close.
Even Good Eyes believed that now, and spent most of her time in the water
with him, where Death's child would not fol ow. He noticed Good Eyes
suddenly shifting her weight in the water.
"What is it?" Sailor asked, as she moved her fish- catcher from one hand
to the other.
"The warmers in my pants," s he signed one-h an ded. "I think the left side ' s failing . That leg ' s getting pretty cold."
"Can't you stop the blood in that leg?"
"What?" She looked confused . That was the first thing that
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happened to people when they became too cold--they would act disoriented.
"When we're in the water," he explained, "we stop the blood from flowing into our legs, so we don't get cold."
She smiled feebly. "Pretty efficient. I can't do that." She spied something in the water and drove the fish-catcher down, once, twice, but the big swimmer
got away. Sailor impaled it, hauling it up into the air where it couldn't
breathe. Good Eyes should've caught this one, it was big and slow.
The human took the crimson swimmer from him and started wading toward
the demanding chick.
"Be cautious, Good Eyes," Sailor warned.
The chick was ravenous, but Good Eyes seemed unconcerned. The human
stood knee deep in the lake and held the fish up by its gills, tantalizing the
maniacal chick. Sailor wondered about her judgment sometimes.
Death's child flared her wings, thrust her head forward, and waded into the
cold water. The human waited just out of reach. The beast rushed Good
Eyes, but the human easily held her off with the blunt end of her fish-catcher.
Death's child grabbed the shaft in her powerful bill and snapped the end off,
then rushed the human again. Good Eyes spun the fish-catcher and
threatened the fledgling with the business end. Faced with its three sharp
points, Death's child hunkered dismally on the shore.
After an interminable moment, the fledgling signed, "That is fish. It's good to
eat and I'm hungry. Please, feed me the fish..." The fledgling hesitated, then
finished with "my parent."
Sailor could see the disappointment plainly on Good Eyes' face as she
tossed the fish to the chick. She still could not get Death's child to use her
name-sign. Gingerly the chick took the food, walked up on the shore, and,
without so much as a backward glance, began ripping it to pieces. Sailor
hated watching that and started to move back into deep water, but Good
Eyes didn't join him. Instead, the tired human waded out of the lake and sat
heavily some distance from the feeding chick.
Only Father Sun colored the day sky now, but He was the warmest, and
Good Eyes sat basking in His glow, rubbing her legs. Putting the fish-catcher
on her lap, the human started to sign to the chick. Suddenly Death's child
knocked her to
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the ground, straddling the human's body, grabbing an arm in her deadly
talons until blood poured from the flesh . Sailor flew toward them ,
landing roughly on the heavy chick , kicking her, beating her with his
wings. Finally , the fledgling re leased the human as Sailor struck her with his w ri sts and elbows.
Sailor drove the chick back to her fish. Then he saw the gouge near Good
Eyes' throat and his anger overwhelmed him. He went after Thunder,
intending to fight her to the death.
Suddenly Good Eyes was between them, brandishing her fish-catcher at
the Aquila, keeping Sailor away with her body. "Stop! " Good Eyes
demanded . " Both of you , stop it this minute!"
Sailor blinked at her, startled . Was she ang ry at him? "I'm sick of all this fighting !" Good Eyes ' signs were sharp, hard . She addressed Sailor . "
Were you t ry ing to save me, or just looking for an excuse to kill
Thunder ?" She didn't give him a chance to answer , but spun around to Death ' s child. "Don't you understand , if you kill or injure us you'll never leave here ? You'll sta rv e to death?"
The chick hunched her shoulders and looked sullen.
"And you can just stop hurt ing me!" Good Eyes re p ri manded the chick .
" All I've ever done is feed you, nurse you, save your life, and all you
"Liar!" hissed the chick, and surp ri sed them both by signing it as well .
" Liar . You stole me from my nest to hide me in the ground . You'll eat me as soon as I'm big enough to feed you. What's wrong with you, who
would steal a child and tort ure her, instead of killing her quickly without
shaming her memo ry ?"
Good Eyes looked strangely at the chick. " We're not going to eat you ,
Thunder . We saved you from sta rv ation , or from being killed . Your father had been killed. Your mother fled for her life . You would ' ve died if we hadn ' t saved you."
Thunder turn ed a baleful near - red eye on the human. "You killed my father," she signed. " You destroy the trees and b ri ng fire to the nests to burn the children so you can eat us. My mother told me. She wouldn ' t
do as you ordered, so you came in that giant flyer and destroyed our
trees."
"That was not me, or my people who did that," Good Eyes explained . " I mean ... it was my people, that is ... they were
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humans, but..." Good Eyes ran a hand through her tangled hair . "
Thunder , those humans shouldn ' t be here , on the World. They ' re my enemy , because they' re your enemy . They ' re Sail or's enemy , too.
And we ' ll ri d the World of them ... I don't know how , but ... we will . I'm so sor ry about what they've done , so terribly sorry. If I could speak to your mother, I'd tell her , too ..."
