She walked along the bank, then took off her sandals and waded in. “What can I do?” she called.
Tanajin bent and grabbed something. “Here!” She tossed it.
A rope. It unwound in midair and fell into the water. Nia grabbed one end. The other end was fastened to the raft.
“Pull!” said Tanajin.
She wound the rope around her forearm till the slack was gone, then spread her feet and dug her toes into the muddy bottom, got a good grip on the rope and pulled.
Hunh!
The raft slowed.
Hunh!
The raft stopped.
Hunh!
The raft began to turn.
Tanajin swung the paddle out of the water. It stayed up, held by the forked stick, though Nia couldn’t tell exactly how. Then she jumped in the river. Aiya! The splash! She was chest-deep in water, leaning against the raft and pushing hard. Nia kept pulling. The two of them grunted like bowhorns. The raft came to shore.
They climbed out of the water. Tanajin took the rope and fastened it around a tree. “Where is Ulzai?” she asked. “He didn’t come back.”
Nia made the gesture that meant “I don’t know.”
Tanajin made the gesture of inquiry.
“A lizard followed us into the rapids. Ulzai stood up to confront it. Something happened. I don’t know what exactly. The boat went over. We all…” She closed her hand into a fist, then opened it. The gesture meant “scattered” or “gone.”
“Ai!” said Tanajin.
“The lizard was not an umazi. Ulzai got a good look at the animal. He said it was nothing out of the ordinary. He told us about his dream. The umazi promised him they would be his death.”
“What about the hairless people?” asked Tanajin. “And the crazy man? Did they drown?”
Nia made the gesture that meant “no.” “There is a new village on the lake. Hairless people built it, and it looks like no other village I have ever seen. Li-sa and Deragu are there. So is the oracle. I came to fix your pot.”
Tanajin made the gesture that meant “let’s get on with it.”
They walked to Nia’s camp. The fire was almost out. Tanajin kicked the branches apart. Was she crazy? Her feet were bare. She certainly looked angry. She was frowning, and the fur on her brow ridges came so far down that her eyes were hidden.
Nia saddled White Spot, moving carefully and making as little noise as possible. She led the animal to the raft and on. It wasn’t easy. The animal shivered and snorted. “This is no way for a gelding to behave,” said Nia. “Be calm! Don’t act like a male!” The animal flicked its ears. Its tail quivered, but did not lift. That was a good sign. The animal was uneasy, but not really afraid. Not ready to show white and flee. Nia kept hold of the bridle and made soothing noises.
Tanajin untied the rope. She pushed off, using the paddle.
The raft moved gently. It was made of logs tied together. The rope wasn’t the kind made on the plain, woven out of long narrow pieces of leather. This rope was made of a hairy fiber. Nia had seen its like in the east. The Copper People used it for making nets. It came from the distant south.
How many kinds of people were there? How many kinds of gifts?
They drifted toward the middle of the river. White Spot snorted and stamped a foot. Nia rubbed the furry neck. She looked back. There was a lizard in the river between them and the western shore. A big one, heading south.
Aiya! Nia tugged at the bridle, turning the head of the bowhorn, making certain that White Spot couldn’t see. “Have there been many of those?” she asked.
Tanajin glanced up. “Lizards? Yes.”
She went back to paddling. When they reached the island, she spoke again. “I see the lizards when I bring people across the river. They like to travel along this side. The water moves slowly, and there are marshes where they can hunt. The lizard that went after you was behaving very strangely.”
“It was following blood,” said Nia. “The oracle had an injury. He was bleeding into the water.”
“He is the cause!”
Nia made the gesture of disagreement. “I think it goes further back. I think it was the spirits in the cave.”
Tanajin made the gesture of inquiry.
Nia told her about the cave with pictures on the walls. “It was full of spirits, the oracle said. They were hungry. He fed them. But they were not satisfied. They wanted more blood. This is my opinion, anyway. I don’t know for certain.”
“It’s too complicated for me,” said Tanajin. “I need a shamaness. Maybe I ought to go and find one.”
They pulled the raft out of the water and left it there, crossing the island on foot. Noisy birds filled the trees. The ground was covered with droppings: red and purple and white.
On the far side of the island was another raft. They used it to cross another channel.
The same thing happened. They pulled the raft onto the shore. They crossed the island. They found another raft.
“How much of this is there going to be?” asked Nia.
Tanajin made the gesture of ending or completion. “This is the last channel. There is no good way around the islands and if I try to cross the river all at once, the raft drifts too far down. I know. I have tried it.”
Nia said, “The hairless people have a boat that moves by itself as if it had legs or fins.”
“Is it magic?”
“No. It is driven by fire, though I don’t understand how.”
Tanajin made the gesture of amazement. But she didn’t look amazed. Instead she looked tired.
They crossed the last channel. By this time the sun was gone, but the sky was still full of light. The air was almost motionless. It smelled of the river and of the bowhorn, which had dropped a heap of dung on the logs near Tanajin.
“Mind your animal,” the woman said.
“I’m doing my best.”
They reached the shore and pulled up the raft. The sky darkened. They walked north along the river till they came to Tanajin’s house.
Nia took White Spot around back. She unsaddled the gelding and tied it, using a leather rope. The other two bowhorns were there, grazing on the short vegetation. She went around front. Tanajin had built a fire.
They ate without speaking. When they were done Tanajin went into her tent. She brought out a blanket. “I don’t want you in my house, Nia. I am angry at the news you’ve brought. Why is Ulzai the only person who hasn’t reappeared?”
Nia made the gesture of uncertainty.
Tanajin went inside.
Nia lay down. Bugs hummed around her. They bit her in the places where her fur was thin: at the edges of her hands, on the tops of her ears. She pulled the blanket up till it covered all of her and dreamed of being trapped in a dark place: a cave or a forest. There were people around her, moving and speaking. She couldn’t see them and their language was not one she knew.
She woke at dawn. Tanajin came out and rebuilt the fire. They ate porridge.
Tanajin said, “I dreamed about Ulzai. His clothes were soaked. Water dripped off his fur. He spoke to me. I could not understand his words.”
“I dreamed also,” said Nia.
“About what?”
“Darkness. Being trapped. And people. I don’t know which people. They spoke. I could not understand them.”
“These are bad dreams. We need a ceremony of aversion.” Tanajin frowned. “There are times I think this is no way to live. I have no female relatives. I have no shamaness. Now even Ulzai is gone.”
Nia made the gesture of polite agreement. “You said you have tools. I am going to begin setting up a place to work.”
Tanajin made the gesture of acknowledgment.