Chapter 1

Two Bears sadly trudged through the beechwood forest not even caring how much noise he made. His moccasins crushed the leaves and twigs under his feet so that even the birds and animals who were far away were alerted to his approach. He didn't care about that since he wasn't hunting anyway. His heart was filled with pain as he thought about empty days and lonely nights that lay ahead for him. Yellow Fawn was promised to Little Elk, and they would be wed on the next full moon. His Yellow Fawn, lost now to him forever.

In his small tribal village the living had always been both easy and good. Game was plentiful and food plants grew in abundance. In the river beside the village, fat fish begged to be caught in the tribal nets. No one ever went hungry, and all their neighbors had long been at peace. It had been fine growing up in such a prosperous and peaceful time. Two Bears had heard all of the stories told at the evening hunter's fires about how things had once been different, and how life was uncertain and filled with dangers. He listened to the stories, but they seemed remote and distant to him, difficult for him to lend his credence to.

Now, in his eighteenth summer, Two Bears wished that he hadn't always been shielded from the harsher side of living. If he were used to bad things happening, both to him and around him, perhaps the loss of Yellow Fawn wouldn't cut him so deeply. Though the two had never spoken of a future together, Two Bears had always assumed that she would be his.

When he had gone away and made his first solo hunt, showing his tribe that he was now a man, he'd spent his time living and surviving in the forest for a full cycle of the moon. When the time came for returning, Two Bears had walked out proudly with the stag draped over his shoulders, a clean kill brought down by his bow. It was Yellow Fawn that had placed the hunter's feather in his braid. How many times had he returned after a successful hunt and dropped the choicest cuts of meat on the cooking mat by her lodge?

Two Bears let his mind cast back to the several times that he and Yellow Fawn had come across each other by 'accident' in the woods, she out picking berries, and he in search of saplings for new arrows. They had spent those times on the mossy ground, kissing and touching each other in some of the ways that tribal customs forbade for the young. Two Bears knew that, whether he spoke of it or not, Yellow Fawn had to have known that she was his intended. He felt betrayed.

When night fell in the forest, Two Bears was tired from all the miles that he had traveled. He looked around him, unable, in the fading light, to find a familiar landmark. He was becoming aware too of his hunger, realizing that he's eaten nothing other than a small basket of morning berries that his mother had placed before him when he first climbed out of his sleeping furs. There was only a little chill in the air though, and he'd slept out in the open in far less comfortable conditions in the past. He sat down with his back against a tree and tried to quiet his mind for sleep.

Being young, and in excellent health, Two Bears woke up just as the sun began to rise, jumping up to his feet before yawning to stretch his muscles out. In only a minute he was able to start back in the direction that he'd come from the day before. Before an hour had passed, he knew exactly where he was, and struck out in another direction that would take him home faster. As he walked, he worried that his mother would fear for his safety. He had left the village, without a word to anyone, shortly after Tall Tree, the tribal medicine man, had announced that Little Elk and Yellow Fawn were to be married.

He'd had most of a day now to accustom himself to the news. For him though, nothing had changed. He knew that he would carry this scar on his heart until the end of his days. It was almost midday before he came to the river and looked across it to his village. It struck him as odd that everyone was just going about their normal activities, acting as if nothing of importance had occurred. He walked upstream for fifteen minutes and found a good place to ford the river. When he got to his parent's lodge, he saw the nervous looks given him by both his mother and Still Shadow, his younger sister. They said nothing to him, so he sat down beside the cook fire and waited to be fed.

When food was ready, Eagle Claw, his father, was called out of the lodge and the four of them began to eat in silence. There was warmed venison, a boiled squash like plant, and an assortment of nut meats and steamed grain. There was a carved out wooden bowl containing water from the river, but no one chose to drink from it.

After eating, Two Bears went inside the lodge and laid down upon his sleeping fur. Eagle Claw walked over to the hunter's fire, where he laughed and traded stories with his friends who usually gathered there daily when they were between hunts. Storm Cloud, Two Bear's mother, left the village to check on her rabbit snares and to pick fresh vegetables for the evening meal. Still Shadow had earlier left with two baskets, one for pine nuts, and the other to carry either berries or mushrooms that she might find along the way.

Two Bears woke from his dream in a state of discomfort. He didn't like having dreams that seemed too much like reality. His dream this time had been about Little Elk and Yellow Fawn, locked together in a passionate embrace, and not stopping when they got to the point where Yellow Fawn and he had always stopped when they had been alone in the woods. He waited for his manhood to grow quiet and be diminished before getting up and walking away from his lodge.

He walked until he saw Broken Stick, sitting at his lodge fire, turning arrows and bending them straight. In the tribe, Broken Stick was known as the one whose arrows flew the straightest, and the farthest. He had been born with a badly deformed right foot, hence his name, but he managed to get around on his one good leg pretty well. He and Two Bears were friends, often going out on long hunts together. Broken stick was older by three summers, but the two had much in common when it came to hunting and temperament. With the loss of Yellow Fawn, Two Bears had even more in common with Broken Stick who'd been turned down by several girls when he made them offers of marriage.

