The Storyteller Trilogy (18 page)

“No,” she said to Ghaden. “Brown Water is not your mother. I will be your mother.”

Ghaden sighed, then relaxed against Yaa. He put his thumb back into his mouth, and Yaa leaned forward to rest her cheek on his head. Ghaden reached up and curled his fingers into her hair, then closed his eyes, his mouth working soundlessly around his thumb.

THE COUSIN RIVER VILLAGE

CHAKLIUX STUDIED THE MAN
sitting before him. Cloud Finder was large, but his body was soft and fat like that of an old woman who has many sons to feed her. His eyes, though, were bright and shrewd.

Cloud Finder was considered an elder, an honor bestowed more for his wisdom than his age. He was a good hunter, an honest man.

When traders came for dogs, they visited Cloud Finder first. His animals seldom fought, nor did they cringe or whine when men approached. Their muscles were firm and well-defined under their glossy fur. If Chakliux could bring dogs like those back to the Near River Village, then perhaps the elders would believe he worked to help their people.

“So during the days you have been with us, you have come to understand that the young men of our village grow weary of sitting,” Cloud Finder said. “They think the best way to prove their worth is through war. You say that this is happening also among the Near River People? I am surprised. Their young men are bear hunters. You think they would find enough honor in hunting. If our men knew the trick of finding winter dens, they would be more content.” He shrugged. “Spring is a bad time. Our young men—even my own four sons—have had enough of winter, enough of women’s voices and children’s songs. They grow hungry for fresh meat and honor.”

“That is true,” Chakliux said, “but perhaps the Near River men will no longer want to fight when I bring them good dogs.”

“There is something more important here than dogs,” said Cloud Finder. “Do the Near River elders want to fight or do they seek peace?”

“Like most of the elders in this village, they want peace,” Chakliux said. “What good comes to an old man from fighting? Does a father want to lose his sons? You know He Talks sent me to the Near River Village to marry and in that way strengthen the bond between our peoples, but the woman did not want me. She was afraid our children would have feet like mine.”

“What is so terrible about that?” Cloud Finder asked. “She did not want a man with the power of animal-gift?”

Chakliux lifted his hands. “Who can understand what a woman wants?” he said. “Dogs are dying in their village. Strong, healthy dogs. Some of the young men, trying to build anger against our people, have said I brought a curse to them. Perhaps the shaman’s daughter also thinks I carry a curse. Their elders hope that if I bring back golden-eyed dogs, the people will understand I have not been sent to curse but to help.”

Cloud Finder leaned forward, looked hard into Chakliux’s eyes. “There is something more,” he said.

Chakliux sat for a long time considering what to tell the man. Finally he said, “Less than a moon before I left to return here, two of the Near River People were killed. One was an elder, a respected hunter, the other a woman. Also, a young child was wounded. The elder was killed in his lodge, as he slept. The woman was outside, returning to her sister-wife’s lodge. The child was her son. The killings were done with a knife.”

“You think some of our young men did that?”

“I do not know. The Near River shaman says spirits killed them.”

Cloud Finder blew out his breath in disgust. “What spirit uses a knife?” he asked.

“There was a trader in the village,” Chakliux said. “Some think he did it.”

“What do you think?”

“Why would he kill a village elder? The boy was the trader’s son. Why would he try to kill his own son? The knife was still in the child’s back when he was found. It was one of the knives the trader had brought to the village. Why would he leave his knife?”

“Is he stupid, this man?”

“Not in his trading.”

“So you think perhaps one of our young men …”

“I am not sure. If a hunter from this village wanted to give the Near Rivers a reason for fighting, why kill a woman or child, why an old man?”

“Who needs protection more?” Cloud Finder asked. “When young men fight it is for their own honor and to protect those who cannot fight—the elders, the children, the women.”

“That is true, but why leave a trader’s knife? Why not let it be known that a Cousin River hunter did the killing?”

Cloud Finder nodded.

“Do you know of any hunters who were gone from this village for the time it would take to do such a thing?” Chakliux asked. “Probably six, eight days at least.”

