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Escape From Manitou Island: Part 186 |
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(DISCLAIMER: This part, and all parts hereafter, are works in progress (WIPs) and have not been proofread or checked for plot inconsistencies. I've decided to present them "as is" for now, as there is a significant amount of unfinished material; yet this story has been on hiatus for a long while, I've forgotten certain details, and I have no plans to resume work on it any time soon. Please keep in mind while reading that details may change in the future. Should you spot an inconsistency, however, please feel free to point it out to me for possible correction.)
THINK LIKE A SPIRIT "THE RED SWAN'S dream led you here?" Nathalit, still somewhat dazed, lifted her head and finally looked up to find the source of the voice. Her eyes grew when she saw the manitou staring back at her. She'd never met this manitou before...but there was no mistaking who it was. The Dreamer and the Sky Mother stared at each other for a long moment in silence. "How did you come here?" Geezhigo-Quae asked. Nathalit took in her appearance. The sky manitou was haggard, stooped and exhausted looking, her face and clothes and long white hair mussed and smudged with dirt. There were rings under her eyes and her cheeks were sunken as if she hadn't eaten in ages; although this was the first time Nathalit had ever set eyes on her, she knew her normal appearance must be vastly different, and something drastic must have happened to lower her to this state. Despite this, a powerful glow of medicine surrounded her, and Nathalit could tell that it must have been this that had trapped her earlier. No wonder the attack had been so powerful; she was the Sky Mother, after all. You know who I am...? Nathalit queried, just to be certain. Geezhigo-Quae nodded slowly, once. Nathalit paused briefly, then pushed herself up. She shivered a little; although she'd taken Ocryx form before, it had always been at least partly insubstantial, and now that she possessed a fully physical body, she found the sensation unnerving. The sky manitou's medicine must have altered her presence in order to better capture her. As if realizing this, Geezhigo-Quae lifted a hand and Nathalit let out a small breath of relief to feel her physicality vanishing. She retained her Ocryx form, the better to communicate, and shook off the last of the feeling before speaking. I was asked to look into certain things, she said. I came here from the Island. "I realize who you are and what you do," Geezhigo-Quae said. "I thought that perhaps you were the Pearl Feather, and that was why I trapped you. Though I imagine I wouldn't have been so successful if you were really he. I've learned that he seems to have acquired the ability to find others through their dreams, which was just what you were doing." Then, as if at last fully realizing that she wasn't under attack, she let out a shaky breath, and the harsh glow of medicine around her lessened. She sank back against the wall of the small room they were in, which resembled a cave made of wood. I did not mean to appear threatening, Nathalit apologized. But I was asked by the Flint...the one you probably know as Chakenapok...to learn what I could about a being called the Red Swan. "You've found her?" She dwells in a cave beneath an island in the great lake to the north, Gitchi-Gami. Geezhigo-Quae stared at her again, eyes wide and glassy. "She exists?" she said, as if unable to quite believe it. Nathalit hid her puzzlement and nodded. Yes...though she is...strange, to me. I was told she is a Dreamspinner, yet I do not believe it is so. She has wings, like the Turtle Spirits, but does not seem to be one. And her guardian claims she is a good manitou, yet her spirit seems to say otherwise. Also, she is always asleep, and always dreaming. I wished to learn more about her, and that is how I came to be here... she peered around herself ...wherever this is. "You are beneath the Sky Tree," Geezhigo-Quae said. "I came here myself to try to learn more about this Red Swan. The mainlander told me of her and what she said made little sense, but she was adamant that she was telling the truth. I've been sensing her thoughts just as you have. You are right...she is strange. Yet..." She trailed off and her brow furrowed a little, her eyes clouding. "Not entirely strange...she is familiar to me, too." Nathalit waited for clarification, got none. If her dreams led me to you, then either I mistakenly