“And you, are you ready to walk?”
“I have been telling you for days now that I am strong. And I want to leave this lake.” She did not look across at the other encampment but he knew what she was thinking. He knew that he had been putting off their departure, but could do so no longer. Everything that they were taking was rolled into bundles and secured to the two travois. It was a small portion of a mastodon’s load — but they had no mastodon. What they took was limited to the amount he and Harl could pull. Armun and Darras would take care of the baby. Arnwheet would carry spear and bow. If Ortnar carried himself that was burden enough. The time had come to leave.
Flies swarmed on the hindquarters of a freshly butchered deer that was too much for them to take. The males would appreciate it. He brushed off the flies, seized it up and swung it onto his shoulder.
“We won’t leave this to rot. As soon as I get back we will go.”
When he started across the clearing Arnwheet called out and ran after him, walked at his side.
“I don’t want to leave our friends,” he said in Yilane when he knew that his mother could not hear him. He had never been told to do this, but instructions can be delivered in many ways. Armun made no secret of her hatred of the two Yilane males.
“Neither do I. But many times in life we take actions that we don’t want to do.”
“Why?”
“Because sometimes things just have to be done. We must leave here before more of the hunters come and find us. We must do that as soon as possible. Imehei cannot come now — and Nadaske will not leave him alone.”
“Is Imehei sick? Nadaske will not tell me.”
“It is a sickness of a kind. When it is over, then I hope he will be able to travel.”
“They will both come and find us. Then we can talk again.”
“Then we will talk again,” Kerrick said, concealing any reservations that he might have had.
Nadaske sat at the water’s edge, at his unconscious friend’s side. He looked up but did not move when they approached. He grew more alert when Arnwheet went into great detail about their preparations for the trip, how well he could shoot his new bow, and here, feel at the sharpness of his speartip. Kerrick looked on with pleasure for the boy was Yilane indeed. But would he remember all this when they left the lake and his Yilane friends were not there to talk to?
“Wet-from-sea is a mighty hunter,” Nadaske said. “After he has gone we will miss all the meat that he has killed/brought.”
Arnwheet arched his back proudly, not catching the sophisticated overtones of size of meat and quantity brought. In truth he had only managed to impale one small lizard since he began shooting his bow. Kerrick appreciated the effort Nadaske was making, for there were also undertones of unhappiness and despair hidden behind his surface meanings.
“All will be well,” Kerrick said, “With you, with us.”
“All will be well,” Nadaske repeated but there was only darkness in his modifiers. In the lake Imehei burbled in his perpetual sleep and his hand drifted slowly under the water in unconscious parody of farewell.
“When we find a safe place you will join us,” Kerrick said, but Nadaske had looked away and did not hear him. Kerrick took Arnwheet’s hand in his and went to join the others.
“It grows late,” Ortnar said grumpily, dragging his bad leg forward, “and the trail is long.”
Kerrick bent and picked up the poles as did Harl. They walked in silence into the forest and only Arnwheet looked back. But the trees were in the way and his two friends at the water’s edge were already out of sight.
CHAPTER SEVEN
apsohesepaa anulonok elinepsuts kakhaato›.
There are more strands to the web of life than there are drops of water in the sea.
Ambalasei sat on the stranded tree trunk on the shore, blinking happily into the sunlight that bathed her in warm waves. It was an unaccustomed pleasure to relax, take pleasure of sun/surroundings, and contemplate this admirable river. So wide that the far bank was scarcely visible, brown with the soil of the continent it drained. Grassy islands in the river drifted past. The sky was cloudless here, but there must have been heavy rain and flooding somewhere upstream for tree after great tree floated majestically past. One drifted into the shallows and stranded itself ponderously on the bank close by: small chattering ustuzou jumped from it to the safety of the shore. One of them passed close, turned to flee when Ambalasei moved, fell dead when the hesotsan snapped. Brown fur, prehensile tail. She turned it over with her claws and saw movement in its midriff; a tiny head appeared. A marsupial with young. Excellent. Setessei would preserve the specimen for study. Ambalasei sat down on the tree again and sighed with pleasure.
A verdant new land for her to explore. Pleasures of ratiocination amplified many times by absence of disputatious Daughters. The harmony of her work was not disturbed by their continual interrupting existence: she only thought of them now to take pleasure from their absence. The commander of the uruketo, Elem, was different, a Yilane of science. She knew how to monitor her speaking without being told. The hated name of Ugunenapsa had not passed over her teeth or colored her palms in all of the many days of this voyage.
Ambalasei’s thoughts were interrupted by a crashing from the forest behind her: she turned her head slightly so she could watch both river and jungle at the same time. Her hesotsan was ready, but she lowered it when one of the crewmembers appeared. She had a large stringknife which she was using to cut a path through the shrubs and vines. It was hard work and her mouth gaped wide; she staggered and almost fell.
“Cessation of labors!” Ambalasei commanded loudly. “Into the water before you perish from overheating.”
The crewmember dropped the stringknife and stumbled to the riverbank and fell full length into the water. When she surfaced she raised one palm to Ambalasei and signed gratitude for aid.
“Gratitude indeed. Not only must I order and guide incompetents but I must think for them as well. Stay there until you can close your mouth.”
She looked up at the river again, but the uruketo was still not in sight. It did not matter, it was only midafternoon and Ambalasei had given them the entire day to exercise the enteesenat and catch food for the uruketo. Now there was movement from the other direction as Setessei and two heavily burdened crewmembers emerged from the forest. The crewmembers let fall their bundles and joined their companion in the water. Setessei had her mouth open but did not appear to be as overheated as the others.
“Discovery exactly as Ambalasei predicted,” she said.
“Excellent. From the contours of the land and the configuration of the tributary I knew that there had to be a lake in there.”
“A warm one, alive with fish, shored by sunny beaches.”
“And uninhabited?”
“Creatures of all kinds. Except Sorogetso.”
“Again as I predicted, the same as at the other sites. And of all the lakes we have examined this one is the nearest to the city. I am forced to the reluctant conclusion that the small group of Sorogetso that I discovered is the only one in existence. Certainly the only one on this river. Do you know what that means?”
“Ignorance of meaning/desire for enlightenment.”
“It means, faithful Setessei, that our Sorogetso are not native to these shores. They were brought here, planted here, left here, as I had supposed. A single colony, fruit of dark experiments by a scientist unknown. Did you find anything else of note on your expedition?”
“Specimens of interest, featherless/furless flying creatures, and another of possible value.”
The crewmembers were emerging from the river now and Setessei ordered that the discarded bundles be brought forward. She opened one and took out the body of a small, beaked lizard that was no longer than her
