Chapter Twenty-seven: Missing Persons

Radovin ran slam into Odazhan, who was just entering. The surprised shaman caught hold of his arms and grunted, "Uh! What the--"

"Sorry. Hai, Sumi, what?" He wriggled away and out of the tent.

Jesumi pounced on him. "Rado, has anyone here seen Ottavar?"

He shook his head, wishing he could shake off the horrible feeling in his stomach. Too much time had passed in roundabout talk. The shadow of the low western hills already stretched across the valley.

"What is going on here, ah?" Odazhan said. He had to move aside then for Halezi and Cademura. The women began to ask questions, competing with Bazenaber, until Jesumi waved her arms and shouted.

"I don't know! He's gone, he's not in his tent and he's supposed to be set apart until tomorrow eve. Baz, he was there when you left, ah?"

"I don't know. I assumed he was. I didn't want to break his vigil. Shit! How--when did you--"

"When they got home, Mama went to see if he needed--you know, a fresh basket for the night, or anything--and he wasn't the-e-e-ere!" she wailed, and broke into tears. Bazenaber gaped helplessly for a moment at her unusual behavior. Then he wrapped his arms around her.

"Sumi, hoosh, take it easy. There must be some reason...did you ask Hacaben if he's been there?"

"Well of course! Nobody's seen or heard anything." She pulled herself straight and wiped her eyes with her hands, elbowing Bazenaber off. "Mama's asking all around yet, and Papa and half the band. Maybe somebody saw...."

Radovin knew a large number of pejorative words, and he was silently applying them to himself, singly and in varied combinations. If only he hadn't been such a bat. How long had Ottavar been missing? "Ambelda," he said. "We have to get her. Now."

"Why?" Jesumi aimed a puzzled frown at him.

"'Cause she's the--she has--"

"Thunderfire! Come on," Bazenaber said. He scooped up his digging-stick on the fly, bound for the Bull band's camp. As they strode along he told Jesumi why Ambelda must have something to do with Ottavar's disappearance. Morazhen had come out too, and hestrode beside them, listening without comment. Radovin could tell that Baz had got an earful even though he had not gone inside.

With every step a feeling grew in Radovin that he was going in the wrong direction. He trailed behind, glancing back over his shoulder. "Trust yourself," Ottavar had said. All right, he would. He trotted ahead and nudged Bazenaber. "Hai, I have to go back." Baz gave him a worried look, but nodded and went on. He swung away and raced back toward Balekara's tent, barely missing another collision with Odazhan, who followed with Andoval and Cademura. This was getting to be a habit, running around and getting nowhere.

He arrived at Balekara's tent at the same time as Hacaben and Davoner. They had no news. Another round of rapid-fire questions and answers led to their racing off after the others while Radovin dove into the tent.

Balekara had vanished. Halezi reassured him that she'd only gone out back to take a squat. "She'll be back in a bit, Rado. Sit down, drink some of this tea that Vila made, ah? You're going to get that drum warped with sweat, holding it like that. What are you hunting now? What has happened to Ottavar?"

"I don't know...exactly. I have to find him." Radovin sat, rather abruptly, and loosened his death-grip on the drum case. He had forgotten--again--that he was carrying it. The head would not be affected yet, the case saw to that, but he leaned it against the hearthstones before all the paint could come off on him. "Thank you," he said, taking the cup that Vilanaya filled for him. He definitely needed another relaxing cup of tea; he was too shook up to see anything in the curling steam and the surface rippled madly.

"You think that Ottavar is in danger?" Halezi spoke from his still half blind right side. Radovin turned his head to meet her eyes.

"Yeah. I know he is. They--Ambelda, she's using that bunch of jagals that ran with--" He clamped his jaw on Pavolen's name. It wasn't a good idea to draw the attention of avenging spirits, especially at a time like this.

"If it was an emergency, someone injured..." she said hopefully. "No, that's not likely, is it?"

