ICE BURIAL: The Oldest Human Murder Mystery (The Mother People Series Book 3) (24 page)

Mara’s
laughter stopped and she looked up at the others imploringly.
“
No one could do that, surely,
”
she said.
“
No one could plunge a knife into such a man. And then I heard someone coming and I was afraid, and so I ran and ran...
”

“
Through the brambles,
”
Hular interrupted, grimacing, and Mara nodded.
“
He chased me, the
person
who came, but then he stopped and went back.
”

“
And Korg?
”
Zena
asked gently.
“
Did you see Korg?
”

Mara
’s
lips tightened and she seemed suddenly to snap back to the present.
“
I wish I had,
”
she answered angrily.
“
To kill Korg might have been easier. But I did not. I found the crown in their hut but Korg was not there.
”

Runor reached out and gripped Mara
’s
hand so hard her knuckles whitened.
“
You must not
say you wish you had
,
”
she said fiercely.
“
Do you not see? The Goddess Herself was protecting you, so you could not do what you would always regret.
”

“
Would I?
”
Mara asked bitterly.
“
Or would I be proud?
”

“
No! No, you would not be proud.
”
Runor
’s
voice was strong and very firm, but her heart thudded with fear lest Mara still resist her message. She must not try again
to kill
, must not!

“
There is no pride in killing,
”
she insisted,
“
only torment in the end, and retribution. That you must never forget. Promise me you will not forget.
”

She stared into Mara
’s
eyes, demanding a response.
Mara returned the stare for a long time without speaking, then her eyes dropped and the defiance slowly left her face.
“
You may be right,
”
she conceded finally.
“
To kill is not as easy as I had imagined. At least for me it is not.
”

“
You will leave this, then, to the Goddess?
”
Runor
’s
tone was unrelenting.
“
Look at me and tell me it is so!
”

Mara raised her eyes again, and Runor saw that the anger had gone from them.
“
Yes,
”
Mara said wearily.
“
I will trust the Goddess to do what is best.
”

Runor took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly.
“
That is good,
”
she murmured, and the tension left her face.
“
May the Goddess keep you always as you are.
”

She was silent then for a long time. No one else spoke or seemed even to move, so awed were they by the scene that had taken place between Mara and her mother.

Runor herself broke the stillness. Bending over Rofina, she straightened the bent limbs and pressed the lids over the staring eyes.
“
There, my child,
”
she crooned,
“
all is well now. You are with the Mother and at peace. Always, there is peace when you are with the Mother.
”

Silence came again as she stared down at her dead daughter, lost in thought. Many secrets would die with Rofina, she
mused
, secrets she did not mention even to herself. It was just as well.

Straightening her shoulders, she
struggled to
pull herself
upright
.
“
We must take Rofina back to her village,
”
she told the others.
“
That is where she must rest.
”
Her voice was firm, full of
an
authority
none of them had heard in years
.

Zena
went to help Runor rise, wondering at the change that had come over her. Only a few moments ago Runor had seemed old and afraid; now the fear had gone from her and strength had flowed into her. That this should happen so soon after Rofina
’s
death was puzzling.

The answer came suddenly. Even more than Rofina, Runor had been afraid for Mara, and she had been right. Rofina
’s
death was distressing but Runor had known there was little hope for her eldest daughter. For Mara it was different. All that time she had been thinking of revenge, been plotting how she might extract it. Runor had understood, while she herself had not even known, had not guessed.
Zena
shook her head wearily. She was not much use as a wise one.

She had also forgotten about Durak, so intent had she been on watching Mara and her mother. She went to him and found him sitting while Brulet held a cup to his lips. Lief was massaging his limbs.

“
He has drunk a little,
”
Brulet said quietly.
“
I think he is warmer, too.
”

Zena
smiled at her gratefully.
“
Thank you, Brulet.
”

Durak
’s
face was flushed now, as if the blood had suddenly come back, and he grimaced in pain as Lief continued his work.
“
It hurts when the blood first returns,
”
Lief told him.
“
But it will soon pass.
”

Durak nodded.
“
Rofina?
”
he asked, but there was no hope in his eyes.
Zena
shook her head gently and he nodded again. His face was bleak, full of anguish. Impulsively, she hugged him
, felt how
thin he had become, as if his struggle to save Rofina had drained him of flesh as well as happiness.

“
I am so sorry, Durak,
”
she murmured.

D
urak tried to respond and found he could not
.
As soon as
Zena
had
touched him t
he
i
mages
rose
up in his mind again
:
Rofina begging with her eyes, Rofina swaying seductively,
allowing the Leader to lie above her and taking him into her body, and his chest
became
too constricted for speech.

