Unsafe Passage
ONE GLANCE SHOWED Charmian that all of the men who had come down to the shore were standing around them now, and every weapon in the camp looked to be aimed right at them.
Her face started quivering, and her voice came out thin and tremulous. "Why does this keep happening?!"
Stands Somewhere still stood ahead of them, where he'd been leading them into the middle of the camp; now he was wielding his spear, an ugly look on his face. "A wabano!" he snapped, jabbing the weapon at Moon Wolf, who still held his bitten arm, a surprised look on his face. "You travel not only with Whittikos but with a WABANO!"
Charmian's mouth fell open. "So--?"
Winter Born and Kenu squeaked, ducking back closer to the group as they started huddling in on themselves; the Cree surrounded them, weapons bristling like angry porcupines. Before Charmian could say anything else, Stands Somewhere had turned around and gone running off into the camp. She glanced around at the members of the tribe but saw only unpleasant faces.
"What the hell did we do to you guys?!" she demanded, her voice cracking. "All we wanted was some clothes and food and to go up THERE!" She pointed at the towering mountain, but this just made their looks grow even uglier, and they raised their weapons a bit more. Thomas grasped her wrist and pulled on it a bit, whispering in her ear.
"TRY not to antagonize the people with the spears, please!!" he hissed.
Charmian's face screwed up. "They're pissing me off!!"
The furtive murmuring had arisen again as soon as they'd been surrounded, and she could now see the other inhabitants of the camp gathering outside the circle, craning their necks to see the newcomers. Her brow furrowed to see how thin and bedraggled they all were, and her anger began to fade; it looked like the year hadn't been a good one for these people. Their eyes were large and their faces hollow, and as soon as any of them noticed her staring at them, they would gasp and hurriedly turn away or duck behind someone else. She looked them over as they prowled around, muttering to themselves. Old men, young men, old women, young women, boys and girls and little children and dogs--they all had the same suspicious looks in their eyes, as if they resented this intrusion yet were too fearful to speak up about it. Her confusion grew.
"What the heck happened here...?" she murmured.
The sound of quick footfalls came, and the crowd began to part as Stands Somewhere returned, jogging back toward them; another figure followed him, though not nearly as quickly. Charmian had to crane her own neck now to see that it was an old woman, stooped over with age and walking with the aid of a stick. Her dirty gray hair hung around her face and looked like it hadn't been washed in ages. She didn't have the graceful look of Geezhigo-Quae, or even the goodnatured crabbiness of Nokomis or Old Mother Manitou; every inch of her made Charmian want to start shivering in revulsion. The lines in her face were hard, her eyes were hard, and the glare that she gave them all as soon as she halted beside the men with the weapons was the hardest that Charmian had seen in a while. Her nose wrinkled as she looked them over, her ragged fingernails digging into her walking stick.
"And so who are they?" she snapped, her voice like gravel left behind by the glacier.
"They claim to come from the south, seeking a way up the mountain," Stands Somewhere said, his own look turning unpleasant, "but there are some HOLES in their story!"
Charmian's mouth fell open. "Holes--? We've told you guys the TRUTH! Our Island is going to be destroyed!"
Stands Somewhere wrinkled his own nose now. "And all this junk about coming on behalf of Wisakedjak to defeat the Whittikos--?" he demanded, and the murmuring arose louder than before, the people's eyes going wider. "When you travel with two of them in your company, and only feign an ability to control them--?"
Charmian blinked, suddenly feeling very cold. "How--" she blurted out, then her voice disappeared.
How did he know that--?
Unless he can read our minds--?
How would HE know that--?
"Enough," the old woman snapped, thumping the butt of her stick against the ground. The murmuring died down. "Which one did you say is the Whittiko and which one is the wabano?"
Stands Somewhere pointed them out. "That one is one of the Whittikos...they made the other one disappear...and that man is the wabano. He hurled fire at the dogs! He didn't even have to call it up." More murmuring, and the people began backing away from Moon Wolf, averting their eyes so they didn't stare at him. Charmian saw the flush rise in his face before he started scowling, and realized how humiliating this must be. She clenched her fists and took a step toward Stands Somewhere, ignoring the spears and bows that pointed at her chest.
"Even if we didn't tell you the whole truth, it was just because we COULDN'T!" she snapped. "We couldn't risk that YOU guys might work for the wabano we're trying to keep AWAY from! Moon Wolf's not the one you have to worry about! It's the guy who's following us who's bad news! Besides--take a look at YOU guys! Like you can fault us for holding out a little bit--? Doesn't that sound kind of pot-and-kettle to you--?"
