Spell of the Crystal Chair Page 5

  The Sleepers followed as best they could. They could not make as good time as the dogs could.

  As soon as they came into the village, they were surrounded by the Lowami people. Most of them had their hoods back, and Josh saw that they had fair hair. Many had blue eyes. They don’t look like Eskimos, he thought. They look like people that came from the South, with hair and eyes like that.

  “My father, this is Josh—who is the chief among the Seven Sleepers. This is my father, Denhelm.”

  Denhelm, Josh saw, was a tall, blond man. His skin was burned by the northern sun and weathered. Though he was not old, his face was lined.

  “You are welcome to the land of the Lowami,” he said, using the common language of Nuworld that was understood almost everywhere.

  “Thank you, Chief Denhelm,” Josh said quickly. “Let me introduce my companions.” He named off the Sleepers, then introduced Mat and Tam and Volka.

  “You are all welcome,” Denhelm said. “This is my wife, Rimah, and later you will meet the members of my council. But now you are weary from your long journey. You will sleep tonight in the Long House.”

  The Long House was the one structure in the village that was indeed long and was built of stone. The doorway was very low, and the tallest of the Sleepers had to bow as they went in. The roof was made of saplings covered with furs. The interior was illuminated by three long, slitted windows, burning oil lamps, and two fireplaces. It was relatively warm inside.

  “This is where you will stay temporarily. I hope you will find it comfortable,” Chief Denhelm said courteously.

  “You are very gracious, Chief,” Josh said. “Indeed, we are tired.”

  “It has been a long journey for you. First you will eat, and then you will rest.”

  That sounded good to Josh and probably to everyone else. Hot food was brought into the Long House—a stew of some kind, which they ate hungrily.

  After they had eaten, Princess Fairmina said, “Now you will sleep. There is no need to rise until you are rested.”

  “Well,” Josh said, when they were alone in the Long House, “we’re here anyway.”

  Looking about him, Jake said, “I’ve seen pictures of places like this. The Indians in Canada used to have them.”

  “This is a whole lot like the Arctic. Ice and snow,” Dave said. “I guess the people live on fish and seals and whales just like the old Eskimos did.”

  “Maybe they are descendants from the Eskimos,” Josh said. “Except that Eskimos had dark eyes, and most of these people have blue eyes. I don’t understand that.”

  They sat around talking for a while, then wrapped themselves in the furs that served for blankets. They were all exhausted. The girls took one end of the hut, and the boys the other with a fur curtain drawn between. The fire in each section burned with a feeble flame, but after their having slept outside, the Long House seemed warm and comfortable.

  “I suppose everything’s relative,” Jake muttered to Wash, who was on his right.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, it must be close to freezing inside here. We’d be shaking and shivering if we hadn’t been toughened up on the trail. Why, it actually feels warm!”

  “It does!” Dave said, who was on the other side of Jake. “As a matter of fact, I may have to throw the furs back.”

  On the other side of the curtain, the girls were comfortably bundled up.

  “It feels so good to be out of the wind and the cold!” Abbey exclaimed. “And having hot stew. That was so good. I’m grateful for this place. I’ve had enough of the open trail.”

  “The people seem friendly, too,” Sarah said sleepily. The hot food and the warmth and the fire were affecting her. “I can’t stay awake any longer,” she moaned. “I may sleep for a week.”

  Everyone in the Long House slept for nearly twenty hours. When they finally all got up and stepped outside, they saw the chief talking with his daughter.

  “Good morning,” Chief Denhelm said. “I trust you slept well.”

  “Very well, indeed!” Josh told him. “The Long House is very comfortable.”

  “Today, if you feel strong enough, we will show you how to make your own houses.”

  “You mean igloos?”

  “Igloos. Is that what you call our houses?” the chief asked.

  “That’s what people used to call them back where we came from, although we didn’t actually have any igloos ourselves.”

  “We simply call them houses. After breakfast, we will begin work.”

