Locust napped on the high sleeping platform behind Primrose, the tips of her moccasins visible. Green Ash noticed that Primrose kept glancing up affectionately, as though to reassure himself that Locust still lay there.
Green Ash let her gaze drift to the long rows of colored baskets on the walls. Where had Primrose gotten that talent for coordinating color and shape? A round red basket sat perfectly over a square green one. No two similar colors were allowed in close proximity. It pleased the eye and calmed the soul.
Green Ash could use a good dose of calm. Her unborn baby had started kicking so violently that she had grown ill with panic. Was the baby all right? The birthing women didn't seem to know. She had been questioning the other pregnant women in the village about how they felt. Four of them were seven moons along, just as Green Ash was, but none of them reported such pain as she was suffering.
Blessed First Woman, don't let my baby die.
The words, seeping up from a cold pit where she had buried them, goaded her to face the fear. Had Primrose not pleaded with her to come today, she would have stayed home, sleeping to avoid her desperation. But his anxiety about Checkerberry had prompted Green Ash to walk halfway across the village to attend this round of Taletime.
Once a moon, each of the clan leaders collected the youngsters and told them the Old Stories. When the children became adults, at thirteen or fourteen, they would be expected to recite the sacred stories flawlessly.
As it turned out, Primrose's worry about Checkerberry had been unfounded. The instant the children had crowded around her knees, the old woman had roused and thrown off her dread like Badger shaking a blanket of spring snow from his glistening coat. Checkerberry seemed more her old jovial self than Green Ash had witnessed in moons. Her wrinkled lips had curled into a full smile.
Checkerberry leaned forward and pointed at Little Burrowing Owl. "... And what happened then?"
The five-cycles-old boy clapped his rapture at being given the chance to answer. "Tortoise brought up mud!"
"That's right," Checkerberry praised. "Tortoise brought up mud from the depths of the oceans, and Earthmaker fashioned the mud into the land and kneaded it into shape for the trees, animals, and humans. Then what happened?"
Hyssop scrambled to her knees. "Earthmaker breathed Spirit into the world, just like we do with arrow points! And all living things chose their own colors. The trees turned green, and the animals—"
"Good. You've got it." Checkerberry rocked back on her hips and smiled broadly. "And after Earthmaker had finished his creation, he realized with a shock that he'd forgotten to leave room for the rivers and creeks—but by then, he didn't know where to put them. He'd made everything so perfect that he hated to start ripping ditches so that the water could flow. He vacillated so long that the trees started drooping and the animals were dying of thirst. Muskrat came to him with his tongue hanging out and told Earthmaker he'd better do something fast."
"So Earthmaker made rivers!" two-cycles-old Buzzard slurred around the finger in his mouth, only to be shouted down by the other children yelling, "No, he didn't! Stupid! Not yet."
"You, Big-Nosed Rattler," Checkerberry singled out the older girl. "What did Earthmaker say to Muskrat?"
"He said he didn't know where to put the rivers."
"That's it. Earthmaker said, 'Yes, yes, you're right, Muskrat, but where shall I put the rivers and creeks? Do you have any ideas?'
"So, together, Earthmaker and Muskrat went to the rim of the sky to peer down upon the world. From their height, the only things they could see clearly were the huge serpents that Earthmaker had created. They slithered all over the land, creating squiggles everywhere. But when a dark shadow skimmed over the face of the world—it was Red-Tailed Hawk looking for dinner—^the serpents instantly froze. Only their forked tongues darted to scent the air for danger."
"Ha!" Big-Nosed Rattler blurted in delight. "They were beautiful squiggles!"
"Yes," Checkerberry agreed. "Muskrat pointed at the snakes and said, 'There! Look at those magnificent patterns! Put the rivers where the snakes are. Isn't that beautiful? Not even you could have found better places than Red-Tailed Hawk.' So Earthmaker turned all the giant serpents into rivers—and the trees, animals, and humans have been able to live well ever since."
Hyssop let out a happy shriek and threw her arms around Checkerberry's neck. "Tell us another one, Grandmother," she begged, and all the children joined in.
Checkerberry laughed and patted Hyssop. "All right, sit down. I'm going to tell you about how Giant Beaver witched Bear and forced Bear to build dams for him. This was in the days when beavers grew as big as bears ..."