A Secret, Unearthed
CHAKENAPOK'S EYES WENT wide, and he suddenly hunched over and clasped at himself, his fingers clutching around his upper arms as a frigid chill raced through him. He shuddered at the awful feeling and bared his teeth in confusion.
What--? What is she DOING--?
Chattering and hissing, he waved his hand at the empty space before him, yet all he could see was snow, snow, and more snow. He turned in a circle, waving his hand the entire way, but nowhere could he see her. Yet he'd certainly felt her, just then.
"Where is she?" he cried, grinding his teeth and straining his eyes to see through the blizzard. "Damn that Wendigo if he will not let me see her anywhere!" He viciously jerked his hand and could at last see the hazy forms of the trees, and the wigwams, but still no mainlander; he focused himself as hard as he could, struggling to make out any trace of her, yet it seemed that all he kept coming back to was the shadowy form of the great Arch looming over the water. With a frustrated growl he waved it away, and the image of blowing snow vanished, leaving him shaking and grimacing.
"What is she doing?" he hissed at the air. "Nobody makes me feel like this! Nobody has this sort of power anymore!"
Another chill poured over him, and he hunched over again, eyes shutting tight as he trembled wildly. He willed the fires around him to burn higher and hotter, but it didn't matter what he did. He felt as if he would never grow warm!
Make her stop it! She can't do this to me! She's nothing but a MAINLANDER!
The icy feeling began to slowly dull, and Chakenapok's shaking grew less; he felt a twinge of displeasure far back in his mind.
All I have done for you so far, and you still barely hold your own. Not only are you a Shell which leaks, you are a Shell which cracks from the cold. Who did I rely upon to avenge us both? Should I have bided my time, and sought out someone stronger...? Even that wabano has more of a will than you have...
Chakenapok bared his teeth, still rubbing at his arms. "Remember who controlled him all that time! It's only blind luck which has allowed her to get so far! Do you see her seeking me out just yet--? And I am hardly your piddling Shell! I act APART from you, stupid Wolf!"
Yet you cannot act alone from me, the voice said, and Chakenapok gasped and fell to the stone floor. His fingernails dug into the rock, chipping at it, as a blaze of pain seared inside his breast. It felt as if his heart were tearing in two!
That very well may happen, the voice said calmly, if you continue to forget your place. I am that which lives, and you are my Shell. And so, act the part. The pain abruptly vanished, and along with it the twinge of cold; Chakenapok pushed himself up, gasping weakly and now trembling from exhaustion. He put one hand to his forehead and winced at the feel of sweat there, wiping it away; he stared at the cave walls, his ears burning in humiliation, and gritted his teeth until they hurt.
And keep on your guard, the voice said. She is getting much closer to you than you think.
Chakenapok's head bobbed up. "What--?" he exclaimed, but the voice and the presence faded away. He was left looking at a blank cave wall, only the images of the snowstorm left in his mind to keep him preoccupied.
After a moment or two his brow furrowed. The vague image of Arch Rock, swirling with snow, came back before his mind's eye.
"Arch Rock," he whispered to himself, and the harder he thought, the more he thought he heard the faintest trace of a flute, its note drifting mournfully on the wind. His eyes grew in disbelief, and then rage began to boil up into his breast. His fists slowly clenched.
"Help," he whispered; then snarled, "Help? You go to THEM for help, and think you can reach me--?" He waved his hand sharply, and the image of the snowstorm reappeared; he sought about without cease this time, until spotting that which he had been looking for. Three hazy shapes emerged, tramping through the snow; one of them the young long knife, one of them his own brother, Wabasso. For some reason Chakenapok could not make out the face of the third; it was almost as if it were not even there, just a faint smudge against the snow, blurred and indistinct. Yet a vicious grin came to his face anyway, though it was more snarl than smile.
"That wabano of yours is useless!" he hissed. "You think I do not know my own brother? You may as well carry a gleaming flag for how much you stick out! And Arch Rock? You think you are the FIRST to come up with such an idea--?" He flailed his hand and the image went away; he did not need to know where she was going.
"Seek out your answer then!" he growled, turning back toward the middle of the cave. "If you wanted to meet me face to face you should have just SAID so! I will hardly hold you back!" He halted in the middle of the room, and held up both hands now, sweeping them in a wide arc; faint images glimmered to life all around the circumference of the room, alighting upon the walls, and Chakenapok turned in a slow circle as he examined the panorama surrounding him. The East Bluff shimmered under its heavy blanket of snow, flakes still swirling down from the sky, the great lake iced and choppy below; Chakenapok squinted, and could see dark shapes in the distance, making their way over the water, and the grin which came to his face this time was every bit as nasty as the first, yet much more amused.
