Salamander shrugged. “I don’t think they planned it this way. Lines of Power have come together in a way that leaves Masked Owl and Many Colored Crow trapped in two possible futures. For them it is one or the other. Because of the way the lines of Power came together, they just happened to cross on me.”
“Like the lines on your chest?”
Salamander nodded, feeling the muscles in his back knot as he chipped at the charcoal. “Cousin, I want you to promise me something.”
“Anything, Salamander.”
“I have something in mind. Maybe it’s a way out of this.”
Yellow Spider glanced up, his face sooty from the fire. “Such as?”
“I can’t tell you. You’ll just have to wait and see.”
“Salamander, maybe if you shared this idea of yours with someone, it might help.”
He smiled wanly. “You will just have to trust me, Cousin.”
“I’m not sure I understand what—”
“I need you to promise that you will support what I’m about to do. I am going to ask you to do certain things for me. They will need to be done quickly and just as I say. I want you to tell me right now that you won’t argue or make trouble for me.”
“What you’re saying doesn’t make any sense.”
“Neither will the instructions I give you. But believe me, it’s the only way out.”
“What is?”
“If this doesn’t work, if the clans turn on each other, I want you to promise me something more.”
“Of course.”
“When it looks like fighting is going to break out, I want you to take some kinsmen and capture Pine Drop and Night Rain and my children. Take them far away. North to the Wolf People, or up to Spring Cypress among the Wash’ta, I don’t care.”
“What about Anhinga?”
“Send her south right away if anything happens to me. Saw Back and Deep Hunter will move on her immediately. You might have to bind and gag her, but get her out first thing. Deliver her to Jaguar Hide in person if you have to.”
“And hope I get back alive,” Yellow Spider muttered.
“He will let you go for keeping his niece safe.”
“Then I take it you are going to choose Masked Owl?”
“I have something else in mind.”
“What?”
“The price I have to pay,” Salamander said pointedly.
“The way you’re speaking is scaring me, Cousin.”
“Not half as much as it scares me.”
Pine Drop cried out, her body jerking her awake. She sat up, feeling for her daughter. The baby cried in the darkness as Pine Drop lifted her to a nipple and struggled to catch her breath.
“Are you all right?” Night Rain asked from her bed across the room.
Pine Drop blinked in the darkness, smelling the charcoal scent from the smoldering fire pit. “A Dream. By the Sky Beings, I’ve never had a Dream that vivid.”
“What was it about?” Night Rain shuffled under her deerhide. Pine Drop heard her yawn.
“I was on the Bird’s Head. Way up at the top. It was morning, the sun rising behind my right shoulder as I looked off into the West.”
“The Land of the Dead?”
“Yes. The sky was lavender and pink, so wonderfully colorful, and someone was standing in the distance. Huge, as if rising out of the forest and towering over it. In spite of the light, he was shadowy, vague. Looking through the light was like looking through mist. I couldn’t make out the face at first, and then I recognized him.”
“Who?” Sleep filled Night Rain’s voice.
“Salamander.” Pine Drop shivered, remembering the sight.
“In the Land of the Dead?”
Pine Drop nodded in the darkness. “He was looking at me with such longing. I could see the sadness in his eyes. He reached out with one hand, but as soon as I started to reach back, he shook his head and lowered his arm.”
“You mean, if you would have taken his hand you would have been pulled into the Land of the Dead?”
“Yes. He wouldn’t let me. Snakes! I wanted to, Night Rain. I wanted to like I’ve never wanted anything before.”
“Wanted to be dead?”
“Yes, maybe. Pus and blood, I don’t know. I just wanted to be with him.”
“It’s just a Dream, Sister. Go back to sleep.”
“I can’t.” She paused, eyes searching the darkness. “I don’t know how it happened?”
“How he died you mean?”
“That, too, but no. I mean I don’t understand how I came to love him so much. Remember when we were married? How horrified we were?”
“And how nasty we were to him.”