People of the Fire (71 page)

 
          
 
"With the Wolf Bundle, we can't lose.
Thank you for coming and swelling our ranks. Within a couple of days I want you
to take a band of warriors to the south. You'll know by the-"

 
          
 
“You don't give me orders.'' He leveled a
finger. ''I lead the Red Hand."

 
          
 
She tensed, eyes slitting in the sudden
silence. Looking around at the silent people, she nodded. "Then come,
let's settle our differences. We have too much to lose by bickering among
ourselves. Be seated and I'll present our option-now see them. You can give me
yours. I wouldn't force a man to assume anything his spirit rebelled at."

 
          
 
People nodded assent around the fire.

 
          
 
Blood Bear's anger rose. Still, some warning
tripped in his mind.

 
          
 
“We can't afford trouble," Tanager said
reasonably. "It's enough to fight the enemy. You, Blood Bear, must follow
your own path as you will."

 
          
 
He filled his lungs, glancing about, seeing
all eyes upon him. "I am the rightful leader of the Red Hand. I am the
Keeper of the Wolf Bundle!" He lifted it high to be seen. "I've come
now. I will direct the fighting against the enemy. ''

 
          
 
Tanager lifted her arms and let them slap to
her sides. "That's fine. Only I will continue to lead those who follow me
in my own way. As I wouldn't expect you to accept my orders, I cannot in turn
accept yours."

 
          
 
"But you will."

 
          
 
She shook her head, a muttering rising among
the warriors. "No, Blood Bear. I've received my own Power. White Calf told
me-"

 
          
 
"That Short Buffalo witch? She told you
what?"

 
          
 
"That I would become the new leader of
the Red Hand." She stood before him, arms crossed, no give in her
expression.

 
          
 
"Perhaps you've forgotten the Wolf
Bundle."

 
          
 
She shook her head. "I've never forgotten
the Wolf Bundle. Suppose I told you a Dreamer was coming?”

 
          
 
"Dreamer?" Blood Bear laughed from deep
in his belly. "What Dreamer?"

 
          
 
"I don't know." She walked up to
him, looking up at the Wolf Bundle. "He's a man."

 
          
 
"And that bothers you?"

 
          
 
"That bothers me." The anger burned
bright in her "I don't serve any man. That day—if it ever existed —is
done. I know my way."

 
          
 
Blood Bear reached for her, catching her hand
in squeezing with all his might as she grunted Looking into her blazing eyes,
he added, "Perhaps we'll discuss this in the trees, eh? Perhaps you'll bed
me tonight?" He increased the pressure on her fingers.

 
          
 
"Don't be a fool," she hissed
through clamped teeth. "You'll anger every person here."

 
          
 
Already men and women had begun to stand,
uncertainty in their eyes as they fingered their darts.

 
          
 
In a low voice, he added, "Is it so important
to keep from dividing the people? Then walk out into the trees with me."

 
          
 
Already his mind had begun to put the pieces
together. He still held the Wolf Bundle. All she had to do was say yes. Then,
when he took her, no one could call it rape. He could demonstrate his strength.

 
          
 
A panic vied with the pain in her eyes.
Slowly, she shook her head. "I'll see you dead first."

 
          
 
He laughed and cast her down, his strength
overpowering her. "And you call yourself a warrior, woman?"

 
          
 
She glared up at him, massaging her fingers,
taking time to wave the warriors back. "How many camps have you saved,
Blood Bear?"

 
          
 
He looked around, meeting the angry eyes of
his people. In that moment, he understood that she'd won. Or had she? He smiled
around. "It has long been the policy of the Red Hand that the Keeper of
the Bundle has certain prerogatives. You know me. You know that I've married
only once. I would now take this woman, Tanager, as my wife."

 
          
 
"You what!" Tanager sprang to her
feet again.

 
          
 
"What I just did—though some might have
wondered— was test your dedication to the Red Hand. Yes, I want you as my
wife."

 
          
 
"That's insane! First you challenge me?
Then ..." Her face reflected confusion.

 
          
 
"Name another woman as worthy as you,
Tanager?" He patted the Wolf Bundle. "Together you and I will—"

 
          
 
"Never!"

 
          
 
"Let's ask the people here." He
turned before she could reply. "How about it? Would you rather have us
working together? Would you rather have the leadership united in—"

 
          
 
"Never!" she insisted, stepping up
to him. "You'll never touch me! Never take me to your bed!"

 
          
 
“And that's how you lead the people? Cut the
Keeper out from under them? Perhaps, Tanager, you've let your emotions betray
you after all. I've asked to marry you, to make you a successor to the Wolf
Bundle. And you'd turn down that honor? Drag the trust of the people through
the dirt?^

 
          
 
She looked around, frantic, trying to figure
how she'd lost the advantage, seeing confusion in the faces of her people. To
them, the request couldn't seem to be the underlying threat it was.

