Ikaseraz didn’t wake until the next morning as I had thought might be the case. It took him longer than usual to get ready, and I breakfasted without him. We were going to see how the family with the new baby were getting on and I was soon ready.
"Don’t rush me." he said, although I hadn’t. I went outside to see what sort of day it was, but was rather sorry I had. Dark grey clouds and a cold wind, so I went back inside.
Our traps would have to be emptied today or scavengers would get everything, and it would be me that did them from the look of Ikaseraz. I made a heartfelt reverence to Misumena to keep vultures and bears away.
When we were ready and left the shelter there was an ugly yellowish light in the sky and I went back for our waterproofs. The rain was coming down hard by the time we got to the family’s shelter. The father came forward eagerly when he saw it was us and put our wet things by the fire. The baby was trying to suckle but screwing up his face and screaming. The woman looked grey-skinned and listless, but she or, more likely her husband, had tidied her hair and put it up. Ikaseraz examined her breasts and then the baby.
"You haven’t enough milk, I expect you guessed that?" She nodded as if it concerned someone else. He went over to the father who seemed to be making us a drink.
"Jaso has just lost a baby, did you know?"
"No, I’ve had no time for anything."
"She’s a helpful woman. She’s quite near you too. I’ll ask her if she will wet nurse your baby. Have you decided what to call him?"
"Yes, he’s Sinotsu." That was odd, I wanted to ask why, but Ikaseraz did.
"His mother and I both thought the same of him. A stranger. He does not look or behave like our other children." The mother nodded agreement. Ikaseraz and I said
"Hello Sinotsu" to the baby but I don’t think he noticed. We had a welcome hot drink with the father and I carried one over to the mother and helped her drink it.
Ikaseraz left dried herbs and powders with the father explaining how to administer them to his wife.
"And make sure she has lots of fluids. A little food if she can stand it, honey if you have any, perhaps some broth."
Once outside, and on our way to see Jaso, Ikaseraz said
"That is a strong baby. I’ve every hope he will live. But the mother, I’m not hopeful there. Though she shows no signs of childbirth fever, not yet anyway. If we can get to the cave later we will hold a life-holding for them. You need to get to the traps as soon as you can, I’ll go and see Jaso."
The weather was worse on the tundra, the rain was sleet up there, and there was very little in the traps anyway. I reset them and hurried back down with the meagre take. We had better luck at the fish traps. The river was high and I had a struggle to get the traps up against the strong current, but it was worth it for several good fish. It was a slower return as I was burdened, but the rain had stopped. It was unpleasantly muddy and the wind was even colder. I was very glad to get home where Ikaseraz had a hot drink ready for me.
"Your nose is red."
"I’m surprised it isn’t frozen." More wet clothes to dry. He could see what I had found in the traps and just nodded as I got it out.
"Jaso is willing to feed Sinotsu. I was sure she would be. She even seemed pleased that her milk would be used. Perhaps she will be more comfortable with it sucked out." I didn’t want to think about it, it sounded so messy.
"She’s over there now. Did you think him strange?"
"Sinotsu? No. He seems like any other baby."
"Mm."
"Should I have done?"
"Not necessarily." It was not Sinotsu whom I found strange.
There was work for me to do, with the catch to store away and the evening meal to keep going. But when I looked up I could see that Ikaseraz was fidgeting. He went out suddenly and came back almost at once.
"Prepare me a little toadflax. I’m going to trance lightly, to prophecy." I handed him his pipe, but couldn’t find toadflax though I knew he had shown it to me.
"That one. That one, here." He prepared it himself scowling at me. It took nearly the whole pipeful to have an effect but I saw that he was far away before it was finished and gently took it out of his hand. I knocked it out into the fire. He made odd noises, even for him, while he was in trance, howling and growling and scratchy scraping sounds. They made me uncomfortable and shivery, I was glad when he returned.
"We must all get to the cave at once. I must tell the Chief Elder, it’s very urgent but must be organised."
"What…why?"
