Tutelo jumps up and down. “Please, Mother?”
Mother’s eyes narrow. “All right, but if that wolf ever growls at anyone without cause it will be Odion’s responsibility to club him. Understood?”
I swallow hard and look at Gitchi. When our gazes meet, he nervously pants with his tongue hanging out. “Yes. I understand.”
I smile, and the puppy trots forward, cuts a wide swath around Mother, and huddles against my legs. I reach down to pet his head. “It’s all right. You’re safe.”
His tail wags, and he licks my hand as though he’s thanking me.
Mother says, “Now that we’ve settled that, it’s time we had a discussion about last night.”
Baji says, “It’s about time you asked us for our opinions.”
Mother gives Baji a look that would make most people melt into the earth, but Baji just stares back.
Mother turns to call, “Hehaka, come over here, please.”
Though he clearly doesn’t wish to leave his place on the bank, he rises and walks to stand beside me, but he keeps longingly glancing back at the river.
Mother props CorpseEye on her shoulder, and the two black dots on the red cobble head seem to be staring right at me, as though in some strange way judging me.
“Where was the last place you saw Gannajero last night?”
I think about it. “The last place I saw her was in the middle of the camp, negotiating with the Flint Trader. She was buying children.”
Baji nods. “That’s the last place I saw her, too.”
“Me, too,” Tutelo agrees.
Hehaka just nods morosely. “She was getting ready to leave. I could tell.”
“How do you know that?” Mother asks.
Hehaka nervously wets his lips. “She’d selected all the children she wanted. She was just haggling over the price. I’ve seen her do it a hundred times. Once she pays, she leaves.”
War Chief Cord overhears and walks back with a grimace on his face. “I never saw a woman Trading with Tagohseh last night. There was a man—”
“Lupan,” Hehaka says. “That was her.”
Cord’s expression slackens. “She dressed as a man? Are you sure?”
We all nod, and I say, “She was always afraid someone might recognize her and kill her.”
Cord swings around and stares at the canoe landing. Mother follows his gaze. “What’s wrong?”
“Blessed gods,” he whispers. “I saw her leave. She took two canoes, loaded the children and several bags of goods, and ordered her men to shove off.”
Mother seems to have stopped breathing. “What time was that?”
Cord rubs his forehead. “Just before we left. I’d say around two hands of time after nightfall.”
Hehaka’s batlike nose wiggles as he sniffs the air. His beady eyes have a feral sheen. “If she’d known I was with you, she’d have never left. She’d have sent men out to hunt for me and bring me back.”
Mother and Father ignore him. They speak softly to each other while Cord, Sindak, and Towa nod. Wakdanek stands off to the side, as though he knows he’s an outsider.
Mother says, “Cord, how many men did she have with her?”
“Not many. Five or six.”
Father says, “Then we’re pretty evenly matched.”
Mother takes two steps toward the river. “If she canoed all night long, by now she’s deep into the country of the People Who Separated.”
“Or … ,” Father says, “she could have stopped at any one of a thousand places and be headed overland in a direction we can’t even guess.”
Towa spreads his arms. “Think about this. Even if we can find someone to sell us canoes, which I doubt—”
“I’ll get us canoes,” Wakdanek says. He stands two paces away with his arms tightly folded across his chest. “There are several hidden in the forest not far from here. We keep them there just in case—”
Sindak interrupts, “We have a much better chance of finding her if we split up and walk both sides of the riverbank. If we can locate the place where she came ashore—”
“That’s silly,” Father says. “There will be hundreds of places where canoes have put ashore. The Dawnland People ply the Quill River constantly. How will we know which trail is hers?”
“Gonda’s right,” Cord says with a firm nod. “It’s better to take our chances on the river, ask the people we see if a woman meeting her description passed by.”
“And you actually believe they’ll tell us?” Sindak looks Cord up and down like a rotten piece of venison. “Within two or three hands of time, every village along this river will know that a war party composed of Flint and Mountain warriors destroyed Bog Willow Village. They’re far more likely to shoot us on sight. We should—”