Cimmis stepped away from his guards to get a good look at the location. He knew this terrain; every groove and bump was familiar. If Rain Bear was sending the message, he couldn’t be too far from the spire. Probably … there. Less than two hand’s run from Water Storage Plateau.
“Are you sure that was a message and not just some hunter drowning a campfire?”
Thunder Boy swallowed hard. “It was a white plume of smoke, Great Chief. We thought you should know.”
Cimmis turned, beckoning to Wind Scorpion, who walked several paces back. The grizzled old warrior trotted forward.
“Yes, Great Chief?” When Cimmis pointed, the cunning old eyes turned to where the faint white plume of smoke rose over the distant trees.
“Do you know what that might be?”
Wind Scorpion’s eyes narrowed. “A signal of some sort, I suppose. The first thing that comes to mind is that Rain Bear has split his forces. One group is signaling to another. He surely wouldn’t attack here. This ground is too open.”
He gestured down the slope. A fire five summers ago had denuded the slope where the trail followed the ridge down toward patches of trees.
As they walked, Cimmis couldn’t help but glance periodically at the plume of white. It seemed to strengthen, and then diminish, only to be replenished again. It looked to him more like a beacon than a signal smoke. Beacon? For what? For whom?
As if he had overheard Cimmis’s thoughts, Wind Scorpion said, “The threads of Power are being drawn tight.”
As the sun rose ever higher in the sky, Hunter kept shooting wary glances at the witch, as did Deer Killer; but Dzoo had her unblinking eyes focused on Ecan. She seemed possessed of an absolute stillness. With her dark hood flapping around her beautiful face, she looked almost godlike.
“Witch!” Hunter called. “Are you sleepwalking?”
She didn’t appear to hear him.
“I asked you a—”
“Red Dog’s soul is stalking yours.” She said it so calmly.
Deer Killer cried, “Red Dog? No one’s even seen him for days. Word is he ran off to Rain Bear.”
Hunter glanced warily around; the very notion of something stalking his soul chilled his blood. “What makes you think he’s dead?”
“A witch whispered it to me last night.”
“We were guarding you all night. No one came close.” Deer Killer thumped his chest in emphasis.
“I shall miss the two of you,” she said simply. “Give my regards to Red Dog’s spirit when you see it. Tell him I will always honor his memory.”
“That makes no sense,” Hunter muttered, but he kept glancing over his shoulder to see if a ghost was there.
As Dzoo walked, a heaviness lay in her heart. She had liked Red Dog. When Coyote had whispered that he’d killed him outside of Salmon Village, her heart had deadened. She had known that Red Dog cared for her, had seen it grow in his eyes while he healed under her care.
Scoundrel that he was, she would miss his wit, the dogged persistence of his character. He would never have filled the hole left by her Pearl Oyster: She had had one husband, one love of her life.
She could feel Ecan’s presence long before she was aware of him marching up to her.
“Hunter, Deer Killer, leave us.” The Starwatcher made a gesture with his hand.
The guards faded off to each side, leaving a bubble of space around them. Dzoo sniffed, catching the subtle odor of damp moss. “You are tainted, Starwatcher.” She glanced at his pinched expression. “What was his reaction when he laid hands on his fetishes again?”
Ecan missed a step. And recovered, one hand to his breast. “What … what are you talking about?”
She let the faintest of smiles bend her lips. “I’m talking about the bargain you struck with Coyote. Was Red Dog part of it, or was killing him Cimmis’s idea?”
“Cimmis deals with Coyote?” Ecan seemed genuinely surprised.
“Of course. But for a thread of Power, Coyote would have already killed Tsauz and removed him from the complex web we find ourselves in. Curious, isn’t it, that he didn’t kill Matron Evening Star that night in her lodge?”
Ecan was watching her as if she could spin miracles. “Coyote was sent to kill both Evening Star and Tsauz?”
“You owe your son’s life to the Soul Keeper, Rides-the-Wind. Why do you think the old man went to Rain Bear in the first place? It was to save the boy.”
“For which I shall reward him when the time comes.” Ecan seemed suddenly reserved, as if putting new pieces into an old puzzle. “As to Evening Star, I would prefer to deal with her on my own.”
“If he will let you.”