Luck | Page 4

not the almost-death that had
squeezed her before. We could see her breathing. She didn't wake up
until the next day. By then, Singer had left us." Owl lowered his voice
so that everyone had to lean forward to hear him. "Nobody saw him go.
Did he melt like snow? Blow away like smoke?"
He paused, even though he knew no one would answer.
"He was gone." Owl stared into the fire. "All he left was his luck."
The people waited again.
"And this story," he muttered finally, as if speaking to himself.
Silence.
"Is that all?" said little Flamesgirl, who had just lost her baby teeth and
still didn't have her name. She had been squirming on her mother's lap
during Owl's story. "What about Thumb? What about the big beastie?"
Flame pinched the girl's cheek hard. Everyone knew that she talked
more than her mother ought to allow.
"The mammoth, old man," Bead called to Owl, loud enough for
everyone to hear. "I think you haven't told about the mammoth."
Owl grunted. "Old man." He struggled to his feet. "She calls me old
man." He shook his head in disbelief. "But when I was young, just five
and four summers old, I saw a mammoth. Maybe the last one. I will
never forget it. Such a fearsome creature a nose like a great snake and
tusks that curved to the clouds. It was covered with shaggy brown fur.
When it roared, birds fell out of the sky. It was so huge that the earth
shook when it walked and its foot, one foot could crush three men
because it was bigger than the trees, I saw it a furry mountain of meat
What?"

As Owl was speaking, Blue rose and approached him. "I would like to
finish this story, Owl." Blue touched his arm; he looked very
embarrassed. Thumb was embarrassed too. "Will you let me?"
Owl puffed himself up. "Are you the storyteller now?"
"Thumb saw a mammoth today," said Blue gently. "Remember?"
Owl snorted and then glanced over at Bead. Her head was down, as if
she were counting her toes. Owl's jaw muscles worked but he made no
sound. Blue waited. Then Owl said, "Tell them whatever you want." He
turned away, brushed past Bead and stalked into the darkness. Thumb
could hear him climb the path to the top of the cliff. A few heartbeats
later, Bead went after him.
"He has seen many summers," said Blue, "They have filled him up, I
think. Still, it is luck to have him with us."
Then Blue reported to the people what had happened between Thumb
and the mammoth. His words didn't sing like Owl's did and his voice
never touched the moon, but the story was finished. Afterward there
was not much discussion of what had happened that day. A sadness had
fallen on the people like a cold rain. The mothers huddled briefly, no
doubt talking about whether it was time to change storytellers. Most of
the people lay down on their sleeping mats, glad to let the day pass into
story.

Onion curled next to Thumb under their bearskin. They were so excited
to see each other that they couldn't get to sleep. They talked in lovers'
whispers, so as not to disturb the others.
"Owl was right to tie the luck of the mammoth to the stranger's luck,"
said Thumb, "even if he did forget what he was trying to say. I feel like
I'm still bound to it." He sifted her hair through his hands. "And you to
this Singer?"
"Maybe. I don't know." She shifted around to face him. "I'm sorry, but I

don't remember much about him. They told me what he did but I heard
the story as if it had happened to someone else. All I know is that I am
better now. And that you're here with me."
"What do you remember?"
"I remember my baby was dead. It was a boy," she said.
"I know. I was with you." Thumb rested his hand on her hip. "But then
I had to leave."
"After that all I remember are faces and lots of talk that I couldn't quite
understand. And just a bit of a dream." Onion stroked his cheek, as if to
assure herself that he was still there. "I was in a cave. I had no lamp and
it was dark but I could see a tiny light, far off, like a star and the light
called my name. I think it might have been Singer. I tried to crawl
toward the light but my arms and legs wouldn't move. Then I heard a
wind sound, but it wasn't wind. It was the cave, breathing." She
shivered. "That's all."
"It was the long cave," said