The first thing to do the next day was to visit the traps. If I had had any useful dreams I could not remember them. I went quietly out of the shelter and left Ikaseraz sleeping. He had many traps but I thought I could remember where he had told me they were. Retrieving from the traps had been one of my jobs at home so I did not doubt that I could do it.
First I went up on to the moors for the land traps, a quick and easy journey compared with yesterday’s. They were mainly for fur animals though if we were lucky enough to have caught a hare it would make us two good meals. We would dry the meat of any others for winter then we wouldn’t notice the unpleasant taste so much.
The first trap was empty and the second too. But the third had a really good gift from Misumena, a fox. Its fur was beginning to turn white already and that would make it more valuable to trade. I looked around for a spider to send to Misumena with my thanks but could not find one, so I spoke directly to her instead. It is not the same but she would understand. The rest of the traps produced two lemmings and a weasel, not good but not bad either. When they were all in my game bag I went down to the river.
At Ikaseraz’s stretch of the bank I could see water flying and hear loud thwacking noises. I crept up on all fours and was just in time to see an otter diving. But the threshing of the river continued so I started to pull up the trap it was coming from. All my strength would not bring it up. I didn’t know what to do so I pulled up the other traps while I thought. I hit the fishes with the raven, just a simple stone bar such as everyone keeps in their fish bag, and laid them on the grass. It had come to me what to do about the big whatever it was in the first trap. My hopes were up that it might be an otter, that would be a very fine pelt. I found two stout sticks and sharpened one end of each with the all-purpose tool from my waist pouch. Then I hammered them into the bank, angled away from the river, with the other end of the tool. This time when I pulled up the rope holding the trap I wound it round the two sticks so that I could pull a little at a time and not lose my earlier work. My strength was not really up to the job, but I was determined. This was something I was going to do. I couldn’t face admitting to Ikaseraz that I’d failed when he was so tired after yesterday.
The catch slowly rose in the water until I could see it. I nearly fell over. It was the biggest fish I had ever seen. Only its front end was in the trap but the mechanism held it fast. It was struggling so violently I couldn’t see what sort of fish it was and was too flustered to try to guess. After some more pulling and winding the rope round the sticks I was beginning to think the sticks would not hold and hammered some more.
A twist of the fish’s body showed me that it was injured near its tail. Another pull on the rope and I could see that it was a bite or even a gnawed patch. It must have been attacked by the otter I had seen disappearing. Some water splashed into my face and for that moment I believed I could feel the fish’s pain myself. It was there clear in my mind what I had to do, to kill it, as soon as I could to stop the pain. I must not lose it to die a slow painful death. The rope was tied to the first stick so I pulled that one out of the ground and sat down digging my heels into the bank so that I could hold the struggling fish with one arm. Then with my free hand I eventually got the rope tied around my waist. Whatever happened then the fish could not escape by pulling the trap away from me. We were both held now by just one stick and I had no idea whether it would keep its grip, but I got into the water grasping the first pointed stick and the rope holding the trap. As soon as I stepped away from the bank the current pulled hard at me and I jerked back in fear which made the fish leap to try to get away. There was a chaos of splashing water for a time but I steadied myself and moved towards the fish more slowly. The cold started to enter my feet and I knew I had to be quick. I took a deep breath and threw myself onto the fish as I thrust the stick through its head. We thrashed about underwater for what was probably only seconds and then I felt the animal die. While there was still feeling in my hands I grabbed the trap and struggled to the bank.
The pull of the current was stronger than I could have imagined, but finally the trap with the dead fish and I were on the bank. There was no time to rest, I was shaking with cold and must get back to the fire.
I met Ikaseraz at the edge of the camp, he had seen me coming. He took in the picture of a soaked girl with a huge fish and I could see him trying not to laugh.
"It’s not funny" he told himself and we ran as best we could, which was not very well, for the shelter.
"Into your spare clothes - quick."
But when I got near the fire I felt too cold to make my hands work, so Ikaseraz got my wet clothes off, towelled me dry and got me into the dry ones. He didn’t seem very expert at it but was definitely better than I was, in that state. He made us a hot drink while I told him what had happened. I made a bit of an epic out of it with me as hero, but I had no need to exaggerate the size of the fish. It was a salmon he said. I had thought that at first but as I said to Ikaseraz they surely don’t come that big.
"I didn’t think so either, but salmon it is."
"What are we going to do with it?"
"Winter says we must salt down at least half of it. But we’ll dig a pit and bake the rest, we’ll eat half and give the other half to your family because they will be missing your trapping skills."
