People of the Weeping Eye (North America's Forgotten Past) (63 page)
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Authors: W. Michael Gear,Kathleen O'Neal Gear
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On either side, Smoke Shield could see the other empty squares. Not so long ago, men had hung from them. He frowned, thinking of the captive who had died within the empty frame before him. His name had been Screaming Falcon. He’d once been the White Arrow Chahta’s most promising young war chief.
Until I plucked him right out of his house, along with his high minko and the Chahta Priests, and took him prisoner.
Smoke Shield had also burned White Arrow Town to the ground and stolen its matron: Screaming Falcon’s young wife Morning Dew. Morning Dew had become the matron the instant Smoke Shield killed her mother during the raid. Her brother, Biloxi Mankiller—who had also hung from one of the squares—had been
the Chahta high minko. In a stroke, Smoke Shield had decapitated the White Arrow leadership, and dealt the Chahta a stinging blow.
Smoke Shield had also burned White Arrow Town to the ground and stolen its matron: Screaming Falcon’s young wife Morning Dew. Morning Dew had become the matron the instant Smoke Shield killed her mother during the raid. Her brother, Biloxi Mankiller—who had also hung from one of the squares—had been
the Chahta high minko. In a stroke, Smoke Shield had decapitated the White Arrow leadership, and dealt the Chahta a stinging blow.
He smiled as he remembered the glorious procession his warriors had made as they arrived at Split Sky City, marching their captives up from the canoe landing, past the Old Camp Moiety Mounds, and around the sacred tchkofa, the Council House where the Sky Hand Mos’kogee deliberated and conducted their governmental business. Yes, that had been a
glorious
day.
glorious
day.
And it would only be the beginning!
He reached out, fingering the wood, remembering Screaming Falcon’s misery and horror as he had hung, right here, in this very wooden square. The young man’s face had looked lopsided from his broken and swollen jaw, and his flesh had been mottled, blistered, brown, and cracked from where split-cane torches had been pressed against his skin.
“I should have paid better attention to you,” Smoke Shield whispered to the empty wood. “Instead I was too preoccupied with your wife.”
Pus and rot, what a disappointment. He’d planned the whole White Arrow Town raid around stealing Morning Dew. Once she’d looked at him with the same disdain she’d have given a worm in a fruit. After he’d taken her from Screaming Falcon, burned her town, captured her high minko brother, and wrought every other indignity upon her, she’d just surrendered herself to him without a fight.
What was the point of trying to break a woman who was already compliant?
“I expected more of you, Morning Dew.” He cast a glance over his shoulder, across the corner of the plaza to where his first wife’s house stood. These days Heron Wing owned Morning Dew. The thought of it rankled. Not so much the loss of his slave, but the way of it.
He turned back, peering closely at the heavy wood
square, seeing the dark patterns where blood had stained the wood.
square, seeing the dark patterns where blood had stained the wood.
Everything changed that night.
He remembered the fog: thick and clinging, so dense a man could hardly see his hand before his face. All of his irritation had been focused on Morning Dew, on the way she lay under him, as unresponsive to his thrusting manhood as a soggy cloth. And while he was wetting his shaft in Morning Dew, someone was out here in the foggy night, sneaking past the guard to drive a stone sword into Screaming Falcon’s heart and then sever his genitals from his body.
“War Chief, I wanted to cut them off myself, just for the pleasure of watching your wife’s horrified expression as I handed them to her.” Perhaps that would have spurred some sort of violent reaction out of her. But someone had beaten him to it.
Who? That single act of murder had robbed the Sky Hand Mos’kogee of revenge on their victims. No claim had been made by any of the subservient Albaamaha. Not so much as a rumor floated among the Traders. What kind of miscreant would commit such a desperate act and then not utilize it as a means of belittling the Sky Hand?
Smoke Shield ran his finger over the deep pucker of his scar.
It had to be the Albaamaha.
They still chafed under the humiliation of serving their Mos’kogee masters. He already knew they had tried to betray the White Arrow Town raid to the Chahta. They
had
to be behind the captives’ murders. Anyone else would have bragged about it. Such a triumph would be shouted up and down the trails.
They still chafed under the humiliation of serving their Mos’kogee masters. He already knew they had tried to betray the White Arrow Town raid to the Chahta. They
had
to be behind the captives’ murders. Anyone else would have bragged about it. Such a triumph would be shouted up and down the trails.
In an effort to discover the culprits, Smoke Shield had taken Councilor Red Awl and his wife, Lotus Root, captive. In a rude shelter, up above Clay Bank Crossing, he and the warrior Fast Legs had tortured the Albaamo mikko, and learned nothing.
Then it had all gone wrong. Red Awl and Lotus Root had escaped. He and Fast Legs had found the mikko later, dead of his wounds; but the woman … gods, where was she?
He reached out and placed his hand on the wood, feeling the polish of years. So many bodies had been tied here. “Screaming Falcon?” he asked softly. “Who killed you?”
If he could only figure that out, he could retaliate. It had to be the Albaamaha! They’d been stewing with revolt for years. He’d caught the Albaamo traitor, Crabapple, who had been sent to warn White Arrow Town. The man had confessed—implicating an old Albaamo named Paunch as the conspirator. So could the mysterious and missing Paunch be behind the ultimate outrage of killing the captives?
