When the time came for my initiation I was somewhat more knowledgeable. Though I believe I had done my best to learn, I often got tired and overloaded under Ikaseraz’s insistence. But he was probably right to drive me, when I think how ignorant of the world and the spirits I was when he first took me on I can see how well he had done.
Preparation for initiation was more about emptying your mind, he said, than filling it. I was to be completely calm to be as receptive as possible to all help and power that the spirits might be willing to give me. Not easy when I thought of that wolverine, and I’d seen worse since, not to mention Death. Ikaseraz had made me learn all the forms he knew of that Death took, but even so I had to be very wary as it constantly appeared differently.
The Chief Elder and the Chief Eldress supervised the initiations of boys and girls respectively. Ikaseraz only initiated enchanters, so there was just me. It would be in one of the passages that lead out of the cave and into the body of Earth Mother, where I had never previously been. It would be very cold as I had to do it naked, except for a loincloth. The importance of the loincloth was to prevent my being impregnated by a spirit, which was usually fatal. If you managed to survive the pregnancy you would be ripped apart during childbirth.
I had not forgotten the horrors of Sinotsu’s birth. Though I had helped at many births since, some of them grim, it was that first one that stayed with me, so my loincloth would be doubly wrapped for my long exposure to spirit-world. Sinotsu’s mother had lived two years after that, but she had died while miscarrying her next baby. Jaso had weaned Sinotsu then because she wanted another baby herself and could not become pregnant while giving milk.
On the day of my initiation I had to stay in our shelter all day as nobody was allowed to see me. In time for the start at sunset, Ikaseraz covered me in a cloak and led me to the cave. We had taken up there all the necessary items the previous day; my harp, a lamp and spare oil, tinder fungus, paints, burins, my white bear’s claw, the bear’s tooth and boar’s ear and, at Ikaseraz’s insistence, the obsidian mammoth.
The most important thing he had to do for me was to paint a face on my back. It was so that I could leave the spirits without showing disrespect by turning my back on them.
" This is the way. Down there you will see engravings of all the previous enchanters’ spirit-guides. You can’t come back to this world until you have found your own. Then you carve a picture of yours on the wall where you passed through it. In the future you will always be able to find your spirit-guide by entering the spirit-world at that point."
He handed me the pipe and the variety of herbs and fungi that he had chosen.
"That’s the elecampane."
"Yes, I recognise that."
"Go now. And bring us back the power to defeat the Ice Giants." He dropped the cloak by the passage entrance and left. I lit my lamp and looked at each of the painted spirits in the main cave. The last one was Ikaseraz’s raven which I asked for its wisdom to guide me on my journey. Then I went down the sacred passage. It was quite long but not difficult anywhere. At a slight widening I found what I was looking for, the carved spirit-guides. Some were painted and some not, others had the marks of paths to the spirits on them. I wondered which belonged to Ikaseraz. With my pipe prepared, using plenty of elecampane in the mix, the last thing to do was to find the six circles of respect. They were a little further down the passage but easily found. I touched each, offering respects to Earth Mother, Sky Father then the third in that row, my as yet unknown spirit-guide. The row below was the Sun, the Moon and the Stars. With all preparations made I returned to the section of cave wall I had chosen. It was exciting to think that the next time I saw it I would carve my spirit-guide into it, and that I would never be alone again.
I lit the pipe and looked at my boar’s ear for courage and the bear’s tooth for strength. Then I started to play my harp and chant. But my fingers became clumsy and I was falling down a tunnel that spun around me. Lights sparkled and I heard the sound of the ram’s horns being played. I fell into a bright light at the bottom, but I was unafraid because I could smell the welcoming warm smell of woolly mammoth. Its trunk caught me and set me on its neck just behind its ears.
"You knew I was coming?"
"Of course. I know everything." I wanted to believe that, it was so comforting. The mammoth set off at a slow walk and I wondered what would happen if it ran. The earth would shake except that there was no earth here.
"Where are we going?"
"I don’t know."
"But you know everything."
"Some everythings are different from others."
"Oh."
"I don’t know how to answer ’where’ but I know who. We are going to see The Owl."
"Is there only one owl then?"
"There are many owls but this one is The Owl."
"Did you want to see me Mammoth?" There was a snowy owl sitting on Mammoth’s head in front of me.
"I can’t see you if you sit there."
"Shall I fly down to your trunk?"
"No. I know what you look like."
