ICE BURIAL: The Oldest Human Murder Mystery (The Mother People Series Book 3) (22 page)

“No, I have not,” Zena replied, and Lief
said the same.
They waited all morning for Mara, and just as they were beginning to become alarmed, she reappeared.

“
We could not leave without this,
”
she mumbled
, thrusting the crown of white feathers into
Zena
’s hand.

“
I thank you, Mara!
”
Zena
exclaimed.
“
I had thought we would never see the crown again. Where did you find it?

“Are you all right?
”
she asked, taking another look at Mara’s strained face.

Hular
’s
alarmed
exclamation
came before Mara could
answer.
“
Mara, what has happened to you!
”
For the first time,
Zena
saw the bloody scratches on Mara
’s
arms and legs. She was covered with them.

“
I fell in some brambles, that is all,
”
Mara snapped.
“
I must get ready to leave,
”
she added, and walked quickly away.

Zena
stared after her, frowning. Mara was not just scratched and bloody -
her face was
tight, strained, as if she was trying not to cry, or was terribly angry
.

All that day, as they climbed over the pass and all the next as they walked on, Mara
’s
face did not change. When they asked her what was wrong, she only shook her head and would not speak. Not until they reached the lake on the far side of the next pass and she saw what had happened to Rofina, did she finally tell them what she had done.

Rofina wrapped her arms tightly around her chest
to quell her
shivering
. T
he familiar gesture was comforting. Durak had held her this way too, she remembered. Sometimes he had been so close to her that she had
could not tell
the difference between her body and his. She had liked the feeling. He was not here now, though. Only her mother was nearby, stirring something by the fire. Perhaps it was more of the potion. Rofina hoped so. What her mother
gave
her helped, but it was not the same as the potions Korg had given her. No matter how much she drank
of her mother
’s
potions
, they
did not stop the shaking or fill the terrible emptiness inside her, as Korg
’s
had.

Tears
welled up in Rofina
’s
eyes. She wanted desperately for the shaking to stop and the emptiness to go away. But the only way to do that was to find Korg and the Leader, and Durak and her mother did not want her to leave
this place
.

Too restless suddenly to sit still, she rose and began to pace back and forth by the
fire. Runor
saw her walking and was encouraged.
This was the first time Rofina had moved around.
Until now,
she
had only lain on her pallet shaking and shivering as if nothing would warm her again. Perhaps she was
finally
improving. Durak had gone back for more poppies, fearful that they would run out before Rofina was ready, but now Runor wondered if that had been necessary.

“
That is good,
for you to be walking,
Rofina
,
”
she said approvingly.

Rofina stopped and looked around her with startled eyes.
“
Where am I?
”
she asked, frowning in consternation.
“
I do not see the huts, or any people.
”

“
We have left the village for a time,
”
Runor answered.
“
We came here so you could get better.
”

“
I must go back,
”
Rofina said, as she had said many times each day since they had been here.
She began to shake badly
again and there was panic in her face.

“
We are not far away,
”
Runor comforted.
“
And Durak will soon return. He has gone for more of the potion, and that will help.
”

Her momentary spurt of hope vanished. She had been right to send Durak. They would need many more of the poppies before Rofina was truly healed - if that was even possible. The oil from their pods were most powerful before the seeds were ripe, and that time was past. What she was giving Rofina now was not working very well, and what Durak collected might not work at all.
Even the sleeping potion she gave Rofina at night did not work as well as it had.

“
I want Durak to come back,
”
Rofina said, weeping now.
“
I need him
.
I need...
”
Her voice stopped and she began to pace again, hugging herself
at the same time for comfort.

Pity engulfed Runor as she watched, but after it came a frustration so fierce
it left her
breathless.
It was Mara who needed her most,
Mara who even now was in the same village as Korg and the Leader
.
She knew what she had to do
to save Mara
, had felt such peace because finally she had made up her mind
to act. But now she could do nothing to help her,
nothing at all
.
She was trapped in this desolate place, unable to leave Rofina
. What was happening in that village?
What was Mara doing, what was she planning
to do
?

She should have made Mara stay with Rofina
,
Runor
told herself bitterly, should have gone to look for Korg and the Leader herself - except she could not have. Her legs were too weak, too painful. Just to reach this place had taken all the strength she possessed. To retrace her steps to her village and then climb still another pass, an even higher one, would have been impossible.

“
They are cruel choices You have given me, Great Mother,
”
she cried out, uncaring that Rofina should hear.
“
To have to decide which of my daughters I should try to save is harsh, but to be unable to make the choice because I am old and frail is harsher still. And even before that to have to choose between You and the
child
I had nurtured in my womb…  Great Mother, I did not know You could be so cruel...
”

She stopped abruptly as Rofina
looked at
her
in alarm
. Had she understood? But of course she had not. Probably she had not heard the words, only the unexpected tone. Rofina had noticed nothing in all these days except the craving that consumed her.

Runor took a deep breath, calming herself. None of this was Rofina
’s
fault, and she must not be blamed.
“S
oon, I will give you the sleeping potion,
”
she told her daughter softly.
“
When you awaken, Durak will be back.
”
Rofina nodded and touched her gently. Perhaps, after all, some part of her had heard.

Runor sighed. She was so tired, so very tired. She had been awake since Durak had left the evening before. Rofina had to be watched all the time, lest she try to go back.
Her eyes
closed
involuntarily
; she snapped them open again but felt them close once more. She had better give Rofina the sleeping potion now, she decided, instead of waiting for darkness. That would be safer,
in case sleep overcame her.

