Star Path--People of Cahokia

by W. Michael Gear

  Five Fists gave her his crooked-jawed smile. It came off as anything but nice. “You’re right, Keeper. Don’t tempt fate. Now, get going. I’ll have two tens of warriors ready at the foot of the stairs by the time you can hobble down to your litter.”

  Blue Heron sighed, wishing she’d dressed in warmer clothing. Something told her it was going to be a cold day.

  And then there was the problem of what Columella would say. Blue Heron had placed herself and everything she had in jeopardy. By refusing, Columella could cut her off and send her tumbling to a fateful crash.

  Ten

  The problem with Robin Feather was that he was a rather wealthy man. The rope spinner had a well-deserved reputation for being a genius when it came to rope, cord, and string. Not only did he Trade for the finest fiber that Traders carried up and down the river, he had a sense for his materials. Could judge quality by sight and feel and knew all the secrets of spinning the material into remarkably strong end products. His ropes—a mere two-thirds the thickness of his closest competitors’—could lift the heaviest of loads. They were used for the erection of World Tree poles, to secure rafts of logs, and for hoisting ridgepoles to the highest of temples and palaces.

  Being in such demand, such fine ropes brought Robin Feather the richest in Trade. This he bargained off in turn for the best fiber he could get, but the surplus he dutifully handed over to his lineage. They, in turn, gave to the local Panther Clan chief, and he, to High Chief War Duck, who along with his sister, Round Pot, ruled River Mounds House for the Four Winds Clan.

  That was a lot of clout.

  What made the situation intolerable was that the rope maker obsessed over his possessions—especially his young and most attractive wife. No sooner had he discovered Willow Blossom’s indiscretion than he began calling in favors to not only find her, but the rascal Seven Skull Shield who’d cuckolded him.

  The word was already out by the time Seven Skull Shield had arrived at the “Goosefoot Woman’s” house on the south end of River Mounds City where it overlooked the marshlands and river.

  Willow Blossom had looked up from where she crouched on the floor, covered only by the blanket she’d grabbed in her haste as she fled Robin Feather’s house. “He’ll kill us! What are we going to do?”

  While Willow Blossom hadn’t exactly greeted Seven Skull Shield with outright joy—could he blame her when she in turn blamed him for her current mess?—he gave her a wry grin. “Me? I’d say good ol’ Robin Feather ruined it long before I did. If he’d worshiped you the way you deserved, you’d have never looked twice at the likes of me.”

  She watched him with curiously keen eyes. A shadow of a smile flickered at the corners of her lips. For an instant, he almost took it as predatory. Then she was in his arms, pressing that marvelous body against his.

  He sniffed, adding, “As good as the old woman’s baking goosefoot-seed bread smells, you can’t stay here forever. He knows you Trade for the old woman’s bread. He’s got his whole lineage out searching for you, and it’ll be half of the local Panther Clan by nightfall.” He pushed her back, offered her his hand. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here and to someplace safe.”

  “Why should I trust you?”

  “Because I’m here. Because I like you. Because I’m the only friend you’ve got who can’t be bought, bribed, or bullied into helping your husband find and murder you. Or because I’m going to get a real thrill out of whisking you out of his miserable life and seeing that you end up happy. Pick one.”

  She’d warily taken his hand, her dark eyes fixing on his with a curious intensity, which was how she and Seven Skull Shield ended up where they were, sharing blankets around a small fire in a camp butted up next to War Leader Spotted Wrist’s squadron on the canoe landing. Right out in open sight. Packed in among the people who’d assembled to leave with the Cofitachequi expedition. A place where Robin Feather’s Panther Clan kin would least suspect his runaway wife to be.

  “You do have something better than this in mind, don’t you?” she’d asked after a round of passionate lovemaking.

  As the morning broke and the sky turned lavender in hopes of dawn, Seven Skull Shield disentangled himself from Willow Blossom’s warm and inviting body.

  “You do, don’t you?” she repeated, pulling him down close again. “Don’t make me get up. It’s too cold.” Her breath frosted where it floated up from the blankets he’d stolen the day before.

