Page 75 of North Is the Night
I blink. “What? But I need your help—”
“What youneedis food, girl. You need sleep. And from the looks of that nasty cut on your throat, you need a poultice and a healing song. I can smell the infection from here,” he adds, crinkling his nose.
“I don’t have time for food and sleep.” I clutch the bear pelt tighter as I lean forward, the fire warming my face. “My dearest friend was taken from me, and I need you to help me get her back—”
“Are you the greatest shaman of the ages?” he bellows. The fire’s crackling quiets. Even the beams of the hut seem to quake with fear.
“No.”
“No, you arenotthe shaman. You’re a half-dead girl who, at this moment, is more mackerel than mortal. You can’t help anyone in your condition. At this point, I doubt you could even stand on your own two legs.”
They warned me he wouldn’t help, but I’m not ready to give up. Indignation surges through me. Ignoring the screaming pain throughout my body, I meet the shaman glare for glare. I rise shakily to my feet, ignoring that I’m naked and half-frozen beneath the heavy bear pelt. “I’m tougher than I look,” I declare, chin raised in defiance.
Across the fire, the shaman smirks, the end of his white mustache twitching again. “Five... four... three...”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Why are you counting?”
“Two... one...”
My shaking legs give out, and I flop down onto the soft bed of pelts with a gasp.
“See? You’re so weak, you’ve got fins for feet.”
My cheeks burn. I’m embarrassed to let him see me so helpless. But he’s right. In this state, I’m no better than a fish out of water.
“Food and rest,” he says again, more gently this time. “That’s what I will offer you, for that is what you need. And once you’ve had food and rest, you will return south. There is nothing for you here. I am not the shaman you seek.”
“But you are Väinämöinen.”
“IwasVäinämöinen,” he corrects. “Now I’m just a tired old man with too many yesterdays and an endless sea of empty tomorrows.”
Cowed into silence, I watch as the shaman prepares a small cookpot. He tosses a few ingredients into it, including something that looks like meat, from inside his vest pocket. He pours water into the pot and hangs it on the hook over the fire. Soon, the smell of soup fills the hut, making my stomach groan. As he stirs the soup, a lone wolf howls in the distance.
We both go still, our eyes meeting over the flames.
“I fear I must tell you something,” I say.
He says nothing, waiting for me to speak.
Fatigue pulls at me as I sit up. “A witch named Lumi followed me north. The wolf is likely hers. I couldn’t lose them in the snow. I’m sorry, Väinämöinen. The bear and I, we led her right to you. I think she means to kill you—”
“I’m well aware of what that silly witch wants,” he replies, stirring the soup again. “I’m more curious to hear about this bear. He was trying to drown you.”
“He was trying tosaveme,” I correct. “He broke the ice with his paws to give me an escape, but the ice cracked and pulled me under too. Please, can you tell me if he survived? Did he make it off the ice?”
“That I don’t know. The fog was quite thick.”
I sigh, resting my chin on my knees. “I suppose that too is my fault.”
He glances curiously over at me. “You control the fog then?”
“No, but I called on the help of Ututyttö. The mist maiden hid us from Lumi and the wolves.”
He smirks. “You called on a goddess, and she answered you?”
I nod.
Those blue eyes narrow again. “How did you call her?”
