People of the Mist(111)
Been part of it. Why, in the name of Ohona, do you think I went out there to that island in the middle of the bay? It was to get away from the plotting and scheming that comes with authority and influence. When the stakes are that great, men and women become obsessed, driven to the point that they know nothing but the need to control others. Life becomes … well, skewed, like looking at the world from the bottom of a clear pond. Everything is distorted, unreal from the outside, but, oh,so real on the inside. Do you understand that?”
Sun Conch gave him a clear-eyed look and shook her head.
“No, I suppose you wouldn’t, would you?” Panther threw his hands up in disgust. “Why am I stuck with you? You’re so pure and honest, you might have been born of Ohona’s right testicle! I worry about being close to you! You’re bad for me!”
“I thought I was helping you, Elder, by watching your back. I gave you my life. No matter what it takes, I am yours—”
“Enough!” Panther waved her down, searching for any thread of understanding in Sun Conch’s eyes. “What I was trying to say is that being close to you is starting to affect the way I think.”
“The way you think?”
“Sun Conch, if you were looking for Red Knot’s killer, you’d never find her. You are completely incapable of doing so.”
“I am?”
“You are. Goodness runs through your blood. It blinds you to the flaws in people. Take your friend High Fox. On his word you came to me and offered your very soul to save him. But, Sun Conch, I’m not the slightest bit sure that he didn’t kill the girl! He’s a leech. Don’t you understand? For the rest of his life, he’ll live off of others, forever mediocre at what he does. He takes, but he never gives back.”
Sun Conch’s face fell. “Please. Don’t talk about him that way. I—”
“In the name of evil Okeus, girl. Do you realize that because of you, I almost didn’t accuse the Weroansqua?”
“I can’t believe you did.”
“That’s the whole point. I almost didn’t. I was having such a pleasant conversation, and you were there right behind me, and I knew it was going to disturb you. Because I knew you would be upset, I almost didn’t say it.” He winced, rubbing his temples. “And that bothers me a great deal.”
“Elder, she’s the most, respected of the chiefs. In every village they speak well of her. She sent food to Three Myrtle when I was a child and we were starving. And to the other villages, too. Her warriors have placed themselves between us and the Mamanatowick countless times. At her word, Greenstone Clan has adopted orphans into their households, and—”
“Quiet!” He raised a hand to the gray sky. “All of my life, I have beseeched Ohona for aid. And now I have him walking in my shadow.” He rolled his eyes and sighed. “Come, let’s see how Nine Killer has made out with his inquiries.”
Behind his growing headache, he considered Hunting Hawk’s reaction when he questioned her whereabouts. Cunning old leader that she was, she’d barely controlled herself. Panther couldn’t convince himself that she’d acted that way out of indignation that a stranger dared to doubt her.
You’re hiding something, Weroansqua, and before this is over, I’m going to find it.
Unless, of course, she made good on her threat to have him killed.
The girl was working on hemp when Nine Killer found her. White Otter used a short wooden club to pound the long stems, loosening the silken fibers before stripping them from the long stalks. These she laid straight beside her. The lengths of fibers would then be sorted, separated into threads, and twisted. Half were twisted to the right, and half to the left; then the threads were in turn twisted together to make cordage for nets, snares, “and bindings.
Nine Killer smiled in greeting and dropped down beside her, crouching on his haunches. “That looks like good cord. Making a new net for your uncle?”
She gave him one of her special smiles, eyes sparkling. “Why would I give him a new net? If I made you a net, you’d fold it up and forget it until the mice chewed it up.”
“Well, maybe. I always seem to be busy.” He cocked his head, suddenly realizing just how long it had been since he’d been able to while away a couple of days netting mullet from the canoe, or taking a party and sneaking up through the ridges in search of deer, bear, or turkey. Instead, his warriors had been giving him gifts of fish, meat, and fowl—enough that, now that he thought about it, he had been shirking his duties to his family.
“Busy? With the negotiations with the Great Tayac? The business over Red Knot? White Star was mentioning just the other day that she hadn’t seen you in ten days’ time. You might want to spend some time in her long house, Uncle. Mother always says that first a woman complains, and then she acts.”