"Oh, good. They’ll be thrilled. And they’ll think I’ve been some use at last!"
"I ought to scold you for going off without saying where you were going. But I’m not going to. I would never have made a good father. I’m not going to say that you might have drowned either, because you know that. Now you’ve felt the strength of the river you will respect it more."
"But look what I’ve got too."
I pulled the fox out of the game bag.
He smiled at sight of it.
"Did you throw yourself on that too?"
"Your teasing me."
"Not really. I’m proud of what you did for that salmon. But it doesn’t get you out of the fire-dung collecting. When we’ve got you warm again you’ll have to go. It’s urgent to get more for our winter stores, the first snow could come and cover it at any time. Don’t go south though. I know collecting would probably be better that way, a few aurochs droppings would be better than many reindeer, but it’s not safe. Our border with the souther people is in dispute again, so don’t go to the woods."
North it was then, up to the tundra with the rather smelly fuel bag. It was always just a matter of luck how much you could collect, whether the reindeer had passed that way and if nobody else had got there first. When I had got an adequate amount I sat to rest. Fighting that fish had tired me, or perhaps the cold of the river. I was good and warm now though in an old jacket of Ikaseraz’s that served as a coat to me, my own was drying by the fire at home.
The last pile of dung I intended to collect was beside me and I turned it gently to see if there were any beetles in it. I loved watching them, they are beautiful animals in their way and so skilful There were a few there busy making their little dung balls or rolling them away, with their back legs holding their beautifully made spheres, and their front legs pushing hard. I watched them closely but then I could not see them any more, just a sparkling whirlpool. There was the sound like a waterfall which got louder as I went down the vortex without spinning myself. Both the sound and the whirling flashing lights stopped suddenly and I was standing on my hands pushing backwards with my feet. I knew at once that I was a dung beetle but felt totally calm and just kept pushing the ball behind me. Then, at the same time as I pushed, I could see myself from a point quite far away. I was indeed a giant dung beetle and I was pushing the moon up into a dark blue sky. After pushing for some time I felt hands taking the moon from me. But when I could see again they were not hands but white paws belonging to a hare. It was the white hare that we have round here, with black-tipped ears, not the brown one you see on rare occasions further south. Soon after passing the moon to the hare I was back watching the beetles.
This time I knew I had been in the spirit-world and nothing frightening had happened. It was unsettling but not alarming in any way. I went through the visit trying to make sure I could remember everything to tell Ikaseraz. He would be able to interpret for me, my efforts to understand it yielded nothing.
When I got back to our shelter - I had hurried because I was hungry - I put the new dung away in the dryer beside our peat, then went in to tell Ikaseraz about my unexpected visit to spirit-world. But I was disconcerted to find that he could not think of an explanation either. Not of what I had experienced or why I suddenly went away. He suggested that I was perhaps stressed by the over-excitement with the salmon, but he didn’t sound sure at all.
"You actually experienced being a scarab?"
He called dung beetles "scarabs", though nobody else did.
"Yes, although I was looking at it as well."
"The flashing lights you saw are almost always the sparkling of light on water which suggests that it was Vezeru who took you in, but why did she show you that particular vision?"
We ate in silence and then I cleaned our bowls.
"The light’s too poor this evening, but tomorrow I want you to make me some paint. Plenty of red and some black, a little white and any other colours that you can make. Spend all day on it if you like, I shall be going to the spirits. I want to get some guidance from my ancestors. In three days there is to be a hunting ceremony in the cave so I need their advice about that. That’s when I need the paints as well because I shall probably paint after it, either on the walls or the roof. What I paint will depend on what happens during the ceremony, we shall see."
"We. You mean that I will be there?"
"Of course. How else will you learn?"
"But Father has always said that everything to do with hunting is for men only."
"He’s almost right. The men represent Sky Father who sends the prey animals. But that does not apply to enchanters or apprentices who must learn by watching. We are exceptional in every way!"
"Do I have to do anything?"
"No, just keep quiet and don’t get in the way. The next day, when I’ve recovered, you can ask me about anything you didn’t understand."
But I didn’t make the paints the next day because we were hardly more than up and dressing when we heard someone shouting that the river traders had come. Their smoke signal had been sent from lower down the river. They wouldn’t risk their boats in the shallow water this high up the river.
We had a very quick breakfast. Everything for the trip had to go in my pack, lightweight shelter, food and our furs, because Ikaseraz had to carry all the furs for trading with. Some people had things they had made to take to trade with, fabrics, bowls, belts, even spear-throwers or cutting tools, but we only had furs. I didn’t know what Ikaseraz might want to buy, but no-one knew what the river traders might have.
