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

  “Who else could it be?”

  “Why would Soantek want a woman who could do what Keanu can do? She is so powerful. Do the Nukeena hunters know this? Keanu dove down within the falcon over Tingiyok and Nuka’s canoe. Her Gift is no secret. But has she used it where the Nukeena could witness it?” Attu asked. Perhaps Soantek is unaware of what Keanu could do.

  “Not that I know of. I do know she is still trying to figure out a way to help you,” Rika interrupted Attu’s thoughts. “We talked about it several times while you were gone.”

  “And?”

  “She still hasn’t come up with an idea. The trouble with Veshria...” Rika’s words trailed off as she saw the disappointment on Attu’s face.

  Attu didn’t want to frighten Rika, but it seemed that now he was back in the Clan again, the desire he felt constantly to fly with every bird he saw was growing even stronger. Attu didn’t know how long he could keep pulling himself back.

  What if one of these times I can’t? What if my mind leaves my body and does not return? I need some sort of instruction.

  He shivered, and Rika, mistaking his fear as a chill, snuggled closer to him.

  “What else can I do, if Keanu doesn’t know how to teach me?” Attu asked. “Do you have any ideas?”

  “What if I have a potion nearby when you enter the mind of an animal, so if your mind does get trapped there, we could pour the potion into your mouth and knock you out. That might force your mind back into your own body.”

  “But entering the animal’s mind already seems to put me in a Between place I cannot escape.”

  “This would be a way to get out of that place.”

  “It might work.” Attu knew he didn’t sound convinced, but he guessed it might be possible.

  “Or what if you entered the mind of an animal that we could control, not a bird, but say, a small fish or mouse you had caught. If necessary, we could kill the little creature to get your mind back...”

  “Unless by killing it you trapped my mind in the fish or mouse’s dead body.”

  “Oh.”

  “I can see why Keanu is reluctant to help me. But I’ve got to do something.”

  “And I understand. You need help soon.” Rika held Attu close. With her in his arms, Attu felt almost strong enough to do battle with his Gift and win. Almost.

  Meavu sat beside Attu as he worked the next afternoon sewing new sealskin onto his skin boat.

  “Keanu is so upset by Veshria. I don’t know what to do about it,” Meavu said.

  “Have you spoken to Rika or Yural?”

  “Both. They don’t have any new ideas on how to help Veshria. Meanwhile, Keanu is feeling like she did sometimes back in the Seer Clan, like she doesn’t belong.”

  “She belongs. And I need her.” Attu knew he sounded selfish, but it was true.

  “I know.”

  “And even though I wish Veshria wasn’t making Keanu miserable right now, I do feel sorry for Veshria. Very sorry,” Attu said. “Her baby’s death has to have been devastating. Now, in the midst of her grief, she’s surrounded by women with child all blessed by Attuanin and happily anticipating their own pooliks to come. There is not a moment she’s not reminded of what she’s done and what she’s suffered because of it. Do we know for sure that the Seer healer told Veshria not to use that root potion if she suspected she might be with child?”

  “Keanu says she was with Veshria when the Seer gave it to her the first time. She remembered the warning. She warned Veshria herself when she delivered the second pouch before leaving. But she also said Veshria was in a lot of pain, at least the first time, and might not have remembered what the healer said. Rika says that happens sometimes. And Rusik wasn’t with his woman when she saw the healer. She never told him about the warning.”

  “And the second time? Do you think she just didn’t listen to Keanu?”

  “I think that’s what probably happened.”

  “So her distrust of Keanu caused her to make the wrong decision.”

  “And as far as any of us can tell, it may have already been too late when Rika discovered Veshria was using it. Elder Nuka thinks so. She is convinced that using that root deformed the baby from the start.”

  No wonder the woman has gone crazy with grief. “No one, no matter how stubborn or thoughtless, deserves the suffering Veshria is in right now.”

  “Can you think of anything else we can do?” Meavu’s eyes pleaded with him.

