Flight of the Crow (The Southeast Series Book 2) Read online

  The warm water choked his throat as he worked his legs and his good arm. Soon he was within a few man lengths of the bank. Kicking as hard as he could, he caught an overhanging root with his good hand. The current swung him around and his legs touched muddy, but solid earth. He fell to his knees and his bad arm came into contact with the earth, sending another wave of pain through him. Pausing to steady himself, he climbed up. As he left the buoyancy of the water, it took all his strength to carry his increasing weight. He pitched forward. Dizzy with pain, he crawled onto the warm muddy earth and collapsed. He raised his head to look around and lost consciousness.

  ***

  Two old men in deer skin breechclouts struggled in the slick mud as they followed the woman and girl along the river bank. Green Bird Woman’s eyes were resolute as she and her daughter Bright Eyes surefootedly walked the bank. Bright Eyes, at ten turnings of the seasons, would someday become as attractive as her mother. She, too, had a pretty face and budding breasts like autumn acorns.

  The older, thin man slipped and fell, his back slapping on the mud. He fell a second time as he struggled to regain his footing.

  Green Bird Woman turned and looked at him with reproach. “Bent Ears, we shall never find him if you don’t hurry.”

  Bent Ears attempted to scrape the sticky black mud off his side and gave up. “We shall find him in the belly of the next alligator that is killed,” he snapped, “that is where we shall find him.”

  Green Bird Woman frowned at him and the man turned away to look at the river nervously.

  The other old man who was Green Bird Woman’s uncle turned to him, “the boy said he saw the stranger lying on the bank.”

  “How can that be?” said Bent Ears. “I and all the others saw him in the jaws of a big alligator. The beast took him away from the others to eat.”

  Green Bird Woman and Bright Eyes started forward and Bent Ears stood his ground.

  Green Bird Woman turned to him again. “You’re afraid we will find him, aren’t you?”

  “No,” said Bent Ears. He looked at the slow-moving river. “I can’t move as quickly as I once could and I am afraid one of those demon alligators will find me.”

  Green Bird Woman frowned. “They just ate. They’re all sunning themselves upriver.” She started walking and her uncle and Bright Eyes fell in behind her.

  Still, Bent Ears did not move. “Black Snake will be angry,” he said.

  “So I will throw him in the river like the stranger did Kills Bear.”

  Bent Ears looked at Green Bird Woman, not believing her boldness.

  Green Bird Woman glared at him. “I will push you down the bank for the alligators to eat if you don’t move! Come on.”

  Bent Ears started forward and again lost his footing and fell. Mumbling, he followed the others, turning every now and then to scan the river bank behind them.

  They rounded a curve in the river and Green Bird Woman stopped to peer through the green leaves of some stunted trees. There was something ahead. She hurried forward and the men and girl struggled after her. As they drew closer they saw the stranger lying face down, a muddy track like a turtle’s trail marking his struggle up from the river. Green Bird Woman waved at the others. “Hurry!”

  She ran forward, Bright Eyes behind her. The old men grimaced as they followed. Green Bird Woman knelt down beside Calling Crow and felt in his neck for the flow of his blood. Satisfied, she took him by the arms. “Quickly now; he is barely alive.”

  Bent Ears held back, shaking his head. “He has powerful medicine. We should stay away from him.”

  Green Bird Woman nodded to her uncle and he grabbed one of the big man’s legs. Bent Ears, his wrinkled red face twitching in fear, grabbed the other. Bright Eyes followed them as they dragged the man up the muddy slope and onto the grassy bank.

  Chapter 3

  The slanting rays of the early evening sun turned the brown, hard-packed earthen streets of Coosa Town a fiery orange. Green Bird Woman and her slave, an old Santee woman she had bought from Chellagee traders, who Green Bird Woman and others simply called Santee, walked past small groups of villagers who squatted and talked outside their huts. Hickory smoke and the sweet smell of squirrel stew filled the warm air. Santee’s wrinkled face wore a worried look as she struggled to keep up with Green Bird Woman. When they had passed the people, Santee touched Green Bird Woman on the arm and they stopped.

