People of the Raven (North America's Forgotten Past) (38 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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“An assassin. A Wolf Tail. He wanted Ecan’s son,” she answered in a shaky rush. “Did you catch him?”
“Dogrib’s gone after them. They took the trail that leads up toward War Gods Village. We’ll get them.”
As the reality of how close she’d come to doom sank in, her entire body started to quake.
Rain Bear knelt and touched her hand. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
“I’m alive.” Blood started to rush through her veins like an incoming tide.
His voice came out so soft and tender, she almost didn’t recognize it. “Two guards was a mistake. I should have known better.”
“Two, ten, it doesn’t matter! He was dressed like a slave! He could go anywhere.” She balled her fists, muscles tense against the trembling. “You’ve got to understand. I tried to buy him off. He didn’t even look twice when I offered my dress for Tsauz’s life.”
Rain Bear glanced at the decorated dress. “Interesting.”
“And another thing: It was eerie but I’ve never seen anyone so calm and self-confident. It was as if …”
“Yes?”
She glanced at him, puzzled. “He wasn’t afraid in the slightest that he’d be caught.” She shivered. “Something about him frightens me in a way I’ve never been frightened before.”
“Great Chief?” Dogrib called from outside.
Still shaking, Evening Star followed Rain Bear out into the dusk. In the gray light Dogrib’s white hair seemed to glow. She could see his puzzled expression. Behind him, two warriors came dragging a limp body by the armpits, the head lolling, the feet trailing in the mud.
“What’s happened, War Chief?” Rain Bear asked, stepping forward.
“You’re not going to believe this,” Dogrib muttered uneasily. “When it became apparent that we were going to cut them off, the stranger killed Wolf Spider. Split his skull. Then he dove into a patch of bushes beneath the cliff.”
Evening Star watched as Rain Bear stepped to where the body hung between the warriors’ grip. He bent, caught up a handful of the blood-soaked hair, and lifted the head so that Wolf Spider’s face could be seen. The wide eyes, slack features, and gaping mouth looked stunned in death.
“I take it that you surrounded him?” Rain Bear asked.
Dogrib was shifting uneasily from foot to foot, his expression a mix of anguish and disbelief. “A coyote ran out, my Chief. A single, huge coyote. It was so quick we couldn’t react, wouldn’t have anyway. We thrashed those bushes, sorted through them by hand.”
“And?”
“Nothing!” Dogrib cried. “There was nothing there but this!” He held up a small thong from which dangled a perfectly chipped obsidian effigy in the shape of a coyote’s head.
W
ord of the Wolf Tail spread in ripples through the camps surrounding Sandy Point Village. Although full dark had fallen, people began to collect around the large central fire across from Pitch and Roe’s lodge.
Rides-the-Wind led Tsauz down through the trees to watch. He cocked his head, curious as to how the people would respond. He could sense it: Tonight was a turning point, one way or another.
Coyote!
The name was whispered from lip to lip. Rides-the-Wind studied the somber faces in the crowd. People’s eyes glittered with fear, excitement, and worry. He could hear their anxious voices as they bent their heads and asked, “How did he get past the guards?”
He smiled, his hands on Tsauz’s shoulders.
As if guards were any hindrance to a man of his Power.
How curious, though, that he had come for the boy on this night, of all nights. A turning point. Yes. Rides-the-Wind leaned his head back and sniffed the cool night air. The earthy fragrance of the coming storm mixed with the odor of burning pitch torches. Power laced the air. Coyote knew it. He knew it. Did the tense boy under his grip know it as well? Those blank eyes might have been wells in the boy’s soul.
“Coyote came with a message for Matron Evening Star!” Rides-the-Wind heard someone whisper. That, too, was slipping from lip to lip like an eel in the kelp.
A tense silence fell as Rain Bear and Evening Star stepped into the circle of firelight. The great chief took a moment, nodded to Talon, Goldenrod, Bluegrass, and the rest of the elders and chiefs.
It was Evening Star, however, who stepped forward, her expression serious. Every, face—some reflecting hate—turned toward her. The story had circulated that she was working to betray them.
