Free Between Two Worlds by Katherine Kirkpatrick Page A

her lips, thinking, then said, “Ally, you and Billy Bah each have your own special relationship with our family. You shall make Marie’s
kapatak
. Billy Bah shall make mine.”
    Ally beamed.
    “All right,” I said crossly. Mitti Peary was giving in to Ally? She wasn’t angry with her? But she gave me a look of misery and I knew she was holding back tears.
    An uneasy silence followed. Sammy began crawling to the children and reaching for toy animals from their pile. Mitti Peary grabbed Sammy, brought him back to her corner of the platform, bounced him on her lap, and looked into his blue eyes.
    Navarana began cutting chunks of pink seal meat.
    Mitti Peary looked at our good meat as if it were rotten waste.
Qallunaat
never eat raw meat, but I also sensed she wanted to leave us. She rose, and handed Sammy back to his mother. Her voice broke. “Marie, it’s time we return to the ship.”
    Marie looked up from her play. “Please, let’s stay a little longer, Mother.”
    “No, we must go right away. Our supper will be readyon the ship.” She turned to us. “Thank you, Billy Bah. Thank you, everyone. We’ll visit again.”
    Marie held Sammy and kissed him. Had she heard Ally say he was her brother? I didn’t think so, but she loved him like a brother just the same.
    Tooth Girl gave Marie a little walrus she’d made. In the entranceway, Mitti Peary and Marie put on their outside clothes, and Marie carefully tucked the little figure inside one of her thin wool mittens.
    “I’ll see you soon!” she said, then crawled outside.
    Inside the igloo, Ally gave me a smile. “Perhaps you can help me sew Marie’s
kapatak
.”
    “All right.”
    Tooth Girl and her brother grabbed hunks of seal meat out of the pot. The igloo filled with sounds of talking and eating, but I just sat and watched everyone while brooding. Ally was my only friend, so I had to pretend our arguments meant nothing.
    It was only seven nights since the ship had become locked in the ice. I hadn’t known if I’d ever see Marie again, and now here she was, her cheerful self. We’d be together all winter and the following spring. Angulluk would hunt for the
qallunaat
, and I’d make clothing for them with the skins and furs he provided.
    Mitti Peary relies on me. Marie needs me. I have a place in their world, and I’ll show them how talented I am with the needle
.
    Navarana spoke to everyone, but I felt as if she were talking to me. “Well! The
qallunaat
need clothing. It isright to give them clothes and help them survive the winter. But I want you all to be very careful.”
    She looked from face to face until her eyes rested on mine. “Remember, Eqariusaq. They come to our land, take what they want, and leave. My mother was very upset when my father left. She often spoke of it. You need to remain apart.”
    What does the old woman know about the
qallunaat?
She hasn’t lived in America
. But out of respect, I said, “I agree, Aana.”
    “Panik, I don’t think you’re listening to me.”
    “But I
am
careful.” I pushed away a sudden memory of watching my parents leave for America on Peary’s ship.
    Navarana handed me a chunk of meat. The wrinkles on her forehead joined as she knit her brow. “You shouldn’t be so eager to please the
qallunaat
. It’s not that they are all bad-tempered and greedy. Some may be good. But if they want something, they will use any excuse to have it, and they will forget you when it’s convenient. It’s your husband you should be thinking about, sewing for
him
, caring for
him
. And when the time comes, for your children.”
    Why did the old woman keep talking about my having a baby?
    “Aana,” I said. “I don’t need to be afraid of the
qallunaat
. I have lived with Mitti Peary in her home across the ocean. She and her family have been kind to me. It’s my husband who is the greedy one. He wants the
qallunaat
’sguns and other things, so he trades me. We have everything we need, and still he seeks