Broken Rock Bay (Clan of the Ice Mountains Book 3) Read online

  Suka motioned for one of the canoes to come back in as Attu walked over to where the dead Raven lay. He slowly removed Suka’s spear and handed it to him. “Thank you, Cousin,” he said.

  Suka knelt by the water to wash the blood off his weapon.

  Attu moved his spear to a ready position in his skin boat and paddled between the beach and the boats, keeping watch for any more Ravens. But no one came down the path. Hartik climbed into a Nukeena canoe with the others.

  They headed north once again, slowly, the boats heavy with their new cargo.

  I wonder if the Nukeena men realize what they’re getting themselves into. They’ve been alone for so long, and now this. But as Attu looked at the men who’d come to get back their own women and more women besides, all he saw were wide grins on every face. And as they rounded the last point, putting the Raven camp well behind them and out of sight for good, Cray called in the throaty deep cry of the Nukeena hunters. The others joined in, the Nukeena women first, startling the rest of the women and children, who’d remained silent in the boats throughout the whole incident on the beach. They looked at each other, puzzled.

  But the sounds of triumph were catching, and soon all the women and children were calling out, quietly at first, then louder and louder. Some also cried tears of joy as they released the fear they’d been living in for such a long time. Each in their own way, they called out over the water and the trees and the mountains to the east. Their cries echoed back to them and joined with the sounds of the water and the wind.

  To Attu, it felt as if all of Nuvikuan-na were rejoicing with them. He wished Rika were here right now. His own calls of triumph seemed empty without her here to join him in celebration.

  Suka led the way again. Attu regained the position he’d lost in his ruminations and slowed to an easy paddling pace a short distance behind the last canoe. With the canoes loaded with women and children, the second leg of their journey would take a lot longer than the first. Attu sighed and tried not to think of Rika and how odd it seemed not to be able to mind speak with her. He wondered how she was doing, how she was feeling. He wondered how his mother was, and the other women, also.

  Realizing his worrying wasn’t helping him feel any better, Attu turned his mind back to the Here and Now, only to find himself working not to think of the birds gliding along the shoreline tugging at his spirit to join them. He tried to think of nothing except the wind and the waves and the fact they’d succeeded in fooling the Ravens one last time. But Attu found it was hard to be happy, even about the rescue, when they’d had to kill a woman to do it. Still, they’d rescued these brave and worthy ones...

  She was trying to kill you, Farnook mind spoke. I didn’t mean to hear your thoughts, but you are loud with them.

  Sorry.

  You don’t know who that was, do you?

  No. What difference does it make? It was a woman. Nuviks don’t hurt women.

  That was Kagit’s second woman. With Kagit, his mother, and his third woman gone, Kagit’s second woman used her influence and was pushing the others to make her their new leader. Hartik said, “She wore the wings.” I think Hartik means Kagit’s second woman had taken the mystique Kagit surrounded himself with and had been trying to make it her own.

  And now she’s dead.

  Yes. The Raven women will think she was taken for all the cruel things she did to me... and you saved Hartik. She was the only one Caanti wanted to tell about the escape but couldn’t. Caanti waited so long to leave because she was trying to get Hartik alone, but Kagit’s second woman never let her out of her sight. Caanti finally had to leave without her. She’ll explain why later, but I think it had something to do with the baby.

  Attu realized he’d forgotten that the death of one evil Raven woman had also resulted in an innocent woman being saved. And a baby.

  Thank you. Attu pulled his thoughts back and was just getting into the rhythm of long-distance paddling when his mind was hit by a pain so intense it felt like he’d been struck in the heart with a spear.

  Attu! Are you all right? What was that? Farnook’s panicked mind speech reached him as another wave of pain and now grief threatened to push him into the Between of unconsciousness.

  What is happening? I feel like something terrible has happened, but what? And to whom?

  Suka had stopped paddling, and the Nukeena hunters were looking around, wondering what was happening.