"The fact remains that you were traveling through our land with Whittikos and practicers of bad medicine!" Stands Somewhere retorted. "Take a look around you! Do you think we can take any risks of our own--? When the Whittikos have been picking us off one by one, and even infiltrating our camp? ANY ONE of you could be one for all we know! And wabanos bring only bad news--considering what spirits they consort with!" The weapons drew closer to Moon Wolf. "You claim to want to speak with the North Wind--how do we know you aren't going to tell him to send MORE Whittikos to assail us!"
"Just let us go and we'll prove it!" Winter Born cried. "Honest!"
Stands Somewhere snorted. "Unlikely!" He narrowed his eyes. "I'm betting you're some sort of Whittiko-spawn yourself!"
Charmian opened her mouth, then promptly shut it when she found the long barrel of a gun directly beside her head; she gawked at it for a split second before Thomas dragged her back. Black Elk Horn had stepped forward and was pointing it at Stands Somewhere, who could only stare at it with a frown. Charmian realized that they must have never seen guns here before. She hurried to pull herself free and step forward again before they could have a repeat of what had happened on the Island.
"Hold on!!" she cried, holding up her hands. "What do we have to do to convince you guys?" she begged. "To convince you guys that we mean what we say, and we won't hurt anyone here? What will it take for you to just let us pass through?"
"You claim you have to get up that mountain?" the old woman demanded; when Charmian nodded, her eyes narrowed. "Then go right ahead. But leave the wabano and Whittikos behind with us."
Charmian's brow furrowed. "Huh--? LEAVE them--?" She turned to look at Moon Wolf. "Hold on! They're our friends! I can't just leave them!"
"You hardly all need to go up there together," the old woman snorted. "For all we know, as soon as you disappear from sight, you'll be calling up those Whittikos and descending on our camp!"
Charmian's fists clenched. "This ISN'T so!"
"Then head on up there yourself," the old woman replied. "Without your wabano or your Whittikos! If your intent is as sincere as you say, then why do you keep hesitating...?"
The murmurs began to arise again, angry and suspicious. Charmian glared at the people surrounding them. "If we leave them behind then what happens to them?" she demanded. "How do I know you guys won't KILL them?"
The old woman's black eyes glittered. "You don't know that, do you?"
Charmian opened her mouth to retort, but a thought abruptly cut into her head. Just do it, would you? You think we don't know how to look after ourselves--? She blinked and nearly turned to look at Moon Wolf, but made herself stay still. It would probably be best for us to remain behind as it is. All of us heading up would be somewhat much for such a task. And I don't like the look of this woman. She could be a wabano herself--it would be just like her then to try to restrain any other wabanos. If any of us are to remain, perhaps I could make certain that nothing happens to us.
But what if they restrain you? Charmian asked anxiously.
Just do what you have to do. I can always think of something. Besides... He paused for a moment, and Charmian found herself peering at several of the others, Stick-In-The-Dirt and Black Elk Horn and Singing Cedars among them. ...THEY will likely not be restrained.
Charmian gnawed on her lip for a moment, then let out a small breath. "Fine," she said between clenched teeth. "They can stay behind. But you have to promise they won't be hurt. If you hurt them..." She paused, trying to think of something to convince them, then simply blurted out, "I'll call down some Whittikos!!" And she grimaced.
The other members of the camp, aside from Stands Somewhere, the old woman, and the men surrounding them, let out a collective gasp and scuttled back somewhat. Charmian hated making threats...but even more she hated the idea of any harm coming to the others. "Not a good way to get on our good side," the old woman said, nose wrinkling, and swung the end of her stick toward Stands Somewhere. "Stands's family here was killed off by Whittikos called down by a hostile wabano!"
Charmian nearly swallowed her tongue. "I can't even call Whittikos!" she retorted. "I just want to make sure my friends are okay!"
"That isn't up to you," the old woman replied. She took a step aside and waved her stick at the mountain. "Well--? Be off, if you really mean it."
"I can't go on my OWN!" Charmian protested in disbelief. "I don't even know the frigging way!"
There was a long silence. Stands Somewhere glanced at the old woman, then back at Charmian; she saw the hard unfriendly look in his eyes, but as soon as they met hers, she thought she saw them soften just a little. "I will go with her," he said, earning a look. "Seeing as she doesn't know the way."
