Sisters on the Case

The People’s Way by Eve K. Sandstrom

The worst part was that Rogar was trying to be kind.

‘‘You must see that there is no other way,’’ he said. ‘‘The baby has to die.’’

Amaya pulled her legs up against her chest and laid her head on her knees, shaping her body into a coconut. She had no more words. If she spoke again, the tears inside would spill onto the hut’s sandy floor, and the hard coconut husk she was using to conceal herself would crack. All her fears and her griefs and longings would be revealed to this man she did not understand and to the strange people of his clan.

She turned her face away from Rogar. She stroked the back of the tiny girl sleeping on the grass mat.

Rogar spoke again. ‘‘It’s not just my people who do this. It was the same on your island.’’

Amaya didn’t move, but she felt the air pass over her, and she knew Rogar had gestured angrily.

‘‘Elosa says there is not enough for my clan to eat,’’ he said. ‘‘If we had plenty, we could keep your sister’s child. But we don’t have food for her.’’

‘‘She can share my food,’’ Amaya said softly.

‘‘No! You would become weak. You should bear our own child. And we need you to work. You must remain strong.’’ Rogar put his hand on her arm. Amaya did not pull away. She barely felt his touch on her coconut shell arm. Did the arm feel rough and hard to him?

‘‘Is it kind to keep the little one if we cannot feed her?’’ Rogar said. ‘‘Is it kind to keep the little one if the other women here hate her? If she will be an outcast in this clan? No! It’s better to put her in the water now. Better for her. Better for you. Better for all of us.’’

He paused, but Amaya still hid behind her hard outer husk. The silence grew between them.

Rogar sounded despairing when he finally spoke. ‘‘We cannot oppose Elosa. She is the one who decides.’’

Amaya spoke then. ‘‘And Elosa hates me.’’

‘‘Don’t be foolish!’’

Amaya did not answer. What purpose was there in arguing with this man whom she knew so little, yet who had power over her, over the little one? She had thought she loved him. But he would not listen.

After another long silence Rogar stood up. ‘‘I’m sorry, Amaya. It’s decided. I’ll take the baby into the water as soon as it’s light.’’

He walked softly from the hut, into the darkness.

Amaya sat motionless. If she moved, her husk would crack. She kept her hand on the sleeping baby. Little Tani, all Amaya had left of her sister, of her own clan, of her own home on the westward island. If only, if only she had not left there!

Amaya had liked Rogar’s looks as soon as he and his friends had come to her island, bringing dried fish and cloth to trade. He was strong and well-made, with broad shoulders. He had smiled at her. She had been flattered that such a handsome man had liked her. And he had come from afar. If she went with Rogar, she could see other islands, meet new clans.

She had been pleased when he offered her uncle a bride-price. Her uncle hesitated, but Amaya made it clear that she wanted him to accept Rogar as her husband. Her uncle had said yes, and she had willingly gone with Rogar to his own island.

Then she had met Elosa. Elosa had hated Amaya from the moment she stepped on the shore of the lagoon. And as shaman, Elosa was one of the most important members of Rogar’s clan. Her hate was serious. It had meant Amaya was shunned by all but Rogar’s close family.

Rogar’s mother had welcomed her as a mother-in-law should. Amaya had even thought she saw a slight feeling of exultation in her greetings. But most of the other women had been unfriendly-or perhaps fearful. They had spoken to her, but only sometimes. If they met alone in the forest, they would stop and talk. But if she met the women in a group, they would lower their eyes and pass by.

Amaya had asked her mother-in-law about it. ‘‘Why? What have I done?’’

‘‘You’ve done nothing, Amaya. They are afraid of Elosa.’’

‘‘But she is the shaman. She is responsible for the clan’s welfare.’’

‘‘But the clan has had problems since Elosa became shaman. Our harvest has failed. The fish have been few. The tribe has become divided.’’

‘‘But I have done nothing to cause the division.’’

Rogar’s mother looked away. ‘‘Elosa wanted Rogar for her own daughter. When he took a bride from far away, it made Elosa fear that the people would think her foolish.’’

She put her arm around Amaya’s shoulder. ‘‘Don’t worry! Rogar wanted you! He is smart, that son of mine. Elosa will become interested in something else. Already she is looking for another husband for her daughter. The trouble will go away.’’

