People of the Mist(184)

Would he act like The Panther, seeding out an island to deal with his demons? I could wait, go there, and help him to overcome this terrible tragedy. She wasn’t afraid, not of High Fox. It hadn’t been his fault. He hadn’t known.

Sun Conch inhaled and started shaking as her body went cold with chills. It hurt to breathe. To take her mind off the pain, she looked up at the baskets and loosely woven sacks that hung from the rafters. She could see the dried stems of beans, and several large squash, as well as a variety of nuts. The long house smelled sweetly of the wild rice bread and rose hip tea she’d had for breakfast. A full gourd cup of tea sat near her head, but she had no desire to drink. Or to do anything else. She could barely keep her eyes open.

“Mother?” she murmured, and a sob caught in her throat. “Mother, I miss you.”

She had been dreaming that her mother was here, taking care of her, her hands cool, her voice loving. The familiar smells of their home had been comforting: roasting corn and wood smoke, the dried rose petals that her mother mixed with warm water to wash her hair.

A tear traced down the side of her face. Her mother must be wondering about her, probably worrying herself sick. For the first time since she’d left, Sun Conch longed to run home and throw herself on the mercy of her family. If she pleaded long enough, Aunt Threadleaf would forgive her.

Except… except she couldn’t go home. The Panther had kept his part of the bargain, and for that, she owed him her life.

Sun Conch’s eyelids felt as heavy as stone. She fought the sensation, blinking and trying to concentrate on the long house door, visible just beyond her feet. For a time, she seemed to float, hovering above the warm hides, gliding toward the ceiling with the fire’s smoke.

Then the shadows by the doorway shifted furtively, and Sun Conch saw a hesitant figure straighten and peer anxiously about. Seeing she was alone, he crept forward, shoulders hunched, as if expecting a blow at any minute. For an instant, she thought him but another of the floating illusions brought on by her fever; then he spoke: “Sun Conch?”

“High Fox? I thought you’d gone.”

“I—I did. No one was watching, so I slipped out into the fog and hid in the forest. But it’s night now, so I came back. I had to see you.” He wore a plain tan blanket around his broad shoulders, and looked pale, his eyes sunken into twin black circles, his hair hanging loosely about his shoulders. He knelt beside Sun Conch and reached down to take her limp hand. His skin felt cool, so cool. Sun Conch let herself drown in the sensation.

“The village is full of the Mamanatowick’s warriors. And everyone is at the dance. With the blanket over my head, no one would recognize me. I had to see you, to beg you to come with me. Sun Conch, I need you now, more than I ever needed you before.” He sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve. “I’m so alone! The whole world has betrayed me!”

“You just need to go away, High Fox, like The Panther did. Find a place for yourself where no one knows you.”

“Go away? But I didn’t know she was my sister! It’s not my fault! My father did this to me! That lying, stinking vermin did this on purpose! He ruined me!”

“No, High Fox, please. It’s time for you be courageous. You—”

“You’re not listening to me! You didn’t hear a word that I said!”

“High Fox—”

“I need you, Sun Conch. Everyone else has turned their back on me..I’m afraid. Don’t you see? Just being here, someone could kill me. They blame me for it!”

“High Fox, you must face—”

“Run off with me, Sun Conch? Please. I beg you!”

She closed her eyes, feeling as if her soul were draining away, being sucked into him the way a leech drew a person’s blood.

“Sun Conch? If you don’t help me, I… I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

She said nothing, frightened for him. What had The Panther said? That he was a coward, a whiner?

He squeezed her hand tightly. “The Panther’s been watching over you like a sow with her first cub. This is the first chance I’ve had. I came to take you with me. Right now.”

“I can’t go, High Fox. I’m hurt badly. You must be brave enough to leave alone.”

High Fox pressed her palm to his cheek. “But I don’t want to leave. I didn’t do anything wrong! My father killed Red Knot. This is his fault! I knew he was a murderer at heart. It used to sicken me the way he acted on battle walks. Do you remember the gleam he got in his eyes? He enjoyed killing, Sun Conch!”

“No … no, High Fox. Don’t…”