and leave them out as bait?’
‘Falcons need live prey. Can you bring me the line from the basket?’
Marcos reluctantly held the birds while I fastened a leg of each one to a length of line. He was not used to handling birds, anyone could see that. They flapped angrily in his hands, while he leaned his head so far back to avoid the wings that he almost toppled over.
In spite of his help, I managed to tether both birds and sent him in search of stones that were weighty and rough enough to secure the ends of each line. Then I carried the birds and stones out to a flat patch of grass and set them down. The birds immediately crouched on the ground, staying so still that, had they been among rocks, I would immediately have lost sight of them. But after I had retreated, they cautiously rose and began to search among the vegetation for food.
I returned to the fire and fashioned two nooses at the ends of the two remaining lengths of line, and laid them ready at hand.
‘So, what happens now?’ Marcos asked.
I shrugged. ‘We wait and hope the falcons come.’
My father had used this method of trapping when he knew falcons regularly hunted in a certain place, or when a captive bird was lost, but it was not one he used often. It depended too much on luck. It occurred to me then to wonder how Heidrun had known to bring exactly the things I would need. Doubtless Eydis had told her what I was looking for and she had fetched the things in the night. I wondered if she lived close by, though I didn’t recall passing any farmsteads, but then, they were so hard to see. Like the ptarmigan, their turf roofs blended perfectly into the hillside; you might walk within feet of them and not notice unless you saw the smoke rising from the hearths.
Marcos and I sat either side of the fire, occasionally feeding it with the woody stems of plants as if it was a pet and we were giving it titbits. I continually scanned the bright blue sky, but the sun glinted off the ice so brilliantly that I was forced to keep looking away. Marcos kept looking at me, half opening his mouth as if he was on the verge of saying something, but didn’t know how to begin.
If I did find a bird, would he try to take it from me? He told me he had come here to capture a bird to pay a debt, though he had no idea how to set about it. But once the bird was caught, would I be able to fend him off if he was determined to take it? He had rescued me from the bog and he had warned me about Vítor. But why had he helped me? Was it just to ensure I would stay alive long enough to capture a bird for him? And what would he do when I had?
Marcos shifted his position for the umpteenth time. ‘How long have we been here? My belly is beginning to grumble again. She said there were fish in the lake. I suppose she means us to use one of the lines, though I don’t know what we’re going to use as a hook, never mind bait. Can you catch fish as well as –’
‘Quiet,’ I whispered. Shielding my eyes, I stared up into the blinding blue sky.
Krery-krery-krery.
There it was again. ‘White falcons,’ I breathed.
‘Where?’ Marcos said, struggling to his feet.
I grabbed him and pulled him down.
‘Keep down and stay still. I can’t see them but I can hear them.’
Krery-krery-krery.
I turned in the direction of the sound. Two white specks were soaring down over the river of ice towards the ptarmigan.
‘Stay here,’ I whispered.
The ptarmigan had seen them too. They ran to the lengths of the line, trying to take cover in the rocks, but they were jerked back. The falcons circled above, crying out to each other. The ptarmigan froze, pressing themselves into the ground trying to hide, but though they would have been invisible against the rocks, out there in the open against the golden sedges and green mosses, they could be clearly seen.
The falcons folded their wings and stooped down in a long dive, turning upwards at the last minute to strike the ptarmigan with such force I could hear the thumps across the silent plain. They both rose in the air, the limp bodies