The chick seemed to shri nk . " My mother ... never to see her ... How will I lea rn to hunt ? How will I know the thermals, or follow the suns? How will I know what ' s the hunted, and what ' s not ? How will I live without my mother ' s knowledge?"
Those simple signs struck Sailor hard, for they were questions he might
have had to ask , if Taller and Weaver had been killed , and Good Eyes had had to raise him alone . Sailor felt sorry for Death ' s child , who might never see her parents again.
Good Eyes eased onto her knees, coming alarmingly close to the
fledgling . " I wouldn ' t keep you from your mother, Thunder . When you can fly , we'll re tu rn to your fo re st, we'll find her , and she ' ll teach you what you need to know."
Sailor' s head lifted in surp ri se . Did she mean that?
"All I ask," Good Eyes signed , " is that you help us communicate with your people . That ' s all I've ever wanted. Your mother wants it, too.
She's t ri ed to talk to me, but I couldn ' t understand her. Now , you can tr anslate for us. If you will."
The chick seemed to consider this for a moment, then tu rn ed her back
and consumed the fish.
"Thunder will take to the air any day now," Sailor signed as the
fledgling stood on the lake ' s sho re, beating her wings.
"I know," Tesa replied wea ri ly . " I know ." She sat at the mouth of the cave , obse rv ing the young avian ' s powerful wings, wings that would car ry the raptor away either today or tomorrow.
" What have you decided ?" Sailor asked.
Mostly, I've decided that this was no summer tipi camp. It's been the toughest
six weeks I can ever remember, Tesa thought. Her clothes were in
tatters . Being in the water now meant bone chilling cold . She'd lost so much weight on their wild, low fat diet that she was never warm
e
nough . Thunder took so
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much effort to feed, there just wasn't time to take better care of herself, or the
things she needed.
It was getting colder every day and there'd been a light dusting of snow this
morning. They'd have to leave soon, one way or another, or risk getting
caught by blizzards.
"Will you kill her?" Sailor asked bluntly.
Tesa winced. Once Thunder took to the air, they could very well be her first
hot-blooded meal. Would she do that, now? Tesa wondered. And why not?
That was no obedient falconer's bird flexing her muscles, but a massive
killing machine with a mind of her own. But what kind of mind? Tesa asked
herself. Sure, the avian could communicate. She could even sign when she
wanted to. More and more, Tesa found herself wondering if things would've
gone differently if only she could hear, if she could communicate with
Thunder in her own speech. She'd begun to doubt herself, and all the
decisions she'd made that had brought her to this moment.
Of course, since Tesa had promised to return Thunder to her avian mother,
the chick had seemed less angry. Yet there was still no love among them,
just a sullen tolerance that had done little to give Tesa hope for their
unorthodox "pair project."
Should she kill Thunder? How could she, believing as she did that Thunder
was a fully intelligent creature? How could she not, knowing Thunder might
kill and devour Sailor and her? She felt hot tears building up in her eyes and
blinked furiously to drive them back. She couldn't risk Sailor. She cared little
about herself, but felt a bitter amusement at the sentiment that could only be
a true mother's.
"Well, will you?" Sailor prodded her again.
At times the young Grus seemed to fear the Aquila, yet at others, he almost
seemed to care for her. Tesa squeezed her eyes shut. This was getting her
nowhere.
"Yes," she signed abruptly, and walked to the cave. Their little home was no
example of good housekeeping. Remnants of past meals were scattered on
the floor, which Tesa found disturbing. Of all things she'd let slide, this was
the most dangerous. Food scraps drew predators, and the last thing they
needed was to call down more trouble on themselves.
Tesa reached for her Clovis-point spear.
She'd made the point in an early tool-making class back
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home, and had taken it to StarBridge as a link to her ancient heritage on that
all -too-modern campus. After they'd arrived here, Tesa had taken the tough, rubbery skin of a circle-swimmer and used it to lash the Clovis point to a
well-balanced wooden shaft. She'd taken her eagle and Aquila feathers and
tied them to the shaft. The spear had a good feel in her hands. This was the
kind of work it was designed to do, to kill large animals quickly, efficiently.
The Clovis people had been expert hunters.
She swallowed hard. Thunder had seen her handling this and the leister as
well. She had no fear of these things, so Tesa would be able to surprise the
avian with it. Kill her before she knew what was happening. Mercifully.
Quickly. A hot tear coursed down the woman's dirty cheek and she brushed
it away.
She held the spear by her side, and the eagle feathers brushed her fingers. It
wasn 't fair that it should come to this, it wasn't right. Her grandfather had told her she'd been touched by the Great Mystery. She had followed her
dreams, her heyoka dreams, and for what? To raise a child that hated her, so
she could kill her or be killed by her? How contrary could her life become on
this crazy, backward- spinning planet?
Another tear betrayed her. She swallowed and watched loose pumice roll in
front of the cave's entrance from the steep outside walls. The gleaners were
always starting mini-rock slides with their constant burrowing.
More pumice rolled and bounced in front of the cave mouth as Tesa started
to leave, straightening her shoulders resolutely. Then a dark shadow filled
the entrance, and startled, she stepped back, raising the spear.