 
          
 
With hatred in her eyes, she returned her hot
stare to his. He relished her sudden confusion. Yes, through this, he'd broken
her hold. How delicious! He hadn't lost his power to manipulate the people.
She'd refuse—he could see it in her eyes—and it would erode her position.
Granted, his wouldn't be strengthened, but he'd saved himself from disaster.

 
          
 
"You know"—her voice came almost
wistfully— “you've succeeded in dividing the Red Hand again, breaking up what
I've worked so hard to make one."

 
          
 
He spread his hands innocently. “I only came
to ask a woman I thought was worthy of the Wolf Bundle to take her share. True,
I had to test you in the beginning, see it you were strong enough. You passed
that test. To turn your back on the people now, well, I just can't imagine
you—"

 
          
 
“You . . . you
maggotl
"

 
          
 
Taking a foolish risk, he slapped her, hearing
cries from the people. No dart landed in his broad back, assuring him for the
moment that he'd carried the argument.

 
          
 
Careful, you fool! Some of these idiots owe
her their lives. Push it now, before she recovers. Use the Wolf Bundle against
them!

 
          
 
“So that's what you really think? The Keeper
of the Wolf Bundle is a maggot?" He looked around, seeing that for the
moment he'd shocked Tanager beyond responding. She K at her hand, pulling it
back from a bloody lip.

 
          
 
“You see, my people. She's given you spirit.
She's been cunning, yes. But anyone who insults the Power of the Wolf Bundle
like she just did—well, can we allow ourselves to be led by her likes?"
That's it, play on their foolish attachment to the Wolf Bundle. Build on it! He
held it up, waving if and forth in the firelight as night deepened.

           
 
The resistance in people's eyes drained away
as they looked up at the Wolf Bundle. For this moment, he should have cleaned
it up a little. Maybe put some new paint on the scuffed and worn hide. Still,
some hesitated, staring back and forth between Tanager and the Bundle he held
high.

 
          
 
"Don't be fooled!" Tanager cried.

 
          
 
"If you would hesitate," Blood Bear
continued, "think about this. Why has the Wolf Bundle stayed with me
through the years? Hmm? Bundles have Power." Or so you fools think.
"Are there any of you who would betray your loyalty to the Bundle in favor
of Tanager's claims?"

 
          
 
And he had them! The last holdouts licked
their lips or lowered their eyes in confusion.

 
          
 
"Think!" Tanager cried. "Think
about what we've done! You, Fat Elk, you, Tall Fir, or you, Green Snake,
remember the times I've changed the course of a fight? Who Dances her Power as
she drives the Short Buffalo from the land? Will you turn your back on
that?" She wheeled, fire in her eye. "I ask you, Blood Bear, how many
of the Short Buffalo People you've driven from the land this last year! Count them!"

 
          
 
"More than you can imagine," he told
her smugly. "Tell me, Tanager. Who do you think Dreamed your Power? Hmm?
Did it just come out of the air?"

 
          
 
"White Calf!" she cried, raising an
old
atlatl
in a defiant fist.

 
          
 
"White Calf?" He laughed yet again
and slapped his side, "Did it ever occur to you that maybe the reason you
drove all those enemy away, Danced your fight so well, was because I—yes, I was
using the Wolf Bundle to give you that Power?"

 
          
 
Her mouth opened as she shook her head in
disbelief.

 
          
 
Use it! Use it now! He turned, lifting the
Wolf Bundle high. "Yes! I did it! Her Power, her strength, comes from the
Wolf Bundle! Think, people! Think hard! What is the Power our fathers left us?
What's the Power of First Man? This is!" He shook the Wolf Bundle in a
clenched fist. "And with it, I've Dreamed all of your courage."

 
          
 
He turned, seeing reason leaving Tanager's
eyes. Good, goad her just a little more, and she'd attack him. Then he'd have
justification to break her once and for all. Drive her insane with anger, loose
that uncontrolled emotion, and she'd condemn herself.

 
          
 
"So I’ve come, people, because I could
see that Tanager wasn't capable of leading you. She's too involved with her own
delusions of Power—without the control a war leader should possess. The Wolf
Bundle told me she'd fooled herself with the image of Power. She was false to
the Wolf Bundle! She refused to recognize the source of her Power and gave
credit instead to some witch—who came from the enemy in the first
placel

 
          
 
“Yet I thought I could help, come to test her
and offer to make her my wife that I might teach her the true Power of her
people! That's what I came here to do!

 
          
 
“Now she spits on the will of the Wolf Bundle!
But I've seen. I've heard the voice of the Wolf Bundle. It's told me to save
the Red Hand before it's too late!"

 
          
 
Tanager gathered herself to spring, an insane
rage glittering in her eyes as slim fingers knotted on the handle of a war
club.