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.“Do you have it in a safe place?”She nodded and patted her skirt.“In the hem.Just like you.”“Good girl.You are very talented at sewing, Shawnadit.Keep practicing, and you will soon be sewing your own Celtic crosses.”Shawnadit stared up with her big eyes.“Kiera?”“Yes, sweetheart?”“When you are back home and you sew something, will you think of me?”Kiera felt a lump form in her throat.“Of course, I will.But only if you do the same.Agreed?”Shawnadit nodded, and sniffing loudly, wrapped her tiny arms around Kiera's neck.After a few moments, Chocan touched Kiera gently on the shoulder.“Time to go.”Kiera kissed Shawnadit on the forehead and stood up.Chocan helped Kiera wrap the leather straps of her sled around her waist and shoulders.They tied snowshoes to their boots and fixed their outer garments until they were both comfortable.Sooleawaa wrapped her arms around them both and wished them luck.Finally, after many goodbyes and more tears, the two trudged off to the edge of the winter camp, took one last look back at their friends, and disappeared into the forest.Although Kiera's leg had healed well, she found the going difficult.The forest was quite dense along the path of the creek that they continued to follow northward.Although it meant weaving between the plentiful saplings, the thick growth helped to protect them from the bitter winter wind.Kiera's legs tired quickly from the extra weight of the snowshoes and the heavy load of the sled.She seemed to be endlessly apologizing to Chocan for their slow pace.Chocan never complained, but he remained unusually quiet, which made Kiera feel even more guilty with each rest break.Although he didn't show it, she could sense that Chocan was worried about making it to the Viking village before mid-spring.They spent their first night lying on the soft needles of a large pine tree and were well on their way again by the time the first rays of sunlight reached the powdery forest floor.With each day, Kiera felt her strength slowly return.By the end of the week, for the first time since her rescue in the fall, she began to feel like her previously healthy self.Fewer breaks for the duo meant more distance covered.Chocan's mood finally began to lighten.They spent the long hours on the trail trading tales of the Irish, Norse and Beothuck cultures.What fascinated Chocan the most about the cultures to the east was their ability to use metal.“So the iron in your needle came from rock?” he asked, intrigued.“Yes,” she explained.“There is a type of rock called iron.If you heat it to a high enough temperature, it melts into a liquid.Then, you pour the purified liquid into a mold and allow it to cool.Once it cools back into a solid, you remove it from the mold, then you're done.The metal tool is complete.”“Incredible,” muttered Chocan.“So what other things do you make with this rock called iron?”Kiera laughed.“I don't know where to begin.First of all, weapons, I suppose.Swords, lances, even arrowheads can all be made with metal.Metal weapons are extremely deadly.I've seen them used firsthand.They can slice through any thickness of leather garment and sever an arm or leg with just one blow.You can see why an army of metal-bearing Vikings can be a formidable foe.”“I now understand the power of these Viking warriors,” said Chocan, thoughtfully.“But the Thule do not seem to be frightened of these metal weapons.”“That is because, at the village, the Thule have compensated with overwhelming numbers.We have only twenty-five men in our village.In Ireland, the Vikings would descend upon a village with hundreds of well-armed soldiers.Trust me, if a full armada of Viking ships attacked a Thule village, the only ones left standing would be the Vikings.And the more a village resists, the more ruthless the Vikings become.”Chocan frowned.“We would not be able to defend ourselves against such an adversary.Our only option, then, would be to avoid contact altogether.”Kiera grimaced at the thought.“I agree.If you see an approaching fleet of Viking ships, my advice would be to run as fast as you can away from their landing site.Viking warriors do not speak with words, but with the sword.”As they came to the summit of a small hill, Chocan pointed northward.A thin trail of smoke rose up from the forest.“There is the camp.We are close.”“Good,” said Kiera, her shoulders sagging.“My legs feel like they are on fire.”He looked over his shoulder and smiled.“For someone who has walked very little in nearly a year, you have done very well.Now let's see if we can reach our brothers and sisters before sundown.”The evening light had almost departed the darkening forest when they entered the northern village.The clearing was empty, but the muffled voices of the band could be heard murmuring through the birch and moss walls of the mamateeks.Chocan shook his head in disgust.“This must be a village of lazy groundhogs, all tucked away in their little dens for the night.I could have been a Thule warrior and simply walked off with their remaining winter rations.Where is the watch?”With the silence of a shadow, an arm whipped around Chocan's neck, placing a razor sharp stone against his throat.Kiera gasped in shock at the sudden appearance of a fierce, armed warrior, his narrowed eyes ablaze in anger.She tried to back away, but her snowshoes became tangled in the sled.She landed in a heap upon the wet snow.Chocan laughed.“You kill me, and you will lose the only person in the Beothuck nation whom you can beat in Chance!”The grip around Chocan's body softened, and the warrior's face lightened.“You've got a point.I suppose the Creator would want me to take pity on such a pathetic Chance player.How are you, Chocan?”The warrior removed the knife, stepped in front of him and the two embraced.“Tired.It's good to see you again, Taregan.This is my good friend, Kiera.”Kiera smiled awkwardly from her tangled mess on the ground.“Hello, I think.”Taregan bent down and stretched out a hand.She took it, and he easily hauled her back up onto her feet.“I remember you from the Meeting Place.Sorry about the fright, Kiera.Chocan and I go back to when he first arrived in our land.”Chocan shook his head.“I can't believe that you were the first person we met after making the crossing.It's no wonder my sister and I didn't hop back into my canoe and return to Mi'kmaq territory.”Taregan laughed.“I watched Chocan lead his sister aimlessly around the coastal woods.I took pity on such a poor, helpless individual and decided it was safe to introduce them to my band.They stayed with us for over a year, learned our ways, and then, at the Meeting Place, left to be with Nadie's band.Ungrateful, wouldn't you agree?”“I think, then, that Chocan's come a long way,” Kiera said, cheerfully.“He could have deserted me when I was nearly dead, but he saved my life.I owe him everything.”It was then that Taregan noticed, in the fading light, her green eyes behind the layers of red ochre.“I had forgotten that you are not Beothuck.You speak it very well.Much better, in fact, than he ever did after his first year among us.”Chocan shook his head in mock exasperation.“Thank you,” replied Kiera, giggling [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]