The owl rotated its head and looked at me with eyes that seemed to have seen everything since the world began.
"No, it was an uninviting place then. But I have been here a long time."
"You are an Ancient."
"Yes, the oldest……But you are the youngest, a new initiate. You have been to spirit-world before though, tell me about that. Mammoth has told me about the time you two met."
I told her all about the wolverine and the occasion when I was a scarab, and the interpretations that Ikaseraz had put upon them.
"He’s right of course. He has travelled far. Finding you for a weathermonger may be his greatest insight, ******."
"You know my real name."
"We can do nothing without that. There’s nobody to hear us here, you’re safe."
"Thank you." rumbled a grumpy voice from below.
"Oh, be quiet you great pile of wool, it’s a compliment."
"What’s the plan then? I want this little scrap of a thing to push the ice back too, you know. Mammoths round here would be a fine thing, their range is getting restricted."
"Do you know anyone who could help, Mammoth?"
"I couldn’t think of anyone except you."
"Her spirit-guide will be the best we can hope for."
"I’ll take her there, but you won’t get me to go up a mountain. Don’t like them."
"Nobody would expect you to. But on the way there I think we should call on the other Ancients. They may have something to say."
"I’m sure they will have. But my confidence in our understanding it is low."
"They can be oracular I know, except Eagle of course."
"That blackbird…"
"Oh, I know."
It was time I said something.
"Is he the blackbird with a white shining crescent on his breast?"
They were both surprised and said together
"Have you met him?"
"No, but an enchanter I met at Lazcux did. She said she thought he was talking about me when he said "Tooth up down hairy river source boy"."
"Oh dear, yes that sounds like Blackbird. It conveys nothing to me."
"I’m hairy." said Mammoth. I nearly laughed but Owl took it seriously.
"You are. He could mean you, or woolly mammoths generally."
"But what about us?"
"What indeed? We must remember what he said. Tell your spirit-guide about what Blackbird said when you find it."
"He may have more to add. Shall we go to him first?"
"Yes." said Owl.
"But why…" I interrupted "Why do you want it warmer Owl? Snowy owls live in the cold."
"It must be confusing when you first come here." Suddenly the snowy owl had become a great grey owl.
"Within some limits we can be anything we want here. I am the spirit of all owls so I can quite comfortably appear as any owl. I am usually a snowy around here as it suits the area, well I tell myself that but it’s vanity really because the snowy is so beautiful." It changed back and looked at me with a bit of a swagger.
"Yes, you are beautiful." I smiled.
"No-one has ever said that about me." said Mammoth.
"No I… you are very nice looking, Mammoth." I said, and when it slumped added quickly "And you have beautiful eyes."
It perked up surprisingly and said
"Do you think so?"
"We both think so Mammoth." said Owl. "But we must get going now." They closed their four really exceptional eyes, so I thought it best to close my very ordinary ones.
I opened them again when I heard voices. In front of Mammoth floated a stag which seemed to be as big as a mammoth. That confused me because it was a red deer which is a small deer compared to some. Then I wondered if Mammoth was floating too, I couldn’t see from here.
"Yes, it is, in so far as that means anything." said Owl. I had got used to it reading my thoughts by now and was unsurprised.
The stag was impressive. Its antlers were disproportionately large and they glowed slightly, a warm yellow, and with its shining reddish fur, the whole feeling was of warmth. Then I saw that there was a black bird perched at the top of one of the stag’s antlers. It had to be Blackbird anyway but I could see that a crescent moon appeared to be hanging round its neck which was confirmation.
"You have brought the initiate, Owl, it doesn’t look very big. What might we elucidate for it?"
"All portents have suggested that this may become the weathermonger to reverse the southwards move of the ice. Any help you or Blackbird could give to help its work on that when it is an enchanter would be useful."
"Blackbird’s better at this sort of stuff than I am, though nobody wants the woods to return more than I do."
There were another two pairs of eyes looking at me now, though what they made of me, except that I was small, I couldn’t tell.
"I’ve never seen trees like those" I said. Some large lush trees had appeared around the stag, they were nothing like the conifers I knew.
"That’s oak" said Stag pointing a hoof carefully along my line of sight, "Elm there, and that’s beech. My wanting their northward spread has caused them to appear." Blackbird flew off and perched in one of them though he continued to look at me.
Owl flew and perched on one of Stag’s antlers. It seemed to be having a private conversation with the stag, so I whispered
"Are you a ’he’ or a ’she’, Mammoth?"
