People of the River(184)

When Petaga turned back to Nightshade, he gestured weakly. "Take her, Nightshade. But I—I don't know what I'll do without you."

Nightshade set her basket down so she could embrace Petaga. Orenda protectively clutched the basket's handle, eyes lowered to avoid the glares from the people.

"Oh, Nightshade!" Petaga whispered against her hair. "I'll miss you. I need you more now than I ever have."

"No, you don't. You just don't realize it yet. I've seen your future." She pressed her lips to his temple. "You'll have a priestess who is much greater than I am—if you'll ask her to stay."

Petaga let his arms fall and stared at Nightshade through blurry eyes. "Who?"

"Lichen."

''Who?"

"We'll discuss it tonight. I've arranged for you and me to take dinner with Meadow Vole, Wanderer, and Lichen."

Then, as though Badgertail's intense gaze drew her. Nightshade walked across the dirt and stood before him. She studied his eyes, probing so deeply that it felt like a fishhook ripping at his soul,

"So, my kidnapper," she said quietly, for his ears alone. "Do you still believe a bear is a bear?"

He took a breath to steady himself. "Are you asking if . . . if I believe that it's the nature of my soul and my duty to be a warrior?" She only stared. He said, "It is no longer my duty, Priestess. But whether or not it is still my nature, I can't say."

"What is your duty now?"

"My duty is to die as well as I can—for the sake of my warriors. And if Petaga doesn't hurry, I may fail even at that."

Nightshade stepped closer to him, so close that he could smell the sweet scent of mint that rose from her hair. When his heart started pounding, he made a futile effort to straighten his body.

"Badgertail, I would have you grab your pack and run away with me."

The words echoed around a familiar chasm in his soul, circling, returning in Bobcat's voice. Desperate longing surged through him. Softly, he answered, "I would run away with you. Nightshade."

She turned without a word, striding through the buzzing onlookers to pull the hafted chert knife from Hailcloud's belt. Hailcloud cast an inquiring look at Petaga, who shook his head in confusion. Hailcloud made no move to stop her.

Nightshade raised the knife over Badgertail's head and cut his bonds. He fell to his knees, gasping in agony when his arms struck his sides like slabs of dead meat.

Nightshade knelt beside him and slipped an arm around his shoulders, supporting him until he could shift into a sitting position. "Are you all right?"

"I will be."



Nightshade lifted her commanding gaze to Petaga. "Badgertail is also going home with me tomorrow, my Chief."





Forty-eight


I've never heard that story," Wanderer said. "How do you know it?"

The sweet fragrance of bull thistle filled the air as Lichen walked along the terrace of Cahokia Creek behind him. He had been toying with the fringe on his green shirt, studying the thistles' magenta blossoms, or just gazing longingly up at the transparent bands of cloud that streaked the deep blue sky. Not even a breath of wind stirred the weeds this evening.

"First Woman told it to me. She said that Wolf Slayer almost died. He had to jump across the spiny backs of the Ice Giants while he fought Grandfather White Bear. That's how he tricked Bear. Wolf Slayer sneaked down onto a ledge in a deep crevasse in the ice. Bear sniffed him out and tried to follow, but he slipped and fell to his death. Then Wolf Slayer cut off Bear's hide for a robe and his claws for his Spirit necklace."

Wanderer blinked thoughtfully. "Like the claw that First Woman gave you? I was surprised when you woke with it in your hand."

"First Woman said she hoped it would always remind me."

"Remind you?"

"Yes. Of what Wolf Slayer had to go through to find the hole that led to this world of Light."

Wanderer propped his sandaled foot on a rock. "Lichen ..." He paused. "Have you decided whether you'll stay here or not? Petaga needs you badly. I think your mother wants you to stay, too."

"Do you want me to?"

"If ... if it's what you want." He bowed his head. "I'll miss you. I was hoping that maybe you'd come back to my rock shelter and live with me. You're young, and Power is so unpredictable. Living here in this big village will be far different from living in Redweed. I'm afraid it will be hard for you."

Unconsciously, her hand moved from the Stone Wolf on its thong around her neck, then down to her new Power Bundle, which was tied to the belt of her purple dress. It contained the huge bear claw, as well as the bits of hair and skull that Wanderer had cut from her head. First Woman's soft voice echoed from the Bundle: "It's like crossing a mountain. The climb is hard. You can't understand anything about the whole world until you see the other side. This is another step on the way to ultimate Dreaming Power."