Free Ivory Carver 02 - My Sister the Moon by Sue Harrison

welcome," he said. "Only that." 
    "Th-thank you," Kiin said. "I w-w-w-will be a g-g-good w-wife to Amgigh. I will be a g-g-good daughter to you and Ch-Chagak." 
    "A sister to Wren and Samiq?" Kayugh asked still smiling. 
    "Yes," Kiin answered and would not let herself feel the small ache that had lodged beneath her breastbone since she had seen Samiq from the top of her father's ulaq. 
    "Then you may help your new mother with the food. We plan a feast," Kayugh said. 
    Kiin hurried to Chagak's side, but Chagak said, "Sit. Rest. Enjoy the day." 
    "Please," said Kiin, her voice a whisper, and Chagak looked at her with widened eyes, then said, "Yes, you are right. Sometimes it is better to have something to do." 
    She handed Kiin a basket of eggs that had been boiled in their shells and cooled. Kiin took the basket to the center of the ulaq where the roof hole let in light, and she began to peel the eggs. Chagak was the only woman in the village  who made these eggs, and they were one of Kiin's favorite foods. After peeling, each egg was sliced into quarters and each quarter dipped in seal oil. Chagak usually arranged the slices in a pattern on a grass mat, the egg quarters spreading from the center in a large circle like the petals of a white and yellow flower. 
    Kiin's flower did not turn out to be as lovely as the ones Chagak made, but Chagak clicked her tongue in approval when Kiin had finished, and Kiin's skin warmed with pleasure at the praise. Chagak set out dried halibut, fresh herring fried in seal oil and thin slices of seal meat that she had cooked on sticks over an outside fire. There was a basket of peeled ugyuun stems to be eaten with the fish, and goose fat mixed with dried berries. 
    Finally Chagak sat back on her haunches and smiled at Kiin. "A feast," Chagak said and brushed her hair back from her forehead. With her large slanting eyes, full mouth and tiny nose, she was a beautiful woman. The most beautiful in their village, Kiin thought. She was small, but not as small as Kiin's mother, Blue Shell. And Blue Shell herself had once been beautiful, Crooked Nose had said, though now the woman's hair was heavily streaked with gray, her nose crooked from one of Gray Bird's blows. 
    Chagak looked up at Kayugh. "Bring your sons," she said, then she and Kiin stood up and took their places behind the climbing log. At this feast, as at most feasts, the men would eat first, the women bringing water, slicing meat. Kayugh called Amgigh from his sleeping place then left the ulaq saying, "I will find Samiq." 
    Amgigh squatted beside the food. He did not speak, but sat with his arms resting easily atop his knees. He was wearing a grass apron, the panel edged in a darker grass and woven with a checkered pattern as were all of Chagak's weavings. Perhaps now that Kiin was daughter, Chagak would teach her to weave like that. 
    Amgigh's shoulders and back shone with oil and his hair was combed out straight and smooth, and hung like a fall of black water to his shoulders. He did not look at Kiin but  Kiin noticed that his hands were not still, and she heard the snapping sounds from his finger joints as he cracked each knuckle. 
    Finally, Kay ugh returned with Samiq, the two sliding quickly down the climbing log, Samiq shedding his parka and taking his place across from Amgigh, his back to Kiin. His hair was tangled and his skin was not oiled, but Kiin's eyes wanted to watch him rather than Amgigh, so that finally she did not allow herself to look at either man. 
    And when the men had finished, leaving the food to Chagak and Kiin, Kiin sat so she could not see the men, but though she did not look at them, she found herself listening for Samiq's voice, admiring the wisdom of his comments, hearing his stories with more interest than she had in either Amgigh's or Kayugh's tales. So she began to talk to Chagak, saying things about weather and the sea, about sewing and cooking. She asked questions even though the words were