“Show me how you grip the stone.” Crazy Frog stood with a foot out, arms crossed as Fire Cat took his position.
Seven Skull Shield yawned, scratching the back of his head. The first light of dawn had turned the River Mounds chunkey grounds misty pink and violet. He glanced down at the dog, who yawned and laid down at his feet.
“Really ought to find a name for you.”
The dog thumped its thick-rooted tail, the action eliciting an irregular fart.
They’d been allowed to spend the night beneath Crazy Frog’s ramada. A small blessing. But apparently not enough to have merited a hot-cooked meal out of Mother Otter’s kitchen.
Instead, Crazy Frog had appeared in the faintest of dawn light, kicking Fire Cat awake and saying, “Let’s go.”
Seven Skull Shield had followed along as Crazy Frog led them to the River Mounds chunkey courts. He scratched at a mosquito bite as Fire Cat offered his hand where it gripped the black stone.
“That’s good. The best players use their fingers to drive the stone forward and into a spin. The more a stone slides when it first hits the dirt, the more chance for a wobble. The finest of players actually give the stone a flip with the fingers at the last instant of release.”
Fire Cat studied the way his fingers cupped the smooth black stone. “How do you know all this?”
Crazy Frog gave him the sort of stare he’d give an imbecile before continuing. “Even more to the point, finger pressure can make the stone curve in one direction or the other. Just as the angle that you release it does. If it’s not straight up and down, it will go in whichever direction it’s leaned.”
“I knew that.”
Seven Skull Shield looked down at the dog. “Sounds like they’ve got it all sorted out here.”
“Then thief, you know less about chunkey than I thought you did.” Crazy Frog gave him a sidelong glance.
“Which is why you’re working with good old Wounded Dog here, and I’m off to find something to fill my gut.”
“Watch yourself,” Fire Cat added as he took his mark at the start, Crazy Frog watching the placement of his feet. “There’s still a price on your head. You may be dressed like a lord, but your fellow thieves and ruffians will look twice. You should wait until I can go along.”
“Hey, Red Wing, this is me we’re talking about.” He jammed a hard thumb into his breastbone to emphasize the point and gave the warrior a lascivious grin.
He left Crazy Frog making suggestions about Fire Cat’s feet, and with the dog following, he slipped between the engineers’ society house and a moon society temple. From there, taking the dawn-shadowed back ways, he arrived at Wooden Doll’s in short order.
To his relief, no litter was sitting in her yard, nor were men sleeping before her door.
He took his time, ensuring that no one watched the place, before easing along the wall to the wooden plank door. With a knuckle, he tapped lightly.
Moments later the slave girl lifted the door open a crack, staring out into the gray morning. She started to smile, then got a closer look and recognized him. “Oh, it’s you. Wait.”
Seven Skull Shield looked down at the dog. “Don’t pee on the floor. We’ve got enough against us as it is.”
The dog stretched his front end out and down, back and tail raised high in reply, which stimulated another odiferous release of gas. Seven Skull Shield made a face and tried to wave the noxious smell away.
When the door finally opened, Wooden Doll, her hair sleep-mussed, leaned against the frame. She crossed her arms, a shapely brow lifted. “Still dressed as a lord?” She shook her head. “Skull, you never know when to quit, do you?”
“We need to talk.”
She sighed. “And let me guess. You haven’t eaten yet, either.”
“Well … things have been busy this morning.”
She glanced down. “And that mongrel that’s been following you around has an empty belly, too, right?”
“Can I come in? I scouted around before I knocked. No one’s watching your house yet, but that doesn’t mean Slick Rock or Fish Grease, or one of the more ambitious latrine stranglers looking for me won’t think to check here in hopes of picking up Horn Lance’s reward.”
“Why do I even try?” She clamped her eyes shut and shook her head. “Come in.” She winced. “And that beast, too. I suppose I owe you that much.”
He gave Newe a wide smile as he entered, one that she didn’t reciprocate.
“Newe, find us something to eat,” Wooden Doll said.
As the servant girl ducked out the door, Wooden Doll turned her attention back to Seven Skull Shield. “What are you doing here, Skull? I thought you’d be sticking to the Keeper like horn glue in hopes she could keep you safe.”
“There’s no such thing while the Itza, your friend Horn Lance, and his Natchez maggots are in the city. I had a long talk with the stupid Natchez night before last night. They expect to create a whole new order of political influence up and down the river, clear to the Itza lands across the gulf.”