  Not that they’d had a good night’s sleep. First had come the coupling. It had taxed Willow Blossom mightily to keep the little yips of ecstasy from arousing the nearby warriors. No sooner had they drifted off in each other’s arms than shouts brought them awake to watch the food stores burn as fire consumed the warehouse.

  The assertion had been repeated among the warriors that someone had left a hickory-oil lamp burning in the warehouse, that it must have tipped or fallen to cause the fire.

  Seven Skull Shield had finally fallen asleep thinking that was ridiculous. But, hey, it wasn’t his warehouse full of corn.

  Now, in the purple light of dawn, the idea seemed even more ludicrous. As did the notion of getting out of a warm bed filled with Willow Blossom.

  “I do. But first, we have to keep from being caught. And you’re right, there’s no sense in rushing into trouble on a cold morning like this.”

  He’d just settled himself against her back and wound his arms around her, her supple bottom teasing his shaft into awareness of the proximity of her willing sheath, when a low voice from the warriors’ camp ordered, “On your feet. Pack your gear in your bedding. No shields, just war clubs. One day’s worth of cornmeal and your water bladders. We’re going on a raid for the squadron first.”

  “A raid?” one of the sleepy warriors protested. “In Cahokia? Who are we going to fight? Dirt farmers?”

  “It’s a grab. Come on. The war leader wants his bride. We’re going to get her for him. Oh, and by the way, you can kill the Red Wing when he tries to stop us. Now, shake your skinny butt out of those blankets, sweetheart. We got work to do.”

  Any hint of romance had gone cold, Seven Skull Shield feeling the growing dread.

  “Willow Blossom?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Get up. Someone needs our help.”

  “Who?”

  “A woman who treated me kindly once.”

  “That’s half of Cahokia.”

  “No, this is a very special woman. Let’s go. And even better, you’re going to ride all the way to Morning Star Town on a litter borne by the fastest runners we can hire.”

  “Now that’s an improvement,” she murmured. “I’ve never ridden on a litter before.”

  Eleven

  Ever since that unsettling purple sky had dawned, Fire Cat had been on edge. In anticipation, he’d dressed in his armor first thing, his club hanging from his belt along with a long copper stiletto. His bow, arrows, shield, and spare war club were tied in a bundle beside the door, ready for any eventuality.

  He could feel the threat, hanging low like the clouds that continued to darken the city. In less than a week, the whole of Cahokia would be totally rapt in its celebration of the spring equinox. At the great observatory, the Sky priests were counting down the fingers of time, aligning the phases of the moon and the moving stars in the constant quest to read the will of Power.

  Not that he and Night Shadow Star would be around to see it. By the Blessed sunrise that marked the event, they were supposed to be past the confluence and headed up the Mother Water for the Tenasee. Or that had been the plan before the supplies were burned.

  He grinned to himself. Betrayal always came with a sense of building excitement, and he and Night Shadow Star were about to execute the biggest betrayal of all.

  He sniffed the odor of cooking yellow lotus mixed with mashed acorn and cornmeal. Half a turkey carcass rested on skewers beside the fire. Green Stick and Clay String fussed over the two small packs laid out on one of the sleeping benches.

&
nbsp; The large box containing all of Night Shadow Star’s wardrobes and clothing had been retired to the storage area behind the back wall. To Fire Cat’s way of thinking, the single ornately carved box of Trade and two smaller packs made a great deal more sense.

  But then, nothing about the new plan left him any more thrilled than the old plan had.

  Under his breath, he whispered, “I live to serve.” And, of course, to love. What Power commanded, he would do his best to ensure that the outcome would be a success. Whatever it took.

  Outside, shafts of sunlight had finally managed to poke through holes in the cloud cover. Not that it helped much to cut the damp chill.

  Night Shadow Star emerged from her rooms in the back, walked over to the fire, and crouched, hands extended. She wore a thick and warm dogbane-thread shirt beneath a beaver-fur cloak. Her hair was done in a simple bun and held in place with wooden skewers. The only hint of ostentation was in the small carved wooden box tied above her bun. The delicately engraved wood depicted Cosmic Spider and was inset with pearls for eyes and bits of polished shell. Fire Cat had no idea what it contained, but it had been a gift from Rides-the-Lightning.