Even from where he stood, Rides-the-Wind could see her body was rigid with tension. He wondered if it was from the strain of her assault, or fear of what she was about to say.
Someone shouted, “Is it true she betrayed us to the Four Old Women of the Council?”
“Is she working with Coyote?” another demanded.
A cacophony of voices rose, shouting accusations, calling her names.
Rain Bear bellowed, “Quiet! You must hear what has occurred!”
The din subsided, and Evening Star stated, “Last night, a messenger came here from Fire Village. The rumors are correct. He
did
bring me an offer from the matron of the North Wind People. Astcat said she would revoke my slave status in exchange for cooperation.”
“Go home!” a woman shouted, and waved a fist. “We don’t want you here!”
Mutters of assent eddied through the crowd, and expressions turned grim.
Bluegrass cried, “Cooperation? What does that mean? What does she wish you to do?”
Evening Star stood tall and still. “Astcat wants me to convince you to leave these lands. She wants you to travel in small parties, and promises that if you do, she will guarantee you safe passage through the lands of the North Wind People.”
A confused babble filled the forest; then an old man stepped forward. “This is my home! My father and mother are buried here, as are two of my children! I’m not leaving!”
Another person yelled, “My ancestors died here. My clan has been here since the beginning. I won’t leave!”
Yet another reached down and raised a handful of the damp soil. “Raven gave this ground to us! If Matron Astcat wants to fight Raven, let her!”
“What’s Astcat trying to do?” War Chief Talon whispered. “Get rid of the Raven People so the North Wind People can have all the hunting and fishing grounds?”
Dogrib replied, “Surely she’s not that foolish.”
Tsauz lowered his head to peer sightlessly at the ground.
A tall burly man shoved through the crowd to glare at Evening Star. “I heard that Coyote offered you even more. Will you return to Fire Village as matron?”
“Matron?” someone whispered into the sudden silence.
Evening Star clenched her fists at her sides. “This is what I told Astcat: I would return to Fire Village if, and only if, she disbanded the Council and turned their Starwatcher over to Rain Bear!”
From the darkness beyond the fire, a voice called, “Then you’d all better start running now, because Ecan is coming to kill you!”
Howls of rage broke out, the crowd surging back and forth. Fists were raised, and the cacophony of shouted threats became a roar.
“Are you all right?” Rides-the-Wind bent down to whisper into Tsauz’s ear.
“They hate my father.”
“We are all filled with passion, Tsauz. Each of us is the master of it, for good or ill. How will you use your passion? For hate, like this? Or to make yourself and your world better?”
Dogrib’s eyes narrowed, and he motioned some of his warriors forward in a thin line between Evening Star and the crowd. A slow drizzle had begun.
Tsauz stood rigid, his blind eyes wide and still, digesting all that he heard. Then he lifted his chin. It was a royal gesture, like that of a young ruler about to make a decree. “Elder?”
“Yes?”
“I must speak with Evening Star.”
“This is not a good time, Tsauz, but I’ll see if I can arrange something for later. Will that be sufficient?”
Tsauz let out a shaky breath. “Yes.”
Evening Star had waited out the worst of the crowd’s vitriol. She raised her hands, waving until the babble died down. Her voice called loud and clear: “My people! Listen to me!”
“We’re
not
your people!” an old woman shrilled.
Rain Bear threw his head back. Rides-the-Wind saw the tendons and veins standing out in his neck as he screamed the most bloodcurdling of war cries.
Silence fell over the crowd as Rain Bear’s bellow died out. “Listen to her,” he said into the awkward silence. “Hear her, as I did.”
Evening Star pushed her way forward, passing Dogrib’s line of guards as she stalked up to the old woman and shouted, “Yes! You are
my
people—as I am yours!” She whirled, pointing from face to face. “What binds us together is our hatred for the Council! For what they have done to us!” She lifted a clenched fist, her sleeve
falling down to reveal a pale arm. “Cut this flesh, and my blood runs as red as yours does! My soul bled as yours did when the Council ordered my family’s murder! As they have killed your relatives, sons, and daughters,
they killed mine!