“That’s ambitious. Even Cahokia has avoided messing with the Nations on the lower river.”
He shook his head, as if baffled. “Had you asked me a half-moon past, I’d have said anyone who proposed such a thing was head-struck. After the things I’ve seen, and what the weasel-brained Natchez say, they might just be able to pull it off. With Cahokia as an anchor in the north and the Itza using the Natchez lands as a base for Trade, preaching their religion, and military expansion, they can control the entire river.”
“And is that a bad thing?” She shrugged, settling next to him on the bed poles. “You should see the piece of fabric Horn Lance Traded for my services. That one square of cloth is worth everything you see here, including the house and grounds. Morning Star himself hasn’t the like.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “And there’s more where that came from. A whole world of wealth just beyond the horizon across the gulf. Horn Lance told me about people called the Yucatec and their great ocean-going canoes. About how they can bring riches beyond compare.”
“At what cost to us?” He searched her clever eyes. “They started with murder on our most holy day. They’ve ingratiated themselves like a slow poison with their wealth, their grandeur, and exotic gifts. The Itza has married Night Shadow Star, inserted himself into the Morning Star House. They’ve threatened the Keeper. Put a price on my head. How long before the Morning Star himself is poisoned?”
He paused. “You saw how easily they mowed down our best warriors. What happens when an army of Itza warriors paddle up the Father Water in these big canoes? Who stops them then?”
Her eyes slitted. “Not my problem, Skull. From where I sit, the kind of Trade the Itza and their supporters will give for my services beats anything a Cahokian or any river Trader can offer.”
“So that’s your ultimate concern?” He paused. “Whatever makes you the most? Even if it means selling out Cahokia and its people?” He swallowed hard. “Selling out me?”
Her lips thinned. “Horn Lance told me that you sent him here. That he was your friend. That he…”
She chuckled, amused at herself. “Maybe I’m not the woman you think I am, Skull. Maybe I’m irritated because if I’d known he wanted you dead, that he was playing me, I’d have figured a way to skin him out of two of those Itza fabric pieces.”
He studied her for long moments, arms crossed. She met his glare, eyes sultry and dark with challenge.
“That’s really how you feel?”
“You made your choice. And you chose the Keeper. Sold yourself to that old woman. Do you really think, no matter what she says, that she cares any more for you than Horn Lance cares for me?”
“She’s my friend.”
Wooden Doll burst out in hard laughter. “Sure she is! Who do you think you’re fooling? Dressed up, playing a noble? No matter how many flowers you rub on a skunk’s ass, you can’t change his stink. You’re a tool to them. And as soon as they wear you out, they’re going to rid themselves of your odor.” She shrugged. “Them, or Horn Lance. If you’re going to wind up dead anyway, I might as well profit from it.”
He stood, walking to the door, the dog rising to his feet and following. “Maybe I’m not hungry after all.”
“Just as well. I’ve got to get ready. A litter is supposed to pick me up before midmorning. I’ve got an appointment. Someone important who lives near the Grand Plaza wants to talk business. Being seen at the wedding is already paying off.” She blew him a kiss, adding, “Oh, and Skull, watch your back out there, huh?”
He lifted the door to the side and stalked out into the morning, the dog following along behind.
Of course Wooden Doll would be looking to her own interests, but didn’t she see the bigger issue? The Itza would bring a new ruling class, one that dominated the Four Winds Clan, who dominated the Earth Clans, who dominated everyone else. A new religion meant the Morning Star had to be replaced. Eliminated. And somewhere in the mix would come rebellion against the new masters. When that happened, Cahokia would explode in chaos, mayhem, and murder, with tens of thousands of human beings turning on each other.
He shook his head as he took the familiar path between a council house and basket weaver’s.
“She doesn’t realize how fragile Cahokia is,” he muttered under his breath as he passed a latrine screen behind a potter’s. “Just like with Walking Smoke, all it takes is the wrong spark and the whole thing goes up in—”
He had the barest impression of movement. Of someone leaping out from behind the latrine’s woven cattail screen.
A blur of something dark and heavy.
The blow to his head shot lightning behind his eyes, the impact like thunder through his skull and senses.
He didn’t feel his body hit the ground.
A dog shrieked and squealed in pain, as if someone were beating it to death.
The last image he had was of Slick Rock, club in hand.
And then the world went away.…