latched onto your thoughts, or she too is trying to seek you out for some reason, she said at last. "I think perhaps it is a little of both," Geezhigo-Quae replied. You are the one who constructed the barrier, then? "Barrier?" Another silent stare, then she shook her head. "No...not that I am aware of. If anything, her thoughts seem somewhat blocked from me as well." I sensed something powerful trying to hold me back from learning more, until I came out here. Then I assumed you had created it, to keep out the Pearl Feather. "If anything, I would prefer him to come here, so I can keep him away from her. Even not quite knowing what she is I feel she's greatly important in all of this." Why does she seem familiar to you? If you do not know what she is? "You said you were traveling through her dreams, so surely you caught sight of some of them. Did you see her as a little girl? Among the great manitous?" Yes, I did. "I believe that those were in fact my memories you were seeing, if what the mainlander told me before is correct." Now Nathalit blinked. Her first impulse was to blurt out, "What?"--but Nathalit had never been impulsive. Instead she took a mental breath and instantly collected her thoughts. The memories did not seem real to her, she said. They were like mere pictures...flat, without life. As if they had simply been placed there. "Because they were not hers. Earlier the mainlander told me some sort of story about this creature apparently being kidnapped by the Pearl Feather long ago, when she was but a girl. I had to tell her that story was in fact about me, and she found this difficult to believe. I assumed it was some sort of trick of Megissogwun's...but now I am rethinking this." Somehow this Red Swan has been given your memories, then? For what purpose? "I do not know. I think the matter is not quite as simple as that. You followed her dreams and reached me? I think this Flint did the exact same thing. Back then, I was not trying to connect to her as I am now. Therefore there was no way he could have found me unless somehow the two of us are connected." She stopped talking now, an odd look coming to her face; Nathalit could tell that this idea had been simmering in the back of her mind before now, but now that it had been spoken aloud, it took on a life of its own. "Connected," Geezhigo-Quae echoed softly, and frowned. "But how can that be?" The Stone Canoe knows she is quite old; perhaps as old as your own kind. There is a chance she is someone you knew in your childhood? This elicited no response, so Nathalit mulled the idea further. Another manitou, then, that the Pearl Feather attacked? "This I could believe if the stories were not so nearly identical. And even if this were so, would you believe it is coincidence? That another manitou so like myself should be connected to my memories? Perhaps if I knew why it is that the Flint came through to me it would clarify some things. I wonder if he too is connected. Not long after he visited me, Charmian showed up and spoke of a strange dream she'd had, and we wondered if he had sent it. She spoke of seeing a dark spirit stone." Before Nathalit could say anything, she added, "I can tell from the look on your face that this means something to you already. The Red Swan's spirit...I am correct?" It is dark, Nathalit admitted. Yet the Stone Canoe insists she is not evil. "I myself know that one can have a dark spirit without necessarily being 'evil'; the Ocryxes upon the Island are proof enough of this. And based on what little I've been learning of her, it only makes sense to me. Charmian herself believed there was a connection to me, for she said that before she saw the dark spirit stone in her dream, it had the form of a tree." She put out a hand to touch the wall. "My Sky Tree." Nathalit could only stare for a moment. You mean... "If that dream, and what you and Charmian are saying, are correct, then for some reason the Red Swan's spirit is connected to mine." Nathalit said nothing. Ideas started forming in her head, but she kept them shielded for now. "You have realized something?" Geezhigo-Quae said. Perhaps I have, Nathalit said, but I do not know how true it may be. I hope you forgive me for not telling you anything yet. The truth is, I think perhaps you are meant to figure this out yourself. It was only what the mainlander had to do... "I understand," Geezhigo-Quae said quietly, and Nathalit looked at her. "I realize you do not withhold things out of malice," she said, sounding tired again. "And that to be told something