  Santee’s face was troubled. “Green Bird Woman, please don’t pursue this. I fear it will cause you much trouble.”

  Green Bird Woman looked in Santee’s face and saw only concern. She spoke. “It hurts nobody that I care for the stranger. He hurts nobody. He has been here for better than one moon and no one has gotten sick. Sees Far was right.”

  Santee nodded in agreement. “That is so. No one has gotten sick. But Green Bird Woman, you know that Black Snake is very angry about you taking the stranger into your hut. He cares for you so. Did you know that he spent the first three nights sleeping outside your hut in case you and Bright Eyes might need him?”

  Green Bird Woman’s round face compressed into a hard frown. She shook her head. “How many times must I tell him and the rest of you that I care nothing for him. Ever since my own man died he has been following me around like a sick puppy. I care nothing for him!”

  Santee put a hand on Green Bird Woman’s arm as two children ran toward them.

  After they had passed, Green Bird Woman continued. “When will Black Snake give up and fix his sorry eyes on some other poor woman?”

  Santee frowned with concern. “Then I cannot convince you to reconsider?”

  “No,” said Green Bird Woman. “I cannot stomach his manner, his laugh. Even the smell of his breath is wrong for me. And his constant pursuit of me degrades him. Tell him to find a woman who wants him.”

  “But Green Bird Woman, this stranger told the Council he is on a quest to find his woman. Surely you heard about this? He will go away to her when he heals.”

  Green Bird Woman’s face shone with a fierce determination. “I heard the story. He may want to continue on his journey, but I will have until he heals to convince him to stay. And I will too. You will see.”

  Santee’s face was sad. “I am sorry, Green Bird Woman. Your heart is very strong in this. Who am I to try and change it”

  Green Bird Woman’s frown relaxed. “It is all right. I know you are only trying to help.”

  Santee’s mood brightened. “I will make some medicine to help you.” She looked down at the earth and frowned. “Yes, I will get you some medicine. One man, without a people, wandering the woods alone-- You will need strong medicine to keep him.” She sighed. “Well, I have work to do.”

  Green Bird Woman nodded and walked on. Her heart was troubled by Santee’s words. She quickened her pace. Up ahead she saw a half dozen boys hanging about the entrance to her hut. One of them was attempting to peer inside. She ran forward and swatted the boy on the back of his head. Squealing in fear, he and the others scattered. She watched them run toward the square into the brilliant red orb of the setting sun. They all wanted a look at the stranger, Calling Crow, who had survived both Kills Bear and one of the largest alligators anyone had ever seen. There was even a story going round the village that his medicine was so strong that he could not be killed. She paused a moment longer as she pictured the handsome man inside. His wounds were bad, bad enough to kill most men, but he was healing well. She smiled. He was a good man. Since her own man had died she had given up on the idea of finding another. There were too many pretty young maidens about, all eager to run into the woods with the first man that smiled at them. But when she had seen this man, she knew that somehow she could have him, if she worked at it. And she had. The village would have let him die, too afraid to go near him. But she had taken care of him. Alone, she had set his arm and bound it, cleaned and attended to his bites and wounds, fed him, kept him warm at night-- Would he really go away and leave her as Santee said?

  Th
e sun had disappeared below the distant trees and a violet sky suffused her with sadness. Perhaps, she thought, perhaps. But she had already mourned the loss of one good man, and if this one must leave her, she would cope with that too. Now she had work to do, firewood to bring in, cooking. She went to her storehouse.

  ***

  Calling Crow awoke as the fire flickered out. He stared into the blackness. He had again dreamed of being on his way. He must heal quickly. He looked up at the stars through the smoke hole and heard a noise. Green Bird Woman came into the hut again. She’d been in and out all evening. She went over to where her daughter Bright Eyes and Santee, the slave, slept. Calling Crow raised his head, hearing a low murmur of voices. For the past several nights Green Bird Woman had slept with Calling Crow, “to keep him warm,” as he heard her tell her daughter. His shoulder throbbed and his head fell back involuntarily.

