The Unlikely Allies by Gilbert Morris Read Free Book Online Page B

group of tents scattered in a random fashion. The reindeer grazed about them, and their arrival had attracted the attention of a number of people, who werewalking toward them. She could see they were all wearing reindeer-skin boots and heavy coats.
    “They won’t be too glad to see me,” Orva said. She halted the reindeer in front of the small group and spoke in the Lapp language.
    The man who replied was short and broad.
    “This is my father, Jagg—and my mother, Remu,” she said in Norwegian. “This woman’s name is Mallory.”
    Jagg’s face was lined and seamed and had the texture of old leather. He had no beard, and his eyes looked Asian. When he spoke, his Norwegian was broken, but he ignored Mallory and said, “You come back. I told you, you’d have to obey me.”
    Orva laughed. “That would be different. I’ll see if I can follow your rules for a few days, and then we’ll see what happens.” She grabbed Mallory’s coat sleeve. “You’ll be interested in this woman. She’s come to tell us about a new god.”
    “We have gods enough already.”
    “Not like this one, you haven’t.” Orva turned and went over to two young people standing nearby who were dressed exactly like their parents. “How are you, Lorge?”
    “I’m glad you’re back, Orva.”
    “This is my brother, Lorge,” Orva told Mallory. “He’s fifteen. And this is Mayda. She’s twelve.”
    “I’m glad to meet you all. It was good of Orva to bring me. I couldn’t have made it without her.”
    “Here, I brought you a present.” Orva rummaged around in the sled until she found one of the jugs she had brought. She handed it to her father, and Jagg’s eyes brightened.
    He uncapped it and smelled it, then grinned and took a drink. “That’s good,” he said, expelling his breath lustily. He turned to Mallory. “What’s this about a new god?”
    Mallory wished for a more graceful introduction, but she saw she had to do the best she could. “I would like to stay with you awhile, and when you think it’s right, I’d like to tell you about my God.”
    “You have better manners than some,” Jagg said, staring at Orva, who was grinning at him. “You can stay for a while.”
    Relieved, Mallory nodded. “Thank you very much, Jagg. I’ll try to be no trouble.”
    “You got anything to eat?” Orva demanded.
    “Yes,” Remu said. “It’ll be ready in a few minutes.”
    “Good. I’m starved,” Orva said.
    The family’s reindeer-skin tent was not large. The family ducked into the doorway one at a time, and Orva’s mother went to work, taking the lid off a pan that was on the fire in the center of the tent. An opening at the top of the tent permitted some of the smoke to escape. The stench was awful—a mixture of unwashed bodies, cooking meat, smoke, and some otherodors Mallory could not identify.
    “You sit there,” Jagg said as he sat down not far away.
    “Thank you.” Mallory sat down, and Orva’s brother came and sat beside her. She turned and saw he was examining her as if she were a strange creature.
    “What’s your name again?” he asked.
    “My name is Mallory. You speak very good Norwegian.”
    “I go to school, my sister and I. We learn there. Do you speak Lapp?”
    “I’m afraid not.” Mallory smiled apologetically. “Maybe you could teach me.”
    “It’s not hard.”
    Mallory laughed. “Not for someone born here, but it might be very hard for me.”
    Mayda sat silently on the other side of Mallory as Lorge talked incessantly.
    “How old are you?” he asked.
    “I’m twenty-two. And you’re fifteen, your sister said?”
    “Yes. Do you have a mate?”
    “No, I don’t.”
    “Why not?” Mayda demanded. “Is something wrong with you?”
    “No, I hope not. I just haven’t found a husband yet.”
    The young people were intensely curious, and Jagg watched the exchange as his wife took the pan off the fire and apportioned the meat into several wooden bowls. She handed one to