The air in the longhouse was heavy and sooty, reminding me of charred firewood the morning after a heavy rain. A firepit lay in the center. The flames I’d seen from outside danced and crackled, reaching up toward an opening in the ceiling. Around the fire were large bundles of fur. On the far side, two older Indians were sitting and watching us as we were lead toward them. From what I could tell, there were no other people inside, but the shadows outside the fire’s radius were deep enough that if someone wanted to remain hidden they wouldn’t have had any difficulty. The older Indians didn’t move or speak, while Tabby and I were prodded forward to the inner circle. I felt tiny inside that place in front of those men, almost like a child.
One of the Indians had a broad face and steep forehead, black hair to his shoulders. He sat erect, more so than anyone I’d ever seen, real dignified-like. To the right of him sat an ancient man with a wizened face, long wispy gray hair, so thin he was like a skeleton mummified in wrinkly skin. His eyes were half closed and he rocked back and forth slightly, holding a walking stick in both his hands as if he was supporting his body from falling over.
We stood there silently for what seemed like minutes, Tabby and I under their strong gazes, before a noise behind us drew our attention. The skinny Indian had entered the longhouse with Colby, who looked around, a bit startled, trying to take everything in. They took up beside Tabby.
“You found all three,” said the Indian with the broad face. He nodded, pleased.
“We found them at the crossing, spying on your daughters,” said the leader.
“We ain’t spying on nobody,” said Colby firmly, like he did when he thought he was being falsely accused.
“We saw lights and thought it was our friends,” I said.
“My uncle broke his leg,” said Tabby worriedly. “He needs help.”
The older Indian with the broad face began speaking calmly in his language to the ancient Indian. Before he even finished, the leader who’d brought us in reached behind his back and came out with a steel bowie knife, which glinted in the firelight. I backed up and either Colby or Tabby let out a sharp breath. We jostled about a moment, then settled into a huddle, our backs tight against one another. My body tensed, readying to move if he lifted the blade to attack.
The leader went toward Colby, his face a stony mask, void of any sign of intention. Colby back-pedaled, tripped, and thudded butt first on the longhouse floor. The way he brandished the knife, I got the feeling he knew how to use it, the way Vince used one back at Whispering Cedars. I stepped in between them. “You said we’d see sunrise, now you’re going to kill us? You’re a bald-faced liar,” I yelled.
He stopped abruptly, his eyes widening for a split second before turning to slits, then he turned to the Indian with the broad face like he was unsure of what he should do next. At that point, my heartbeat was like the running of the bulls in my chest, drowning out the crackle of the flames. Then ancient Indian chuckled, a resounding chuckle that I would’ve never guessed possible from such an old and frail-looking man.
Broad face gestured a hand at the ancient man. “Your courage makes Glixtan laugh. Not in twenty years have I heard him laugh in such a way . . . Glooscap means no harm. He will cut the bonds at your wrists.”
I reached down and grasped Colby’s hand and helped him to his feet. Colby hesitated a moment, then he turned around and gave Glooscap his back and lifted his bound hands up as far as he could. With a flick of the blade, the bonds fell away to the longhouse floor. Colby brought his hands in front of him and rubbed his wrists. I gave Glooscap my back and I felt the lick of cold steel against my flesh before my bonds fell to the floor.
The last time my wrists had felt that way was during my sentencing hearing in Seattle, after one of the hype-case sheriffs clicked my handcuffs too tight, right before he told me that his twenty-year-old niece had been working at one of the banks we’d robbed. Later that afternoon, while standing behind the polished oak table beside my public defender, I listened to Judge Henry’s two options: youth detention for a year followed by a year in the state prison, or two years at a farm for troubled youth, Halton House. I wasn’t stupid. I chose Halton House. When that same sheriff removed the cuffs, he scoffed and said I deserved a year in the Big House, with the big boys. Said it would only be a matter of time before I was Bubba’s girlfriend.
After Glooscap cut Tabby free, we stood shoulder to shoulder, facing the two men that we’d been brought to see. Glooscap, Skinny, and Chubby stayed off to the side, all quiet-like, all respectful as if they’d been through this before and knew the protocol to be followed.
“My name is Poowasan,” said the Indian with the broad face. “I am chief of the Sawnay people. Your bodies and spirits are weary. Rest them now and know you are safe. You are guests and will be treated with customs stretching back to when the raven gave life to the sun.”
“What about our friends?” I said, looking from Poowasan to Glixtan. “We need to find them.” It wasn’t that I didn’t believe him, but the fact that we had no idea whether or not the others were alive or dead was weighing on me so heavily that if I didn’t have an answer soon, I might be crushed to dust. That still might happen if the answer wasn’t the one I was hoping for.
Poowasan spoke in Sawnay to Glooscap, who exited the longhouse with Chubby and Skinny, leaving us alone with the two older men. I figured it ripe time for us to escape, and possibilities began to race through my mind. Glixtan looked directly into my eyes and held me locked there for a moment, giving a toothless smile, like he’d sensed something, like he’d sensed what I’d been thinking. My face grew warm, and I looked down at my toes.
“How did we get here?” said Tabby.
Raising his stick high above his head, Glixtan pointed at the opening above the firepit and spun the stick three-sixty. Then a loud noise behind us drew our attention. The three of us turned around. Glooscap had entered the longhouse, and coming in behind him, limping on crutches, was Conroy, followed by Anna and Simon.