People of the Earth (92 page)

 
          
 
"No," Wind Runner whispered,
staggering forward. "What are you doing? You know why I went to the Black
Point!" He choked on the words and reached out with imploring hands.

 
          
 
"Is she your cousin?" Black Moon
asked. "If she is Sage Ghost's daughter, and he is your uncle, then she
must be."

 
          
 
"White Ash!" Wind Runner pleaded.
"Why are you doing this?"

 
          
 
She reached up and ran warm fingers down the
side of his face. "Because I must Dream, Wind Runner. Otherwise, the
Spiral will change. Brave Man will win if I don't face him."

           
 
His jaw quivered under her touch.

 
          
 
"Do you deny her?" Black Moon asked.

 
          
 
Wind Runner's thoughts remained blank. In the
silence, Sage Ghost spoke up: "Black Moon? Would the clan listen to Sage
Ghost's advice?"

 
          
 
Black Moon nodded. "You always have a
voice among us."

 
          
 
Sage Ghost propped his hands on his hips and
lifted his chin. "I look at White Ash—and see a woman I almost don't know.
Years ago, Power led me to steal White Ash from the Earth People. I've seen the
look of Power before. It's in her eyes. She talks of a Dream. Only this morning
we placed our Soul Flier's body in a high place and Sang his soul up into the
sky for Thunderbird."

 
          
 
Sage Ghost gave the surrounding people
thoughtful study. "I don't know the ways of Power—but a Soul Flier was
taken from us. Now another has arrived. We've all heard the warriors. Heard Snail
Shell, whom we trust. White Ash and this man of hers called the animals. Only
when the warriors arrived did the animals flee. Perhaps her request should be
granted by the Black Point." Sage Ghost gave Wind Runner an apologetic
look and added, "I have spoken."

 
          
 
"Wind Runner?" Black Moon asked.

 
          
 
Wind Runner licked his dry lips, struggling to
know what was right. He turned to White Ash, probing her shining eyes.
"You don't want to be ... my wife?"

 
          
 
She placed gentle hands on his shoulders.
"Wind Runner, I can't. I must Dream. Otherwise, all is lost."

 
          
 
His soul shrieked as he mumbled, "She is
my cousin." He forced his way through the crowding people, heedless of
their stares. In dumb misery, he stalked from the camp.

 
          
 
Still Water watched the anguish in Wind
Runner's face, understanding the decision that had been made. Instead of the
relief he'd expected-, the man's hurt pained him.

 
          
 
For White Ash, Wind Runner had left the White
Clay. Now all that he'd accomplished for her had come tumbling down around him.

 
          
 
White Ash continued to speak in the Sun
People's tongue.

           
 
Still Water watched the anxiety rising in the
people's faces. And who was that burly warrior with the five circles tattooed
on his forehead? White Ash had hugged him most familiarly.

 
          
 
'Think we ought to run for it?" he asked
Trouble. The dog watched the circling camp dogs with wary interest, his back
fur up. A low growl rumbled in his throat. "You said it."

 
          
 
People began to break away and filter back
into the camp. Still Water stuck close to White Ash, asking, "What's
happening?" But White Ash talked earnestly with the big man who seemed to
be the leader.

 
          
 
"Council," the muscular warrior with
tattooed circles on his forehead said. The man looked Still Water up and down
and added, "White Ash said you are her husband}"

 
          
 
Still Water experienced a slimy sensation in
the pit of his stomach as he looked into those hard eyes. Who was this powerful
warrior? With his broad shoulders, he looked like he could turn a mountain
upside down.

 
          
 
Then the man's meaning sank in: White Ash had
called him her
husbandl
Still Water cocked his head.
Somehow, the thought just hadn't crossed his mind. It comforted him to say,
"She is my wife."

 
          
 
The burly warrior inspected him as if he were
a mold-green buffalo quarter before asking in a heavily accented voice,
"What does she see in a man as ugly as you? You have only one arm."

 
          
 
Still Water straightened proudly. What cursed
business was it of his? "I am the Keeper of the Wolf Bundle. And I am the
protector of the Dreamer." On inspiration, Still Water added, "If you
have other questions, I suggest you ask them of Power.''

 
          
 
The warrior's hard eyes narrowed to slits.
"I do not question Power.'' He spun and followed the others toward a large
lodge. The skirts had been rolled up to admit the breeze. In the center of the
camp, Greasewood camp's earth lodges looked orphaned and alone.

 
          
 
Still Water trotted after and asked the
warrior, "Where did you learn the tongue of the People? You speak
well."

 
          
 
The muscular warrior laughed, the sound
anything but reassuring. "You wonder why a man would ask what White Ash
sees in you? It's my right, Earth man. I learned Earth People talk from her.
She's my daughter."

 
          
 
Still Water stopped and stared. "Sage
Ghost?" The warrior crossed his arms, muscles bulging. He studied Still
Water through glinting eyes. "I am Sage Ghost."