"Collect everything we’ll need for tonight and possibly tomorrow. There’s a blizzard coming. There will be deaths if we stay in our shelters." He left at once and I started gathering stuff together. It was like a trip anywhere I told myself, but it was not. We would not need our lightweight shelter. I knew there was water in the cave, but didn’t know if it was drinkable. I packed some anyway because it would not be far to carry it. Food of course and sleeping-furs. The sacred objects would have to come with us, if the shelter blew down they could be destroyed, but I wasn’t allowed to touch them. But what I could touch I packed, my white bear’s black claw and the obsidian mammoth. I put extra warm clothing for us both in my pack to leave room in Ikaseraz’s for the mask and other things of power. Then I thought that we should take spare leathers and ropes, to keep them safe, we might have to remake our shelter when we got back. It would need two trips if we took all this stuff. I needed Ikaseraz to say what we should do.
He returned looking distracted, but concentrated on our things when I asked him.
"We’ll go immediately with as much as we can carry, most important first. Then when we come back for the second trip there should be less to carry, and I’ll check then that Sinotsu’s family are not in trouble. I mentioned them to the Elders but they have got too much to get done as it is."
The wind was stronger already as we walked with as much speed as we could manage to the cave. Some families were there before us, reserving spaces for their things. We found a place that suited us, by the cave wall where things could be leaned against it. It would be furthest from the fire which some people were tending to, but we had plenty of good furs with us.
"We had better bring some fuel too the second time we come, not everyone will be able to carry some." Ikaseraz said. He was impatient to get going and we set off back straight away. He left me at our shelter to gather the stuff and went out to see how Sinotsu’s family were getting on. There were a few snowflakes on him when he got back.
"It’s all organised, but we’ll walk along with them in case we can help. Jaso is taking the baby, he’s already strapped to her chest. The Elders have found a strong young hunter to help the father carry his wife in an aurochs hide. They have to pass us here on their way so we’ll walk behind them."
And a slow walk it was, with the snow coming on harder all the while. Though Sinotsu’s mother was small anyway and quite wasted by this time, the men carrying her needed frequent rests. They were both strong men, it must have been the awkwardness of the burden. By the time we reached the cave entrance we were all white with snow and brushed ourselves off before going in. The sky was dark as evening though it was only mid-afternoon. Ikaseraz got in rather stiffly on hands and knees, then Jaso moved in with the baby, quickly with one supple movement. I stayed outside to see if any help was needed to get the mother inside. It was a slow and awkward business for a while but at last she herself rolled over and over on the ground until she was inside. A place had been found for her near the fire, and although she managed to walk to it with the support of the two men, she lay down at once on the aurochs hide and I think slept. Ikaseraz paid respects to the spirits for the group but there was no ceremony. This was a practical gathering and we split up into family groups. Mother, Father, Oskol, Eraminpe and Wolf were quite near us. With two strong adults they had had no difficulties making the move, though Mother was worried they might not be able to sleep with everybody packed in and belongings taking up a lot of space too.
Everybody said that the water at the back of the cave was good for drinking, but I was glad we had brought some. Collecting the cave water was difficult and you couldn’t do it without getting wet, which was not good in that cold weather. We ate a little of our food supplies. I think everyone was being sparing with no knowing how long we might have to stay here.
The blizzard came on at its hardest when most people were beginning to settle to sleep. It was lucky that the entrance to the cave faced south and the wind was blowing the snow from the north, so none came in. I looked out of the opening before going to sleep but could see nothing but fast blown snow. It was dark by then but I don’t think I could have seen any more if it had been daylight.
It was hard to get to sleep with people moving about and coughing and babies crying, but I must have slept for a good long while. Suddenly everyone was awake though at a great noise. It was Wolf. She was dashing around the cave over people and scattering things about all the while barking, growling and howling. She was always so quiet I could not believe it. My first feeling was embarrassment at our family having woken everybody up. The torches had all been put out but several people lighted theirs again at the fire. Then there was a very loud shout from near the entrance
"Help… Come here… Help."
I ran with everyone else before even thinking. There was a fight of some sort with arms and spears, then I saw blood. Only then did I see, with such a jolt of fear, that there were at least three lions in the cave just near the entrance. I had never seen lions before and knew there was nothing I could do, I just stood there. Father appeared beside me, even he looked afraid. He moved between me and the lions and I could see no more. I turned and saw that Mother had hold of both Oskol and Wolf. There was shouting and screaming from near the entrance but I saw nothing as Father drew me to him and brought me back to our place. He spoke quietly to Ikaseraz, who gathered up some things and left for the cave entrance. Father took me to sit with Mother and we just looked at each other for a while.
