Sixty-four

Fire Cat led the way out of the forest, nodding to people and calling greetings as he and Blood Talon passed through the fields and into the outskirts of Canyon Town.

Fire Cat took in the traditional Muskogean bent-pole structures around the square, then he noticed the chunkey court, rude thing that it was. So how ingrained was worship of the reincarnated god here?

Some sort of assembly seemed to be in progress at the Tchkofa in the center of the plaza.

“What’s all that?” Fire Cat asked, gesturing toward the crowd around the Council House.

“Some excitement,” a Koasati woman told him in Trade pidgin. “A man was murdered, another badly injured. Happened a couple of nights ago. It was a violation of the peace. The mikko and the clans are trying to work out what happened and who was responsible.”

“Any ideas about who it was?”

“The man who survives says it was the River Fox and some Cahokian woman who were at the bottom of it. That he was hired by a Casqui Trader to abduct the woman and take her to Cofitachequi.”

Fire Cat stopped short, staring at the Koasati woman. She looked to be about thirty, had that worn appearance that came from bearing and caring for too many children. “So, did the woman get away?”

“She did. The wounded man, a mixed-blood Trader with a bad reputation around here, says that a party of men attacked him and the Casqui in the darkness. Took the woman back and vanished into the night. They’re still looking for the Casqui, but he seems to have disappeared.”

“And what about the River Fox and the Cahokian woman?”

“Took their packs in the middle of the night, and they’re gone. Maybe on the river with some Cherokee Traders, maybe on their own, or maybe down one of the forest trails that lead south.”

“What is she saying?” Blood Talon asked.

The woman shot him a disdainful glance, taking in his wounds and tattered breechcloth.

Fire Cat relayed the woman’s information.

“What do you think?” Blood Talon asked.

Before replying, Fire Cat thanked the woman and started into town. “Winder might be a scoundrel, but he is no one’s fool. He thinks his best chance to lure Night Shadow Star into his bed and get all the Trade is to get her to Cofitachequi quickly and safely. He also has to prove his competence, be charming, and earn her gratitude.”

“You’re saying that a common Trader thinks he can seduce Night Shadow Star?”

“Well … he was Seven Skull Shield’s best friend once upon a time. They grew up together, which means they’re sort of like two halves of the same walnut. And you didn’t see Winder when he thought I wasn’t looking. So, yes, he thinks he has a chance.”

“But she’s a lady! A noble.”

“Which means what?” Fire Cat gestured around. “You’re in Canyon Town, and Cahokia is somewhere half a world away.”

Blood Talon shook his head. “No wonder you’re worried. Night Shadow Star is traveling with some lowly Trader? Alone? He could do anything he wanted with her. And there’s nothing she could do about it.”

“I already told you, Winder is no one’s fool.”

“I don’t understand. You said he’s a scoundrel, a common—”

“Just because he’s a scoundrel doesn’t mean he’s not smart.” Fire Cat waved a finger. “The man didn’t become the renowned River Fox by acting impetuously. No, trust me, he’s playing the long game, biding his time, winning her trust and affection.”

“And that doesn’t worry you?”

Fire Cat shrugged. “Squadron First, there’s risk in everything, but after all we’ve been through, I’ll put my trust in my lady.”

Blood Talon had his hands on his hips, staring around Canyon Town. In terms of towns, it really wasn’t much to look at. And the crowd at the Tchkofa looked about to break up.

“So, what do we do?”

“Find a canoe headed upriver and offer our labor as paddlers in return for passage. That, or steal one come dark.”

Even as they watched a man was led out of the Tchkofa, a wrapping around his wounded head. The fellow wasn’t going freely.

Within moments the locals had ripped his clothes off, tied him up in a square at the edge of the plaza, and began beating him with sticks.

“Who do you suppose he is?” Blood Talon asked nervously, his own recent torture on his mind given his expression.

“I’d say he’s the fellow they were interrogating about Night Shadow Star’s abduction. It’s true, they really do take the Power of Trade and the peace seriously here. My guess is that if we end up having to steal a canoe, we should be most judicious in how we do it.”

Walking to the edge of the terrace, Fire Cat stared out over the Tenasee’s green waters, his eyes following the river’s course upriver through the mountains until it vanished around a bend.

I’m coming, my love. It won’t be long now.

Assuming he could figure out how to get a canoe with the little Trade he had from the sale of the dugout he’d taken at Black Clay Bank village.

Glancing back at the man in the square, hearing the shouts of the crowd, it wouldn’t do to be caught crosswise with the locals. So how did an ex–Red Wing war chief, freed bound servant, and owner of weapons, armor, and chunkey gear manage to accumulate enough Trade to barter for a quality canoe when …

His gaze went once again to the crude chunkey court, and a slow smile bent his lips.