Obeying the Trees

As evening fell, Sikkim Root woke up.

"Salve, Picea Spinulosa Radix," Nicolas said, as she looked up at him. (Be well)

"Salve, Nicolas." (Be well)

He leaned over and kissed her on the lips. "Quid nunc?" (What now?)

"Nescio. Ullus verba dixerunt ab abora?" (I don't know. Have other words been spoken by the trees?)

"Non assus sum." (Not that I have heard)

She nodded then sat up. It would be nice to know what the trees wanted from them. "Arbora?" she asked, placing her hand on the tree.

"Sume curam suam. Ipse et infans." (Take care of yourself. Yourself and the child)

"Et Nicolas?"

"Idem. Sepone discrpintias tui; tui praeteritas et fieri coniugere in mente, corpore, et spiritu." (The same. Set aside your differences; set aside your pasts and become united in mind, body, and spirit)

Nicolas nodded then whispered in Sikkim Root's ear, "Te amo." (I love you)

"Te amo, enim." (I love you, also)

Oak Leaf searched for the golden eagle, but couldn't find it. After some time, when it didn't appear again, he started through the trees where Sikkim Root had gone. If she was dead, how could she be married? Another thing that bothered him was the voice of her would be husband. It sounded familiar, but since he had been unable to visit the city to inquire about Nicolas, he doubted it could be him. He had always been able to track where Sikkim Root went since her feet always left a small circular groove in the dirt as she walked. Her spirit did the same—if she was a spirit. He hadn't traveled far before the rain started to fall.

"No!" he yelled.

He ran as he followed the tracks. He couldn't lose her. She was still alive, he knew it. If she wasn't, he would have found her body. The rain fell harder and erased all of Sikkim Root's tracks. Still he pressed on. He would find her and bring her back to her people. The sharp call of the golden eagle was cut short with the clap of thunder. Before him was a valley with trees. He had not seen it before, nor had he known it was there until that moment.

If nothing else, it would provide shelter until the rains stopped. Then he hoped to be able to find some sign of Sikkim Root's presence. He hurried into the trees and found a place that was mostly dry. Occasionally, a drop of water would fall from the thick canopy above. Gradually the night turned cold and, being wet, Oak Leaf had a miserable night. When he woke the next day, the sun was shining brightly and blinded him as the leaves shuffled in the breeze. Laughter carried on the breeze. Was it Sikkim Root? He listened carefully for a moment before he moved to where he thought the sound was coming from. The laughter faded when he had almost found its source.

"Sikkim Root?" he called.

Laughter was his only response, but it had moved again. Turning around he followed it to the edge of the valley before it was gone again. Who was laughing? Why couldn't he find them? Oak Leaf returned to the center of the valley, picking some berries and eating them. A few ravens roosted on a nearby branch and called to him.

"What is it?"

They didn't respond.

"Will you remain silent?" he asked, remembering Sikkim Root's silence until the man in the death wrap came.

Her voice had held the pain he had heard when he could get near enough to her in Dead Man's Valley to hear her, but now happiness replaced the pain. What had changed? Surely it could not be this man she called her husband. He knew Sikkim Root well enough that she could not be happy with another man. A snap made him turn, but he saw nothing. Pulling out his knife, he stepped cautiously towards the spot he had heard the sound. A small branch had been broken off a nearby bush and several tracks encumbered the ground around the bush. Most were wildlife, but there was one he didn't recognize.

Searching for where it left the others, he could not find a definitive trail. The tracks lead to a tree and he climbed up. Nothing was in the tree. Returning to the bush, he followed the prints in another direction, but these too lead to ended at an empty tree. Was it a flying animal? It didn't make sense. For what bird had prints that looked like a dropped stone? Leaving the tracks he wandered around the valley for several hours. He rested again at noon, having found no other prints of interest to follow. Oak Leaf had just fallen asleep when something heavy fell at his feet. It was Lilly and she was wounded.

"Lilly, what happened? How did you get hurt?"

A screech from the golden eagle Sikkim Root had called was heard before it perched on a branch above them.

"Lilly, did the eagle hurt you?"

'No.'

Lilly slowly rose to her feet and walked into the trees, leaving drops of blood as she walked. The golden eagle remained on the branch, not looking at him.

