Obsidian and Stars (Ivory and Bone #2)(29)

“We didn’t.” Noni scoops the final bite of clover root into her mouth. “But my father’s reach has no boundaries but the sea. Everywhere else, he’s found us. So the sea was the only choice left.” She scrapes the last of her fish to the ground, and the dog snaps them up. “I was wondering the same thing about you. I wondered why two girls would be all the way out on the sea. And why they would arrive right when the ground stopped shaking—”

“Right when it stopped shaking? Did it shake for long?”

“All day,” she says. “The first tremor came at first light. They stopped and started, over and over, until you landed on the shore after dark.” She keeps the same reluctant tone—like I’m a child tugging on her pant leg, begging her to tell me a story.

“And when did you—”

“I don’t think I want to answer any more questions,” she says. “I think I want to ask questions now.”

She asks us where we came from, and we tell her the truth. She asks us how we knew about this island, and we tell her the truth.

“So why, then?” she asks. “Why did you come? You must have been running from something.”

“Our brother is the High Elder,” Lees says, “and he wants to make me marry a man I don’t love.”

“My father is the High Elder, too. The High Elder of the Tama.”

“Is that the clan camped at the river? Straight into shore from here?” I remember the man who pursued us out to sea when Lees and I paddled past, but I keep this thought to myself.

“Yes,” Noni says. She glances up at me, then just as quickly slides her gaze away.

“And you and your mother left when your father did something bad?”

Noni sighs. She is not eager to tell this story—no spark of anticipation lights her eyes. Instead, they darken with resolve.

“My father is a hard man. Hard and violent. All my life he’s been violent toward my mother. Sometimes he was worse than others. Sometimes . . . he was much worse.” Noni pauses. She takes a drink from her waterskin. “We’ve tried to run away before, but he has always found us. And every time he’s dragged us back, he’s punished her worse for leaving. Finally, she stopped trying. I think she would have never left again if he had never . . .” Noni stops. Some subtle change ripples across her, and I’m carried back to the canyon where Kol’s father died, to the moment right before the mammoths began to run. “The day before we left, she caught him with me, and she swore he would never touch me again.” Noni’s hands fly to her face, muffling her last words.

“Your father beat you too?” Lees asks, her eyes wide.

“He did. . . .” Noni’s voice drops so low, I almost can’t hear her. “Since last summer, my father has beaten me even worse than he’s beaten my mother,” she whispers. “It was as if he wanted to find a new way to hurt her.”

Lees touches her arm, but she flinches back.

“I’m all right,” she says. “I know it wasn’t my fault. He’s a selfish man. A man who does whatever he chooses, and hurts—even kills—people who try to stop him. He chose to beat me, and when my mother tried to stop him, he killed her.”

“He killed her?” I ask. “I thought she died from the quake—”

“No. She was so badly hurt. He meant to kill her. I’m sure that was what he wanted.”

The tide is coming in. As Noni speaks, the urgency of the waves seems to grow. A vague fear stirs in me. I look out over the sea, almost expecting to see a boat on the horizon, but the water is smooth and clear in every direction. I force myself to draw a deep breath.

“He let her go to the healer, but what can a healer do with a body so broken? Nothing but chant and pray. Her injuries—on her face and her arms—those were the ones you could see. But she had injuries you couldn’t see. Blood came up her throat. . . .” Her voice snags on the words. She climbs to her feet and the dog reacts, pacing a circle around her. She looks back toward the cave, and I know she is thinking of her mother’s body, lying in the open. She shuffles restlessly, and I’m about to get to my feet and suggest we return to the cave, when she sits back down. The dog lets out a low whine and settles down beside her again.

“She fell asleep in the healer’s hut that evening, so I slept in our hut with my father. But in the darkest part of the night, she woke me. She was taking me away.

“It wasn’t sensible—no one so hurt should try to travel—but she wouldn’t be deterred. Black Dog would not leave my side, so she let him come. We took a boat from the river. This time we had to go to a place where no one had ever gone before, so we headed for the horizon.

“The Tama never go far from shore. We had no idea what we would find, but we knew whatever it was, it couldn’t be worse. My mother prayed to the Divine that she would provide a camp for us. And she did.

“She led us to this island—a place full of game and freshwater. My mother was so happy, she thanked the Divine over and over. I think she knew she would die, and she wanted me to be safe.”

Noni is interrupted by a loud howl. Not Black Dog this time. This time, it’s a wolf. Then a second voice joins the first.

My mind turns to my own home—to my clan and family far away—and I can’t help but feel grateful that no matter how bad our problems with Chev might be, he cares for us. He is nothing like the evil High Elder Noni’s father is. I might question his decisions, but I know he would never willingly put us in danger.