The Starving Little Girl Who Saved Her Tribe novel · Chapter 23 of 24
Chapter 23: The Door Sleeps
On the tenth morning, the icicles at the cave mouth were dripping.
Ilu heard them before she was fully awake, a thin steady tick of water on stone.
She lay curled in the furs with her mother's arm over her, and for a moment she thought it was rain.
Then she remembered what it was, and she sat up.
The cave was full of bundles.
All through the night, the tribe had packed.
Hides were folded, sledges lashed, dried meat bagged and tied.
The old man, who could sit up now, had been wrapped in three blankets from Lois's thrift-store pile.
They had placed him on the biggest sledge.
The lame boy had a stick Lois had cut him, with a rubber tip, and he used it with a fierce, private pride.
Everything was ready.
They would leave at noon.
Kesh was already awake.
She was kneeling at the back of the cave, in front of the hollow, with her forehead against the cold stone.
She had been there since the stars went out.
"Mama?"
"It is almost light," said Kesh, without turning.
Ilu crawled over and knelt beside her.
The stone smelled of damp and cold.
For nine mornings in a row, it had been warm by now.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of The Starving Little Girl Who Saved Her Tribe are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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