Oak Leaf looked away from the eagle for a moment, but when he looked back again the eagle was gone. It's take off had been silent, which was not normal for a bird that large. He should probably find Lilly and bind her wounds.

Following the drops of blood, they began to enlarge with each step. Then there was one big pool and Lilly lie at the end of it.

"Lilly?"

'Leave me be, Oak Leaf. Let me join Sikkim Root in peace.'

"Is she here?"

Lilly didn't respond.

"Lilly?"

Oak Leaf was still looking at Lilly when a figure in a death wrap came and carried her body away. "Sikkim Root?" he called after the figure.

They continued to walk.

"Wait! Please." He started after them, but the golden eagle dove at him and made him stop.

The figure was gone. No footprints were left, not even the whisper of cloth where it had dragged on the ground. Courage came for him. The council wanted to speak to him. Climbing up, he left the valley, promising to return to find Sikkim Root.

Nicolas carried Lilly's wounded body to where Sikkim Root lay. Sikkim Root lay with her death wrap over her, but not around her. Nicolas had gathered more fruit from the trees so Sikkim Root didn't have to get up since she was feeling unwell. She had woken up that morning feeling sick, but she had assumed it was from being pregnant. Lilly was slipping fast. In the sheltered cave that Nicolas had found, he lay Lilly next to her.

"Picea Spinulosa Radix?" Nicolas asked.

She rolled to her side and rested her hand on Lilly's head. "Vulneres, feci aquila spiritu, sanarant." (May the wounds made by the spirits be healed)

Lilly growled and her claws dug into the hard ground of the cave as the wounds sealed themselves. Soon Lilly's muscles relaxed and Sikkim Root's hand moved across the big cat's neck.

"Gratias ago, Nicolas," Sikkim Root said.

"Expectatus es, Picea Spinulosa Radix." (You're welcome, Sikkim Root)

He removed his death wrap and lie next to Sikkim Root and the three of them slept through the warm afternoon. When Nicolas woke up again, Sikkim Root was wrapped in her death wrap and sewing something. Glancing around, he could not find his own death wrap.

"Picea Spinulosa Radix?"

"Da mihi pauci plus momentos, Nicolas. Paene sum desinero." (Give me a few more minutes, Nicolas. I am almost finished.)

Her hands worked quickly as the needle was pushed in and out of the cloth. Nicolas sat up as she cut the thread she was using. The she held out the cloth to him. Taking it, he let it fall open and found it to be in several pieces.

"Picea Spinulosa Radix, as id quid faceram?" (Sikkim Root, what have you done to it?)

"Quid in somnium eram tendui," (What I have been directed to in a dream) she replied, removing her own death wrap.

Nicolas watched as she cut the cloth into several pieces before her sewing resumed. As she worked, Nicolas noticed fingerless gloves and a pair of pants in the cloth that Sikkim root had handed him. He tried the gloves on and they fit snuggly. The pants he changed into, casting aside the other pair he wore then he looked at what should have been the top, but he did not understand how to put it on. He waited until Sikkim Root was done sewing. Her ragged dress that she wore underneath her death wrap had begun to fall apart even more. It took another hour, but she finished what she was sewing. The needle and the knife were put away before she stood.

The knee-length dress she wore was removed and she too put on a pair of pants. The top followed. It was a long sleeve shirt with a very long strip of cloth attached to it. Nicolas watched as this was wrapped around her head to hide her face—much like the death wrap. Then the gloves were put on. The pants were long enough to cover the feet when standing still.

Once she was finished, Sikkim Root helped him with the new top. Taking the cloth in her hands, she had Nicolas take it in his own hands. Then she guided his hands so he would know how to wrap it into place himself. As they finished, he stopped her and let the death wrap fall away. He moved Sikkim Root's death wrap and kissed her tenderly then a little more passionately. Pulling away, he wrapped the extra cloth back into place, before wrapping his own. Sikkim Root sat next to him, his arms around her waist and her head resting on his shoulder.

"Te amo," Nicolas." she said.

"Te amo, enim, Picea Spinulosa Radix."

Lilly woke and left to hunt. While she was out, Nicolas and Sikkim Root ate. When they were finished, they walked hand in hand around the valley. A small brook ran through the valley and trout filled its waters. The sunset was beautiful with all its different colors and the clouds as they reflected the same change in colors. They turned from a light grey to purple, to orange pink then to a greyish white as the last of the sun disappeared from the sky.