  He heard her approach and kneel beside him: She slipped in between the skins. After a few moments she turned to him, putting her warm nakedness against him. Her leg slid up over his thigh and involuntarily his body responded.

  “I am glad to see that more of you is mending,” she said.

  He tried to sit up, but fell back. He was still too weak.

  “I told you I have a woman,” he said.

  “You do? Where is she?” Green Bird Woman’s girlish laughter swooped out of the blackness like a night bird.

  Calling Crow could hear hurt in her laugh, however. Despite that, he could not lie to her. “I do not need another woman.”

  Green Bird Woman laughed again. “I don’t see this other woman.”

  He said nothing.

  Her hand found him.

  Calling Crow thought of Juana and of his fierce intention to find her. He would have to stay here for some time until he healed. He thought of all this Green Bird Woman had done for him and some of his anger passed. She was not a bad woman. But she could not hear his words because she was lonely and wanted a man badly.

  “I will stay with you until I have healed. Then I will go.”

  “You will stay with me always.”

  Calling Crow could not help but find her pleasing. She was a woman and he a man, and the cool, black night was upon them. Outside the wind blew, shaking the leaves in the trees like a countless number of tiny rattles. Green Bird Woman’s hair fell down around Calling Crow’s face as she lowered her head and sighed into his ear. She cried with delight and kissed his head. Then Calling Crow’s own juices burst into her and he gave himself up to the blackness.

  Chapter 4

  Attended by Green Bird Woman and Santee, Calling Crow’s shoulder and arm continued to heal. Each night he dreamed of moving on, but it was not yet time. He needed more mending before he could safely re-enter the forests. Each day he left the hut, moving about the village, getting to know the people who lived in Aguacay. By taking him in, Green Bird Woman had adopted him into the tribe. This was not uncommon among Calling Crow’s people either. Usually, a couple adopted a captured child after their own had died, or a man a woman after his own woman had died. Sometimes they even gave the adopted the name of the deceased they were replacing. Some of the people in the village were wary of Calling Crow and would turn away if their paths were to intersect, but most of the people were warm and Calling Crow was sure they would accept him in time.

  Calling Crow worried as he waited and watched to see if people would begin getting sick, like before, when he had returned to his own village. This did not happen and he gave thanks to the Great Spirit. Whatever curse there had been on him and his people before, it was spent and powerless now and that was good. Soon he was able to use his bow and he began shooting his arrows at targets at the edge of the forest.

  One day a boy of seventeen or eighteen summers approached him carrying the ancient medicine man called Sees Far on his back. Sees Far wore a breechclout and his green mantle; the boy a breechclout and a mantle of deerskin. Calling Crow lay his bow at his feet and turned to them. The boy stood before Calling Crow and said nothing.

  “Go closer,” said Sees Far into the boy’s ear. “Tell me what you see.”

  Calling Crow smiled as the boy circled, inspecting him carefully.

  “I can see the scars from the bites.”

  “Ahh,” said Sees Far, “so it is true.”

  The boy nodded.

  “Tell me again what they call you,” Sees Far said to Calling Crow.

  “I am called Calling Crow, uncle.” ‘Uncle’ was an honorific term used for all old men.

  “Ah.” Sees Far nodded. “Green Bird Woman has taken good care of you. You have chosen well.”

  The words rattled against Calling Crow’s ears. Green Bird Woman was not his woman. He said nothing, however, and smiled at the young man’s anxious face. “What are you called?” he said.

  The young man said nothing.

  “You can tell him,” said Sees Far.

  “Red Feather,” said the young man with unease. He turned to Sees Far. “We should go, uncle. You know what the others say about him.”

  “If you must,” said Sees Far. He smiled at Calling Crow. “If you are afraid I will get someone else to bring me next time.”