But the trouble did not go away. It grew, and it grew until it was not only between Amaya and the other women of the clan, but until it was also between Rogar and Amaya. They had not known each other well, Amaya realized. They’d only had a few days together without the interference of Elosa. Now Rogar grew impatient, hard to please. Their lovemaking grew more awkward, instead of more comforting. Amaya felt she had ceased to please Rogar. And she had wanted to please Rogar. She wanted to love Rogar.

Amaya had hoped the ritual trip back to her own clan would help. But there they found greater disaster. Disease had come, and her uncle had died, and her sister and her sister’s husband. The only one left was Tani.

The baby had grown since Amaya had left with Rogar. Now she was walking. She was staying with the great-grandmother, but the great-grandmother could not run after her. Tani would hide. When the great-grandmother called, she would laugh. But she would not come. Amaya saw that the great-grandmother could not take care of her.

Rogar had hesitated when she asked if she could bring Tani back to his clan’s island. ‘‘She is a fine, strong baby,’’ he said. ‘‘But she is just a girl. And our clan’s crop was small this year.’’

Amaya had not pleaded. But Rogar had also seen that the great-grandmother could not care for Tani. And perhaps Tani had won him over herself, with her baby smiles and games. He had grown fond of playing with her, taking her into the lagoon to splash.

‘‘We will take her back,’’ he had said finally. ‘‘She is a brave little girl. She laughs when water splashes her. She will be adopted by my tribe.’’

But that did not happen. Elosa had hated the baby, just as she hated Amaya. She had refused to take Tani into the clan. Then she had decreed that the clan did not have enough food, and she said that the child must die.

‘‘It is not right for this stranger child to take food from the mouths of our clan,’’ she said. ‘‘Rogar must put her in the water.’’

Amaya’s heart broke, but her hard outer shell remained solid. She had hidden behind it all afternoon.

Rogar had argued with Elosa, tried to convince her that the clan’s resources were not so few that one tiny girl would cause others to starve. But Elosa was firm.

‘‘You must put the girl in the sea tomorrow-as soon as the sun rises,’’ she said.

Amaya could not argue. Rogar had spoken truly. Her own clan followed that custom, too. If food was scarce, the oldest and the youngest among them must die. It was best for the weakest to die, to allow the strongest to live.

But Amaya did not want Tani to die. She was her sister’s child. She was the final link with her own clan, her own island. If Tani died, Amaya would be left among a strange people, subject to a strange husband, with no one to care about and no one to care for her. And Tani was a strong child. She would grow into a strong woman who would help her clan.

But what could Amaya do?

Amaya nestled behind her hard coconut shell and thought.

Wildly she thought of killing Elosa. She could take the club she used for breaking coconut shells. She could creep up upon Elosa’s house. She could hit the witch in the head. The shaman would die.

A feeling of pleasure swept over Amaya at the thought, but it was closely followed by a shudder that shook her whole body and rattled her teeth.

No, she could not kill Elosa. Even if she managed to creep into Elosa’s hut undetected, Rogar’s people would guess who had done it. She would be killed. Tani would still die. Killing Elosa would accomplish nothing, except that Amaya would herself die and her spirit would be condemned to roam the sea forever, never finding rest on the heavenly island.

Could she run away? Could she steal a canoe and go back to her own clan?

Amaya could paddle a canoe, of course. Everyone could do that. But only men, men like Rogar who had been taught to read the stars and the currents, could go so far as her native island and be sure of finding it.

Could she run away to the forest? She could take Tani and hide. She could find food for them there.

But Amaya knew that would give her only a few days. Rogar’s island was not her native place. She knew only parts of it. She might be able to hide from a stranger, but she could never hide from Rogar and the men who had hunted all over that island and from the women who had gathered food all over it. She would have to sleep. Rogar’s people knew where the water was, and she would have to have water. If food was scarce, the women would be looking for it everywhere. They would soon find her.

A sob bubbled up from Amaya’s soul, like water bubbling from a spring. It almost cracked her coconut shell coating. She choked it back, and she did not move. But she saw no way to save Tani.

Was Rogar right? Was obeying the shaman the right thing to do? Did she have to let him take Tani into the water?

Oh, she knew it was the law, the way of the people. As Rogar had said, it was the way of her own island. Her mother’s mother had become ill in the year the crop had been so bad. When she had become too sick to work, she had stopped eating. The family had grieved, but the old woman had turned away from food. She had refused water. ‘‘It is time,’’ the old woman said. Her tongue grew thick. Her daughters keened. And in three days she had died. Everyone had admired her action.

