Sexual intercourse occurs without shame or privacy, often in full view of the other members of the tribe.
LIFESPAN:
The icemen don’t remember birth dates, and there is no acknowledgment of time passing among them, but the elder members of the tribe appear to be seven or eight decades old. Elders are valued for their knowledge. There are distinct funerary rights followed by all members of the community. The tribe buries their dead together. The burial site is located less than one kilometer from the village. Objects such as stone knives and furs are buried with the body. I observed six burials during my years in the village, five children and one elderly woman. There is elaborate and communal grieving over the dead. Upon seeing the tears and lamentations over the loss of life, I believe that the icemen are capable of the sentiments and deep feelings of human beings.
Twenty-Seven
Spring did not come gently to the mountains. May winds blew cold and fierce, slicing at the skin with the brutality of a blade. Freezing rain pounded the castle windows like fists, and temperatures fell below freezing at night, turning the rain to snow. But there were also moments of pristine clarity, when the sky was blue as far as I could see. Wild violets and tough, yellow-maned dandelions began to grow on the east lawn, giving the gray landscape patches of vibrant color. The white mulberry trees near the mausoleum began to bud, then blossom. One warm afternoon, the pond cracked open, leaving an island of ice floating at the center of dark water. Snow had begun to melt on the mountain as well. Water gushed through chiseled crags of the mountainside, streaming down in rivulets over the lawn. Sal had told me that the spring melt was essential to Montebianco Castle—the well filled from April to June, ensuring clean drinking water for the year—but the water came with such force that it seemed to me that we would all be swept away.
The day I saw an Iceman again, the sun had emerged for a full afternoon. Craving warmth and light, I left my rooms and walked the castle grounds, my running shoes squelching through the muddy grass, my feet soaked in cold, pure mountain water. I was just making my way from the greenhouse, a bouquet of pink dahlias in my hand, when Aki stepped out of the cove of spruce trees on the east lawn.
I stopped, startled.
Aki raised his hand, gesturing that I come closer. “Come,” he called to me. He held up the leather sack Vita had given them the night we had met. “Please.”
I walked to Aki, slipping behind the trees where the thick scent of pine needles and wet earth filled the air. With the pink dahlias in my hand, I squinted at Aki, taking him in. It had been a clear, moonless night when we met, the light so dim I had discerned only the most basic outline of his features. But it struck me then, upon seeing him that day in the sunlight, that he was beautiful, and that is how I would always think of him after. Beautiful, if such a word can be used to describe a man as rough as the mountains. He was taller than me by a full foot, broad-shouldered, his bare arms sinewy with strength, his white hair falling to his chest. His features were rough-hewn and craggy. His wide-set blue eyes met my gaze with cool intelligence. I understood the justice of the name Leopold had given them: Icemen. I felt certain that if I were to touch Aki, he would melt in my hands.
“I came for Vita,” he said, eyeing the pink dahlias, their spikes so bright and strange. “But her window is closed. She leaves it open when we can approach.”
I turned to look back at the northeast tower. Shutters blocked the windows. The windows had been closed since Vita fell sick.
“I need to see her,” Aki said.
“That isn’t possible,” I said, surprised to hear him speak my language. “But I’ll tell her you’re here, if you want.”
He furrowed his brow, looking at me intently, and it struck me that he wasn’t sure if he could trust me.
“Yes,” he said at last. “But no one else can know that I am here.”
“Of course not,” I said. “What do you want me to tell her?”
“We need more supplies. Antibiotics and bandages. Something for pain. A clean blanket. One of my