one should figure out themselves can prevent one from learning. Still...I must confess I feel weary of not seeing things sooner when they should be so clear to me." And she abruptly fell silent once more with a blink. Her eyes grew wide. "The mainlander...?" she said, as if finally hearing what Nathalit had said. "What I'm supposed to learn now--she knows already--?" Nathalit didn't reply. Instead, she let her essence start to fade, making certain not to do it too quickly, so the Sky Mother would know that her departure was not intended to be rude. Geezhigo-Quae stared her in the eyes as she left, and it was all Nathalit could do not to speak up once more. Perhaps she'd said too much already...but she could tell that some seed of understanding had taken root, somewhere. Charmian put a hand to her eye and rubbed at it with her knuckle, yawning widely. For the briefest moment she was ready to start shivering, until she realized that there was no snow around her, at which she sighed and sat upright, brushing her hair back from her eyes. She looked around. The "camp," such as it was, wasn't much of a camp; all it consisted of was the firepit that had been built the night previously. That was all that had been needed, however. Everyone had retired in a large circle around it, and most of them were still sleeping since it was still early morning. Charmian did a head count and found a few parties missing--the voyageurs, Lieutenant Barrington, X'aaru and Marten, Manabozho, and Augwak among them--but for some reason didn't feel too worried. Her anxieties seemed to have faded along with the snow; she didn't feel nearly as drained and on edge as she had for quite a while during their travels. Augwak returned soon enough, munching on--something--she didn't want to guess. X'aaru and Marten returned a short while later; judging by the wreaths of flowers adorning the demon's horns and neck, Charmian could guess what they'd been up to, and had to stifle a laugh. Since the sun was beginning to break over them by now, the others started sitting up and yawning as well, also looking at their surroundings. Gently rising and falling grassland, as far as the eye could see. That was the only reason that she at last saw a few shapes coming closer. She squinted, though it was unnecessary since they weren't nearly big enough to be buffalo. X'aaru's nose shot up and he started sniffing at the air, ignoring Marten, who was still arranging the flowers on his head. "Oh! I smell food!" He bounded off, the Mikumwesu yelping as he held on tight. Charmian turned when wolves started trotting into the circle. Manabozho trailed after them, yawning and stretching. "Where've you been?" Charmian asked, pulling her pack close and rifling through it to make sure nothing had gone missing--it had happened before. "Oh. Nowhere. Just out hunting, while all of you lazy louts slept. Not that it was much effort, I can hunt in my sleep." He yawned again, exaggerated this time. "In fact I did just that!" Charmian rolled her eyes. "More like you had your wolves do all the hard work! Good boy," she said, patting one of them, and then making an awful face, when it dropped a dead rabbit on her foot. "Er...ew. Yeah. Um, thanks." "They've been out hunting, too!" Marten exclaimed, pointing behind himself as X'aaru trotted back into the camp. The little shapes had drawn close and Charmian now saw it was Francois and Baptiste, both of them carrying several small birds and game animals each. Barrington arrived last with something slung over his own shoulder; Charmian frowned, unable to tell what it was. "Good eats for everyone!" Baptiste exclaimed, holding up his own kills. "As soon as we get this troublesome fur off them!" "Think I'll sit this part out," Charmian said; when Winter Born, still rubbing her own eyes, gave her a curious look, she rolled her eyes and shrugged. "I'm just not fond of seeing exactly how my food is processed, that's all! I like to keep some mystique in the whole thing." "How do you learn how to prepare it, then...?" Winter Born asked, just as Barrington stepped into the camp and tossed down what he was carrying. There was a series of oohs and aahs when the others saw that it was a giant animal skin, and when it unfurled it revealed a great cut of meat, almost as long as Winter Born was tall. "What...the heck is that?" Charmian asked, a bit queasily; the whole affair was still rather bloody. "The pelt of one of those nasty big things," Barrington muttered, jerking his head to the side; when Charmian looked she