ICE BURIAL: The Oldest Human Murder Mystery (The Mother People Series Book 3) (20 page)

Krone was already asleep. Perhaps she had not noticed. Moving quietly so she would not wake Krone, Brulet went to the pallet to straighten the cloth. She glanced down at the old woman; then she knelt to look more closely. Krone did not look right. Her body was twisted at an
unusual
angle, and her face was a strange bluish color. Brulet
’s
fist went to her mouth. She had not seen death many times, but she knew it immediately. Gently, she touched the withered cheek. Krone must have died in her sleep. The Goddess had been merciful.

She was just
about to go out to tell someone
when Niva entered.
“S
he has died,
”
Brulet told
her
sadly.
“
Krone has died.
”
Tears came to
Brulet’s
eyes, and she did not try to hold them back. Though she was old, Krone had been her best friend
.

Niva
’s
eyes opened wide
with shock
.
“
Died? Krone has died?
”

“S
he was very old,
”
Brulet said, surprised that Niva seemed so
shaken
.

Niva came closer to look at Krone. For a long time she did not speak.
“Yes,” she said
finally.
“
Yes, she
was old
.
”
Her voice was strained
and shook a little.

Maybe
Niva had been fond of old Krone even though she scolded her
constantly
, Brulet thought
.

Niva took a deep breath.
“
Perhaps you should go tell some of the others
,
”
she said.
Obediently, Brulet
wiped her eyes and went out of the hut.

When she had left
,
Niva bent over Krone. The old woman
’s
face was
blue
,
and her body was
contorted into an
unnatural
position
.
It seemed
strange
that she had she died just now
, too
.
She had seemed perfectly well earlier
.

T
he fear
Niva had felt when
Brulet
told her Krone was dead came rushing back
as she stared down at the twisted body. If only she had not spoken to Korg and the Leader
about Krone’s words, about the crown,
there would be no doubt....

Surely, though, that was not possible. Of course it was not,
Niva
reprimanded herself. What had come into her even to think such a thing?
She must concentrate
on the rituals of death, not waste her time
speculating about
something
that
had not
happened. The
old one could not just lie here
, either
. She
must be tended, anointed with the proper oils, wrapped in the cloth she had made herself.

With purposeful
movements
,
Niva
straightened the old body
. Shaking out the
bundle of cloth lying beside it
, she
arranged
it
over Krone’s body
with meticulous care
, and made sure her eyes were properly closed. The
familiar
gestures
soothed
her
and calmed her fears
, but
a deep uneasiness remained
.
It might be best, she
decided
, if Brulet went to live with another tribe
.
She did not fit here very well, especially after the role she had played in the unwanted ceremony.
The villagers would be
angry at her.
Korg would be even angrier when he found out what Brulet had done. She must watch the
child
carefully.

Niva’s
lips twisted
with
resentment
. What right had that strange creature, whatever
and whoever
it was, to come here and interrupt their lives? They were
accustomed to
the Great Spirit, and to be reminded of the Goddess did not help anyone. All talk of Her must be forbidden as soon as possible.

When Brulet returned to the hut, Niva spoke with surprising gentleness.
“
Will you come to my hut tonight, Brulet? I know it is hard for you that Krone has died, and you should not be alone with only Pila, who is not well. The women will look after her.
”

Numbly, Brulet nodded. She wished she could go to
Zena
but it was too dark, too late. And Niva was right. Without Krone, there was no one. Her mother had died long ago and now there was only her friend Pila, but she had not known her for very long. Besides, Pila was so ill she seldom spoke and the little energy she had was spent on the infant who had so miraculously been returned.

“
I will come. I thank you, Niva,
”
she answered, and allowed herself to be led away.

Niva waited until Brulet was asleep, then she hurried back to Krone
’s
hut. She had forgotten to look for the crown. It had been right beside the old woman
’s
pallet earlier
,
but she had not seen it when she had examined Krone
after her death
. Still, it must be in the hut somewhere, and she must find it before Brulet did. For the child to be seen with the feathers would not be good.

Krone
’s
lined
face was
waxen
now, her skin cold, and Niva shivered when she touched it. She did not like being alone with the spirit of one who had died.
Lighting a taper, she
searched the hut
carefully
, but she could not find the crown. She frowned, wondering where it had gone.

