People of the Weeping Eye(124)
What concerned her was how he perceived the reaction of the crowd. They had been enraged, frightened, and dismayed. The idea that unknown enemies could walk in their midst, flout the authority of the Sky Hand People, and commit such an atrocity put everyone on edge. Such passions, when mixed between the people’s souls, could burn out of control. Would that knowledge frighten Stone?
“Are you all right?” she asked.
Stone nodded. “It was scary.”
“Yes, it was.”
“Whoever did this must be punished.”
“They must,” she agreed. “Do you understand why?”
“Because they defied us.”
“That’s right. But there is more to it.”
“It’s because of Power?”
“Why would that be?”
Stone’s forehead lined. “Because killing the prisoners shifts Power out of balance. It encourages chaos and disorder.”
“That it does. What did you think about the way people responded?”
“They were mad. Just like Father.”
She had stood with one hand on Stone’s shoulder and watched Smoke Shield pacing in anger, his war club swinging dangerously. Finally, Flying Hawk, Blood Skull, and Pale Cat had arrived and taken her husband to the side. The four of them had talked, heads together, nodding occasionally, before the tishu minko arrived. Moments later, Seven Dead had walked out, calling for the Council to assemble in the tchkofa. In the meantime, more guards had been posted to ensure that the angry crowd didn’t do more damage to the bodies.
“I want you to stay close to the house for a couple of days. If you want to go and visit Grandmother, you come and tell me first. If your friends want you to go play, you tell them you can only play where I can see and hear you. Do you understand?”
He looked up at her, his dark brown eyes large. The black thatch of his hair was mussed. “Do you think there are witches loose like the people in the crowd were saying?”
“I don’t know, Stone. But you stay close just the same. And if you see anything strange, you come and tell me. One of the captives belonged to your uncle. We might be targets, too.”
He gulped, nodding.
As her house emerged out of the thick mist, she could see Violet Bead and her two daughters. They waited by the door, talking with Wide Leaf.
“Is it true?” Violet Bead asked. “I just heard the news and thought I’d see if you knew anything before I walked over to see for myself.”
“It is true indeed.” Heron Wing looked back the way she had come. Shadowy figures could be made out moving through the fog. “No one knows who did this thing. Smoke Shield is mad enough to do something foolish. Charges of witchcraft are flying around like screech owls in the night. The Council is called. This could turn ugly in no time.”
Violet Bead looked toward the plaza. They could hear angry shouts and something that sounded like a scuffle.
“Maybe I should take the girls home.”
“That might not be a bad idea.” Even as she said it, Thin Branch appeared out of the haze, Morning Dew walking a half pace behind him. “Now here’s something.”
Thin Branch called, “Greetings. You have heard?”
“And seen,” Heron Wing told him. “Can you tell us anything?”
“Only that no one knows who did this thing. The war chief suspects the Albaamaha.”
“These days he sees the Albaamaha behind everything.” She shook her head. “I swear, if he tripped over a stone in the trail, he’d be pulling up the grass, suspecting an Albaamaha of hiding there to roll it into his way.”
Thin Branch grunted noncommittally, and then asked, “You don’t think they’d do it?”
“For what purpose?” Violet Bead asked. “They have nothing to gain by angering us.”
“Perhaps the intent was to give them heart,” Thin Branch suggested. “This defiance might be a way of proving our vulnerability to less-radical leaders among them.”
“Then it has turned against them,” Violet Bead said darkly. “I, for one, say that we replace the Chahta in the squares with Albaamaha mikkos if it turns out that some of their people were responsible.”
Heron Wing shook her head. “Do that and our land will be burning within the moon. We will be so busy trying to keep the Albaamaha subdued that Yuchi, Chahta, and Talapoosie war parties will be slipping down every trail to take advantage of our confusion.”
She watched her words strike home. Weakness was the last thing they could afford. Every chiefdom in the surrounding regions would smell it, and their warriors would be close behind, seeking to exploit Sky Hand confusion for slaves, scalps, and booty. Should another town suffer the fate of Alligator Town, and have its granaries burned, the ensuing food shortage would fan the flames of chaos, leading to famine and intervillage raiding that would follow as neighbors turned on each other to feed their families.