And when the wife of the headman’s son gave birth to a child with a crippled foot, the mother had wept, but she had not argued. The headman himself had taken his grandson and put him in the sea to die.

Life on the islands was hard. The strong must not be held back by the weak. That was the ancient law. Amaya knew that. If the law was not obeyed, the islandclans would not be strong and clever. They would not conquer their enemies-the other tribes who wanted their territory, the fierce beasts who lived in the sea and in the forests, the very hardness of life.

But Tani was not weak! Elosa had not said she must die because she was weak. That year’s crop had been poor, but there was enough. Rogar said so. His father said so. But Elosa had not listened. She said Tani must die.

Tani was to be killed because she was a strange child.

No, Amaya thought, that was not true. Tani was to be killed not because the baby was strange, but because she-Amaya-was strange. Elosa hated Amaya, not Tani. But Amaya was married to one of the clan’s young warriors. Elosa did not dare attack Amaya directly. She had decreed Tani’s death because that was the cruelest thing she could do to Amaya. And this would not be the last thing she did to Amaya. Elosa might not dare condemn her openly, but she would find ways. Amaya’s own fate would be like Tani’s.

Already Elosa had threatened Rogar because he argued with her over the baby. Amaya’s presence here on Rogar’s island was all wrong. She was unhappy, and she was hurting Rogar by being there. She loved Rogar, and she did not want him to be hurt because of her.

Amaya, hidden inside her coconut shell, finally knew what she had to do.

She stirred, lifting the sleeping baby and holding her close, murmuring softly. ‘‘Little pet. Sweet one. I love you. We will always be together.’’ Standing up, she went outside, into the dark. She took the path to the beach, where the waves were high, not to the friendly lagoon.

She stumbled once on the way, but her step was firm as she walked into the water. Soon it would be over. She and Tani would both die. Rogar would be rid of them and the problems they had brought him. Elosa would have won, true, but Amaya would have obeyed the law. She and Tani would reach the peaceful island. The gods would bless her action.

She pictured the peaceful island as the waves reached her waist. She clutched the sleeping baby against her breast. Soon the cold water would waken Tani, and she would cry. Amaya knew she must be ready to hold her tightly then, even to hold her under water, to make sure that the baby died first, that she wasn’t left alone in the water, frightened.

Amaya paused, embracing the child more firmly.

Suddenly, she was grasped roughly from behind.

‘‘What are you doing?’’ Rogar’s voice was harsh. ‘‘You do not have to take the child into the water! I will do it!’’

‘‘No! No! I will take her! She must not be frightened!’’

‘‘I will not frighten her! And it must be done as the sun comes up!’’ Rogar tried to take Tani out of Amaya’s arms.

Amaya clutched the child. ‘‘No! Let me take her! We will die and leave you in peace!’’

‘‘You die? You must not die!’’

‘‘It’s best, Rogar! Elosa will never allow me to be part of your clan! She will not forgive you for marrying me! There will be more trouble! It’s best if I die with Tani!’’

Rogar held her and Tani tightly. His grip woke the baby, and the little one began to fuss and cry sleepily. When Rogar spoke his voice was low and desperate. ‘‘No!’’ he said. ‘‘No! Amaya, you must live. We must live together.’’

The waves broke around them and the sand shifted under Amaya’s feet. She felt as if she were falling, but Rogar held her up.

‘‘We must live on together,’’ he said again. ‘‘I love you, Amaya.’’

Amaya felt the coconut husk break. She was in Rogar’s arms, with nothing to protect her, with no shell to hide behind. Tani was crying, and Amaya was sobbing mighty sobs. And Rogar’s arms, Rogar’s love surrounded her. He led her slowly back to the beach, and there Amaya collapsed in the sand, still sobbing.

It was many minutes before she was able to speak. ‘‘Is there no way to save Tani?’’

‘‘We have to obey the law,’’ Rogar said. ‘‘Amaya! Can you trust me?’’

‘‘Trust you?’’

Rogar laid his cheek against her hair. ‘‘Yes, Amaya. Trust me.’’

‘‘I can do nothing by myself,’’ Amaya said dully. ‘‘This is your island, your people. I know you do not want Tani to die. But if she must-I trust you not to let her be afraid.’’