Radovin winced. "No." Any member of the White Horse band would have looked for him first. It was his responsibility to take care of things in Ottavar's place, and he had been looking the other way and roving around while Ottavar disappeared. Of all the scat-headed.... The tea was cooling; he sipped at it. He had to calm down and try to think, to prepare himself to find Ottavar by tracking his spirit--that was all he could do if no one else came up with a clue. They would kill Ottavar, he had no doubt of that, and Vashoner, who would be the leader of the gang now, would not make it an easy death.

But how--surely anyone with a legitimate errand would have left word with Sumi. Ottavar must have been tricked. He wouldn't have gone off with one of the pack, and it was very unlikely they could have taken him by force without someone noticing. They wouldn't have wanted to risk that. Who would go along with such a--Vah!

"Lesho!"

"What?" Halezi and Vilanaya both gave him startled looks.

"Leshobar. Vashoner's son, he could have made him--I gotta--" He nearly spilled the dregs of his tea on the drum case in his haste to get up. It had to be Lesho. Young, naive, dim enough to believe what he was saying, and right handy for Vasho. He had used the boy before to send crooked messages. Lesho would at least know when and in what direction the kidnappers had taken Ottavar.

"No, wait," Halezi said. "You stay put, young man. You're running yourself to a frazzle. Who do you need to talk to? Vila can go."

He told her the names of all the members of Leshobar's family, and the young woman left. Balekara returned shortly after. She sat down on her stool and requested a cup of tea from him. He had a feeling that the tea-serving was more for the benefit of his nerves than for her thirst. It did help.

"Now," she said, "What is all the furor about? What has happened to Ottavar?"

Radovin retold and interpreted Jesumi's bad news, with a few prompts from Halezi when his tongue stumbled.

Balekara sighed. "Vahé! This is very bad."

"Where is he?" Ottavar scrambled up another slope behind the boy, panting. "Hai!" He stumbled and went down on his hands and knees. The boy kept going, over the rise and out of sight.

"Hai! Hai! Come back here, ah?" he called when he picked himself up. No answer. He moved on, following the trace of the boy's passage through the grass.

The boy had woken him out of a sound sleep and hauled him out here with a tale about Radovin getting hurt, needing him right away. What could have brought Rado way out here across the stream and over the hills, when he'd promised to--Ottavar stopped with a jolt. No. No way, he wouldn't have. Curse it! But what if--Wake up and think! he told himself. He closed his eyes for a moment.

He heard wind and birdsong...and footsteps, and a voice he knew too well from memories of unpleasant encounters in summers past.

"Don't move!"

Ottavar didn't need the harshly barked command to hold him in place. Three spears aimed at him served very well. Oh, Good Spirits, you dung-biting idiot, you trusting suckling calf, you unthinking hind end of a mare in heat. His hands hung at his sides, empty and impotent. No one could outrun spears. He glared at the men one by one, assessing their mood and relationship. Their eyes told him which one led this remnant of Pavolen's raiders--not that he couldn't have guessed. "Good day, Vasho," he said.

"Shut up." The man moved a few steps closer, spear poised to throw. His younger companions also shifted their positions. Ottavar shut up. He had a brief glimpse of frightened eyes as the boy reappeared for a moment off to one side before running homeward. "Put your hands behind your back," Vashoner said.

One of the younger men tied Ottavar's wrists together behind his back. Vashoner took his belt, with his knife. They didn't remove his medicine bag--probably afraid to touch it, though the bag held only herbs and other materials for treating wounds in an emergency. It was held down tight by his bound arms. The leader of the pack smirked at Ottavar, then spoke to his accomplices. "All right, you two go tell Old Herself we've got one of 'em. I'll see him to the meeting place."

"You sure you want to handle him alone? He could bewitch you with a word."

"Pah! You're a bird-plop, Fredo. But you have a point. Hold him still." Vashoner yanked Ottavar's breechclout off. Using Ottavar's knife, he cut a piece off one end. He wadded the soft deerskin and forced it into Ottavar's mouth, then wrapped a thong twice around his head to hold it in place. He pulled it tight and tied it.

"There, he's safe enough. Now hustle along, boys. Belda-mada will need some time to get there before dark."

Ottavar watched Fredolen and Harolen disappear over the last rise he had crossed. Spears pointed at him had made his stomach go watery. Being alone with Vashoner with his hands tied was no improvement.