  They were fed a good, warm breakfast of some kind of porridge. Then the Sleepers, Tam, Mat, and Volka were led to a snow-covered field. Chief Denhelm gave them long knives, almost like swords. “It is not difficult to make a house of snow.” He smiled suddenly. “If you’ve done it many times, ever since you were a boy.”

  The snow was heavy and hung together well when the chief carefully cut out a block. He said, “Here is the first block. Daughter, show them how to trim the edges.” Then he cut another and handed it to Jake.

  Jake was highly interested. He watched closely as the princess carried the first block to a circle she had marked out on the ground.

  She set it on the inside of the circle and then took Jake’s block. “You see, with these knives you must carve and angle the snow blocks so that the two meet tightly together. It must be a very good fit.”

  He watched her shave off the sides of both blocks until they fit perfectly.

  “I see what you mean. Each one of them is a little bit thinner at the back.”

  “Exactly. Now, we make one circle all the way around.”

  The Sleepers found the building of an igloo a fascinating experience. Soon they had completed one circle of snow blocks.

  “Where’s the door?” Jake wanted to know.

  “It’s easier to cut it later. Now we will do the second layer. This time we not only have to cut the sides but the bottom of each one, too—so that the second row will be tilted in just a little.”

  “I get it,” Jake said. “And we cut each row a little bit more off the bottom so that it tilts in more.”

  “It gets very difficult toward the top. If each block of snow is not frozen to those on each side of it, it will collapse.”

  All of them worked hard on the igloo, and although the Sleepers were awkward at it they soon learned to cut blocks of approximately the same size. Chief Denhelm and Fairmina did most of the shaping.

  They stopped once to eat cold meat, but by afternoon the first igloo was about finished. It was difficult to finish the top, for that had to be done from the inside. But finally the last block was made, shaved on every side. A hole about a foot across was left in the top. Denhelm said, “That gives the smoke a way to get out.”

  “Just like building a fireplace,” Jake said.

  “Now we will make the door.”

  Fairmina cut an opening only two and one-half feet high, and then blocks of ice made a short tunnel to it. “That’s to keep the wind out,” she said. “Now, this is your house, Sarah and Abbey. We will make houses for the men next.”

  “Let’s see what it looks like,” Sarah cried.

  The two girls and Fairmina went inside, and the small hole above admitted light.

  “It’s kind of like living inside half of an egg.”

  “Do we sleep on the ice?” Abbey asked.

  “No,” Fairmina said, “we’ll put straw down and cover it with skins. Also we will build a small fireplace of rocks.”

  “Won’t the fire melt the house?” Sarah asked with alarm.

  Fairmina smiled. “No, it is so cold outside that a little fire on the inside will not melt your house.”

  The next two days were pleasant for the Sleepers and their friends. They built two more snow houses so that the boys could have a place to themselves. Mat and Tam and Volka shared a third. Their door had to be bigger, and even then Volka had to enter by lying flat on his stomach and crawling.

  Finally the houses were finis
hed, the straw and fur floors were put in, the fireplaces were built, and they had a celebration lighting a fire in each one. It was a little smoky, but when the fire was bright enough, the smoke curled upward and found its way outside through the opening.

  “It’s like camping out,” Josh said to Sarah. “You girls are pretty snug, aren’t you?”

  “More than I thought we could be in an ice house! I never thought I’d be doing this, Josh.”

  “Neither did I. We’ve done a lot of things in Nuworld that we never thought we’d do.”

  One night there was a banquet, and all that could be crowded into the Long House were present. Chief Denhelm, his wife, and Fairmina sat at one end of a long line of elders. There were no tables, but the skins they sat on and the padding of straw was not uncomfortable. Women kept bringing in food.

  After a while Fairmina said to Abbey, “How do you like this stew?”

  “It’s very good. What is it?”

  “Oh, it’s mostly of what you would call deer.” She shrugged, then and said, “And, of course, a dog or two.”

