Between Two Worlds Read Online Free PDF Page B

dress with a pinafore, she’d present me to her family; how they smiled at me! Harsher memories came back. She had pulled my hair when she combed it. Forced a prickly brush into my mouth against my teeth. My new clothes kept me from lifting my arms. I’d yearned for my own soft furs and sealskin, hungered for seal and narwhal meat, to pick up food with my hands without being scolded. In winter, I missed the cozy days of darkness that my family shared in our igloo. In summer, I wanted to roam free on the windy hills and clifftops with my brother and sister.
    Most of all, I’d yearned for my own mother.
    Now Mitti Peary led me down into the lower level of the ship to the boiler room. There she ran warm water into a shiny copper tub and bathed me behind a red and white curtain. White people are so silly, using precious fuel to heat water, and washing away the oil that keeps our skin from becoming dry and chapped. Even so, I enjoyed the warm water. I liked the smell of the soap, made from lavender flowers. And when she was finished, myskin glowed. I was cold after stepping out of the tub, but I almost didn’t want to put on my sealskin. It felt so good to be naked, just as we are—warmly—inside our igloos.
    Mitti Peary combed out the tangles in my hair. “Stop!” I ordered. “Please.” I took the comb to finish.
    Mitti Peary held up a mirror. “Look at yourself, Billy Bah. You’ve grown into a lovely young woman.”
    I held the mirror, seeing not only myself, washed of grease, but Marie beside me, beaming.
    Marie stroked my hair. Then she took a dark pink ribbon from one of her braids and gathered my hair behind me. She tied it. “Mother, see how beautiful she looks.”
    “I’m glad to see you smiling again, Billy Bah,” said Mitti Peary.
    Angulluk would have laughed to see me with my skin rubbed so bare. Possibly it would mean trouble, or even danger, for me—I’d likely attract attention among the sailors. It’s not always safe to act like a
qallunaaq
.
    But at that moment, I could only think about being praised, and finding my place among Marie’s family again. My heart felt full.

CHAPTER SIX

    A few hours after my bath, I found Angulluk on deck shaping the fitting for the point on a harpoon with a new knife. He carved it from a large piece of dark wood.
    “Hainang.”
He greeted me with unusual courtesy. He had traded well to have the new knife and the even more valuable wood. It didn’t break, as bone did, so we liked to make our tools, weapons, and sled runners out of it. He looked me over. “You should wear that silly
qallunaat
trifle in your hair more often. Can you believe it, Eqariusaq? I had three different offers for you tonight.”
    “Who did you choose?” I felt my heart rush, but I looked at him boldly.
    “Duncan.”
    “Good,” I said. “I could use some time away from you.” I remembered the young smiling sailor with a head of curly red hair, and the nervous fluttering in my stomach eased. Duncan Gaylor was tall and thin, with large protruding ears. He seemed harmless. At least, I hoped so.
    “It’s almost
too easy
to trade with those sailors,” Angulluk said. “They have no women to keep them company.”
    “You’re as heartless as a stone,” I said. “Let me see your knife.”
    I took the block of wood. It smelled fresh and sweet as I practiced shaving off a curl with the sharp blade.
Generous gifts
. It was because of me he had such good things.

    Late that evening, I joined Duncan in the sailors’ quarters, where the men slept behind musty-smelling brown curtains. Loud snores came from several bunks; the men would not wake, because they’d collapsed into sleep after drinking.
    He drew the curtain closed behind us and hung his small lantern on a hook at one corner. I removed my
kapatak
and spread it across the bed. At least I’d have the familiar feel and scent of my own furs, some comfort. I folded my
kamiit
in a corner and lay on my back, watchful; Duncan might pounce