That had happened ever
y time he had held
Rofina
or even spoken to her since that terrible night
.
Over and over again
the images had come, blocking all other thoughts, all other sights
, blocking Rofina herself
.
She was not there any more, only the images.

It would have been better if the icy water had taken him as if had taken Rofina,
Durak thought
despairingly.
For him, there was no relief, would never be relief. The images would come to him every day of his life
, blocking all else
. Only death could erase them.

Another thought followed: death could still come
to him
if he wished it. All he had to do was to walk into the icy water as Rofina had, or
just to
climb up to this high pass again when winter came and wait for the cold, the freezing rain, the blinding snow to numb him, send him spiraling down into death as Rofina had spiraled….

Durak smiled, a small, private smile. Yes. That was what he would do, not now, wh
ile
the others were watching, but later, when winter came, when he was alone.
It would not be long before that time came.
Summer was
half gone
already, and
as soon as
the first snow
s
came he
would c
limb
up
to
this
high cold place
and wait for death to take him
.
Then, finally, the images would
cease
and he would be at peace. He smiled again, comforted at last.

C
HAPTER
T
WELVE

They buried Rofina in the meadow, not beneath the poppies that had destroyed her, but in the place where she had spent so many happy hours with Durak.
Zena
was touched to see that he had made a small circle of stones to mark the spot.

“S
o that the Goddess will be certain to find her,
”
he explained, and the pain in his voice was so deep no one could answer.
Zena
hugged him instead and felt nothing but bone. Still more flesh had gone from his emaciated frame and she wondered if he would ever recover
fully
from the tragedy of Rofina
’s
loss.

Reluctantly, she left him brooding over Rofina
’s
grave and followed Runor back to the clearing.
The change in
the old wise one
was even more pronounced now that she
was
back
in
her village. The people had already begun to come to her for advice and guidance, as they had so many years ago, and despite her
grief
at Rofina
’s
death, their newfound respect gave Runor a kind of radiance
.

Her
tribe mates
were also eager to hear more of the Goddess. Word had spread of
Zena
’s
dramatic appearance during the ceremony in the village to the west, of the infant and how he had been saved
, of
how Mara had found the Leader insensible with mead.
They
had been shocked by the revelation
and even more shocked by what had ha
ppened to Rofina
.
Men who could do such things to an innocent young woman
could not be good
, and that meant the Great Spirit could not be good, either.
Runor and the Goddess she represented must have been right all along,
they decided, wondering how
they could so easily have been persuaded to abandon beliefs that had nurtured and supported them
in the past.
Some reverted quickly to the old ways; others found the transition more difficult, but Runor was always there to help.

She asked the young men and women to clear an ancient circle of stones that had been used by their ancestors
and their own tribe
before
the Leader had come, and it was there that the villagers gathered. Set
under a ridge high in the hills
above the village, the stones and the circle they formed had been almost invisible beneath
bushes and
tangled vines until Runor had them cleared. It was a peaceful place, warmed early by the sun and protected from winds, and fragrant with flowers, but at the same time it offered a glorious view of the surrounding mountains.

Truly, Runor
was
her people
’s
wise one again
,
Zena
realized
.
This village at least was in good hands
. S
he did not underestimate
Korg and the Leader
, though. They we
re
still
formidable enemies. If they had been able to wrest control of a village such as this, with a wise woman as strong as Runor, they could
take
control of any village
. She looked anxio
usly over her shoulder, almost expecting to see them lurking in the shadows
, watching
, waiting…

Runor
seemed to sense her thoughts.
“
They will return,
”
she said calmly.
“
One day they will return. But I will be ready for them.
”

“
The Goddess will be ready,
”
Runor corrected herself when Mara came up behind her and gave her a sharp glance.

Mara sat down beside her mother.
“
I do not like to think of you facing Korg and the Leader alone,
”
she said worriedly. Eager to see her son again, Mara had decided to go with
Zena
to her village and live there for a time while Mara-Sun became accustomed to her.
“
Perhaps it would be better if I stayed here,
”
she continued,
“
at least until
Zena
and Lief and the others return after the winter snows have gone.
”

Zena
saw a flash of fear, quickly hidden, come into Runor
’s
face, and wondered what had caused it.
“
No,
”
Runor
declared
firmly
.
“
You must go with
Zena
. To be with your child again is most important.
And I am certain Korg and the Leader will not
return to spend the winter here as they have in the past. We are Mother People now, and they know they do not belong here. They will stay further north where the people welcome them.