  Attu pulled his skin boat alongside Suka’s. “Do you think something has happened to Rika? Or to Yural?” Farnook asked.

  Attu hadn’t been able to put his terror into words, but Farnook’s question made him consider the possibility.

  “Something has happened to the Clan. That I feel quite sure of. We need to get back as soon as we can.”

  Farnook translated to the Nukeena, who began paddling faster. But their boats were full, and Attu knew it would be a slow journey even if he tried to rush them.

  “Should we go ahead?” Attu asked. “Let the Nukeena travel behind us with the women?”

  “I don’t know,” Suka said. He looked to Farnook.

  “The feeling has passed,” she said. “And I have a sense that whatever happened, it is over. I don’t feel panic, as if our people are fighting, just a sense of loss, and great sadness.”

  “I feel it, too,” Attu said. “Farnook, pray to the spirits, and I will, also. They will help us decide what to do.”

  Attu dropped back and paddled, letting his mind open up to allow the spirits to speak to him in that way he often gained insight, just below his conscious mind, in the place of the Between within his spirit.

  At sun high they stopped to eat and rest. Attu sat away from the Nukeena with Farnook and Suka.

  “Whatever happened, it is over,” Farnook said.

  “Then there’s no reason to leave the Nukeena because whatever it is, there’s nothing we can do to change it? Is that what you are feeling?” Attu asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Me, too.” Attu knew he looked distraught, but those he loved most were days away and whatever happened, he knew in his spirit his rushing back to his Clan wouldn’t help.

  “It’s easy for me to say this because Farnook is with me.” Suka rested his hand on Farnook’s arm. “But if that’s what you believe the spirits are telling you, you need to follow them.” He shook his head. “If Farnook was back in our camp right now and I’d experienced what you two have with your Gifts, nothing could stop me from paddling nonstop back to her to make sure she was all right.” He grinned, trying to lighten the moment. “But I’m foolish and hotheaded. We all know that.”

  “Believe me, Suka, that’s what I want to do.” Attu gritted his teeth in frustration. “But I’ve followed my Gift and the spirits long enough to know that I can trust them.”

  “Still, we can try to make the Nukeena hurry, ai?”

  The canoes were beached above high tide, and the men and women gathered around a large fire. They’d gone as far as they could before the sun neared the water and they stopped for the night. The Nukeena hunters passed out food they’d brought, and the women made places for their children to sleep. The evening was warm and clear, so there was no need for shelters.

  “No more sudden feelings?” Attu asked Farnook, speaking low so the others couldn’t hear.

  “No. And you?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Except you have been fighting the urge to enter a bird’s mind and fly back to see what happened. You must not do that.” Farnook was studying him, her face grave.

  “How did you know... oh, my thoughts are still too loud.” Attu wiped his hand over his face.

  “I would have mind spoken to you if I thought you needed it. You made the right choice. It’s too dangerous.”

  “I know. I have no idea if I could even control a bird once I entered its mind.”

  “But what has happened?”

  “Something bad, that’s for certain. That sense of pain and sadness was overwhelming. But someho
w I know it isn’t about Rika. I can’t be sure what it is, but I feel in my spirit that I’d know if it were her.”

  “And that thought held you fast in your own mind, paddling with the rest of us.” Farnook looked at Attu, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears. “You are doing the right thing.”

  “Did you find out about Caanti’s baby?” Suka asked.

  Attu flashed Suka a grateful smile. He knows I need to be distracted.

  Farnook moved to sit beside Caanti and Cray near the fire, holding the baby and talking with them. After a while, she spoke to Suka and Attu. “Caanti brought the child with her because the woman who bore him died in childbirth. Even though Caanti begged to keep the baby for her own since she had no children, Kagit’s second woman was spiteful, and the baby was given to one of the other women to care for. But when the Ravens thought they needed to escape the wrath of the Raven spirit, that woman abandoned the baby. Caanti grew suspicious when she heard crying, and she found him in one of the longhouses, lying on a fur on the floor in the dark, the woman and her other children packed and gone.”

