People of the Raven (North America's Forgotten Past) (31 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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“It has enflamed their hatred, Tudab, not dampened it.”
That’s your beloved Council at work, you dolt. Without Astcat’s guidance, they’re sending us down the trail of eventual disaster.
Wind Woman flapped Tudab’s cape around his pudgy body as he turned to Cimmis. “I don’t understand. I thought we attacked War Gods Village to break the Raven People’s will. You said we were going to teach them they cannot hide from us. If they refuse to offer tribute, we can kill them anywhere and any time.”
“That’s what I said, but the Four Old Women had other reasons.” Cimmis studied Ecan’s captive. He thought he knew her, but couldn’t place her face. Red Hair? Gods, that wasn’t Evening Star, was it? No, this one was older, more … what? Stately?
“What reasons?”
A cold sprinkling of rain began to patter on the lodge roofs and on the back of Cimmis’s neck. He tugged up his hood. Tudab stood patiently awaiting an answer.
“Rain Bear’s forces grow by the day,” Cimmis said. “If we cannot force him to attack us soon with small war parties that we can eliminate, his forces will eventually move like a giant wave of locusts, destroying everything in their path. The Council is afraid the Raven People will wipe the North Wind People from the face of Our Mother Earth.”
Tudab’s mouth opened. Cimmis could see his coated tongue inside. Finally, he blurted, “Blessed gods, Cimmis! Have you spoken with the matron about this?”
“As you know, she’s been … away,” Cimmis said uncomfortably. “Besides, we will know soon enough. Rain Bear dislikes war, but when he must fight, he is swift to action.”
As his leather door hanging waffled in the wind, he caught glimpses of Astcat lying inside beneath a mound of hides. Kstawl knelt beside her.
His heart ached. She had been progressively growing worse. Every time she woke after being “away,” she begged Cimmis to tell her what had been going on.
Ecan’s group reached the central plaza fire, and the Starwatcher strode forward, his long white cape billowing around his tall body. How did he keep it so clean while on the trail?
The captive’s gaze lingered on the painted lodges.
“What’s she looking at?” Tudab asked.
“The paintings, I think.”
Then her eyes turned on Cimmis. His heart leaped. He couldn’t see her face—the sun was behind her and she had her hood up—but something about the way she held herself touched his memories.
People throughout the village continued to whisper with excitement and move about uneasily.
Then it struck Cimmis. He whispered, “Blessed gods. That’s Dzoo.”
“What?” Tudab spun around. Fear widened his eyes. “How do you know?”
“Once you’ve known Dzoo, you never forget.”
Tudab studied the slaves huddled together in the plaza. “If that is indeed Dzoo, my Chief, we may have a problem. Many of our slaves are Raven People, and she is one of their greatest heroes.”
“It’s her all right—and the slaves will be the least of our problems.”
“Then perhaps we should kill her immediately, before she creates dissent.”
In the plaza Ecan gestured to his warriors, and they prodded Dzoo toward the dank lodge where they kept captives and disobedient slaves. Cimmis shook his head in amazement. Even after days on the trail, she moved with uncommon grace; she might have been floating across the ground.
“Tell Lion Girl I wish her to personally take care of Dzoo, and inform Ecan I want to see him immediately.”
“Yes, my Chief.”
Tudab bowed and waddled down the hill toward Ecan as fast as he could.
C
immis watched as Dzoo stopped in front of the opening to the captives’ lodge. She stood perfectly still, her head down. The hair on the back of his arms stood on end. It was as though he could feel her soul moving about the village, touching things. Ecan pulled the door hanging back for her, but before she stepped into the lodge she turned to meet Cimmis’s gaze. Long red hair fluttered around her beautiful face. She smiled at him.
It was the kind of smile an enemy warrior gave you just before he slit your throat.
A guard bravely prodded her arm with his spear, and she ducked down into the lodge.
“There’s a … a traitor,” Astcat weakly said.
