Catcher, predictably, had been delighted with the attention at first; but—as any dog worth his name would do—he began to wiggle, desperate to escape the hug. After all, it wouldn’t do for a guard dog of Catcher’s renown to be seen clutched in an embrace like a silly puppy!
Otter sighed, the moment of solace forever past. “You’re a good guard, Catcher. You stay here and watch things. There’s going to be a feast tonight. I’ll bring you some bits of meat, and maybe a couple of cakes.”
As Catcher climbed nimbly back into the storage hut, his tail whapped at Otter’s legs. The dog curled around a couple of times and flopped onto the top pack with a thud.
Otter cocked his head, listening”. The chatter of excited voices filled the night as people talked about Green Spider’s Vision. Someone laughed. Otter melted back into the shadows as two people—a boy barely past his manhood and a young girl from Tall Cane, Wet Bone’s daughter—slipped past into the darkness. A shared blanket lay over their shoulders. In their groping preoccupation, they hadn’t noticed Otter’s shadowy presence.
He waited for a moment, hearing their steps crunch on the dry leaves behind the storage hut. A gasp was followed by a soft voice and the rasping of clothing.
Otter ghosted into the night, following the curving wall that marked the perimeter of the clan grounds. Once, not so long ago, he too had slipped away into the night with a woman. That had been more than four moons past. He’d just returned from the north, his canoe brimming with goods.
The moon had gleamed whitely, halfway through its cycle but bathing the land with soft light as they had walked out in the warm fall evening. He’d draped her blanket about them, a symbolic gesture.
“I can’t put off marriage any longer,” she’d told him. “I’m getting too old as it is.”
“So … marry me. Grandmother would understand. I think she expects it.” He’d lifted her hand, touching the tips of her fingers to his lips. “Most people speak of it as a foregone conclusion. They think you just need to choose: me, or Four Kills.”
“What if I chose him?”
“He’s a good man. The best I know. And if you didn’t marry me, I wouldn’t want you married to anyone else.” But she’d always preferred Otter. Perhaps it had been unfair to his brother, but Otter had always been the exciting one, the Trader who ventured off to strange places and returned with exotic items that brought joy to Red Moccasins’ eyes.
They’d walked out onto a narrow spit of sand that jutted into the river. “We always come here,” Red Moccasins had sighed.
“Isn’t it a beautiful spot? You can hear the water. Feel the freedom.” “Freedom?” she’d wondered thoughtfully as he stepped behind her and hugged her close.
“You can feel the Power of the river here, ebbing, flowing.
Close your eyes, Red Moccasins. It lives, throbbing almost like the blood in your veins.”
His hands had moved up to massage her full breasts. She’d relaxed then, leaning back against him, breathing deeply as she savored his touch. “Would you stay with me? Now, I mean? Wait until next summer to travel south to the Alligator Clans?”
He’d deftly settled the blanket onto the sand before nibbling at her ear, aware of her response.
“Next summer?” he’d muttered as she turned in his arms and unfastened the laces of his shirt. She’d helped him pull the garment over his head. He’d shuddered as she reached down to run tickling fingers under his testicles. His scrotum tightened at her light touch.
With a lithe shrug, she slipped out of her dress and stood tall and proud before him in the half light of the moon. The river breeze teased the wealth of her thick black hair tangled in a shining mass around her shoulders.
She stepped close and pressed herself against him—as if she could squeeze the whole of him inside of her, keep him safely there forever. Then she settled onto the coarsely woven blanket and pulled him to her. He could remember her gasping delight as he entered her and their hips locked. They’d waited for a moment, savoring the sublime unity before they began the ancient dance.
They’d coupled with a passion that night, rested, found each other’s bodies again and fulfilled the honeyed sensations-once more.
He’d awakened in her arms, suffused with a deep satisfaction.
Her warmth seemed to pervade him, as if their hearts beat as one. Reaching up, he’d lifted a long black strand of hair away from her beautiful face and watched her as dawn purpled the horizon.
She moved to him, and to his amazement, the stirring of his loins brought them both to renewed passion.