Stones: Experiment (Stones #3) (34 page)

“Now tell me. Is the jaguar happy when it’s sitting in a tree eating its kill?”

“Sure.”

“Do you think the other animals are happy when a jaguar kills and eats them?”

“No.”

“Is it wrong for the jaguar to kill other animals and eat them?”

Yarah’s eyebrows knit together. “No, but—”

Jhata leans in close to make her point. “Now, listen carefully to me, child.”

Yarah looks up, her brown eyes large, taking in every word from Jhata’s lips.

“You and I are jaguars,” Jhata says.

Yarah tilts her head to the side. It’s clear she is trying to understand. Understanding will come in time, little by little. No need to rush it. Jhata has just planted the seed that will yield fruit in its time. She will make sure Yarah receives a proper education, an education that only Jhata can provide.

Standing up, Jhata signals that this particular conversation is over. It’s time to change the subject.

“Now that we’ve had our fill of chocolate, how would you like to fly?”

Yarah’s eyes grow wide. “Can you fly?”

“It’s easy.” Jhata spreads her arms out. “I can show you how. Would you like to try?”

“Yes, yes, yes.” As Yarah jumps in place, her eyes drift down Jhata’s kimono to her waist where a multitude of Stones hang in a neat belt. She takes a step forward and looks closely.

“Is there something wrong?” Jhata says.

“You’re missing one. It was there a minute ago. Did you drop it?” Yarah’s eyes sweep the floor.

Jhata looks at the empty golden loop next to her right hand.

Matt’s Stone is gone.

“L
ooks like we made it.”

Jessica wakes to the sound of Eva’s voice in the bunk next to her. The rhythm and vibration of the engines are gone, replaced by a gentle bobbing motion. A deep silence bathes the room where they slept.

The distinct smell of leather floats up to Jessica’s nostrils. “Where are we?” she says.

Eva draws in a deep inhale. “Home.” A smile stretches across her lips. “Come on. They’re waiting for us.”

Jessica lets her legs drop and swings off the edge of the bed. Her arms reach for the ceiling, and a satisfying stretch moves through her spine and lower back. Her mouth opens wide with a yawn, popping plugged ears. Turning, she picks up the pulse rifle that lies at her side, gripped in her fingers through the night.

On the lower bunk next to the wall, Eva lays out two sets of long, zipper-less coats with immense fur-lined hoods, leggings, black-soled boots and mittens. All the clothes are made from layers of gray pelts with generous amounts of animal hair.

“Take off your pants and shirt and put these on.”

“But it’s summer.” Jessica jumps off the top bunk and lands softly on the floor.

“Trust me,” Eva says. “It’s cold out there. You’ll need it.”

Eva slips out of her clothes and pulls a coat over her head. It drops to her knees. Her face is tiny in the center of the fur fringe of the hood. With effortless fluidity, she tugs on the leggings and steps into the boots.

Jessica reaches for a coat and lifts it up over her head.

Eva touches her arm. “No shirt, no pants. You’ll be warmer that way.”

“But what about—”

“Don’t worry. We’ll get some clothes in the village.”

After Jessica dresses with difficulty, she grabs her pulse rifle and slings it over a shoulder. Eva leads the way out into the corridor and to the left without speaking. She stops at the halfway point, next to the rungs of a ladder bolted to the wall and pushes a red button at eye level. A vacuum seal opens, making Jessica’s ears pop again. The sound of blowing wind comes from somewhere outside. A blast of cold air drops on them from above. Jessica follows Eva up the ladder through multiple levels.

When Jessica bursts out of the hatch at the top into the bright sunlight, it’s like emerging from a subterranean cave into a new world.

“Welcome to Lougheed Island.” Eva opens her arms with palms out. “Home.”

It takes a long time for Jessica’s eyes to adjust to the light. As she opens them, she understands why it’s so bright. For miles in every direction, there’s nothing but snow mixed with rock. A low ridge of brown rises about ten kilometers away, like the backbone of a great monster submerged in ice. Jessica turns to see the ocean behind them. No sea ice floats in the gray water. The crew of the ship, seven people besides Eva and Jessica, stand on the shore.

All of them are dressed in the same furs.

“Let’s go.” The captain of the ship waves his arms and shouts up at Eva and Jessica, still standing on the top of the black sub. “It’s a long walk to the village. If we don’t start now, we’ll never make it by nightfall.”

Eva turns to Jessica. “That gives us a little less than two hours. Days are pretty short up here.”

They descend a steel ladder running from the top of the ship to a small raft in the water. Jessica is starving, but she doesn’t say anything.

As soon as they get to shore, the group walks in single file across the snow to the low rocky ridge Jessica had seen. Three in front, then Eva and Jessica, and four behind.

Jessica is surprised at the lightness of the coat and leggings. Remembering snowshoeing outings with her family in the mountains near her home, she expects to break a sweat and alternate between being too hot or too cold. But the loose clothing creates a layer of warm air that envelops her body, and she isn’t chilled or sweaty as they move over the rough terrain.

After two hours of walking uphill, the ship is a tiny black dot behind them. When they reach the rocky ridge, it turns into a line of towering basalt blocks, broad at the base and narrow at the top. They pass through a small opening and pause on the other side.

The sun is a half orange on the far horizon.

“Welcome to
Iglarpok
.” Eva looks at a collection of wooden houses a half mile away in the bottom of a low depression in the landscape. Arranged roughly in two rows, each one resembles the tip of a huge kayak sticking out of the snow, with steep sides coming to a point on top, painted blue, red or green.