“My wife? Are you awake?” Cimmis hurried into his lodge.
Astcat lay on her side, her jaw slack, eyes focused on nothing. Gray hair framed her wrinkled face.
“Ecan has returned,” Cimmis said as he strode across to kneel at her side, “but you do not need to concern yourself with that. Try to sleep.”
Kstawl said, “I think her soul is coming back, Father. In the past hand of time, she’s awakened twice.”
Cimmis stroked her damp gray hair.
“What did you say?” Astcat blinked at the lodge, as if not certain where she was.
“I said Ecan is back.”
“Ecan?” Astcat blinked at the painted shields. “How many warriors did we lose?”
“I don’t know yet. I’ve sent for him.”
Astcat wiped at the saliva that had run from her open mouth down her chin. “How long was I away?”
“Two days, my wife, but nothing important has happened.”
Cimmis couldn’t let anyone know how bad she had gotten. The Council would demand she be removed as matron of the North Wind People. They would order that another female from her lineage be installed in her place. Kstawl was the likely choice, but her three and ten summers had not prepared her for leadership.
“My Chief?” Ecan called from beyond the lodge flap.
“Enter, Starwatcher.” Cimmis rose to his feet.
Ecan entered and bowed to Cimmis before striding forward. “Good news, Great Chief! We have—”
“I said
no
captives, Starwatcher. Do you take my orders so lightly?”
Ecan’s handsome face tensed. Wind Woman had teased hair loose from his bun and left it hanging around his face. “No, my Chief, I do not.” He untied the laces of his white cape as though they were choking him and let it fall open, revealing the beautiful red, yellow, and black shirt beneath. “This is no ordinary captive. I thought you would find her more valuable alive than dead.”
“You have brought the most dangerous woman alive into my village. Are you trying to destroy us? Do you think the Raven People will just sit by and allow us to harm their precious heroine?”
“Please, my Chief, I believe that she will be a very powerful tool we can use against our enemies. If we can force Dzoo to witch—”
“Dzoo?” Astcat’s eyes widened. “You captured
Dzoo
?”
Ecan bowed to Astcat. “Yes, Matron. We found her at War Gods Village.”
Astcat lifted her head. “Asin’s daughter?”
“Yes, Matron. Do you remember her?”
“Oh, yes.” Astcat stared with such vacancy Cimmis feared her soul might have slipped loose again. But she asked, “Has she said anything, Starwatcher?”
“Mostly nonsense about the future. She collapsed on the trail this morning. We had to bear her most of the way.”
Astcat’s eyes cleared. “What did she say?”
Ecan made a dismissive gesture. “Something about a blood-streaked man with stones for eyes.”
Astcat’s frown deepened as if she didn’t understand. “You must tell me if she says anything else. Anything at all.”
“Yes, Matron.”
Cimmis could tell that Ecan was lying. He would deal with that later, when it wouldn’t upset Astcat. “What was she doing at War Gods Village?”
“I assume she came for the Moon Ceremonial.”
“I always expected her to become Starwatcher.” Astcat smiled in a dreamy way.
“Everyone did. She had more Power at the age of four summers”—he glanced at Ecan through heavy-lidded eyes—“than most Starwatchers do when they’ve seen five tens of summers.”
Cimmis vividly remembered Dzoo sitting in the plaza with her clan’s sacred Dolphin Bundle in her lap. She would speak, then hold it to her ear and nod, hearing the Spirit inside. Dzoo had terrified every other child in Fire Village. And many of the adults. Especially him.
Astcat whispered, “Yes, we were alike, the two of us.”
“Were you?” Ecan inquired impatiently. “My Chief, I must tell you—”
Cimmis turned to Astcat. “In what way were you alike, my wife?”
Astcat’s smile faded, and her eyes went vacant. Spittle trickled from the corner of her mouth.
Cimmis gently wiped it away with his sleeve. “She’s probably remembering her youth. You see, at the age of nine summers, Astcat was chosen by the North Wind elders to be the Starwatcher in Fire Village.”