Rogar helped Amaya up and led her back to the house. Amaya did not put Tani down, but held her the rest of the night, just as Rogar held her. Finally she fell asleep.

The stirring of birds woke her, and she realized she was alone.

Rogar and Tani were gone.

‘‘No!’’ Amaya jumped to her feet. ‘‘No! No!’’

It was still dark in the hut, but outside the light was coming. Rogar had already taken Tani away, to put her in the water.

Amaya ran along the path to the beach. She could hear the waves pounding loudly. The tide was coming in. Ahead she saw a figure silhouetted against the morning sky.

‘‘Rogar!’’

Rogar paused, but he did not stop. Amaya ran on, until she was beside him. ‘‘Please, Rogar! There must be another way.’’

He walked on. ‘‘Go back, Amaya,’’ he said. ‘‘You said you would trust me.’’

‘‘Please! Please!’’

Rogar did not answer. Instead Amaya heard the cackle of Elosa’s voice. ‘‘The strange child cannot take food from the children of the people! Rogar knows the law, strange woman! He obeys the law of his people.’’

The voice brought Amaya to her knees. ‘‘Please,’’ she said again. But this time she whispered.

‘‘You have brought disgrace to Rogar and our people!’’ Elosa’s voice gloated. ‘‘The way of the people must be followed!’’

Amaya formed her body into its coconut shell. Rogar’s mother and sister knelt beside her.

‘‘Be quiet, Elosa!’’ Rogar’s mother said. ‘‘Amaya is obeying the law. But a woman who likes seeing a baby put to death is no real woman!’’

Surprised by her mother-in-law’s sharp words to Elosa, Amaya looked up at the shaman. Elosa did not reply to the criticism, but she pointed to the surf with her heavy staff. ‘‘Rogar obeys the law!’’

Amaya’s eyes followed the staff, and she saw that Rogar was walking into the water. Tani was not frightened. She was laughing and clapping her hands. To her it was just another of the games Rogar had taught her to love.

Rogar did not go out very far. The waves were rolling. It would not take a lot of water to drown a tiny girl.

He seemed to be playing with Tani, and Amaya remembered he had promised to keep her from being afraid. He held her close to his body, and he ducked under the water.

But when he arose, the baby was gone.

Rogar stood motionless, the waves beating over him. Then he walked back to the beach. When he reached the edge of the water, he turned and looked back. His father joined him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Together they looked down the beach, and Rogar’s father pointed.

Were they thinking where her tiny body would wash ashore? Amaya hoped so. To think of Tani not only dead, but lost in the sea-it was more than she could bear.

Then Rogar’s father called out. ‘‘There! There!’’ He and Rogar ran down the beach.

And Rogar knelt down and scooped up a tiny bundle. He held it above his head. Amaya saw dark hair, and legs. And the legs kicked!

‘‘She is not dead, Elosa! The sea has refused her!’’

Amaya jumped to her feet and watched in amazement as Rogar walked toward them. Tani was squirming and angry. But she was alive.

Elosa shook her staff furiously. ‘‘Put her in the water again! It is the law!’’

Rogar stood silently for a moment before he turned once more toward the water. Amaya again sank into despair. She watched Rogar walk through the surf, the waves breaking over him and Tani. Again he sank beneath the waves with the child in his arms. Again he rose without her and slowly walked back to the beach.

And again he and his father watched down the beach until a tiny bundle washed ashore. Once more they ran down to pick up Tani’s body.

And once more Rogar brought the child to Elosa alive.

Elosa pounded her staff on the beach and screamed. ‘‘She’s a demon! She must die! It is the law!’’

Tani was very angry now, but Elosa’s fury frightened her. She clutched Rogar around the neck and shrieked. Rogar patted and soothed her until she became quieter. And when the baby became quiet, Amaya heard other sounds. Looking behind her, she saw many people. They were buzzing with talk. And they were all looking at Rogar and Elosa, who stood facing each other. Neither of them looked around at the others.

Elosa spoke, and her voice was not loud, but it crackled angrily. ‘‘Put her back in the water, Rogar, and take her farther out.’’

‘‘Are you sure, Elosa? Are you sure this is what the law commands?’’

‘‘Do you think that I-your shaman-can mistake the meaning of the law, the law that has governed our people for generations?’’

