Heron fingered her chin. "Did Crow Caller tell you Dreams came easy? Did he?"
No one ventured an answer, but their crimped faces told her what she wanted to know. "Well, they don't. Dreams don't come without pain . . . yes, and even death. Remember that."
She shook herself, gray-shot hair spilling loose about her shoulders. "You, Singing Wolf?"
He looked at her with wary indignation in his eyes. "What?"
"You think you're a hunter?"
"I'm the best—"
"No, you're not. I'm going to take you on a real hunt. A Dream Hunt. I'll call the caribou. I know the place. A drive line is already there. They hear me and listen. They'll help the People if I ask."
Singing Wolf glanced around uncomfortably. "You mean we're not going to go stalk them? To drive—"
"No. I'm going to go Dream them in. Don't disturb me." She turned and talked out into the growing darkness, following Wolf Dreamer's path.
Singing Wolf chewed his lip, confusion on his face. He raised his eyes to Broken Branch as she waddled past, heading out into the dark.
She stopped to scowl at him. "Didn't I tell you to keep your mouth shut?"
He dropped his eyes.
Runs In Light heard the soft tread. He bit back the frustration. "I'm not the one."
"No?" Heron's voice carried a subtle power.
"No."
A hand rested on his shoulder. "Tell me again of what you saw."
"I ... I passed through a hole in the ice with Wolf. We climbed rocks. There on the other side, a green valley opened as far as the eye could see. Caribou, elk, moose, mammoth, all kinds of animals were there. Then I had the Dream with the man. The Other you call my father."
"I knew you'd be a powerful Dreamer the first hour of your life."
He shook his head, doubt twisting his gut. "I'm no Dreamer.''
The edge of hostility in her voice caught him by surprise. "You won't be if you keep that up. I guarantee that," she spat over her shoulder.
Runs In Light sighed with relief as her steps receded.
After a few moments of silence, Broken Branch's voice came from the darkness to his side. "What did she tell you?"
He blinked to make out her dark silhouette. "That I'm a Dreamer."
"Hardly news."
He shook his head. "I don't understand all this. That, and the man in my Dream."
"Man?"
He nodded. "Heron says Seal Paw wasn't my father."
"What else does she say?"
He heard the stiffness in her voice, felt the growing tension. He bit his lip. Tell her?
"That my mother was raped. That I was born first and lay in a shaft of light. That Raven Hunter was born next. That he came out covered with blood. That it ran into his mouth as he was placed beside me. That a raven feather floated down and he grasped it."
"Hah-heeee," she gasped, placing a hand to her mouth. "Yes. Yes, I was there. I bit your cord in two myself. Where . . . where did your mother ..."
"On the beach, beside the salt water. Heron says she was collecting mussels."
Broken Branch slowly settled on a rock, eyes focused on the moon rising over the western horizon; it gilded the drift-
ing clouds with silver. "Yes, I heard the rumors." She looked up. "A Dreaming. And she saw you?"
Runs In Light nodded heavily. "Says I looked into her eyes."
"Hah-heeee, I knew it. Wolf Dreamer. Even then you were ... different."
He got up and paced angrily. "I don't want to be different! I want to be a hunter! That's all!"
"What else did she tell you? About the People?"
"That we would be killed by the Others ... or taken in among them. Soaked up like blood in fox fur."
Broken Branch covered her head. "You would turn from your people?"
"I'm not the one!" He struggled to keep his voice down. "I went the wrong way! Crow Caller was right."
"We're not dead yet," Broken Branch mumbled to herself. She looked up. "If not you . . . then who?"
He looked up at the geyser, hearing its roar, seeing the water flying high, sparkling white in the moonlight. "I don't know!" he shouted plaintively, squeezing his head between his hands. "I don't—"
"There's no one else."
"How do you know?"
"Who could it be?"
"I don't know! If the Other in my Dreams is my father, then maybe this Dreaming is in our blood!"
"What does that—"
"Maybe the savior is Raven Hunter!"
Broken Branch sat deathly still, eyes squinted in thought.
Chapter 18
The caribou came, a black line out of the gray. From where he waited, Runs In Light watched, awed. Just like the old stories, they walked deliberately into the wide-spread wings of the drive line.