"Are you using them to heat your fire Stick? Not that anyone would blame you for ridding yourself of those crooked shafts." Two Bears could tease his friend since both knew that Two Bears arrows were no match for Broken Stick's poorest effort.

"No, Two, I'm using the fire to remove the bend. Have you ever thought of doing that? Never mind answering me, I've seen your arrows, and I know that you haven't."

"At least with my arrows, I don't always have to shoot in a straight line. I don't know what you'd do if you saw a deer hiding behind a tree. How would you ever hit it with arrows that are only capable of flying straight?" The two friends laughed together, staying in safe territory, speaking of topics that were of little consequence. Both knew that nothing would be spoken of concerning Yellow Fawn and Little Elk, unless Two Bears first brought them up in conversation."Do you want to go for a long hunt by the river's end tomorrow? We can go looking for arrow points first, and then hunt on our return trip." There was a large flint deposit near where the river emptied into the sea. The tribal members would bring back the flint in large pieces and then knap it over the winter months when less time was spent hunting, and men liked to stay close by a warm fire. The mouth of the river was two full days journey each way, probably a little more with Broken Stick's bad foot. They hadn't made the journey for more than a year though, and both had exhausted their flint supply.

Broken Stick paused before answering his friend. He knew that he was about to break with tradition, but he wanted to suggest something that might ease things for Two Bears. "I was thinking of taking a trip to the sea also, but I thought about waiting until just before the full moon. If we leave then, we could walk at night too in the light from the moon, and that would shorten our trip.It isn't that long a delay." Now Two Bears could choose to be absent when Yellow Fawn tied her wrist to Little Elk, and if anyone asked him about it, he could honestly say that Broken Stick had asked that they leave at that time.

"It doesn't matter to me Stick, whatever day you prefer. I'll go find you some saplings tomorrow, and you can burn them for me too." It wasn't that unusual for the two friends to divide their labors for mutual benefit. When they hunted together, Stick made and tended the fire and prepared the meals while Two Bears gathered firewood and prepared their night's shelter. Two Bears had greater strength and mobility, but Broken Stick could make and tend a fire better than anyone else. If they caught heavy game, Two Bears did most of the carrying, while Broken Stick trailed behind, guarding their catch from bears, wolves and any other predators. They moved faster that way too.

The next morning Two Bears set out to try to find several dozen saplings that were suitable for making arrows. They had to be new saplings, and already relatively long and straight. Once the wood got past a certain thickness, it would no longer serve for arrow making. He had been out searching for several hours, and had only found eight suitable candidates for making arrows. He had those all cut, and stripped of leaves, sitting in a spare quiver whose strap was tied and slung across his back. He was following the path along a small tributary of the river, looking for more young saplings growing along its banks.

He heard a series of soft sounds, and, looking forward to where it was coming from, he noticed something moving straight ahead of him. He strung his bow, and quietly fitted an arrow into the bowstring. Using slow and careful steps to avoid making noise, he moved steadily forward towards that noise. Halfway there, he stopped and returned his arrow to its quiver. He recognized the noise now, it was someone, a girl he thought, weeping. Thinking it might be someone hurt, he again started moving towards the noise. He stopped being quiet as he moved, not wanting to startle or scare whoever was there. He was almost upon her before Bent Willow raised her head and looked right at him. Seeing him, she lowered her face and cried all the louder.

"Willow, are you hurt? Do you need some assistance?" This was a girl from his village, one who was best friends with his sister. He had watched her as she grew from a small child, and now she was entering her young womanhood. Like Still Shadow, Bent Willow was fourteen summers, and just coming to an age where she needed to begin thinking about the day that she would be leaving her parent's lodge and marrying. She ignored his questions and continued her weeping. He looked her over, but could see no signs of physical injury.

Not knowing what else to do, Two Bears began looking around, trying to see if there was some threat or other evidence that would give him a clue about what Willow's problem might be. When he spied the large white boulder on the other side of the stream, he immediately recognized where he was, and quietly made an embarrassed exit. He had inadvertently stumbled into the Brook of Sorrows.

For many years, since long before Two Bears was born, women had been coming to the Brook of Sorrows to mourn and grieve in private for their lost loved ones. His own mother had come here twice in recent memory, once when her mother had died, and again, after she bore a child who hadn't lived. Two Bears felt terrible that he had intruded on someone's private grief. It was only later, after he'd finished looking for saplings for Stick to make into arrows, that he began to wonder who it was that Bent Willow had been mourning. As far as he knew, none of her family members had been killed or had died from an illness. He thought about it and decided to mention it to Still Shadow, he was certain that she knew everything there was to know about her best friend.