"No."
"No to which?"
"Both. It doesn’t apply. I know it does in that other world where my mammoths live, but not to me."
"But both Stag and Blackbird must be ’he’."
"Yes, that is so, the Ancients are different in many ways. That is one of them."
"Then Owl is ’he’ or ’she’?"
"Owl is ’she’, Eagle is ’he’, Toad is ’she’ and Salmon is ’he’."
"Thank you Mammoth, I have been calling her ’it’, and she knows my thoughts, so it was impolite."
"She won’t mind at all, and reading your thoughts is impolite."
"I don’t mind, it’s quicker than having to say everything. Though I hope no hostile spirits read them."
"If we meet any I will guard both our minds from them. You will learn how to do it, practice is needed though."
Owl flew back to Mammoth’s head and said
"Stag believes that business of Blackbird’s about ’hairy’ and so on is a prophecy and we know how unreliable they are. And we can hardly prepare for something that obscure anyway. Stag, have you any advice?"
"It’s not got much velvet on it." He was looking at me again. "No, the trees are always silent as you know. Is it them you want to influence? Perhaps the sun would be a better place to start, but I have no influence there."
"We think the spirits of the Ice Giants should be persuaded to take themselves further north."
"Oh, them yes. I have seen them occasionally but we’ve never spoken. Blackbird says he has nothing to add."
"I don’t know how you can understand him." said Owl.
"Practice I suppose, like most things. He has been perching on me for a long time."
"We’ll be moving along then. Eagle is waiting for us at the Mountain. Do you know where Salmon and Toad are?"
But neither Stag nor Blackbird knew so we moved slowly on. I was getting used to Mammoth’s movements by then and was enjoying our swaying progress when a peculiar-looking thing appeared. It was a moment before I recognised what I thought must be a trancing enchanter. When I looked more closely I could see that it was a man, but I didn’t recognise his two long horns, the strange fur robe he was wearing, or his tail or feet. His feathers were magnificent. He had wing feathers of a bird unknown to me, they were red and pink with some black on them, attached along his arms as if they were wings. Smaller feathers from perhaps the same bird, again various pinks and reds, made a mask which covered the area around his eyes and below that was a short unplaited black beard. The horns were very long and he had them pointing forwards. I found out later that they were from an ibex which holds them pointing backwards. The tail and pelt that he wore as a cloak, I know now, were a giraffe’s. The bird he had his feet from, which also supplied the feathers, was a flamingo. He didn’t come from round here.
"You have travelled far Enchanter." Owl said.
"Further than I thought. I never saw a furry elephant before."
"I am no elephant, I am a mammoth." Its tone was severe.
"My apologies then. You are related perhaps."
"It must be so, but I cannot understand what they say."
"What brings you so far north?" asked Owl.
"My people are desperate. This is further than I had intended looking, but we are dying from drought, and I search for water, a source of water. The rains have failed again and the sun scorches the earth barren. The prey animals have died of thirst so we are hungry too."
"We have water when the snow and ice melt. But with so little sun the animals and plants move ever further south. They can go no further, they have come to the sea. The ice oppresses us as the sun does you."
"We die from too much sun and you from too little. Have you found any help?"
"No. We have a prophecy, but we do not know if it is a true one. We are taking an initiate to the mountain, we can only hope."
He looked at me then. My look was met by dark eyes amongst reddish-pink feathers.
"You have too little, I too much, perhaps if you and I were to mate we could even things up."
Mammoth trumpeted and threatened the southern enchanter with its tusks. He ran back in fright, they were enormous weapons.
"Here. Whatever’s the matter with you?" Mammoth did not answer, so I said
"The pregnancy would kill me and they believe I am needed."
"That happens in the north then? I have come to a strange place. We mate in spirit-world where I’m from."
Mammoth was not placated and raised its tusks again.
"I’m going. I’m going." And he did. I was sorry as I wanted to hear about the southern place where there was too much sun. But Mammoth was right we could not take risks.
The gentle swaying started again as we moved on. I must have slept because I woke with my nose in Mammoth’s head fur. It felt good and I lay there a while longer. When I sat up I could see that there was a marsh around us. It was not like the dark pools and peat hags that I knew from home. There were clear pools and many reeds, so it was a more southerly place that we had come to. Owl was perching on Mammoth’s back behind me but she occasionally flew up and circled round looking down. I thought she was looking for Toad. Perhaps she would like to perch on my arm, I had a good view from here.
