Stolen Away (7 page)

K
iera felt like a bird being released from a cage. Her heart was flooded with an indescribable feeling of euphoria. Freedom! Chocan and the elders had checked the damaged bone in her lower leg. They all agreed that her leg was healing well, but they warned her not to do anything too strenuous until at least the next new moon. Kiera thanked everyone for their kindness. She silently vowed that she would somehow pay them back for their care.

During the next week, with her limited mobility, Kiera did her best to help the Beothuck in any way she could. She worked alongside the women of her band, preparing the huge dinners for what seemed like an endless parade of hungry mouths. She also made sure the cooking fires were properly stoked with fuel. During the rare quieter times, she would play with and help supervise the many children. They loved her strange but exciting games and stories. They would giggle at her mispronunciations of the Beothuck language and would limp teasingly around with her as she did her chores.

Little Shawnadit was never far from her side. After a day of shadowing, Shawnadit had finally broken her self-imposed silence. Kiera was amazed how a little girl could go from a mute to a torrent of talk so quickly. Together they shared their different worlds, keeping both of their minds far away from their mutual inner pain. It warmed Kiera's heart to see the little girl brighten with each passing day. As they took turns stirring the soup, Kiera lifted Shawnadit onto her lap.

“Have you seen the Great Herd, Shawnadit?”

The little girl's eyes went wide. “They are big and loud.”

“I've never seen caribou before. I'm a little scared.”

Shawnadit took her hand and squeezed it. “Don't be scared. I'll be here with you.”

“You'll look after me? When the herd arrives, you'll hold my hand again like you're doing right now?” asked Kiera.

Shawnadit nodded.

“Thank you. You're a good friend.”

Shawnadit smiled, pleased that she could be of help.

Kiera was glad to have the company of Shawnadit and the other children. Chocan had disappeared down the swirling river with several canoes full of men to do last-minute repairs on the herding fence. Sooleawaa was busy preparing the hiding places from which the Beothuck would launch their attack against the herd of caribou. Thankfully, Kiera was able to put aside her thoughts of Ireland and allow herself to be consumed by the focused energy of the Beothuck nation. Tension and excitement radiated throughout the entire gathering. The Great Herd would soon be arriving.

Early the next morning, shouts of excitement snapped everyone awake from their restless sleep. Heads turned. Fingers were pointing northward. The most distant pillar of smoke, only a thin smear against the morning twilight, was different from the others. Instead of a constant thin stream of grey rising slowly skyward into the calm air, it was a series of grey puffs. As Kiera rubbed her eyes, stood up and joined everyone else's gaze towards the horizon, the second furthest stream of smoke changed as well to a pattern of puffs. Sooleawaa, now fully awake, grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her excitedly.

“The signal! They are coming! Praise the Great Spirit! Quick! We must hurry!”

Sooleawaa hauled Kiera up by the hand and literally dragged her through the excited crowd.

“So early in the morning!” Sooleawaa yelled over her shoulder. “Never before have they arrived at this time. We must be ready, or all will suffer!”

Kiera could see the near-panic in the faces of her adopted family members as they scampered about, grabbing weapons and stone knives. She limped along as fast as she was able.

Sooleawaa stopped in front of her band's collection of spears, stone blades and quivers of arrows. Men and women cut in front of them running towards the river. The entire village was near pandemonium.

“You have said you are a good fighter.” Sooleawaa pointed her finger down at the weapons. “Help us.”

Kiera looked questioningly at the selection in front of her. “I don't suppose you have a good, solid broadsword hiding underneath all of those spears?”

Sooleawaa shot her a puzzled look. “Broadsword?” She reached down. “Here, take Chocan's bow and quiver.”

Kiera shrugged. “What's a quiver?”

Sooleawaa passed her a birch bark quiver filled with ten arrows and a strung bow. She also grabbed a quiver and bow for herself.

Sooleawaa waved her arm forward. “Quickly! Follow me! We don't have much time.”

Together they weaved through the panicked encampment and away from the river. They stopped at the edge of the forest.

“Do you see the big tree?”

Kiera looked at a massive cedar at the edge of the forest that pointed heavenward into the brightening sky. She nodded, wondering what the tree had to do with the approaching herd.

Sooleawaa explained. “Its trunk is the size of a caribou.”

“It can't be true.” Kiera stared at the massive girth of the tree. How big were these animals going to be?

Sooleawaa pointed to Kiera's bow. “Now practice. Hit the tree with an arrow.”

“All right,” said Kiera, removing an arrow from the quiver and holding it in her hand. “How do you throw it?”

Sooleawaa, shocked at first, giggled. “You don't throw it. You shoot it with your bow. Watch me.”

Sooleawaa expertly loaded her bow with an arrow, pulled it back, aimed and let go. The arrow zipped through the crisp air. It hit the tree with a smack and stuck, firmly wedged in a knot that marked the exact centre of the trunk. She pointed her bow at Kiera. “Now you try.”

Kiera fumbled with the arrow. As she tried to thread it onto the string, her fingers became tangled in the bowstring, which allowed the arrow to slip out of her hand. The stone arrowhead bounced off her big toe.

“Ow!” Kiera angrily hopped on the other foot, rubbing her toe. She looked at her friend in frustration. “What about a small wooden spear? You must at least have a spear somewhere around here.”

Sooleawaa grinned. “Spear? No. An arrow is much better for a caribou.”

Kiera rolled her eyes. “All right, then, no spears. How about a nice solid cooking pot? I've been known to knock out a vicious animal or two with one of those.”

“I would very much enjoy seeing you attack a caribou with a cooking utensil,” giggled Sooleawaa, “but I have promised the elders that I would keep you out of trouble. Please, try again.”