”
She glared at them, pacing from person to person, her anger a burning and brilliant thing. Rides-the-Wind grinned at the authority radiating from her.
“I
killed
Kenada when I could stand no more abuse!” She raised her hands, pale fingers shining in the firelight. “With these hands I
cut his throat!”
A low muttering of approval passed through the crowd like a lapping wave.
“Coyote,” she cried, “offered me the choice of betraying you in return for little Tsauz and the promise of safety!”
Rides-the-Wind felt the boy tense.
“I refused!” Evening Star told them vehemently. “And because I did, he has sworn to kill both me and the boy!”
A muted bellow was born in the press, a rekindling of the old hatred and injustice.
Evening Star thrust her hand out, pointing at Rain Bear. She was standing among them now, one of them. “In poor murdered Hornet’s name, I tell you: There is salvation for all of us! To live, we must join forces with Chief Rain Bear,
and break the Council once and for all!”
Shouts and whistles of approbation broke out, people shaking their torches, howling their support.
Rides-the-Wind watched, fascinated. “She has won them,” he noted, more for himself than for Tsauz’s benefit.
But the little boy looked up, his blank eyes like pits of pain. “I’m scared, Rides-the-Wind. If I don’t stop it, lots of people are going to die.”
“You think you can stop this?” he asked carefully.
“I must try.” The boy nodded frankly. “I’ve seen it in a Dream. But if I do, I may die a terrifying death.”
T
sauz heard Rides-the-Wind add more wood to the small fire the old man had built in front of his lodge. With the light drizzle, the evening had turned cold and damp. Thick mist blew through the firs, coating his face and hands. Water dripped from the brim of the bark rain hat he wore.
“I’m sure she’s coming, Tsauz.”
Tsauz twisted his hands in his lap. “But she’s late, isn’t she?”
“Her meeting with the chiefs probably took longer than she’d thought. That’s all.”
“What do you think they are discussing?” Tsauz straightened his black-and-white cape. He couldn’t seem to keep his fingers still.
“They’re probably trying to decide how to stop the assassin.”
Tsauz sensed Rides-the-Wind’s movement when he leaned toward the tea bag hanging on the tripod over the fire. It creaked as he dipped up a fragrant cup of fir needle tea.
“I could hear behind your voice, Rides-the-Wind. You don’t think Coyote can be stopped.”
“Not by guards, no.” A pause. “Here.” Rides-the-Wind tucked the cup into Tsauz’s hand. “Drink this. It will soothe your heart.”
Tsauz took the cup, smelling peppermint, but didn’t drink. He stared blindly in the direction of the trail Evening Star would take when she came home.
“You heard Evening Star. Coyote will be coming to kill me next
time. If the guards can’t stop him …” He had to swallow the rest, unable to state what lingered in his soul like a festering barb.
“Then I will.” Rides-the-Wind’s voice was barely audible.
“You?”
“This isn’t a battle fought by warriors, Tsauz. Coyote will either be defeated by Power, or by his unwholesome appetites. Time will tell. And you’re not the only one he’s hunting.”
“There’s Evening Star.”
“Yes, that’s true. Among others.”
Wind Woman gusted through the forest and behind him, Rides-the-Wind’s lodge puffed in and out, as though she were taking a deep breath. Tsauz shivered. Every sound affected him like a physical blow.
“Rain Bear doubled your guards, Tsauz.”
“Are they still out there? Can you see them?”
Rides-the-Wind pulled Tsauz’s left hand away from his cup, took hold of his first finger, and aimed it. “That man’s name is Blue Frog. It wouldn’t take but a halfhearted toss of a stone to make him really mad.” Rides-the-Wind pointed the finger at the next guard. “That is Chases His Foot. He’s leaning against a fir trunk, and over there”—he shifted the aim—“that’s Elktail. He’s a burly giant with shoulders like a buffalo bull. I don’t know the names of the others, but this is where they’re standing.” Rides-the-Wind calmly aimed and pointed Tsauz’s finger. When he finished he curled it around the teacup again.