"The lions fled when they saw us all roused, but it looks as though one of Esonde’s boys has been attacked. The younger one. Ikaseraz is treating him, no - you’re staying here Kizkur. The blizzard has stopped, but even so those lions must have been desperate to come into the cave. I’ve never known that happen before, we shall have to post a look-out at the entrance in future. It could have been much worse if Wolf hadn’t roused us, well done Wolf."
He put his hands round Wolf’s head, then stroked down her neck. She whined and wriggled with pleasure.
Ikaseraz came back after some while.
"Only one person injured, Esonde’s son. His lower leg is badly mauled. I’ve done what I can with pellitory and brank ursine and bandaged it up. But I think the lion’s teeth went through to the bone, he may lose the leg, maybe worse. If he survives I can’t see how he can be a hunter."
Nobody said anything, we all knew the next few days would tell one way or the other. Father said something quietly to Ikaseraz. I supposed he was saying that if the leg had to come off he did not want me to be there. I was not going to argue. We settled down again for what was left of the night, with Oskol proudly cuddling Wolf.
When we woke in the morning I went with Ikaseraz to see how Esonde’s son was doing. The whole family was awake and the boy moaning. Ikaseraz gave him something for the pain and rebandaged the wounds. As he was treating him the first sun came in through the entrance. It was bright with reflecting in off the deep snow.
Everyone was awake by then and wanting to get back to camp to see what damage the blizzard had done. We all had a quick breakfast and set off. The snow was up to people’s knees in places which impeded us all but especially the children. Esonde had a big family so no help was needed for his son, but Father took turns with others carrying Sinotsu’s mother. Though everybody, I’m sure, had waterproofed their boots some started to leak on the return to camp and unfortunately Ikaseraz’s were two of them. It was with relief that I saw that our shelter was one of the few still standing and Ikaseraz was soon inside and drying his feet by the new-lit fire. He gave thanks to the narwhal’s tusk. Mother and Father were not so lucky and I left our shelter to help them get theirs back up. There was snow everywhere and my hands were soon too cold to do anything so I went back home to join Ikaseraz in having a hot drink and a warm up. He found an old pair of boots and we waterproofed them together, it was no use doing his current ones until they were thoroughly dried out. The old pair were good enough for him to go about the camp in. He would soon have to go and treat Esonde’s son’s wounds and he wanted to check on Sinotsu’s mother too.
While he was out I re-did some of our shelter’s lashings and unpacked as far as I was able. It was good to be home and I happily got our stew cooking. He looked tired when he got back and he arranged the sacred objects slowly then re-blessed our shelter. We slept well that night.
The next day was very cold though sunny. The snow was frozen to ice after yesterday’s slight thaw. Even with spikes lashed to his boots it would be hard for him to get to the injured boy, so I got my spikes on too and we went together. It was a shock to me to see the boy’s leg. I had imagined a few tooth marks, but it seemed to be all ripped apart, a horror of red flesh still bleeding and oozing yellowish matter. Ikaseraz told me later that the lion must have ripped with its claws as well as biting. I felt weak at the knees and was no help at all. His mother seemed too shocked to do anything but sit and gaze at it.
Back at our shelter I made us a hot drink, more for something to do than anything else, but we were glad of its warmth inside us.
"We will have to hold a healing ceremony for him soon, but we must also have our weather-changing one. I think the best thing would be to combine them and hold them in the cave, then everyone can come and we are surer of the spirits’ attention there. As you are a child like the patient I want you to lead the healing ceremony. Don’t worry I’ll go through it with you several times beforehand and I’ll be right behind you if anything should go wrong. I will do the weather ceremony first and then you will do the boy’s healing. It is a responsibility but I think you are ready for it."
"We couldn’t get the boy to the cave with this ice."
"No, certainly not. I have asked several spirits for help for him, but as soon as the ice goes I think we should hold a full ceremony."
So, instead of going skating with the other children as I had hoped, I spent the next few days learning all about healing and weather rituals.
