 
DAVID SHATH SQUARE Chapter Thirty-eight
Shadow's barking awoke Thoreena from an uneasy sleep. She was alarmed.
"What's the matter? Why have stopped?"
I raised my head. "Don't worry. I'm just resting. We'll be moving again soon."
"Why was Shadow barking?"
"He was just chasing a deer...or something."
"What do you mean, 'or something'? Are we in danger?" She hugged the baby closer to her fevered breast.
That's when I heard the voices clearly for the first time. I jumped to my feet and looked down the beach in the direction Shadow had disappeared.
Coming around the granite outcropping I could discern three men led by a black dog. Shadow! By squinting into the bright sunlight, I could make out the first of the men. He was tall with a bushy grey beard. He walked with determination yet his stiff gait suggested an older man. Behind him there was a short figure with pigtails and a dark complexion.
The last figure was of average height with dark hair and the easy gait of a middle-aged man at the height of his physical prowess. They were all dressed in heavy clothing.
I suddenly found myself running down the beach yelping for joy and waving my arms in the air.
"Hardy, you're okay. Thank God you're alive! We thought you were dead. And look at you. You're taller than me and you've got the shoulders of a man."
"Don't hog the boy all to yerself, Jude. Let his old grandfather give him a hug."
My grandfather smelled of tobacco, whiskey, and rifle oil. I was surprised at how frail he was when I wrapped my arms around him.
"Careful there young fella. You're likely to squeeze the life out of a skinny old geezer."
He held me at arm's length.
"You're right Jude. He's turned into a fine young man. Proud to say I knows 'im. Was gonna give him a whuppin' for gettin' us all so worried. But I reckon' that'll have to wait.
Lee Chang stepped forward with his hands together and bowed deeply before me.
"Mr. Hardy, it is my pleasure to find you alive and well. I will say a prayer to my ancestors to thank them for this great gift."
"Thank you Lee Chang. I am honoured." Then I wrapped my arms around him and lifted him off the ground and swung him around with the power of my unleashed joy and gratitude.
Shadow began to bark. I released Lee Chang and reached down to give Shadow a pat and tell him what a good dog he was. But Shadow wasn't in the mood for affection. He was looking down the beach at the abandoned travois. Thoreena had crawled off the travois and was dragging herself and the baby onto the half-frozen lake. She was already twenty yards offshore.
I screamed. "Thoreena, no! Get off the ice. It's dangerous." But she just kept dragging herself and the baby further out on the ice.
Shadow and I ran in pursuit of Thoreena. But before we could get near to her, the ice split asunder, the noise like lightning rending the heavens. One minute, Thoreena was crawling across the ice, the next she swallowed by a long, ugly fissure.
Shadow stopped just short of the open water, stared into it momentarily, and then dove into the frigid pool. In seconds he had resurfaced with something in his mouth. It was the baby wrapped safely in her buoyant buckskin pouch. Shadow worked his front paws onto firm ice, while I took the baby from him, tucking it under one arm. I used my free hand to grasp the skin at the back of his neck to help haul him out of the water.
I screamed. "Shadow! Get Thoreena." Once again he dove into the frigid water. The water was so clear that I could see right to the sand bottom about eight feet below.
Thoreena was lying on the bottom face up with her eyes open. I watched as Shadow got a grip with his teeth on the collar of her buckskin jacket and attempted to swim her to the surface. But it was no use. Even his great strength was not sufficient alone to raise her. He returned to the surface and whined. I was about to jump into the water myself when a strong hand restrained me. My father, grandfather and Lee Chang had gingerly crept closer to the fissure and stood behind me.
My father said. "Hardy, don't be a fool. We've still got time. People can survive for a long time in water this cold. The Swede and some other men are coming with a dog sled filled with gear and supplies. We'll get Thoreena back safely."
He put his arm around my shoulder. "What's in the pouch?"
I suddenly rembered that I was still carrying the pouch with Hilda inside. I opened it quickly. A little water had seeped in, but all in all the baby remained safe and warm in her fur cocoon.
I said. "Father I would like you to meet Hilda, our child."
My father looked into the pouch and smiled.
"She's beautiful, Hardy. But for now let's get her to safety."