She went to the rough
shepherd
’s
hut
they
used as a shelter
and took out her bag of herbs. Deftly, she pinched out what she needed and put it in a cup, then poured some broth into it from a deep bowl and set it by the fire to warm. She would make herself a warm drink, too,
Runor
decided, pouring broth into another cup and setting it beside the first.

Rofina watched her and felt a cautious stillness come over her. She had never felt that way before, as if she were planning something that she had not known she could plan. Durak had taught her that, she remembered.

“
If you have a problem,
”
he had said,
“
come to me and we will find the best way to solve it.
”
But Durak was not here, so she must solve it herself. What she had to do was find Korg and the Leader
so they would give her the right potions
, but Durak and her mother did not want her to find them. Durak was not here, so now there was only her mother, and if her mother slept...

Runor rose to find more wood for the fire. In that instant, Rofina switched the cups. When Runor returned, Rofina was sitting by the fire, drinking from the cup she had taken. Runor picked up the other one and took a deep draught, then another, until all the broth was gone. It was not very warm yet, but still it tasted fine and rich. Now, perhaps, she could rest for a time. Rofina would soon be asleep.

Pulling her fur covering over her shoulders, Runor prepared to wait. Slowly, her eyes closed. She forced them open, but they soon closed again. Many times they closed and she opened them again, but then, abruptly, she could not. With a small sigh, she sank
limply to
the ground.

Rofina watched her. Now she was frightened. What had she done? What would happen if she wanted more of the potion and her mother did not wake up?

She must find Korg quickly. Her mother had said they were not far away.
Pulling herself up from
the fire
, Rofina
began to walk. Which way should she go? She thought she remembered coming down a steep hill, so that meant she should go up it again. Was that right? They had come over the pass; she remembered Durak talking about that, too, so surely she was right. Soon, she would be there, she reassured herself as she began to climb.

She wished she had brought another fur, to help with the shivering. It was colder up here, and her feet no longer seemed to belong to her. One of them landed in a hole, and she stumbled. Pulling herself upright again, she trudged on.

Wind began to blow at her, and she did not like it. She curled herself into a ball on the ground, to get away from it, but it followed her, so she sprang up again. It was trying to hurt her, the wind, making bumps all over her skin as if something was crawling on it.
She
swiped at them frantically, but they would not leave. One of her feet twisted on a rock, and that hurt her, too. Tears sprang into her eyes, but the wind whipped them away before they could fall.
Rofina
lowered her head and blundered on. Soon, she would find Korg or the Leader, or maybe Durak would come... He could not be far away...

It was hard to see now. The sky seemed to be getting darker. Was night coming already? But if night was coming, Runor would give her the sleeping potion, and then she would feel better. Except Runor was not here
, Rofina thought in confusion. She h
ad
taken
the sleeping potion
instead.
Why had she done that?
Durak was not here, either. They were both somewhere else. But that did not matter. It was the Leader she needed to find, the Leader she really wanted. Or was that true? Durak was the one she loved most, not the Leader; she was sure of it. Durak
’s
hands were so gentle. They would take away the horrible itching that
had spread
all over her body
now
, as if the crawling things made by the wind had become larger and stronger.
They had even gone inside her, and s
he did not like them
.
Durak should be here, to help her. Why did he not come for her as he had before? She wanted him to come, to soothe her with his hands, his voice, to hold her...

There was something else she needed. The potion. She needed more of the potion.
Only t
hat would make her better. Surely the Leader would send someone with it soon.
Rofina
swallowed convulsively, to get the dryness out of her throat. Someone must come now, or she would not be able to breathe. She rubbed at her throat but that only made the dryness spread, and then it made her gag. There was something wrong in her belly,
too,
as if the dryness had gone there
.
Only
she
was so hot inside, like a fire, except that she was shivering. Everything outside her was shivering but the inside of her was burning... It hurt her terribly, the burning, and she could not
s
tand the things that were crawling around in
side
her, on top of her. She had to make them go away...

A blast of wind brought her to her knees. She gasped and fell against the ground, weeping soundlessly. Her fingers groped ahead of her as she tried to rise, and she felt the coldness of water. Maybe there was a stream, and she could wash the crawling things away, cool herself. She was hot now everywhere. Even the shivering felt hot, as if bits of fire were jumping across her skin. To cool her body would feel so fine, so very fine...

Desperate now for relief,
Rofina
crawled to the water and slid into its coldness. Immediately, the heat went out of her, the itching. Sighing, she let the coldness embrace her. But then the water felt too cold; it was hurting her as all the other things had hurt her. Her whole body ached, an ache so deep it could not be borne. She struggled against the water, trying to get out, but it would not let her go. It pulled at her limbs, made them too heavy to move, and she gave up trying. She was too tired, and her body ached too badly.
Rofina
closed her eyes and waited. Perhaps someone would come now to help her.

Slowly, very slowly, the aching faded and then it too went away. After that, she did not feel anything except the welcoming coldness that made her numb and took all the pain away. There was nothing to feel any more, not the emptiness that had tormented her for so long, not the fear that she would not find anyone
or
that no one would come to her with the potion. She did not need the potion any more, and so she did not need to be afraid. Even when the water pulled her down and made it hard to breathe, she did not feel afraid. Instead, she felt only
peace.