ICE BURIAL: The Oldest Human Murder Mystery (The Mother People Series Book 3) (44 page)

“
It might be calmer at the summit,
”
Zena
shouted,
“
if we can crest it.
”

As abruptly as all the other changes, the fog thickened, as if a massive cloud had poured up the mountain to engulf them.
Zena
could hardly see her hands. She reached for
Lief
, but he was too far behind. She waited until she heard his faltering footsteps
;
then reached out again until she felt his fingers clasp hers.

“
Hold on and do not let go,
”
she shouted, and hoped he could hear above the noise of the wind. The answering pressure of his fingers told her he had. His left hand, at least, had some use,
Lief
thought gratefully as he held on to
Zena
’s
fingers, though most of his arm seemed not to work
because of the wound in his shoulder
.

Snow clung to their legs and faces, wet, heavy
spring
snow that made the rocks
even more
slippery and treacherous. It piled up quickly and soon they could not see what was rock and what was hollow. The wind was an endless, painful noise that made
Zena
want more than anything to put her hands over her ears, but she dared not let go of
Lief
. She would lose him in moments.

And then she did lose him. With a wrench that pulled her to her knees, his hand was torn from her grasp. She thought she heard the muffled sound of something falling but it was hard to tell through the wind.

“
Lief
!
”
she screamed.
“
Lief
, are you all right?
”

There was no answer. Still on her knees,
Zena
began to crawl back, feeling with her hands, hoping desperately they did not encounter empty space where he had been. Except they had still been in the ravine; she was almost sure they had, and surely there were no cliffs in ravines...

Her hands crept up a rock; beyond it, they felt nothing but cold air. She felt one side, then another, trying to peer through the haze, aching to hear some small noise, anything at all.
“
Lief
!
”
she screamed again.
“
Lief
, where are you!
”

“
Here.
”
The voice was weak but she
was sure
she heard it
.
Zena
’s
whole body trembled with relief.

The voice came
again.” Wait
. I will come up. The drop was not far.
”

Lief
rubbed his head, vaguely aware that he had hit it hard. The new injury seemed to take his mind from the others. He wondered how he could climb with only one arm and
an
almost useless
hand
. He was so cold now that he could not feel much at all, so perhaps he could manage
.

“
I will throw down a rope,
”
Zena
shouted.
“
Try to find it, so it can guide you. I can pull you up if you tie it around you.
”

Tie it
,
Lief
thought ponderously.
I must tie it around me.

Zena
pulled out the rope they always brought
when they
travel
ed.
One end she dropped slowly into the empty space, the other
end
she wound firmly around the rock to give her leverage. The rope disappeared into nothingness, and she waited. After a long time, she felt a gentle tug
and
then a stronger one that meant
Lief
wanted her to pull. Arms straining, she braced her feet against the rock and hauled the rope in slowly, hand over hand, glad that
Lief
was not a
heavy
man.

Within moments she heard a scraping sound
and
then
Lief
’s
head
appeared.
With one last hard pull, he slithered over the rock and collapsed beside her. For a
moment
unconsciousness claimed him
;
then
t
he
touch  of her hand
rallied
him
.

“
At least my legs are not sore,
”
he said faintly, wanting to know
if
he could still speak, but
wanting
even more to reassure
Zena
.
“
I am too cold to feel them.
”

Relief made
Zena
laugh
. It was  hysteria more than amusement, but the
warmth of
the sound
seemed to
Lief to
create a protective cocoon around
him
, momentarily erasing his pain and the terrible coldness of his body.

“
We
must
find shelter,
”
Zena
said
when she
regained control
.
“
We can
make a snow fort under a cliff and wait out the storm.
”

“
First, we should get out of the wind,
”
Lief
answered, hoping he had the strength to try. He wanted to say more, but found he could not.

Zena
said the words for him.
“
I think we are near the top now, and if we can get to the other side, we will be protected.
”

He nodded. So often that was the case in the mountains. On one side of a pass the wind could be relentless, freezing them quickly, but the other side could be calm
. The
y
could build a good shelter
and he could rest, he thought with longing.
Surely he would feel better
as soon as
he could rest.

“
It is worth a try,
”
Zena
said,
looking worriedly at
Lief
. His face was very pale despite the harsh winds that chafed it, and his legs seemed unsteady.
He must have hit his head
harder than she had realized.
Perhaps that
was why he was so weak.

