Crisscross Moon - 29. Chapter 29

29.

The women came, with the children and the older boys. The boy growled that he was the spirit of the water. The spirit of the rock. The spirit of the cave. The spirit of their ancestors. He growled that the way out of the cave was through the water. Into the water. Under the water. Through another cave. He could tell the small children were scared and he remembered hearing stories of spirits. They were scary stories. But the boy had never really seen a spirit, and probably neither had anyone in the cave.

The women were scared, too, and even the older boys. They had no idea what he was, but they also had no idea who he was. But the more he yelled and stood there, even in the dark and the flickering light, the more the boy hoped the girl would realize who he was.

She finally seemed to, and the boy could see her among the other women. But he could also tell that some of the women were already going to the far end of the cave. They were either trying to get away from him or going to tell the warriors. There might always be one of the men inside the hiding cave.

They boy just talked to the girl. He shouted because she wouldn't come close. He yelled that he was a spirit in the shape of the evil boy who had chased her. He said he was a spirit sent to do good. To make up for how the boy had scared her. He said that he could show her the way out of the cave, and she could show the others. He said she just had to be brave.

But the girl backed away from him. She seemed to know there were other women nearby, older women who were used to being in charge. She seemed to know that there was no way she could tell these women or even the older boys what to do.

The boy realized this and growled at her to get the leader's wife. To tell the leader's wife to come to him. To listen to what he was saying and to follow his orders. But it seemed the leader's wife had already gone to the far end of the cave, and most of the women and children had gone with her. They seemed to be yelling for the warriors. Only the older boys had stayed with the girl.

The boy wondered if a warrior could hear him from where he was. He was afraid to move far from the stream. It was his only way out of the cave. If the girl told the older boys he wasn't a spirit, they could all kill him.

He growled at the older boys again. He ordered them to tell the warriors that he wanted the girl to follow him. Or one of the older boys. The bravest boy. The strongest one. The one who wanted to be a warrior soonest. But even the bravest boy seemed afraid to follow a spirit. The boys probably already knew they were trapped in the cave. They might think this was a spirit sent to help them die.

The boy had to be brave. He was after all a warrior, named for the night and the light where he'd been able to see. To see well enough to kill two warriors coming to attack his village. To kill the leader of the warriors and send the others away. Remembering this, the boy moved to the girl, growling, yelling orders, and making himself fierce.

The girl had helped him once, and now she could help her village. And he wasn't asking now. He wasn't weak. He knew what he wanted.

He yelled at the boys that only this girl could save them. That only she had been made strong by the evil boy. That only she could go under the water and bring the other warriors. It wasn't true, but nothing the boy said was, and he was as afraid of the spirits as the women, children, and probably the other warriors. He thought the spirits might even kill him for trying to take their powers.

The boy left the safety of the stream. He kept moving towards the women, yelling and screaming. He kept moving toward what he thought was the blocked cave entrance, hoping there was a warrior there who could hear him. Some of the women and children began to cry when he came near. They'd been taught to be fear evil spirits, and they all thought they were going to die.

The boy used this. He ordered the leader's wife to make the girl follow him. He ordered the older boys to bring the girl to the stream. He shouted at them to put her in the water next to him, and they finally did. This was an evil spirit. If they could make it go away by giving it one of the girls, it seemed they'd do that.

When the girl was beside him, he growled at her what to do. She had to go ahead of him. She had to keep moving forward in the water. He said if she did what he said, she couldn't die. And the boy knew this had to be true. If she died and blocked his way, he could die. Or he'd have to bring her body back. He'd have to yell that she'd didn't listen. That he needed someone who would listen to his orders or everyone would die. He'd have to yell that this was what the spirits wanted.

In the water next to him, the girl was shaking. She seemed more scared than he'd ever seen her, and he wanted to tell her not to be. He needed her to be calm. Getting out of the cave would be hard enough. If she was afraid of him, it would be worse.

The boy told her what to do. He ordered her to breathe in as much as she could. Then to lie on her back. Then to go under the water and push forward along the walls as fast as she could. And to let him push her as fast as he could, so they could reach the hole at the end of the stream. Then they could get out.

He didn't tell her she could die. That would scare her more. And when she wouldn't take a breath, he showed her how. And when she wouldn't lie in the water, he helped her. Then he pushed her under the water and tried to move as fast as he could.

He didn't have time to turn on his back. He couldn't move slowly, and it was faster to crawl face down. He needed to get the girl out of the water as fast as he could. Then get himself out. He was sure they could do it.

And they did. The girl listened to what he said. Maybe because she was scared, or maybe because she was brave. She was certainly stronger than she'd been taught she was. The boy knew that. And they both came out in the dry part of the cave.

Then he just held her because now he was as scared as she was. He'd gotten them out, but then he realized what they'd done. How dangerous it was. And he realized that now, she had more to do. She had to tell her warriors what she'd done. She had to remember where the cave was and get the men to listen to her. She had to get them to follow her and go under the water themselves to save the women and children.

The boy knew he couldn't help her do this. No matter what she told them, probably nothing could ever get the warriors to follow him. Or not to kill him. In the light, they'd know he wasn't a spirit. And once they knew the way out of the cave, there was no reason for him to live.

The best thing the boy could do was let the girl go to her warriors. Then he had to run.

The longer the boy held the girl, the calmer they both got. He wasn't stupid enough to tell her he wasn't a spirit, but he stopped yelling and giving her orders. He quietly told her that she was safe and that everyone in the cave would be safe if she just went to her warriors. He knew she'd do that anyway because there was nothing else she knew. And he finally let go of her and led her out of the cave.

It was still light. The girl looked at the forest and seemed to know where she was. The boy pointed in the direction of the village, but the girl shook her head and made him help her mark the cave, so she could easily find it again. She also made a torch and made the boy take her back into the cave, so she could easily find the entrance to the tunnel. He had her crawl into the hole, and then he handed her the torch, so she could see the stream. Then he walked with her to the edge of the village.

He didn't tell her to be brave. He knew she didn't need that. But he promised she'd never see him again. That he'd never bother her. Ever. And once he saw her warriors coming toward her, he ran.

It wasn't easy for the girl to tell the warriors what had happened. But it was easy to tell her father and Brown Bark. And Quick Leap had no trouble going back to the cave with his daughter.

She showed him the tunnel, and he followed her into it. Other warriors came with them into the cave and held torches, so it was easy for them all to see. Easier than when she was with the boy. And she knew he was only the boy. That he wasn't a spirit. She didn't know that in the cave. She didn't know it in the water. But she knew as soon as they were back in the forest.

She told her father what he had to do in the water and asked if he wanted her to come with him. He said that he didn't need to be shown, but that he wanted her to come with him because then the women would believe him more easily. He said the warriors had already told the women what was going to happen. They told them from the blocked end of the cave. They said Quick Leap and his daughter would be coming out of the stream and that no one should be scared. That everyone would be safe.

The women were happy when they saw the girl again. And after she and Quick Leap got into the cave, he went out again and brought other warriors. They led the young boys out and then the young girls while the women stayed with the children and babies. Once the warriors explained to the women what they were going to do, and once the girl explained what it felt like to be under the water, the women told that to the youngest children. Then the warriors helped the children, one at a time, into the water and through the tunnel, to make sure each of them was safe. And the women put the babies into the largest clay jars and closed the tops, so the jars could go under the water. And even all of the babies got out of the cave safe.

(continued)