People of the Raven (North America's Forgotten Past) (34 page)
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Authors: W. Michael Gear,Kathleen O'Neal Gear
BOOK: People of the Raven (North America's Forgotten Past)
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R
ain Bear shoved a low branch aside and continued up the trail behind young Feathers. He was just a skinny boy, little more than gangly bones, but his body betrayed the terrible importance of his current position. He was guiding the great chief. No doubt his young friends were going to hear about it over and over.
ain Bear shoved a low branch aside and continued up the trail behind young Feathers. He was just a skinny boy, little more than gangly bones, but his body betrayed the terrible importance of his current position. He was guiding the great chief. No doubt his young friends were going to hear about it over and over.
The fire in the clearing ahead threw long, dancing shadows over the firs and boulders. It made the forest seem alive with translucent wings. As they drew near, Rain Bear saw Dogrib standing with three men. He was binding the middle man’s hands behind his back. Two others held his arms in viselike grips.
Rain Bear called, “What have we got? Who is he?”
Dogrib called, “One of Ecan’s assassins. We captured him crawling through the boulders on his belly.”
“That’s a lie!” the man shouted in response, and struggled against Dogrib’s hard hands. “I came in peace, openly!”
Rain Bear entered the halo of firelight and recognized the burly form. “Red Dog?”
“Yes. It’s me. My friend, I must speak with you!” The dirt on his face had mixed with his sweat and turned to mud in the deep furrows in his forehead. “Rain Bear, get these young wolves off me! You, of all people, know I am no assassin!” He glared at the two warriors holding his muscular arms. They grinned like cougars over a freshly killed carcass.
Rain Bear halted on the opposite side of the fire. Dirty hair had come loose from Red Dog’s bun and framed his round face. He appeared on the verge of panic.
Good.
Good.
Rain Bear said, “You came in peace to do what? Try to kill one of us? Or to rescue Ecan’s son?” He paused. “Sorry, old friend. Sleeper’s warriors beat you back. I have just been in council with Goldenrod. He said they almost had you and White Stone more than once.”
Red Dog nervously scanned the faces of the people around him. “I bring you a message from Fire Village.”
“From whom?”
“Astcat, matron of the North Wind People.”
Red Dog’s deerhide cape had large patches of hair missing. Not the usual garb of one of Fire Village’s best warriors, but he’d probably shed everything that would tie him to Cimmis.
“Astcat has not attempted to communicate with me in six and ten cycles—not since she made her own daughter Outcast for running away with me. Why now?”
Red Dog sucked in a breath. “I can’t tell you, but believe me, you truly do not wish to kill me until I’ve spoken with you!”
“Go ahead. I’m listening.”
Red Dog glanced suspiciously at Dogrib and the rest. “My message is for you alone.”
Rain Bear composed his face, deepening the lines as if in great study. “Bind him up like a trussed walrus.”
He watched as a length of sturdy rope was located and Red Dog was thoroughly wrapped and secured with doubled knots. Then Rain Bear pulled his war club from his belt and motioned for Dogrib and the other men to back off. “Give us a few moments.”
Unhappy with the arrangement, Dogrib said, “As you order, but we’ll be close enough to see, if not hear. Should he even look like he’s moving against you—”
“I expect you to kill him,” Rain Bear calmly said, and thumped his club into his palm. “The fact that he knows that should make our discussions more straightforward.”
Red Dog nodded. “I assure you, it will.”
Dogrib strode to the edge of the clearing with the other warriors.
Rain Bear took his time walking around the fire toward Red Dog. The grizzled warrior watched him warily.
“All right,
old friend
,” Rain Bear said in a low voice. “Tell me what’s happening.”
old friend
,” Rain Bear said in a low voice. “Tell me what’s happening.”
Red Dog gave him a foxy smile. “Why on earth am I doing this to
myself? Look at me! I’m trussed like a pig, covered in filth! My legs feel like wooden stumps, and I’m so tired I could fall flat on my face.”
myself? Look at me! I’m trussed like a pig, covered in filth! My legs feel like wooden stumps, and I’m so tired I could fall flat on my face.”
