People of the Wolf(31)

He gripped her arm, eyes burning into hers in the darkness. "Remember," he said. "Even if I have to sacrifice both of us, I'll save the People."

He shoved her arm back at her, leaving her off balance and reeling as he went to sing for Gray Rock's soul.

Dancing Fox pulled her hair back where it tumbled from under her hood and forced a deep breath into her lungs. Teeth gritted, she walked wearily to her worn sleeping skins, finding several long strips of dehydrated meat stuffed in her pack. Mouth watering, despite the guilt, she attacked them, ignoring the rancid taste.

That night, Raven Hunter didn't come to her.





Chapter 11



"Let's go back!" Jumping Hare declared, looking from face to face. Around them, the snow walls of the ice cave gleamed orange in the firelight.

"To what?" asked One Who Cries.

Green Water placed the last length of knotted willow ripped from the unyielding snow on the glowing coals. She could see her husband's eyes on her, waiting for her words.

"Back?" she asked calmly. "We've crossed nothing but rock. Maybe better land lies ahead?"

"Maybe, but—"

"At least here we find leaves and sometimes a handful of

frozen berries. We didn't have that at Mammoth Camp. There could be game ahead."

Singing Wolf gritted his teeth, waving both arms hostilely. "But we're too weak to hunt. It takes strength to kill."

"We'll manage," One Who Cries assured him.

"But even the mice are burrowed under the snow," Jumping Hare muttered. "The rabbits are gone. The few ptarmigan we've seen fly too—"

"Raven Hunter warned us," Singing Wolf quarreled. "Runs In Light is just a boy."

"And we didn't listen."

Broken Branch, who'd been sitting quietly in the corner, suddenly leaned forward. "You young idiots," she said, sucking the remains of the wolf bone she continued to carry in her pouch. ' 'What's the matter with you? You think he's a boy? Look at you!" She snaked a bony arm out of her hide sleeve to point at each of them in turn. Hollow eyes stared back. "Your stomachs knot up a little and you run to bury your heads in the snow.''

"But, Grandmother," Jumping Hare said incredulously. "We're starv—"

"Bah! You're not worthy of Wolf's gift. Go on! Get out!" She sucked her bone loudly, glaring through wind-tangled strands of gray.

Jumping Hare closed his eyes, unwilling even now to chastise an elder. "We might have to, Grandmother. To survive."

"I think we all forget," Green Water cautioned, "this Long Dark is different. Worse than any in memory. The Others lie to the north and west, blocking retreat. Here, we're in a new country. At least the ridges are blown free of snow. In those flats in the north, we'd walk all the way on snowshoes."

"But we might find a camp of the People," Jumping Hare pointed out.

"Would they have enough to share?" Green Water raised a cautious eyebrow. "Or would our arrival doom them . . . as well as us?"

"Survival," Singing Wolf muttered. "We sit here trying to figure a way to save ourselves, and where is our great Dreamer!" He pointed to the opening in the snow cave. "He ran away because he couldn't stand to face us!"

An uneasy silence settled, the only sounds the crackling of the fire and Broken Branch sucking her bone.

"He's trying to call the animals," Green Water said finally.

"Hah! He's hunger crazy. It takes a man with Spirit Power to call the animals. And what animal would be here? In these rocks?"

"Maybe some mice or—"

"I saw him stumble and fall today. He's lost his Power!

He's going to kill us all!" s

One Who Cries exhaled heavily. "I don't think—"

' 'Maybe the spirits of the Long Dark have already sucked his soul from his body, hauled it out there into the dark to give them strength so they can suck up ours."

"You ..." Broken Branch whispered, faded eyes glistening in the flickering light. Everyone held their breath at the hostile look on her withered face. "What have you ever done for the People? Eh? Nothing. You're a complainer, not a doer. You wait for others to take chances, then you prance around condemning them. You're worse than the spirits of the Long Dark, you suck up all our souls with your jealous whinings."

Singing Wolf's mouth gaped, bitter words on his tongue. "You crazy old—"

"Don't you backtalk me, boy. I'll skewer you with this bone." She lunged at him, striking his collar hard. He scuttled backward, slapping at her.

"Crazy old curlew of a woman! Crazy! Like that cursed Runs In Light!"

Broken Branch sidled toward him, bone pointing, eyes keen as she cocked her head. "Let me tell you something, boy. You've never proved who you are! That's why you always sucked up to Crow Caller. At least, you did until he didn't sing for your little girl out there in the snow that day. Eh?"