Death in the Time of Ice Read Online Free PDF

male, their way well lit by fat Brother Moon, went to find a suitable site. The two males returned soon and Enga joined the dispirited group as they carried the naked body to a large flat rock amid the grass on the expanse of prairie.
    The Hamapa would normally smear his body with bear fat so his going would be quick, but they had none with them, so, after sprinkling a few flower petals on him and mourning briefly, they turned away and left. None of them wanted to witness what would now happen to their tribal brother. Kokat’s body would return to the natural order of things, feeding the animals that would then feed the Hamapa.
    Enga curled up next to Ung, but slept only a little, and fitfully, disturbed by dreams of peccaries and their dripping tusks. She awoke often to make sure the Red of Ung had not begun to spurt again. She knew Ung would lose her life if too much Red departed from her body.
    At one point during dark time, Enga jerked upright. She had not danced her best. She hadn’t concentrated on the hunt while she danced. Instead, she had tried to impress Tog, had thought of him. Again, she wondered if the hunt was a devastating failure because of her. Ung shifted and groaned and Enga checked her binding, then lay down beside her. She slept little the rest of dark time.
    When Sister Sun should have embraced her Mother Sky, she instead hid behind thick layers of gray cloud garments, and Mother Sky began shedding light tears. Hot tears of frustration sprang to Enga’s own eyes when she realized they would make their return trip in rain and mud.
    Tog and Bahg Swift Feet, another male on the mission, volunteered to carry Ung back to the village. The remaining two males and the other two females would stay and attempt to get a mammoth when the herd came back to the watering place. If it came back.
    When Ung had been settled on a hunting skin for the journey home, Tog and Bahg carefully picked up the pallet, shouldered their burden, and started back. On Fee’s advice, they avoided sending news ahead of the double tragedy—made even worse by their not having gotten any meat. Kokat’s death would be enough for the tribe to deal with now, without Ung’s injury.
    Enga, carrying the bundle of Kokat’s garments, trotted alongside the pallet that held her birth sister and occasionally stroked her waves of short auburn hair. She tried to keep her worries to herself. Her steps sometimes faltered with her tiredness, but she slogged on.
    Ung kept pressing on her wound, but it had opened when she was moved and the Red flowed again. Several times, the bouncing of the skin pallet made Ung wince and cry out. But the carriers of the pallet did not slow. They knew they must hurry to get treatment for Ung. They trotted briskly through the light rain along the path to home.
    Slogging through the mud, Tog Flint Shaper tightened his grip on the skin that held Ung and mentally reassured Enga. The wound of Ung Strong Arm is deep, but no bone is broken. It will heal. Our Healer will make Ung Strong Arm whole again.
    Enga shot him a grateful look, but continued to fret. She hoped she was keeping her worries from Ung. She realized she hadn’t kept them from Tog. It was hard when she was so weary. Her head ached so.
    Even with their accelerated pace, by the time they returned it was nearing the time for Sister Sun to retire. The two guards sensed their approach and broadcast brightly hued public thoughts to alert the tribe. Most of them ran out to greet the hunting party, grinning and noisily cheering, thinking the skin held a slain animal, as it should, and mistaking the intense, jumbled emotions of the hunters for joy. When they saw Ung their jubilation changed to murmuring concern for her. Her leg now bled freely and she held her face tight, her eyes pressed shut in pain.
    Nanno Green Eyes emerged from the direction of Hama’s wipiti. Spotting the small bundle of her mate’s clothing, she ran past Ung, screamed, and snatched up the