"I would, yes, but you wouldn’t. My talons would break your skin." She displayed a footful of them to me, they were quite scary.
"Ah, I think I’ve spotted her. To your left Mammoth. Can you see her? We don’t want her trodden on."
A very large toad suddenly jumped straight up in the air and Mammoth made its way carefully towards her.
"I’ve been expecting you, whatever took you so long? I heard you talking to that stranger and thought you would have been here ages ago. This is the girl then, looks alright. What have you found out? Did Stag or Blackbird tell you anything useful? Well, Blackbird, that stag knows nothing."
"We spoke to them. Blackbird has made a prophecy." Owl managed to say while the toad was drawing a breath.
"What is it then? Tell me the prophecy. I’m good at prophecies, always have been. Do you remember that one he made about a volcano erupting, I got that one."
"Only after it had though" Owl whispered to me. Aloud she told Toad what Blackbird had said.
"That doesn’t make sense. Could Stag interpret at all?"
"He could tell it was a prophecy which was better than we could do. Mammoth thought that ’hairy’ might refer to him or to the mammoths in that other world."
"Yes, he certainly is very hairy. ’River’ and ’source’ could go together if a normal person were speaking. It could be the source of a river that he meant."
"The source of the river Vezer is near us." I said.
"It is." said Owl "But all rivers have a source, some have several. And there are no mammoths near you, that is the problem we are trying to solve."
"Then there’s that ’boy’. I don’t like that, this is a girl. Rivers go ’down’ but not ’up’ ". Toad seemed to be getting agitated.
"What about a tooth or a boy going up? Yes, but what then? I’ve got no teeth, nor have you Owl. Have you got teeth girl?" I showed her them and she moved back a bit. "I don’t like the look of them, though some have worse. Have you seen that Wolverine’s teeth? I pretend I’m not here if I see him about."
"I met him on the Mountain once. I hope he’s not there now." I said to Toad.
"No he’s not there. You must see Salmon before going there though. He’s nearly as hard to understand as Blackbird but at least he says less. When I saw him the other day he was going on about pearls, it took me the whole conversation to discover that he was laying a blessing on my eggs. Grateful of course but really…. my eggs have all hatched so his blessing worked. How are yours Owl?"
"Too busy this year Toad. Perhaps next."
"What are you so busy with? Oh yes, this Ice Giant thing. They’re big aren’t they? Have you seen the size of prey they bring down? Oh, sorry Mammoth. Have you found the Spirit Ice Giant yet?"
"No. And nobody seems to have seen it. We thought Wolverine probably worked for them as well as for the Earth’s wolverines."
"Yes, and Wolf too. Haven’t seen her for years." I was startled but of course they didn’t mean Oskol’s Wolf.
"They are probably all further north hard at work increasing their influence." said Mammoth.
"Yes, probably." agreed Owl "But we have to get our initiate to the Mountain and safely home again which rules out a trip to the north. We’ll leave you now Toad, thank you for your help."
"Can’t I come with you? Stag and Blackbird, no… but I could be useful."
"I’m sure you would be Toad, but we daren’t risk it. It’s very dry up the Mountain, you could desiccate. Better stay here where it’s wet, don’t you think?"
"Desiccate? Oh no. I’ll stay here."
When we were out of earshot Mammoth said
"Quick thinking Owl."
"At least Salmon won’t want to come with us. But he is difficult, well we’ll see."
Then we were beside the widest river I had ever seen.
"It’s deep too." said Owl. " He would be alright out on the bank here of course, but it is more comfortable for him in there, and since we want him to help us we’ll have to go in there. No, don’t be afraid, that was just instinct, you know that it is only appearances in spirit-world, you can’t drown."
We were underwater then without ever having jumped in. The current just felt cool and refreshing and there was a lovely green light. Immediately in front of us was an enormous salmon easily maintaining its position against the current. It was so big that I looked near its tail for a bite mark. There came a bass barking laugh.
"It would be a foolhardy otter that bit me." I think I blushed, it had been such a silly idea.
"Don’t be abashed young human, I admired your bravery in risking a mighty current to end another’s suffering."
He turned to Owl and said
"This must be the initiate mentioned previously, and this your beast of burden." Mammoth’s eyes widened and its mouth opened, but I saw Owl stick a talon in its head and the mouth closed again.
"This is our friend Mammoth who has consented to take the initiate and me to the Mountain."
"I see. A fellow quester. Please accept the apologies of a foolish fish Mammoth."
