into a poetic song. Kiera shivered with wonder as Sooleawaa wove a tale of marriage, motherhood and love.
Soon, Kiera's exposed body had been entirely lathered in the red stain. Sooleawaa took a cool, thin piece of charcoal from beside the fire and gently pressed it down just above Kiera's left eye. Kiera closed her eyes and allowed Sooleawaa to complete the transformation.
The humming stopped. With the silence, Kiera smiled and allowed her eyes to flicker open.
“How do I look?”
She gasped in surprise. In the faint, flickering light, it appeared that a circular gallery of both old and young spirits had descended upon their campsite. Their unblinking eyes stared at her, assessing her and her new stained look. Chocan materialized in front of the crowd. He opened his arms and, turning to Kiera, introduced the entire assembly.
“This, Kiera, is our band, our family,” said Chocan, proudly. “They heard the song of womanhood permeate the woods. They have come here to welcome you.”
Kiera looked through the silent crowd for a friendly face, but the sea of blank expressions remained. This was a welcome? They certainly didn't have the outgoing friendliness of Chocan and Sooleawaa. Chocan turned to the gathering and spoke quickly in Beothuck. The apprehensive, trance-like state of the onlookers seemed to crack with Chocan's words. There were rumblings among the older crowd, their gazes examining the strange, injured young woman. The younger adults shifted nervously. Some of the children clutched their parents' legs.
Kiera swallowed hard and wished she could disappear. What were they thinking? Would they abandon her in fear? Would they reject her and send her away? Given the grumblings, would her new friends, Sooleawaa and Chocan, now turn their back on her if the band should decide to leave her behind?
Finally, the woman who seemed to be the most elderly of the entire band stepped gingerly forward. Others shifted uncomfortably, unsure of what was about to happen. She spoke slowly in Beothuck, as if for Kiera's benefit.
“Chocan says she speaks with the tongue of the Teachers. She also has been properly initiated in the rites of womanhood. Look, she. has the mark of our band on her temple.” She moved next to the young foreigner and gently touched Kiera's charcoal marking.
Kiera glanced shyly up into the wisest pair of eyes she had ever seen. The leader's face, deeply etched yet full of life, grinned at her in full approval. Kiera noticed the three triangles etched into the craggy skin above her left eye. The woman bent over and placed a bony hand on the side of her face.
“What is your name?”
“Kiera.”
“Kiera, I am Nadie. I am the elder of the band.”
Sooleawaa passed the bowl of red ochre to Nadie, who stirred the mixture with her finger, then brought the tip to the top of Kiera's forehead and traced the shape of a cross. She chanted a phrase too quickly for Kiera to understand, and the gathered crowd repeated the words.
She cupped Kiera's face in her hands. “Welcome, my child.”
“Thank you,” said Kiera, touched by her kindness.
Suddenly, the crowd began to whoop and cheer, shattering the silence of the still forest. Several of the men approached. They carefully lifted the startled Kiera up off the ground. For the first time since her arrival, Kiera left the clearing. The band weaved through the dark forest, shouting and dancing alongside their new family member.
They had travelled only a short distance when the darkness of the forest gave way to the shadowy outlines of fire-lit trees. The trees opened up into a broad clearing filled with over a dozen roaring fires encircled by piles of fur bedding. A shallow, gurgling river lined the far side of the camp. Jutting out from the edge of the water were several strange yet elegant craft made of what looked like the papery bark of a tree. The boats were pointed at both ends and had a sharp wavelike rise along their sides. They were quite different from the skin-covered crafts that the northern skraelings had used to attack her village. Next to the boats were small huts venting thick smoke from a central hole in their domed roof. The air was saturated with the aroma of smoked salmon.
The parade entered the central sitting area. Some of the men sat down at a row of hollowedout logs that were covered with stretched animal hides. They began to pound out a beat on the drums, to which the rest of the band danced and swayed. Everyone was swept up in a whirlpool of motion around the central fire. Some bobbed and weaved quickly like squirrels, while others swooped with their arms like the mighty coastline raptors. The air became saturated with booming rhythms and animal noises. The men who carried her, also caught up in the pandemonium, gently bobbed her up and down to the rhythm as they moved around the fire. Kiera smiled as she watched Sooleawaa and Chocan become totally absorbed in the festivities. Sooleawaa floated around the fires, hooting like an owl while Chocan loped along gracefully, his mournful howls revealing the wolf within.
The celebration continued well into the morning hours. The dancing eventually transformed itself into a salmon feast. Sitting near the band elders, a place of honour she was told, Kiera ate with her new family members. Sooleawaa and Chocan sat on either side, translating the conversations that to Kiera seemed to be taking place at a blistering speed. The elders were impressed with Kiera's growing knowledge of their language, and every member made the effort to welcome her into the family.
The last person to welcome her, a little girl no more than seven years old, was different from the rest. She barely made eye contact, mumbling her welcome, then rushed back to her place at the far end of the gathering. Kiera turned to Sooleawaa.
“Who is she?”
Sooleawaa swallowed the rest of her salmon and looked towards the distant girl.
“Her name is Shawnadit. The spirits have not been kind to our little sparrow. Her father died in a battle with the Thule several years ago. Her mother was killed when she slipped over the edge of a cliff last winter. She has no brothers or sisters. We, the tribe, are now her family. Just as we would raise any child, she is looked after by the women of the band. Her mother's death, however, has greatly affected her. She and her mother were very close.”
Kiera sighed, thinking of the young girl's heartache. “At least she is not alone,” she whispered to herself.
As dawn approached, the revellers eventually gave in to their urge for sleep. Kiera reached forward and touched Sooleawaa's back. Sooleawaa was already slumbering beside the roaring campfire in front of her. She let her darkening thoughts drift upwards into the brightening sky. She thought again of that little girl, Shawnadit, who had suffered terrible losses, but still had an extended family to look after her. From Ireland, to Vinland and finally to the land of the Beothuck, Kiera was being pulled ever further away from her home and family. Although happy to have her life after almost losing it, she couldn't stop a growing sense of emptiness from weighing down upon her heart.
As she closed her eyes, she rubbed her cross between her thumb and finger. Home was now further away than ever.
EIGHT
The village had been completely disassembled by midday. Kiera watched in fascination as the large, shell-shaped huts called mamateeks simply fell gently to the ground with the removal of several key support poles. Other band members stored the canoes under low-lying lean-tos for winter. Most of the belongings had been previously packed in leather wrapping, and were now strapped to the top of an A-frame of long poles.
“Ready?” asked Chocan, concern in his voice.