“So I have heard,” Ecan said with a nod. “Our matron was a very Powerful child.” He looked at Cimmis. “But, my Chief, we must discuss—”
Astcat laughed suddenly and shouted, “Dzoo used to run with the Noisy Ones! I saw her once, spinning around, trying to fling them off her skirt.”
“I remember you telling me,” Cimmis said in an affectionate voice. “She spun around so fast that all the Noisy Ones flew into the air and turned into butterflies.”
“Yes.” Astcat’s voice wavered. “I … saw it.”
Cimmis tucked the hides around Astcat and stroked her gray hair. “Sleep now. I’ll tell you everything later.”
He gently extricated his hand and stood up. “How many warriors did we lose?”
“Over the past two moons, we’ve lost two tens and three. Two were captured during the War Gods Village battle.”
“Captured?”
Ecan propped his hands on his hips. “War Chief Talon ambushed us at the base of War Gods Mountain. We had to sacrifice a few to get away.”
“And was my war chief one of them?”
“White Stone remained behind.”
“Why?”
Ecan’s perfect mouth hardened. “Rain Bear’s warriors were crawling all over the mountain, and I—I lost my son. I don’t know what happened. But after the battle, we were hunting down every last one of the North Wind People, to kill them, as you ordered, and my son must have …”
Astcat started weeping and whispered things that Cimmis couldn’t hear, tender things.
He touched Ecan’s arm. “Come, let us speak outside. I don’t wish to upset her further.”
He ducked beneath his door hanging, and Ecan stepped out into the cold beside him. A triumphant crowd had gathered around the returning warriors. The afternoon echoed with laughter and the rhyming work songs the slaves used to occupy themselves. In the distance, a keening arose as wives, girlfriends, and children learned of the death of their men. Dogs barked at the commotion.
“Before the battle,” Ecan continued, “I hid Tsauz in a pile of rocks, but he wasn’t there when we went to find him. I think he may have been captured.”
“Then consider him dead, Ecan.” Which saddened Cimmis; he’d genuinely liked the boy. Using him to allay Rain Bear’s fears had been a stroke of brilliance. The gamble had been that Rain Bear, known for his leniency, would allow the war party to pass. Then, later, when blame had to be assigned, it would fall on Rain Bear’s shoulders, further weakening his position and splintering the Raven People. Time would tell if that goal had been achieved.
Ecan’s jaw muscles squirmed as he ground his teeth. Then he said, “It’s possible—I’ll grant that—but we searched for several hands of time looking for any sign. We found nothing. Nothing!”
Cimmis pinned him with hard eyes. “So you stayed longer than necessary. You risked, and lost, our warriors’ lives searching for a little boy?”
“No longer than necessary! We searched for Tsauz while we were fulfilling your orders to hunt down the last of the North Wind People.”
“Didn’t it occur to you that the villagers might have found him and beaten him to death? Perhaps you just did not recognize your son.”
“None of the dead wore his clothes. I think it is more likely that he was taken captive.”
“If Rain Bear captured him, he’s dead.”
“Not necessarily,” Ecan rushed to say. “Rain Bear may think he can use my son against me.”
Cimmis turned. The vein in Ecan’s temple throbbed. The man’s heart was beating as quickly as a trapped rabbit’s, desperation in his eyes.
“Use him in what way?”
“Perhaps to convince me …” He swallowed hard.
Cimmis gazed out at the veils of windblown rain that blew across the mountain. Thunderbirds rumbled high up near the cone. “Then let us pray that a runner appears today to tell us your son is dead. That way you will not be tempted to betray me, and I will not be tempted to kill you before you have the chance.”
Ecan stepped back, aghast. “I would
not
betray you, my Chief! No matter what Rain Bear offered me.”
Against Cimmis’s will, his gaze strayed to his swaying door flap, where he glimpsed Astcat. “Don’t lie to me. I
know
what men will do to protect the people they love.”

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