"I will hardly hold anyone else back, either," he hissed, and waved the canoes onward. A blast of snow and wind suddenly obscured them from his view, but this only made his grin grow wider, his yellow eyes glittering like those of a cat.
"Come and find me, Mainlander," he called. "Right now, I am the least of your worries!"
Charmian tramped steadily through the snowy woods, Thomas and Wabasso having to struggle to keep up. They stumbled and wallowed and nearly fell over the entire way, yet Charmian held her own well enough. She didn't even seem to grow tired, although by now even Thomas was gasping and panting. Wabasso was almost as poorly off as he was, icicles and snow clinging to his clothing.
"Charmian," Thomas wheezed after a long time spent traveling thus, "what do you mean, the Road told you where to ask--?"
Wabasso tried jogging awkwardly to catch up with her. "Nokomis?" he panted. "Why do you think she would know where to find Chakenapok?"
"Because she's the last person who ever saw him," Charmian said, not bothering to turn and look at them.
Thomas's brow furrowed. "I figure you were probably the last person to see Moon Wolf your last time here," he said, "so following your reasoning, why didn't you know where he was--?"
Charmian shook her head. "Drake and I weren't the last ones to see him. The last ones to see him alive, but not the last ones to see him." She finally turned her head a bit. "Just trust me on this. I think Noko will help explain it a whole lot better, once we get there."
Thomas and Wabasso managed to keep up with each other, but not with her; they started to slow their step as she moved on ahead. After a moment or two they both leaned on their knees, gasping and wheezing, and Thomas shot Wabasso a dark look.
"I think...that Road...did something funny to her head!" he said, and earned a sympathetic look from Wabasso before they continued on their way.
The Crooked Tree presented an unusual sight, in the midst of the snowstorm. Every one of its branches was covered with snow, yet every so often one of them would jerk up at the air, and hunks of snow would go flying, clearing the needles and landing on the ground below like a dog shaking water out of its coat. Thomas stared up at it in wonder though Charmian and Wabasso barely paid any attention to the odd behavior, and made their way down through the little hollow and back up its opposite slope. An opening yawned in the Tree, unbidden, and they pulled themselves up through it; Thomas looked back over his shoulder to see only solid wood behind him. He turned to the room in front of them to see the little old woman rushing to and fro, tapping on vines hanging from the ceiling. Every time she touched one it would retreat up into the darkness of the Tree, and a moment later descend again; Nokomis waved her hands at the air in frustration as she ran about, tapping the vines as quickly as she could.
"AGH! If that GeeBee doesn't knock it off, I'll knock HIM off! My poor Tree! Just as soon's I get some of that junk off, along falls some more!" She frantically tapped three vines at once and they retreated; the thudding sound of snow and icicles hitting the ground came to their ears, and the vines came back down. Noko paused just long enough to tear at her hair. "MY TREE WASN'T MADE FOR THIS!!" She jerked a hand at Thomas before returning to her vine-tapping. "You, can't YOU pull anything out of your sleeve--?"
Thomas blinked, then looked offended. "What am I supposed to do, make it even colder?" he protested.
"Noko," Charmian said, "we--"
"And you!" Noko cut in. "Where've you been this whole time? That windbag won't shut his yawning trap, and so the whole ISLAND is paying for it! I thought you were trying to help!"
"I am!" Charmian snapped, then paused to take a breath and regather herself. "That's why we came, Noko--I have to--"
She cut herself off with a frustrated look as Noko just continued running about tapping at the vines. Wabasso took a step forward, hesitated, then pressed his hand against the wall of the Tree. After a moment Charmian frowned when she felt warmth beneath her feet; she looked down and noticed Thomas doing the same. The floor had gotten warmer. Noko's frantic motions slowed as she noticed the vines start to retreat on their own; a few thudding sounds of snow came, followed by the muted sound of the wind, but the vines didn't return. Her brow furrowed.
"Well, I'll be...what was that?"
Charmian looked at Wabasso, wondering the same thing. He fiddled his fingers.
"The Tree's sap," he murmured. "I warmed it up a little bit...maybe it'll help."
"Central heating...?" Charmian said, when Noko turned around to look at the three of them, holding up her hands in a gesture of astonishment.
"My Tree!" she exclaimed. "It won't have to kill itself just trying to..." Her voice faded out, and her eyes grew. "Wabasso...?"
Wabasso had just enough time to blink. Then the old woman launched herself at him with a shriek which made them grimace; she flailed her arms at the air before throwing them around him and hugging him so hard that he wheezed. "LITTLE BABY 'BASSO!" she crowed. "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S YOU! YOU'RE FINALLY HOME!!"
Thomas rubbed at his ears. "Well, now we know where the prissy one gets it from..."
