“When will they be here?” I call out. I think of Noni in camp, unguarded. No one knowing she needs to be guarded.
“They are already here,” Pada answers. “Not far north, waiting for dark. We volunteered to help find you and fight for the Tama, but it was a lie. We wanted them to bring us along so we could help defend you. Tonight, we told them we would scout ahead, to find the best way into your camp. We will go back and say we found nothing, but they will come anyway. They are all armed with atlatls and darts, just like these.”
“How many in all?” Kol asks.
“Ten, counting the two of us.”
“All in kayaks?” I ask.
“Yes, but they are not strong on the sea.”
I remember this—Noni told us her mother ran away out to sea because their clan wasn’t accustomed to paddling in the open water. “We won’t wait for them to come to us,” I say. “We’ll come to them. We’ll warn them that Noni is not going back with them and tell them to turn back, but if they advance, we’ll stop them with force.”
As I say these words, I imagine what my brother would say. Would he approve, or would he tell me that sending Noni home would be the best way to protect the clan? I’m not sure, but I realize all at once that it doesn’t matter. Chev is not here to decide. I’m here, and defending Noni is the only choice I have.
I turn to Kol. I can’t compel him to help. This isn’t his clan and Noni is practically a stranger to him. He sees the question in my eyes. “Don’t even ask,” he says. “You know I’m with you. I’ll do anything to help you protect Noni.”
“It’s not just Noni you’re protecting,” Thern calls. The tide is coming in and the waves pound the cliff. He and Pada dig in their paddles to stay back from the rocks. “Dora struck a deal with Noni’s father—she brings him to Noni if he helps her kill Mya and her sisters.”
A wave thunders against the cliff, but it can’t drown out Thern’s words or the ringing that starts in my ears. “It doesn’t matter,” I call back. “Whether they’re coming for Noni, or me, or any of us—if they’re coming for Black Dog—they’re not getting what they want.”
“We’ll go back and watch for you,” Pada says. “And we’ll be ready to fight.”
Before I can shout a thank-you across the waves, she and Thern are gone.
The climb back up the cliff, the hike back down the ravine—it all passes like a cloud threading across the sky. By the time I notice where we are, we’re back at the ring of huts. The drum calls the clan to the evening meal. Kol and I hurry to the meeting place, and when we find his mother, we call her aside. “We need to speak in Mya’s hut,” Kol says. Mala’s eyes sharpen. She can hear the fight in Kol’s voice. She finds her other sons while Kol and I gather Morsk, Yano and Ela, Seeri, Lees, Noni, and Shava. The council of elders are scattered throughout the clan, sitting and eating, and I work my way through the gathered crowd, tapping my brother’s most trusted advisors and friends on the shoulder.
Once we are assembled in the crowded hut, I tell the story in as few words as possible. “My intention,” I start, then, glancing at Kol, I start again. “Our intention is to cut them off before they reach the camp,” I say. “But we have to prepare. The clan needs to be ready to defeat an enemy the way we defeated the Bosha.”
The silence expands, pushing against the walls of the hut. Morsk speaks, his voice ringing through the quiet room. “We’ll stop them,” he says. “I’m coming with you.”
“And me,” says Pek.
“And me and Roon, too.” My eyes move to Lees. Her usually soft face is hard with determination.
Before I can answer her, Kol is speaking. “I don’t know about Roon. He might be too young—”
“Then I’m going without Roon,” says Lees. “You can’t stop me from helping defend my friend—”
“But this is about more than Noni,” I say. “This is about you, too. Dora wants to kill you.”
“Then even better. You certainly can’t tell me I can’t defend myself.”
“Kol,” Roon says, “if she goes, I go.”
I stand staring at my sister as everyone else begins to move. People are anxious. “Morsk, Pek, Seeri, Kesh—you’ll come with Kol and me to meet the Tama on the water. Thern and Pada will side with us, too—”
“Which gives us eight to their eight,” Kol says. “One more would give us the advantage in number. Two more and we would be even stronger.”
“I won’t choose from among the Olen elders,” I say. I look into faces—the husband and wife who served as rowers for our betrothal trip, a woman I know to be an excellent hunter—they all wait to be told what to do. Chev would have told them. Self-doubt creeps into my thoughts, and I long for my mother’s voice, telling me she believes in me. I find myself turning to Mala. She’s not my mother—she’s not even clan—but I trust her. “Roon and Lees wish to volunteer and they have experience on the sea, but they are so young,” I say.
“I can’t tell you what to do to protect your own clan. You need to decide for Lees, and Kol needs to decide for Roon—”
“But you’re Roon’s mother.”
“And Kol is his High Elder. I can only say that as a mother, I’m scared.”
“Well, as High Elder of the Manu,” Kol says, drawing a deep breath and letting it out as a sigh, “I believe Roon should go. I’m sorry, Mother. I agree that he’s young. Probably too young. But I’ve seen him paddle for days. He’s strong on the water.”
“Mya,” says Lees, “please. Roon’s a stronger paddler with me than alone.”
I let this sink in. Lees and I were partners in the kayak to and from the island. At the worst times when I was the most tired, she came through with the push to keep us going. I watched her and Roon travel down the coast from the Manu camp. She isn’t wrong.
She would offer little help on her own, but with Roon, she makes a difference. They are stronger together. “All right,” I say. “You and Roon can share a double kayak, but you are there for a show of force and not to engage in fighting. You are to stay in the back—”
My words break off. Lees and Roon are already out of the hut, heading for the beach.
“Any others who wish to come with us to confront the Tama, we welcome you. We’ll be armed with atlatls and darts—the weapon of choice of the Tama and the easiest to fire from a kayak.” The husband-and-wife rowers—Evet and Niki—step forward. They were my brother’s close friends. My eyes meet Niki’s and I remember the last time I looked at her, as she helped steady me as I climbed from the canoe on the Manu’s shore—and I think how her steady hand will help me again. She nods at me as she and Evet duck out of the hut.
“Those who stay onshore need to alert the rest of the clan and ready a defense. Spears must be distributed. Every member of the clan should be armed with some sort of weapon—a knife or even rocks—and all must be able to defend themselves if the Tama reach the camp.”