Most people in our group were going and we assembled to walk together. Ikaseraz and I joined up with my family so that we could help each other on the journey. We all had big loads but although Oskol, my brother, would start out by walking, we all knew he would have to be carried at some point. The baby, her name is Eraminpe, was strapped to Mother’s back. The walk took most of the day as there was so much to carry, but many people offered Ikaseraz help or it could have taken even longer. When I asked him if they were people he had cured in the past he said
"I pulled most of them out of their mothers on their first day."
"Oh, what a strange thing. Did you birth me too?"
"Of course. Who else was going to do it?"
The even stranger thought was that I would be doing it in the future, suppose Mother had another baby, I might have to deliver it.
We joined with another group on the way, the wester people, and some people were making trades with them while others caught up with their relations who had married into that group. Ikaseraz spoke briefly to their enchanter but I got the impression he did not like him much. When we reached the traders’ camp on the river bank we all set up a temporary camp together. Ikaseraz put our shelter next to my parents’. After our fires were alight and we had settled our things we went down to the riverside to see what the traders had brought. There would be no trades made until the next day, but everyone wanted to see what there was and to think how much of what they were willing to give for it.
We all went down together chattering about what we might get. I had nothing to trade with but wanted to know what Ikaseraz would get. Samples of their goods were laid out for inspection and there began a great hubbub of sellers crying up their particular products and buyers pretending they were not really interested. I just wanted to see everything. This was their last stop and some traders were trying to sell things they had acquired lower down the river, but they were mostly just the same things we had at home, wooden dishes and cups and everyday leather goods. None of that stuff interested me, I wanted to see what they had brought from the coast. A lot of it was laid out together and I saw that Ikaseraz was already looking through it. There were a great many different seaweeds but I didn’t know which were food and which were medicinal. They were lovely to look at though, some highly coloured but even the usual brown ones were all different shapes. The shells drew a lot of attention, there was a beautiful one as big as my head covered in a pink and white pattern, but both Father and Ikaseraz said that it was too expensive.
Mother was busy amongst the cooking and eating wares. There were cookbags of all sizes and I knew she wanted to get one, but Father said they would get a good piece of leather and make their own. They had plenty of thread and seam sealant at home. I knew Mother wanted me to look at the herbs with her, but I just wanted to look at the sea things. The starfish and sea urchins I recognised but there were a lot of dried animals that I didn’t. Ikaseraz told me the names of a couple but I was really none the wiser and he was soon away to look through the bones. That made me think that I should be looking for something with power over the weather that I could use in future to fight the Ice Giants. One of the traders looked friendly so I asked him if there was something from the north where the ice was that I could look at. He brought out a wonderful object. It was a very long pointed tusk with a spiral design on it. He let me touch it and I asked him if he had carved the design, but he said that it grew like that on the animal.
"What animal?"
"It’s a small whale that lives in the northern sea."
"I would love to own that, but I could never afford it. Have you something small that would only cost two or three cowries?" That was all I had. He smiled and said he would see what he could find. When he came back he was holding a strange-looking thing which I wanted at once. It was a claw of a great white bear he said. It was black and shiny, like the obsidian mammoth, I could hardly believe it, and I wanted it.
"I need to know that this bear lives in the north, is it an ice bear?"
"Oh yes, its fur is white and they say it is only found up north on the ice."
"Have you got a pelt of one, have any of the traders got one?"
"No, I’m sorry but they are always the first things to go. We have to pay the hunters who bring them quite highly, they are seldom found and very fierce."
"You’ve seen them though?"
"Only the pelts, I’ve never been up north myself."
"White bearskin, how I’d love just to see one and feel it."
"Yes, they are very beautiful. They are quite large bears too. Not as big as our bears round here, but bigger than that dark brown one that sometimes comes up from the south."
"Do you come from round here?"
"Yes, just down by the mouth of the Vezer."
"I’ve never even been that far. How I’d love to see the sea."
"It is a wonderful thing to see, but very strong and wild, dangerous, many drown. I expect you will see it when you are older."
"They’re always telling me about things I’ll see and do when I’m older."
He laughed and said
"They said the same to me. But it was true."
I settled with him that I would buy the ice bear’s claw for two cowrie shells when trading began in the morning.
