The time she spent in seclusion with her sisters provided a respite from the never-ending trials of life. She had time for reflection, attention to the spirits, and a break from the normal routine of running a household. Children, husbands, and relatives could not constantly pester or demand her attention. Here, surrounded by women, she could catch up on gossip, hear news of other clans, build friendships, and strengthen ties with friends and acquaintances. The walls of clan politics tended to soften. Negotiations took place, and problems could be solved in a more relaxed environment, woman to woman, without the pressures of others bearing down.
Night Rain had put off leaving for the Women’s House until the last moment when she discovered herself spotting. Like her sister, she had suffered intermittent cramps for the last several moons. Even the swelling and tenderness in her breasts wasn’t an indicator. She should have known, however, from the moods, and the fact that her cycle had begun to coincide with her sister’s.
She removed her bark rain hat as she stepped into the low doorway. The building, large and rectangular, was oriented north-south atop the low mound. The doorway opened to the west, while on the east, two large windows were situated so that the first rays of the morning sun shot light into the two rooms, one for the Northern Moiety, the other, hers, for the Southern.
She nodded to the clusters of women who sat in clan areas along the walls. They were working at tasks, making beads, others twining cord. Some ground pieces of hematite against slabs of Swamp Panther sandstone in the endless process of crafting net sinkers. They nodded, smiling and waving as Night Rain crossed the room. She rounded the small central fire and located Pine Drop where she sat on a furry buffalo hide, the hair flattened from long use. She lowered herself onto the space her sister opened for her and placed her sack of provisions and her rain hat to one side.
“I thought you’d be following close behind me.” Pine Drop smiled. “I take it you left a stew for Salamander?”
Night Rain snorted. “Why? He’s still over building a house for that wild Swamp Panther woman. I swear, I hope she chokes on the Serpent’s cleansing. I don’t trust her. She’s evil. And why, Sister, do you care if he eats or not? He and that barbarian are the talk of Sun Town! We are mentioned by everyone! You should hear the things they’re saying. That somehow it was our fault. That we couldn’t conceive, that you were off with Three Stomachs, that we hurt his feelings so much he had to go to a barbarian for companionship! People are laughing at us and not just him!”
Pine Drop stopped short, a pale look washing across her face. She had been grinding ocher on a sandstone tablet. Beside her sat a small pot of grease with which to mix the bright red color. “I should never have listened to Uncle.”
Night Rain cocked her head. “What’s wrong with you? For nearly half a moon, you’ve been different. Something’s changed.”
“Nothing has changed.”
“Yes, it has. You haven’t spoken a single word to Three Stomachs. What did he do to you?”
Pine Drop widened her eyes expressively. “As you can see, Sister, he did nothing to me. I should be happily at home, delighted with the notion that my moon was late, assured that I was pregnant. Yet, here I am, taking my share of absorbent from the pot, trying to figure out why I’m barren.”
“You’re not barren. It just hasn’t taken is all.” Night Rain resettled herself, reaching into the sack she had brought. From it she took root cakes, dried fish, and smoked deer meat to put into the stone bowl her lineage left for storage. She slipped out of her shawl and massaged her breasts, wincing at the ache. “Snakes, why has my moon come to be so miserable?”
Pine Drop stared at the smoking fire pit in the center of the room. A flame flickered in halfhearted effort as it slowly chewed at the bottom of a blackened log. “I don’t know. I just wonder, is all.”
Night Rain perked up at that. “Yes?”
Her sister shook her head. “I never had these problems, the unending cramps, I mean, until I started coupling with Three Stomachs. It’s as if …”
“What? Snakes! Don’t drag this out. Tell me.”
Pine Drop tilted her head, asking in a whisper, “Do you think we’re being punished?”
“By whom?” Night Rain leaned forward, searching her sister’s face. What does she know? What does she suspect? She is more intimate with Mother and Uncle’s plans. Have they told her something?
“Power,” Pine Drop answered, a hand covering her mouth. “Spirits. Something.”
“Why would you think that?”