The Barren Grounds

Morgan can’t believe Misewa and its world are real, but the fisher says that all things are connected. Morgan falls again, and the fisher catches her and says his name is Ochek. Then Morgan blacks out. Morgan has a dream where she sees a woman rocking a sleeping toddler. The woman whispers, “Kiskisitotaso” to the little girl repeatedly.

Eli’s voice wakes Morgan from the dream, and Morgan finds Eli dressed in winter gear like the fisher, including white moccasins. Morgan asks Eli if he speaks Cree, and he says he is fluent in a dialect called Swampy Cree. Morgan asks Eli what the dream woman’s word meant, and he translates it as, “‘Don’t forget about who you are’ or ‘Don’t forget about yourself’” (93). Morgan is confused why she dreamed that word and then realizes that the dream was a memory of her mother. Morgan admits she’s jealous that Eli can remember his family; she can’t forget who she is because she’s never known. Morgan gets mad at her mother for abandoning her.

After her outburst, Morgan learns about the rules of the world she finds herself in, including how time works. Two hours in the human world equals two weeks in Askí, which causes Morgan to realize that they are in a multiverse, like the comics depict. She asks Ochek to prove how time works, and he shows her the notches on the wall marking the days since he saved Eli from the Barren Grounds—the same place he saved Morgan—and Morgan believes in her surroundings for the first time.

Morgan grapples with the fact that she is in a fantasy world and that Eli has been there for 15 days already; she decides that Ochek doesn’t speak like a fantasy character should. Morgan wondered earlier how Ochek knew about humans, and he now explains that many years ago a man came through the portal in the “Great Tree” like Eli and Morgan did. The villagers were then living in the Green Time, so the weather was nice and everything was plentiful; the land provided everything that they needed. The animals trusted the man, and they lived in peace for a while until the man got greedy. The more the man consumed, the more he wanted and needed. Chief Muskwa and the Council decided to banish him to save the village. The day he was supposed to be sent back to Earth he vanished with Tahtakiw: a crane who was a member of the village. The man had stolen the summer birds who brought warmth to the North Country; the village of Misewa and the surrounding area were plunged into the eternal winter of the “White Time.” The villagers couldn’t find the man and are now dying.

Morgan also finds out the villagers are all talking animals and afraid of humans. Ochek has kept Eli a secret from the other villagers and will have to keep Morgan a secret as well, but he helps them because he can tell they are good people; Eli greeted him in Cree, respects the land, and helps Ochek. Morgan decides she and Eli should go back because they can’t just leave Earth and because she promised Katie she wouldn’t run away. Eli says he never promised this and that Misewa feels more like home than life with James and Katie. Eli bargains with Morgan to stay in Misewa for a week; given the time difference, that would mean they would return to Earth just when they would normally be waking up. Morgan still doesn’t want to stay, but Eli wants to help. They argue until Morgan notices how thin Ochek is. When Ochek says he is the only hunter well enough to hunt for the village, Morgan decides to stay for a week to help. Ochek tells Eli and Morgan to get some rest and says they will journey to his traps in the morning.

Ochek wakes Morgan and Eli up early because they must get out of town before anyone else spots the children. They head southeast and then stop for lunch. Ochek and Eli build a fire in the snow and warm up broth that they eat with dried meat. After night falls, they reach a canyon that cuts through the forest; the frozen river at the bottom of the canyon is 100 feet down. The only way across the river is a felled tree that stretches across the canyon.

Ochek and Eli make their way across the tree branch easily, but Morgan hesitates. Eli tells her the only way forward is to cross; otherwise she will have to go back to the village by herself. Morgan decides to cross and is grateful for the moccasins that Katie gave her, which give her a better grip on the tree branch. When Morgan is halfway across, Eli congratulates her, which causes her to take her eyes off him and glance at the canyon below. Morgan slips and falls. She manages to grab onto the branch, but with her mittens on, she can’t get a good grip. Eli jumps back onto the branch to help her as she takes her mittens off and tries to pull herself up. Numb from the cold, her hands slip and she falls further, but she manages to hold onto a crack in the branch. Eli sits above her and tells her to grab his hand. Morgan closes her eyes and uses the hand on the log to propel her other arm into the air. Eli grabs her arm and pulls her up.