The old woman frowned at him. "You sure of that...? That mountain is supposed to be infested with those creatures..."
"She claims she comes to stop them from attacking our camp," Stands Somewhere said. "If there's the tiniest chance that she can do this, then perhaps we should look into it. I know that I think it's worth a shot. The worst that can happen..." He shrugged. "Is that we get killed."
Charmian winced. Sure, what's the WORST that can happen!
The old woman scowled and jammed the end of her stick into the soil. "Well...her friends stay HERE then! Who knows what they even are--that thing--and that--" She waved at Marten, then at X'aaru. "Probably all Whittikos or wabanos in disguise!"
"Those are the only Whittikos and wabanos we have with us!" Charmian snapped. "You already know who!"
"Oh?" The old woman stomped toward Stick-In-The-Dirt, who quailed when she grabbed onto his Megis shell and other necklaces. She squinted at them for a moment, then let them go and shoved him so that he nearly fell back. "Just a nanandawi," she muttered. "And a low-level one too. I'll tell you what, Whittiko girl. If you come back down here alive, you and your friends leave in peace. If not, then your nanandawi here can patch up what's left of the rest of you."
Charmian's face went white. Stands Somewhere turned around and started tramping off across the glacier, waving at her over his shoulder. "Come on," he said. "I know a shortcut through the ice."
Charmian cast an aggrieved look at the others--Thomas, Winter Born, and Mani especially looked upset--but had to turn and jog along after Stands Somewhere just to keep up. She hated the thought of heading up there without any of them...but if it took care of the situation...
Maybe if I show him that I don't mean any harm--maybe they'll let the others follow me.
If that crazy old woman doesn't burn them into cinders or turn them into frogs or something first...!
She caught up with Stands Somewhere as he strode northward, turning slightly northwest. The pine trees rose in scattered stands, fading out at the edges of the glacier; Stands Somewhere avoided these, keeping instead to the swaths of soil and rocks between them. Charmian had to draw her arms in close, the passages were so narrow. Stands Somewhere eventually began to slow his step, noticing her hesitation, and he scowled at her and jerked his hand.
"Hurry up! At this rate, the ice will be all across the bay--and then where will your friends be!"
"Hold your horses!" Charmian snapped, clambering over a small boulder and skinning her knee. She rubbed at it as she limped his way. "You guys don't have to be so damn pissy just because we keep company YOU don't happen to like!"
"Really," Stands Somewhere retorted. "We will say this to the next Whittikos who attempt to flatten our camp, then!"
Charmian winced. "I didn't mean it that way," she said, remembering what the old woman had just said, and she bit the inside of her mouth. Stands Somewhere had to slow his step on the loose gravel here, giving her a chance to relax a little. She fiddled her fingers. "I just can't figure out why none of you will believe us! Cripes, I get the feeling you people wouldn't trust your own kids if they looked at you funny."
"Good," Stands Somewhere said. "This is as it should be." He glanced at her. "Perhaps now you can understand better. It's foolish to trust anyone but yourself. Everyone around you could be out to kill you."
Charmian's brow furrowed. "That's hardly a way to think!"
"It is if you want to keep alive long enough."
She shook her head in disbelief. "Sorry, but I'm used to making friends and counting on people and all those OTHER weird things that you guys don't seem to get! Living paranoid is no way to live. You'd be miserable forever!"
"Yet at least you would be alive." He cast her another look. "It may be different where you are from--but here, this is the way things are. We keep to our own camp. We look after ourselves. And anyone who makes a point of acting oddly deserves what suspicion they get. In this place, this is the only way to live." He slowed his step and gestured ahead; Charmian stepped beside him to see a crevice in the rock. The stone rose up slightly higher than Stands Somewhere's head, and the opening looked wide enough for only one person at a time; she could tell that Mani and X'aaru would have had some difficulty, at least. "This crack leads to a passage up the mountain's side, free of snow and ice. There's some loose gravel, but nothing too serious. Unless you're afraid of heights."
Charmian shook her head. "No."
"It gets twisty in places and easy to miss your step." He started walking again. "I'll show you about halfway along. After that, you're on your own."
Charmian nodded silently. Stands Somewhere stepped into the crevice and began trudging along; she fell into step behind him, peering up at the jagged walls surrounding them. She tried to see ahead to where they were going, but the passageway was too narrow to permit this; instead she alternated between examining the walls, and glancing up at the gloomy sky overhead.