saw that the large dark shapes of the day before had reappeared. Some distance away, a group of buffalo stood, noses twitching and tails swinging; some of them, she could tell, where merely the spirits of this region, but others of them were real enough. Charmian blinked. "You mean you killed one--?" Barrington rolled his own eyes. "Oh, hell! How else do you expect us to eat? Yes," he said, turning toward Winter Born as soon as she opened her mouth. "YES I asked permission of those...whatever-they-ares...YES I apologized when I shot it, and YES I thanked it, for whatever bloody reason!" He did? Charmian thought with wonder. She could tell from the fact that neither the buffalo nor the spirits were attacking them that it must be so, but still, it was an odd thought. "It took bloody hours to cut this entire thing off," Barrington continued, pulling on the fur-covered hide, "but they tell me it's as useful as the meat is, not that I have any use for such a horrendous thing--" He managed to shove the slab of meat off of the skin, which he awkwardly rolled up like a rug. "Somebody else can have it! Stinking mess that it is." And he turned now toward Black Elk Horn, who had only just gotten to his feet, and threw it at him. Charmian winced; the ogimah had just enough time to gasp and throw up his arms, catching the rolled-up skin and falling backwards with a thud. Barrington was already cutting into the slab of meat with a knife, and he hurled a small hunk of it at Winter Born, nearly knocking her over as well. "And somebody else can cook this beast. I'm having a rest." Charmian gagged and reached out to snatch the raw meat from Winter Born, who was shifting it from hand to hand, sniffing it and squeezing it so it let out horrible squishing noises. "Thanks...we'll do that. Eugh!! Moon Wolf! Fire!!" She set to work washing her hands with some water that Mani called up while Moon Wolf and the others stoked up the smoldering fire again, then made a point of checking things over in their area--even though nothing was amiss--as the other animals were plucked and skinned and cooked. She wanted to go talk to the bizhiki spirits still loitering nearby, but thought that perhaps it would be best to wait until the others were less preoccupied, and so loitered herself until it was time to eat. Everyone did so ravenously--she couldn't remember the last time she'd had a decent meal--so there was very little talking the entire time, they were so busy filling up. She peered discreetly at each of them in turn as they ate, trying to judge their attitudes today. Most of them seemed more relaxed than before, though there were a few exceptions--Augwak still seemed irked by the warmth, Little Wind seemed faraway and distracted--doubtless because of his missing manitou--and Mishosha kept himself apart from the rest of them, his expression unreadable. Charmian frowned. She'd really thought that he would've proven to be more of a nuisance by now. Black Elk Horn, for his part, sat off to the side, clutching the buffalo hide under one arm; judging by the odd look on his face, it seemed he wasn't sure whether to feel embarrassed, or insulted, or grateful, or what. She didn't think she'd ever seen him look so confused. "Any idea how many days of walking are supposed to be left?" Thomas asked her under his breath; he sat to her left, Winter Born to her right, gnawing away happily on her own buffalo meat. "It's supposed to be easier going, I know, but still..." He craned his neck and frowned. "Still looks just as endless as before." "That's why I wanted to have a word with them," Charmian said, pointing at the nearby spirits with her nose. She'd decided not to bother with the buffalo meat since she'd seen it skinned already and for some reason the thought of eating it made her feel green; instead she held the legbone of some sort of bird between her fingers. "They know this place and they're supposed to help us out--well, what better time to start?" "I can't wait to see the mountains," Winter Born said around her mouthful of buffalo meat. Charmian furrowed her brow. "What's so interesting? You already saw Kabebonikka's." "I know, but those were Kabebonikka's mountains. I can't wait to see Kabeyun's!" Charmian was ready to tell her that a mountain was just a mountain, then reconsidered this and said nothing. She finished with the legbone and peered at it uncertainly, not sure how to dispose of it properly; just throwing it into the fire like Barrington was doing with his own leftovers didn't seem quite right, if only