  The young man’s face darkened at the old man’s words. He turned and walked back the way he had come, pausing once to turn and look suspiciously at Calling Crow.

  The next day Red Feather returned to Calling Crow’s arrow shooting place without the old medicine man.

  “Where is Sees Far?” said Calling Crow.

  “His youngest wife said he must sleep,” said Red Feather.

  “How many does he have?” said Calling Crow, trying to put the young man at ease.

  “Two,” said Red Feather. “Old Two Clouds has three. Men of high rank usually have more than one, some as many as three.”

  “I see,” said Calling Crow.

  Red Feather suddenly frowned. “Many of the bravos say that you are a spirit and can call forth other spirits to do your bidding. That is why the leaf became a bird and distracted Kills Bear. Sees Far says you are just a man like him, but that you have great medicine and that is why Kills Bear could not kill you.”

  “What do you think?” said Calling Crow.

  “I don’t know.”

  Calling Crow nocked an arrow in his bow and aimed it at one of the distant trees. “I am a man just like you,” he said

  The boy seemed to stand a little taller at the compliment.

  Calling Crow released the arrow and he and the boy watched it land very close to its target.

  “Do you want to know a good hunting place?” said Red Feather. “I could show you.”

  Calling Crow smiled. “Yes, that would be good.”

  After that day, Red Feather waited for Calling Crow each morning at the palisade opening. On their hunting trips he told Calling Crow about Aguacay and its people. He told Calling Crow about the three villages that had united with Aguacay to form a confederation, and of the distant villages of their enemies, the Chellagee, or Mountain People. As Calling Crow’s arm grew stronger, he took more and more game on their trips, bringing back squirrels, rabbits, and raccoons. Green Bird Woman was very pleased and happily told everyone of his prowess as a hunter.

  Calling Crow sat on a stump in front of Green Bird Woman’s hut. Two men walked by carrying heavy baskets of grain on their backs. They had come from the fields and were evidently on their way to the communal granary the Coosa kept to the east. One of the men knew Calling Crow by sight and nodded a greeting.

  Calling Crow heard a laugh. Not far away, Green Bird Woman and Bright Eyes stood next to Santee who was stirring a pot at the big cook fire. Green Bird Woman started singing the Coosa tale about the people who descended from the heavens in a canoe, singing and laughing. When she got to the part about the man who catches one of the Coosa girls and marries her, Calling Crow thought of himself and Juana.

  “Singing and laughing,” sang Green Bird Woman, as Bright Eyes and Santee smiled at her, “she we
nt back up to the heavens, singing and laughing.”

  Calling Crow had never heard this story. “What happens to her man?” he asked.

  “Foolish man,” sang Green Bird Woman, “he tried to follow her. Singing and laughing he went up to the sky, a foolish man, singing and laughing. He looked down, fell to the earth and died.”

  Calling Crow thought of how it had ended between him and Juana and it was indeed as if he, too, had died.

  He looked up to see Green Bird Woman watching him.

  “Soon I will leave here,” he said.

  Santee turned anxiously to Bright Eyes. “Come with me. We must get some corn from the store house.” Taking Bright Eyes by the hand, she walked off.

  “You are too weak to go anywhere,” said Green Bird Woman when they were alone.

  “I am almost healed.”

  Green Bird Woman glared at him. “They think you cannot be killed, but I know better. You would have died if I had not taken you into my house. I gave you life!” Green Bird Woman’s eyes glazed over with angry, held-back tears. “Did I mend you for some ghost woman?”

  “I told you she was real and that someday I would leave to find her. But you would not listen.”

  “Yes, you did.” Green Bird Woman sat on a stump. “From the moment I first saw you, I thought, how handsome! I wanted to have a boy child with your features. All this time I have longed for this, but the baby hasn’t come yet.” She held her hands to her face to hide her tears. After a while she wiped her tears away with her hand and smiled at him. “It is not to be.”

  Calling Crow was moved. He walked over to her. “You have been good to me. What can I do for you?”