Anhinga frowned, removing the pestle. She placed a hand to her abdomen, trying to count the days. Her last menses had been just before leaving the Panther’s Bones, had delayed it, in fact.
You still have time. But soon. Very soon. She couldn’t be pregnant, not only wasn’t it time, but her stomach felt fine in the mornings. Whether she passed her moon or not, she had to get away. The four days to pass her bleeding would give her time for something she had just begun to plan.
The Serpent
We are all frightened of the Stranger.
Probably because the Stranger is not nearly as far away as we think. She can come upon us suddenly, after an act of cruelty, the death of a loved one, or stumbling over an unknown dog in the forest. For no apparent reason, we cross some hidden border and the stranger is born. In a heartbeat, we do not even recognize ourselves.
Our own fear with a face—that’s who the Stranger is.
And that is what makes her so very dangerous.
Thirty-four
In the two moons since Salamander’s marriage to the Swamp Panther, Night Rain’s irritation had grown. Late summer light slanted through the trees. From where she lay in the hunting blind, Night Rain could look up and see sunshine reflecting from the glossy green leaves of the magnolia. Great white flowers, the last of the summer, still whispered their scent into the sultry air. To either side sassafras trees stood like resolute sentinels. The lobed leaves undulated on the late-afternoon breeze.
Deep Hunter stirred and shifted on the thin deer hide they lay upon. He propped himself on one arm, his appreciative dark eyes tracing the length of Night Rain’s young body. She could see the pattern her body had made on his; the grease had been smeared on his chest, belly, and thighs. His penis lay limp, the scrotum that had been so taut moments ago had descended, lax in the heat.
She sighed, the warm tingling still fading from her loins. Snakes! So that was what it was all about? No wonder people made such a fuss about coupling. A glow of satisfaction still traced fingers of delight through her hips.
“You are so beautiful,” he whispered.
She smiled as she studied the lines in his face. He might have been her grandfather, but his gnarly old body had surprised her. She hadn’t understood that coupling could proceed slowly, gently, like a long leisurely soak in a warm pond. Her previous experience with Salamander had reminded her of the rapid way camp dogs joined, then faced away while locked, as if longing to be somewhere else.
“How do you feel?” he asked.
“Good.” She stretched, dreamy, aware that his eyes were fixed on her supple body. “I didn’t know it could be like that.”
“You have only had boys.” He yawned, smiling satisfaction. “And it pleases me that your Salamander is no better with his women than he is with his politics. Have you given any thought about what you will do when he’s broken and dismissed from the Council?”
“This will be soon?”
“No, not for a while. Maybe next summer. A great many people want Owl Clan broken, not merely wounded.”
She remembered her uncle’s admonitions: “Give him nothing but your body, Night Rain. This isn’t some dazzle-headed youth, but a skilled Speaker, crafty in the ways of intrigue. Say nothing that will give him any advantage.”
She told him offhand, “I don’t care. Just so long as he is out of my bed and gone for good. I have been told that if things are handled correctly, an alliance with Alligator Clan might be considered.” She lifted an eyebrow. “Currently you only have one wife.”
He chuckled. “Yes, and she is possessive. Trust me, you wouldn’t want to move into her house with me. We have been together for a great many turnings of the seasons. She has her own ways of doing things, and I daresay, the pot would boil over within the first hand of time. I wouldn’t want your tender flesh scalded by those waters.”
Despite the warnings from her uncle, she said, “You have others from your lineage. Let’s see, there’s Saw Back.”
“Yes, you’d think he was born of Owl Clan instead of mine.” His expression soured. “You would be interested in a stone-headed boy like that? I still can’t understand how anyone could fail in such an easy assignment. All he had to do was follow that murdering weasel into one of the channels and kill him! Jaguar Hide was alone, vulnerable. The added benefit was Owl Clan’s abortive protection! It was a way of striking two birds with one cast of the bola.”
Startled by his outburst, she placed a hand protectively on her breast. “But he was tricked!”
Deep Hunter’s eyes narrowed, expression changing as he studied her. “Is this another one of his pathetic games? Did he put you up to this, little temptress? Are you playing with me? Hmm?”