“It’s because you’re such a scoundrel, and you know it.”
Red Dog grinned like a maniac. “That’s it, all right.” Then his expression fell. “You have to believe me—I didn’t know what was coming at War Gods Village. When you took Ecan’s weapons and let him continue, I really thought we were on a peaceful errand.” He made a face. “After some of the things I’ve seen … done … I don’t want to do this anymore.”
“What would you do instead?”
He jerked his head westward. “There are islands out there. I could take all of my wealth and sit on a rock, surrounded by the sea. Once a moon, I could palm off one of my trinkets to a fisherman for bringing me food.”
“You’d be crazy within five days.” Rain Bear crossed his arms. “I know you too well. You enjoy scheming; it’s part of your soul. You find a crooked pleasure being in the presence of people who underestimate who and what you are.”
“And who and what am I?”
“One of the most clever and remarkable men I’ve ever known.”
Red Dog chuckled at that. “You know, your flattery is worth more than all the North Wind People’s silly jewels.” He paused. “In all of my life, only two people have seen through to my soul.”
“Who’s the other one?”
Red Dog shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t have to lie to me.”
“I’m not. I’ve never seen him in the daylight, and at night, he wears a mask.”
“You’re joking.”
Red Dog’s expression turned flat, and his voice dropped to a whisper. “About him? Never.”
Rain Bear stiffened. “I don’t believe it—someone actually scares you.”
“Oh, yes, more than Ecan, Cimmis, or the Council. If they found out I was your agent, they’d just torture me to death in a most grisly fashion.” Red Dog’s eyes glittered. “He’d steal my soul and lock it screaming and terrified into one of his little chipped fetishes.”
Rain Bear cocked his head. “Coyote?”
Red Dog jerked. “You
know
him?”
know
him?”
“He’s after Dzoo.”
“After her how?”
“We think he wants to possess her.”
Red Dog looked uneasily out at the darkness beyond the ring of fire. “I’m supposed to deliver Astcat’s message. Then we’ve got to dicker over Ecan’s son. After that, I’ve got to get back. If Coyote’s after Dzoo, she’s in real danger.”
D
o you believe it?” Evening Star’s voice held a tremor, and it angered her. Gruffly, she folded her arms and leaned against the dark trunk of a fir. This was either a dream coming true, or the beginning of a nightmare. She’d chafed and stamped when Dogrib wouldn’t allow her into the meadow where Rain Bear and Red Dog were talking, and now, in the morning light, as she heard Matron Astcat’s terms, she wasn’t sure what to think.
o you believe it?” Evening Star’s voice held a tremor, and it angered her. Gruffly, she folded her arms and leaned against the dark trunk of a fir. This was either a dream coming true, or the beginning of a nightmare. She’d chafed and stamped when Dogrib wouldn’t allow her into the meadow where Rain Bear and Red Dog were talking, and now, in the morning light, as she heard Matron Astcat’s terms, she wasn’t sure what to think.
Rain Bear crouched before her and studied the ragged people moving around the campfires down the slope. He had a strange look on his face. “It’s possible. During her lucid moments, Astcat generally made good decisions. Do you think the Council knows about the offer?”
“I doubt it. Nevertheless, she is the matron of the North Wind People. She has the authority to make offers without their approval. I just don’t understand why she would wish to.”
“Perhaps it is simply an act of kindness.”
She shook her head. “Offering to revoke my slave status and give me a lodge in Fire Village is more than kindness; it’s very dangerous. My people would flock to me. Within days, I’d be confirmed as clan matron to succeed my mother. Potentially, if anything happened to Astcat, I would be a viable candidate for matron of the North Wind People. Surely neither she nor Cimmis wishes that.”
Rain Bear rubbed his jaw. “Nevertheless she has been ill.”
“Yes, but she doesn’t want me to follow her. She has a daughter, Kstawl.”
He propped his elbows on his knees, and she could see the red sash that belted his tan leather shirt. It accentuated the breadth of his shoulders and the narrowness of his waist. “Kstawl is very young, isn’t she?”