Cloud Finder frowned, looked up at the top of the lodge, pursed his lips. “My sons, Night Man and his brother Tikaani, were gone two days hunting,” he said slowly. “They brought back a lynx, some hares, a fox.” He was silent for a time. “There are no others that I know of. You have been staying in the hunters’ lodge, have you not?”

“Yes.”

“Young men often boast. You have heard nothing?”

“I have lain rolled in my robes, pretending to be asleep but listening long into the night. I have heard nothing.”

“Then if something was done by one of our people, for some reason it was done in secret. There
is
one who might do such a thing, though not by herself. She would send another.”

He raised his eyebrows at Chakliux, and Chakliux felt his belly twist. K’os. Who else but K’os, and if it was her, why tell the Near River People? It would give the young men reason to fight. Better only to wait and watch, ready for whatever she decided to do next.

“I understand,” Chakliux said quietly.

“And you know that it is best to wait?”

“Yes.”

Cloud Finder drew a long breath. “We must watch and listen, you and I,” he said. “We will stop her.” He stood and filled his bowl again to the top, lifted his chin toward Chakliux’s bowl.

Chakliux shook his head.

Cloud Finder sat down. Through a mouthful of food he said, “Meanwhile, you need dogs. Why come to me?”

“You have the best dogs.”

Cloud Finder laughed. “It is good to be known for something besides being fat,” he said, though everyone knew he was proud of his size.

A man who was fat, even in spring, was a man who had chosen his wife wisely and who was skilled as a hunter. Either that or he was greedy, and no one who visited Cloud Finder’s lodge had ever accused him of greed. Chakliux looked down at the large wooden bowl in his lap. He had been eating since he came, and the bowl was still half full.

“You offer a trade then?” Cloud Finder asked.

“I have goods of my own, and also things from the Near River People, furs and parkas, hare fur blankets, a sael of goose grease, fish-skin baskets, fishnets, hooks, spearheads. I have a fire bow made by one of the elders. Many things.”

“And for all this you want a dog?”

“A bitch that has recently whelped.”

“And her pups?”

“Yes. You have more than one bitch. Several have just had litters.”

“It is not easy for me to give up one of my dogs. They are like my children. I need to know they will be well cared for.”

“You have known me since I was a boy, Cloud Finder. You know I will care for her.”

Cloud Finder inclined his head. “I would not consider this if you were just a man seeking a good dog, but I do not want to see our people fight. We are cousins with those Near Rivers. We share the same grandfathers. What if some other enemy comes among us? Such a thing has happened before. It may happen again. There are strangers who live two, three handfuls of days from here. They use weapons we do not know how to make, and they do not respect sacred things. Their language is something no one understands. What if they attack our villages? What if they come to steal our daughters and wives? What would we do if we could not band together with the Near River People?” He sighed, then said, “Show me what you have brought. Perhaps I will trade.”

“So,” K’os said, her lips curling, “has he decided to give you a dog?”

Chakliux had avoided his mother since he had been in the village, but a hunter has to visit the village cooking hearths, otherwise how would he eat?

Now she stood, alone at the hearths, stirring one of the boiling bags as though she always took her turn cooking like other women in the village. She nodded toward his empty bowl. “Have you eaten yet?” she asked.

“This morning with Cloud Finder,” Chakliux answered.

“Then why eat here?” she asked. “Besides, if you are hungry again, I have better food in my lodge.”

Her food was good. The hunters often brought her the best meat for the favors she bestowed. She seldom shared any of it with other families, and she seldom used the village hearths except during celebrations when the men were nearby, and K’os did not have to worry about village women throwing ladles of hot food at the one who bedded their husbands and young sons.

“I cannot. I must return to the hunters’ lodge. They wait for me.”

“You are wrong. They have grown weary of your pleas for peace, your stories about the good and generous Near River People. They have not forgotten that the Near River People cursed our fishing. Have you told them that the Near River daughters do not want you?” She raised her eyebrows and laughed. “No, of course not. What honor would you have in this village if they knew what the Near River People know?”