for the mere reason that Barrington was doing it. So she just sat holding it up, feeling like an idiot, until Augwak noticed and ambled forward, plucking it from her hand and popping it into his mouth with an awful crunch. "You fleshlings are so pathetic! Have you any idea how much is inside these bones? And you don't even bother trying to get to it because it's so much trouble..." "Hey!" Winter Born glared at him. "We eat the marrow, too!" Charmian turned scarlet in embarrassment but again didn't correct her. Thomas patted her shoulder as the GeeBee turned on one heel to stomp away from them; "Thanks for cleaning up," she called out, halfheartedly, and Augwak halted in mid-stomp to gawk back at her over his shoulder. His own face went bright red--as red as a green GeeBee's face could go, at least. "Er..." He blinked and his ears flicked. "Well...you're welcome." Then, when Charmian and Thomas were the ones to gawk, his face screwed up and he flailed his fists. "STOP STARING AT ME!!" He vanished in a puff of wind, only to reappear at the opposite side of the circle, hunched over and sulking. Silence from Charmian's group. "That was...odd," Thomas said at last. "Think maybe I'll talk to those spirits now," Charmian said; any excuse right now was a good one. She pushed herself up, dusting away some loose grass and making her way toward the small huddle of buffalo. She gestured at Stick-In-The-Dirt and Niskigwun to come as well, since they both seemed respectful enough to cover for her in case she said something stupid; Mani came along after them as well. "Hi!" she greeted them when they drew near; then she coughed. "I mean...greetings, or something. Um...I'm not sure how much you've been told about us." One of the buffalo made a lowing sound which she didn't understand at first, even though she tapped her necklace. Mani bobbed his antlers and whistled. Says they know the important things. Animiki-ones have headed past, and already found way to West Wind One's mountains. "Oh! They have--?" Charmian looked thoughtful. "They must've passed through the...portal, or dimension, or whatever they call it. So they're safe?" The bizhiki spirit spoke again and even as Mani translated, she began to hear its words in her own language. Have been told already about their great one here? Ah...one they would call "Mishibizhiki," Mani said, pursing his mouth in perplexity. Anyway...requests a proper offering to be allowed to continue. Animiki-ones already allowed through. "Well, that seems terribly preferential," Charmian started to say, only to receive two elbows in her ribs. She coughed a little when Niskigwun and Stick-In-The-Dirt gave her dark looks. "Sorry...I mean, what sort of offering would he prefer? I'm afraid I don't know much about your people." Won't say, Mani said when the spirit shook its shaggy head. Guess they wish us to figure it out ourselves. He tossed his antlers in a sort of shrug. Charmian scowled. "Well, how the--" Stick-In-The-Dirt covered up her mouth. "We would be honored to leave an offering, Grandfathers, Grandmothers," Niskigwun said in her place, bowing toward the buffalo. "And can only hope your Mishibizhiki finds it suitable." The buffalo made various grumbling sounds, then turned and drifted off. Charmian struggled a little but the nanandawi didn't let her go until they were far enough away that they couldn't be heard; "What the heck was that about?" she snapped as soon as she was free. She waved her arms. "I just SAID I don't know anything about these spirits! Do you have any idea what to leave them--?" "The best way to appease a spirit is to think like a spirit," Niskigwun said, rolling his eyes. "The same as anything else!" "Oh, BIG help! I'm so glad I brought you along and stuff!" "It can't be too difficult to come up with something," Stick-In-The-Dirt said, rubbing at his neck. "What do you think a bizhiki would find a respectable-enough offering?" When Charmian started grinding her teeth, ready to bark that she didn't know, he gave her a rebuking look. "Think! You know spirits just as well as the rest of us. They look strange but these are merely spirits too." "You've dealt with all sorts of beings and you claim not to understand how they think?" Niskigwun added. Charmian felt her face growing hot, both in anger and embarrassment. She glanced at Mani for support but he only offered another shrug. Agree, he said. Red Land One should know what to do. Charmian threw up her hands. "THANKS so much! I know manitous because I've hung out with them, that's all!" "And how