But it was not long before the thick clouds returned and the ice melted. The two ceremonies were to be held in the middle of the day, so that Esonde’s family would have time to get the boy to the cave and afterwards to get him home in time for him to sleep through the night. But when I saw the boy in the cave he was already deeply asleep there. Perhaps Ikaseraz had given him a draught, it would be a bad thing for the spirits to hear him crying or screaming. Everybody who could get there had done so. There was nobody who was not worried by the increasing cold, and similarly with the healing, everyone wanted to implore the spirits’ help for the boy. I noticed that Sinotsu and his mother were not there, she must have been feeling ill. Jaso was not there either, so she must have been taking care of them.
Ikaseraz looked very imposing in his sacred mask, it was like having a stranger present. The drums alone helped him into trance, but we had agreed that after a certain time I would play my stringed instrument both to summon him back to this world and to call to the south wind. After I had played the necessary refrain through a couple of times I heard a flute joining in. I would have known the sound anywhere and turned to smile at Mother accompanying me on her reindeer bone.
It as a relief when Ikaseraz came back to us, though I had felt less concern for him this time. He addressed the group when he was strong enough, but he did not think there was much cause for hope. He looked depressed as he helped me prepare for the healing. As one not yet initiated I could not wear the mask of course, but I held the sacred flail for the first time.
They had brought the boy to the fire and as I approached him I felt Ikaseraz’s hand squeeze my shoulder. He stood behind me as he had promised. The drums started with a slow rhythm and I passed the flail all around the boy in time to them. Ikaseraz had lit the pipe and passed it to me as the hunters started their dance. As I smoked it and danced around the sleeping boy I felt that the hunters were urging me upwards and stopped wondering if there were elecampane in it. The more I danced the taller I felt until my head was near the roof of the cave which became a noisy vortex that I soared upwards through. The spirit-world seemed a dreary place when I got there. It was grey and foggy so I could see very little. A snake that I felt I should recognise flew past saying something that I could not catch. A large cobweb blocked my path ahead and a voice, which I took to be the spider’s though I could not see it, said
"Too much blood." and then laughed.
I detoured round the web and headed for a greenish yellow light that I could see ahead. Closer to, I could see that the light came from a person or seemed to be a halo around them. The person was draped in loose clothing which seemed to keep turning into fog. The only part of them that I could see properly was their feet which were very large and thin, the toes were twisted about in every way and the joints swollen. The light kept going dim for a while and then coming up bright again. As it got bright the person turned and looked at me. But all I could see of their face was a large beak shaped like an eagle’s which they opened to show rows of sharp teeth. It had a person’s feet but it obviously was not a person. As I thought that it lashed its tail at me, the back of which looked like a saw. An arm round my waist pulled me backwards and a very deep voice said
"Don’t you recognise Death when you see it?"
The arm was furry and I saw that it was a trunk. I turned in its grasp and saw a woolly mammoth.
"Whose death?"
"Only it knows. And it never speaks. I have been watching you Kizkur and I have hopes for you. You probably suspect who it is that will soon come to us."
I felt so warm and safe with the trunk round my waist, death seemed far away. The coarse furriness felt good in my hands but the best thing was the mammoth’s strong and comforting smell. Someone had told me once that nothing had a smell in the spirit-world, they were wrong.
"You know my name. What is yours?"
"Name? No. What would you like to call me?"
"Mammoth, I suppose, would that be alright?"
"Perfect."
The slightly tickling feel of its fur was so attractive that I stroked and stroked its trunk, perhaps it was presumptuous.
"They are playing you back."
I could hear then the sound of strings and a flute.
"But…"
"Do not linger, we will meet again."
The lovely warm smell faded and I was looking into Ikaseraz’s eyes. The concern on his face was replaced by his usual sternness.
Mother sat me up and said
"We were worried, dear, you made such strange noises." I rested against her for a moment then drew breath to speak.
"Say nothing until we have spoken together." said Ikaseraz. He helped me to a quiet corner because I was a bit shaky.
"Tell me everything."
"A flying snake said something about emeralds, I think. It was foggy and cold. Then I saw Death."
"Describe it." I did so and then told him how the woolly mammoth had pulled me away with its trunk.
"That is clear enough. The spirits say that the boy will die and you should not be involved. So I must decide what to say to his parents. You will say nothing at all." He glared at me, as though I could begin to think of anything to say to the boy’s family. The responsibility was his, to my great relief. I just wanted to sleep but we had to pack up and go home. Once in the open again and the fresh air I felt better. My first healing ceremony had failed. But it was the will of the spirits and not due to my shortcomings.