The boy mouthed the words:
Elktail, Blue Frog, Chases His Foot
.
Tsauz’s souls had been drifting, as though this were all a Dream: the mist, the guards, and the racket of tens of people coughing and talking at once.
He heard steps coming up the trail; his breathing went shallow. “Is it her?”
“Yes. Evening Star walks at Rain Bear’s side.”
“Tell me what she looks like,” he asked, desperate to picture her behind his eyes.
“She looks tired. Red wisps of hair have come loose from her braid, and fringe her face. Her eyes show the day’s strain, but she walks with her shoulders squared. The white concentric circles painted on her deerhide cape blaze as she enters the fire’s glow.”
“And Rain Bear? Does he look angry?”
“No. Worried. His war club dangles from his hand—and his black braid hangs to the middle of his back. Two new guards walk behind Evening Star.”
“Only two?”
“Only two.”
Tsauz heard Rides-the-Wind pull out more cups. The odor of the peppermint tea carried on the breeze.
Evening Star said, “A pleasant evening to you, Soul Keeper, and to you, Tsauz.” She sat down on the hides on the opposite side of the fire.
Tsauz heard Rain Bear take up a position behind her.
Rides-the-Wind pointed at his fire. “Would you like a hot cup of tea?”
“That sounds wonderful, thank you.”
Tsauz heard Rides-the-Wind dip it full and hand it around the fire to her. Evening Star took it; her cape rustled as she leaned forward.
“Tsauz,” she said gently, “I imagine you are concerned by what I said earlier.”
Tsauz drew himself up and turned to face her. When he spoke, he used the North Wind People’s formal dialect, usually reserved for ritual occasions. “Yes, my cousin. I thank you for coming to speak with me.”
He could hear the tired smile in her voice. “What did you wish to know?”
Tsauz stammered, “I-I’ve heard the people in camp whispering all day. They think the assassin really came to kill me, not you. Is that true?”
“Not exactly, Cousin.” She hesitated, and Tsauz’s face slackened, sensing the worst. “He came hoping that I would side with Astcat, and that I would help him sneak you out of camp. When I told him you were with the Soul Keeper, I could tell that he was most disturbed.”
“Tsauz is the center of Power,” Rides-the-Wind said. “Coyote has his own goals in all this, and I can tell you now, they aren’t the Council’s, or Ecan’s, or Cimmis’s.”
“Then what?” Rain Bear asked.
“Power. Pure and simple,” Rides-the-Wind replied. “You delude yourself, Great Chief, if you think this is a matter of warriors, battle strategy, and defeating the forces fielded by the North Wind People. If he can’t take Tsauz for his own, it will be safer to just kill him.”
Tsauz swallowed hard. “Who sent him?”
Evening Star sounded unsure of herself. “I thought Coyote had been sent by the Council.”
“He may be acting on his own,” Rides-the-Wind said thoughtfully. “There are many people who wish you and the boy dead.”
You and the boy.
“Because we are North Wind People?” she asked.
“Many wish us dead for that reason alone, yes.”
Rides-the-Wind added, “Cimmis wants Tsauz dead to keep us from using Ecan against him. The Council fears him because he was witness to their attack on War Gods Village. Coyote knows that if Tsauz is not with him, he will be against him. And, of course, if we run out of enemies to worry about, there is always Bluegrass and his followers.”
With all the dignity he could muster, Tsauz stared in Evening Star’s direction. “My cousin, I wish to”—he tried to think of the right words—“to bargain with you.”
Her cape brushed the ground. “Very well, Tsauz. Bargain about what?”
“I know some things. About the North Wind People. I would tell you, if you give me your oath that when the North Wind People turn my father over to Rain Bear, you will promise to let him live.”
He had to clamp his jaw to keep it from trembling. He didn’t want her to know how frightened he was. Father always said a man could never afford to appear weak before his enemies.
Evening Star sat silently, and then her clothing rustled. Was she turning toward Rain Bear?
