People of the Owl(217)
Even weary as Pine Drop was, she looked up as Night Rain squatted at the fire across from her. Her sister’s face reminded her of one of the Earth Monster masks the men wore on ceremonial occasions. It was something about the set of the mouth, the emptiness in the eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
“There will be a Council meeting called tomorrow.” Night Rain reached a stick from the woodpile and inserted the end into the flames. As it caught fire, she lifted it, watching the fire eat at the wood before it went out and smoked. Night Rain inserted the smoking end into the flames again to relight.
“You don’t always look like you’re sick to your stomach when the Council is called.”
“Uncle orders that we both be there.”
“Blood and pus, I’ve got a canoe load of fish to dry.” She jerked her head toward the basket. “That’s part of it. I thought I’d get them split tonight and partially dried before the flies got to them.” She worked her hands, feeling the muscles in her forearms, hot and cramped. “But all I want to do is sleep.”
“You should know something.”
“I should know many things.” She rubbed her tired eyes, aware of how her hand smelled of fish. “I should know who I am.”
“What?”
“Who am I, Night Rain? What am I?”
“What brought this about?”
“A question that Salamander asked me today.” She studied her sister, seeing the sick worry in her face. “Could you give up being you? Could you just walk down to the canoe landing and paddle away from here? Maybe go and live somewhere in the forest without any clan or family? Could you just go away, Night Rain, and never see your mother, your uncle, or any of your friends? Could you stop being you?”
“No! No one could! That sounds completely witless. We are who we are: Sun People, Snapping Turtle Clan.”
Pine Drop nodded. “I thought so, too.”
Night Rain’s expression had tightened. “Is Salamander thinking about running away?”
Pine Drop shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t think so. It was just a question he asked … like so many of the other questions he asks. What is it about him? He can look you in the eyes, that gaze all soft and concerned, and ask you a simple question. It upsets your souls so that everything that you are is turned upside down and spilled out.”
Night Rain’s chuckle held a bitter irony. “I don’t know, Sister. I don’t know what to think of him.” She paused. “He knew I was pregnant before I did. How could he know that?”
“How can he do a lot of the things he does? The man is a mystery!” She took a breath. “Night Rain, I have come to love him like I never thought I could love a man. When he’s not around, I am obsessed with thoughts about him. I keep things to show him, just waiting to see his smile.”
Night Rain nodded distantly. “I recall the day when we first married White Bird, and how horrified we were at the thought of ending up married to Salamander.”
“After he asked that question today we were working on the fish, gutting them, packing them in the canoe, and the next thing I knew, we were touching. And the next we were on the grass. I will never forget that coupling. It was as if he was trying to make it last forever. In the end, when his loins let loose in mine, I would have sworn my body had exploded into beams of sunlight.
“And then?”
“And then, after I finally returned to my body and caught my breath, the baby was crying.”
Night Rain smiled, teasing the fire with her burning stick. “Keep that memory, Sister. Hold it close to your souls like a precious stone.”
“I will.” She glanced at Night Rain, reading her troubled eyes. “What happened to you today?”
“I got out of bed. I shouldn’t have.”
“You get out of bed every day. Why should this one be different?”
Night Rain’s shoulders jerked. “You are right about Salamander. Things happen to him. It’s odd how coincidences are. Just after I got out of bed this morning, I saw Saw Back. Everything goes back to him and Anhinga’s ax. It makes me wonder if I’m not just Power’s tool.”
“I have enough worries about Power. Don’t you get involved in it, too.”
“It’s too late. I already am.” She jabbed the burning stick angrily at the fire. “Somehow we ended up talking about Salamander. Saw Back hates him. Hates me. Not only for being there that day, for witnessing what Anhinga did to him, but because I went back to Salamander.”
“He’s your husband, what does Saw Back think wives do?”