Read Online Death in the Time of Ice by Kaye George - Free Book Online Page B

when the old Hama had died and her limbs had been too stiff to bend.
    The dead leader was now the Aja Hama, the Former Most High Female. The three elder males, Cabat the Thick, Panan One Eye, and Sannum Straight Hair, hoisted their burden and carried their leader to the top of the Sacred Hill. Enga and the rest followed at a respectful distance. They murmured a soft chant on their way up the hill, past the Holy Cave where Fee Long Thrower would soon go to have her baby, and on to the burial ground. Enga plucked yellow flowers on her way and the others picked their favorites from among the last of the season’s blossoms. Enga held hers to her nose. The smell of their fragrant petals soothed Enga’s jagged feelings somewhat.
    The males had dug a hole earlier in the day to prepare the gravesite. The Hamapa threw blossoms into the hole and covered the bottom with flower petals of all colors. Enga was glad there were enough plants still alive to line the grave with color. The breath of Mother Sky whipped some of the petals out of their hands, but most drifted into the pit.
    The surviving Elders gently lowered the Aja Hama onto the petals. Enga shivered in the wind, which was growing sharp, and joined in calling out loud the name Hama had been given shortly after birth, the name she forsook when she became Hama, followed by her title, to signify her passing.
    “Jansa, Hama, Jansa, Hama.”
    Now they would select their next Hama and this one would be referred to as either Aja Hama or Jansa Wild Wind. She had been named for her swiftness at her Passage Ceremony.
    Tog and the other males placed a few heavy rocks on top of her. Tears flowed like rain from Enga’s eyes. She stayed in mental touch with Ung, still confined, and with Tog Flint Shaper, now standing on the other side of the burial hole. The others communicated with each other silently, and they all mourned together.
    Even Nanno Green Eyes managed to shed a few tears, but Enga wondered if they were genuine.
    The mourners stayed on the windy hill for the amount of time it took Sister Sun to travel two hand-lengths through Mother Sky. The cold kept Enga’s eyes open and her head from dropping forward with exhaustion.
    They held hands, weeping and intoning, then, one by one, began sifting handfuls of dusky-smelling dirt onto the rocks and bearskin that covered Aja Hama. The males finished burying her, deep enough so coyotes, peccaries, and lions would not smell her and dig her up.
    The rest of the sun time was chilly and the Hamapa stayed quiet, except Ongu Small One, who walked about and hummed a light tune. Enga wondered if she was trying to cheer up the tribe. Most of them were thinking of the next step, anointing the new Hama. Enga couldn’t think of anyone who would be a good replacement.
    * * *
    Just after Sister Sun went to mate with Brother Earth for dark time, Enga Dancing Flower was roused from her torpor. She had managed to drift into a restless sleep, but now the hunters were returning. The children ran to greet them. Most of the adults had no energy. And they could tell from the hunters’ emotions they had not killed a mammoth.
    Enga had not been asleep, but she had been comfortable on her bearskin. With a glance of regret at her warm bed, she emerged from her wipiti to see Fee Long Thrower step onto the Paved Place. She held up a small porcupine she had brought down, then turned toward the Healer’s wipiti. Fee screwed up her face and doubled over, dropping the animal. Vala Golden Hair dropped the two snowshoe hares she carried and helped Fee to the Healer’s. Fee’s birthing pains had begun.
    * * *
    The meeting a short time later was short and dispirited. The Saga was one Jeek had heard Panan One Eye tell before, and he did not go into much detail. Only that a short-faced bear, in a time of great hunger, had once attacked the birth mother of the birth mother of the slain Aja Hama. No one mentioned anything about thinking a bear had killed Aja