Tsauz waited, wondering if Rain Bear had nodded yes, or shaken his head no.
He added, “My cousin, I swear to you, my father has not done the things the Raven People accuse him of doing. He is a good father to me and a good Starwatcher.”
“Tsauz,” she said softly, “I understand what you are trying to do. He is your father, and your defense of him earns you both honor and respect. It is because of my respect for you, Cousin, that I tell you this: Your father inflicted terrible pain on me and my family. He did things to me that will mark me for the rest of my life. I have witnessed these things, survived them. I tell you not to harm you, or to disagree with you, but so that you may understand that it will take a great deal to make it worth our while to spare your father’s life.”
“Because the Raven People believe he has killed many of their people?”
“That, too,” she said in a low voice. “Before you speak, you must know that if you tell me this thing, I may not think it is worth saving your father. Further, the information you provide must be important enough to the Raven People that they will understand why I bargained with you.”
“I understand.”
“The final thing you must understand is that I have no real authority here.”
Tsauz thought about that. Father had often spoken of the Raven People as an unruly mob; perhaps she truly couldn’t guarantee his father’s safety. If ten tens of Raven People decided to kill him, could anyone stop them?
Tsauz saw it happen on the fabric of his souls—a sea of people with clubs and axes surrounding Father, beating him …
He listened to Evening Star’s movements. She lifted her cup to drink, then turned to look at Rain Bear again.
As if a memory, he heard a voice saying,
You must choose now. And when you do, you cannot go back.
Tsauz took a deep breath. “Cousin, as you have shown me honor in these negotiations, so I will honor you. I will tell you what I know, and in so doing, I call upon you as a kinsman and friend to do your best to protect my father.” He raised his head toward where he thought Rain Bear stood. “Chief Rain Bear told me he wanted to kill Chief Cimmis. Is that still true?”
To his surprise, Rain Bear’s voice came from behind. “Yes.”
“Then you will wish to know that the North Wind People are going to abandon Fire Village. They have been packing in secret.”
“What?” Evening Star sucked in a surprised breath.
“They have been packing in secret because they did not wish to give the Raven People time to plan an attack. They are going to move, very soon, to Wasp Village. They will be on the trail and vulnerable for several days.”
A crackling sound came from Rain Bear’s knees as he squatted behind Tsauz. “When?”
“Very soon, I think.”
Evening Star said, “Hallowed Ancestors, it seems inconceivable. The North Wind People have lived on Fire Mountain since the Beginning Time. The gods walk freely there, talking with the elders, guiding them. How can the North Wind People leave?”
“Old Woman North had a vision,” Tsauz said. “She said that Wasp Village will be the rebirth of the North Wind People. We will grow bigger and better than we ever were on Fire Mountain.”
Evening Star whispered to Rain Bear, “It’s possible. She often had visions.”
Rain Bear said, “What was the end of the vision, Tsauz? Did she see the North Wind People actually living in Wasp Village?”
Tsauz tried to remember what Father had told him. He shook his head. “I don’t think Father told me, or if he did, I don’t remember. He did tell me, though, that we must travel at night. The vision said that North Star Woman will lead us.”
Rain Bear must have motioned to the guards. Several men trotted in from the forest.
“Yes, Chief?”
Rain Bear said, “Dogrib is in Algae’s lodge. Tell him I know he’s busy, but I need to see him. Now.”
 
 
A
s the warrior ran away, Evening Star kept her gaze on Tsauz. The boy was shaking. Sweat beaded his face and ran down his throat.
He had the kind of spun-silk courage that only the very young could possess: frail and shining, but somehow more powerful than a thunderstorm.
She reached across the fire, taking his hand from the cup he held. “It took remarkable courage to bargain with me, and even more courage to say the things you did. You must never mention to any of the North Wind People what you’ve just said.”
His stricken face looked ashen, his voice little more than a croak when he said, “I know, Cousin. Now I must live with the choice.”
“We all live with our choices,” Rides-the-Wind agreed.
She withdrew her hand and said, “I thank you, Cousin. I will do what I can to save your father. But do not expect miracles.”

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