“I know.” Panther watched the leaping flames, his soul stirred by the memories he’d hidden for so long.
Once, I’d have done the same.
“Then you are a witch.” Hunting Hawk rubbed her face, her withered hands pulling the wrinkles this way and that. “No one else could see so clearly into the soul of another.” “You know little of witches. They don’t peer into people’s souls. They tend toward more exciting things.” Panther reached for Nine Killer’s little ceramic pot and pinched tobacco from it to relight his pipe. “But what can I do?” Hunting Hawk demanded. “How can I save us?”
“First off,” Nine Killer said, “let’s find the murderer. Find him, and we’ve discovered our most dangerous enemy.”
Hunting Hawk took a breath, straightening. “Yes, and we can determine a course of action against them.”
“Them?” Panther asked.
“Of course,” Nine Killer replied. “The killing of Red Knot destroyed the alliance with Copper Thunder, and threw the Independent villages into chaos. Water Snake and Stone Frog are immediately suspect. They had the most to gain. Given what we know now, Shell Comb may have been right, Winged Blackbird and his warriors could have killed her. They left her un mutilated to mislead us into thinking it was murder instead of assassination.”
Panther raised a hand. “Perhaps, War Chief. But all in due time. For now, the greatest danger is to leap to decisions. You did that and ended up trapped at Three Myrtle Village. I would advise that you not stick your hand into the same hole again. The last time you did, I was barely able to keep the serpent from biting you.”
Nine Killer grinned sheepishly. “Your warning is heeded, Elder.”
“I came here to decide what to do with you. I still don’t trust you,” Hunting Hawk announced, as if coming to a decision. “But I am willing to allow you to stay, in the village. Under close guard, of course. Nine Killer will be responsible for you.”
“Why did you change your mind?”
“Partly because the Great Tayac ordered me to cast you out, and partly because you might be able to help me.”
“As you wish.” Panther nodded politely.
“But I don’t want you making trouble, do you hear me?”
“I am not here to make trouble. It makes itself readily enough.” Panther puffed contentedly. “Once I determine who killed your granddaughter, I am going home.”
“Yes, you are,” she told him firmly. “Having you around here makes me uncomfortable.”
“And you must understand something else. I will go where I must to find the murderer. No matter who he is. Is that understood? I am not interested in your politics. I will not be used for your purposes.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
Panther gave her a grim smile. “Good. In the past, others have not had as much sense.”
Hunting Hawk fingered the hem of her robe, skeptical eyes on Panther. “Why did Copper Thunder call you Raven?”
Panther lit his pipe, puffing reflectively. “It was a name I was given when I was War Chief to White Smoke Rising, one of the Serpent Chiefs on the Black Warrior River. In their Creation stones, Raven picks flesh from the bones of the dead. He called me that because when I was done, only the bones remained.”
“So, he is going to stay?” Copper Thunder gave Shell Comb a sidelong glance as they walked along the beach just after first light. The day was dawning clear and cold, with a blustery wind blowing down from the northwest.
Shell Comb nodded to the slaves waiting as they approached the sweat lodge where it was built into the hillside just up from the water. In the early morning it resembled a pile of dirt with a leather door curtain. The fire outside was burning, the stones already hot.
“For the time being,” Shell Comb told him, “he’s more of an asset than a liability. He may come in handy.” She dismissed the slaves, who lowered their heads and hurried back toward the village.
“Listen to me.” Copper Thunder placed a hand on her shoulder, turning her to stare into his hard eyes. “You don’t know what he is. I do. He is a monster disguised as man walking on two legs.” So, the invincible warrior has a crack in his shell. She smiled as she laid a hand over his. “We will deal with him, Copper Thunder. He’s an old man.”
“He’s a monster,” Copper Thunder repeated. “A venomous insect that will crawl through your village and inject its poison wherever it can. Kill it now! Swat it dead before it destroys you.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Such words reserved for that old wreck of a man? Maybe I ought to give him a second look?” She parted her lips, stepping closer to him. “I thought you were dangerous enough.”