Ghost Hunter by Michelle Paver, Geoff Taylor Read Free Book Online Page A

its sleek head. He'd often counted the tiny claws on its flippers. He said, "It belonged to my father."

    Renn stared at him.

    "His mother was Seal Clan--he always wore it." He swallowed. "He left it as a sign. He's been begging me for help. And I turned my back on him to find Wolf."

    "You had to," said Renn. "Wolf needs you."

    "I turned my back on Fa. That's why he left me this."

    "No." Her tone was hard. "This was left by tokoroths."

    "You can't know that!" he cried. "How can you possibly know that?"

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    "I don't, not for sure. But I know this. Eostra sent her tokoroths and her owl and the ice storm to separate us--but she failed. And she will fail to keep us apart from Wolf."

    "And Fa?" he demanded. "What about Fa?" She turned to the ruined Forest, then back to him. "It might not be him."

    "And if it is? What then?"

    "And if it is," she said, unflinching, "you were still right to follow Wolf. Because Wolf is alive. Your father is dead. You cannot have dealings with the dead."

    Torak glared at her, but she did not back down.

    "He's dead, Torak. Nothing can bring him back. Wolf needs you more."

    In prickly silence they returned to the shelter, where they gathered as much firewood as they could carry, and Renn made masks of slit buckskin to shield them from the glare. Torak checked their provisions: a bag of hazelnuts, some salmon cakes, dried horse meat, and lingonberries. He wanted to take Fa's clan-creature fur, but Renn shook her head. "No, Torak. You can't take a dead man's things."

    He gave in to that, but determined to keep the seal amulet. When she saw his face, she did not protest, merely insisting that he wrap it in rowan bast before putting it in his medicine pouch. He could feel her wanting to make

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    things better between them, but he stayed stubbornly silent. She hadn't heard his father's spirit calling in the night. How could she understand?

    The ice storm had obliterated all hope of a trail, but the day before, Wolf had headed south, so that was where they went. It proved almost impossible. The ice was the snow's evil sister. When they broke through frozen branches, it sent shards flying at their eyes. It made them fall, and punished them when they did. Soon they were covered in bruises.

    Now and then, Torak stopped to howl. I am seeking you, pack-brother! The Forest threw back his howls unanswered.

    At last they reached the frozen river. Torak saw the corpse of a mallard trapped in reeds, its brilliant green head carapaced in ice. He put his hands to his lips and howled.

    No reply.

    The river was so slippery, they had to cross it on hands and knees, but when they reached the opposite bank, they found the way blocked by a stand of fallen beech. They had no choice but to head upstream.

    Torak howled till he was hoarse.

    "Don't stop," said Renn. "He will hear you. He will howl back."

    But Wolf did not howl back, and Torak feared that he never would. This was the valley of the Redwater, where

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    the demon bear had killed his father. Maybe it was where Wolf, too, had met his death.

    Around midafternoon, the trees thinned and a bitter wind rattled the leaves. It was the wind off the fells. They were nearing the edge of the Forest.

    They came to a grove of crushed pines, and a boulder hung with icicles longer than spears.

    Beneath the boulder, they found Wolf.

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    TWELVE

    Wolf was alive--but only just. Ice caked his fur, and his muzzle was white with frozen breath. When Torak swung his axe and sent the icicles clattering from the boulder, Wolf opened his eyes. Renn was shocked. His gaze was dull. It didn't light up when he saw his pack-brother.

    Renn watched Torak crawl in beside him, trying to reassure with glance and touch and whine. Wolf's tail barely twitched.

    "We've got to get him warm," said Torak, clawing ice from Wolf's pelt.

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    "I'll wake a fire," said Renn. "You build a shelter around us."

    They worked in silence, Torak dragging fallen saplings, chipping off the