Noko wrenched Wabasso back and forth in a powerful bearhug, and his head flopped from side to side, eyes goggling as she did so. "POOR SWEET LITTLE BABY BUNNY FOUND HIS WAY HOME!" she yelled. "I thought you were LOST for good! My dear little 'Basso!" She promptly let go of him and fwapped her hand down against his ear, making him yelp and throw his hands up over his head; her voice immediately changed into a grinding shriek. "WHERE WERE YOU? The days and nights and DAYS I spent worrying over whether you were even still ALIVE or not! Have you NO sense or shame at all? Worrying a poor old woman like that?! MY HEART ISN'T WHAT IT USED TO BE, YOU KNOW! You have just as little sense as those BROTHERS of yours! I should take a switch to your TAIL for that!!"
Charmian and Thomas simply stood and gawked while she railed at poor Wabasso, who continued cowering as if he were three years old. Charmian made a face at Thomas.
"If this is how she treats someone she's happy to see...remind me never to piss her off!"
Thomas just shrugged helplessly. Charmian took a step forward and waved to try to catch her attention.
By now Noko was tugging on Wabasso's ear. "...Should've known better than to let you wander off like that, saying, 'I'll come visit!'--nobody EVER means that when they say it to their poor old grandmothers! Even that lazy lout 'Bozho stops by from time to time! And here I thought you were the responsible one! Shows me what I know! You take more after your father than I thought! If--"
Charmian put her fingers to her mouth and whistled as loudly as she could. All of the vines dangling up toward the ceiling quivered and vanished completely, and the others winced and covered their ears. As soon as the sound retreated they all looked at her, and she flushed, lowering her hands.
"Um...my dad taught me," she said meekly. Then she coughed and straightened herself up. "Noko, I have to ask you something. I've just been to the Spirit Road to see about Chakenapok."
Noko's brow furrowed. "Spirit Road...? Have you any idea how dangerous that is, child? Only the dead are meant to take this Road!"
Charmian nodded. "I know...and I had some good help. So I'm okay. But I asked the Road about Chakenapok, and it had some strange things to say."
Thomas and Wabasso paid closer attention to her now. Noko seemed confused but nodded anyway. "Go ahead, then...though I'm not certain what I could tell you other than what I've already said!"
"You said that when Chakenapok was born, Wenonah died, and you had to kill him shortly after."
The old woman nodded again with a frown, peering at Thomas as she did so. "Yes...you know all this already. I don't see the point in rehashing it all, it was ages and ages ago."
"You needed help taking care of the two of them afterward?" Charmian prompted.
Another nod. "'Basso here helped me...though I wish he would not have had to." She winced slightly. "Why are you putting a poor old woman through this--? Haven't I told you more than enough? You already know how much I hated to do that, but it had to be done! Why you insist on dwelling on it..."
"What exactly did you do with the two of them afterward?" Charmian asked.
Now Wabasso's brow furrowed. "Charmian...?"
Noko just looked at her. "After they died," Charmian said, then scowled a little and waved her hands. "What did you do to them--?"
Thomas took hold of her arm to calm her down. Charmian tried to keep herself from fuming at the old woman's silence, though it was difficult. Noko's lip quivered and she lowered her eyes, her gnarled fingers moving over each other.
"You needn't raise your voice, girl! I can hear just fine! Though why you insist on putting me through this..."
"Just tell me what you did with their bodies," Charmian pressed. "I have to know."
"Charmian," Thomas said under his breath, "I don't think this is something you should..."
She nudged his arm away and took a step forward. "The bodies," she echoed herself. "Tell me what you did with them."
Noko met her eyes, chewing on her lip. She sighed and looked at the floor again.
"Took her deep into the middle of the Island, and buried her in a grove of trees. She always loved the earth and woods. I thought it best to lay her to rest nearest it! You fault me for doing this?"
"And Chakenapok?" Charmian prompted.
This time they all looked at her. Dead silence, but for the dim howl of the wind outside, filled the Tree, and it was as if even the vines far above were listening. After a moment of this drew out into another, Charmian's scowl started to return and she clenched her fists.
"Chakenapok!" she snapped. "What did you do with him?"
Wabasso took a step in front of her. "He was laid to rest," he said, and a crease formed in his brow. "Why are you asking? This is what we do with our dead."
"Where was he laid to rest?"
"With Wenonah," Wabasso insisted. "With Mother--where else would we put him?"
Charmian didn't even look at him as he spoke. She kept her eyes focused on Noko instead, and after a moment the other two looked at her as well. Noko stared at the floor, her fingers fiddling even quicker than ever. Thomas seemed to realize that something was amiss first of all, then Wabasso's brow furrowed again.
