Glade and Ivory Ch. 27

"I know, I know," said Ivory when Ptarmigan passed these opinions to her lover as they snuggled together under the furs in what was still designated as the Chief's shelter. "I don't understand why I feel so miserable. It's as if a hole has opened up inside me and that I'm falling into it. Sometimes I see the world as if it was in a vision or a dream. And whenever my thoughts wander to anything that reminds me of Glade, like this..." She showed the mammoth figurine in ivory that Glade had once given her. "...then I begin to weep again."

"It isn't just you, my dearest," said Ptarmigan. "Everyone in the village is missing a parent, a friend or, in my case, a husband. But Winter will pass and in the Spring the Chief and his entourage will return. And they will bring back with them the bounty of a good Winter's hunting."

"I hope so," sniffed Ivory sceptically.

"I hate to see you in such distress," continued Ptarmigan, "but I need you to be a comfort to me as well. My children are missing their father and they lament his departure as much as you do the shaman's. I can't comfort my children without more support from you."

"Is that true?" said Ivory becoming aware of her responsibilities.

"The entire village needs you to soothe them," said Ptarmigan, "including the River People who we must now regard as members of our Mountain Valley village. The shaman's role is to heal and to entertain, but also to inspire hope. Without hope, we shall surely all despair. And if we despair, it may be us in the Mountain Valley rather than those of us in the distant hunting grounds that will be the more wretched come the Summer. So much depends on you."

Ivory pondered this.

"We need to pray together as one village," she said at last. "We must pray, sing, dance and tell stories around the fire. And we should encourage our guests the River People to entertain the village in our nightly soirées as if they were native born Mammoth Hunters."

"It is very cold but it is also clear," said Ptarmigan as she angled her head to look through the seam of the shelter into the night sky. "There will be no snow for a day or so. Tomorrow we should gather the village together. And we should do this every day when it doesn't snow and the storms abate until my husband and the shaman return."

"Will this really help?" wondered Ivory who was nevertheless energised by her lover's resolve.

"It is said in the village where I was born that a happy people are a healthy people; that a joyful soul is a lucky soul. We must endeavour to keep the villagers healthy and joyful. It is our duty to do so."