 
          
 
"When we have time, I would like to talk
to you. White Ash has told me many wonderful stories of you and Bright
Moon."

 
          
 
Some of Sage Ghost's hostility ebbed. He
blinked and lowered his eyes. "Perhaps later, around the dinner
fire." "Still Water?" White Ash called. "Come, sit with
me." He nodded respectfully to Sage Ghost and went forward.

 
          
 
"Why have you come here?" Black Moon
asked as the last of the eight leaders seated themselves inside the lodge. The
entire clan thronged around outside, crowding against the lodge poles as they
strained to hear every word. Despite the heat of the
midday
sun, people pressed close, some with
squares of leather over their heads for sunshades.

 
          
 
White Ash looked around the lodge. The hides
had been smoked to a deep brown. Sleeping robes lay on the south side, next to
a series of cooking paunches and stone tools. Under the rolled-up skirts she
could see more people trotting up and crowding behind the other spectators,
eager to listen. Even the burning air had gone silent.

 
          
 
White Ash sat cross-legged, back straight,
hands folded. Still Water sat beside her, his dark eyes wide and wary. The pack
with the Wolf Bundle rested in his lap. She said, "I have come to Dream
the new way.''

 
          
 
Black Moon tilted his head. "New way? We
don't need a new way."

 
          
 
White Ash's forehead lined. "You just don't
understand what's happening. Everything has come apart. The Sun People have
changed the Spiral."

 
          
 
"And what is this Spiral?" Black
Moon looked up at his wife, Makes Room. The woman shrugged.

 
          
 
"Life. All that is—and is not,"
White Ash replied.

           
 
Black Moon shifted nervously. "Your soul
flies to the Camp of the Dead? You can do that? Call Thunderbird?"

 
          
 
The sensation of flight lingered at the edge
of her memory. "I have flown as one with Thunderbird. Thunderbird is First
Man—and the Wolf Dreamer. That is what I have come to teach you. The woman who
was White Ash died in the
Gray
Deer
River
. This man, Still Water, pulled me out of
the icy water. Together, we went to retrieve the Wolf Bundle. Still Water faced
the Broken Stones' Soul Flier—Brave Man—and we escaped. High in the
Sideways
Mountains
, the Earth People's Healer, Singing Stones,
taught me how to Dream. The Wolf Bundle showed me the way to the One. It is
with the Dream that I must face Brave Man when he comes here."

 
          
 
"Broken Stones are coming here?"
Black Moon asked. He shot a look at Snail Shell. The warrior shook his head
fearfully.

 
          
 
"They come," she said. "Two
days from now they will be here." She lifted both hands and added,
"If I don't defeat Brave Man, the Dream of First Man dies. Harmony will
cease. The Black Point will be destroyed. Brave Man will find the Wolf Bundle
and change the Spiral. The animals will be caged, the land will be butchered
... I must Dream the new way."

 
          
 
Black Moon leaned forward, his jaw clenched.
"How many are coming?"

 
          
 
"All of their clan."

 
          
 
A murmur of voices broke out.

 
          
 
"We can't get our warriors back here by
then!" Snail Shell slammed a fist into the dirt floor. "It will take
a day to climb
Green
Mountain
! And how long for the parties to—"

 
          
 
"Warriors will not solve this."
White Ash could feel the Power of the Wolf Bundle where it lay in the pack
cradled tightly against Still Water's stomach. "This is a matter for
Dreamers. For Brave Man and me. We must Dream the future."

 
          
 
People shifted uneasily.

 
          
 
"You will face this Soul Flier
alone?" Black Moon traced circles in the dust with his fist.

 
          
 
"Still Water and I will face him
together."

           
 
"Is Still Water a warrior?" Sage
Ghost questioned
disbe-lievingly
.

 
          
 
White Ash turned to look at her father, who
squatted behind her. "He is the strongest man Power could find. The Wolf
Bundle called him, tested him, and Still Water won the honor to become the
Keeper of the Bundle." She laid a warm hand on Still Water's knee.

 
          
 
Her husband gave her a reassuring glance,
although he was lost in the incomprehensible babble of Sun talk.

 
          
 
"And what is this Wolf Bundle? Why have I
never heard of it?" Black Moon asked.

 
          
 
"It was the Power of the Wolf People,
before Brave Man stole it." To Still Water, she said, "Our Dream
begins. They would know the Power of the Wolf Bundle."

 
          
 
Still Water's grip tightened on the pack. He
searched her eyes and wiped his hand on his pant leg to clean it before he
undid the thongs. He closed his eyes, reaching inside reverently. Hostile
whispers broke out among the Black Point.

 
          
 
White Ash took a deep breath as the Power of
the Wolf Bundle flowed through the air. She could trace the path of it up Still
Water's arm, feel it as it expanded his soul.