  “I will pray to the spirits on behalf of Veshria as her Clan leader. The spirits can send healing to Veshria in the way she needs it.”

  “We will all pray they send it soon.” Meavu gave Attu a brief hug and walked back toward camp.

  Attu began praying right then as he stitched.

  Tingiyok and Rovek stood and moved to stand near the fire where most of Attu’s people had gathered. Tingiyok placed his hand out, palm down, toward the fire.

  “Speak, Elder Tingiyok. I’m anxious to hear your words. Rovek’s also,” Attu added.

  “Everyone else has heard about the place to the north. But our leader, his cousin, and his cousin’s woman have not. May we speak to all of you again?” Tingiyok turned to see the reaction of the others.

  Lips popped in agreement and people leaned in, eager to listen again about the place they were bound.

  Good. Attu thought. They like it already. It must be a good place.

  Tingiyok nodded. “There is a large bay, as wide as the eye can see, that reaches far into the land.” He motioned with his hands to describe how large the bay was. “There is a wide river flowing into this bay, a river we paddled up for half a day’s journey without reaching a place where we were stopped. Both the bay and the river are filled with fish and other water life. Plants and animals grow in abundance in and near these waters.”

  Attu felt himself being drawn in by Tingiyok’s words right along with the rest of his people.

  Rovek spoke next. “The mouth of the bay is narrow, and it has large rocks, broken off in places and collapsed to the sides of the standing ones. They are so big and so numerous they look like a mouthful of teeth, perhaps the teeth of Nuvikuan-na herself. The bay is her mouth and the rocks her teeth, broken, jagged teeth that protect the bay. Our skin boats were able to move in and out, but it does take some skill to navigate around the swirling current of the rocks.”

  “The huge rocks and the narrow opening protect the bay, so the waters remain quite calm, even when the ocean is not,” Tingiyok added. “And I can’t promise it, but to me, it seemed like a very large canoe would have a hard time coming in to this bay.”

  Lips popped in approval, Attu’s along with the rest.

  What great protection from any other killers like the Ravens!

  “The bay is sheltered by hills to the east,” Rovek continued. He rolled his arm up and down, showing a series of six hills.

  “Six,” Rika whispered to Attu. “The number of completeness.”

  “The hills are rocky,” Rovek said, “but to the north and south of the hills there are forests. Not as tall and thick as the forests here, but sufficient for our needs.”

  “It was not long ago when we had never even seen a tree,” Ubantu said. “And now we think we cannot live without them.” He laughed. “But it is good this place has trees. I’ve grown fond of our wood fires and the tools we can make with their branches.”

  “So many things can be made from them,” Yural added. “The baskets woven of the needles are very useful and the sticky tree blood is good for waterproofing and glue.”

  Lips popped in agreement.

  “Were there berry bushes?” one of the women asked. “It is the time of the blue berry here.”

  Attu knew his people had grown fond of the berries. The women were picking and drying as many as they could for the journey north.

  “Yes,” Tingiyok said. “We saw many bushes in the walking we did up into the hills. The berries were just ripening there, not as ripe yet as here, but they are numerou
s. And east of the hills, Rovek saw a herd of animals, like the paddle antlers my Clan hunted.”

  Rovek nodded. “There is some grassland not too far on the other side of the hills, a small valley between the hills and the mountains farther east. A river runs down from those mountains, through the valley and out to the Great Ocean. As I stood at the top of one of the hills, I thanked the spirits that we saved the Nukeena so they were able to tell us of it. The bay has everything we need and so much more! It’s like all the best of Nuvikuan-na in one place!”

  Rovek was smiling broadly now. It made him look even younger than the young hunter he still was. Eager, like he’d just speared his first seal. “This is a place we can stay forever, Attu.” Rovek appealed to his leader. “Cray has given us such a great gift in telling us of it. On our own, I doubt we would have worked to maneuver into this bay around the guarding rocks. But it is perfect for us, I think. In the time of winter, we can start our journey over the ice from either point of the bay, although the one to the south is a less steep climb down to the water. The bay itself will freeze and be easy to cut into and fish from. Being sheltered should make the ice smooth and hard, I think.”

