“I see.”
“But he didn’t! I know him. He’s my friend! He loved her! Why would he kill her?”
“Maybe she told him she wouldn’t go with him. Men have killed for lesser reasons than the passions of a thwarted heart.”
Sun Conch’s expression went hard. “No, Elder. It isn’t in him to do such a thing. I swear to you, I have known him my entire life. You must believe me.”
Panther fished out another of his clams, and sucked the body from the shell. He gulped it down and cast a curious glance at her. “I never said I didn’t believe you, I just offered another explanation. People do lots of odd things for lots of odd reasons. They’ve too much of Okeus in their souls, and not enough of Ohona. We’re silly beasts, girl, governed by even sillier ideas.” Sun Conch lowered her eyes, and awkwardly clasped her hands. “He is not a beast, Elder. He is a good man.”
“So, what do you want me to do, eh? Go and speak for your friend? Tell everyone he didn’t do it?”
At that, Sun Conch looked up, hope bright in her eyes. “You must, Elder. I know everyone would listen. You are The Panther. People respect you.”
“Panther laughed. “They do, do they?”
“Yes, Elder. Of all the men on earth, you are the most… respected.”
“Corpse rot! I am the most feared.”
She blinked. “They are both the same, aren’t they?”
“Some lot you know. Fear and respect may be aligned like two sticks of wood, but never confuse them.” Panther devoured an oyster from his stew. “And how do I know this High Fox didn’t kill her? Just take your word for it?”
“Yes—I-I mean, no. I… I don’t know. I give you my pledge that he didn’t. Isn’t that enough? Shell Comb is trying to blame Winged Blackbird, and I’ve heard—”
“Who? Winged Blackbird?” “War Chief for Corn Hunter, Weroance of White Stake Village. His warriors were there the morning Red Knot was killed. He—”
“How do you know?”
“After High Fox discovered Red Knot’s body, he paddled around to a wooded section of bank, hid his canoe, and sneaked up to the village. He hid until afternoon, Elder, listening to the things people said.”
Panther quirked a brow. Sun Conch did not seem to realize how this act undermined her friend’s story. He said, “What happened to Net Sinker? I thought he was War Chief for White Stake Village.” “He was killed two years ago by Nine Killer.” Sun Conch frowned. “How long have you been out here?”
“Since this little island was water. You’ll have to tell me the things I need to know. Why were Corn Hunter’s warriors at Flat Pearl?” “The Mamanatowick wanted the marriage stopped. He’s no fool. Copper Thunder allying with the Independent villages is a threat to him. Water Snake’s wanted us for years. And now, with Copper Thunder’s influence growing…” She paused, her mouth open, as if she feared to say more. “Elder, if they don’t blame this on High Fox, the whole country is going to explode like a sealed boiling pot. Copper Thunder, the Water Snake, and the Independent villages will tear each other apart.”
“So, let them.”
“Let them?” she blurted. Disbelief lined her young face. “Elder, do you know what you’re saying? Tens of tens of people will die! Old people. Little children who’ve done nothing wrong!”
Panther’s narrow-eyed glare burned through her outrage, and she shriveled like a punctured bladder.
“Girl, for the most part, people are as mindless as a school of mullet. They blunder through life with no direction, charging this way and that, muddying up the water while the crafty heron of death plucks them up one by one. I left people, and their petty squabbles, behind me a long time ago.”
Sun Conch’s eyes filled with tears. “But, Elder—”
“Don’t look at me that way, girl,” Panther ordered. “Just why are you so anxious to save this High Fox? Because you love him? Because you think now that Red Knot is out of the way that he will marry you and ask you to run away with him?” Her jaw trembled. “I asked him, Elder. No, I—I begged him, to run away with me. He wouldn’t. He’s too honorable.”
The tormented expression on her face touched a part of Panther’s soul that he thought long dead and buried. “Answer my question: Why are you so anxious to save High Fox?”
Sun Conch reached out imploringly. “Because he didn’t do it!”
“You have faith that he didn’t do it.”
Sun Conch’s extended hands clenched to fists. “No, Elder! Some things a person knows, down deep in the soul. This is one.” She stared angrily across the fire at Panther. “He didn’t kill Red Knot, Elder. I know he didn’t.” Her brow pinched, and she said, “What is happening is wrong—and I can’t do anything about it by myself.”