The looming bulk of an adult, male Tree Ripper filled the cave's mouth. He
entered as confidently as a landlord, his nose working to decipher the
strange new odors. His beady green eyes blinked as his great body blocked
the light.
Oh, shit, thought Tesa, barely daring to breathe as she pressed herself
against the darkest nook of the back wall, her skin erupting in cold sweat.
Maybe he won't see me? Her grip on the spear shaft tightened until her
knuckles were white.
Then the huge predator's nose wrinkled, and his tiny eyes focused on the
human. His thick red and white coat glistened with its lush winter 's growth
as he slowly pulled himself up
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on his hind limbs. Tesa felt her legs go weak as the predator opened his
mouth in what had to be a tremendous roar, then faced her with an
incongruous grin.
It was the gri n of a laughing bear , full of long, white teeth an d saliva.
The Ripper moved toward Tesa , his arms out as though he w an ted
nothing mo re th an a friendly embrace.
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CHAPTER 19
Homecoming
Tesa's voice welled up and rushed from her throat in a fullblown scream.
She was trapped-pinned against the back of the cave, with only Thunder's
perch and her Clovis-point spear between her and the Ripper. She'd only
get one chance with her weapon; she didn't dare risk a careless jab.
Wounded, he'd
be more dangerous. The thought made her giddy. More dangerous?
Suddenly something landed on the Ripper's back, knocking
him forward. Almost grazing Tesa with his claws, he fell across the log
perch. She blinked as the sunlight hit her eyes-and realized Thunder had
buried her talons in the predator's thick shoulders. The Ripper shook and
spun around in the cave, crashing into Tesa and sending her sprawling, but
he could not free himself of the raptor clinging to his back like a crazed
bronco rider. Dazedly Tesa saw Sailor also attacking the pain-stricken
animal, kicking and jabbing at the huge creature's rear as Thunder worried
the front. The Ripper wheeled and swiped at Sailor, but Thunder bit into his
short, rounded ear.
The beast re ared up, crashing back against a white -coated
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wal , smashing the Aquila against it. Tesa c ri ed out, scrambling to her
feet . The Ripper spun on the raptor , who now lay dazed and helpless
on the cave floor. Then Sailor was between Thunder an d the Ripper ,
his rapid - fire kicks an d slapping wings sta rt ling the predator so much that he stepped back.
Dazed, Tesa felt for a wild moment that she had done this before , back
on Ea rt h , thousands of years ago. G ri pping her spear , she lunged between her child and the massive predator and slid the point
smoothly between the flat ri bs , deep into the beast's chest.
His great, shaggy head lifted in a ro ar that Tesa could feel along the
wood , then he swung his paw, shatte ri ng the shaft. But the Clovis
point stayed whe re she'd planted it, and the creatu re' s red blood
mingled with the roan patches on his coat. He sag
ged , then re ar ed
back an d ch ar ged . Tesa gasped, helpless.
But, somehow, Sailor w as there . The young avian leaped, d ri ving his long bill deep into the Ripper ' s ri ght eye , impaling his brain . The monster shuddered, then collapsed so quickly that his body ne ar ly
pinned Tesa to the ground.
Tesa' s legs suddenly shook, then all her muscles went limp and she
fell . Stunned an d f ri ghtened, she looked for Sailor. The young Grus was bending solicitously over Thunder. Tesa crawled over to them on
her hands and knees . " Is she okay ?" she asked Sailor.
"I don' t know ," he answered, obviously worried. "Are you?"
"I think so," Tesa signed. " You saved my life. .. Sailor ... you killed a Tree Ripper."
" Only because you weakened him," he insisted.
"Well, neither of us could' ve done a damned thing if Thunder hadn ' t
pulled him off me . Do Aquila often attack Rippers?"
" No, never ," he told her . " Rippers ar e not the hunted. In fact , they ar e the only person on the World that Death fears."
Thunder, dazed and shaken , began cautiously stretching her wings.
Then she gazed, first with one eye, then the other, at the huge , dead an imal filling the cave. She tottered ar ound the corpse . Finally , she signed haltingly , " We-killed him?"
"Yes," Tesa signed.
The Aquila peere d at the ragged eye socket , then at Sailor's
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SILENT DANCES 225 bloody bill. "You kept him away from me, though he
could've easily maimed you."
"Not so easily," Sailor signed testily.
"He could have just as easily maimed you," Tesa told Thunder. "Why did
you attack him?"
The Aquila hunched her head into her shoulders. "When I heard your
scream ... I couldn't let you come to harm. Not after what you said about
my mother."
The Aquila stared at Tesa full-faced. "I knew you'd fight for each other, but I
was surprised when you kept the Ripper from killing me. You could've taken
that time to escape. That's something I'd like to tell my mother."
Then Thunder climbed onto the Ripper's shoulders and threw her head back
in what was, no doubt, the high-pitched call of her people. So, Tesa thought
with a spark of grim satisfaction, we're no longer merely "the hunted." Well, that's fine.
Thunder looked at her from her furry perch and signed, "Do you think we can