Helix and the Arrival (15 page)

I wake up as Ug is getting ready to leave. He's eaten breakfast and is collecting his gear. He sees I'm awake but doesn't say anything. All our words were spoken last night.

Ouch!
I'm thinking, as I sit up. Something sharp is digging into my side. I reach into my belt pouch and take out the flint stone that belonged to Herb. I stare at it in my hand, then take my drink bladder and splash some water on it. Again, it comes alive in swirls of colour and the sharp edge looks even sharper than before.

Ug leaves the cave, giving me a farewell look as he heads out the entrance. I'm left alone, holding the flint stone that once belonged to Herb … Herb who is a part of me … a part of my
true self
.

Then it hits me: I can't let Ug go without giving him the choice.

I run out of Cave's End and see him in the distance, walking purposefully into the low woods.

‘Wait,' I say, catching up to him. ‘I need to ask you something.'

‘What is it, Helix?' Ug says, continuing to walk.

‘Stop!' I race in front of him and block his path. ‘Cross the river with me. We will ask for medicine for your father.'

‘What? Are you mad? Cross the river for medicine?'

‘Yes. There's hope for your father if we cross.'

‘Helix, get out of my way. Now!'

‘No, I won't,' I say, spreading my legs wide.

He pushes me to the ground but I quickly get up. Then he pushes me again, this time up against a large tree. ‘My father is beyond help, Helix. How can you not
under stand? All that can be done now is to let him die in peace, knowing that I have passed my Arrival.'

‘Ug,' I say, ‘the river people can help. They have proper medicine – not like that stuff that Krike keeps giving your father.'

Ug pushes his forearm against my chest. I'm struggling to breathe.

‘It is in the hands of the heavens now,' he says, with tears clouding his eyes. ‘No one can help him.'

Although his eyes are wet with sorrow, they are still bright and fierce – they take me back to last night in the cave when I asked him what Korg had said to him on the speaking rock.

‘What advice did Korg give to you?'

‘What?'

‘What did Korg say to you?' I gasp.

His voice crumbles as he says, ‘What do you want from me, Helix?'

‘What did he say? Just tell me!'

‘Be quiet,' he says, sobbing now.

‘Say it!'

Ug collapses forward against me, in a blubbering heap.

‘What, Ug? You can tell me. You can trust me with anything – just like I trust you.'

He stands aside, releasing me from against the tree. ‘He said, “You can conquer all with friendship.”' He wipes his eyes and looks away from me.

‘Ug. Listen to me. Don't ask me how, but I know for sure that the river people understand medicine much better than Krike or anyone else on the mountain.'

Ug is shaking his head.

‘Why won't you believe me? I say.

‘Everything we know of the river people is bad, Helix. They shoot spears at us … They live in a completely different world.'

‘Maybe you're right, but we have to try. If we don't, there's no chance of saving your father.'

‘What about our Arrival?' asks Ug. ‘Are you saying that we should forget about it?'

I shrug. ‘I don't have all the answers. All I know is that if there's a chance to save your father, we should take it.'

We hear something and our attention shifts.

‘What was that?' I say.

‘Footsteps. Coming from below.' Ug pulls me down closer to the ground so that we're out of sight, behind a small shrub.

We peer out and see a figure with a skin draped over his head. He's holding a spear in one hand and moving towards us.

‘When he gets closer, I will take him to the ground,' Ug says.

‘What should I do?' I ask, hoping Ug will say, ‘Just stand back and watch me do my thing.'

‘Jump on top of me so that we pin him with all our weight.'

‘Sure … Though I don't think my weight will make much difference …'

‘Sh. Here he comes.'

True to his word, Ug jumps on top of the hooded figure. I close my eyes and take a flying leap to jump on top, too, but I land on the ground with a crunch.
Meanwhile, Ug and the stranger roll down the slope until a tree blocks their path.

‘Stop it … Can't breathe,' says the stranger, but the voice isn't as I'd expected. It's lighter, almost feminine.

‘Ug,' I say. ‘I don't think it's a man.'

He loosens his grip.

‘Too right it's not a man! It's me, you boneheads.' She pulls her hood away and we see her full face. It's Saleeka.

Ug has to look twice at her. ‘What happened to your hair?'

‘I cut it,' she says.

‘What are you doing here, Saleeka?' I say.

‘What do you think?'

‘Um …'

She rolls her eyes at me, lets out a deep breath and with her hands on her hips says, ‘I thought you might need a hand, Helix. Are you still planning on crossing the river?'

I look across to Ug. He bows his head in thought.

‘What do you think, Ug?' I say.

Ug lifts his head. ‘Yes, friends. Let us cross the river.'

There's no talking now. The three of us walk, with Ug leading the way, through the low woods and towards the river. I've never felt as alive as this before. Every step sends a shiver through my chest, as I imagine the river and what lies beyond. By mid-morning we reach the end of the low woods and the beginning of the open grasslands leading to the river. The grass has grown higher since our last visit and comes up to our waists now.

Ug looks back and raises his hand for us to stop. ‘Let us just rest for a moment,' he says.

We sit at the base of a large tree and take some drink. I pass my drink bladder to Saleeka, since all she's brought with her is a spear.

‘Thanks,' she says. She takes a sip and passes it back to me.

As we look over the grass to the wide, swollen river, we are each thinking the same thing: how can we cross that thing? None of us has ever swum in the river before. The closest we've come to any sort of swimming is when we've bathed in the pools that form in the mountain's sacred craters. But these don't have flowing water, so can't be compared to the river, and even in their stillness, mountain folk are wary of the deeper parts.

‘Maybe we can find a shallow section and walk across,' I say.

Ug shakes his head. ‘My father says it is deep – well over a caveman's head.'

