The Dead Man's Doll Read Online Free PDF

sea.
    â€œShe’s here!”
    A black speck appeared. A boat. Two people rowed the craft, while one sat in the bow like a sentinel.
    Softly, Asson said, “I’ve done the best I can for you, but I don’t know the Songs of your People, Gausep. I hope you find your way.”
    â€œThe lights have to flash.” Gausep stared hard out at the sea, as though searching for them with all his strength.
    Far off in the distance, Asson spied first one, then two more ships. They were large ships with curving prows and striped sails that billowed in the wind. A few winters ago, Asson had seen ships that looked just like these. A jolt of fear went through him. “Blessed Spirits, I must get back to my people to warn them. We’re being invaded.”
    â€œThey’re Grandfather Day Maker’s children.”
    Down the beach, the oarsmen drove the boat up onto the shore, and a yellow-haired man jumped out. He grabbed the woman huddled in the bow and dragged her through the surf, where he shoved her down upon the sand.
    She doubled over, sobbing as though her soul were being torn from her body. Rocking back forth, she shouted, “Run!
Run!
”
    The man laughed and kicked her onto her side. “You don’t scare me, witch.”
    Gausep started forward, and Asson said, “Stop and stand very still, Gausep. They don’t see us yet.”
    â€œShe does.”
    The man walked back to the boat, and he and his friend rowed out to sea.
    When the boat had almost reached the ship in the middle, the distraught woman staggered to her feet. Long white hair whipped around her shoulders, shining as whitely as the moonlit surf.
    â€œShe’s going to help me. Let’s go see her.”
    â€œNo, let’s give her a few more moments. I need to understand what she’s up to.” Asson’s skin had started to prickle, and he didn’t know why. The air itself seemed to be afraid.
    When the woman tilted her head back to gaze up at the clouds, an ethereal stillness settled over the shore. The waves calmed as though they’d been stroked by a soothing hand. Against the silvered ocean, Asson could see the three ships clearly now, dark silhouettes riding the waves.
    The woman lifted clenched fists and held them suspended for a long time while she wept. Asson watched drifting clouds pass behind her hands. Finally, she let out a ragged cry and opened her fists.
    Gausep cried out.
    As though rocked by a silent clap of thunder, the earth shuddered; then a wave of light burst from the clouds. It rolled across the sky, gobbling the Star Road as it devoured the heavens and poured down honey-like through the darkness until it engulfed the ship where the rowboat had gone. Screams eddied in the distance. Asson thought he saw men diving overboard trying to escape, but the gleam flowed out across the ocean where they swam. And they were gone. The ship, the men in the water. Gone.
    As the honeyed glow dissolved into the waves, the other two ships veered sharply away and headed out to sea.
    Lightning flickered through the clouds. Bolts struck all around the ships, but Asson could not say whether those men lived or died.
    The woman waited, her hands still in the air, her pale face bathed in the lightning’s splendor, until she was again overtaken by sobs. As though born of her tears, the Northern Lights flared to life, and streams of green fire fluttered across the sky. The Star Road seemed to be strewn with emeralds.
    Gausep said. “I’m going now, Elder.”
    Asson turned to face him, but Gausep had vanished, so Asson looked up at the flashing lights, trying to see the boy up there. The curtains of light resembled snakes and vast herds of caribou flooding across rolling spring grasslands. Asson smiled.
    â€œMadyrut? It’s time.”
    At the edge of the trees, two bucks appeared. One stared at the tree with a foot lifted, as though waiting for her. The deer seemed to be holding their