They were quiet, lost in their own thoughts. Sun Conch had barely picked at her food. Even to Nine Killer’s tongue, it tasted flat. Only The Panther, his forehead lined pensively, ate as if he’d never tasted such a feast.
The fire popped and crackled while Rosebud told her children stories of the first days, when First Man and First Woman, and deer, raccoon, skunk, and turtle, roamed the world in the form of men. She told of how chipmunk got his stripes and how First Man became the sun. And finally of the first terrible crime, when Okeus brought incest, murder, and war into the world.
Did she have to tell that last? Nine Killer listened halfheartedly, images from the day’s activities popping into his mind. He felt unclean, the taint of death clinging to his body like the odor of smoke.
Relax, he told himself. You’re just not used to the ways of priests. You saw things today that you shouldn’t have seen. A good sweat bath, that’s what he needed. And afterward, he’d take a long swim in the cold waters of the inlet. Yes, sweat the musk of death from his soul and then wash it clean.
Nine Killer pictured Red Knot’s skull. He saw it after it had been skinned, the bone blood-blackened and broken. The two indentations mocked him. It wasn’t just the violation of that delicate skull, but the way the wounds were situated. How could two blows be made so close together, the fractures running into each other, as if… He stopped in mid chew and gave Sun Conch’s war club a sidelong glance. The handle was as long as a man’s arm, made of white ash, stained by sweat and dirt. The war head consisted of single stone, ground into a point and bonded to the wooden shaft by dried ligament stripped from a deer’s hock. His own war club had been made much the same way.
But there were other ways to make a war club. Somehad spikes—like Copper Thunder’s. His had a stone head, and a copper spike set into the wood.
Two indentations?
“Rosebud? Could you come here?”
Panther and Sun Conch gave him inquisitive looks as Nine Killer’s sister walked over, asking, “Do you need more? I thought that was enough food to feed half of your warriors.”
“No, I need you. Come.” He stood, placing hands on her shoulders and facing her toward the fire. “Were you the same size as Red Knot?”
She gave him an uneasy frown. “I think she was a little shorter, but I’m not sure. She grew like a thistle in the cornfield this last year.”
Sun Conch stood, facing Rosebud. “She came up to here on me.” She held a hand level with her brow. That made Rosebud a finger shorter.
“That’s good enough,” Nine Killer said. “Sun Conch, hand me my war club. It’s over there next to the sleeping platform. That’s it.” Sun Conch brought it, and Nine Killer hefted his club in his right hand, testing the familiar balance. “Now, suppose that I was Red Knot’s murderer, and—”
“No, you don’t!” Rosebud snapped, stepping back warily. “I’m not going to stand in for a dead woman! Her soul would never forgive me!”
Panther’s expression lit with sudden excitement. “Yes! What were you thinking, War Chief?”
“The two dents in the skull. What if they weren’t two separate blows, but one. A war club can have two heads. The larger usually goes on the end of the club, correct?”
“That’s right,” Sun Conch said as her gaze measured the frightened Rosebud.
“Oh, hold still!” Nine Killer cried, grabbing his sister just before she turned to run. “Do you want to help us, or not?”
“Not if it means standing in for a murdered woman!”
“We could tie her up,” Panther pointed out. “Hang her from the rafters so that we can make the height just perfect… even if she’s on tiptoes.”
“You wouldn’t!” Rosebud wriggled in Nine Killer’s grasp. Since his sister was taller than him, he had to look up at her, but she was no match for his thick muscles.
“Red Knot’s ghost won’t mind, Rosebud. I promise you.” The Panther stood, and gave her his best fatherly look. “She’s as anxious as we are to have her murderer exposed.”
Rosebud relented, her hard eyes shooting poison at Nine Killer. “Just this once, I’ll do it. What do you want me to do?”
Panther walked over and squinted at the left side of her head. ‘About here.” Rosebud flinched as his finger touched the side of her head. “And here. Can we mark those spots?”
Sun Conch scooped up two gobs of yellow squash and dabbed them on the side of her head. “Like that?”
“Yes, just.” Panther nodded.