People of the Wolf(11)

"One wolf? For all these hungry bellies?" The hand tightened until she winced. She couldn't help but stare into his white-blinded eye. As always, she shivered.

"The other . . . hunters . . . They haven't even got a wolf.''

"You are my wife. But I see your eyes going to Runs In Light. I see your smiles for him. I know what's in your heart, woman." He jerked her shoulder so hard she cried out softly. "And I know what's in his."

"What difference does it make?" she pleaded. "I'm your wife. I can't—"

"Remember that," he said, shoving her away and calling loudly, "I'm leaving this place at the rising of Father Sun; I'm going north . . . then west around the mountains. That is the way—the way to mammoth! This I've seen in a Dream!'' He whirled, trudging back for the shelter.

Broken Branch brought him up sharply when she yelled, ' 'Who will follow? Who 'II follow a man of false Dreams ?''

Crow Caller straightened, then continued walking as though her words were nothing more than the howling of Wind Woman. Dancing Fox stared after him, heart stuttering a cadence of hatred.

"Leave him," Broken Branch whispered in her ear, unbidden. "I'll let you stay in my lodge."

"Then neither one of us would get any food, Grandmother."

"Light would never let you starve," she whispered. "His feelings for you haven't dimmed."

Dancing Fox felt a sob well in her throat. She swallowed hard to keep it from rising. "It doesn't matter anymore. Besides, Crow Caller controls my soul—and yours too."

' 'You mean those clippings of hair and smears of menstrual blood? Bah, those only work in the hands of man with Power. Don't worry about him. He's as harmless as a gutted wolf."

"So long as he has the backing of the People, Grandmother, he's not harmless. He can do whatever he wants to me and no one will dare—"

"Don't let him beat you to nothingness," Broken Branch grumbled. "That's worse than being an outcast." Turning away, she patted Laughing Sunshine's bowed head before tottering back to the warmth of the shelters. Old Talon bent to growl reprimands into Broken Branch's ear. The old woman cackled angrily, and waved Talon off as she bowled past.

Talon hesitated for a moment, took a step toward Fox, and stopped. Her lips twitched in her brown face before she sighed and turned for the shelters, following in Broken Branch's wake.

Dancing Fox shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. She could never leave Crow Caller. He'd kill her—and the People would help him. From behind her, she heard Raven Hunter's soft condemning laughter and looked around sharply. He stroked his handsome face knowingly, as if his keen ears had caught every word Broken Branch had whispered.

"Take care," he murmured, striding to loom over her. "Your husband's Power may be gone, but no one believes it except Broken Branch. They'll tear you to pieces for shaming him."

"I don't need your advice."

He grinned, looking her up and down. "Not yet. But you will."

"Never!"

Smiling, he reached out and grabbed a tendril of her hair that fluttered in the wind. Caressing it, he whispered, "We'll see."

She jerked away, glowering. He held her eyes for a moment, probing deeply. "When you're trapped," he said in a conspiratorial voice, "remember . . . I'll be there."

' 'Get away from me!''

He cocked his head, laughing as he turned and trotted down the slope.

She squeezed her eyes closed.





Chapter 4



Dancing Fox huddled at the edge of the knot of people who stood at the corner of the big shelter. She stared out across the snow-blasted wastes, heart numb, watching three men buck the snow.

Runs In Light walked in front, Wind Woman flapping his worn caribou-skin parkas, the creases of his garments lined white where snow had caked and frozen. A whisper of awe rose as the last of the light caught his face.

Fox lifted a mittened hand to her mouth. Look how he has painted his face! Red lines of blood ran down around his cheeks, circling his mouth like a muzzle. In speckle-dried blood, the image of what might have been either a bear or wolf faced left on his forehead.

Her heart raced. Look at the oddness gleaming behind his eyes—like a whale-oil fire in the night. He's seen something powerful. Maybe spirits do exist?

"Hah—heeee!" Broken Branch shrilled, wild gray strands of hair whipping in Wind Woman's grasp. She raised a bony arm, knobby brown finger stabbing through the glacial air. "There . . . There's a Dreamer! See the light in his face? Spirit has walked there. Spirit has drawn marks of a powerful Dreaming!" She bobbed in excitement.

Dancing Fox stared fearfully at Crow Caller. He loomed black against the driven white. Tight jaw muscles jumped beneath his sunken cheeks.