People of the Mist (19 page)

 
          
“There
are always risks,” he said. “As you just told me.”

 
          
The
faint light from the hot stone faded, and she could actually feel his smile in
the darkness.

 
          
“But
those who are smart minimize their risks, Great Tayac. Wouldn’t it have been
better to create a bond with Greenstone Clan, and then wear Water Snake down?
That was your original plan, wasn’t it?”

 
          
“Of
course.” He paused. “So, tell me, who do you think killed Red Knot?”

 
          
She
filled her lungs with the pungent steam. “High Fox. Who else?”

 
          
“You
didn’t believe that at first—and you don’t sound convinced, even now.”

 
          
“I
don’t trust Corn Hunter. Never have. It still bothers me that his warriors were
out there.” She ground her teeth, fists knotted. “His warriors had the
opportunity, didn’t they?”

 
          
“They
did,” he answered.

 
          
“I
watched you, you know.” The heat was working into her joints, draining the
tension that knotted every muscle. “My daughter’s death didn’t seem to affect
you.”

 
          
He
shifted in the darkness, the faint light from the hot stone faded now. “She was
a girl, Shell Comb. Do not think my words unkind, but I’ve seen two tens more
Comings of the Leaves than she had. You and I both know it was a marriage of
convenience. Much like many of yours have been.”

 
          
“You
would prefer an older woman then?”

           
Silence. Then he said neutrally, “I
might.”

           
“Someone who thinks a great deal
like you do?”

           
“It would be … refreshing, for once
in my life.”

           
“Your other wives haven’t satisfied
you?”

           
He chuckled. “The needs of the
flesh, yes. I have provided children for their lineages.” Another pause. “From
the tone in your voice, I can’t help but wonder what is in your head. The other
women of marriageable age in your clan are taken.”

 
          
She
smiled then, safe within the cloak of darkness. “And, what if I found you a
woman? One capable of thinking the way you do? Would you find that …
refreshing?”

 
          
“It
would depend,” he said carefully. “I would have to see just what the marriage
offered.”

           
As her thoughts wrapped around the
idea, she murmured, “The future is always full of surprises.”

 
          
The
fire crackled and spat flames under the mist of freezing rain that drifted down
from the low clouds, icing the trees and leaf mat. Where the ground was
exposed, footing was treacherous.

 
          
A
pot of fish boiled on the flames, the aroma enough to send pangs into The
Panther’s stomach. Boiled fish, while no great culinary delight, was still food
and fuel for a cold night.

 
          
The
Panther cocked a grizzled eyebrow at the heavens and huffed his disgust in a
frosty breath. The chill ate at his bones, and he couldn’t seem to get close
enough to the fire to stay warm.

 
          
Across
from him, High Fox looked just as miserable, hollow-eyed, as if part of his
soul had been stolen. Panther studied him. If he was truly innocent, that might
indeed be the case. A person didn’t recover from such a thing, at least never
completely. Years from now, High Fox would quiver in his dreams, wrongly
accused, being dragged to his execution, protesting his innocence. What more
horrible nightmare was there?

 
          
To
his right, Sun Conch sat hunched in her feather cape, wet hair framing her
round face and large dark eyes. Water dripped from her short beak of a nose.
She should at least reflect a little optimism. After all, The Panther was here
to hear her friend’s explanation of what happened.

 
          
“I
pronounce the fish done,” Panther growled. “If I don’t eat, and right now,
you’ll find out just how cranky I can get.”

 
          
“I
thought I’d seen it in the canoe,” Sun Conch said, as she reached for wooden
tongs. “You mean you can get worse?”

 
          
Panther
slitted an eye. “Don’t press me, girl.”

 
          
Sun
Conch swallowed hard, murmured, “Never,” and plucked the six boiled mullet from
the water. She laid them out on sections of bark and handed the first two to
Panther. The second helping went to High Fox, and Panther examined their faces
as the young man took the bark plate from her hands. Sun Conch’s eyes brimmed
with love. In response, High Fox clamped his jaw and tried to smile.

 
          
Panther
blew on his fish to cool them, and began picking his dinner apart. As he chewed
the succulent white meat, he weighed the young man’s actions. He ate
listlessly, eyes on the food. Nothing in his manner seemed to exude either guilt
or innocence.