“
Besides,
”
she added with a smile,
“
I am not alone, not any more. There are many here who will help me. The Goddess will help as well. This She has promised.
”

“
We will take great care of Runor,
”
the villagers assured Mara.
‘s
he is our wise one, after all.
”
Still, the parting was hard when it came. Mara hugged her mother over and over,
unwilling to leave her
, and repeated her assurances that she would soon return with Mara-Sun for a visit. Runor tried to keep her face full of courage, but
Zena
thought she saw grief beneath the mask. A sudden perception came to her, that Runor believed she would not see her daughter again. She hoped she was wrong.

Mara was silent and withdrawn for most of the journey, but as they came closer to
Zena
’s
village, her face brightened.

“
To see Mara-Sun was only a dream for so long,
”
she told
Zena
.
“
And now
it will happen!
”
Her eyes widened in sudden apprehension.
“
What if he does not want to be with me? He might cry and run away.
”

“
Yes, he might,
”
Zena
answered.
“
He does not know you, after all. But you have only to wait. Mara-Sun is a friendly child and will soon learn to love you.
”
She smiled, recognizing
her
sensible sister in the answer.

Her prediction proved
to be
true. All the children came running as they entered the village
.
Mara-Sun, who was one of the youngest, trailed behind. He stopped
short
and shoved his fingers into his mouth when he saw that there
was a
stranger
in the group.

Zena
swung him into her arms.
“
I have brought you a special friend, Mara-Sun. Her name is almost the same as yours.
”

Mara-Sun considered this information while Mara watched his face, transfixed. It was round, plump-cheeked, and his hair was the color of pale grains. Tears pricked hard behind her eyelids, but she pushed them back determinedly. It would not help for Mara-Sun to see her weep!

“S
hall I tell you my name?
”
she asked gently.
Mara-Sun nodded.

“
It is Mara,
”
she said.
“
My name is Mara.
”

His eyes went round with surprise.
“
Mara,
”
he murmured tentatively,
frowning
Abruptly, he held out his arms to her.
“
Mara
carry,
”
he said firmly.

Mara took him into her arms. Now she could not stop the tears. She buried her face in Mara-Sun
’s
hair, so he would not notice, as she carried him toward the clearing. The pale strands felt like feathers against her skin.

Watching,
Zena
took a deep, shaky breath and tried not to weep herself. Then she saw Larak and all other thoughts vanished.

Larak pulled her into her arms.
“
To see you again brings such joy! I felt many times that something was wrong, that you needed help, but there was no way to know, only to trust the Mother who told me all would be well, but still it is hard...
”

Zena
could not speak at all. She held on to Larak with all her strength and felt her body go limp with relief. She was with Larak again, Larak who was wiser than anyone, even Lief; she could talk to her again, ask her questions and tell her all that had happened and see what she thought.

“
Oh, Larak,
”
she breathed.
“
I have missed you badly.
”

Larak hugged her hard; then she took a step back to look into her face.
She saw immediately that
Zena
had changed
.
There was strength in her that had not been there before
,
strength that came from within. Larak had always known it was there, but she had worried that part of it had died with the sister who had disappeared, as if both were needed for the strength to be fully realized. Her shadow,
Zena
called her. Now they
were coming together
, and that was good.

“
You have changed,
”
she said aloud.
“
Yes, you have changed.
”
She saw Lief watching them, and knew immediately that she had been right about him. He had helped
Zena
most of all. She smiled at him,
aware
once again that they understood each other without words. That did not happen very often, and
Larak
was grateful.

“
As soon as you have had food and drink,
”
she continued,
“
you must tell me everything that has happened.
”

The telling took many days. First, Brulet and Mara were introduced and their stories told, then
Zena
and
Lief
and Hular took turns telling of all that had happened to them during their absence. Durak did not want to speak, and when they came to the part about Rofina he wandered away and did not return for many hours. Sorlin
followed him. She
had been terribly distressed by
Rofina
’s
death
, and
Zena
hoped the sturdy yo
ung woman would be able to help
Durak
.

“
You
have been thrust very suddenly into your role,
”
Larak
observed
, inspecting
Zena
’s weary face with
concerned eyes.
“
That is not easy.
”

“
No. It has not been easy. I learned so much from Runor, but there are still many questions for which I have no answer.

“
Lief
has helped me a great deal too,
”
Zena
added, smiling at him.
“
Always, he is there, listening, watching,
and advising
. We have become very close.
”

“
That, too, I can see,
”
Larak agreed with a grateful glance at Lief.
“
But tell me of these questions that are so hard to answer.
”

“
There are so many, like how it is possible for the Leader to believe that what he does is good even when newborn infants are killed, and if he does believe he is right, then why is he so different than myself? I believe the Goddess and all She teaches is good, the Leader believes the Great Spirit and all he teaches is good, so why are we different? And why did I feel so
wrong because of what I did during the
ceremony
?”