People of the Mist(153)
“True.” Panther grasped the heavy war club, extending it, hefting its weight and balance. “Kwiokos, I believe we are ready for you.”
Green Serpent raised his voice in the last of his song, the rattle shish-shishing in time to the droning words. Then he faced Okeus and the ancestors, raised his hands, and bowed.
The Spirits appeased, he slipped his rattle into the rope belt at his waist and crossed to the other side of the fire, where Red Knot’s bones lay on the matting. Her skin soaked in a pot to one side, the tanning process now under way.
Green Serpent picked up her skull and brought it over to the platform. “Forgive us, Red Knot, but we must see to this. Help us, Red Knot. We seek the man who did this to you. Give us your help in bringing this killer to the punishment he merits.”
After Green Serpent set the skull on the platform, Panther lifted the war club, placing the pointed stone tip in one hole, and trying to align the copper spike with the other indentation.
Nine Killer took a deep breath, and used his fingers to steady the war club against the girl’s skull. “Let’s turn her the other way.” He reached out, grasping the skull. The smooth bone was cold, like stone under his warm fingers. As Panther held the war club, Nine Killer tried to fit Red Knot’s skull to the two spikes.
Green Serpent raised a mousy white eyebrow. “I would say that it does not fit.”
“So would I,” Nine Killer agreed. “The distance between the spikes on Copper Thunder’s club is too great.”
“Yes, it is. And the indentations don’t match the shape of the war head.” Panther bent close and squinted at the conical stone point set into the war club. “The club that broke Red Knot’s skull had a square head.”
“No copper spike made that second hole,” Nine Killer added. “The copper spike on the Great Tayac’s war club would have jabbed a slit through the bone. Sort of like driving a thin section of shell through a pumpkin. The blow that hit Red Knot crushed rather than punctured.”
Panther sighed and lowered the war club. From the pouch on his belt, he lifted the fragment of broken wood from the murder site, and carefully inspected the war club. The weapon wasn’t missing any such chip. “Alas, another trail dead-ends in a thicket.” He stared thoughtfully at Red Knot’s skull. It grinned back at him in the firelight. The one odd peg like tooth seemed to gleam in the light.
Nine Killer rubbed the back of his neck. “How I would have liked to have those holes match. I would have taken a great deal of pleasure in demonstrating the fit to Copper Thunder.”
“Don’t discount him yet,” Panther warned. “All we know is that ;/ he did kill her, it wasn’t with this club. That chip we found might match another war club.”
“But you have to admit, he would have preferred to use his own weapon. After all, he carries this one around like some sort of personal totem.” Panther grunted as he stared at Red Knot’s skull. “The answer is here,” he said thoughtfully. “She’s showing us something. But… what?”
Nine Killer gave the skull a skeptical look. “Elder, it’s only a skull on a mat.”
“Indeed, War Chief.” Panther’s eyes went suddenly vacant and he propped himself on the war club’s handle. “I’ve seen a tooth like that.” “Elder?” Nine Killer bent down to study Red Knot’s teeth. Bloodstains darkened the roots, but the teeth had been polished white where they protruded from the bone.
“A thought, War Chief. That’s all. Something I must look into.”
“Would you care to—”
“No. Not at this time. I want to …”
At that moment, shouts rose outside. Nine Killer straightened, hearing a voice call out: “… Stole what?”
“I think the Great Tayac has discovered the loss of his war club.” The Panther’s lips curled in a catlike smile. “If you will excuse me, I will return his property to him.”
“You, Elder? From what I have heard, he already wants to kill you.”
“All the more reason for me to take his war club back to him, don’t you think? An attempt to, well, smooth turbulent waters?”
“Oh, yes. Isn’t that what brews hurricanes?”
“Only at certain times of year, War Chief.” And with that Panther nodded his gratitude to Green Serpent, slung the heavy war club over his bony shoulders, and plodded for the door.
The morning dawned brittlely cold, the sky clear. Pink shaded the east as the winter sun beamed through the bare branches above the ridgetop. His breath rising before his face like a fog, Panther walked out past the palisade to look across the fields.