People of the Lakes(83)
Green Spider summoned a satisfied belch from deep in his gut and sighed contentedly. “I wouldn’t feed vomit like that to my enemy’s dog.”
A crushing weight flattened Four Kills’ soul. What now? Just get up and leave? Or was it better to simply bolt through the door and go drown himself in the river?
Before he could summon the courage to act, Green Spider had turned those weirdly unfocused eyes on him, saying, “You’re a thief and a coward, Four Kills. I don’t have time to waste on your silly problems.”
Any response lay stillborn in Four Kills’ chest.
“What did you wish to ask Green Spider?” Old Man Sun asked in a kindly voice. “You must remember, he’s a Contrary.
The more important the occasion, the more backward he behaves.”
“Not backward, young Sun … forward … always forward,” Green Spider insisted.
“Speak to him, Four Kills,” Old Man Sun prompted. “Talk the way you normally would. The Contrary will answer in his own way—just the opposite of what he means.”
Four Kills—who had slain four enemies in battle—now found that his courage had fled. He stared into the Contrary’s dizzy gaze and suffered the sensation of his soul come adrift in muddy brown floodwaters.
“Why did you want to see Green Spider?” Old Man Sun asked with that warm, fatherly tone.
“My Dream,” Four Kills managed. “I saw … Otter … drowned. Is that right, Green Spider? Will he die?” “No one ever dies, do they?” Green Spider smiled wistfully.
“I died. As you can see, it’s made a mess of me.”
Four Kills didn’t experience any surge of relief.
Green Spider’s eyes focused for a moment. “Do you fear death, warrior?”
“I fear for Otter’s soul.”
“His fate will be dictated by Power—and his actions. Not yours.”
Four Kills wet his lips. “Of all the Traders, why did you choose him?”
“I chose nothing. Power chose everything. I am the master of nothing … and everything.” The eyes lost focus again.
“Backward is forward. Many Colored Crow, blacker than black, spirals in the golden light. He who runs happily toward danger is he who is the most frightened. Terror brings peace; and happiness is always filled with sorrow.”
Four Kills anxiously fingered his feather-wrapped blanket— a wedding gift made of fine down spun around cordage. Now he would have readily given it up to be free of the sense of futility that possessed him.
“You are blinded by your sight,” Green Spider continued.
“Deafened by your ears. Calloused by your heart.” His expression went blank. “By leaving, Otter will find himself at home.”
“But will he survive this journey? I’ve Dreamed of his body swirling in the water.”
“To gain everything, you must lose everything. Is Otter different than the rest of us? Than First Man and Many Colored Crow?”
“I don’t understand.”
Green Spider seemed to stiffen, his glassy vision locked on some invisible scene. He cried, “Born of ice … the mother’s womb!”
Four Kills shot a desperate look at Old Man Sun. “What’s he saying?”
Old Man Sun’s face glowed rapturously.
“Born of Sun, of Sun the same.”
Four Kills squirmed, his fingers locked tight in his thick blanket as he glanced back and forth between the three men.
“One must live, and one must die.”
Sweat had begun to bead on Four Kills’ face, and a cold, clammy feeling traced along his abdomen. “Please, I just want to know what you see … what’s going to happen to Otter.
He’s going to die, isn’t he? Isn’t that what you’re trying to tell me?” Green Spider said nothing and sat motionless as his eyes swam out of focus.
“Ask what you will of me. I—I’ll do anything you wish!”
Four Kills insisted.
Green Spider remained silent. He dipped his finger into the bowl of white paint again and turned his attention to painting rib bones on his shirt, which lay spread on the floor at his side.
Black Skull sneered at the sight.
“That is all,” Old Man Sun stated softly as he rose to his feet. “He will say no more.”
“But it wasn’t an answer!”
Old Man Sun gestured for Four Kills to rise. “He told you everything.”
“He spoke in riddles!” Four Kills protested as he got to his feet.
“I warned you,” Black Skull reminded. “He’s an idiot.”
“It only seems that way to you.” Old Man Sun wobbled toward the door. “He sees this world, this part of Creation, as illusion. You are lucky that he told you as much as he did.”