Carefully sliding my arm out from under her, I crawl over Seri and the cat to stoke up the fire. The floor is cold, even on the rug, and I dance back and forth, rubbing my hands on my arms as the flames lick the logs. I stretch my arms over my head and turn from side to side, trying to work out the soreness in my back.
I glance at Seri, who is still sound asleep. I’m not surprised, considering last night’s escapades. Half an hour after Iris jumped me, Seri came around and wanted the same. Though the two personalities prefer vastly different types of attention, both take a lot out of me. Not that I’m complaining, though it has me wondering if Netti has similar impulses and whether I could handle all three of them in one night. I’m just glad everything worked the second time.
No wonder my back aches.
I pull on my jeans and make some coffee. Seri shows no signs of waking, so I decide to do something productive. I grab the caribou hide from the wall, and I spread it out on the floor. Using a thick pencil, I make an outline of one of Seri’s shoes. I make a few more lines on the hide with the pencil and then start cutting out the pieces I need for boots, mittens, and a coat.
Solo wakes up, demanding food. Once he’s eaten, he tries to help me out with my work, and I have to keep shoving him out of the way. Running out of patience, I take a strip of sinew and tie it in a large knot. I wave it around a couple of times before tossing it toward the kitchen.
Solo takes the bait and goes bounding after his new toy, allowing me to make a little more progress.
“What are you doing?” Seri asks when she finally wakes up.
I glance up at the bed and smile. Her hair is sticking up around her shoulders, and she looks like she just walked inside after battling hurricane force winds.
“Making you some decent winter gear,” I say. I hold up the pieces I’ve cut. “These will end up inside winter boots for you. I have an old pair I can resize to your feet. The other small pieces will be mittens, and the big one will be the outside of a parka for you. I still need to get some more skins for the inside.”
“Wow.” Seri runs her hand over the soft caribou skin. “You are making all of that for me?”
“Yeah.” I shrug. “You need better gear.”
Seri bites her lip, and I get the idea she wants to say something else, but whatever it is, she doesn’t come out with it.
“These,” I say, holding up strips of sinew and a long, bowed piece of wood, “I will use to make you your own set of snowshoes.”
“Can I help?”
“Sure.”
I grab the wooden base for the snowshoes and show Seri how to bend the frames into the right shape and then weave the sinew in diamond patterns across the openings. Once we have that done, I fit her shoes to the base so she can try them out.
“Will this be warm enough with my tennis shoes?”
“No. That’s why I’m going to make you boots.”
“They’re so big,” Seri says as she takes off the shoes. “Why do they have to be so long?”
“It’s all about spreading your weight over the snow. They have to be big enough to distribute your weight but not so big that you can’t walk.”
“Yours don’t look like this,” Seri says as she points to my snowshoes near the door.
“That’s because I bought those in Yellowknife,” I say with a laugh. “They’re aluminum and will last a lot longer than these. Hopefully, these will be strong enough to get you through the season.”
“How did you learn to do all of this?” she asks.
“The Dene locals,” I say. “Everyone in Whatì has some skill they use to benefit the group, and they’re usually pretty happy to share the knowledge. Most of the winter is spent making things, from winter gear to craft items, to sell to tourists.”
“I knew people around here had to do something all winter other than read and stare at the fire.” Seri bumps her shoulder up against mine and smiles.
“It’s either this or Hand Game.”
“What’s that?”
“Dene Hand Game is the main pastime in the Tlicho lands. It’s the sport of the region.”
“How do you play?”
I sit back for a minute to try to figure out how I can explain.