"No apologies are required. I may not be looking my majestic self after a long journey."
"Aid in your quest of the Mountain is certainly not my speciality, so I surmise there is an alternative purpose for your most welcome visit."
"Indeed, Salmon, we think this girl may be the one to stop the advance of the cold and ice. We hoped you might have some advice for us in our efforts to prevent the Ice Giants making further ground at the expense of creatures who can only thrive in the warmth."
"I regretted your tidings of yet another expansion of polar conditions. Though a regular phenomenon it is in the interests of most that the powers of Wolf, Wolverine and Ice Giant be curtailed. Whether the use of force is ethical would be a matter of long debate, diplomacy on the other hand is an ever open option."
"Yes, we’d thought of talking to them." said Mammoth.
"We thought you might have some ideas of what to say. Can you think of any good arguments we might use?" asked Owl.
"Bribery or blackmail is always the most efficacious."
"Though you are technically correct, we had hoped to find some common ground where we could agree that both parties would benefit by the change."
"The aroma of hypocrisy has entered our discourse, Owl. You want it warm, the Ice Giants and white bears want it cold. Any search for common ground is fruitless. A compromise, some temperature between, would suit neither party."
"I had thought that we might try to suggest there were few of them with a big area, and many of us with a small area that is getting smaller. A natural justice argument. What do you think?"
"The past record of the natural justice argument’s success in overcoming natural acquisitiveness does not inspire me with any hope."
"You have a bleak outlook on life, Salmon."
"Do you think so? I completely disagree. I think life is magnificent. Let all tails shake."
"What would you suggest then?"
"What have you to offer them?"
"The return of the great herds. Horses, bison, aurochs and" she gave Mammoth an apologetic look "mammoths. They would be better off then too. They have only musk oxen now, and they are notoriously difficult prey for wolves or men."
"Owl, that is an infinitely better argument than any I could have originated. All I can suggest is that you should be the emissary of the southern lands to the northern spirits."
"Thank you Salmon, you give me confidence, though the mission may fall to others."
I do not need to say that I was quite out of my depth during the conversation with Salmon and was glad when we were back on dry land. But Owl and Mammoth seemed really cheerful and we pressed on faster. As they obviously thought the visit to Salmon had been a success I wondered if Eagle would have good advice too. A spluttery hoot came from Owl.
"If you want to know the ideal depth for a bath or how to fall asleep in the sun, ask Eagle. He is powerful and very good-hearted, everybody likes him, but advice? No."
"I think you underestimate Eagle." said Mammoth. "More than once I have discussed problems with him and found a good resolution."
Owl looked sceptical.
"That is probably because in hearing yourself telling him the problem the solution occurred to you."
"It could have been that. But I seem to remember his making cogent remarks."
"You’re starting to talk like Salmon, Mammoth. But I think there may be something in what you say about Eagle, I’m perhaps thinking of him too lightly."
"Probably a bit of both."
The conversation was ended by Eagle’s coming into view and, behind him, the Mountain. It was the same one that I had seen on my first ever visit to spirit-world. Eagle looked at least ten times the size an eagle would have been in the world of our group. It seemed common here, perhaps spirits could alter their size at will.
"You’re here at last. I’ve had a long wait."
"Sorry Eagle. You know how Toad can talk."
"All too well. This is the human who will make it warm here again?"
"We hope that is what the signs have shown. But she is still very young, we must give her time and all the help we can."
He looked at me kindly
"Initiation can be frightening. Are you alright?"
"I am thank you. Just confused." He laughed
"You’re not the only one. But the next part is straightforward. Owl and I will fly beside you as you climb and keep watch for anything bad. I’m afraid we can’t help you to climb it as that is part of the initiate’s task. But we will be right beside you all the way, and we could help you down again if that was needed."
It was the most encouraging thing anybody had said yet and I began to think Mammoth was right about Eagle. He spoke then
"I shall leave you all here. Goodbye young initiate, all strength be with you and I wish you long and happy years with your spirit-guide."
It sounded so final that I said
"But I’ll see you again soon won’t I Mammoth?"
"Oh yes, I’m too nosy to stay away long." I looked at its trunk and it laughed and left.
Owl and Eagle took up their positions on either side of me.
"Do you feel ready?" Owl asked.
"Yes."