  She looked pensive, her large eyes seeing into a distance far beyond the glowing coals in the fire pit.

  She had to be worried about what was coming, about their change of plans. The information that the expedition’s food stores had been burned was just the latest complication, and, if anything, had spurred her to an even greater resolve.

  “Lady?” he asked, walking over to crouch beside her.

  Green Stick and Clay String seemed to be waiting, unsure of what to do next.

  “One last thing, Red Wing,” Night Shadow Star told him. “After that, we’re going to have to move fast.”

  “I don’t understand. Is this something Piasa told you?”

  A fleeting shadow of a smile flickered and died on her lips. “When I was a girl I always knew I was going to be a prize. No secret in that, really. What I didn’t know was that I would also be a weapon. To be a prize and weapon at the same time, that is an interesting dilemma. While half the world is trying to claim me, they are but obstacles trying to keep me from fulfilling my purpose as a weapon.”

  “You mean killing your brother.”

  She nodded. “I’m a gaming piece. Cast onto the blanket like a bone die in one game, while other dice are cast in an attempt to win me in another. There are so many levels to the game it is hard to know which side I’m playing on at any given moment.”

  “We’re taking a risk, you know. Changing the game in midthrow. You heard Tonka’tzi Wind’s messenger. Two days until they can replace the burned supplies. Spotted Wrist won’t be expecting that.”

  “If Columella agrees to empty her granaries.”

  “There is that.”

  She shot him a conspiratorial look. “The best way to ruin someone’s game is to take the pieces off the hide. Doing so throws all the schemes into chaos. Changes the rules. Especially if it’s done in a way that no one expects.”

  “Just like in war, my lady.”

  “Do you think this is any different?”

  “It’s all strategy and tactics.”

  “Yes, it is,” she mused, gaze lost in the fire again.

  Footsteps could be heard pounding up the steps. One of the warriors who had been guarding her stairs appeared and dropped to his knees in the doorway. He touched his forehead to the matting and announced, “A man and woman are here to see you, Lady. It’s that thief, Seven Skull Shield. The woman I do not know.”

  “The final die has been cast, and we know which markings are now faceup,” Night Shadow Star whispered, and aloud, said, “Send them up.”

  “Yes, Lady.” The guard leaped up, wheeled, and trotted out to the top of the stairs, calling, “Lady Night Shadow Star will see you now.”

  “You were expecting this?” Fire Cat asked.

  Night Shadow Star shrugged. “I wasn’t sure who it would be. Piasa wasn’t specific.”

  “So, he knows we’re changing the plan?”

  “My master knows a great many things.” She sighed. “He just doesn’t know how they will end.”

  “But he doesn’t object to what we’re doing?”

  “On the contrary, he tells me that there is no other way for us.”

  “Why doesn’t that reassure me?”

  Fire Cat turned to see the burly thief accompanied by his miserable brindle dog as he topped the stairs and strode between the Piasa and Horned Serpent guardian posts. He was dressed in his usual coarsely spun hunting shirt; a blanket woven of strips of twisted rabbit fur was wrapped around his shoulders and was held tight before him. The woman who followed a half-step behind was young and remarkably endowed, with tangled and disheveled black hair. Her wide eyes and awed expression—not to mention her half-panicked gait—reminded him of a fawn ready to bolt after entering a panther’s lair.

  Seven Skull Shield had a grim look on his gnarled face as he half-heartedly tapped fingers to his forehead in a token gesture of respect and bulled his way into the room. The dog, to Fire Cat’s disgust, peed on the doorframe and went sniffing for the stewpot.

  “Lady,” Seven Skull Shield blurted, “you’re in trouble. Hard on my heels is a pack of Spotted Wrist’s warriors. Their orders are to dispose of the Red Wing and carry you off to the Four Winds Clan House where Spotted Wrist is waiting. Like it or not, you’re going to be married within another couple of fingers of time. Figured I’d give you as much warning as I could.”

  Night Shadow Star and Fire Cat rose together.