do you know what a Nebanaubae likes, for instance--?" Niskigwun said. "You've dealt with them enough times, Gitchi knows." "Well, duh! They're fish people. Kind of obvious. They like water and sleeping and fish-type stuff!" "And what would you offer a Pukwudjininee or a Mizauwabeekum?" Stick-In-The-Dirt asked. "I wouldn't offer a Pukwudjininee anything if it just did something for us, because Niskigwun said they don't take payment. And I already gave a Mizauwabeekum a geode I had. I--" She cut herself off abruptly, eyes growing wide. "Oh!" The others stood silently and watched as she shirked off her pack and dropped it to the ground, tearing it open and digging in it. "Have an idea, then...?" Niskigwun inquired after a moment spent thus. "I don't know," Charmian admitted. "But I have to find out." She glanced up at him. "I noticed that your people seem to like mining a lot." Niskigwun blinked, then furrowed his brow. "Well...yes, I suppose. What has this to..." He trailed off when Charmian let out a small cry and pulled something out of the pack. The others' eyes grew wide when she flourished a great hunk of glimmering copper in her hand. She could tell from their expressions how impressive its size was. "Where did you find that...?" Stick-In-The-Dirt asked, reaching out to accept it when she handed it to him; he cradled it in his cupped hands and stared at it in awe. "It was given to me. To bargain with." She turned back to Niskigwun. "Cheengwun said that your people think copper is precious. I can kind of tell from the way Stick's looking at it that his people think the same thing...well...do you think they'd think so here, too?" "I...I would not be certain," Niskigwun admitted. "All I know is that all of us cherish the red stone. Even the manitous and the little people and the Animiki...Cheengwun gave you this?" "I honestly had no idea what I'd do with a big old piece of copper but I guess this is as good a use as anything," Charmian said, standing up as she shut her pack and taking the hunk of metal back from Stick-In-The-Dirt. He handed it back to her as if it were a baby bird, gently depositing it in her hands. "And I just remembered from some of my reading that they used to trade this stuff a lot. You said to think like a spirit? Well...you just said everyone likes copper. Time to see if that's true." She started walking after the disappearing buffalo, not certain which direction to go in, before deciding that it must not really matter. Instead she looked around for a conspicuous spot in which to leave the chunk of metal, since the buffalo spirits hadn't really told her what to do with her offering. It took quite a while of meandering in aimless circles, occasionally glancing back at the camp to make sure the others were still there and ignoring the questioning looks that Niskigwun and Stick-In-The-Dirt gave her; after some time she halted and just shut her eyes. Another moment or so passed, then she opened them and began walking anew. She spotted a small rise with a hollow below it that was particularly grassy, and went that way. The thud of footfalls came from behind her. "What...what are you seeking?" Niskigwun panted when they reached her. "Think I found it," Charmian said, indicating the hillock and hollow. When they reached it she added, "This hill is the only thing that really stands out here...and this hollow is nice and grassy." When that resulted in blank stares, she said, "Cows like to eat grass...I figure buffalo must, too. And they like to lie down and rest, in a hollow like this. This little rise here is a good place for a bull buffalo to keep watch over the others..." She trailed off. "Why are you looking at me like that?"--for the expressions of the other three had suddenly grown quite odd. Stick-In-The-Dirt clasped his hands together. "You're thinking like a bizhiki!" he cried, as if his daughter had just come down the stairs to show off her shiny new prom dress, and Charmian had to turn away, her ears grew so hot. She hurried into the hollow and started clambering up the rise. "Yeah, well...I don't even know if this'll work. I have no clue how much the spirits here are like the ones back at home!" She settled the lump of copper into a tussock of grass and climbed back down. "But that's honestly all I can think of. YOU two are the ones with all the experience saying just the right thing...well...say something!" "I'll see to it," Stick-In-The-Dirt murmured, brushing past Niskigwun and climbing up the slope. The others watched him sit down and pull out his