The Raven's Gift - Don Rearden [51]
“Come with us,” said the girl. “We need you to find them. We need to protect them from the hunter. If he finds out they are alive, he will kill them all.”
“There’s nothing for me up that river,” the old woman said. “Now go, I want to get back to my fire.”
The old woman turned and slowly hefted herself up the wooden steps. She stopped at the top and turned back to them. “Trust her eyes,” she told him. “She sees more than me and you ever will.”
JOHN POPPED HIS HEAD into her classroom and watched as Anna helped one young girl pull her rubber boots on. The other students had already left for the day. She’d told him about this girl a few days ago. Something was happening at home, and every day the chubby little second-grader was reluctant to leave the classroom. Anna lifted up the girl and sat her on her desk. Tears streamed down the girl’s cheeks.
“Why don’t you want to go home?” Anna asked.
The girl tucked her chin down into her thin pink jacket, avoiding all eye contact with her teacher.
“It’s okay,” Anna said, “you can tell me.”
The girl whispered something, but John couldn’t hear her.
“Who is drinking at your house?” Anna asked. “Is there somewhere else you can go? Maybe I can walk you to your grandma’s house? Okay?”
The girl looked up and spotted John. Her face flushed and she lunged toward Anna and buried her face in Anna’s arms.
Anna held the girl and told him to get home, school was over for the day and he had work to do.
“What work?” he asked.
“You need to put some food on our table. Go home and get your rain gear on. You’re going hunting with Carl. I’m going to go for a little walk with Nina here.”
He started down the hall toward his room. She’d concocted some sort of plan, and just the thought of getting out was enough for him to forget their little squabble earlier that morning about whether they should spend the fifteen hundred bucks it would cost to leave during the holiday break, still three months away.
He pulled his jacket on and kicked off his loafers and began pulling on his green rubber boots, then returned to her classroom. She stood in the doorway, holding the little girl’s hand.
“My guns aren’t even here yet. Plus, I don’t have a shotgun.”
“You’re going with Carl. He said you could use his gun until yours get here.”
“What are we going hunting for?”
“Birds, he said. I told him you’d meet him down at his boat around four.”
As he passed her in the hallway he stopped and kissed her. He patted the little girl on the head. “I’m sorry for today,” he said. “I just … cabin fever, like you said.”
“You just need some fresh air.”
He kissed her again. “Thanks, thanks for always saving me,” he whispered into her ear. “Isn’t she the best teacher in the world?” he asked. Nina looked up at him and smiled. She nodded and wrapped her arms around Anna’s leg.
“No swans,” she said. “I don’t think I can eat swan just yet.”
THE MORNING AFTER John spotted the fox with the hare hanging from its mouth, he cooked a single leg over a small driftwood fire. They had made camp in the willows along the river and he thought they should stay and rest for a day before moving on. He wanted to think the broth from the night before had given him a little boost of energy, because when he woke up, he felt stronger. One more night of rest and a little more protein and he felt they could push on and reach the next village.
The girl walked down to the riverbank and returned with an armload of driftwood. For a blind girl, she had an ability to walk over uneven terrain that impressed him. Initially he didn’t think she would make it very far with him, but she was slowly proving herself.
“That smells so yummy,” she said.
“It’s almost ready.”
“Upriver, I don’t know how far, we might see some moose or caribou. You could shoot one and we would have more than we could eat. We could follow the herd and have enough food forever. We would never go hungry again. That’s if you’re a good enough shot.” She paused and then added, “I jokes.”
She dropped the wood near the fire and warmed