Abruptly, the fear she had felt earlier
returned
, and this time she could not
make it go
away. One of
them
must have taken
the crown
; Brulet did not have it, had not spoken of it, and no one else knew... And that meant one of them
had come here
...

Niva did not finish her thought. Instead, she blew out her taper and fled from the hut. If they knew she had looked for it, knew she suspected
them
…

That thought, too, could not be finished. Niva rubbed her arms hard to stop her shivering and tried to think clearly. She must say nothing, do nothing unusual, and then she would surely be all right. Brulet was another matter. The child must leave the village right away. Now, there was no choice.

*****************

Lief held
Zena
in his arms, wishing he could find a way to comfort her.
Right after the ceremony she had been euphoric, but the feeling had
soon
drained away, leaving her exhausted but unable to sleep, and depressed.
The effort of
performing her role
seemed to have depleted all her resources, all her confidence
.
Lief
wondered if the Leader felt this way after his performances, and did not like the thought. Perhaps this comparison had occurred to
Zena
and she did not like it either.

C
aring for a woman like
her
had
its drawbacks, he reflected w
ryly
.
Hers
was the leading role
and he must be her supporter.
The realization was strange but still felt utterly familiar, as if all his wanderings had been undertaken for the sole purpose of arriving here, not in this village, but with
Zena
, wherever she was.
That she felt the same ab
o
ut him, he did not doubt. He could see it in her face, in her eyes; in the body that was
too
exhausted now
to
surrender
even to the restorative of sleep.

He stroked her back, her shoulders and arms, knowing she could not respond but aching anyway to transport her once again into the wonderfully sensuous world they had discovered together, a world in which their bodies seemed to merge
like clouds dissolving into each other and slowly drifting apart again, their individual shapes forever altered by the encounter. His was, at any rate; of that he was certain. He hardly knew the person he had been before he had met
Zena
. That man had
never stayed
long in one place, never stay
ed
with one woman either,
and
had thought only of himself
. Now he thought only of
Zena
.

Zena
stirred in his arms and he loosened his grip, aware that it had tightened protectively as he had thought about her. She touched his cheek gently, as sensitive to his
need
to comfort her as he was to her exhaustion. Lief always knew what was in her mind and heart, as she knew what was in
his.

Reluctantly, she rose to her feet.
The day was already well advanced
.
She must go back to the village and face the people, not as the powerful voice of the
Goddess
but as an ordinary young woman who wished only that she never had to move again. The thought was daunting.
Just as bad was the
sinking feeling of wrongness
that had come over her
,
as if she had done something terrible even as she had tried to help. That she had been right to save the infant she did not doubt, nor did she doubt that it had been right to speak of the Goddess. Some people at least had begun to question the Great Spirit
and
to wonder how much they had lost when they had abandoned the Mother. No; what felt
so
wrong
to her
was that she had deceived the villagers, had pretended to be other than she was in order to make them listen. Why was what she had done any better than what
the Leader
and
Korg
did
?
In fact, it was worse.
She
had caused
Korg and the Leader
to be injured. That it had seemed necessary to make them unconscious did not mean it was right.

Worst of all was the fact that she had been so pleased with herself for thinking of ideas - the cones to magnify the voices, the pieces of wood to clap together, the pile of
wood
for her to stand on so she would seem taller, for daring to undertake the role she had played at all. It had even seemed to her that the Mother was helping. The great white stork had appeared in the tree just when they needed food badly, had sat perfectly still while
Lief
shot a stone from his sling. Its meat had not tasted very good, but
Zena
had known instantly that its wings would decorate her arms, its long feathers make her crown. Brulet had told her of the cloth, made by old Krone for burials, and that too had seemed so perfect.

Zena
’s
lips compressed.
She did not think the Goddess would be pleased with so much self-pride. She must learn humility.

Dismay suddenly filled
her
as a new thought came
.
Because of her words, her performance,
innocent people could
suffer. Korg would be angry, would question everyone, and soon his questions would lead him to Brulet, perhaps even to Mara or
Lief
. Why had she not thought of these possibilities before? If anyone else w
as
hurt, she would have only herself to blame.

“
I must go back quickly!
”
she exclaimed, and began to run toward the village.

Lief
came up behind her.
“
If you will come with me first, I will
scrub
the resin from your arms,
”
he said calmly.
“
W
e
should
wash the dye from your hair a
nd the chalk from your face a
s well.
”