“When did you discover all the food was gone?”
“Not until late afternoon! I sent warriors to search the ground, even the tree branches, thinking they might have—”
“Dear gods.” Negano rubbed a hand over his stunned face.
His warriors had fought hard all day long. Exhausted and with empty bellies, most had just miserably walked away when the news had come. But around two hundred had encircled Negano. Shouting curses, they shook war clubs and fists in the air, ready to kill whoever was responsible for denying them a well-deserved supper.
Fear twisted deep in Negano’s belly. “Where is the chief?”
Qonde’s shoulders hunched again. He swung around to point to the northern end of the camp. “I warn you. He’s not happy, Negano.”
Negano squeezed his eyes closed and massaged his forehead. “It’s too late to send out hunting parties, which means there will be no food for breakfast tomorrow, either. Tell the chief that I expect many warriors will desert tonight, and more will vanish tomorrow. Even if we—”
“You want me to tell him? I’m not War Chief, you are! You tell him!”
His nerves humming, Negano grabbed Qonde by the front of his cape, shook him violently, and shouted in his face, “Do it! I gave you an order!”
Forty
Baji and Dekanawida had avoided the main trail that led to Shookas Village, choosing instead a narrow trail that wound through the eastern hills. Though they ran through forest, the acrid scent of forest fires clung in the air.
She felt a new stirring in the land. Oddly, the knowledge came to her not by sight and sound, but something deeper. As though she could extend her soul beyond her body and out into the forest, every part of her, muscle and sinew, felt the land awakening. The animals felt it, too. Bounding deer chirped the news, squirrels leaping between branches chittered about it, Great Grandmother Earth tried to beat the awareness into Baji each time her moccasins struck the ground.
When she broke into a run, passing Dekanawida on a downward slope, he gave her a curious glance and pounded after her.
He must sense it, too. We are almost there. The last meadow in the belly of the clouds awaits us.
As they careened down the slope and headed up the next rise, Shookas Village appeared. Dekanawida let out a low confused sound and staggered to a stop, staring at the fire-devastated landscape. His round face streamed sweat. Breathing hard, Baji halted beside him to assess what they saw. Hundreds of camps dotted the flats around the village, and thousands of people milled around them.
“Why are so many people here?” he asked.
“It looks like the end of the world to me. And I feel it, don’t you?”
Sky Messenger sucked in a breath and exhaled the words, “All I feel is scared, Baji.”
Gitchi growled as he paced back and forth in front of them with his neck fur bristling and rippling. The old wolf had lived a long, strong life, filled with battle, and bitter cold, and hunger that stalked the souls. He knew without being told that war was in the air he breathed.
“I fear,” Baji said, “that they are preparing a giant war party.” Her gaze scanned the crowded palisades and lightly skimmed across the hide huts. “Weapons are everywhere.”
Dekanawida said, “I don’t see Hiyawento.”
The dread in his voice made her smile. She reached out and clasped his hand. “Has he ever let any of us down? No. Not even when we were children. He’s here. I’m looking forward to seeing—”
“Baji, I want you to stay here,” he said suddenly. He turned to stare down at her, and his cape flapped around his tall body, whipping into snapping folds when the wind gusted just right. His broad chest expanded and shrank with his panting lungs.
Calmly, she asked, “Why?”
“When this is over, if I survive, I’ll meet you on this very spot.”
She tilted her head. “Why do you want me to stay behind?”
“Because”—he reached out to still the long black hair that blew around her face—“if things go wrong in there, I’ll be so worried about you that I will forget everything else I must do.”
“Is that it, really?” she asked mildly. “Or are you afraid that no one else will be able to see—”
“That’s not it. I swear it.” He shook his head as though denying something he knew in his heart. “Please do this? Just stay here and wait for me.”
She searched his taut expression. “I’ll do whatever you need me to. You know that.”
He heaved a relieved breath, as if she’d removed a great weight from his shoulders, and bent down to kiss her. His lips were warm and soft, caressing. When he drew back, he said, “I’ll return as soon as I can. No matter what happens, never forget how much I love you.”