People of the Mist(99)
“Take chances?” Panther’glanced skeptically at Sun Conch, and then at Flat Willow. “I’m afraid Sun Conch never mentioned that.”
“Of course not, she is covering for her friend. She’s particularly fond of him, you see. She thinks she loves him, will forgive him anything. They’re in it together. Or hadn’t you figured that out yet, Elder? Are your witch’s Powers that limited that you can’t tell when you’re being lied to?”
Sun Conch’s hand dropped to her war club, but she said nothing.
“Lied to? Me?” Panther gave him a startled look, then jerked a thumb toward Sun Conch. “By Sun Conch? That’s ridiculous.”
“Ridiculous?” Flat Willow mimicked his tone of voice. “I’ll tell you about being ridiculous. High Fox was the ridiculous one. Did you know he was lying with Red Knot? As long ago as last summer? What was that? Six moons before she became a woman?”
Sun Conch took a half step forward, clutching her club, her face stormy. Panther tugged her back with a restraining hand, muttering, “Easy, there.”
“Oh, yes, easy, Sun Conch, you silly grouse. Or didn’t you know he was wetting himself in her sheath?”
“If you knew this, why didn’t you say something?” Sun Conch growled. She allowed Panther to drag her back.
“Because, old friend, I figured that in time, events would catch up with him. I just never thought he’d kill her.” Flat Willow looked away, the wind teasing loose strands of black hair out of the bun on the side of his head.
“You must have really hated him,” Panther said softly. “And her, too.”
Flat Willow shot him a sidelong glare. “No. Not her. I thought she was a fool for letting High Fox pump himself dry inside her, but t never thought she’d suffer for it. He was a man! Blackened in the Huskanawl By blood and bone, a man does not couple with a child! Not among our people.”
“You didn’t try to protect her? To drive him off?” Panther chided. “For what?” Flat Willow cried. “She’d have hated me for it! Hated meShe… she thought she loved him!”
“And you loved her?” Panther countered. “Indeed, if that’s love, you’re—”
“How would you know?” Flat Willow leapt to his feet, throwing down the clam rake. “You come in here, stick your old nose in our business! What do you know of love, old man? About the burning in my breast when I’d look at her? How my guts went watery when I knew that she was with him, letting him drive that pitiful penis of his into her when I… I…” He clenched his fists, and turned away.
Panther watched the thick muscles in Flat Willow’s chest knot and writhe, then said, “So you would have done anything to get her.”
“That’s right,” he grated, struggling to control himself. “It must have been terrible for you when she was going to run off with High Fox. Your plan hadn’t worked. No one had discovered that High Fox was lying with a girl. He wasn’t disgraced and punished, and Red Knot’s status hadn’t been diminished enough that you, a lowly hunter, could hope to marry her. All of a sudden she was a woman, running off with the man you hated. They were free. On their way. She was out of your life completely, and you couldn’t stand it, so you picked up a club, and beat her brains in.” Flat Willow, eyes glazed, stepped toward Panther. “Killed her? Beat her … No. No! I never!”
“If you couldn’t have her, then neither could any other man!”
“No! How dare you!” Drawn with rage, Flat Willow stood face-to-face with Panther. “If you only knew what lengths I was willing to go to. What I’d sacrificed to …”
But he stopped short. His mouth gaped, as if he was struggling for breath—and then he chuckled nervously. MOh, you’re very clever, Panther. You thought you’d get me to admit to something, make me lose my sense and tell you …”
“Tell me … what?” Panther prodded.
“Why, about Red Knot’s death, that’s what.” Flat Willow folded his arms across his chest. “Sorry, old man. Take your tricks and games to the Weroansqua. I’ve told everyone what happened up there. I was hunting deer and High Fox came running down the trail. We had words. He had blood on his hand, and he ran off, jumped in his canoe, and paddled away like a madman. I was curious; I backtracked him and found Red Knot.”
“And what did she say to you?”
“She was dead. Had been for a long time.”
“How do you know?”
“I’m a hunter, Elder. A body loses heat quickly on a cold day like that one. She was stone cold. She’d started to stiffen, and her eyes were dried. Even the urine that leaked out had started to dry.”