He called to Lee Chang. "Take this baby to the cabin. It's not far from here."
"It'll still be warm," I said. "I added some wood to the stove before we left."
Lee Chang took the pouch without comment. But as he turned away I saw him peek inside and utter a word of astonishment.
As Lee Chang left with the baby, we heard the bark of sled dogs and the cries of running men urging the huskies to a greater pace. They swept around the granite outcropping and rapidly pulled even with us.
An old emaciated man I didn't recognize lay on the sled covered in moose hides to keep him warm. Once the sled stopped, my grandfather helped the elderly man get clear of the moose hides.
"No time for idle chit chat, Swede. We got work to do."
I was amazed that my grandfather called this gaunt spectre Swede. The Swede I knew was big and powerful with the deep baritone voice of a natural leader. This man was frail, his voice thin and reedy, with no authority.
As he approached me, he stretched out a bony hand to grasp mine. "Zach, you look wonderful, ya. But where is my Thoreena?"
I shook the Swede's hand, at a loss for words.
My grandfather came to my rescue by putting an arm around the Swede, steering him away from me toward the heavily laden dog sled.
He said. "Swede, you bring some good strong rope with you?"
"Ya, of course. Never travel without rope."
"Good. Let's get it off that doggie buggy and start uncoiling it."
The Swede didn't ask again about Thoreena or even what the rope was for. His mind seemed incapable of holding a single thought.
Meanwhile, my father, Myron Mann, and the other men were felling three tall tamarack trees with axes. They had the trees felled and topped in minutes.
My father said. "Okay, let's roll these onto the ice. I want to create a bridge across that fissure. It'll help stabilize the ice and give Hardy something solid to stand on."
With a man rolling from either end, the three logs were soon spanning the hole. Pushed together they made a bridge wide enough for a man to walk across.
"Jeb, have you and the Swede got that rope uncoiled?" my father asked.
"Darn tootin'," answered my grandfather. We're ready when you is."
My father came over to me where I stood frantically waiting by the edge of the fissure.
He put an arm around my shoulder and said. "Hardy, I want you to wrap this rope around your waist several times and then walk onto that log bridge. When I give the order, jump into the water. It'll be so damn cold you won't have more than a few seconds of consciousness to find Thoreena and get a good firm grasp on her. When you get to her, give the rope a tug and we'll pull you both out of the water."
I asked. "What if I pass out too soon?"
"If you don't tug the rope within a few seconds, we'll pull you out and someone else will try. Don't worry. I know you can do it, son."
It sounded funny. I don't think my father had ever called me 'son' before. That and my love for Thoreena gave me the courage I needed to wind the rope around my waist and walk onto that precarious bridge.
I took a deep breath. When I heard my father yell 'go' I plunged into the water. The cold was so numbing that I could feel my extremities stiffen even before I hit bottom. I think my heart stopped momentarily because when I did hit bottom my head swam and my vision was obscured by dark shadows.
With effort, I cleared my head and crawled along until I found Thoreena. I gave the rope a hard tug and then hooked my arms under her armpits and locked my hands across her chest. At once a felt a strong pull on the rope. It dragged us backward along the bottom then upward toward the light.
When we reached the surface, my father and Myron Mann had to pry my frozen fingers open to release my grip on Thoreena's chest. They lifted her out of the water and carried her across the bridge to the relative safety of a more solid patch of ice. My father checked her for a heart beat and then started artificial respiration.
I attempted to drag myself onto the bridge but my body was too stiff to allow it. My grandfather and one of the men hoisted me into a standing position on the bridge. The cold air was already freezing the water on my buckskin jacket. My teeth chattered like an angry squirrel's.
"C'mon, Zack. We'd best get you to a warm place before you freeze like a duck that's forgot to fly south."
I protested. "I want to see Thoreena! How is she?"
"There'll be plenty a time to worry about her later. First, we gotta get you warmed up," said my grandfather, who ushered me to the dog sled, covered me with moose hides and then mushed the dogs in the direction of the cabin.
As I looked back, I could see my father, Myron Mann, and the Swede kneeling beside Thoreena. The Swede held his head in his hands and seemed to be crying, or praying.
To Chapter Thirty-nine
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