"Move, smoke-rider." Vashoner indicated the direction with his spear, then emphasized the command unnecessarily with a sharp jab to Ottavar's back.

If he veered from the correct course, Vashoner struck him with the butt of his spear or prodded him with the point. Ottavar felt blood trickling from numerous small wounds. Because he couldn't use his arms to regain his balance, he had to concentrate hard on where he placed his feet. Twice he fell, and gained a few bloody wounds and bruises from Vashoner's impatience.

Funny, the things you think of when everything goes wrong and you can't do anything about it. Ottavar was thankful that he had worn a clean breechclout.

Vilanaya came back with the bad news that Ambelda had left some time ago with two men. Balekara took it with a look of horror that was only a pale reflection of what Radovin felt. "May the Good Ones help him," she said. "It's already too late to track them if they went very far, unless the boy knows where they took him--if we can find the boy."

"He won't know," Radovin said. He poked the fire too hard, raising a whirl of sparks. "Maybe the direction they went, but not how far or where. They wouldn't want him to be able to rattle." How much time did they have? How much time did Ottavar have? A drop of moisture trickled down his left cheek, over the mark that was so new it still stung. Too late! No!

"You think you can find him, though, by his spirit-trail?"

He jerked his head up. "Yes! I can find him. I know I can." Whether it would be any help or not, at least it was something he could do. Now he knew why he had the drum.

"Do you want to use zhamouta?"

"No. I won't need anything but this drum." And others to watch and ward--he wasn't on his own now, he had to remember that. "Someplace to do it, too...and if somebody can stay by...."

"I will assist," Halezi offered.

"I would be honored, Grandmother," he replied, feeling truly honored by the smile in her eyes at the title he gave her.

All heads turned toward a frantic slapping at the entrance. "Come in," Balekara called out. The flap opened and Sabani stepped partway in.

"Hai. Rado--oh, here they come." Sabani glanced behind her and turned quickly back; she looked flustered.

"Come in, Sabani," Balekara said. "Do you have news or are you seeking it?"

Sabani patted her clothes as if making sure they were there. "Both, maduana. Papa just got back from a meeting and he needs to know what's up. He's, um, upset."

"Understandable."

Hacaben entered abruptly, brushing past Sabani with a mumbled greeting. His expression was grim. Cademura followed him in. "We are in a fix now," Hacaben said. "Ando got hold of the boy. He's crying a swamp, and his mother too. Haven't got much out of them except that it was some time after midday when the kid got back. They're still at him."

Radovin leaped to his feet. "That won't do any good," he said. "I have to find Ottavar. Please, now." The drum case rattled in his desperate clutch.

Hacaben nodded. "Yes, I suppose. It's almost dark now. We can't track in moonlight, even if we knew exactly what direction they took. It's rough country west of the creek. If you can find him, and guide...you know your way out there, ah? The moon will give enough light for that." His fingers raked through his thin hair.

"I can find him," Radovin said. It was the only thing he was sure of. "I can lead the way."

"I believe you. Where can we work? This place is a beehive, and it's going to get worse." Hacaben swung his head toward the entry; more voices had joined the discussion outside. "Ahai! the party lodge! If anyone's using it, we'll kick 'em out. Come on, Rado. You're coming, Lezi?" The eldest shaman had risen, taking a fur cape from Vilanaya. "Good. Le'see, we'll need some things...."

Cademura and Hacaben led the way. Halezi and Radovin walked behind them. Vilanaya, with Bazenaber, Davoner, and Jesumi, followed with furs and bundles of firewood. Tevina and Kewarratiwa, who had turned up at the last minute, brought up the rear. The young Wa!ikerrima woman had a determined look. She refused to remain in isolation while Ottavar faced unknown danger. Lovaduc had arrived with them, but he stayed with Balekara to catch up on the bad news and discuss what other measures might be taken.

Several lamps and a small fire lit the scruffy lodge. A thin haze of aromatic smoke slowly leaked out the roof. Radovin sat on a folded hide. He had not bothered to remove his belt or even take off his moccasins. Nothing seemed to distract him from his urgent spirit quest. The drum spoke in his hands, steady, hypnotic.

