Salamander shook his head. “You do not scare me. No, just the opposite. I think that you and I could become great friends in spite of what our peoples have done to each other in the past.”
A crooked grin crossed Striped Dart’s lips. “You are not what I expected.” He paused. “I think you should keep my sister safe until the child is born.”
“No!” Anhinga started to say. “I have …” Her voice trailed off as both men gave her an inquiring stare. To say more was to give away everything. “Very well, tell Uncle I will come after the child is born.” Somehow she had been outmaneuvered, placed in a position she didn’t want to be in.
Salamander said, “I will send word with the sandstone boat when she will be coming to meet you again. And perhaps I shall send an escort, trusted warriors who will deliver her safely, then stand off. This place”—he gestured around—“is too well known now.”
“We think alike.” Striped Dart’s eyes were hooded. “I didn’t agree with Uncle’s plan in the beginning. You, Speaker, have shown me that it is good.”
“If I can be of service, Striped Dart, if a problem should develop, send word with the stone shipment. Give me a time, and I will meet you here, or send a known representative if I cannot come.”
Salamander stood. “I will leave you now. You probably have family matters to discuss.”
“You’re leaving?” Anhinga cried as she struggled to her feet. “Now?”
“I must get back.” He jerked a nod toward the body. “There are things I have to deal with.”
Worry tightened in her breast. He couldn’t just up and leave her. Not on this island, not with Eats Wood’s souls lingering about. “What will you tell Pine Drop and Night Rain?”
“Nothing, Anhinga. I am going to load his body into my canoe. Somewhere, out there”—he indicated the swamp—“he might slip off the side. That’s all.”
“You can’t just ignore it.” She thumped her breast in emphasis. “You killed to protect your family! Your child and your honor!”
“Do you think I should announce myself at the Men’s House and demand a warrior’s tattoos?” He smiled sadly, reaching out and running his fingertips along her cheeks. “This must remain our secret.”
“He attacked me!”
“Put yourself in Pine Drop and Night Rain’s position. I have killed their kinsman. You know the pressure Mud Stalker and Sweet Root are already putting on them. No matter what, Anhinga, I will spare them.”
She could only stare in disbelief. He did everything for others. Did he do nothing for himself?
“Wait!” Anhinga turned, looking at Striped Dart. “I am going back with my husband. Brother, take the body, dump it on the way home. Someplace where no Sun Person can stumble across it. That way no bloodstains will be on our canoes when we get back to Sun Town.”
“And his canoe?” Salamander pointed to the craft they’d found hidden in the grass.
“Take it, Striped Dart. But you must promise me that you will destroy it.” She walked up to him as he rose to his feet. “Do you understand why that is so important to me?”
He nodded. “No one must recognize anything of his in the future. He will just have vanished.” A grim smile played on his lips. “Perhaps some large cat was out hunting?”
“You must tell no tales!” she reminded, shaking a finger in his face. “Not one, nothing about what happened here today.”
Striped Dart offered his hand to Salamander again. “You have my silence, Speaker, and my sister’s respect. A rare combination.” A veiled look crossed his eyes. “I look forward to dealing with you in the future.”
Salamander reached into his belt pouch. “A token,” he offered. “My Spirit Helper. If you ever need anything, send me this carving of Masked Owl.”
Striped Dart studied the little potbellied owl he held between thumb and forefinger. “It looks as pregnant as my sister.”
“Come, Husband.” Anhinga studied the brooding sky. The patches of blue had vanished, and the clouds had taken on a heaviness. “I think it will rain, and in this weather that will be most uncomfortable.”
The Serpent
I am coming to the end of words.
I breathe slowly. I feel the way I am lying on the floor. I see the unchanging inner stillness that lives in my heart and, like a deer dying in the forest, I find myself absorbed by it. My attention focuses solely on these final moments. My chest rises and falls. My heartbeat pulses in my ears. The voices around me are faint, but pleasing. I thank the ancestors that I am not alone.