Had he been younger, less experienced in dealing with his mother, anger would have brought careless words from his mouth. He would have told her that the young hunters did not care about the honor he received—or did not receive—at the Near River Village. They were more interested in learning the secrets of winter den hunting. But he kept his mouth closed, his thoughts hidden. The less she knew, the better for everyone.

Of course, she had many ways of discovering what she wanted to know. Under the joy of her hands, a young man would soon answer any questions she asked. As a child, Chakliux had listened from his sleeping robes and even then recognized her cunning.

An old woman made her way to the hearth. When she saw K’os, she wrapped her arms around herself, as though to hold the edges of her parka away from K’os’s touch. The woman pushed back her parka hood and dumped a handful of dried berries into one of the boiling bags. Chakliux approached her, held out his bowl. She raised her eyebrows and glanced at K’os, a smile lifting one corner of her mouth. She filled Chakliux’s bowl. He walked away without looking at his mother, but he felt her eyes burn against his back.

“I have decided,” Cloud Finder said. He and Chakliux were sitting at the back of the hunters’ lodge, an honored place given to them by the younger men.

Chakliux held his breath, then let it out in disappointment as Cloud Finder said, “There is not enough. I cannot give my dogs for what you offer.”

Chakliux fought against the anger that pushed foolish words into his mouth. Cloud Finder had said he understood, had seemed to want peace between the villages as much as Chakliux did. Why then would the man ask for more? Chakliux had nothing else. In three days of bargaining, he had even borrowed pelts from his father to add to the trade goods.

“My dogs belong not only to me but to everyone in this village,” Cloud Finder said. “How can I give them to another village without asking something for other hunters besides myself?”

Chakliux held out empty hands. “You know I have offered all I have, even my extra boots. There is nothing else. You know my wife and son are dead, so I cannot promise a child to be given in marriage.”

“I ask nothing more from you,” Cloud Finder said. “What I want is from the Near River People.”

Chakliux held the man’s eyes with his own. He did not see greed but wisdom, and so waited for Cloud Finder to speak.

“The Near River People need our strong, golden-eyed dogs, but they also have something we need.” He paused and turned his head to look at the men around them.

Each was busy doing something—smoothing a spear shaft, hafting a blade, retouching a spear point. Though their eyes were not on Chakliux and Cloud Finder, Chakliux knew they listened to what was being said, and that they would take the words they heard back to fathers and uncles and the women they courted, so soon the whole village would know.

“What animal is more honored than the bear?” Cloud Finder asked. “What animal has more power? Yet in late winter and early spring when our people long for fat meat, we cannot hunt bears because we cannot find them.

“The dogs are yours,” he said, “the bitch and her five pups, for the trade goods and one other thing. You must take me with you to the Near River Village. While I am there, I will teach the Near River People how to care for my dogs, and their hunters will teach me how to find bears. Then I will come back and tell these young men.” He lifted his chin toward the hunters on the other side of the fire.

Chakliux felt hope glow in his heart. It was a good plan, something that might work. He wished Tsaani were alive to share his knowledge, but Sok was a gifted hunter, and he had sent trade goods. One of the pups would be his. Perhaps he would be willing to teach Cloud Finder what Tsaani had taught him.

Cloud Finder was wise. Why not, when buying peace for your village, also do something to help yourself? He would come back with knowledge every hunter wanted. With just a few bear kills, he could claim the honor of being chief hunter. There was now no true chief hunter in the village. Chakliux’s father, Ground Beater, still held the respect of most men, but other hunters brought in more meat. It was time for one man to be seen as chief, one man to take the place of honor.

“Yes,” Chakliux said, and felt the young hunters move close to him. Their excitement was like something alive within the lodge walls.

“You will take me back with you?”

“I leave tomorrow.”

“That soon,” Cloud Finder said, then added, “I will be ready.”

Chakliux nodded. If they did not return now, there would be no denned bears to find. The warm weather would draw them outside. Besides, it was best to go before his mother found out, best to keep the knowledge from her as long as possible. She would not want Cloud Finder as chief hunter. He did not visit her, so how could she twist him into her plans?