  Abbey’s eyes flew open, and her hand covered her mouth. She started to jump up.

  But Sarah jerked her back by her parka. “Don’t say anything!” she hissed in her ear. “Be polite!”

  “But I can’t eat dogs.”

  “It won’t kill you. It’s probably just a little bit of dog, anyway.” She herself was feeling a bit queasy, but she had learned in their travels to eat what was put before her.

  After the meal, they were served a drink that was much like tea. When Josh asked what it was, Fairmina said, “The plant is grown far from here, and we take the leaves. We crush them and boil them in water.”

  “Tastes a little bit like sassafras tea,” Reb said. “Real good, Princess.”

  They drank tea, and the Sleepers and their friends listened as the elders talked on. One of them, a younger man, told of how he had killed a large bear. He acted it out, and his story sounded almost like poetry.

  “I guess that’s what they have instead of books,” Josh whispered to Sarah. “It’s kind of vocal history.”

  Then Chief Denhelm stood up. He called for attention, and everyone fell silent in respect for him. “We welcome the visitors that have been sent by Goél to help us in our battles. Perhaps they have some questions they would like to ask.”

  Josh said, “I guess we’d like to know a little bit more about the problem, if you wouldn’t mind telling us, Chief.”

  Chief Denhelm was slow to answer. Then he said, “Our enemy are called the Yanti. We were once united as one tribe many years ago. But for some reason, war came, and the tribe divided.”

  “What was the war about?” Dave asked quietly.

  “No one remembers now. But it was a sad day. Ever since then, the Lowami and the Yanti have been fighting each other.”

  “Are they very much like your people, Chief Den-helm?” Sarah asked.

  “The tribes have been separated for many years. They are a darker people than we, with darker eyes and darker hair. Much like yours, Sarah.”

  “Has anyone ever tried to bring peace?”

  “I have tried many times, but Balog is a warlike man.”

  “Is he the chief of the Yanti?” Wash asked.

  “Yes. A very powerful man, and he hates our people.”

  “His wife does not hate us,” Princess Fairmina said.

  “That is true. Olah is a good woman, but she came from our tribe, you remember.” He turned to Josh. “She was taken in war from our people, and Balog took her for his mate. She was a very good young woman.”

  “We grew up together,” Rimah said. “I think if the men would get out of the way and let the women settle it, the two tribes could live in peace.”

  Laughter went up at this, and one of the elders said, “Next, your wife will want to be chief.”

  But Rimah said, “No. That is not true.”

  Denhelm went on explaining how the division of the tribes had brought war. “Many have been killed. It is not good.”

  “Then, is that why you sent to Goél, Chief? To stop the war?”

  “It is, but I would not have sent if it had not been for the Ancient One.” He nodded toward a very old man, who had sat silently through the meal. The Sleepers were never to learn his name. He was simply called the Old One or the Ancient One. It appeared he was a priest, and everyone showed him the utmost respect.

  “Oh, Ancient One, tell our guests of your vision.”

  The old man rocked back and forth. It seemed he would never speak. His voice was thin and reedy when it came, but it grew clearer as he spoke.

  “From time to time I have dreams. This one was sent from Goél, I believe.”

  He fell silent again, and everyone waited. Josh was impressed at the reverence the Lowami had for their priest.

  “In my dream I saw terrible things. It was all in a swirling mist, but terrible beasts came and attacked our people. Many died. I grew afraid, and then I heard a voice saying, ‘You must have help. Send to Goél. Ask him to send those who will help your people.’” The Ancient One stirred. “I then told my vision to the chief.”

  “And I sent Fairmina to find Goél and ask for help.”

  Fairmina started to say something but then did not.

  Josh thought he knew what she was thinking. “I know you are disappointed, Chief,” he said. “You were expecting Goél to send a large army, and instead you have seven very young people, two dwarfs, and a giant.”