The watchers saw him roll up his eyes and become oblivious to the world they could see. Nothing happened for a while but a gradual quickening of drum beats, and Halezi's regular attentions to the fire.

Radovin's chest rose with an abrupt intake of breath. Then, with a sound like a giant's handclap and a rush of cold air that blew out half of the lamps, he vanished. The drum fell onto the hide.

Firanaya finished another round of tea refills with Lovaduc's cup. More than half of the highest ranked individuals of The People, spiritual and secular, had crowded into Balekara's tent to discuss the latest unnerving events. Lovaduc accepted the cup of tea with a thank-you and turned back to Balekara.

She sighed with evident discomfort and shifted her weight. "So Tereken is having trouble with her. I don't doubt it."

Lovaduc nodded and took a sip of tea to wet his throat. "Yeah, Ambelda has been a thorn in his foot. She's been acting like she's still headwoman--well, in a way she is, since there's been no formal declaration for Tero, but she orders people around for nothing and gets them all swithered up and confused. He didn't want to just tell her off, and he couldn't kick her out. Huh, he'll have to now. But anyway that's why we met away from the camp to talk, to get away from her."

"Yes, and look what that got us," Sherilana said. "Nah, I don't mean it's your fault, Lovo. Vah! how could we know she was plotting something like that?" She leaned against her mate and sighed.

"I feel so bloody thundering helpless," Lovaduc said.

"I am terribly sorry, Lovo," Rishador said. The Lion band headman had a mournful look. "I feel that it's more than half my fault, the whole mess. If I'd had any idea that--that shadow-caller had gone bad...vah!"

"It's more my fault than yours, Risho. Our fault," Damagi said, and some of the other shamans noded. "Any of us could have seen the signs, but we put the thoughts aside. Especially after the great sickness, with everyone afraid that the evil influence might come again." She looked very thoughtful for a moment. "The Bull band was always a bit stand-offish, and getting more so, but this matter of an apprentice being kept in secret--it shouldn't have happened. Ivergan must have been clouding our minds."

"Hindsight is always clearest," Balekara observed. "I think we all need to be more open with one another. Ottavar was wise to want Radovin initiated as soon as it could be done. We need to bring him farther into the circles before long. What that man did to him is not only shameful, it's dangerous. He has developed greater power and skill than some who have lived many times his years, and I don't think he knows half of what he can do."

She paused, her mouth opened for unspoken words, as someone slapped the half-open flap, then yanked it aside. Vilanaya stepped in, breathless and wild-eyed with fright. Firanaya sprang from her place by the hearth and scuttled around behind and between the seated personages to get to her sister. "Vila, what's wrong?"

Vilanaya opened and closed her mouth a couple of times. Her eyes moved, scanning the mixed assembly. Balekara stood up. "Vila, tell us," she said.

"Radovin...disappeared."

"What?" Lovaduc stared at the young woman. "No, he wouldn't--what do you mean, disappeared?" More people had got their feet under them or were trying to, jostling one another in the limited space.

Vilanaya clung to her sister for comfort. "He was gone into the Spirit World, and then--pahm!--he was gone!" She flung up one hand for emphasis.

Balekara sat down again. For a while everyone spoke and there was no communication whatsoever. Finally Lovaduc bellowed for silence. His voice had the desired effect, though he was surprised at himself and not a little embarrassed as everyone stared at him. He shrugged and grabbed the moment to speak.

"Ahm...listen, what I think is there's nothing we can get done standing here trying to out-talk each other. We know we can't track them until morning. At least we have some idea what way they went. I'm going over to the old lodge to have a word with my folk. Then home to pack for the hunt. Mosho?"

"You're right, Lovo. I'll tell a few of my hunters to be ready to go with you at dawn. May all good be with you and yours tonight."

Rishador pledged his support, as did the others. Lovaduc thanked them and hastened away to make his preparations. He doubted that he would get any sleep. Thunder! Not Ottavar too. Please.

As for Radovin...no use trying to think about that.