Winter's Tree

24 - Homecoming

They stood again on the ridge overlooking the plains to the north.

"Which clan, do you think?" Ayessa asked.

"They are too far yet to tell," Yuro replied.

Ayessa had grown to like Yuro. He was blunt and often brash, but also honest and fiercely loyal to his people. In public, he was careful to treat her as an equal, but with four grown daughters of his own, he would often, in private, treat her as one of his own. He was nothing like kind and patient Atua, but she found it easy to view him as a father figure, nonetheless. It helped ease the ache of loss that sometimes still rose within her heart.

Behind her, Eshemwa shifted, and she could sense his impatience. The longer spring dragged on, the more restless he became. He wanted to move the clans North. They argued about it often at night, when they weren't making love.

Her relationship with him was as unlike that she had had with Makaro as a bird was to a fish. Makaro had always placated her, Eshemwa never did, and where Makaro had plied her with loving words, Eshemwa would more often than not call her out as a fool. He was stubborn and reticent to Makaro's charm and good humour, but he also never said one thing when he meant another. His word was what he said it was.

Handing him her spear and knife, she began her descent down the sloping side of the hill, followed by Yuro and the four other chieftains who had come out with them.

The clan ahead of them halted and two men approached. She thought she recognized one, but it wasn't until he waved that she knew for sure.

She broke into a grin and waved back.

"It is my brother," she explained at Yuro's questioning glance.

Her heart lifted as they drew close enough to speak. It was good to see him. She had not realized just how much she had missed him.

"Greetings, brother," she said, closing the distance between them and wrapping him in a tight embrace.

"And greetings to you, sister," he replied, sounding taken aback. "It is good to know you have missed me."

Releasing him, she smacked him playfully on the arm. She didn't deny it though, as she might have before.

She introduced the men with her and gave greeting to the man with Oyeka. Tuma of the Standing Rock Clan. They would be the last to arrive, Oyeka explained.

"What of the other Clans?" Fegan asked. "The Split River or the Black Water?"

Oyeka shook his head. "They will not come. The Black Water people are already moving south, giving ground to the pale men, and the Split River clan thinks they can make peace."

Fegan frowned. "My people tried peace, we lost half our clan."

"I know," Oyeka said, "and they will too when they try, but I could not persuade them."

Ayessa shook her head. "We can do nothing for them, then, but we are now seven clans strong. With the addition of the Standing Rock people, it may be enough to push back the blue-eyed men and reclaim our lands and herds."

The other chieftains muttered agreement.

Ayessa looked to Tuma. "Please, be welcome to our fires, you and your people. It has been a long journey for you. Come, rest, eat."

As the Chieftains turned to walk back towards the camp, Oyeka caught Ayessa by the arm.

"Where is father?" he asked.

She waited for the other men to gain some distance before she told him.

He closed his eyes when she finished, and when he opened them, she could see tears, but he did not shed them.