The lower slopes were easy enough. But I tired easily as we got higher and the way was steeper. At my frequent rests Owl and Eagle sat beside me, they seemed in no hurry. They kept a constant watch. Owl’s head could swivel round nearly a complete circle, but Eagle moved about more. I was watching carefully for that wolverine, despite Toad’s reassurance, but none of us saw anything. It was an uneventful climb if hard, not to say exhausting, and my mind felt numbed when the nest came into sight.
"We will wait for you here. What is in the nest is only for you. It looks like an eyrie. Did you build it Eagle?"
He put one foot on top of the other and looked at his talons before admitting that he had.
"Don’t be shy about it. It’s very good." I thought so too. The nest had a fiery glow inside it, as I remembered and brought to me the thought that my spirit-guide was just there and soon I would be with it.
The two birds looked at me.
"Strength and courage." said Owl.
"Yes." said Eagle. I started towards the nest, but the distance shrank and I was standing beside it. Eagerness overtook me and I scrambled up the pile of branches and nearly fell in on top of a beautiful white hare. It laughed
"I’ve been longing to meet you too."
I climbed in with a bit more grace and the hare sprang into my arms. We looked into each others eyes and nothing needed to be said which was lucky because I was crying too much to get anything coherent out. The hare’s real name and mine rang in my mind and I could tell that they were in the mind of my hare too. I sat down suddenly and we just looked at each other, gazing and gazing.
There was no doubt that it was ’it’ like Mammoth. It had smooth shining white fur with just a little black at its ear tips. I longed to stroke its back and immediately felt the certainty that I was welcome to. It felt so soft and warm and somehow felt white. The hare in turn put its whiskers forward and felt my face. It barely tickled. I couldn’t say now how long we spent gently examining each other, it felt like forever and no time at all, as if all my life had been spent looking at this unique and radiant animal.
We came to a sense of our situation at the same moment.
"What do we do now?" I had to ask.
"We must go back to where you entered spirit-world. You must go back to your reality, I sense that you have already been here too long. Owl and Eagle will help us to get there."
"But then I shall have to leave you. I don’t want us ever to be parted."
"No it’s not like that. Our minds are one now, so, wherever one is, both are. You can always come to spirit-world at that exact place in your world and I will be there because, of course, I will know you are coming. Then we can be together like this. But you will find I am always with you even in your world."
It was as my hare said. But, when we came to the place where I had to return to the cave, I still just clung to it. I was crying again but not with misery, with the joy of finding my hare. I probably barely thanked Owl and Eagle, but at least there was the painted face on my back, so I was not really turning my back on them.
The cave wall seemed no barrier and I sat for a long time on the floor by my things smiling to myself, though really I was smiling at us. Because my hare was right there in my mind. Only after a good long while did the thought come to me that I was an enchanter now. It hardly seemed real and did not matter to me at all compared with finding my hare. I thought that this is how Ikaseraz must feel, only half in this world, the other half with his spirit-guide in the other world. He could tell me now which of these carvings was his, though I felt no impatience just a certainty in my mind of how I would carve my hare. I took out my burin and turned to the wall of the cave passage. The hare was so clear to me, as I had first seen it, that it hardly felt like a representation. What I carved was the hare itself until I stepped back, then the magic faded and it was a carving again.
It was cold in the rock passage, so I gathered my things together and went back to the main cave. The cloak was lying by the entrance to the passage where Ikaseraz had put it. He had known I would be cold. Wrapped in it I looked round at the paintings and wanted to add to them, something to help all the people in our group feel more connected to the spirits. They only had us to tell them about spirit-world. The mammoth was my friend, but he was there already. It had to be Owl, she had helped all the way though without touching my heart as Mammoth did. I decided to paint her with wings outstretched coming down with all her talons out, she would like that. After carving the outline I filled it with my seashell purple mixed with some black. It looked good like that I thought but she would have to be white. I did her bright yellow eyes next so that she could see what I was doing, that was at Hare’s suggestion. Then her yellow feet with black talons came easily enough, but the white was hard. Getting the shapes of the different kinds of feathers took me a long time and many different shades of white. But with patience I found the right colours to mix together and use to contrast up the white. I had thought that black would be the best but it just made her look dirty and it was my purple which finally worked. When I was sure I could do no better I left it and packed up my things to carry back to the camp.
I walked back slowly feeling that I didn’t really want to get there and see everybody, but then I saw Ikaseraz walking towards me and felt glad.
When he saw my face he smiled. It looked strange, I had so rarely seen him smile. We both knew nothing needed to be said and we went home.