Chapter 72
At dusk, they reached a camp partially sheltered by a row of boulders. Here, two female sentries stood guard, eyeing Sparr skeptically, but were otherwise indifferent. Within, small groups of men worked at cooking, gathering wood, or looking after a cluster of children. For all its faults, Kaybe didn't suffer from male dominance. He wondered where his status as a guest left him. The men rushed forward, lifting the bear from the litter, and sharing a few quick words with Miah. Afterward, one of them, little more than a youth, tended to the cut on Sparr's head. "Thank you," Sparr said, but the youth darted away nervously without saying a word. For the next half hour he was largely ignored, left to watch as the camp got to work on the bear. Miah made the first cut, carefully peeling back t
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