  “The hills and caves we found in them are a way to hide from any enemies who might try to overpower us with their numbers,” Tingiyok added. “And if they are like the caves of the Seers, they stay warm in winter and cool in summer. Meat can be stored in the caves in summer, and people can use the caves in winter for shelter if needed.”

  Women nodded at Tingiyok’s suggestion of food storage and the men at the idea of an alternate shelter.

  “Why do you think no one lives there now?” Attu asked.

  The group grew quiet.

  Attu could see his question had caught Tingiyok by surprise. The old man shrugged.

  “Did you see any signs people have lived there before, but abandoned the place?” Suka added his question as Attu’s people murmured among themselves, seeking possible answers as to why such a bountiful place wouldn’t have been found and claimed by another Clan before them.

  “No,” Tingiyok seemed glad to be able to at least answer Suka’s question. “It looks to us as if no one has ever been there. We didn’t even see any sign the Nukeena had been nearby. Bashoo says they did not enter the bay, but spent two nights and one day on the point, exploring inland far enough to discover the caves, but that was all. They didn’t risk taking their canoes through the rocks.”

  “But he did say he’d wanted to paddle in the bay. They talked of how ideal a place it would be to settle, if they ever decided to give up hunting whales in the larger canoes. That was why he was eager to come back, to see the place once again and this time explore it,” Rovek added.

  Bashoo had been sitting near Suanu, bouncing Brovik on his legs. At the mention of his name, he looked to Farnook, who translated for him. “Ai,” the man said. He grinned.

  “Ai,” Brovik said, in perfect imitation of the Nukeena who was holding him.

  Bashoo jumped at the toddler’s words.

  Brovik saw all eyes on him and grinned. “Ai,” he announced again.

  Everyone laughed as Brovik pulled himself up, holding Bashoo’s hands, and started jumping up and down on the hunter’s legs, squealing with delight at all the attention he was getting.

  “That boy will be a capable hunter,” Yural said to Suanu. Suanu dipped her head at the compliment, her eyes shining.

  “And already he imitates the man who will be his father. The only one he’ll remember.” Suka spoke quietly to Farnook, but Attu overheard.

  “He will know you, his uncle, and you will teach him about his father.” Farnook rested her hand on her man’s arm.

  “How can I do that?” Suka scowled at her. “Bashoo will take them both when the Nukeena leave. I will never see Brovik or Suanu again.” He slumped back against the furs.

  Attu knew this parting again would be difficult for Suka. It had been hard enough the first time, having to watch his family walk out onto the grasslands without him when they left with the Seers.

  “Oh, I think you’ll be seeing them as often as you wish,” Farnook said. “Why do you think Bashoo wanted to go north again and explore that bay?”

  “Oh,” Suka said. His face grew thoughtful.

  Chapter 17

  The torchlights flickered on the water as the Nukeena moved along the edge of the river, up the bend and around to a place where the current was slower and the water deep. The Nuvik women drew water from this place, and Attu thought about the conversation he’d had with Suka as they’d filled their water skins before their journey south. It had all worked out. Here they were again, and Attu and the rest of his Clan were about to witness what the bonding ceremony was like for the Nukeena Clan.

  “This is so exciting!” Meavu was skipping along on Rovek’s arm like a young unbonded woman.

  Attu was pleased to see her so happy. Everyone seemed caught up in the excitement. Veshria was there with Rusik, and tonight, although she wasn’t smiling, Attu thought her eyes seemed clearer. He hoped his mother’s plan was working and Veshria was showing signs of healing.

  Keanu, however, was not there. She’d been gone from camp most of the day again and when she returned, Attu had been disappointed in their conversation.

  “I know how dangerous it is for you if you don’t learn to control this Gift,” Keanu had said as the two of them walked back to camp from the river. “But I won’t be the one to encourage you to try to control it by practicing entering the minds of animals when you have no control over the animal or yourself once inside the other’s mind.”