"It's truly been like this for longer than you can remember?" she asked, and saw him nod. She paused. "What that old lady said...about your family."
"Mudroot?" He glanced back at her, then forward again. "What of it?"
"Is it true? The Whittikos killed your family?"
Another nod; he didn't look back this time. "They disguised themselves as members of our camp and did it. This is how they work. This is why it's best not to trust anyone."
Charmian lowered her head a little. "I'm sorry...I've lost some people I care about." Another pause. "And most of my friends have, too. Including Moo--including the wabano."
Stands Somewhere looked at her over his shoulder for a moment or two, appearing to study her. He turned away again. Their feet crunched against the ground.
"What you said," he said, and she craned her neck to show that she was listening. "About going to fight off the Whittikos...was this true?"
She bit her lip. "Actually...it wasn't...but I planned on looking into it, once we got our own stuff done. I don't like leaving loose ends like that. If you guys are in trouble, I'd be more than happy to help."
"You said you would call the Whittikos down on us."
Charmian shook her head adamantly. "I don't even know HOW to do that! I just said that to get you guys to go along! I have no clue how to handle things like that. But some of the others could fight them off," she added when he peered at her suspiciously.
"Those Whittikos of yours?" he prompted.
She lowered her head a little. "It's just like I said. They're practically harmless now. The one who disappeared--the stronger one--"
"That girl claimed he was the weaker one!" Stands Somewhere protested.
Charmian made a face. "She only said that to throw you guys off. He's the stronger one--but he's lost most of his power now. That manitou I told you about took it from him."
"And that other one, then--? The one still in the camp?" He slowed down and frowned. "Should we be heading back?"
She shook her head again. "He wouldn't hurt a fly! I've never known Pakwa to eat anything other than--PEOPLE food! And I don't mean food made out of people." They resumed walking, the ground inclining more steeply now. "You don't have to worry about either of them."
"What about that wabano of yours? You do realize that wabanos are bad luck, don't you?"
"He's not MY wabano!" Charmian exclaimed, blushing. "Moon Wolf gave up most of his medicine a long time ago. Sure, he can still use it, but...he really doesn't like to hurt people. He's not a bad person, honest. None of them are. Well--a few have kind of bad tempers, but that's about it! They'd never go killing and eating anybody, at least."
Stands Somewhere was silent for a few moments. Then, "I hope that you are telling the truth this time," he murmured, and she sighed with a mixture of frustration and pity.
I think I'd go nuts living in such a paranoid place, she thought as they started picking their way over some tumbled rocks. It must be hell waking up every day expecting your own friends to kill you!
She halted before a particularly large boulder, and hopped up and down a few times but couldn't reach over it. "Mind lending a hand?" she called out; Stands Somewhere, who was already atop it, looked down at her, frowned, then reached down to grab her hand. She winced when her knee again scraped against the rock on the way up, and sat down beside him, rubbing at the raw skin as he pointed ahead.
"See how the trail turns right?" he said; she looked and nodded. "It goes on a way until reaching a collapse. Part of the mountainside fell a long time ago and blocked the trail. Whittikos sometimes used to come down this way, but not so many now." He looked at her knee, which was bleeding slightly. "Are you going to be able to walk?"
Charmian nodded. "Yeah, just a scrape." She paused as he stooped to peel some moss from one of the boulders and pressed it against her knee for a moment. "So what do I do when I get to the dead end?"
"You have to turn back a bit just before it," Stands Somewhere said, pulling the moss away. "There's a very small crevice in the mountainside, but you can barely see it. None of us have taken it in ages. You look like you might fit through. I believe if you pass through there you might find a way into the mountain itself, seeing as the North Wind is the one who sends the Whittikos, and they once came down this way."
"Am I going to be running into any of them?" Charmian asked in sudden alarm. Stands Somewhere shrugged. "Well...thanks for the comfort!!"
"I rather think that by the time you see one," he said dryly, "it will be too late...so you haven't anything to worry about." He pushed himself up and gestured at the trail on the other side of the boulder. "Go on. I'll stay back a bit, and then make sure your friends are taken care of." He paused, then frowned again. "Not to offend you...but you're rather young. You really think you can do all this on your own?"
Charmian frowned back at him. "You're the guys who told me to go alone!" She held up her hand and fire danced around her fingers; Stands Somewhere sucked in a breath and took a step back. "Don't worry about me too much...I've learned a few things."
"So--you are a wabano--?" Stands Somewhere gasped.