‘What if we take a run-up and jump from one bank to the other?' says Saleeka.

We both look at her like she has boulders for brains.

‘Have you not noticed how wide it is?' says Ug.

‘There must be a way,' I say.

‘There
is
a way,' comes a voice from behind us.

The three of us spin around.

‘Steckman!' I say. ‘Hello, young Helix.'

‘What are you doing here?'

‘I'm doing as I always do, Helix,' he says. ‘My work is to travel – I have no choice but to keep moving.'

‘These are my friends, Ug and Saleeka,' I say.

‘Pleased to meet you both,' he says, laying down a heavy sack that he's been carrying across his back.

Steckman lets out two short whistles and Porgo appears from behind a shrub.

‘Hi, Porgo,' I say, and the swamp boar lets out a joyous squeal.

Then I sense what I should have expected: Ug and Saleeka, their eyes wide with opportunity, are raising their spears and moving into a crouch. They're thinking of a quick snack.

I step forward in front of them both. ‘Stop! It's not what you think. This is Porgo. She's training to be a pet.'

I can see by the looks on Ug and Saleeka's faces that they haven't heard of the word ‘pet' before.

‘You know,' I say, ‘an animal you keep for companionship.'

‘A companion beast?' says Ug.

‘I've never heard of such a thing,' says Saleeka.

‘I'm going to be selling her to the river folk,' says Steckman. ‘She's not to be harmed. Do you understand?'

Ug and Saleeka nod, but I still don't think they can comprehend why anyone would want a pet. Meanwhile, Porgo has once again decided to make my leg her sitting post. She tilts her head upwards to stare into my eyes and lets out a snuffle of approval. Steckman pulls a piece of string from his sack and starts pushing it down between his teeth.

‘What are you doing?' Saleeka asks.

‘I'm removing the meat from between my teeth. It's called “gut floss”. Folk from Newstone buy a lot of it from me. Do you want some?' He offers around the piece of gut floss he's been using.

‘Er … No thanks,' says Saleeka, shaking her head. Ug and I lean back and shake our heads, too.

‘Helix, I do not feel easy with this outsider,' whispers Ug to me. ‘He has strange ways.'

I think Steckman has heard Ug, but he continues to floss as if he hasn't.

‘Steckman is trustworthy,' I say. ‘Plus, he crosses the river all the time, so he can help us make it to the lowlands.'

‘I, too, don't like the look of him,' whispers Saleeka. ‘He's not really one of the mountain folk.'

I turn back and see Steckman lifting his sack onto his back.

‘Where are you going?' I say.

‘Where I'm going is my business,' he says. ‘Maybe your friends should find someone they trust to take them over the river.' He lets out two quick whistles and Porgo stands up, not looking that keen to start moving again.

‘Wait!' I say, grabbing his arm. ‘I trust you, Steckman. And they will trust you too,' I say, spearing a look at Ug and Saleeka. ‘Won't you?'

Both Ug and Saleeka stubbornly avoid my gaze.

‘Without you, we will have little chance of crossing the river. Ug? Saleeka? What do you say?'

They nod, though not altogether confidently.

‘Please, Steckman. We need your help.'

He adjusts the heavy sack on his back and starts walking, Porgo trotting neatly behind him. ‘Follow me,' he says, heading back up through the low woods.

We follow him, even though we're walking in the wrong direction, away from the river. I catch up with Steckman and look across to him, perplexed.

He senses my concern. ‘The river does not flow in a straight line, Helix. And anyway, to walk in the long grass is to invite an arrow in the neck.'

‘Good thinking,' I say, imagining how unpleasant an arrow in the neck would be, and remembering my close call last time I strayed into the long grass.

Steckman makes good pace, especially considering the weight he is carrying on his back. Porgo follows behind him, occasionally looking back to check that I'm still there.

We reach an area of the low woods that is so thick with shrubs that we're unable to travel any further. Steckman stops and takes the sack from his back.

‘You have taken us to a dead end,' says Ug.

‘Is a dead end all you see?' says Steckman.

One of the shrubs is draped in a thick layer of vine that flows like a waterfall from the bough of a large tree above. Steckman points to it. ‘The river people call this vine “lady braid”. Dried and taken with hot water, it is used as a tonic for sleeplessness.'

Porgo's head disappears behind the vine and she makes an excited snuffling sound followed by a delighted squeal.

Steckman reaches out, collects a handful of the vine and pulls it to one side, revealing a dark passageway through a gap in the thick shrubbery.

‘Where does that go?' I ask.

‘Follow me,' says Steckman. ‘I'll show you.'

We follow him into the tunnel through the under-growth. Being cave folk, we're used to nature's caverns,
but not of the sort with a ceiling and walls made of bramble and vine.

It seems that we are heading downwards. The air is damp and the ground is spongy underfoot. The further we descend, the darker it gets. Eventually we can barely see our hands held right in front of our faces.

‘When will we get there?' asks Saleeka, but Steckman doesn't answer.

A feeling of panic is tapping me on the shoulder. More than once, I swipe madly to remove spiderwebs from my mouth and eyes and at one stage I feel something with lots of scrabbling legs crawl down my back, making me flap my arms like an injured bird as I try to get it off.

At last, Steckman stops.

‘What is he doing?' whispers Ug to me.

Steckman remains still for a moment, then says, ‘I think it's safe,' as he reaches forward to swipe aside another waterfall of lady braid.

Light comes flooding into our dark tunnel.

We climb through the gap and out into the open. The sun blinds us, but the fresh air on my cheeks is a welcome relief.

As my eyes adjust to the light, I have to blink to be sure of what I see. In front of me, so close that even I could heave a spear into its middle, is the mighty river.