People of the Lightning(157)

She combed his white hair with her fingers. “I wish Dogtooth were here. He would know what to tell you. Pondwader …” she said, as if the thought had just occurred to her. “When we met Dogtooth at Manatee Lagoon, he said he’d come specifically to speak with you. He even mentioned something about the Lightning Bird. Did you discuss this with him?”

He curled into a tighter ball, burying his face against her tunic. “Yes.”

“What did he tell you? Did he … did he say anything about what would happen when the Lightning Bird was born?”

“Yes.”

“Pondwader!” She raised herself on one arm, and pushed him over onto his back to glare down at him. “What did Dogtooth say?”

He forced himself to meet her gaze, though the look in her eyes made his heart pound. “He said the—the chick was growing very fast, and that it would not be long before it sliced through my ribs and went hunting.”

“Hunting? Hunting for what?”

Pondwader gestured helplessly. “Dogtooth was talking to a pushy wolf spider at the time and didn’t seem to want to answer any of my questions—except one.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Which one?”

“I asked him what would happen when the baby Lightning Bird soared free.”

Musselwhite waited, searching his eyes. As the clouds shifted, moonlight coated the forest, and the black shadows of tangled branches interlaced like war paint over her face. “And? What did he say?”

“He said …” Pondwader’s hand shook as he reached up and put his palm on her smooth cheek. “He said that I would die.”

He felt her muscles go rigid. But she said nothing. Her gaze darted over the clearing, surveyed the dark trees, then returned to Pondwader.

“Did he say anything else about this death?” she asked cryptically.

“What do you mean?”

“Tell me everything he said about your dying that night.”

“Well … let me see. I started by asking him if I would die when the baby bird soared free, and he said, ‘You have died once already. Did it hurt?’ I answered—”

“Did he mean you had died when you went into the Sacred Pond?”

“Yes. That’s what he was talking about, having my souls washed away in the Pond. Anyway, I answered that it had hurt only a little when I died the first time, and Dogtooth said, ‘So what are you afraid of?’” Pondwader ran his hand down her arm. “ … I wasn’t quite sure how he could put it so casually.”

Musselwhite smiled broadly. “Pondwader, don’t you see? Dogtooth speaks in riddles all the time. You can’t be sure that he meant you would actually die. He might have meant you would die as you did in the Pond—meaning your souls would undergo another transformation of some kind.” Her mouth quirked. “Knowing Dogtooth, he could have meant one of your toenails was going to die. There’s just no telling. So …” She tipped her forehead to rest on Pondwader’s and he grinned at her, staring up into her warm eyes. “Stop worrying. You may well live another eight tens of summers.”

“Do you think so? Really?”

“It’s very possible.”

Relief flooded through Pondwader. Musselwhite would not lie to him, and if she thought Dogtooth might have been posing a riddle—then perhaps his fears had been for nothing. He would have to think about this.

“Did it ever occur to you,” Musselwhite whispered, “that maybe that’s what the baby Lightning Bird is trying to tell you? ‘Don’t be afraid, Pondwader. Everything is going to be all right?’”

Pondwader put a hand over his heart and rubbed lightly. “No, I—I never thought of it that way. But his sounds are so majestic and entrancing, they do take my mind off my fears.”

“Well, I suspect that Lightning Birds know more than Dogtooth does. If that baby Bird is struggling to ease your fears, then it doesn’t want you to be afraid. And, maybe—just maybe—that’s because you have nothing to fear.”

Pondwader murmured, “I love you so much.” He longed to hear her tell him that she loved him, too, but he realized that might be especially hard for her now—while running a trail that led to Diver. Pondwader could wait. Someday Musselwhite would say those words to him. “Sleep now,” he whispered. “Please, Musselwhite. You must have your strength back by the time we get to Standing Hollow Horn Village. To do that, you must sleep, my wife.”

“I will, if you will.”

“I’ll try.”

After she had pulled the blanket up over his shoulders and scanned the forest to assure their safety, she enfolded Pondwader in her arms and closed her eyes.