“Where are you, Paunch? Wherever it is, I
will
find you eventually.”
will
find you eventually.”
He narrowed an eye, letting his finger chip some of the caked blood from the square. When he found Paunch, the man
would
talk. Perhaps he even had something to do with Smoke Shield’s Hickory Moiety losing the winter solstice stickball game. He had bet everything on that game—and lost it all. His wealth, clothing, shell, and copper … even Morning Dew.
would
talk. Perhaps he even had something to do with Smoke Shield’s Hickory Moiety losing the winter solstice stickball game. He had bet everything on that game—and lost it all. His wealth, clothing, shell, and copper … even Morning Dew.
He shot a narrow glance back at his wife’s house across the plaza. How had she known to bet against him? In collusion with the Albaamaha? No, that was ridiculous. Heron Wing was much too influential in Panther Clan politics. She’d just bet against him because she knew it would irritate him. Gods, why had he ever married that woman?
“Forget it,” he told himself. “Taking her as a wife was your first great triumph. Your attention now must be on breaking the Albaamaha.”
He took a deep breath, turning from the empty square. He would have his revenge. And somewhere, up in the north, his most trusted warrior, Fast Legs, was even now
running the missing Lotus Root to ground. Fast Legs would already have disposed of Red Awl’s body. When the woman was dead—and the stolen weapons she’d taken from Smoke Shield returned—then and only then would Smoke Shield begin to wreak havoc on the Albaamaha.
running the missing Lotus Root to ground. Fast Legs would already have disposed of Red Awl’s body. When the woman was dead—and the stolen weapons she’d taken from Smoke Shield returned—then and only then would Smoke Shield begin to wreak havoc on the Albaamaha.
Fast Legs, what is taking you so long?
“The Gears score big with another absorbing installment in their North America’s Forgotten Past series. The knowledgeable Gears have firmly interwoven history, geology, and archaeology into a compelling narrative that reanimates and breathes new life into a neglected era of Native American history. This is historical fiction at its best, well researched and well thought out.”
—
Booklist
on
People of the Weeping Eye
Booklist
on
People of the Weeping Eye
“Drawing on their backgrounds in archaeology, the Gears vividly re-create Paleolithic America in this enchanting and instructive novel.”
—
Publishers Weekly
on
People of the Nightland
Publishers Weekly
on
People of the Nightland
“[A] fascinating and imaginative narrative.”
—
Military.com
on
People of the Nightland
Military.com
on
People of the Nightland
“
People of the Raven,
at one level, is the re-creation of a lost and forgotten civilization by two noted archaeologists. This story of Kennewick Man … is a good read for those of us intrigued by the earliest Americans.”
People of the Raven,
at one level, is the re-creation of a lost and forgotten civilization by two noted archaeologists. This story of Kennewick Man … is a good read for those of us intrigued by the earliest Americans.”
—Tony Hillerman,
New York Times
bestselling author
New York Times
bestselling author
“
People of the Raven
draws you into a magnificent, sweeping world. It tells a bighearted story of war and peace, love and violence, with a cast of richly drawn characters. This is a novel that will stay with you for years—I guarantee it.”
People of the Raven
draws you into a magnificent, sweeping world. It tells a bighearted story of war and peace, love and violence, with a cast of richly drawn characters. This is a novel that will stay with you for years—I guarantee it.”
—Douglas Preston,
New York Times
bestselling author
New York Times
bestselling author
“
People of the Owl
… cements the Gears’ place in Jean Auel’s genre of prehistoric fiction.”
People of the Owl
… cements the Gears’ place in Jean Auel’s genre of prehistoric fiction.”
—
Romantic Times BOOKreviews
(4 stars)
Romantic Times BOOKreviews
(4 stars)
THE FIRST
NORTH AMERICANS SERIES
NORTH AMERICANS SERIES
People of the Wolf
People of the Fire
People of the Earth
People of the River
People of the Sea
People of the Lakes
People of the Lightning
People of the Silence
People of the Mist
People of the Masks
People of the Owl
People of the Raven
People of the Moon
People of the Nightland
People of the Weeping Eye
People of the Thunder
THE ANASAZI MYSTERY SERIES
The Visitant
The Summoning God
Bone Walker
BY KATHLEEN O’NEAL GEAR
Thin Moon and Cold Mist
Sand in the Wind
This Widowed Land
It Sleeps in Me
It Wakes in Me
It Dreams in Me
BY W. MICHAEL GEAR
Long Ride Home
Big Horn Legacy
Coyote Summer
The Athena Factor
The Morning River
OTHER TITLES BY
KATHLEEN O’NEAL GEAR
AND W. MICHAEL GEAR
KATHLEEN O’NEAL GEAR
AND W. MICHAEL GEAR
Dark Inheritance
Raising Abel
The Betrayal
To Kent Havermann,
for his enthusiasm for books and bookselling and for
his respect for and promotion of authors
for his enthusiasm for books and bookselling and for
his respect for and promotion of authors
This is a work of fiction. All the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously.
PEOPLE OF THE WEEPING EYE
Copyright © 2008 by W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neal Gear
All rights reserved.
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
Maps and illustrations by Ellisa Mitchell
eISBN 9781466815643
First eBook Edition : March 2012
First Edition: April 2008
First Mass Market Edition: December 2008
First Mass Market Edition: December 2008
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