“
I will tie us together with the rope,
”
she
told him
, but she had to blow hard on her fingers and tuck them under her arms before
she could
knot it around her waist.

“
But then I could pull you over if I fall,
”
Lief
objected weakly.

“
We will have to take the chance,
”
Zena
replied
grimly
, struggling to manipulate the stiff rope and get it tied around
Lief. His fingers
must be even colder
than hers
, she realized. He
could barely make them work.

“
If I fall you would be pulled over, too
,
”
she added.
“
Besides, I am not sure either of us can survive this storm alone.
”

Lief
nodded reluctantly. She was right. Two bodies, two sets of furs made more warmth than one. And on this night, warmth would make the difference between life and death for
Zena
. For himself, he was not sure it mattered. Ignoring the faintness that kept threatening to overcome him, he followed her.

For what felt like hours to
Lief
but was probably less
, they half-walked, half-crawled up the ravine, feeling always with their hands to make sure they were still
in it. Gradually the
ground beneath them
became
smoother,
no longer filled with
the
debris w
ashed down
when the snows melted, but more like alpine meadow.

Abruptly, the wind rose into a fierce crescendo, pushing them so hard they dared not stand lest it topple them over. They inched ahead on hands and knees, gasping for breath, and suddenly they realized they were going down. Not up, but down.

Cautiously, they crawled a little further until
Lief
was brought to an abrupt halt by the slack in the rope.
Zena
had stopped moving. Anxiety washed over him, and he peered ahead to see what was wrong.

“
The wind! The wind has gone.
”
Zena
’s
voice
filled with wonder.
“
We must be over the top.
”

“
Over the top,
”
Lief
repeated, unable for a moment to think what the words meant. Then the meaning came, and
he slumped down into the snow.
“
Yes. We are over the top.
”

Zena
crawled over to him,
frightened by his
terrible exhaustion
.
For her, the ordeal was bad but for
Lief
, weakened by the illness in his belly, unable to move without pain, it must be almost unendurable. She was sure
now that h
e had hit his head
very hard
, though he
still
had not spoken of it. Pulling him into her arms, she cradled his limp body against her own.

“
I will be all right,
”
he murmured.
“
I must just rest for a moment.
”
Breathing hard, he fought to stay conscious through a haze of pain.

“
Fire,
”
Zena
said.
“
We must have a fire.
”
As she spoke she remembered the first time she had uttered these words to
Lief
, when they had gone together to save the infant, and
Lief
had shivered in the cold rain while she spoke to the women in their Ekali. It seemed a lifetime ago.

She must take charge now.
Lief
was too weak, weaker than he should be, she thought with momentary panic. Pushing her fear away, she concentrated on the problem of finding shelter. Mercifully, both the fog and the driving snow were lessening without the wind, and she could see again, at least a little. There was a ridge jutting up
just ahead,
with another ridge behind
it
. If the hollow between the
ridges
was deep enough it
would offer some shelter. They could go there, build a snow fort, or at least burrow into the snow
and
build up walls around them for warmth
. Then they could
start a fire.

“
Can you go as far as that ridge?
”
she asked, pointing.
Lief
followed her gesture and nodded, though he was not sure it was true. His mind seemed to be somewhere else now, and his body felt heavy and useless, as if it wanted only to sink down into the snow and never move again. He moved anyway, half-crawling to the
depression
between the ridges, shaking his head to throw off the dizziness. The effort buoyed him, made him feel as if he might be able to retrieve some strength after all.

For a moment, he was even able to help
Zena
as she began to dig out a cave-like space under the highest ridge. His strength deserted him quickly and he lay down again, watching her.
Zena
made no comment but just kept digging. When the cave was deep enough to satisfy her, she brought out the tinder they kept in birch bark canisters, but the snow wet it so fast it was useless.

“
We must make a better cave instead of having a fire,
”
she said determinedly.
“
If we make it thick and build up walls, we can keep each other warm inside.
”

Lief
watched helplessly as she piled
the wet clinging
snow as high as she could around the cave, and when that was finished, lined the bottom and sides with their grass capes. He crawled in after her, grateful to be able rest at last. Only then did she turn her full attention to him. Pulling off his fur cap, she surprised him by first examining his head. He had forgotten that he had hit it when he fell.