“Oh, curse the palisade. Yes, yes, it needs repair, but I have something else in mind. A fortified settlement up on Clear Water Creek Crossing. There is a ridge there, burned off at the moment, with good soil. It sits just at the head of navigable water.”
Amber Bead blinked. “You wish us to build you a town? Way up there? How far away is that?”
“Three days’ hard pack overland.”
“How will you defend it?”
“With warriors,” Flying Hawk said, amused. “Don’t look so shocked. And, no, your people don’t have to build the whole town, not right away. For the moment, I just need enough food packed up there to keep a small band of warriors. I want to use the location for a warriors’ camp. They will be able to run patrols through the forest, keep us from being surprised like we were this last moon. At the same time, we will put in some gardens. My people tell me the soils are good for corn. If we can hold it through the summer, we can put up a palisade after the next harvest. For that, I would need additional workers.”
“A town at Clear Water Creek Crossing?” The idea still amazed him.
“A first step,” Flying Hawk countered. “If we can defend it, a second town can be built a little farther downstream. Eventually we would have a line of forts down that valley, a way of buffering attacks against our people here.”
“So, for the moment, all you want is for us to pack up enough food to keep your warriors from hunger?”
“That is correct.” He looked out at the river, lost in thought. “This wouldn’t just be for us, Amber Bead. Your people would be working for their own protection. Can you ask the mikkos to approve this thing?”
Amber Bead kept his face toward the river, realizing the women had managed to get back to at least a semblance of working, though they had grown suddenly awkward and clumsy in their movements.
“And perhaps, when this is all finished, you could join me?”
“Join you, High Minko?”
“I was thinking of fishing.”
“Excuse me?”
“At the ponds. The old borrow pits where we took dirt to build the mounds. Those are kept stocked just for the chiefs to fish. I would be happy to have you join me.” He nodded his head thoughtfully. “It would be an occasion like this. A chance for us to talk without having to be so formal.”
“It would be my delight, High Minko.” I would rather dive down and be eaten by a water panther.
“Good. Anything you need, Councilor, just ask.”
Amber Bead tried to fit all the pieces together, and it came to him. “I will ask the mikkos to come here, High Minko. I am much more likely to get a satisfactory answer if I have them all in one place, and being just outside the walls of Split Sky City, well, it will lend a certain gravity to the discussions.”
Flying Hawk smiled. “Excellent idea. Perhaps you can tackle the problem of Red Awl’s replacement while you are at it? I’m sure someone suitable can be found.”
“Of course, High Minko.” We will discuss a great many things. And Lotus Root can tell her story to the assembled mikkos. “I will make preparations immediately.”
Flying Hawk sighed. “If only I could count on everyone the way I do on you.”
“Oh, you can, High Minko. I assure you.”
Finding a replacement for the bow Lotus Root had stolen hadn’t been easy. Smoke Shield had used the bow Fast Legs had given him during the Chahta raid, but it hadn’t really suited him. The bow Smoke Shield now held was a good one. Made of imported Osage orangewood, it was a tightly grained stave. He had often admired the bows that came through Trade from the west. This one was perfectly balanced, just the thing he needed to replace the weapon Lotus Root had made off with.
This piece had been offered by a Trader down at the landing, a fellow from Thunder Town who claimed to have obtained it several years ago. The Trader complained that the pull was too heavy. Smoke Shield had found a suitable string made of gut that appeared to be the correct length. Now he slipped the loop over the notches and bent the bow stave behind his leg. Grunting, he slipped the upper loop into the grooves and settled the string into place. Lifting it, he tested the pull.
It took effort, but with this, he could drive an arrow clear through a man. The next thing would be to shoot it.
“New bow?” Flying Hawk asked as he entered the palace great room. He was winded, puffing from the long climb up the Sun Stairs.
“I Traded with a Deer Clan man from Thunder Town.”
“Don’t lose that one,” Flying Hawk said darkly.
“Uncle.” A surge of frustration began to build. “Don’t try—”