Chapter Twenty-Six
After Unaleq rushes off in pursuit of the demon, the others carry on singing their songs just like he told them to, but eventually, when he doesn’t return, people start drifting away in ones and twos, so in the end, as dawn is breaking, there is only the family and a few close friends left in the circle.
Yaha is still lying on the ground covered in a scrap of deer hide, fast asleep, but his color is much improved, and when T?glik, who has been biting her lip and looking nervous all night, steps out of the circle to touch his brow, she says the fever has gone right down.
She looks up at Owliktuk hopefully, and when he nods and tells her that it must mean that the spell has been broken and the boy is on the mend, she starts weeping and Hekwaw hugs her and starts weeping too.
They all agree that Unaleq, even though he can be pompous and too particular sometimes, all in all is a great and powerful shaman, and they’re lucky to have him living so close.
After that, they sing one more hunting song together at the top of their voices just to finish things off in good style, then they embrace and go back to their tents to rest.
The next day, Yaha is wide awake and talking, and he even manages to eat a morsel or two of dried fish without vomiting it up, so it’s clear that whatever evil spirit the Indians put inside him has gone away.
There is still no sign of Unaleq, though, which Hekwaw thinks is unusual, but Owliktuk explains that he occasionally goes into one of his long trances and stays out for days on end, cavorting with his spirit friends.
“He’ll be coming back here to accept his gifts and plaudits soon enough,” he says.
“You know what he’s like.” Hekwaw realizes that although his father is happy about Yaha’s being cured, he’s still not reconciled to having the Indians and the Englishmen living so close by.
In his opinion, what happened to Yaha shows their wickedness and the terrible power of their curses, and even though Unaleq is strong and clever and has saved them this time, he is only one man, and who knows what other problems the foreigners might cause?
When Hekwaw hears him talking like that and sees how concerned he still is, he feels ashamed for taking the hammer and wishes he could tell his father what he did and seek forgiveness, but he’s too scared to try.
I’ve learned my lesson, anyway, he thinks, and with a bit of luck, so long as we’re all careful and keep well away from the foreigners, nothing else will happen.
Then before we know it, this summer will be over and they’ll be gone for good, and we can forget about the problems they’ve caused and go back to living simply and happily, the way we always have.
After the great upheaval and excitement, staying up so late singing every song they could think of, everyone is tired and moving slowly the next day, and even in the afternoon, the camp is much quieter than usual.
Hekwaw is sitting on a rock talking to Katelo and shaping a new arrow shaft from a piece of willow branch when he hears someone shouting, and when he looks up, he sees it’s the twin brothers, Harpik and Qablutiaq, coming back from a hunting trip.
At first glance, it looks like they’re dragging a dead deer behind them, and Hekwaw wonders what all the fuss is about.
But as they come closer, he begins to make out what they’re saying.
He can’t believe what he’s hearing at first—he thinks it must be a stupid mistake or a strange kind of joke—but they keep shouting it over again and again.
“The great shaman is dead! The great shaman is dead!” Then, when he stands up on the rock to get a better view, he sees that it’s not a dead deer they’re dragging behind them, it’s the lifeless body of a man.