  Seven Skull Shield kicked the raw-boned dog away from the stewpot, then gave the dazzled young woman a reassuring grin. She was staring slack-jawed at the wealth piled around the palace. Winnings from Fire Cat’s chunkey victory over a Natchez champion.

  Night Shadow Star stepped up to the thief, placed her hands on his shoulders in a gesture Fire Cat found way too familiar. “I need you to do something for me.”

  “Of course, Lady.”

  “After I have gone, I need you to go to the Morning Star. Tell him that I have chosen my own way to deal with the problem in the east. Tell him: I’ll do it one way, or another. He will understand.”

  “Me? Just wander in and tell him, huh?”

  “My things are at your disposal. You had best dress the part. If anyone tries to stop you, tell them you are my agent.”

  Seven Skull Shield frowned slightly, shot her a narrow-eyed and suspicious look, then laughed at himself. “For you? Of course.”

  The pretty young woman was looking covetously at the palace furnishings. Now her startled gaze fixed on Night Shadow Star as if she just realized who she was.

  Night Shadow Star told the thief, “By doing this, you are placing yourself at great risk. You know that, don’t you? This changes everything for you. In ways you can barely comprehend.”

  Seven Skull Shield shrugged. “Lady, since way back when, you’ve treated me fair. Taken my side and made a place for me when you didn’t have to. I was there last time they made you marry a man you didn’t want to. Thought I’d give you a fair warning, so I didn’t have to watch you go through that again.”

  She smiled up at him. “Then we’ll be on our way.” To Fire Cat she said, “Get the packs. Call the porters up for the Trade box. Our work here is done.”

  Fire Cat stepped over and lifted his and her packs from the sleeping bench, a curious gaze fixed on Seven Skull Shield the whole time. “How much time do we have?”

  “They were organizing their party when Willow Blossom and I left the canoe landing. They’ll be coming, probably at a dog trot. Which reminds me. I hired a litter to bring me here. Got it from Crazy Frog with a promise I’d give his men a sack of something worth a small fortune if they’d run in teams to get me here fastest. Lady, if you wouldn’t mind?” Seven Skull Shield’s eyes drifted to the exotic pottery, the engraved wood boxes, and the extravagant wealth hanging from the walls.

  “I’ll see
to it myself,” she told him. “Crazy Frog’s porters are waiting at the bottom of the stairs?”

  “They are.”

  She took her pack from Fire Cat and grabbed up a small sack that contained copper bracelets. “Green Stick, you, Clay String, and Winter Leaf keep the palace in order. I’m leaving Seven Skull Shield in charge while I’m gone. You are to obey his every order. Any disobedience, and he may discipline you any way he chooses.”

  “Lady?” Fire Cat and Green Stick cried in shocked unison. Leave the thief in charge of her palace? What kind of lunacy was that? Even Seven Skull Shield, never one to show surprise, gaped in disbelief.

  She told Seven Skull Shield, “You might want to keep that knowledge secret. Use this palace as a place of refuge. I think your coming days are going to be dangerous enough.”

  Seven Skull Shield grinned, looked over at the horrified household staff, and said, “It’ll be waiting here, safe and sound, when you get back, Lady. On my promise.”

  Fire Cat slung his pack over his shoulder and scooped up his bundled weapons where they lay beside the door. The porters had entered for the Trade box.

  Night Shadow Star ignored them, turning to the still-stunned Seven Skull Shield. “My master tells me that Power hasn’t decided what to do with you. I am asked to find out. If you had a choice, would you prefer to die after being betrayed by a woman you love, or because you were caught while pulling off the most audacious theft of your career?”

  Fire Cat watched Seven Skull Shield’s expression turn cunning. “Given a chance, Lady, I will always place my life in jeopardy over a beautiful woman.”

  Fire Cat choked a deep-seated growl as Seven Skull Shield took Night Shadow Star’s hand and raised it to his cheek in a brazen but tender gesture.

  She laughed, eyes flashing with amusement. “You know my heart belongs to another. I wish you well, thief. Perhaps the ways of Power will allow us to meet again. In the meantime, be smart. You will need all your wits to survive what’s coming.”