My mood perked up immediately. “Sledges would make traveling much easier,” I grinned.
Hroarsh chuckled. “We will each need to pull one to get all of them on without stacking them like a pile of pelts.”
“Bah,” Rimbet countered. “They won’t weigh more than a sledge full of hroakan.” He licked his lips. “Perhaps when we return, we can organize a hunt for some.”
“Or if we come across a herd, we can take a detour to go after them on our way back,” Hroarsh replied.
I considered this. ”But we will only have three sledges and they will already be full.” Hroarsh looked somber. “Do you truly think the Sky Gods will let them return with us?”
“Rah-bee is my mate,” I replied firmly, as if that was the answer to everything.
“As Behff is mine,” he nodded.
“Truly? I am most happy for you.”
“Yes, well, we do not know if the Sky Gods will permit them to remain,” Rimbet pointed out.
“If not, I will entreat them to allow me to travel with him to the stars he came from.”
”As will I!” Hroarsh declared.
Behff looked startled at the vehemence of his voice. Patting him on the cheek, she muttered. “Whatevurr eet iz beeg gu-hie, ahm shoor eet iz fihn.” She glanced around worriedly as she spoke, and Hroarsh smiled gently at her to soothe her.
We reached the bottom of the ridge and came to a stop.
“I’ll go up and send the hoist down.”
We gestured for our companions to wait, and they gasped as he found the hand and footholds that would take him up to the cache. Once there, he swung out the hoist, a bit of clever invention as it had a fold out arm kept in the open position by a pin made of carefully shaped stone, while the arms themselves were hroakan leg bones. The long rope had been fashioned from their intestines, dried, cured, and braided, and was exceptionally strong. The flat platform was more of their smaller bones, lashed together with the rope. The pulley was more carved stone.
“Ahn eluhvhah-tor!” the one they all called Sahmm exclaimed. “Ar wee goheng uhp thehr?”
Hroarsh sat Behff back on her feet as the platform lowered. Once it was on the ground, I gestured for Rah-bee to get on. He glanced at it and looked at me, wide-eyed, shaking his head frantically.
“Nohpuhitee nohp nohp. Nuh huhh! Thehrz noh sihdz! Whut eff ah fahl ohff?”
“Ahll, rihd et,” Pah-trick said, striding forward. He climbed on and sat down in the middle of the platform. “Ssee? Juhstuh dohnt goh bie thuh edjuss.”
Behff visibly swallowed, then resolutely stepped forward, clambering on. Cayr-rull followed suit, followed by Sahmm. The platform was now full, so Hroarsh began the climb to join Rimbet at the top. Rimbet, in the meantime, was operating the pulley, slowly bringing it up. It began to rise faster once Hroarsh reached him and began to help him pull.
That left Gahr-ree and my Rah-bee and I the only ones left on the ground. I could tell Rah-bee was not going to make it easy for me to get him onto the hoist. Gahr-ree was looking thoughtful, watching as the platform rose, his posture and expression visibly relaxing as the platform was swung over onto the wide ledge and its passengers got off. To my relief, once the platform was back on the ground before us, Gahr-ree climbed on, settling himself down smack in the middle. I picked Rah-bee up and he began to thrash,
“Noh! Eetz tooh hie!” He wrapped his arms around my neck in a stranglehold, legs tight around my waist, eyes wide with fear.
I pushed his face into my neck and quickly got myself settled down beside Gahr-ree. The platform began to lift, swaying gently. Rah-bee shook and I reached a hand under his cloak, stroking his back softly.
”Ahm sahree,” he gasped out as his eyes leaked wetness that soaked into my shirt. ”Ahm skeerd uf hihtz.”
Gahr-ree tossed a sympathetic look his way, then glanced up. “Weehr neerlee thehr,” he said softly. I felt Rah-bee nod. “Ohhkee dohhkee. Ah cahn doo this.” He took several deep breaths, steadying himself, his eyes no longer leaking and his trembling slowing with every one. He sniffled, swiping his eyes and nose with a fist which I was horrified to see was angrily red and chapped, as were his lips and cheeks. A glance at Gahr-ree showed he was the same, and I mentally chastised myself and my fellow hunters. We hadn’t paid enough attention to our more fragile companions. Once in the cave, we had some tending to do.
We reached the top, and Hroarsh reached out to pull us onto the ledge. Once he felt us back on firm ground, Rah-bee leapt from my arms, eager to get off our ride. Gahr-ree chuckled as he unfolded his body and stood up. “Ssee, nuh-theng tooh wuhr-ree ahbowt.”
Rah-bee huffed in response. “Ah fehll ahff muh guhrahneez truh-aylohr ruhf whehnn ah wuz ee-lehfin.” His friends all made sounds of commiseration as we ushered them all inside the cave.
23
ROBBIE
I felt like a goddamned fool, breaking down like that in front of everyone. Why couldn’t I have simply got on, sat down, shut my eyes, and pretended nothing was happening? Instead, I embarrassed myself, bawling and clinging to Gree-Gree like a damned toddler. I’d then found myself spilling my guts about how I was afraid of heights after falling off Granny’s roof just after my eleventh birthday. Well, just the basics, that I’d fallen.