Charmian rolled her eyes and shook her head, also shaking out the flame. "Hardly! It's just some medicine I got from the East Wind." She slid her legs off of the boulder and bit her lip, readying herself to slide to the ground. "Just make sure that Winter Born and the others are okay," she said a bit anxiously, before letting herself fall.
"Good luck," Stands Somewhere called out as she started jogging up the trail.
LUCK is hardly what I need, she thought with some irritation, keeping her eyes open. More like a lucky BREAK!
She rubbed her arms and slowed her step, peering back, but by now the boulders were lost from sight behind the curve of the mountain. She had to sidestep more rocks every so often, until she at last came to what must have been the dead end, a great pile of broken rocks and boulders and even pebbles, cutting off any hopes of further ascending the trail. She accordingly backtracked and trailed her fingers along the rough jutting stone of the steep slope to her right. It took a pass or two before she at last located the crevice spoken of--it was shielded from view by an outcropping of rock--and she let out a small sigh of relief, slipping inside. She winced at how tightly the walls pressed in on both sides of her, and a glance ahead showed her that it only seemed to get even narrower ahead. She slid along, peering upward at the sliver of gray sky still visible overhead, and was reminded vaguely of the passageway she'd tried passing through in the east, before the Bearwalker had come after her. She shivered. That must have been Little Wind, or even Mishosha himself. She threw out her mental net, but could sense only one presence--Stands Somewhere--and let out her breath again.
I hope Moon Wolf can hold off three wabanos, she thought miserably as she inched along. Those two, and that creepy old woman! And a bunch of Wendigoes, to boot!
She realized then that she had absolutely no idea what to say to Kabebonikka whenever she should meet him, and slowed her step a bit to ponder this. "I wonder if flattery will work," she murmured, then made a face. "The one thing I totally suck at. I'll be lucky if he doesn't rub my face into the ground..."
Something pattered against the ground just behind her and she paused to glance over her shoulder. At first she saw nothing, then winced and put her arm over her head when a few pebbles trickled down into the passageway. She frowned at them in puzzlement, then gasped when a rock about the size of a basketball tumbled into the passage, chipping against the walls. She turned around and started trying to run back, only to have to scurry further into the passage when more rocks suddenly came tumbling in. Letting out a panicked noise, she kept her arms over her head--as pointless as that seemed--and tried getting away from the growing cascade of stones.
"Stands Somewhere!!" she yelled, unable to think of anything else. She yelped when a rock just missed her head, and ducked back further. Why would I have to get stuck in the middle of a frigging AVALANCHE!!
All that she could do was keep creeping back into the passageway, biting off a yell every time one of the smaller rocks pelted against her arms. If they kept coming down at this rate, this passage would end up just like the one she'd come from. This thought filled her with so much dread that she lifted her head and tried to think of a way to run straight through and sustain a minimal amount of broken bones--she'd had a broken arm before, from Chakenapok, surely she could withstand another--but the thought of a broken skull wasn't an appealing one. She spotted something moving along the top of the crevice and her head jerked back, expecting to see a boulder come plummeting down at her--she wondered what scenes from life would flash before her eyes, and if the Spirit Road would remember her--when she saw that it was Stands Somewhere. He squatted on the edge of the opening, saw her, then scampered further along. Charmian sucked in a breath and hurried to follow him.
"Stands!!" she yelled, jumping and waving, but the walls were too high. He kept running, so she followed, letting out a cry of relief when she saw the walls grow lower, until they were perhaps a couple of feet or so higher than she was tall. Stands Somewhere halted again, lying down on his stomach and extending his arm; Charmian had to jump a couple of times before she grasped onto his hand--his fingers were cold--and he started struggling to pull her up. She twisted her head around to watch yet more rocks go plunging down into the space that she'd just vacated, and as soon as he hauled her over the edge of the crevice, she couldn't stop shaking.
"Cripes!!" she exclaimed, her voice cracking. "I could've been pummeled!! You didn't tell me there could be avalanches!"
She tried pulling her hand back, only to find that Stands Somewhere wouldn't let go. She blinked, then turned back to him, tugging on her fingers. Stands Somewhere stared at her hard for a moment, as if trying to make sure that she was really still herself--she opened her mouth to insist that she was--when the ugliest look imaginable crossed his face, and his fingers dug into hers hard enough to hurt.
"Pathetic brat!" he snarled, and when his lip curled back she saw his teeth, as sharp and pointed as those of a wolf.
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