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Utter lightlessness brought a sense of spinning, falling, rushing helpless on a stormwind whose noise
echoed off unseen heaven. Then the drum began anew, and the crackling sealskin. Ulugatok droned forth
a long magical chant in words that nobody else knew. Perhaps its chief purpose was to bring calm. He
did not stop until the only sound was the crying of frightened children.
Panigpak s voice came weary:  Two of us must die this winter. But we will find abundance of meat, the
fish will swarm, spring and summer will be mild, the Neighbors will go away. I have also word for our
guests, but must speak to them later, alone. It is done.
A man groped through the dark, sought a nearby hut for fire, returned and kindled the lamps. Panigpak
sat on the ledge, bound by the thongs. Ulugatok went to release him. He fell back and lay swooned for a
while. When he opened his eyes, he saw Tauno and Eyjan among those beside him. He tried feebly to
smile.  It was nothing, he muttered.  Just lies and tomfoolery. I am an old swindler, and no wisdom is in
me.
The Inuit did not talk about such things once they had hap-pened. It was with diffidence that Panigpak
himself sought out the siblings, after he had had rest and nourishment. The three went off to the strand.
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That was in weather clear and cold. After a glance at the world, the sun was slipping back down, afar in
the south. Its rays made steely and blue the forms of two icebergs which plowed by through gray waters.
Sheet ice was forming along the coast, though as yet too thin to venture forth upon. Fulmars went
skimming above; their cries came faintly to those who stood on the snow-covered shingle.
 Nothing in the sea is hidden from her beneath it, Panigpak said, more gravely than was his wont.  Well
did she know of your people, Tauno and Eyjan. Somebody had to compel her to disgorge a word, as he
must compel her-if he can-to release the seals in a season when they are few for our hunting. She is not
friendly, Sedna.
Tauno clasped the angakok s shoulder. Silence lengthened.
Eyjan lost patience, tossed her ruddy locks, and demanded,
 Well, where are they?
Wrinkles tightened in Panigpak s face. He stared outward and said low,  It is hard to understand.
Something has happened that vexes even her. You must help this lackwit speak, for you will grasp much
that he cannot. Thus, while dry land is beyond Sedna s ken, she does have names for many parts along
the coasts. She got them from drowned sailors, I think. I remember the sound of them-one does not
forget anything out of that place-but they mean nothing to my ignorant self, though doubtless they will to
you.
Given what he related, his interrogators could piece together much of the tale. The Liri folk had taken a
ship, belike seized by them, from Norway. They were bound for Markland or Vinland-the Norse
hereabouts no longer knew just which of the regions west of them lay where-when a tempest smote. That
must have been the same whose edge battered Herning. The other vessel suffered its full might and.
duration. She was driven clear back to Europe. From their father s teaching, Tauno and Eyjan were
suf-ficiently well versed in that geography to recognize that he had then steered into the Mediterranean.
The spot where he ended his voyage was in no part of their information, but Panigpak did give them
names the island of Zlarin, the mainland of Dalmatia-which they could inquire about later. It seemed the
merfolk had there been attacked, and had fled afoot.
What followed was perturbing, baffling. They must be in the same vicinity, those who lived, for they still
appeared offshore: one or a few at a time, for short spans. Otherwise Sedna marked them no longer.
And something had changed them, they were different from erstwhile, in a way she could not speak of
but which filled her, the very Mother of the Sea, with foreboding.
· Tauno scowled.  III is this, he said.
 Maybe not, Eyjan replied.  Maybe they ve found a charm that lets them enjoy a new home inland.
 We must seek them out and learn. We ll need human help for that.
 Aye. Well, we were going to Denmark anyhow, on Yria s account.
Panigpak studied the twain with eyes that had seen a lifetime s worth of grief.  Perhaps, he said quietly,
 someone can give you a little help of another sort.
On a calm night, stars filled the jet bowl above until it was well-nigh hidden, save for the silver band
across it. Their light, cast back off snow, let Bengta Haakonsdatter, who was now Atitak, walk easily
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along a slope above the dale. Breath wafted white as she spoke, though it did not frost the wolfskin fur of
her parka hood. Footfalls crunched; else her voice alone broke the silence.
 Must you leave this soon? We would be happy to keep you among us and not really because of the
fish and seal you take in such plenty. Because of yourselves.
Beside her, Tauno sighed:  We ve kindred of our own yonder, who may be in sore plight, and whom we
miss. In spite of the kayaks promised us they should indeed let us travel faster than by swimming-the
journey will take weeks upon weeks. We must hunt along the way, remember, and sleep, and often buck
foul winds. We re well rested, after the tupilak business. Truth to tell, we ve lingered more time by far
than was needful. Soon the Inuit will be rambling about. If we went along, we could hardly start home
before spring.
The woman gazed at his starlit nakedness, took his hand in her glove, and dared ask,  Why have you
stayed at all, then? Eyjan is restless, I know. It s been you who counseled waiting.
He stopped; she did; he faced her, reached into the hood to stroke her cheek, and answered,  B~cause
of you, Bengta. He had been living as part of Minik s household, and Minik was glad to lend her to him.
They were only apart when it seemed, mutely, that she should join her husband for a sleep, and Tauno
the first wife Kuyapikasit, lest feelings be hurt. (Eyjan bore herself not like a female, but like a hunter who
shifted from family to family as the whim took her. She had enjoyed every man in the camp.) [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]