People of the River(15)

Badgertail bowed his head. He remembered Bulrush. Fun-loving, always playing practical jokes. No one could believe he had taken up with Nightshade. But they had been together for what? Ten cycles now? "Time is something none of us have. Especially you. Moon Chief. Will you turn over the tribute? Or force me to take it from your storage huts?"

Jenos slammed his fist into the sacred pedestal. His nostrils quivered in rage. "We have another moon of winter left. Without that com, my people will go hungry! We're in the midst of the Starving Time. You know that. We've hunted out all the animals for days of travel in every direction. There are almost no fish left in the Father Water. I can't turn our com over to you." He extended his hands in a pleading gesture that made Badgertail's soul go cold. "I beg you, Badgertail. Please. Go back and tell Tharon we cannot do as he commands. If he would just give us another season, we would pay him twice the tribute he demands."

"I'm sorry," Badgertail said distastefully, and caught Bobcat's disgusted glare, "but Tharon has grown tired of your insolence. You have about one finger of time left. What is your choice? War or peace?"

"Badgertail, do you realize what will happen to us if you attack? It's not just the tribute. After you're finished tearing River Mounds apart, killing our warriors, we'll be completely vulnerable to attack from anyone who wants what little we have left. The independent chiefdoms south of the confluence of Moon River have become more daring. Rumors of your raids travel on wings faster than Swallow's. If any of those chiefs should become bold, we're no more than a month's travel away. You'll doom every man, woman, and child in this village."

The words came hoarsely. "It's not my decision. Moon Chief. If it were—" Bobcat's boots scuffed the floor, causing Badgertail to whirl. "What is it?"

Bobcat's eyes narrowed as he peered into the dimness of the hall. "People. Six of them. They just ducked under the hanging. They're coming."

Badgertail glared at Jenos. A small, bitter smile curled those thin lips. "What is this. Moon Chief? You would betray your promise of safety?"

The old man's shoulders hunched, making him appear frail and decrepit. His mouth puckered as though he had swallowed something sour. "You've left me no choice, Badger-tail. We are a desperate people. In a few moments I will take you to the gate platform and you can signal your warriors to call off the attack. Then I want you to summon one of your warriors and order him to take my plea for more time to Tharon."

"Tharon won't listen. And within two days my warriors will figure out the sham and attack you anyway. You've nothing to gain by taking us hostage."

"Time, Badgertail. Time. Perhaps in two days I can sneak out the mothers and children. Maybe the elderly. Then . . ." He exhaled despondently. "Well, your warriors may do what they will. We will fight you until we are all dead." He lifted a hand and moved it futilely. The fire had gone out of his dark eyes, leaving only hatred. "We will die anyway if you take our food and our source of Power. Better quickly than a lingering death that eats our souls with its pain."

Jenos lifted his gaze expectantly to the doorway. Badgertail prepared himself. The blaze of the firebowls blinded his eyes to the hall, but his keen ears picked up the soft hissing of moccasins against dirt. Bobcat had flattened himself against the wall by the entry. His chest heaved with anxious breaths as he nodded to Badgertail. Then his glance touched on Jenos.

They had warred together too long for Badgertail to miss his brother's meaning; he waited until the first enemy warrior came through the door.

When Bobcat yelled "Go!" and swung a fist brutally into the man's throat, Badgertail dove for the floor, crawling frantically for Jenos.

Jenos vaulted off the altar with the vigor of a boy and sprinted for the tiny door in the northern wall. His golden robe waffled around his legs as he ran. Screams and angry shouts flooded the Sun Chamber. Badgertail caught sight of Bobcat whirling to knee a man in the stomach before two warriors jumped him. An invisible fist constricted Badger-tail's heart . . .

"Moon Chief! Stop!" Badgertail cried as he leaped forward, tackling Jenos and knocking him to the floor.

Jenos screamed and pounded his withered fists into Bad-gertail's face 2ind back, shrilling, "No! NoBadgertail, have you lost your human soul? Let me go!"

Bobcat uttered a garbled scream.

Desperation drove Badgertail to grab Jenos' throat in a crushing grip. "Tell your warriors to stop! Now, or you're dead! You hear me?"

Two men slammed into Badgertail like a rushing rock slide, propelling him off Jenos. He struggled wildly, grabbing red tatters of clothing, gouging with his fingers, until he got an opening and bashed his knee brutally into the groin of one of his opponents. When the man gasped and slumped to the floor, Badgertail leveled a lethal kick to the warrior's temple. The man toppled sideways, his wide, dead eyes staring, as the second warrior twined his fmgers in Badger-tail's black hair and wrenched him backward.