  “Then what do I do?”

  “I’m considering having you enter my mind instead of an animal’s.”

  “Why?”

  “Because then I could at least see what’s happening, and I think I could push you out if I needed to. I entered the falcon’s mind and kicked you out of it in the dream. But that was a dream, not in the Here and Now. In the Here and Now, I wouldn’t want to risk it. At least at first. My mind seems to be the safest way to start.”

  “It might work.”

  “But if it didn’t, you might be trapped in my mind forever. When your mind did not return to your body, your body would die. If I tried to make your mind leave after that, it would be like I was murdering you twice. Don’t you see how impossible that would be for me to do? We would both end up insane, two minds trapped in one body. I’m not willing to take that risk. At least not yet.”

  Keanu moved away from Attu toward the shelter she was still sharing with Suanu, until Suanu’s bonding. “You need to give me more time to think about this. Don’t pressure me.”

  Keanu had disappeared into her shelter, and Attu had walked away, his thoughts in turmoil.

  Attu pulled his thoughts back now as they neared the edge of the water. Twelve women and twelve men stood side by side, dressed in the briefest of coverings, ready to walk into the river. Suanu and Bashoo were there, and behind them, Hartik and Dran. Cray and Caanti had decided to participate in the ceremony again, and Soantek had agreed after they’d explained they wanted the blessing of the fire and water spirits upon their reunion and for their new son.

  A few of the Nuvik men stood on the shore, beating the Nuviks’ drum and rattle instruments in the odd rhythm Soantek had taught them. The Nukeena hadn’t wanted to take the time necessary to make their own instruments, and Soantek said the Nuviks’ would do.

  “We won’t be seeing the full ritual,” Yural said as they stood in a group on the slight rise near the shoreline, where they could watch but not get in the way of the ceremony. “There are some other items Soantek is missing to perform the complete traditional bonding, but he said this ritual would be sufficient considering the circumstances.”

  All eyes turned to Soantek, who stepped out of the forest and into the clearing.

  He certainly looks ready.

  Soantek stood, dressed only in a man’s cloth. His lower body was painted in a design of blue, like
waves upon a rolling ocean, and his upper body was red and orange, flame patterns that seemed to flicker as he moved.

  “Fire and water,” Rovek said. “He embodies the spirits of fire and water, to do the spirits’ bidding by the bonding.”

  Two by two, the couples walked into the water, following Soantek. Once they were arranged in a large circle around him, Soantek raised his hands in the air, and using a carved paddle-like dipper, he made an elaborate show of plunging the dipper into the water, once for each couple. First, he had each of them drink from it. Next, he poured the remaining water over their heads, all the time chanting rapidly in Nukeena.

  “He cleanses their spirits with the water,” Farnook interpreted. “Then he blesses them in the name of the water spirit, inside and out. There is also something about the whales they hunt.”

  Upon a signal from Soantek, the couples joined both hands, facing each other, and dropped below the surface of the water.

  Attu watched, and his hand tightened on Rika’s as moments passed and every couple remained under the water.

  “The water spirit is giving them breath to stay under,” Yural said in awe, as moment after moment passed and the couples did not come up for air. Darkness swirled over the water, and Attu was sure at least some of them must be drowning.

  “Are the Nukeena men used to this? Are they holding the women under against their wills?” He moved forward, but Meavu’s hand touched his shoulder, stopping him.

  “It is well,” she said. “Just another moment. They will all come up again and be changed, be one, each with the other.”

  Attu turned and looked at his sister. She stared out over the water, but it was as if she were seeing the ritual and seeing past it at the same time. Attu felt the hairs on his arms raise as she continued touching him. He felt tiny sparks of energy coursing through her body into his. He wanted to pull away, but his spirit stopped him. It wanted him to stay united with his sister in this moment. It was as if from deep within him, Gift called to Gift through their spirits and would not be separated.