People of the Lakes(236)
Yes, well, you can’t blame her. Not after what the Khota did to her. And he was suddenly conscious of the firm fullness “of her breast where it pressed against his left arm. He closed his eyes, seeking to absorb the feeling of her, the warm security of her body against his. This he would keep carefully locked away to retrieve on cold ‘ lonely nights when he and Catcher camped beside the river.
Then, as the fire crackled, he’d remember the storm, the fury of the wind, and the long hours of darkness. Wave Dancer would buck and jump in the crashing waves. Rain would lash him again, and the hopelessness of their situation would loom frighteningly real. He’d hear her shouting, hear the laughter that had broken from her wet lips in the most desperate of moments.
He’d worship her then—and recall this well-earned rest with her hip against his, the pressure of her thigh so warm. On those damp, dark nights, the warm softness of her breast would haunt him.
Such memories could last forever if they were properly stored. The way he lived and the solitude of his Trading allowed him to cherish more of the past than people who lived in constant companionship, and he had more time to explore it.
He stared absently across the water, seeing a wavering mirror of the sunset on the glassy surface. Water turned to sky. Even a Contrary would be confused.
He battled with his bladder, enduring the misery of the body for the bliss of the soul. If only … if only … She finally stirred and stretched just at dusk, groaning as she sat up and looked around. Otter took the opportunity to rub his arm where it had fallen asleep. Her warmth would dissipate now, to become but another memory.
“Where are we?” she asked, making a face and rubbing her shoulders. “Every joint and muscle in my body aches.”
“But we’re alive,” Otter reminded. “Thanks to you.”
“Thanks to all of us.”
“Are you awake? Good,” Black Skull called from the bow.
His paddle continued to dip regularly into the water. “I don’t know where I’m going, only that I’m headed east. Is there land anywhere?”
Otter suffered through the tingling of reestablished circulation before he politely crawled forward over coarsely woven packs, rolls of palmetto matting, and what had been carefully packed jars, to allow Pearl privacy—such as there was on a canoe in the middle of the Fresh Water Sea. Some of the ceramic jars had broken, the seeds scattered among angular sherds of pottery.
Others had cracked, no doubt from the hull slamming down into the swells. Nothing appeared to have been lost, and considering what they’d survived, the damage was minor.
Otter found Green Spider sound asleep on a roll of palmetto matting. He picked his way carefully over the Contrary, then attended to his own needs before he hunched down behind the warrior, staring up at the deepening indigo sky.
Black Skull dropped his voice. “I wasn’t much help to you last night.”
“It’s all right. I remember how you feel about water. I’d have stayed close to shore if I could have. The Khota just didn’t give me any choice.”
Black Skull never missed a stroke with his paddle. “I fought a battle of my own last night.” A new vulnerability was in his eyes when he looked back. “Since that day at Hilltop, I … well, I’ve been seeing myself differently. Last night, something just … I’m sorry, Otter. I should have been there.”
Otter clapped the big man on the shoulder. “You’re doing just fine. We all survived. We just did it in different ways.”
Black Skull took a deep breath. “It’s hard for me, but I have to tell you that I was terrified. Me, of all people.”
Otter stared out over the rolling water.’ ‘ all were. I’ve never seen a storm like that. We’ve all ventured into unknown territory, Black Skull.”
“Will you forgive me for grabbing you by the throat that day?”
“You’re long since forgiven, warrior.” After a long pause, Black Skull asked, “Why didn’t the joke with the skunk work?”
“It would have … with anyone but a Contrary.”
They both laughed at that.
Black Skull gestured ahead. “Is there land out there?”
“There’s land all around us … or so I’ve heard. Traders who follow the shoreline make their way clear around the Fresh Water Sea. Now, if you can trace the shore all the way around, it follows that we’ll hit land somewhere, doesn’t it?”
Black Skull grunted under his breath. “All right, I guess that makes sense. So, tell me, Trader, where are we? Do we go north or south? East or west? At dawn, Green Spider said to go east. Perhaps we should wake the fool and ask, just to—”