Nine Killer stepped forward, took the shell, and drank deeply of the hot yaupon tea. As its warmth hit his belly, and the electric charge raced through his veins, he replied in his most gracious voice: “To my friends and clans people of Three Myrtle Village. We happily accept your kind offer of food and friendship. The offering of a feast reminds us of the lessons taught by First. Man before he was raised into the sky to become the sun, and First Woman, who was carried up to become the moon. It was they who, just after the Creation, taught the twins, Okeus and Ohona, to offer food to visitors that their bodies might be refreshed. “As your visitors, we accept your offer in hopes that our recent difficulties are behind us. We have faced many terrible troubles together. We have stood side by side through storms, sickness, war, and famine. As we endured those trials, and overcame them, so shall we weather this one. To the people of Three Myrtle Village, I offer my fullest cooperation in bringing this matter to a rightful and proper conclusion.”
There, that should allow him to react to any future complications that Hunting Hawk might throw at him.
He walked over to where the statue of Okeus had been carefully lowered by the crackling bonfire, and poured some of the black drink into the bowl placed before the seated god. Those haunting shell eyes seemed to stare right through Nine Killer’s soul, the painted grin mocking him.
After he returned the bowl to Black Spike, he nodded respectfully to the Weroance, and went to sit by the fire next to Flying Weir. Haunches of freshly roasted venison, steaming tuckahoe made from processed arum root, gourds filled with pumpkin soup, and a big wooden trencher of squash were brought and set before them after small portions had been offered to Okeus. At the edge of the fire, a pot of hominy bubbled.
The Panther ducked out of Black Spike’s Great House, followed by Sun Conch. It was like a cloud passing before the sun. People went quiet and averted their eyes, many making warding signs with their fingers.
Appearing oblivious, The Panther met Nine Killer’s gaze, smiled, and turned in the War Chief’s direction. Nine Killer experienced-that singularly unsettling jitter in his stomach. How could one relish the attention of a famous sorcerer when eating the first good meal in days?
“Greetings, War Chief,” Panther called out as he approached. The old man groaned as he seated himself to Nine Killer’s right.
As usual, Sun Conch stood on guard behind the old man, her hand on her war club. The girl had become such a familiar sight that Nine Killer barely noticed her now-except when she gazed at High Fox. At that moment her eyes shone like stars.
“War Chief, Elder,” Flying Weir mumbled, “excuse me. I see … um, see an old friend over there.” He beat a hasty retreat.
Nine Killer had to keep from making the warding sign himself. He wished he were anywhere but sitting across from The Panther, but he said, “You did this, didn’t you? The feast?” Panther inspected the bowl of squash, ran his fingers through it to scoop up a handful, and gratefully sucked the sweet mush from his fingers. “Ah, I love squash. Especially on a cool day like this. Something about it warms the stomach like nothing else.”
“Did you do this?”
The Panther shot him a measuring glance. “What’s this? Suspicion in your voice, War Chief? Am I to take it that we are no longer being honest with each other?”
“I asked the first question, Elder.”
The Panther dived back into the squash, his expression radiant as he licked the yellow paste from his fingers, smacked his lips, and took another dip. “Yes, I thought it would be a good idea. Black Spike, when considering the alternatives, was only too pleased to take my humble suggestion and adopt it as if it were his own.” Panther made a dour face. “Now, you wouldn’t go around telling people I had any involvement, would you? It might, well, dampen the spirit of true brotherhood and reconciliation, much like a storm surge does a campfire on a beach.”
“I wouldn’t think of it.”
“Good, I knew you were a man of uncommon sense.”
Nine Killer glowered as the’ feasters closest to them picked up their dishes and drifted away. “Elder, you don’t have many friends, do you?”
Panther, who was gumming another mouthful of squash, swallowed and said, “Oh, yes, I do. I miss my crows and my gulls. They tell me the most amazing things. Did you know that the moon is a world like ours, but without air and water?”
“No, I mean … Your crows told you that?”
“They did. And many other things, too.”
Nine Killer glanced up at the sky. What a preposterous idea! Everyone knew that the moon was First Woman. She’d been born as the second fruit of the tree of Creation, after First Man. She had been carried up into the sky by First Man just after she’d given birth to the twin gods. Together, they lived in the sky world along with the hunting star people.