Our group had made a communal fire and we all sat around it to eat and drink. But I did not enjoy it as much as I would normally have done. Though I was longing to get my claw and that felt good I knew I had not done as Father said. He had told me that when you meet the traders, if you see something you want you must pretend you do not want it at all, and if you do buy it you are doing so as a favour to them. But I had immediately grinned in delight and told the trader I wanted it very much, so I obviously was no good at it. One more thing I couldn’t do. He had seemed so nice though that, even if I had remembered what I was supposed to do, I would have felt bad pretending to him. So I just listened to everybody’s stories of what they had seen and what they would buy and said nothing myself.
In the morning everyone was up early, but I was the first out and waiting at my trader’s stall before he had arrived himself. Nobody else was going to get my claw. He soon arrived and smiled when he saw me.
"Don’t worry the claw of the white bear is yours. Just let me get some things unpacked and on display."
It seemed a long time to me until he had unpacked down to my claw, but adults always took a long time over everything. Finally he found it and brought it out with a flourish. The two cowrie shells were ready in my hand but when I tried to hand them to him he wouldn’t take them. He gave me the glorious claw and said
"It’s yours, that feels right somehow. I don’t want your shells."
I stumbled badly over thanking him, but I felt so overwhelmed that a stranger would give me something so obviously valuable that it came out all jumbled and in spurts.
"Stop…stop. The pleasure on your face is thanks enough."
He returned to his unpacking so I thought I could leave without seeming rude, and ran to find Ikaseraz. I hadn’t said anything to him about it before it was safely mine. He might have said it was no good and I should not waste my shells, but it called to me and I wanted it so. He was looking slightly scornfully at another trader’s stuff when I found him. In my excitement I bounded up to him calling
"Look. Look what I’ve got. It’s a claw from a great white ice bear from the north. Isn’t it wonderful?"
He took a step backwards and looked very serious.
"Which trader did you get that from?"
I pointed describing him. Ikaseraz looked at him for quite a long time though my trader was too busy to notice.
"You are telling me that with all the things you could have got here you spent your shells on that?"
I sank inside, he must think there was an evil spirit in it. So I quickly told him that my trader had given it me and would not take my shells.
"He gave it you?" He was looking even more tense, and picking up our trading-furs he took hold of my arm and hurried us over to my trader. I could see my trader’s face change to alarm when he saw an enchanter coming towards him. It seemed to me that he got rid of the customer he was talking to because she moved away looking displeased. I hoped I hadn’t got him in trouble with Ikaseraz when he had been so kind to me.
Ikaseraz was not one for small talk.
"You gave my apprentice a claw from a northern bear?" My trader looked at me then with a sort of distancing respect. It was the first time I had got that look from anybody, I saw it many times afterwards, but I preferred the way he had looked at me previously when he didn’t see me as an enchanter’s apprentice.
"Yes…I hope the spirits are not offended."
"Oh, no, nothing like that. But I wanted to know why you gave it her."
"She seemed to want it so much and, to be honest, I couldn’t sell it. People seem to be afraid of it. But I like it myself and wanted it to go where it would be appreciated."
"Are you sure it is from the northern bear?"
"Yes. I removed the claws from the pelt myself. It was very thick and a yellowish white, the nose was black, it was definitely the northern. The customer who took the pelt wanted the claws removed, he said they frightened him."
"They seem to frighten everybody except you and my apprentice."
"Not you surely?"
"Yes, it startled me. I would be happier if you would let me give you something for it. If you would let me look at you for a minute or two I could find a guardian-spirit that would give you a safe and fast journey home."
"That would please me. I don’t like my wife being alone, she will give birth soon."
"I know."
The finding of a guardian-spirit took longer than I thought and I sympathised with the trader, I knew how unsettling it was to have Ikaseraz looking into your eyes. He looked relieved at the end and I didn’t know if that was because it was over or because he would soon be safely home.
Then Ikaseraz asked him if he had more things from the ice regions and he brought out all he had.
"The spirits are pleased with you and I can see myself that you are an honest man. What if I show you all the furs I have, well I just want two or three small ones to get some honey with, and you say which from the rest are any good to you. Then you can give us what you think they are worth from this collection of northern objects. Does that suit you?"
"Very well, and you know I would be foolish to try to cheat an enchanter." He half smiled at Ikaseraz, who smiled back and then went off to get our honey while I stayed with the trader as he looked over our furs.
"I think your Enchanter would like you to say which things you would like most from my goods."
"Do you? I’ve no doubts about that, I like the long tusk best."
"Suppose you arrange them in a line with the tusk at one end as your favourite, then your next favourite and so on down to the end of the line with your least favourite."
