I did the caribou. Remember?"
They both nodded nervously.
' 'I Dreamed him over the slabs of ice. The trail circled a slab thrust up by the ghosts below. There I waited, Dreaming him past, his nose to the snow. As he came, I rose on my toes, Dreaming my dart point to the place behind the shoulder, driving it with all my strength."
"Ahhhh!" One Who Cries sighed, eyes glowing.
"And the dart point you made went true." Wolf Dreamer patted One Who Cries' sleeve. "Grandfather White Bear whirled and twisted and snapped the shaft, but in doing so, sliced his heart in two."
"You did this alone?" Singing Wolf asked, mouth dry.
"Alone." He nodded wearily. "And Grandfather White Bear's blood, heart, and liver gave me strength. His flesh made me strong. His hide gave me warmth beyond my parka and long boots. I lived."
One Who Cries shook his head.
"Then I killed long-horned buffalo that ran free across the vast plains on the other side of the Big Ice. The game is tame. I walked up to animals. They simply looked at me, wary, walking off slowly, or coming close to smell. You see, they've never been hunted by men before."
Singing Wolf straightened slowly, holding his breath. Could it really be true? "No sign of men?"
"None."
"Only the Big Ice lies between us and this ... wondrous place?"
Wolf Dreamer nodded.
"But you crossed twice!" Singing Wolf cried. "Maybe
just a few of us could build a trail? Find a way for the elders and the children?"
"Impossible," Wolf Dreamer told them, eyes seeing someplace far away. "The ice shifts, blocks slide and crack. Any trail changes as it's made. What was safe the first time will be death the second. Every step must be felt out. That I lived is a miracle. And no, I didn't cross twice. Only once."
Singing Wolf shook his head. "You crossed twice, Wolf Dreamer. Or are you a spirit?" As soon as he said it, he regretted the words. This place of Heron's gave him fear nerves anyway. And if Wolf Dreamer were an apparition, his soul was already mostly sucked away.
Wolf Dreamer chuckled softly. "No, I'm no spirit, old friends. I only crossed the ice once. The way back"—he paused—"is much more frightening."
The hair on the back of Singing Wolf's neck prickled. He looked sideways at One Who Cries, who looked back, mouth open, hesitation in his brown eyes.
Wolf Dreamer steepled his fingers. "The way is only open until the Long Light advances. When the warm breezes blow, it will close. We can only cross in the Long Dark."
"Cross? But you said—"
"A poor choice of words." He raised his hands. "Better had I said come through."
"Through?" One Who Cries looked his mystification at Singing Wolf.
"Underneath, actually." Wolf Dreamer's eyes glowed again. "The way is dark."
"The way?" Singing Wolf held his breath.
Wolf Dreamer nodded. "The way is alongside the Big River."
"Like Wolf showed you."
' 'Yes. When the water builds up in the Long Light, it flows through a second channel. For two days, a man must walk in total blackness, feeling his way."
"The hole."
One Who Cries started. "You walked into that? Under that? You're crazy!"
' 'Hush!'' Singing Wolf chastised harshly. ' 'What else, Wolf Dreamer?"
Wolf Dreamer spread his hands again. "That's not the
worst. The ghosts are there, watching a man move in the darkness below."
One Who Cries propped his chin in his hands. "Under the Big Ice? After all the stories Crow Caller told? And you can hear the ghosts?"
Singing Wolf frowned at his cousin. "Would you rather have the ghosts or the Others?"
' 'Give me the Others!''
Singing Wolf dismissed him with the wave of a hand, forehead lining in concentration. "We could make a fire to carry. Render a lot of fat. Maybe make lines that people could hold."
One Who Cries shook his head. "But if we get lost in there, our souls will be trapped forever in darkness!"
Wolf Dreamer's eyes glazed, his mouth slackening as , though on the verge of a Dream. His cousins hushed, studying the faraway gaze.
"The ice is melting," the Dreamer whispered hoarsely. "Someday it will all melt off and people will cross on land, in the light of Father Sun.''
"Can we wait—"
"No." Wolf Dreamer smiled. "It won't happen in this lifetime. We must go now, through the hole, before it's too late."