  Caanti made a snatching gesture with her hands as if to say, “So, I took him!”

  Cray put his arm around his woman and held her close. “Sabotta. Fuva. Ai?” He grinned at them and said something else in Nukeena to Farnook.

  “He says it is better the child is with them now,” Farnook explained. “He is thankful to the spirit of fire that the threat of fire frightened the Ravens into leaving the baby behind, giving them the chance to have a son of their own.”

  Attu smiled and nodded his agreement, relieved the Nukeena, like the Nuvik, would so easily adopt an orphaned child. To the Nuvik, a baby was precious no matter where it came from. They were welcomed and rejoiced over. So many children on the Expanse never made it to their first walking time. But here, in this new place, without the constant harshness of bitter cold and occasional hunger times, the children grew strong. Attu laughed as two of the rescued children ran past the fire, calling out to each other in their game.

  The Nukeena men and a few of the women, too, smiled at Cray and Caanti. Some of the women looked wistful, but one or two were already eyeing the Nukeena men as possible bond partners. Each had made the decision to try to escape, to begin again. Now that they realized this also included taking a man, Attu believed that once they were convinced these men were nothing like the Ravens, most would be eager to bond and become Nukeena women.

  The group fell into a routine as they traveled. They started out each morning at first sun, paddled until mid-morning, then looked for a place to bring the canoes into shore. The men would rest for a while, watching the children running and playing. A few ventured into the water. The women would gather whatever they could find to eat along the shore or at the edge of the forest where the sunshine allowed berry bushes to grow. It was the time of the large blue berry that grew on tall bushes right up to the high tide mark on some beaches. The women and children picked as many of them as they could, and so far, with some fish the hunters and older children caught, the Nukeena hadn’t needed to use the food supplies they’d brought.

  Attu fought the urge to push them all, like he’d done on the Expanse when he’d grown terrified of the rotting ice. His father had spoken reason to him then, and Attu was reminded that Ubantu was back at their camp with Rika and the others. His father could handle whatever had happened. It was some consolation to Attu, but not enough.

  We need to get home. Attu found himself thinking again. Those words had become a constant chant in his mind, along with, we’re moving so slowly.

  Farnook motioned for Hartik to join them during their next midday rest, and the Raven woman sat down shyly beside her, across from Attu and Suka. Farnook handed the woman a bowl, and Attu noticed that she ate just as quickly as Farnook had when they first met her. Farnook said nothing, but scooped more meat and berries into Hartik’s bowl as soon as she’d finished her first one.

  Hartik’s eyes widened at being offered a second helping, but she took it and murmured her thanks to Farnook. Attu noticed she ate less desperately this time, although still quickly.

  Attu looked up from his own bowl a short while later to see the young woman staring at him.

  Hartik dropped her gaze immediately and whispered something to Farnook.

  “She wants to thank you for coming back and getting so many of her people away from the Ravens.” Farnook smiled her encouragement at Hartik and the woman spoke again, this time a little more loudly. She glanced at Attu for a moment then looked away again.

  “She wants you to know she only blew the shell to alert the others because Kagit’s second woman ordered her to. The Raven leader had seen Caanti leave with the baby and thought she was trying to steal it and run away while she could. When the Raven leader recognized you, Hartik thinks she threw the spear without thinking, trying to revenge Kagit’s death.”

  Attu nodded, keeping his face calm so Hartik would see he held nothing against her for her role in the attempt on his life.

  “Before Kagit’s second woman took her for her own, Limoot was training Hartik to be a healer.” Farnook changed the subject, translating for Hartik, so the woman would know she’d been paid a compliment.

  Hartik nodded. Her whole face lit up at the mention of her training. Then she turned toward Farnook, obviously more comfortable speaking with her than with Attu or Suka. The two women were deep in conversation when someone called from the edge of the clearing. A young boy started crying. Hartik looked to Farnook, then stood and walked toward the commotion.

