Eventually Lakal began to find her feet in a world where her mother no longer existed and she was alone with a child to nurse and care for. Slowly, the village woman stepped away allowing her to stumble and make mistakes and problem solve on her own. Adjusting was hard at times but necessary all the time. The men of the hunt weren't due back tomorrow and the village needed to fall back into place to be efficient.
She slept less at night now. Sira grew fussy once the sun disappeared beneath the horizon. It was at if the dark gave her discomfort. Either way Lakal began to take her rests when Sira did, waking instinctively before the child's cries to heat the milk or prepare the cloth to replace the one she had soiled.
With each passing day to all began to get a bit easier. As soon as Sira's beaths evened into sleep Lakal would drop like a stone beside her with an arm cast over the babe to prevent her from rolling off of the fur bundles. The women taught her to tie a linen bundle to carry the child on her back and Laka could get Sira into the cloth and onto her back while slipping into her boots. She could heat seal's milk to the correct temperature the first time - but she always tested it on the back of her hand to be sure - and knew all the words to old lullabies and whispered words of comfort.
Women around nodded to her in respect and would scold the man bold enough to suggest that she be taken into a home with one of them.
"Her home is with the imcsllahid," Mara responded in Lakal's stead as she passed her and the old fisher in conversation. "She is a full woman now that her mother has gone. She can care for herself. Every one has the job and must do their part and she is doing hers well."
Lakal didn't need the affirmation, she knew that she was maturing with this experience, but it meant a lot to hear it from someone so well respected. She'd be okay until her father and brother returned with the hunt. She and Sira would continue to be fine.
