He squatted down, back propped against the arroyo wall. So, he'd found Two Smokes. A joyous relief surged up to warm the smile on his face. Of course, he'd have to see if the Wolf Bundle remained with the berdache. Or did Clear Water have it? Surely, the two must be close, maintaining some sort of contact. Life among the Short Buffalo People would be a trial for outsiders. Clear Water would want to talk about old times, to hear the old stories.
Carefully, Blood Bear scanned the ridge tops, searching for lookouts, seeing none. Where were all the men? Hunting, most likely, scouring the surrounding terrain in search of the dwindling herds.
“So much the better. I can get in and get out unnoticed." The perfect opportunity would present itself. With the amount of meat carried in, most of the People would stuff themselves. Tonight would be a feast. There'd be a little singing and maybe a dance until all hours. But tomorrow they'd be heavy, lethargic after the night. He could sneak close just before dawn—and slip into the lodge where Two Smokes stayed. There, he could wring the location of the Wolf Bundle from the berdache, kill him, and be on his way.
It had to be tonight. The longer he waited, the greater the chance of discovery. You never knew when some child would be creeping around the sagebrush, or a woman would be out looking for rodents or roots with her digging stick.
Besides, Blood Bear had never done things by half measures. This raid the Short Buffalo People would remember for a long time.
"Heavy Beaver?"
The Spirit Dreamer placed his drum to the side, rubbing at the sweat that had formed on his face. He situated himself just so, all the amulets and trinkets he'd placed before him neatly arranged to look precisely powerful.
"Come in, Two Elks."
The old man groaned as he bent over and pushed the door flap aside. He blinked, long gray braids hanging to either side of his head as he looked around the interior. The light that silhouetted his ancient body glared in Heavy Beaver's eyes.
"So dark." Two Elks entered, moving to the right where the male guest was expected to sit.
"Careful. You don't want to step on my raven's foot."
Two Elks muttered to himself and kept to the rear near the lodge wall. His bones cracked as he seated himself and grunted.
Every hardship in Two Elks' six tens of years of life could be read in the age-lined map of his face. Toothless now, his jaw jutted under the overhanging hook of his fleshy nose. His eyes had shrunk in his head, the orbits hollow looking. A long-healed scar crossed his left cheek. The right eye still twinkled with life and intelligence while the left had gone milky white.
"So, you're going to kill young Sage Root?"
Heavy Beaver smiled humorlessly. "She defied me."
Two Elks nodded to himself, still blinking to adjust his good eye to the gloom. "I would talk you out of this."
"Why?"
"Because it's worrying the People. They're—"
"I want it to affect the People. Women like Sage Root have brought us to these present dire circumstances. The only way to change things back the way they were is to purify ourselves. It can't be done without examples set and sacrifices made. I've Dreamed it, heard it from the stars. Sage Root proves my point. She went out in violation of my orders. She spilled the blood of Antelope Above's brothers. She turned them against us. Now we'll have to starve for a while to purge her sins from the body of the People. I intend to make her pay."
“You'd do this? You'd kill a good woman just because she spurned you? What of her son . . . her husband?"
“What of them? Her husband is a wild and reckless man. He's failed to teach his wife respect for Spirit Dreamers. You've lived here. You know it's no secret that he never beats her, never punishes her for disobedience. No wonder his hunting has been so poor over the last couple of years. No wonder the Wise One Above took his children from him. What more proof do you need?"
Two Elks stared at the dead blackness of the fire pit. ''Doesn't it bother you that he might kill you for Cursing his wife?"
Heavy Beaver grinned. "Do you seriously think he would? I know Hungry Bull. How many times have I seen him shy away from Spirit Power? How many times have I heard him say he wants nothing to do with Dreaming or visions? No, all I need to do is threaten his soul—as I did his wife's—and he'll melt away like last March's snow."
“And Sage Root? Is there no way you'd withdraw the Curse?"
Heavy Beaver locked eyes with the old man. 44 I would. If she came here and submitted herself to me. If she came and apologized and bound herself to me for a year to learn proper penance for taking on a man's responsibilities. I could make a special exception and take her to the sweat lodge, cleanse her through the heat. Then I could heal her soul, rebind it to her body."