“Three and ten summers.”
Evening Star slipped her hands beneath her cape and rubbed her
cold arms. The walk to the meadow had chilled her to the bone. “It is more likely that all this is a lie. Astcat wants to lure me back so that she can reward Ecan by returning his wayward slave.”
cold arms. The walk to the meadow had chilled her to the bone. “It is more likely that all this is a lie. Astcat wants to lure me back so that she can reward Ecan by returning his wayward slave.”
Rain Bear grimaced at the ground. Tens of feet had trampled the mud; then it had frozen with the fall of night, leaving a pocked, treacherous surface. “Well, we won’t let that happen.”
Evening Star’s throat suddenly tightened. She lifted a hand to rub it.
Rain Bear stood, and she saw the dread and hope that brimmed in his eyes. “But if there’s a chance that you might be able to safely take your position as clan matron …”
He let the words hang.
“I can’t.”
“Answer me truly: If Astcat were dead, and the remaining North Wind People asked you to return as the North Wind matron, would you do it?”
Horrifying images flashed across her soul. She squeezed her eyes closed to avoid them, but they only intensified. People crying, lodges on fire … her daughter screaming …
“During the attack on my village,” she said in a shaky voice, “I tried to plead with Ecan for the lives of the children. I had my two-summers-old daughter in my arms and five more children clinging to my cape. He was polite and understanding. He said of course he wouldn’t execute children. I let his warriors take them away to a ‘safe’ place beyond the burning village. But it wasn’t far enough. I … I … could hear …”
“You don’t have to tell me this,” he murmured.
“Yes, I do. You asked if I could go back to the North Wind People.” Tears of anger leaked from her eyes. The memories made her feel empty and alone. “They killed Bright Cloud first. They bound her to a pole and dangled her in a fire. She kept screaming for me. I leaped upon Ecan … . His guards clubbed me down.” She looked at Rain Bear and found rage in his eyes. “The men who killed my daughter weren’t Raven People. I
can’t
go back. I
won’t
.”
can’t
go back. I
won’t
.”
Rain Bear reached out and took her hand in a strong grip. “I understand, but if you …”
Evening Star stepped into his arms and buried her face in the hide over his broad shoulder. It took him a moment to realize what she’d done. Then he pulled her close.
“Would it help you if I went back?” she asked miserably. “If I went to Fire Village and secretly worked to rally the North Wind People against the Four Old Women?”
He stroked her hair. “Maybe. Think about it for a time. This isn’t something you must decide today.”
Wolf Spider and Hornet whispered and looked away, as though trying to give them some privacy.
E
vening Star let her body melt against Rain Bear’s, and a warm, tingling wave ran through her. It felt so soothing to be held by a man again.
vening Star let her body melt against Rain Bear’s, and a warm, tingling wave ran through her. It felt so soothing to be held by a man again.
He whispered against her hair, “Red Dog said Ecan is desperate to get his boy back. He said Cimmis wasn’t concerned.”
“Of course not. His assassins are already on their way. What did Ecan offer?”
“Wealth and promises of my personal safety. Mostly promises he can’t keep. He will become more amenable as his desperation grows.”
Rain Bear peered down into her eyes. It was like standing on a mountaintop in a lightning storm. Every nerve in her body prickled.
“Red Dog is waiting to hear your answer to Matron Astcat’s request. Do you want to speak with him? You don’t have to.”
“Do you trust him?”
“Red Dog? He has no more scruples than a pine marten in a red squirrel’s nest. For the moment he’s having the time of his life playing at being everyone’s spy. It delights him to no end that Ecan and White Stone think he’s a dolt. Cimmis—if he ever even looked sideways at him—would think he was just another lazy unwashed warrior. A menial little better than a slave.”
“Then why does he stay there?”
“They pay him. He may be the richest man in the world by now. Oh, and the other thing. He worships Dzoo. It’s something I don’t understand. I can’t picture her ever responding to his devotion—or should I call it an obsession? May your Gutginsa have mercy on anyone who harms a hair on her body, because Red Dog, no matter the cost, will kill him.”
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