Sooleawaa stepped behind Kiera to help her load the arrow onto the bow. She then showed Kiera how to pull back the string with two fingers and demonstrated how to look down the shaft of the arrow to aim at the target. Finally, she explained how to compensate for the drop in the arrow by aiming it slightly above the target.

Kiera tried again. The first few arrows were launched successfully, but they sailed harmlessly wide of the target. With each shot, Sooleawaa had to run into the woods to locate the missing arrow. A good arrow and arrowhead, she explained, represented almost a week of labour.

On the eleventh shot, Kiera nicked the side of the tree. It was on the twentieth shot, however, that Kiera finally stuck one into the heart of the cedar. Both women whooped for joy. Four out of the next five shots then found their mark.

Sooleawaa looked over her shoulder towards the river. Five of the seven fires indicated the Great Herd had passed by. Only the nearest two had not yet seen it. The caribou were almost upon them.

“We must go now.”

Kiera had been focusing so much on her archery that she hadn't noticed the growing silence behind her. As she surveyed the open flat towards the river, she was amazed to see that the entire village had virtually disappeared. All the hut-like mamateeks had been reduced to heaps that resembled jumbled driftwood. Some men were floating silently in their canoes, hidden from the approaching animals by the thick brush that framed the open gap in the far riverbank. Other men and women were hiding behind boulders and dead tree stumps, weapons at the ready, waiting. Sooleawaa led Kiera back towards the river, and they settled in behind a thick, toppled tree trunk.

Both women relaxed against the curved wall of wood. As Kiera tried to imagine a herd of huge beasts crossing the river, a disturbing thought suddenly flashed through her mind. Her stomach tightened in despair. Anxiously, she bent around the tree trunk and gazed across the open meadow. Sooleawaa grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back behind the tree.

“If the lead caribou sees just one person,” Sooleawaa explained, “the whole herd will panic and do something unpredictable. We must not allow that.”

“Where are the children?” asked Kiera.

“They are kept safe in the thick bushes just downstream of the meadow. Why?”

Kiera allowed her head to bang backwards against the log. “I was supposed to see Shawnadit before the herd arrived.”

Sooleawaa smiled. “I'm glad to see that you two have become such good friends. Don't worry. She will be kept safe until after the herd passes. You can see her then.”

Kiera nodded. There wasn't much she could do about it. She tried to focus on her hunting responsibilities. “So what happens now?”

“We wait until the great leaders of the herd cross the river and pass by. We do not hunt them. They are the strongest and wisest of the herd. If we kill them, the safety of the whole herd could be compromised. We hunt only the animals that follow the leaders. They are the oldest and weakest. By doing this, we strengthen the herd as well as acquire the meat we need for the winter months.”

“But what…”

Kiera's voice drifted off as she heard a rumble, like that of an approaching thunder storm. She looked up, but the sky was still radiant blue. Loose dirt rattled off the old log and slid down her neck. She had heard stories of the earth shaking in places like Iceland, but she had never experienced the terror of an earthquake before. She grabbed hold of Sooleawaa, frightened.

Sooleawaa smiled. “They are almost here.”

Kiera felt dizzy, her heart pounded, and she put her other hand up against the log for balance. She glanced down at her arrows. What could a little arrow do to animals that could shake the earth?

Then the unseen river exploded with a thundering crash. The air suddenly filled with inhuman moans and grunts, squeals and thumps. Kiera curled into an even tighter ball. It sounded as if the earth herself had opened up and begun to swallow the river whole.

Kiera cried out as the most magnificent animal she had ever seen leaped over their heads, its grey-tan body sailing gracefully overhead, eclipsing the entire morning sky. Thick hooves clacked in front of her on the rocky soil. Upon landing, its massive hind legs propelled it into a mighty gallop towards the safety of the nearby cedar forest. Kiera had never seen such a magnificent animal before. It looked something like the wild deer she had seen near the Viking settlement, but so much larger! And the antlers! The intricate, branching horns that adorned its head were simply magnificent!

Her thoughts were broken by a caribou galloping to the right of the log, then another one on the left. A second, then a third, came flying by in rapid fire. So many caribou poured over and around their hiding place that Kiera began to feel dizzy. She felt as if she were an insignificant pebble at the bottom of a frothing river of fur and hooves. The noise was absolutely deafening.

Kiera fought the hypnotizing effect of the herd, lifted her bow and looked to Sooleawaa. Sooleawaa shook her head. They waited for what seemed like an eternity. Kiera could only guess that a thousand animals had now passed them, all reaching the safety of the forest in the distance. The size of the herd was staggering. She had never imagined that animals could live in such huge numbers.

Suddenly, a new noise echoed throughout the landscape. High-pitched screams began to build above the echoes of thundering hooves. Sooleawaa looked to Kiera, and she needed to yell in order to be heard over the caribou.

“Kiera, when we rise, scream as loud as you can. Fire at the nearest animal. They are tired after the crossing. Remember to aim at the chest. Ready?”

Kiera nodded tersely.

Sooleawaa rose, bow in hand, and let loose a frightening scream. Kiera loaded her bow and followed her friend's lead. She started screaming, too, but not out of excitement, out of terror. The largest buck she had ever seen was galloping directly at her! It must have heard Kiera's scream, because just at the last second, it started to veer left. At the same time, a blur flew across Kiera's field of vision and embedded itself into the white triangle of fur that marked the glorious animal's chest. Kiera watched as the buck gave a snort of surprise and pain, then careened head over heels onto the rocky soil beside her. Another caribou, a doe, couldn't stop in time and slammed into the buck's tumbling body. Kiera could hear one of her legs snap from the impact, and together they came to a writhing halt. The rest of the herd continued to stream over and around them.

Kiera, in shock, was brought back to reality by Sooleawaa shaking her shoulder.