  Denhelm straightened his back. His face was stern, and he said confidently, “Goél is wise. I have served him for many years. Indeed, I did look for an army, but Goél’s ways are past finding out.”

  Suddenly the Ancient One said in a clear, strong voice,

  “The House of Goél will be filled,

  The earth itself will quake!

  The beast will be forever still,

  When Seven Sleepers wake!”

  The words hung in the air, and with that the meeting appeared to be over. The elders got up and left. The Sleepers bowed before Rimah, who had supervised the dinner.

  “It was a fine meal, Queen Rimah,” Reb said.

  She took their thanks, and then Fairmina was approached by Jake.

  “You almost told your father that we weren’t much, didn’t you, Princess?”

  Fairmina suddenly smiled, although she looked troubled. “Yes, I almost did. But he has always believed in the wisdom of Goél.”

  “Have you ever met Goél? Before this trip, I mean,” Josh asked.

  “Oh, yes! He has been to our village many times.”

  Josh was puzzled. “He’s everywhere!” he exclaimed. “I don’t see how he gets around so much.”

  “I think there is more to Goél than you and I will ever know. In any case, my friend Josh, I am glad that you have come. We need help, and you are the help that Goél has chosen. So, welcome to Whiteland.”

  Josh felt pleased that they had been accepted by this strong woman who could fight as well as any man. He bowed to her and returned to the igloo that he shared with Dave and Jake. They were all filled with warm food and sat talking for some time.

  Josh did not take part in much of the conversation. He was listening, but he was thinking, Fairmina is kind, but actually we do need an army. If there’s going to be a war, there aren’t enough of us to be of much help.

  6

  The Ice Wraith

  The Sleepers fell into the patterns of the Lowami tribe with little difficulty. The trip from the south had hardened them, and they found that they could bear the cold much easier now. Their warm, insulated underwear and furs made a big difference, but they knew also that the fatty food they were eating was building up their strength and their resistance to the cold.

  From time to time the snows came. Then they would huddle in their small houses or else in the Long House. They learned to admire the spirit and the kindness of the Lowami people. Chief Denhelm was a man of great natural courtesy. His wife had
a spirit that was quiet and gentle. The villagers, with few exceptions, were friendly, and as the days passed they found themselves liking their hosts very much.

  A boy named Conmor had grown especially close to the Sleepers. He was a bright young fellow, short and muscular, very strong, and also very curious. He could never get enough stories of what Oldworld was like, and he plied the Sleepers with questions constantly.

  Early one sunshiny morning, Conmor announced to the Sleepers, “We’re going hunting. The meat is getting low. You are invited to join.”

  “Hey, that’s cool, Conmor!”

  “Cool?” Conmor looked puzzled. “Yes, it is cool. You would think it cold, I suppose. But why do you tell me that?”

  “Oh, it’s just something we say.” Josh laughed. “That means it’s nice—it’s good—that we can go hunting with you.”

  Conmor’s white teeth flashed against his dark, tanned skin. “I see. So when you like something, you say it’s cool.”

  “That’s right.”

  “Good. I will say that, too,” Conmor said. “Yes. It’s cool to go hunting. I will show you your weapons.”

  “What are we going to hunt?” Dave asked as they walked to where the hunters were gathering.

  “Something to eat.”

  Wash laughed. “I guess that answers your question. Anything that we kill we eat.”

  “Why, of course,” Conmor said with surprise. “Why else would we kill something if not to eat it—except one of the Yanti, of course.”

  “You think we’ll run into any Yanti?” Jake asked.

  “I do not think so. We will not be going into their territory.”

  The chief was going on the hunt. So was his daughter. Everyone had donned white furs, which camouflaged them against the snow.

  “I guess those white furs make it easier for us to sneak up on seals or something.”

  “Yes, and sometimes we can harpoon a whale. They come in quite close. But I do not expect any today. We will try for a walrus. Have you ever eaten walrus?”

  “Nope,” Reb said. “I’ve eaten lizards, though.”