As she sits on the log, Eli hands her his mittens and says they can share them. Eli heads back and Morgan scoots along the log behind him. On the other side of the canyon is Ochek’s campsite.

At Ochek’s campsite the group sets up a shelter made from thin poles and hide that Ochek carries in his pack. Inside, they use spruce boughs for bedding and dig a firepit. When they are warmed up, Ochek brings out a treat called pemmican, which is powdered deer meat mixed with fat. Ochek says this is the last of it until they check the traps. He explains that the trek to the hunting grounds used to be shorter, but all the game has either been caught or moved away.

Ochek says that he was a child when the bear, Muskwa, came into Misewa and the Council made him “Chief.” Then the man came. One of the first decisions Muskwa made was to allow the man into the village. Other humans had come to the village without issues, so the villagers assumed this man would be good to them and the land, but he wasn’t. After the man left with the summer birds, the White Time began and no children were born. As the youngest and strongest, Ochek must now hunt and provide for the village. After Ochek’s story, Morgan, Eli, and Ochek go to sleep.

The next day the group checks the traps but initially finds nothing. After lunch, Ochek spots a squirrel eating from one of his traps. Ochek prepares to kill this animal, even though—as a two-legged creature—it can walk and talk; his willingness to kill his own kind upsets the children. When Ochek sneaks up on the squirrel, Eli yells a warning. The squirrel avoids Ochek’s knife but drops the hare she was eating, which slows her down. Ochek grabs the hare, and Morgan pleads with him to let the squirrel go. Ochek says they need the food. Morgan tries to stall to let the squirrel get away, but Ochek realizes what Morgan is doing, and as the squirrel bolts, Ochek chases her until she runs up a tree. Ochek says he will wait until the squirrel comes down to kill her. Ochek reveals to the children that he knows her name—Arikwachas—but she says her nickname is Arik. Ochek is mad at the children for preventing him from killing Arik, but the children say doing so would be murder.

Arik negotiates with Ochek, telling him that she knows where the summer birds are and will reveal this in exchange for her life. Ochek agrees to let her live if she shows him where the summer birds are. Arik promises to lead them to the summer birds but won’t tell them where they are going, fearing Ochek would then kill her before they reach the Green Time. Ochek agrees on the condition that the Council approves the deal.

Ochek, Arik, Morgan, and Eli go back to Misewa. On the third day of Morgan’s time in Askí, she and Eli wait with Arik while Ochek speaks to the Council. Morgan chats with Arik about why Arik left Misewa. Arik explains that during the White Time survival of the biggest became the rule, so she ran away before the larger animals could eat her. Arik says she only told Ochek about the location of the summer birds because she is struggling to find food; she hopes that if she helps restore summer the village will accept her back. Arik says she spotted Morgan and Eli and lingered at the traps because she thought they could help defeat the man who stole the birds. Morgan says she never agreed to go on the journey and insists that they must get home, but Eli says they should help; if they don’t, Misewa will die. Morgan is still unconvinced, but then she remembers dreaming about her mother and agrees to help.

Ochek returns and says the Council will see them, but Morgan and Eli are not to talk unless spoken to. Ochek, Arik, Morgan, and Eli stand in front of the Council, which consists of an owl (Oho), a bear (Muskwa), and a turtle (Miskinahk). The Council opens with a prayer to the Creator requesting wisdom; then they interrogate Ochek about why he helped humans and accuse him of not serving the village. Morgan says the Council isn’t letting them defend themselves. Muskwa agrees, saying they shouldn’t judge Morgan and Eli based on the actions of other humans. Eli and Morgan say they are there to help, and Ochek affirms this. The Council turns its attention on Arik and asks why she wants to help. Arik says she’s doing it to save her life, and the Council says it would be risking the villagers’ lives to let their provider, Ochek, leave. After a quick debate, the Council decides letting Ochek go is necessary for Misewa’s long-term survival. It agrees to send them on a journey to find the man and restore the Green Time.