“We didn’t,” Old Man Blood replied, hooking a thumb toward Green Spider. “He did.”
“Not me!” cried Green Spider as he shook his head furiously.
“I don’t even like Otter.”
Grandmother jabbed her walking stick at the ground, her head bowed. “I imagine the White. Shell Clan won’t object.” She cocked her head. “But the final decision will be Otter’s.” People whispered back and forth, wondering why Grandmother didn’t simply order him to go. The old woman’s black eyes fixed on him, gleaming. He could read her thoughts. I gave you my word.
“He won’t go! He won’t go!” Green Spider began chanting in a singsong voice. “He doesn’t like me, either.”
“Where am I supposed to take him?” Otter turned to Green Spider. “Do you know the way?”
“Downstream to the Fresh Water Sea, then eastward to the Roaring Water.”
Otter licked his lips and placed his hands on Green Spider’s bony shoulders. “I know a little about Contrary Power. But you must understand that I’m like a child … without your wisdom.
Can you talk to me as an adult to a child? Can you tell me the way?”
Green Spider’s Expression pinched, as though thought took great effort. “I’ve only flown over it—it’s not the same as being there. My feathers got awfully cold, though. I can tell you that.
And I’ll know places when I see them. We must follow the Father Water north.”
“Oh, that’s a big help!” Black Skull grumbled. “He’s flown over it! Good luck, Trader, you’re going to need it.”
Green Spider whooped and flapped his arms like a crane soaring up from a pond. “But you don’t need to call on luck, do you, warrior? You won’t need luck to survive, will you?”
Black Skull crossed his thick arms, tossed his head back.
“My path isn’t yours. Green Spider.”
The Contrary clucked like a crow. “No two paths are alike, warrior. Not even in the same boat. I can tell right now, you will enjoy this trip. It won’t challenge a man like you … not at all.”
Black Skull’s abused face darkened. “What are you talking about? The only place I’m going is back to the City of the Dead!”
What were the Contrary’s words? First three, then four, then six, less one? Otter spun on his heel, looking at the Clan Elders.
“I take it that I’m supposed to pack for three?” <f
“As Green Spider wishes,” Old Man North replied mildly.
“The great warrior, Black Skull, comes from my clan. He will do as the Contrary wishes.”
“Wait! No, I won’t!” Black Skull rushed forward. “Please.
Not this! Go upriver with that … that … ” The muscles in his ruined face jumped and knotted beyond control. “He’s crazy!”
Old Man North stood, taking a pained step to face the defiant warrior. “If Green Spider wants you to go, I am asking you to go. I can’t force you, Black Skull. That isn’t our way. If you decide not to go, I understand. It is a fearsome journey, and filled with many dangers. Someone must maintain the honor of the Black Clan. I will offer myself in. your place.”
Black Skull’s mighty muscles flexed and bunched like twisted oak. Tendons, like vines, popped, and his fingers knotted into fists. He bowed his head, and his crooked jaw worked back and forth.
Old Man North raised a thin hand, touching Black Skull gently.
The warrior flinched. “Black Skull, do you remember when Green Spider returned from the Dead? He got up off the bench in the charnel hut and led me and the rest of the Elders up to the top of the high mound. There we sat down among the ashes of the Dead and he told us of his Vision. He told us about Otter, and taking the canoe north. You are in the Vision. You are there.”
“Doing what?” Black Skull’s deep yoice had dropped to a faint rasp.
“Confronting the challenges you must face. This is a matter of Power, Black Skull. You have been chosen—perhaps because you are the greatest warrior ever to live.”
Black Skull nodded, then glanced at the watching people.
Stiffening, he drew his war club and shook it, “I’m not afraid!
But I ask you, would you want to be stuck in the same canoe with him! For days on end?”
Green Spider made a croaking sound and hopped to a spot in front of the fuming Black Skull. “The Contrary has a puzzle for you.”
“I don’t want to hear it.”
“When we find the Roaring Water, you’ll be the ugliest man in the world. Now … is the Contrary saying that forward … or backward? You must decide.”