  “One of the boys has apparently become sick from eating too many berries,” Farnook said. “Hartik will see to him.”

  “But she has no healer’s tools or potions with her,” Suka said.

  “She’ll think of something,” Farnook said. “The women are looking to her now when they need help. I told her we have healers back at our camp. I told her about Rika, and I told her about Dran, and that he was unable to come with the others because he so selflessly took care of them when they were on the ocean, almost dying because of it. Hartik seemed impressed with his actions.”

  “Did she seem interested in him for her man?” Attu asked, remembering how weak Dran had still been when they’d left for the Raven camp. “He was still very ill when we left.”

  “And look around,” Suka said. “There are a lot of strong Nukeena men right here for her to choose from.”

  “I think Hartik might wait to see for herself. She seems called to healing work. She might want to bond with a healer.”

  Over the course of a few suns, with gestures and a few shared words, friendships had been growing. Attu smiled, thinking of how many of the men had already paired off with a woman. Attu saw almost every woman had a man helping her in and out of the canoes as they rocked sideways in the waves, carrying children from the beach into waiting arms, and in the last few days one or two couples besides Cray and Caanti had stolen some time alone, walking up the beach or a short distance into the never-ending forests along the shore.

  “The women and children continue to do well,” Suka said, paddling near Attu. “They’re tough.”

  “I guess they’d have to be strong, to risk trying to escape.” Attu steadied his skin boat as a larger wave slewed him sideways. He was frustrated with the slow progress they were making today because of the waves. Suka knew it helped him to talk of other things, and Attu smiled briefly at his cousin, acknowledging his help.

  “Only the strongest survived the Ravens,” Farnook said. “I watched many captured women die while I was with them. Some died of grief for the loved ones they’d lost and some from injuries received when they were captured. Some just faded away, taking moons to finally pass into the Between where their spirits had gone the night they were taken.” Her voice sounded flat, and as she spoke, Farnook gazed off at the western horizon where the ocean lay, reflecting the overcast sky above.

  I don’t think we’ll ever know all that Farnook saw and suffer
ed at the hands of the Ravens, Attu thought. But, like these women, she’s a survivor.

  “And like me, they will have a new life,” Farnook said.

  She read my thoughts again. Attu looked ruefully at Farnook. I’m sorry I can’t seem to keep my thoughts from your mind.

  But Farnook wasn’t listening to him anymore. She had turned and was gazing into Suka’s eyes. The look that passed between them made Attu ache to hold Rika in his arms again.

  Attu pulled his boat ahead of them with a few paddle strokes.

  Attuanin, you have brought us this far in safety and brought success to our rescue. Now bring us home safely as well. And whatever our people have suffered in our absence, may our Clan find the strength to recover quickly. We need to begin heading north again soon.

  The sun had just passed overhead and begun its journey down to the sparkling blue ocean with its gently rolling waves. Attu thought he recognized the ridge before him, one of the points as far south as his men would travel on one of their longer hunting trips. It had taken them many days to make the return journey, but as the shoreline became familiar, Attu considered calling out to Rika.

  From this distance it might use so much of my energy, like it had on the beach, that I’ll barely be able to paddle for the rest of the day. But we need to know what happened...

  Rika?

  Nothing.

  Rika? Attu tried a few more times, but heard nothing in response.

  I guess we’re still too far away. He tried not to worry. I know nothing has happened to her.

  Tingiyok? Attu called out the Elder’s name several times, but got no reply.

  My patience is running out. I can’t stop worrying about what has happened, but I still need to lead well, worry or not. But we’re going so slowly!

  As if he’d read Attu’s thoughts, Suka pulled up beside him and said, “These Nukeena seem in no hurry to get back. They know we need to get back, and I’ve tried not to say anything, but Cousin, it’s making me crazy paddling this leisurely, day after day. It’s like they don’t respect our concern for our Clan.”