He reached down suddenly and drew something from beneath his tan blanket. It looked like a bone, split, blackened. “I pulled this from the ashes. I’m going to keep it, to remind me of what he did to me, and to himself!”
He clutched the bone, and a soft mournful sound strained against his closed lips. “I’m tainted forever, Sun Conch, and it’s his fault. He let me commit incest! You should see it. People won’t even look at me! Me! You’d think I was some horrible disease walking past. Someone will kill me, I know it.”
Sun Conch struggled to make her thumb work, to press High Fox’s cheek. “Look at me.”
He lifted his head, and in his eyes, she saw hatred.
For a moment, her heart stood still, then a tingling sensation filtered through her body. “Your father,” she said, and tried to get air into her lungs without flinching, “was a … a good man, High Fox. Don’t… hate him.”
A sob came to his throat and he placed her hand back on the deer hide and clutched the bone to his heart. Rocking back and forth, he bawled like a child. “Come with me, Sun Conch! You and I, together, we’ll show them. All the people who have ever hurt us! We’ll pay them back! That’s it. We’ll make them suffer until they scream for forgiveness!”
She watched him tiredly, looking for something. Some shred of strength or, perhaps, love for her. She didn’t know. She was so weary.
High Fox shifted to sit cross-legged beside her. Wiping his tears on the corner of his tan blanket, he said, “Sun Conch?” She let out a slow painful breath. Less than a quarter moon ago, she would have said, You have me. High Fox. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you. But as he sat there clutching that charred bone in his fist…
She said, “Go away, High Fox. Please .. just go.”
“No, you listen, Sun Conch. I’m going to be a dangerous man. Everyone will fear me.” He grinned at her, desperation firing his eyes. “If you think they feared The Panther, wait until they see what I do to them! All of them! I’ll make them wish they’d never…”
The Panther stepped quietly into the long house and draped the curtain back. His gray hair shining in the firelight, he stood and looked at them. “What are you doing here, boy? She needs her rest. Are you bothering her?”
Before High Fox could answer, Sun Conch said, “Yes. Yes … Elder. He is.”
She let her head fall to the side, and closed her eyes,
“Maybe I ought to call out that you’re here, High Fox.” Panther’s voice held an ominous note. “The Weroansqua’s been wondering what happened to you.”
She heard High Fox rise, and his swift steps as he ran for the door.
Then Panther knelt and tucked the hides around her, his old hands gentle. “I didn’t think he’d dare to come back.”
“What will happen to him?”
Panther sighed. “Girl, he’s going to be a very miserable young man. No clan will offer him shelter. He’ll have to go far away, leave everything and everyone he knows, to outrun his reputation.”
“It wasn’t his fault.”
The Panther snorted. “Wasn’t it? He coupled with a girl. He asked her to run off with him when she was promised to another. He isn’t even disgusted with himself, is he? He should be sick with loathing for what he did, but he’s not. If he lives, he’ll convince himself he was right all along. After a couple of years, he’ll be bragging to himself about having had Red Knot for those few months.” Had she ever been so tired? “Yes,” she whispered. “I know.”
“Sleep, Sun Conch. There’s nothing here that requires your attention. Besides, you need to get well so that you can go home.”
“The island?”
“No,” he said, and brushed her damp hair away from her face. She opened her eyes and saw him smile. “I’ll take you home. Your home. When we get there, I think I’ll have a little discussion with that irritating aunt of yours. I’m releasing you from your vow. As soon as you’re healed, you’re a free girl again.”
“But… you need me.”
“Yes, I do,” he said. “More than you know. But I’ll be safe out on my island. It will make me very happy, though, if you came to visit now and then. Maybe bring me some squash.”
Sun Conch tried to smile, but her lips barely moved before she was fast asleep.
Thirty-two
The Panther waved at Sweet Stick as she passed through the palisade gate. She rode out into the afternoon sunlight and freedom on that second day of solstice celebration. She was carried on a deer hide stretcher by four husky young warriors. Upon being informed of her return to her people, and the Mamanatowick’s offer of immediate transportation home, she hadn’t waited an instant.