People of the Weeping Eye(148)
She paused, remembering. “Father came in. I remember him shouting at me, dragging me away. He was so mad.” She gave the Kala Hi’ki a sad look. “I never did see the sunlight that deer’s Spirit promised. I just got a beating from Father. He didn’t believe that deer’s voice told me to do it.”
“And your mother? What did she do?”
“She was killed. The A’khota killed her when she went out to collect firewood. I saw her body. All chopped up like that deer hide. She was bloody. They had taken her scalp. I remember screaming, wanting to die so I could go looking for her souls. I couldn’t imagine what living would be like without Mother. That night she came to my Dreams, telling me that the world was all backward.” Two Petals nodded to herself. “That’s when it all started to make sense.”
“Make sense how?”
“Mother was good. She never hurt anyone. People came from all over to have her treat them when they were sick. Father and the rest of the men listened to her counsel. She had so many friends. People brought her gifts, and our house was always full of visitors. She loved everyone, and always had food for them. Even the A’khota, after they heard she had been killed by one of their warriors, sent gifts to Father. They did that because she had Healed A’khota. They said they were sorry.”
“And that made the world backward?”
Two Petals nodded. “Why else would someone who always tried to do good be killed like that? I knew lots of mean and angry people. None of them died that way. Well, sometimes they did. It was always the good ones who got killed, or sick. Then one of Mother’s souls came and told me why it was. Backward. Everything was backward. That’s why I didn’t fit anymore. That’s why I started hearing the voices.” She nodded to herself. “Sometimes I would see people … just as clear as I see you now. They’d tell me things and I’d answer. It made other people in the room scared because they couldn’t see who I was talking to.”
“So what did you do?”
“I stopped talking to them out loud. But I’d listen.” She looked down at her hands. “I just couldn’t get anything done. I’d start cooking. Maybe boiling corn. Then I’d see someone, or the voices would start talking about things like why sunlight could shine through cracks in the wall, and next thing I’d know, the corn was boiled dry and burning in the pot. It made Father so mad. Other times I would be doing something like weaving matting for the floor, and the voices would tell me to look outside. Then they’d tell me something was outside the palisade. When I finally followed their instructions, I’d find a woman standing in a clearing. We’d sit and talk, and Father would show up sometime later, angry and frightened that I’d disappeared. But when I explained I was talking to the woman, he’d insist she wasn’t there.”
“It must have been very disturbing.”
She nodded, staring at his ruined face. “Things didn’t make sense until Mother told me the world was backward. Then I finally understood. I was the only one who saw things correctly. If I said things backward, I could make sense of it all.”
He nodded, as if understanding. “That explains a great deal.” He fingered the stumps on his right hand. “Why did the Seeker want you? Did he say what his purpose was?”
“He says I called to him in his Dream. He told me he searched up and down the river until he found me.”
“Did he say why that was important?”
“Something terrible happened at Split Sky City. He thinks he needs me to make whatever got turned around right again. Power is calling us there. I’ve seen …”
He waited before prompting, “Yes? It’s all right. I need to know these things if I am to help.”
She blinked, staring at the tea cup. She could sense the herbs working within her. Her thoughts had slowed, and she felt more relaxed, almost at peace. For the first time in seasons, she could concentrate without her souls fluttering around like butterflies. “I’ve seen fire and blood. If we don’t make things right, balance the Power, a great many people are going to hurt.”
The Kala Hi’ki took a breath. “Did either the Seeker or the Trader say anything about the Yuchi?”
“They have been worried about crossing your territory. I had seen images, things that happened … I mean things that will happen.”
“What were they?”
“One way, Trader hangs from the square. It will take him a long time to die, but in the end, people will admire his courage. In another vision, I have seen Trader playing chunkey with a warrior. I think it’s at the solstice ceremony. The weather is cold, the ground frozen. People are watching, cheering. Something about the counting sticks is very important to you and your people. And to Trader, too.”