The Dawn Country(47)
“Odion may know, Mother,” Tutelo said. She called, “Odion? We need you.”
Sindak twisted around and spied Odion standing at the edge of the clearing, alone, watching them with half-squinted eyes.
The boy shook his head.
“Odion, we need you,” Tutelo repeated.
He didn’t move.
Koracoo tilted her head, examining her son. She called, “Odion? Come here.”
Sindak was twenty paces away, and he could see the boy start to shiver violently.
Wakdanek moved to stand beside Koracoo. The ash had stuck to the bones of his starved face, giving it an oddly shaded, almost skeletal appearance. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea, War Chief.”
“Why not?”
“Sometimes it does more harm than good to force a child to face—”
“Life?” she asked. “To force him to face life? He must, Wakdanek, especially when it isn’t easy. The sooner the better.”
“Odion?” Koracoo ordered. “Come over here. Now.”
Gonda walked up behind Odion, said something to him, and put a hand on his shoulder, pushing him forward. The boy stiffly stepped out with Gonda at his side.
A dull thud sounded, followed by a grunt, and Sindak spun around to see Baji level a kick at Chimon’s head. Stiff with death, and frozen to the ground, the head barely moved. Baji clenched her jaw and kicked it again, then stepped down to his middle and leveled a brutal kick at the dead man’s privates. Her eyes took on a savage glow. She drew back and kicked him again as hard as she could.
Sindak whispered to Towa, “That little girl is quickly becoming my hero.”
“Well, enjoy it. A few summers from now, I suspect you’re going to be looking into her eyes across a bow. If she has the chance, she’ll shoot you through the heart and do the same thing to your dead body.”
“You’re in such a bad mood today. I wish—”
“Odion?” Gonda’s voice made Sindak and Towa swing around. Odion had stopped dead in the trail and was staring unblinking at the dead warriors.
“Why did you stop? Keep walking, Son,” Gonda said. “Your mother needs you.”
Odion took a new grip on his stiletto and obeyed, but the boy who’d been so brave yesterday looked like he was about to shatter into a thousand pieces.
Nineteen
Cord grimaced as he watched Odion approach. The boy’s terror affected even him. His stomach muscles clenched tight.
When Odion got to within two paces of the dead bodies, he stared at the muscular giant who still had his hands around his throat, and a small cry of terror escaped his lips. “No!” he shrieked. “No, no!”
Odion backpedaled, slammed into Gonda, and wildly shoved past him. As he charged for the trees, he pulled the blanket from his shoulders and threw it to the ground.
“Odion?” Baji yelled, and ran after him. “Odion, he’s dead! He can’t hurt you again. He’s dead!”
Baji caught Odion at the edge of the trees and wrapped her arms around him, holding him tightly while he sobbed against her shoulder.
Koracoo and Gonda stared at each other. After several agonizing moments, Koracoo turned toward the dropped moosehide blanket and said, “Where did Odion get that blanket?”
Gonda shook his head, and murmured, “I don’t know. I just assumed—”
“I think that man gave it to him.” Tutelo pointed to the muscular giant. Her pretty face had a look of concentration.
Koracoo glanced at the man, then back at Tutelo. “Why do you think that?”
“Odion didn’t have that blanket when he left camp with that man last night. But he did when I saw him later.”
“He left camp with this … this man?” Horror was slowly congealing on Koracoo’s face.
As the probable truth filtered through Gonda’s veins, his face flushed.
“Yes, Mother. Kotin told Odion that he had to go. And he told that man, I think his name was Manidos, that he would refund half the price if Manidos didn’t like Odion.”
Koracoo’s fingers tightened around CorpseEye in a death grip, but before she could say anything, Gonda lifted his war club, stalked over to Manidos, and viciously began pounding the dead man’s skull to bloody pulp.
Hehaka yelled, “What are you doing? You can’t do that! He deserves to be buried with honor. He was a war chief !”
“Was he?” Gonda asked in a matter-of-fact voice. “Well, then, he does deserve more.”
Gonda set his war club aside, pulled his chert ax from his belt, and hacked the man’s head off.
Hehaka’s mouth dropped open in shock, and Tutelo leaned against Koracoo’s leg to watch her father with wide eyes.