Page 63 of Trapped: Between Sky And Wind

I close my eyes, the exhaustion overtaking me between thoughts and my mind starting to drift. I want to stay awake for Bren, but the gentle swaying of the boat acts like the steady rocking of a cradle. Back and forth. Back and forth.

I frantically focus on the surrounding nature. The land here is different from what it was days ago in British Columbia—and the Yukon. It’s much more flat with more deciduous trees intermixed with spruces and firs.

The lake flows into a calm river that branches and later turns into a nighttime sparkling lake again. This is a labyrinth of waterways nestled in a mixed forest that hugs the flat banks like a seam.

At some point along the elongated lake, Darrow begins to sing, the intense, unfamiliar words echoing across the water like a prayer and wistful lamentation. I’ve never heard that type of singing before. Hundreds of dark vowels fill the night, carrying fire, wind, and earth across the body of water. With Bren’s head in my arms, I stroke his sweaty hair and hot cheeks. You’ll feel better soon. Everything is going be okay soon, I promise him silently.

The song almost makes me cry, maybe because I’ve been exhausted and scared for so many hours today. It comforts me deep within my soul. I wonder if Darrow senses my grief and is trying to ease it with his singing. Maybe it’s presumptuous, maybe they always sing at night on the lakes.

As the last note flies away like a bird over the water, the stillness of nature seems even greater. Amarok steers us into a narrow river and the forest disappears as we glide through a moonlit gorge with stunted birch trees clinging to the slopes. A moment later, the pale rocks shrink and bushes reach out for the canoe with their branches, the river is that narrow. In the darkness, I believe I see eyes in the forest next to us, a gray body like a wolf’s, but the next moment, it’s gone and I feel even sadder, even more lost. Maybe I was dreaming.

Finally, we come to a vast lake with wooded shores and countless islands.

Amarok says something to Darrow, who looks at me and laughs.

“What did he say?” I ask. I’m so tired, it takes effort to put words in the right order.

“He says if you truly aren’t the deer woman, you’re a very brave girl. The journey was long and you never once complained even though you’ve been up for hours.”

I have to smile, but I don’t look at Amarok, as promised. “Tell him Henry would never allow me to spend a night with him even if I were that deer woman.”

Darrow nods and translates my words.

I feel Amarok’s eyes on me, causing a tingling sensation on the back of my neck, and I stare consciously at the flat island to our left. I hear the two speak again.

“Amarok says you are very brave and very beautiful—and if you are not the deer woman, he intends to negotiate with your friend for a night when he is well.”

Now I can’t help but look at Amarok, but he immediately averts his eyes. I swear to God or Manitou that, despite the darkness, I see him blush.

For heaven’s sake! That’s just what we needed. “Tell Amarok I’m the deer woman,” I reply weakly.

Darrow laughs warmly and softly, though he doesn’t repeat my words to his friend. “Two of our hunters found Amarok when he was maybe eleven or twelve years old, we don’t know exactly. Before, he had only lived with his parents, completely isolated from the outside world, so he only speaks the ancient languages.”

“To which people do you belong? Where are we anyway?”

“Manitoba. We belong to the Navapaki tribe. Our village is on an island hidden from civilization. Seven years ago, a group from our reservation decided to return to the wild. White people only brought us bad luck, but I won’t argue with you about that. We’ve lived here ever since, only getting what we truly need to survive from the outside world. Nature gives us all else.” Darrow looks at me. “Manitoba belonged before to the First Nations. Our ancestors heard the drum of the Great Spirit beating in the waves breaking on the shores of the lakes. Manitou, hence Manitoba.”

When we reach the island of the Navapaki, dawn is hanging over the land in a ghostly pale shade.

Mist rises from the lake into the air like the breath of water and a number of canoes in a variety of colors are located around the landing in the small bay. Red and yellow and blue.

Amarok and Darrow heave Bren out of the boat. I pray the herbs Darrow spoke of will actually heal him.

I follow the Navapaki along a dirt path through a forest of oak, beech, and birch. Meaning I hobble behind as best and as gracefully as I can while feeling dizzy. After about five hundred feet, I see a clearing with several teepees. For a few breaths, this image seems like a revelation to me, but suddenly the thoughts in my head crumble into individual fragments. Help for Bren. People. Food. Warmth. Sleep. Finally.

Stars flash before my eyes like countless glittering snowflakes and then the world turns black.

When I wake up, a red-painted animal skull hanging from a wooden pole in the middle of a teepee greets me. It stares at me from empty eye sockets and I blink several times until I’ve pieced together the fragments of the last few hours.

I sit up carefully and examine the interior. The tent floor is generously covered in animal skins. I make out a fire pit in the center and a trunk against one wall. The only thing I don’t see is Bren.

My heart immediately starts to beat faster—I have to see him. My limbs are still weak, and when I stand up, I almost trip over a bundle of thick gray furs. My skull has a sharp pain behind my eyes as if the nerves suddenly erupted into lightning bolts. I walk slowly toward the exit, keeping my head down so as not to be blinded by the bright light coming in. At the same time, I realize dawn has long since passed.

Damn! How long have I been asleep? How did I get here in the first place? I wade through my memories, but I seem to be missing a few.

As if on eggshells, I step through the low opening of the tent and am immediately enveloped in a rush of warm air. In front of the teepee is another fire pit, on which several slabs of meat are drying on a wooden frame. It smells so incredibly delicious. My fingers twitch, they desperately want to steal a piece.

A high-pitched giggle sounds next to me. I spin around in time to see a little black-haired girl disappear into the teepee opposite mine. A second later, a young woman appears in a soft leather dress, fringed and decorated with delicate blue embroidery.

---