People of the Owl(213)
The backswamp slowly drained away during those last days as Mother Sun crept ever so slowly toward solstice. Each summer at this time shallow pools formed where fish thrashed, fed, and often became stranded. Knowing the lay of the low contours, a fisherman with a properly set net could drag the shallows, effectively sweeping up the bounty.
Salamander squinted as he stepped into a patch of sun between the shade of two sweetgum trees. In the knee-deep water, mud squished between his toes. The midday heat seemed to weight the humid air. Insects flitted past on silver wings, while birds and locusts called from the trees. He bent at the waist, struggling against the sodden weight of the net.
“Hot today,” Pine Drop called from across the small pond. “I could almost wish for some of that miserable cold from last winter.” She was struggling step by step, leaning as she pulled at the ropes that controlled the net.
Salamander watched her. Toned muscles slid under her smooth brown skin. He could see the strength in her arms and the swell of her thighs as she sloshed through the muddy brown water. Her broad shoulders tensed under the weight of the wet netting. Droplets of water mixed with perspiration as she bent her back, using her round hips for leverage. The top and bottom ropes had to be pulled correctly to create a pocket for the fish. Pine Drop held each rope in a knotted fist.
She glanced across at him, seeing the expression on his face, frowning. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.”
“Why are you looking at me that way?”
“You are so beautiful. I was just trying to understand, that’s all.”
“Understand what?” She seemed completely confused.
“How I could have been so lucky to have had you for a wife. I spend a lot of time watching you.”
“I know. Sometimes it’s disturbing. That look in your eyes, I mean. As if you’re about to melt.”
“You do that to me. If I have to melt for anyone, I would want to melt for you.”
She smiled then—shy, but happy. Her teeth gleamed in contrast to her lustrous black hair. “Do you want to pull on this net instead of wasting the day staring at me like I’m a lost Dream?”
“You are a Dream.” He leaned into the net, dragging it onward through the shallowing water and onto the muddy flats. As more of the netting was pulled from the water it grew heavier. He could feel the weight of the fish, their struggles carrying as vibrations in the netting. They thrashed in the shallows, hampered by the cords that bound them. He could see heads, tails, and fins protruding from the boil.
“Together now,” he called. “Pull! Pull! Pull!”
With each gasp, they threw their bodies against the sagging net, dragging the catch onto the mud. In the process the netting twisted neatly, trapping the fish in the folds.
Lungs heaving Salamander laid his end down. Fish were writhing, gasping, slapping against each other. He could see catfish, bowfin, gar, bass, suckers, and buffalo fish in the mix.
“Good catch!” Pine Drop said between gasps as she walked over to stand beside him.
“I thought so when I married you,” he said.
Her gleaming brown eyes reflected amusement. “What is it with you today? Do you want something?”
He saw delight shining behind a flawed mask of female cynicism. “I just want you. And my girls. I want everything to stay just as it is today and never change. I want to love you, and hold you, and watch my daughters grow. I want it so badly that it makes my souls ache.”
She reached out, drawing him into her arms. He sighed at the heat of her wet body. Her breasts were against his. Damp strands of her hair clung to the side of his face. His arms around her, he reveled in her breathing, then detected her heartbeat as his ear pressed against her neck.
“You have me, Salamander. For as long as you want me.”
“I have asked for too much.”
“That’s nonsense. I am staying with you. It is our decision and no one else’s.”
“I just wish the decision was ours.”
She pushed him back far enough to stare into his eyes. “The clans cannot make us do what we do not wish to.”
He reached up to finger a damp lock of her hair away from her eyes. “I do not worry about the clans.”
“Then who?”
“Masked Owl.”
He could see her doubt. “Salamander, why? I mean, I know you have visions. I know about you and Power, but this worries me. Why would Masked Owl harm you?”
“Because I cannot do as he asks.”
“Why not?”
“If I follow the path to the One, I will lose you. I will lose everything. Like Wolf Dreamer, I will fall into the Dream and everything else will become meaningless.”