The closest one has a large antenna tower jutting out of the snow next to it.

“What does the name of the town mean?” Jessica stares at the village. No people or dogs stir in the twilight below, but thin threads of white smoke drift up from two or three of the houses, evidence of habitation.

Eva giggles. “It means
laughing
.” She reaches in the pocket of her parka and takes out a six inch piece of jerky. Snapping it in half, she hands one piece to Jessica and starts chewing on the other.

After a five-minute rest, the captain stands. “Let’s go.”

The group rises without complaint and follows him down the gentle slope. Off on the horizon, the last sliver of the sun slips below, leaving a pale glow that lingers as the sky turns dark.

Halfway to the village, off to their right, a chorus of howls rises in the air, carried on the wind.

The captain glances back at Eva. “
Nanuk
,” he says. Everyone starts walking faster.

Jessica taps on Eva’s back. “A pack of wolves?”

Eva shakes her head. “The village dogs are sounding the alarm. A polar bear is headed this way.”

For the first time since their escape from the freedom camp, Eva’s voice carries fear. Jessica glances in the direction of the howling sounds. A lumbering shape appears from behind a low rise, its form silhouetted against the fading light of the sunset.

It begins charging them from the opposite side of the village.

“Run!” the captain yells. The entire line of walkers breaks into a sprint for the nearest house, two hundred meters ahead.

It’s only a question of who will get there first, the bear or the people.

Eva rests a hand on Jessica’s shoulder. “Get your gun ready.”

Reaching a mitten up, Jessica pulls the rifle from her back, swinging it in front. For an instant, she’s off balance, and the toe of her boot catches on a piece of ice. She stumbles. A large man running behind her crashes into her back, and they both fall hard to ground. Their combined weight centers on her leg as the barrel of the gun slips beneath.

A bone snaps above her knee, sending a surge of pain up her thigh and into her lower spine. Blackness and nausea engulf her.

When she opens her eyes, she is lying on the ground, cradled in Eva’s arms. The other seven travelers encircle them. Dogs are barking out of control.

A sound like the roar of an elephant rises above the chaos.

In the dim light, Jessica sees the polar bear ten meters away standing on its hind legs, twice as tall as the tallest man in the group. A triangular head perched atop its long muscular neck leers at them. It throws its jaws back, bares its teeth and pierces the night air with another explosion of sound.

“It’s trying to scare away the dogs.” Eva holds Jessica closer. “Getting ready to charge again.”

When it comes down on all fours, its head drops and its ears lay back against its skull. A low rumble comes from its throat.

One of the men raises Jessica’s rifle to his shoulder and points at the bear. He stares through the sights, a finger poised over the trigger.

A door on the nearest house flies open. A bent-over woman dressed in black fur steps out. Jessica catches a glimpse of her face, wrinkled and small, like an old dried prune, her lips imploding into a tiny mouth. She holds an ancient musket in her hand.

The captain turns to the man with the rifle. “Now.”

“No!” the old woman yells. “There will be no killing of the
nanuk
tonight!”

The captain bellows. “Get back inside, you old
kapvic
.”

But it’s too late. The bear turns and charges the old woman.

She takes one step toward it and brings the stock of the musket against her shoulder. Fire, sparks and smoke explode out of its tip, throwing her back against the door.

The bear stops three meters from the woman, turns and disappears into the darkness. A pack of barking dogs chase after it.

The old woman drops the musket to the ground. “Now get inside the house before you all turn into
nareaksak
.” She glares at the captain. “Of all people, you should know better than to travel at night through the
nanuk’s
territory. I thought I taught you better when you were a nothing more than a tiny
nutaralak
.”

The captain bows his head as the old woman walks past him to Eva, using the musket as a cane. Without a word, the old woman grabs Jessica’s hood and stares into her face.

“What have they done to you, my little
Kabluunak
?”

Jessica stares back. “My leg.” She puts her hand on her right thigh.

“Let me see.” The woman lays Jessica out on the snow and passes her hand slowly over the thigh, shaking her head. She glances up at the others in the group who look. “What are you
maiksuk
looking at? Get inside, like I told you, before the big
nanuk
remembers how hungry he was and comes back to snack on your cowardly bones. I will take care of this little one.” She turns back to Jessica with a gentle smile.

“It’s broken, isn’t it?” Jessica says.

The old woman nods. “You love him, do you not?”

Jessica looks to Eva for help. “Who?”

Eva just shrugs her shoulders.

“The
Kangelrarpok
.”

“The One Who Leads,” Eva says.

Jessica looks back at the old woman. “Yes. With all my heart.”

“It is in your eyes. Now close them and think of him.” The old woman pulls a roll of leather from her pocket and stuffs it between Jessica’s teeth. She runs her fingers back and forth over the thigh, mumbling something with her lips. Slowly, she increases the pressure until she’s pushing with both hands on Jessica’s leg.

For an instant, intense pain radiates out from the spot where the bone snapped. Then warmth.

“Done.” The old woman flashes a toothless smile. Wrinkles spread across her face. “Come inside. You must eat and be strong. For him.” She walks to the front door of her house, leaving Jessica and Eva alone.

Staring at her leg, Jessica presses her fingers above her knee where the bone was broken, afraid of what she will find. To her amazement, the pain is gone.

“See if you can stand.” Eva reaches down for Jessica’s hand.

Jessica takes the hand, standing up on her other leg. Gently, she weights her injured leg.

“How is it?” Eva says.

“Incredible. Completely healed.”