Ava's Chronicle - Sanctuary I
The scenery soon changed, from tundra, to boggy muskeg, to taiga, as the Clan slowly wound its was southwest. Occasionally, they would have to stop to repair one of the snow-machines, but overall, the vehicles worked very well; a time tested design, an unusual combination of motorcycle, snowmobile, and half-track, very simple and robust. They crossed the mountains through one of the numerous low passes, and began following the Nyakii River down towards the sea. Here, the Nyakii was still a small, bubbling, energetic stream, and bright trout and grayling darted about in the crystal clear water.
When the clan stopped to make camp along the stream, everyone was delighted to take the chance to acquire some fresh fish.
Kyllsa Siikanen carefully picked her way through the crisp water, standing in a tongue of current that bordered a small pool, feeling her way across the smooth stones of the riverbed with her bare feet, a thin cedar spear in her hands. She watched the water, patiently waiting for a fair sized fish to pause momentarily in the calmer water before her.
A flash of silver and Kyllsa thrust the spear into the water, quickly withdrawing a fair size trout. She walked to the bank, subdued the fish with a sharp rap on the head, and carefully laid in the basket waiting on shore. She carefully examined the spear's tip, quite literally made of a straightened, heavy fish hook, and then walked back into the water. Uro and Jonn stood nearby, watching and talking.
“Well,” Jonn said quietly, “I had wondered how they caught all these fish.”
Uro nodded. “Me too... hey, remind me never to make her mad, alright?”
“Your people don't rely on fish, the way the Star-Fire do?” Jonn asked, curious. “What do you rely on, then, if I may ask?”
“We are sheep herders.” Uro replied. “We rely on them. Alpine sheep.”
“Ahh. Of course....” Jonn's voice trailed off as Kyllsa speared another fish.
She held the spear up, showing the grayling impaled by the tip. “You two want to try?” she asked, grinning. “Need to learn to do this, sooner or later.”
Jonn looked at Uro and shrugged. “Why not?” The two young men had become quite good friends, and both removed their boots and rolled their pant legs up, to wade-clumsily-through the water to where Kyllsa was fishing. She placed the new fish into her basket and quietly, gracefully, waded through the water to stand next to them.
She handed the spear to Uro. “Here. You hold it like this...” Jonn paid close attention as Kyllsa showed Uro how to hold it, how to thrust it, what to watch for. In a moment, Uro was holding the spear at the ready, examining the water carefully, waiting for a fish.
Sukki and Avlynka watched from the bank, quietly giggling.
A fish appeared, and Uro thrust the spear, as Kyllsa had explained, striking exactly where he saw the fish... and missed. He sighed and readied himself again, repeating the episode two or three times before he finally turned to Kyllsa and asked, “Alright... what am I doing wrong?”
“The water makes the fish appear to be in a different place.” Jonn said, matter of factly. “Of course... refraction.”
Kyllsa nodded. “Yes... I haven't ever heard it called “refraction” before, but, the fish looks like it is higher in the water than it actually is. You need to strike below the fish... how far below depends on how deep in the water it is. You will get used to it.”
Uro handed the spear to Jonn. “Here... your turn.”
Jonn nodded, got his feet firmly planted, and watched the water intensely, the spear at the ready. When a fish appeared, he did a fast calculation in his mind and thrust... and withdrew a fat little trout.
“Nicely done!” Kyllsa said, clapping her hands. “See? Not hard to do.”
Uro rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah... beginner's luck.”
Avlynka and Sukki went to work cleaning the fish, as Kyllsa continued her lesson. Before long, Kyllsa, along with a bit of help from Jonn and Uro, had speared plenty of fish for the family to eat dinner. As Kyllsa had no family or children of her own, she had been unofficially “adopted” by the Surionens, and like all other members of the family, carried her share of the burden and chores.
The fish were cooked thoroughly over a small fire, and Olno and Tarja cut up some onions and fried them in a small pan. The dinner of fresh fish and onions, along with some vya, was a welcome change from smoked caribou, smoked fish, and dried rice.
After dinner, Sukki collected the dishes and walked to the stream to wash them, as Avlynka worked on some minor repairs to her dress. Uro and Jonn watched and listened as Kyllsa showed them how to make a fishing spear, as Olno and Tarja quietly watched the stars appear in the slowly-darkening sky, one by one.
Sukki's sudden yelp of pain grabbed everyone's attention, and when she began to scream, the group jumped up and ran towards the stream. Sukki lay on her side on the wet rocks along the shore, gripping her right ankle and screaming bloody murder, the metal dishes she was carrying scattered around nearby.
“Honey?!” Olno yelled, kneeling next to her. “Let us see it. Sukki! Let us look, alright?”
Sukki nodded, her screaming more of a deep, throaty moaning as she gingerly let go of her ankle. The outside of her ankle was swelling, and a large bruise had already spread across most of her ankle and the top of her foot. She lay on the ground, crying and sobbing, while Kyllsa gingerly examined her.
“Avlynka, go get some cedar poles... those ones we were making the spears of, those will work fine... and cut some leather into strips, please?” Kyllsa ordered. Avlynka obeyed, and Uro followed her.
“It's broken... right?” Sukki asked in a whiny, squeaky voice.
“Yes, honey, it is.” Kyllsa said. “Slipped on the rocks?”
Sukki nodded feebly as Tarja brushed her hair out of her face. “Yeah... I slipped.”
The rest of the Clan quickly checked in on them, but, as possible injuries go, Sukki's was actually rather mild. They picked Sukki up and helped her up the bank, where Kyllsa carefully checked to be sure that the bones were in place. Sukki squealed as Kyllsa set a bone, wrapped her ankle in a pressure wrap, and then fashioned a rather stout, sturdy brace of the cedar poles and leather strips, which quite effectively immobilized her foot.
“Alright, honey... you'll be fine. It will hurt for a while.” Tarja said, Sukki's head resting in her mother's lap as she lay on the ground. “Avlynka and Uro can make up some crutches for you, and for now, you can just ride on the trailer, alright?”
Jonn smiled and handed Sukki a small plastic bottle and a cup of water. “Here... pain pills. Take one. Yes, just like that... the water will help swallow... yes, there.” He sat down next to Sukki, smiling and talking to her, while he sketched in his notebook.
The next morning, the Clan resumed their travel, with Sukki sitting on the small trailer, holding on for dear life as it bounced along. It was six more days before they reached what would, hopefully, be their wintering ground for this year, setting up camp a short distance from the Nyakii River in the shelter of the spruce and cedars.
The first night in their new home, Avlynka watched the flickering ribbons of light of the aurora, winding their way across the sky in pale blues and greens. The Spirits sent signs through the aurora, signs that the Star-Fire had read, and followed, for generations.
The Spirits were saying that they had made a good choice to relocate.
That offered some reassurance, but Avlynka knew that, sometimes, the Spirits were wrong.