“I didn’t want to see him hurt.” Night Rain lowered her head and squeezed her eyes shut. “I always do the wrong thing! I always hurt the people I love. What’s the matter with me?”
“Do you follow your clan, or your heart?” Pine Drop asked absently. “That’s partly what Salamander meant yesterday.” She took a breath, coming to a decision. “All right, are you up to stopping this silliness?”
Night Rain wiped at tears that dampened her eyes. “What did you have in mind?”
“A way to save us, if you don’t mind lying a little. It is sure to enrage Mother and Uncle. It may have terrible consequences for us. Uncle might even cast us out of Sun Town for it.”
Night Rain was looking half-sick. “Why don’t you tell me what you’re thinking before I have to decide.”
“I killed Eats Wood.”
“What?”
“Uncle wants us at that Council meeting. He wants us to see Salamander charged with murder as well as with witchcraft. We are to be witnesses to his disgrace and humiliation. That way we will be docile nieces the next time he needs to marry us off for the clan’s benefit.”
“You mean to say that in Council? That you killed Eats Wood?”
Pine Drop peered coolly into her sister’s shocked eyes. “Think about it. A clan is responsible for the behavior of its own. Eats Wood was a walking spineless leech. A wiggling bloodsucker who would have eventually glutted his appetite on some young woman. He was trouble waiting to happen. We agree on that, right?”
“Yes.”
“Well, our story is that he came on me in the forest just after Tadpole was born. He wanted to taste my milk, wanted to slide into my canoe as he watched my naked baby’s body.”
“That’s disgusting!”
“As disgusting as a man can get,” Pine Drop agreed. “I had Salamander’s ax that day. I had taken it from his house while I was on the way to gather firewood.” Her lips quirked. “Our family has a history of getting into trouble when we’re after firewood.”
“Not funny.”
“When I finally realized that Eats Wood wasn’t just making crude jokes I was so upset and distressed that I crashed the ax through his head.”
“From behind. That’s the only way the ax fits.”
“From behind,” Pine Drop agreed, fitting that new fact into her story. “Let’s see. He turned toward Tadpole, who was on the ground in her cradleboard, and I struck.”
“So, how did he end up in a canoe under a root down in the Jaguar Hide’s swamp.”
“Because I asked Salamander to help me dispose of the body. You, Salamander, and I carried him to the canoe landing one night, and Salamander took him away. You and I had no idea where, and we didn’t ask.”
Night Rain looked horrified. “You would do this? Say this?”
“And you will say that it is the truth.”
“Why?”
Pine Drop smiled. “Because, like you, I want to be happy again. I want to spend the rest of my life with the man I love.”
“You might be giving up the chance to be Clan Elder.”
“You can take my place. Most of the blame will be mine.”
Night Rain gaped. “You would actually do that?”
Pine Drop nodded. “I know my husband. Whatever he did, it was done to protect someone, to keep them from harm. No matter what, Night Rain, he will not be given a fair chance in the Council. You and I both know that.”
Night Rain nervously chewed her lip, her brow lined. “Uncle will know it’s a lie. He will wonder why I didn’t say something, do something, when I brought him the ax. Snakes! He still thinks it belongs to Anhinga.”
“It was an easy mistake to make,” Pine Drop said simply. “You were upset at having to steal Anhinga’s ax. You ducked into Salamander’s house, grabbed the first ax you found, and ran. Uncle may not believe it, but the Council will.”
“Snakes, I’m already feeling scared,” Night Rain muttered. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”
“If we don’t save him, Night Rain, we will hate ourselves for the rest of our lives. Do you want to live with that?”
“No, Sister. I’m with you all the way.”
“Hello the camp!” a pleasant male voice called.
They turned to see Yellow Spider walking up with a drinking gourd cupped in his hands. “Salamander sends his greetings! He made tea this morning, and since there was extra, he wanted you to have this.”
Water Stinger stepped forward, a keen expression on his face.
Pine Drop jumped to her feet, hurrying to meet Yellow Spider before Water Stinger could come close. She smiled into Yellow Spider’s strained face and took the gourd. In a loud voice, she declared, “Thank you, Yellow Spider.” In a hushed rush, she whispered. “You must tell Salamander to trust me today like I once trusted him!” With her eyes, she burned emphasis into each of her words.