"What happened?" asked Sim. Eevo bent down to feel the child, who, at Eevo's touch, opened her eyes and said, "I'm Mee. What's your name?"
"Hello, Mee," responded a startled Eevo. "My name is Eevo. My brother is Sim. How did you get here? Where's your mother?"
"Don't know. The wind blew me. I couldn't stop. It pushed me and pushed me. I walked and walked and walked. Momma got lost far away. I don't know where she is. I'm hungry and cold." She looked at Eevo, not wanting them to go away. "The big animal came and caught and shook the bad animal that wanted to hurt me. It shook it so hard it stopped moving. I was afraid, but it didn't hurt me. Just made a loud noise and watched me. Then it rolled over. It felt so warm and I was so cold. It warmed me up the way Momma does when it is cold in our cave. It's a good animal. It stopped the bad one. It hasn't moved after the big one shook it. But it might. It's over there." Mee pointed to the lynx.
Seeing the lynx again, its expression frozen in a snarl which made it look alive, made her cry. Eevo picked her up and held her close.
"We'll take you to our fire and get you something to eat," she said softly. "After the wind stops, we'll try to find your mother."
"I'll take the lynx and skin it later," said Sim. "It would be a pity to waste such warm fur." He grasped one of the animal's hind legs and dragged it along the ground. They returned to their fire, added some wood and gave the child a strip of the smoked meat and some water. Sim cut some evergreen branches and made a bed for her. She drank, ate the meat and was asleep almost as soon as she lay down.
As soon as the storm in the sand land stopped, they were going to look for their mother and her mate who had got lost. Mee had not known it before, but it seemed that mothers get lost easily. Eevo (Mee now knew the name meant "fast runner") had told her that this was the second time that their mother and her mate had been lost. Once they found their mother, they would look for Mee's.
The second day, Grosh brought back a goose. Eevo plucked off the feathers and cut the goose open. The animal friends ate the insides, but Sim and Eevo had cut up the goose and put pieces of meat on sticks and put them over the fire. Mee had never seen a goose put on the fire and she was not sure that she would like it. But she was hungry and tried some. It tasted better than goose the way they had it at her cave. Maybe Sim could show her mother how. Her mother was alone, without a mate now. Someone said that a mountain had killed him. She could not understand how. She and mother always had enough food because their favourite person, Seer, told the hunters to give it to them.
Four Lost and Found
Just sitting and waiting for the storm to end and being unable to do anything else encourages worry. Shim and Dedu had plenty of time to worry as the storm continued steadily for four days. Then, as inexplicably as it had begun, it stopped. There was a dead calm. The sky had now cleared and the last rays of the setting sun gave them an indication of their direction. Gratefully, they set out again. The sliver of moon had grown and provided light and the sky was beautiful. But Shim could only hobble slowly. The soft sand made walking difficult and her foot was still quite painful. Despite protesting that he not do it, Dedu picked her up and carried her on his back. But they could travel neither fast nor far.
"We must get out of this sand country as soon as possible," said Dedu. "Once the sun appears, travelling will be almost impossible."
"The sun has only just set, and by the position of the great mountain I know that we are almost at the beginnings of the Wetlands." Shim tried to encourage her mate. "We might find a cave. We could make camp and stay until my foot is better. We're in no danger, but I worry about Eevo and Sim."
"Where they are, I don't know," replied Dedu. "But I'm not concerned about those two," he continued, lying to himself. "With their wolves to help them, they can look after themselves. We need to go on. It may not be far, but we have to travel it."
With the added weight of Shim, Dedu's feet sank deeper into the sand, making every footstep a struggle. But he was strong and, although slowed, he managed at a steady pace. Before the moon was directly overhead, the ground underfoot became firm. By the light of the quarter moon they could make out trees ahead. The sound of running water could be heard.
"Put me down," insisted Shim. "We can stay here for the rest of the night. Tomorrow we will find a cave."
"Good," said Dedu. "After we find our cave, I'll gather wood. You light a fire. Its smoke will make it easier for Sim, Eevo and the wolves to find us."
"You seem to be very certain that they will try to find us. If they were experienced hunters, I could understand. But even if they're as big as we are, they're still young children."
Dedu chuckled at her description. "I have hunted with Sim. Ab has with both of them. They are far better hunters than either of us. They'll treat the hunt for us as they would the hunt for any animal. And they will find us. They're probably out looking even now."
Even though there was no evidence of any dangerous animals about, they took turns sleeping and watching until dawn. They searched for a cave and right in a large mound of a limestone outcropping, they found a space. Shim lit a fire and they set down to wait.
At first light the next day, with a full water bag, Eevo and Sim, along with Mee, set out to try to retrace their steps, making long zigzag sweeps across the sands. They found nothing. That night on the sands was unbelievably cold. They all huddled together for warmth. The next day, about mid-morning, Grosh found something. She began to run in circles. Before long both wolves began to act as if they had a positive trail.
Eevo, Sim and Mee followed as quickly as they could. By noon, Sim could see the actual footprints as could Eevo. But there was only one set of prints. Large prints, the kind Dedu would make. What had happened to Mother? Eevo began to hope that these were footprints of some other hunter. The thought that something had happened to Mother was more than she could bear. Just as they left the sands, the footprints ended.
They were now in a well-watered land of many ponds and streams. But the wolves did not hesitate, for they had a scent to follow. As they approached a low rock face, they could see a column of smoke coming from what could be a cave. Dedu had not yet been successful in lighting a fire. Mother often did. Eevo and Sim, forgetting little Mee, began to run. The wolves, however, were first, already at the cave with Dedu standing at the entrance.
Shim could hear Eevo exclaiming, "What happened to Mother? We only saw one set of footprints."
"She hurt her foot. I had to carry her," said Dedu. "She's in the cave and fine. But it still hurts her to walk." In the midst of all the excitement, little Mee was ignored. Shim, suddenly seeing a little girl standing near the entrance to the cave, said. "Who is she?"
Eevo started to tell her when Shim asked, "Are you Kno's daughter? The little girl who calls herself Mee?"
"Yes," said Mee, "because I am Mee."
"When did you find her? How long has she been lost?" asked Mother.
"I wasn't lost," said Mee. "Momma was lost like you were. Sim and Eevo didn't find me. Wonderful Friend did, and shook the bad animal so that it was dead."
At this point both Dedu and Shim had to hear the whole story. Then Dedu asked why Mee's clan were so far from the clan lands. He was told that it was to get geese and vegetables and grains.
"It's the yearly goose hunt," he exclaimed. "I was on it last year. The women usually stay for a short time and then go home. The men stay on for a hand of days or more depending on how successful the hunt is. After a feast, they return with their game."
He turned to Mee. "Were you in a big cave?"
"Yes," answered Mee. "They put us all there. The weather