‘‘Twice the sea has refused to take Tani. A third time-’’

Now Elosa’s eyes flickered right, left. Amaya knew she was considering the people gathered behind her. She took a deep breath and raised her staff. ‘‘Take her out, Rogar. Leave her for the water to take.’’

She swung the staff around, but Rogar did not flinch away from the stick.

‘‘Take her out!’’ Elosa’s final words were a shriek. ‘‘It is the law!’’

Rogar turned and walked back to the water. Amaya still knelt on the sand, with Rogar’s mother and sister beside her. Tears were running down her cheeks. Tani saw her there and waved, a baby wave. Then she turned to look at the approaching water-still unafraid and still trusting Rogar.

‘‘Trust me,’’ Rogar had said. ‘‘Trust me.’’

If Tani can trust him, Amaya thought, I must trust him, too. And she stood up proudly, staring after her husband.

Now the sun had moved over the horizon, and it was hard to see what was happening with her eyes dazzled by tears and by the sun.

Again Rogar walked through the surf. Again he ducked into the water, playing a game with Tani. Amaya even thought she heard the child’s laughter over the sound of the waves. Then Rogar ducked beneath the water, and when he arose, Tani was gone.

Amaya did not allow herself to hope that the child would survive. No, the small one could not be lucky enough to be washed ashore three times. This time, she knew, Tani was dead. And that was good. If the child had to go into the water one more time, Amaya’s heart could not continue to beat.

Rogar came through the surf, and Amaya went to meet him. She put her arms around him and laid her head against his chest.

‘‘You tried, Rogar. You faced Elosa, argued with her. You tried your best.’’ She looked into his eyes. ‘‘I love you.’’

Rogar smiled. ‘‘And I love you, Amaya. Now we had better go to Tani.’’

He gestured behind her, and Amaya turned to see the same brown bundle tumble from the waves.

Tani!

She and Rogar ran down the beach, and she scooped the little girl up.

Tani coughed. She sneezed. Then she screamed.

Suddenly Amaya and Rogar and Tani were surrounded by excited people.

Rogar’s mother was embracing Amaya and Tani. ‘‘The witch is beaten!’’ she said. ‘‘This little one and my son have taken her power away!’’

‘‘What?’’ Amaya was amazed.

‘‘Three times! Three times!’’ Rogar’s sister yelled it out.

Rogar was smiling, and Amaya turned to him. ‘‘What do they mean, Rogar?’’

‘‘If the sea rejects the child three times, then the interpretation of the law is wrong,’’ he said. ‘‘Elosa condemned the child wrongly. So Tani will live, and another will be selected as shaman.’’

An hour later Tani had been fed and was asleep. Other women had come to marvel at the strong little girl who had survived the sea three times. They brought gifts to the child the sea loved. Now Amaya stared in awe at the little girl.

The others were taking Tani’s survival as a miracle. Were the gods of the sea showing that they loved her niece? Oh, it was easy to say that Elosa had condemned her wrongly and that the sea had rejected her. But it was hard for Amaya to believe Elosa had not condemned others wrongly, and her other victims had died. Amaya did not understand.

Outside, she heard a deep voice greeting Rogar, and she heard Rogar’s respectful reply. The headman had come. Would even the headman want to behold the miracle child?

But the headman was talking to Rogar.

‘‘The elders are going to ask you to join their council,’’ he said.

Join their council? Amaya took a quick breath. But Rogar was young! Too young to be an elder!

Rogar sounded wary when he answered the headman. ‘‘That is too high an honor for me. The elders must command canoes. I do not have the years-’’

The headman chuckled. ‘‘But you have the head, Rogar. And you have the knowledge.’’

Rogar did not answer.

‘‘And you used that knowledge to benefit your people. We are rid of Elosa.’’

‘‘If she had admitted she was wrong after the second time the sea refused the child-’’

‘‘But she did not.’’ The headman’s voice was brisk. ‘‘You gave her the chance to back down, to save face. She did not take it. You handled her wisely. The little one will be lucky to have you as a father.’’

‘‘The little one is already lucky.’’

‘‘Yes. She was lucky to have a man taking care of her who taught her not to fear the water. That is one reason we wish you to join the elders.’’

‘‘But-’’

‘‘Do not say no, Rogar! The other reason is more practical.’’

He dropped his voice to a whisper, and Amaya barely heard his final words.

‘‘We need all the men who understand the currents and tides as you do to command canoes.’’