"Noko...?" He paused, then said, "The grove of trees, not far from the swamp--this is where she went. And Chakenapok too." His look grew confused as she refused to answer. "You remember! It was cold and snowing, yet you put your hand to the ground, and it grew soft and warm..." He turned back to Charmian now and gestured with his hands. "This is where she was laid to rest--Mother and Chakenapok. I helped her myself--there were two trees, growing from the same base, and a rock...she knows the place..."
"She knows it, but I don't think you know it," Charmian said, which earned her an even more confused look. She just continued staring at Nokomis with hard eyes. "Where are they, really?"
Noko's temper finally flared. "Wenonah is exactly where I said she is! Exactly where Wabasso remembers!"
"And Chakenapok?"
"He is in the same place!" Wabasso exclaimed, then saw how Noko shrank back in on herself and lowered her head again. She turned away from them and walked slowly to the other side of the room, to stand near the wall. They all stared at her in silence. Charmian at last tore her eyes away to peer at Wabasso and could tell that he was finally beginning to understand, also. She couldn't quite describe the look on his face.
"Noko...?" he said softly, his voice uncertain.
Noko clenched her fists. "I could not let that thing remain near my Wenonah," she muttered as if to herself.
Thomas and Wabasso both blinked. Wabasso took several steps toward her and stopped.
"Noko...? What do you mean?" He paused. "What...what did you do?"
"He did not belong with her," Noko said.
Wabasso's confused look returned. "But...we buried them there. Both of them. I remember exactly where!"
Noko lowered her head and picked at the edge of her shawl. "You were so helpful to me, 'Basso, when I needed your help the most," she murmured. "No child should ever have to help bury his mother. I could not ask you to help me more." She fell silent for a moment, then continued, "Afterward...after you had gone back home. I went back there by myself. I remembered the way that creature hurt my poor Wenonah. What he put her through." Her fists clenched again. "I could not let such a thing stay near her. He did not belong there!"
Charmian took a step forward before Wabasso could speak again, though judging by the look on his face he wouldn't have been able to even if he had tried. "You moved him," she stated, and saw Nokomis flinch. "You took him away from Wenonah, and buried him someplace else--someplace cold and dark. Someplace alone. He felt every bit of it, do you know?" She raised her voice so Noko was forced to peer back over her shoulder. "The Road told me. I felt it myself. Just because he was dead didn't mean he couldn't still feel. He was cold, and in the dark, and alone, and now he blames Manabozho for every single bit of it." She clenched her own fists now. "Did it really feel worth it to do that? Does it feel worth it now--?"
Noko turned around and scowled at her. "He had no place near Wenonah! Not after what he did!"
"MALSUM DID THAT!" Charmian yelled, making them all flinch back. "And now Chakenapok has NO place near anybody!" She waved her arms wildly, indicating the howling snowstorm outside. "Does this really feel WORTH it--?"
Thomas took hold of her arm again, pulling back on it slightly so she was forced to stand down. She gave Noko a venomous glare but the old woman couldn't meet her eyes. Before she could ask her question again Wabasso stepped forward.
"Noko," he said, and the tone of his voice made Noko glance up at him. Charmian had never seen him look so serious before, and bit her lip. "Where did you move him to?"
Noko lowered her head. "I just wanted him away from her...I didn't know what else to do..."
"Cold and dark," Charmian said. "Somewhere beneath the Island...this is where I always see him, what the Road showed me. Where did you put him? Where can we find him?"
"I do not even know if he is still there," Noko protested.
Charmian's fingernails dug into her palms but Thomas's hand on her arm told her to hold her temper. "Where did you put him?" she asked again.
Noko stared at her with pained eyes, then averted them again. Her gnarled fingers tapped against each other and she let out a heavy sigh.
"I thought, the further beneath the ground I put him, the less I would think of him," she said softly. "But it did not work. I took him as far away as I could, without leaving this Island, down and down and down beneath the rock, but it did not work. I still dreamed of him and I still thought of him and of my poor Wenonah every day. No amount of stone will ever block that away from me."
"A cave..." Thomas said.
"Which one?" Charmian prompted.
Noko didn't meet her eyes. She just stared at the wooden floor.
"No amount of rock could keep those thoughts of him away from me," she said, her voice so soft that Charmian could barely hear her. "No amount of earth could silence those dreams. And no one's medicine, no matter how strong, could block out what I did."
Thomas frowned. Charmian blinked and lifted her head.
"Medicine--?" She took another step forward and opened her mouth, as if to ask a question, then shut it. She turned to Thomas, her eyes wide. He looked back at her.
"Medicine. A cave with medicine," Charmian said. "Cave of the Woods."
No comments:
Post a Comment