People of the Owl(193)
Their canoe sat in the middle of one of the winding channels, riding on smooth chocolate waters. The spring flood was marching across the bottoms, carrying silt and water into the backswamps. With it came fish, eager to feed in the newly created shallows, to breed and lay their eggs. Life was coming to the bottomland swamp.
In the rear of the canoe, Water Petal watched him with uneasy eyes. “There are stories of witchcraft circulating about you, Cousin. If they will lie to get you murdered, why not someone else?” When she used the paddle to drive them forward, smooth muscles made her greased skin shine.
“He is no witch!” Anhinga declared, then glanced suspiciously at Salamander. “Are you?”
“No.”
“Did you bury one of those little statues under Pine Drop’s bed?” Anhinga was watching him with hard eyes. “I saw where the dirt had been disturbed.”
“Yes.”
“Did you dispose of it?” She glanced thoughtfully back at her baby where it rode in the cane cradleboard.
“I did. Just as the Serpent told me to.”
“What is this?” Water Petal asked.
“I wanted my wives to have healthy deliveries. Relax, Cousin. It was the Serpent’s charm, not something from the dark side of Power.”
“You worry me,” Water Petal told him.
He chuckled uncomfortably. “You have no idea what worry is. One night I Dream and I fly with Masked Owl, knowing he drove a lightning bolt through White Bird. The next, it is Many Colored Crow who comes to talk to me in my sleep. Each wants me to choose his way.” He dared not mention Heron. She was the most enigmatic of all. “I just don’t know what the right choice is. Everything is coming together here, and I am right in the middle of it.”
“That is an understatement.” Water Petal sent them deeper into the channel, her face marked with unhappiness.
Salamander took the moment to study Anhinga. She, too, looked uneasy. A tension lay behind her pretty face; something smoldered behind her eyes. With the sunlight glistening in her raven black hair, she looked dangerous yet vulnerable. An irresistible combination. He stifled the sudden urge to reach out and run his fingers down her muscular thigh. Since giving birth, both she and Pine Drop seemed oblivious to his sexual desires. Water Petal had told him that would pass with time.
“I feel trapped,” he said. “Whatever decision I make, I will offend one or the other.”
“I’d keep an eye on the clans, Cousin,” Water Petal retorted. “Within a moon, they will act to remove you from the Council. You know that threat is coming. What about the ones that are being planned in secret? Who can tell when someone might call you a witch and use that excuse to sneak up behind you and smack your skull in two!”
He gave her a wry smile. “I should be worried about a simple smack from behind when a lightning bolt might explode my head the way it did White Bird’s? Somehow, upsetting Masked Owl or Many Colored Crow is a little different than worrying about Mud Stalker and Deep Hunter.”
“You could leave,” Anhinga told him. Her dark eyes burned. “You don’t have to stay here. You could come with me. We could go to the Panther’s Bones, and you could leave these people who do not appreciate you.”
He reached out and took her hand, beguiled by her desperation. “I thank you for that, Wife. Your offer means more to me than I can ever tell you. As much as I would like to have that freedom, it wouldn’t solve my trouble here.”
“It would take you away from Sun People who want to murder you!”
“Masked Owl could drop a tree on me down at the Panther’s Bones just as well as he could here. Spirit Helpers aren’t bound by human territories.”
“As you described it, Many Colored Crow would make us great,” Water Petal said thoughtfully. “Our clan would become preeminent. No one could challenge us. Imagine that, Salamander. Owl Clan would be forever. Everyone else would be obliged to us. The uncertainty would be gone. We would lead the Council.”
“At a price, Cousin.” He reached for another piece of bait and dropped it into the next fish trap. “Power doesn’t promise these things freely. You speak of obligation? What would we owe Many Colored Crow?” He shook his head. “The Hero Twins are just like us—like our clans. If you just choose one, the balance will be ruined. The harmony that we have tried so hard to maintain will be broken.”
Anhinga was weighing his words, a frown on her smooth face as she played out the cord while the trap sank in the murky water.
“Did we do so badly?” Water Petal asked. “Has Thunder Tail been a better leader in the Council than Wing Heart? What of Mud Stalker if he is chosen for the leadership? Would Deep Hunter have been better than Cloud Heron over the turnings of the seasons? Or, Snakes help us, Cane Frog? Could she have done the things your mother and uncle did? Our lineage has been good for Sun Town, Salamander. Look at the building we have done! The ridges are finished. People live in constant protection from the forces of the North and West. We are Trading with peoples we have never heard of before. Life is good.”