Read Online Death in the Time of Ice by Kaye George - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Kaye George
Tags: Mystery
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the males and females on the hunt so they could participate.
What a contrast , thought Enga to herself with a brief scowl. I am so close to my birth sister, and Nanno Green Eyes did not spend much time with Hama, her own birth sister. All she had ever witnessed between them were sour feelings and conflict. Could Nanno have killed her own sister? But, if she did, why now?
Enga wondered if Nanno had been in this wipiti just before the death. She had come from this direction when the hunting party had returned carrying Ung and the bundle of clothing from Kokat No Ear.
In the large dwelling of Hama there was plenty of room for all who were there. Lakala Rippling Water, the Singer, her oldest birth daughter, retrieved the special buttons the New One had made. Tog Flint Shaper rubbed her limbs with a soft skin dipped in mint-scented water. The other child of Hama, Akkal, the serious-minded Fire Tender, assisted Tog. Cabat the Thick, her present mate, also joined in and helped. Panan One Eye, her mate before Cabat, sat watching the preparations. The two males shot each other narrow looks.
Enga picked up Hama’s hair bracelets. Shall I put these on her? she asked Lakala.
Yes, she wore them every day. Lakala reached into Hama’s pouch and pulled out a necklack, fashioned of tiny carved bird bones strung on sinew. And she needs her Death Necklace also. Lakala adorned her neck with it for the Burial.
The New One was summoned and came to quietly sew the buttons that had been ripped off back into place. His strange pinkish eyes shed tears as he worked.
Enga looked for the figure she had seen, the wooden carving buried in the dirt of the floor. Someone had removed it. She thought it might be good to bury it with Hama, but it was gone. She even looked in Hama’s pouch, but it wasn’t there either.
Enga ran to her own dwelling to get the carving the New One had given her. She had never shown it to them and maybe it would bring the tribe luck. She would fetch it and place it near the body while they chanted.
When Enga entered her wipiti she stopped for a moment, feeling the silence. It was strange that Ung was not staying there. She would again as soon as she was healed, but Enga was not used to being in a dwelling by herself. She crossed to the pouch she had left beside her sleeping skin and reached into it for the carving.
When she didn’t find it she frowned and shook the sac, snapping it upside down. Her belongings fell out, the smooth rock, her hair adornments and spear tips, all but the carving. It was not there.
She sat back on her heels. Dizziness threatened to topple her onto the dirt.
My own figure is gone, and the Hama’s has disappeared, too. Did the New One take them back? Someone else could have taken them, but why would anyone do that? I have let no one know about mine except Ung, and, of course, the New One.
She blinked, trying to clear her mind. Had she imagined the carving? She had gotten so little sleep lately she was beginning to wonder what was real. Had she dreamed about the carving? Was it not real? She would talk to Ung about it. If she had imagined hers, maybe she had imagined the figure in Hama’s wipiti.
Enga put the flap aside and left her dwelling to return to the activity, staggering slightly.
When the body was ready, Tog and Cabat carried it out to the Paved Place and gently placed it on her own black mourning cape. Pure black bearskins were only used for mourning and burials. But, since death was not uncommon among them, mourning capes were used often. Hama’s showed its wear.
Lakala Rippling Water started a Death Chant and the tribe performed a slow dance around the spot where she lay. When Cabat the Thick, the Most High Male, had signaled to cease dancing, he placed the most favored spear tip of Hama beside her. With the help of several others, he bent her limbs up close to her body, rolled her onto her side, and wrapped Hama inside the bearskin. Enga remembered, from her childhood,
What a contrast , thought Enga to herself with a brief scowl. I am so close to my birth sister, and Nanno Green Eyes did not spend much time with Hama, her own birth sister. All she had ever witnessed between them were sour feelings and conflict. Could Nanno have killed her own sister? But, if she did, why now?
Enga wondered if Nanno had been in this wipiti just before the death. She had come from this direction when the hunting party had returned carrying Ung and the bundle of clothing from Kokat No Ear.
In the large dwelling of Hama there was plenty of room for all who were there. Lakala Rippling Water, the Singer, her oldest birth daughter, retrieved the special buttons the New One had made. Tog Flint Shaper rubbed her limbs with a soft skin dipped in mint-scented water. The other child of Hama, Akkal, the serious-minded Fire Tender, assisted Tog. Cabat the Thick, her present mate, also joined in and helped. Panan One Eye, her mate before Cabat, sat watching the preparations. The two males shot each other narrow looks.
Enga picked up Hama’s hair bracelets. Shall I put these on her? she asked Lakala.
Yes, she wore them every day. Lakala reached into Hama’s pouch and pulled out a necklack, fashioned of tiny carved bird bones strung on sinew. And she needs her Death Necklace also. Lakala adorned her neck with it for the Burial.
The New One was summoned and came to quietly sew the buttons that had been ripped off back into place. His strange pinkish eyes shed tears as he worked.
Enga looked for the figure she had seen, the wooden carving buried in the dirt of the floor. Someone had removed it. She thought it might be good to bury it with Hama, but it was gone. She even looked in Hama’s pouch, but it wasn’t there either.
Enga ran to her own dwelling to get the carving the New One had given her. She had never shown it to them and maybe it would bring the tribe luck. She would fetch it and place it near the body while they chanted.
When Enga entered her wipiti she stopped for a moment, feeling the silence. It was strange that Ung was not staying there. She would again as soon as she was healed, but Enga was not used to being in a dwelling by herself. She crossed to the pouch she had left beside her sleeping skin and reached into it for the carving.
When she didn’t find it she frowned and shook the sac, snapping it upside down. Her belongings fell out, the smooth rock, her hair adornments and spear tips, all but the carving. It was not there.
She sat back on her heels. Dizziness threatened to topple her onto the dirt.
My own figure is gone, and the Hama’s has disappeared, too. Did the New One take them back? Someone else could have taken them, but why would anyone do that? I have let no one know about mine except Ung, and, of course, the New One.
She blinked, trying to clear her mind. Had she imagined the carving? She had gotten so little sleep lately she was beginning to wonder what was real. Had she dreamed about the carving? Was it not real? She would talk to Ung about it. If she had imagined hers, maybe she had imagined the figure in Hama’s wipiti.
Enga put the flap aside and left her dwelling to return to the activity, staggering slightly.
When the body was ready, Tog and Cabat carried it out to the Paved Place and gently placed it on her own black mourning cape. Pure black bearskins were only used for mourning and burials. But, since death was not uncommon among them, mourning capes were used often. Hama’s showed its wear.
Lakala Rippling Water started a Death Chant and the tribe performed a slow dance around the spot where she lay. When Cabat the Thick, the Most High Male, had signaled to cease dancing, he placed the most favored spear tip of Hama beside her. With the help of several others, he bent her limbs up close to her body, rolled her onto her side, and wrapped Hama inside the bearskin. Enga remembered, from her childhood,
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