While I did that he had a good look at our furs. I was happy, I enjoy sorting, and picking favourites is always fun. The last few were still undecided when Ikaseraz came back with the honey. He seemed to have a good large amount in his basket. The trader told him what I was doing and he waved me to carry on while he and the trader got down to business. Of course I couldn’t help listening. The trader was pleased with our furs as I had thought he would be, we had several beaver pelts and everybody wants them with their being waterproof as well as extra-warm.
Ikaseraz called to me
"We can have the narwhal tusk for your white fox and two beaver pelts." I grinned back my pleasure at getting that. So the small whale was called a narwhal. I’d have loved to see one swimming.
"Look Enchanter, these things from the north are hard to trade, so you can have them all if you think that is a fair trade for all your furs." He did, so I had sorted them for nothing. They touched their right hands together to agree the trade and both seemed pleased.
"You’ve still got three cowries. Go and look round for something you’d like while I find a strong lad to take our things back to the camp. I’ll see you there." He was looking pleased with himself and I suspected he was just trying to get rid of me. Some time to have a good look at everything by myself was welcome though. I soon found that three cowries wouldn’t buy much. When I thought that there was nothing else to see I went back to a trader who had what I wanted. She sold babies’ rattles and honey, so I said I would have one rattle and however much honey made up three cowries worth. She smiled and asked if the rattle was for my baby brother or sister. I said it was for Eraminpe my sister. She gave me a rattle and a good lot of honey - that was for Oskol who loved it - and I waved "goodbye".
At our camp that evening there was a lot of present giving. Eraminpe tried to throw her rattle in the fire but Mother rescued it unharmed. Oskol was only allowed a little of the honey but he made a grand mess anyway.
Father gave me a present that was beyond anything I had ever owned - a pearl - so perfectly smooth and shining with many soft colours. Afterwards I thought perhaps it was a peace-offering over the incident when I got hit, but at the time I just felt love for him and sorrow that I couldn’t still live with him and Mother. It is in my waist-pouch to this day and still causes surprise at its beauty, and yearning for Father to smile at me again.
Mother gave me a ribbon in the deepest red colour I’d ever seen. No berries we ever find are that shade. She said she thought I would like the colour and she was right. I plait it into my hair when I contact her spirit now, though it has faded through the years.
I think we all enjoyed the evening round the fire. People took turns to sing and it all got more and more lively as the adults became affected by their drinks. I was allowed a little mead, it was good. At the end of the evening Ikaseraz chanted a protection on our journey home which would start in the morning.
We set off as soon there was any light. Many people were overloaded, including us. Ikaseraz and I had to carry the narwhal tusk between us as neither could manage it alone and there were others in more severe difficulties. Somehow we all got back to our camp before dark, though it was a near thing. Those disappointed by their exchanges with the river traders were less willing to help than on the outward trip.
At breakfast the next day Ikaseraz said
"The hunting ceremony will have to wait for the next auspicious day now."
I nodded with a mouthful.
"In the mean time we have to go through everything we got from the traders and evaluate it."
"Do what to it?"
"Decide what will be useful for which rituals. In particular you have to choose the objects you feel speaking to you. Those we will keep for a ritual, just you and I will perform it, to send the cold back north. The objects you feel no power coming from we will put away for trading with the sea traders from the south when they come up here."
"I have to choose?"
"Yes. You chose the claw of the ice bear, that shows that it must be you. You felt it didn’t you?"
"It spoke to me about ice. I felt that I must have it."
"Kizkur I can’t stress strongly enough to you how powerful that claw is. When I first saw it I felt I might faint. I want you to be very careful with it. The problem is that I don’t know how to protect you from it. We will use it together at first, I don’t think either of us should use it alone. It will be the centre of our ritual against the Ice Giants, I am convinced that it is their spirits which are sending away the warmth of the sun."
"Where should we keep it?" He thought for a while then said
"For now we will put it behind my drum, that will keep anything eldritch in it away from our fire. When you have your own drum we can keep it behind that."
I brought it out, with more respect after what he had said, and gave it to him to put away. I didn’t want to accidentally touch his drum.
"Let’s lighten things up shall we? I’ve got a present for you. I didn’t give it you yesterday because I didn’t want your father to think I was competing with him." That amazed me. I had thought a present was a simple thing.
He gave me a limpet shell with a little leather cover. Inside were some black granules.
"What is it?"
"It’s a purple dye. If it’s not the exact colour you are trying for I’m sure you have the skill to modify it. The strange thing about it is that it comes from that big shell you were admiring. The animal that made that shell makes a purple dye too, I couldn’t resist getting it for you."
"Thank you" was all I could manage. I didn’t want him to see the tears that were coming. He didn’t need to tell me that there was serious work to do before I could try out my present.