rattle and start shaking it and singing something; Charmian's necklace didn't translate it, so she wondered what it meant. After a moment Niskigwun touched her arm and they turned and walked away a short distance. "Have you any idea what to expect if--when Mishibizhiki arrives?" the Michinimakinong asked. Charmian shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. I only know what happened with Kabebonikka's mountains, and with the Island." Her face screwed up. "Ew I just realized...how unreliable such travel is! I swear that someday when I visit the Island I'm going to arrive on top of Sugar Loaf Rock or something! I do hope this is a bit more reliable than all that..." Mani bristled and let out a snort. Behind them, Charmian heard some distant yelling, and glanced back to see the others back in the camp jumping to their feet and staring in their direction. Winter Born came running immediately, but the few others who approached did so with hesitation. Charmian furrowed her brow. "What's all the..." She trailed off when Winter Born threw up one arm and pointed at her, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open. "Charmian! Look! Can't you see it? It's amazing!" Charmian frowned but turned her head. She looked around but didn't see anything at first; Niskigwun seemed just as perplexed, and Stick-In-The-Dirt merely continued his rattling and singing. "See what?" she said at last, frustrated. "Don't tell me now she can see things other people can't..." "No...the others obviously see something, too." Niskigwun furrowed his own brow. "The air feels different but aside from that..." He looked up a little bit, then gasped and gave a small jump, grabbing Charmian's wrist. She noticed that he was looking upward, and so did the same, taking in a breath. Despite the cold and winter being gone, and the sky having cleared the day before, some misty clouds had slowly been rolling in from the northwest; she hadn't paid them any attention since weather was such a natural thing, but now that she did look at them, she saw how unusual the clouds were. For one thing, they were moving much more quickly than normal clouds, considering how low the wind was, and for another thing, they emitted a strange glow. "Animiki...?" Charmian said, uncertaintly. Niskigwun slowly shook his head. "It...it does not look like the other Animiki...but I have no idea what it is!" Winter Born appeared at Charmian's side, gasping for breath. "You mean you really can't see it--?" she asked, confused. "Well--" Charmian waved her arms. "I see funky weird clouds, but--" "You mean you don't see the big cow-thing?" Remy asked, appearing at her other side and pointing. "It's so obvious!" X'aaru, nudging his way forward, added, pointing with his nose. Marten, atop his head, waved his own arms. "Wow, Charmian, are you blind or something--? I mean, it's right there as big as anything!" Charmian ground her teeth hard enough to hurt, feeling incredibly stupid. Winter Born must have noticed her frustration, for she pressed close to Charmian's side and pointed very carefully. "You mean...you never look at clouds and see pictures? Like, that lump over there looks kind of like Sugar Loaf, and that over there looks kind of like an otter..." "Oh!" Charmian said, feeling even stupider now. "Yeah, I--I used to do that, but not in ages...cripes, that's what the fuss is about? Cloud pictures? Well what am I supposed to be seeing?" They all pointed now. "That right there in the middle," Winter Born said, and when Charmian looked, and really squinted, she at last saw it. "Wow," she said after a moment. "It looks just like a buffalo." She tilted her head. "Is that it, then? They give us a sign in clouds and then we move on? How..." Stick-In-The-Dirt had stood up atop the hill and now he too was staring at the sky. "I feel they do not give us a sign in the clouds," Niskigwun said slowly, frowning. He pointed as well. "See how they're moving? I think perhaps--" "They are the clouds--?" Charmian blurted out, finding it hard to believe--but as soon as the cloudbank began to descend, making its way gradually to ground level and taking on clearer form, she saw that this must be the case. The imaginary Sugar Loaf and otter broke apart and faded away while the large main cloud became clearer and easier to make out--she could even see little horn shapes--but before she could bother to feel amazed over how good the buffalo spirits were at mimicking Animiki, the clouds started falling away altogether and showing what was really underneath. |