A finger of breeze tugged hair loose from Baji’s long braid and left it hanging in black curls around her sweating face. She brushed it aside. “I don’t like the looks of that trail.”
“I don’t either. Even after we clear the leaves, we’ll have to pass through that section where the trees grow so densely they resemble black walls on either side of the path.”
Even worse than the trees along the trail, the small valley was rocky and steep-sided. If they were attacked here, there was no place to run. Carefully, she searched the high points for evidence of treachery, but saw only windblown leafless trees.
Baji gestured with her bow. “I’m going to dispatch a party to clear the leaves. That will make it easier going, and give us a warning if someone is hiding in the shadows.”
“Good idea. Our warriors will appreciate having time to catch their breaths,” Cord said. “You’ve been pushing them hard.”
“I want to get home.”
“And, I suspect,” he said in a knowing voice, “as far from Dekanawida as you can. But I will miss him. He is a great warrior and a—”
“Was,” she corrected. “He was a great warrior. He’s abandoned his weapons for good.”
“Well, that is the way of many Dreamers, though I’ve never thought it wise.”
Baji picked up her pace, pounding down the incline toward the leaf-choked trail where they would temporarily stop. Cord trotted beside her. “I’m worried about him, Father. If he is attacked—and you and I both know he’s made himself a target—he has no way to defend himself. He needs a guard, someone to protect him.”
Cord laughed softly. “Perhaps you’ve forgotten the storm yesterday?”
“I haven’t.” The images had been seared into her souls. “Father, do you really believe he called the storm? Or was it coincidence?” She felt like a traitorous dog asking the question. If she, who loved him more than life, didn’t fully believe, did anyone?
“He called the storm, my daughter. I saw it.”
She shook her head, not in denial, just uncertainty. “Faith is a hard thing. How do you do it?”
He smiled at her. “Simple. Believing is the doorway to believing.”
As they neared the leaves, he slowed to a walk, and the warriors behind them sighed in relief. Laughter broke out, followed by happy voices. Cord said, “Not only that, I believe Dekanawida has Powerful allies in the Spirit World. I met one of them once.”
Baji gripped his arm and dragged him to a stop in the middle of the trail, forcing warriors to flood around her. “When?”
Cord tilted his head to a small clearing off the trail, a place where they would not be overheard. She followed him to the sun-splashed meadow, surrounded by maples. Snow glistened at the base of the trunks and frosted the leafless limbs.
She called, “Dzadi, please select a group to clear the leaves from the path and scout the area, then start moving the war party through.”
“Yes, War Chief.”
Dzadi walked through the warriors, tapping men on the shoulders. In less than twenty heartbeats thirty men had trotted out and begun using their war clubs to beat a path through the deep leaves and scout the forest.
Baji turned to study Cord with sharp black eyes, waiting for him to answer her question. His eyes took on a glazed look, as though remembering.
“Twelve summers ago, that last night when the old woman attacked us on the river. I had followed Odion’s path, seen where he’d been captured by her warriors. I was tracking him. I still don’t know what to make of what had happened next.”
Baji waited. “What did you see?”
“At first? Just a strange ripple, as though the darkness itself was blowing in the wind, then a shine of tarnished copper beads. Finally, a black cape appeared, and a man seemed to coalesce inside it. He glided weightlessly through the trees, apparently also following Odion’s steps.”
Baji stopped breathing. Her eyes felt like burning coals. “Did you speak with him?”
“Oh, yes,” Cord answered with a laugh. “For a long time. I spoke with him twice that night. The first thing he told me was that if I was going to help my friends, I had to hurry, because you were surrounded and outnumbered three to one—”
“Meaning us?”
“Yes, your party was down on the riverbank. When I arrived, I saw War Chief Koracoo … sorry. I mean Jigonsaseh … I saw her standing facing the evil old woman. You were all surrounded, just as Black Cape had said.” He paused to study Dzadi’s team. They had managed to knock about half the leaves out of the trail. She couldn’t see the scouts. They were probably examining the depths of the forest. “That’s when the Spirit came to me again.”