 
          
“High
Fox,” Panther said through a mouthful. “It’s time to hear your story. Sun Conch
went to great risk to bring me here. Did you kill this girl?”

 
          
“No.
I already told you.”

 
          
“Look
at me. That’s it. Eye to eye. I want to see your soul as you talk.”

 
          
High
Fox raised his wounded brown eyes and said, I didn’t kill Red Knot. She was …
she …” He shook his head. “She was dead when I found her.”

 
          
“Tell
me, boy. From the beginning.”

 
          
High
Fox poked at his fish. “She didn’t want him.”

 
          
“Who?”
“Copper Thunder. He frightened her, repulsed her. She told me that the thought
of him touching her was like having a snake crawl across her skin.”

 
          
“Did
she tell Hunting Hawk and Shell Comb how she felt?”

 
          
High
Fox shook his head. “A woman in that family would never dare. Hunting Hawk is
the Weroansqua, and Shell Comb, she’s just as powerful in her way. In Three
Myrtle Village, when they tell stories about Shell Comb or Hunting Hawk, they
whisper. People fear those women.”

 
          
“Because
they are evil?” Panther plucked up another piece of flaky white meat and popped
it into his mouth.

 
          
“Not
like sorcerers or witches …” High Fox paused and glanced up, as if fearing he
might have offended Panther, then continued, “It’s just that no one crosses
them. They wield a great deal of authority.” He raised his head slightly. “I
heard my father, Black Spike, say that when Hunting Hawk clapped her hands,
even the thunder quaked in the clouds. It was like a joke, but not really. Do
you understand?”

 
          
“I
think I do.” Panther stripped the bones of the first mullet, flipped them into
the fire, and started in on the second. “And when did you first meet this Red
Knot?”

 
          
“I
guess, well, we’ve always known each other. We grew up in allied villages. We
played when we were little.” He glanced away, fidgeting. “Then things changed.”

 
          
“When?”

 
          
“Last…
last summer.”

 
          
“Gull
dung, boy, look me in the eyes.” When High Fox did, he looked as guilty as
Okeus after the Creation. “Spill it, boy. Right now. How did things change?”

 
          
High
Fox tensed, his hands suddenly as active as ants with nowhere to go. “Just
changed. You know. Like a man and woman. Not a boy and girl. We—we looked at
each other differently.”

 
          
Panther
muttered dryly, “That happens between men and women.” , “I swear, I never
touched her!” High Fox blurted.

 
          
Panther’s
brows arched. “Indeed.”

 
          
“He
didn’t, Elder!” Sun Conch came to High Fox’s defense. “I tried to get him to …
when I—I asked him to run away with me …” The words faded, and she lowered her
gaze to the smoking fire. High Fox had squeezed his eyes closed, as if in pain.
Sun Conch glanced at him, and added, “He wouldn’t have dared, Elder. It would
have cost him his life, and he knew it.”

 
          
Without
molars, Panther had to use his worn front teeth to chew his fish. While he did,
he mulled over what they’d just told him about their own difficulties. “So, Red
Knot was promised to Copper Thunder, but didn’t like him and wouldn’t complain
about the marriage to her mother or grandmother, correct?”

 
          
“That’s
right.”

 
          
“Well
then, what were you going to do about it?”

 
          
“I
was going to take her away. After the dance. She was supposed to meet me at
Oyster Shell Landing at dawn.”

 
          
“When
did you tell her to do this?”

 
          
“I
didn’t… it was her idea.”

 
          
Panther
pointed with a hard finger. “You’re a liar, boy. I won’t be lied to.” He
glanced at Sun Conch, who sat watching with her whole heart in her eyes. “I’ve
given him a hearing. He had his chance.”

 
          
“No!
Wait!” High Fox started forward, arms spread. “All right. It was me. I told her
to meet me at Oyster Shell Landing.”

 
          
Panther
picked at his fish for a moment, allowing the boy’s tension to rise. “Then why
did you lie to me?”

