People of the Thunder(128)

She studied him as though he were some odd discovery, but refused to rise to his bait.

Flying Hawk sighed then, a sinking feeling in his breast. “What would I have to give you to entice you to leave? Copper? Pearls? Perhaps some sacred object? Something that would make you a rich woman wherever it is that you came from?”

“I am only here for a moment, but much will happen before I join my husband.” She smiled. “Your brother has come back from the dead. Even now, that fateful piece of stone hangs from his side. The blood of murder still lingers, hidden in the crevices.”

“Stop that!” he cried, his chest tightening. Then his eyes narrowed. “Ah, so that is your game? You think my brother is back from the dead?” He thumped his breast. “Since the day I killed him, I have carried his memory here, struggled to be what he would want me to be. But I’ll have you know this: I’ll never fall for your lies.”

“You only delude yourself, Great Chief. But Power wills it so. You can save yourself, but you won’t. You could rally to Green Snake and—”

“Green Snake!” He burst out laughing. “I fear that slip of the tongue has revealed you, Prophet! Now I know you for what you are: a Yuchi spy.”

Her eyes widened, and she smiled wistfully, as if at a silly child who amused her. “You know the truth about the Yuchi. Blood still stains the white arrow and haunts your Dreams. The wound in your chest heals poorly, your souls reluctant to renew flesh mutilated in deceit.”

Flying Hawk slapped his hand angrily against the door frame. This time, Smoke Shield, you have gone too far. Gods, how do I rid our people of your folly?

“You cannot,” she said, as if hearing his thoughts. “Your fear of Smoke Shield is greater than your fear for your people. You have lost so much of yourself, nothing will bring it back. Your brother will destroy you, and that you will not be able to bear.”

“My dead brother?” He stared at her in sudden hatred. “I should kill you.”

“But you won’t,” she said simply. “Smoke Shield hovers over you like a great black cloud. His lightning is flickering in the depths. In the end, he will belong to my husband. Power will have its due.”

“Do not toy with me, woman!”

Her dark eyes seemed to expand, drawing him in. He braced a hand on the door frame as the room seemed to waver.

“When all is gone, High Minko, black raven wings will enfold you.” Her voice sent an eerie chill through his souls. Images of the Spirit Being from his Dreams flickered in his memory.

Shaken, Flying Hawk turned, hastening from the room. His souls were churning, thoughts a jumble. The image of his brother sprawled beside a dead buffalo washed through him like a flood. He felt the stone in his trembling hand—saw again the bright red blood. It oozed from his brother’s ruined face and broken skull. Brilliant scarlet mixed with vibrant green grass beneath his brother’s crushed head.

Oh, yes. If I could bring you back, I would. You were my strength, and I need you now in a way I never have before.

But the dead were dead. He might be able to call upon his dead brother’s souls—to plead as he so often had for forgiveness—but in the end, it all fell to him.

Think! She has purposely tried to mislead you!

The woman was a Yuchi spy! And this whole nonsense about Great Cougar attacking the south side of the city? What lunacy! But his nephew had taken her bait like a hungry bass did a small frog. She had convinced him to hold his warriors to the south, awaiting an attack that any logical thought precluded. Why?

Green Snake! She mentioned Green Snake! And then it hit him. Green Snake was coming at the head of a Yuchi army. By now they would have heard of Bullfrog Pipe’s murder under the protection of the white arrow. They would be enraged and—with Green Snake as a guide—would be slipping down from the highlands, avoiding the main trails, taking the back routes.

Gods, we’re like ducks floating over a submerged alligator!

How did he counter this latest madness? How did he rid himself of the cottonmouth in their midst?

Flying Hawk stumbled out into the great room, his eyes on the smoldering fire pit. Faint wisps of smoke rose from the hearth. The palace was silent, most everyone at the stickball game. He shot a quick look back at the hallway and then at the war clubs hanging on the wall. He could walk back and smack the woman’s brains out. She couldn’t defend herself, even against his old muscles.

But how do I hide her body? The memory of his brother’s blood, so vividly red in the sunlight, remained to haunt him.

No, even if he succeeded in removing the body, the matting would have to be replaced. Smoke Shield, cunning as he was, would search for sign of what had become of her. He’d see the new matting first thing and put it all together.