 
          
“Because.”
High Fox slapped his legs. “It looks bad. As if I put her up to it in the first
place. If a warrior would tempt a young woman to ignore her responsibilities,
what else might he do? At least, that’s how Hunting Hawk would look at it.”
“Boy, tell me everything. I don’t want any lies, you hear?”

 
          
When
High Fox’s shoulders slumped, Sun Conch reached out to lay a reassuring hand on
his arm. They gazed at each other for a long moment; then she whispered, “Are
you all right? You look ill.”

 
          
“Tired,”
he whispered. “I’m so tired. I’ve barely slept since you left.”

 
          
She
squeezed his arm and turned back to Panther. “He’s worn out, Elder. Perhaps we
could hurry this along. High Fox—”

 
          
“Has
to answer my questions, girl. First, he has to tell me how this was supposed to
work.”

 
          
High
Fox let out a halting breath. “Red Knot was finishing the last of her dances, and
saw me slip away from the fire. It took awhile, but then she came to our place
and—”

 
          
“Your
place?”

 
          
“On
the sandy beach, just down from the canoe landing. We met there a lot.”

 
          
“And
that’s when you asked her to run off with you?”

 
          
“Yes.
We didn’t have much time, you see. I told her I’d paddle around the neck, meet
her at dawn at Oyster Shell Landing. We’d have a good solid day’s head start,
and even then, Nine Killer’s warriors wouldn’t know which direction to look.”

 
          
“And
she agreed to this? Just like that?”

 
          
“She
was desperate. I swear it. Anything to keep from marrying Copper Thunder. She
told me she’d be there, right at dawn. Or as soon as she could slip away. She
hugged me, and then she ran back toward the village. That was the last time I
saw her alive.” High Fox rubbed his face with a nervous hand, staring back at
that time and place. Sun Conch shivered, wiping at a trickle of cold water that
seeped out of her soaked cape.

 
          
Panther
said, “What did you do next?”

 
          
High
Fox straightened. “I made my way back to the canoe landing, found my boat, and
shoved it out into the water. After that I paddled all night, making my way
around the neck. I landed at Oyster Shell Landing just before dawn. I guess I
was tired… fell asleep until sometime just after dawn.”

 
          
“Did
you tell anyone you were doing this? Even contemplating it?”

 
          
“No,
Elder, I…” He paused and glanced at Sun Conch. “I told Sun Conch. But she’s the
only one. And I don’t think Red Knot would have said anything. She wasn’t that
kind.” “But if she had told someone, could you guess who?”

 
          
“Maybe
Quick Fawn. They were best friends. She’s a little younger than Red Knot was.”

 
          
“A
chatter mouth?”

 
          
“No.
Not really.” He shrugged. “I don’t know. If she was, I never knew it. I just
thought she was sort of-well, you know, a pest. Always following us around when
we wanted to be alone.”,

 
          
“I
see. Very well, so you’re at the landing, asleep in the boat…”

 
          
“That’s
right. I woke up and, um, I don’t know, maybe the sun was a hand or two above
the horizon. It was cloudy, so I couldn’t really tell. The fog had risen, I
know that. I was cold, so I paced up and down the landing, waiting, being
nervous. I mean, I’d never done anything like this before, and a person starts
thinking, you know, about what you’re doing, and just where you will go and how
you’ll live. It’s one thing to run off, another to find a place where you can
survive.”

 
          
Panther
cocked an eyebrow. “Did you think about backing out?”

 
          
High
Fox shook his head resolutely. “I was Red Knot’s last chance. Copper Thunder
was there, in
Flat
Pearl
Village
. She was supposed to leave with him that
day. We had to go.”

 
          
“And
when did Red Knot arrive?”

 
          
“She
didn’t.” High Fox ground his teeth, a hardness in his eyes. “It was getting
late and I couldn’t help it, I started up the ridge, just to see if she was
coming. I had this bad feeling, like we were in trouble. If she’d been seen,
followed, I had to know, so I could fix it, you understand?” “Yes.” “Well, I
climbed up that high ridge, and almost walked past her. She’d … she’d been
dragged off to one side, and just left there in a hollow behind this old
hickory tree.” He hesitated, his breathing strained. “As Okeus hears my words,
she was just sprawled there. Broken . my pretty girl … all broken. Like… like
something discarded.”