People of the Fire Read Online Free PDF

             Craning his head to see, Little Dancer didn't
hear the soft steps. He jerked as the flap lifted and Heavy Beaver ducked in,
caught sight of Two Smokes and the Wolf Bundle, and stopped dead.
                   Shock registered for only a moment before a
dull rage filled his black eyes and rearranged the planes of his flat face.
                   "So, this is what's happening?"
                   Sage Root shot a look over her shoulder, a
flickering of fright in her eyes. "The baby is coming."
                   Two Smokes didn't break stride in his chant.
                   "A little more," Chokecherry coaxed,
hands placed.
                   Where he crouched outside, the blackness
twirled with the Power. Heavy Beaver! He could feel it, a subtle whiff of anger
and hatred. The effect stung him like a sulfur breeze on a green meadow,
grasses and flowers wilting and smothering. The Wolf Bundle remained a powerful
brilliance in the miasma.
                   "Ah-ha! Bear down!" Chokecherry
cried, reaching where Little Dancer couldn't see. "That's it."
                   Dancing Doe shuddered as her belly flattened
and Chokecherry lifted the infant, streaked and wet in her hands. The squalling
cry of new life filled the lodge.
                   Two Smokes inhaled deeply and dropped his
head, pulling the Wolf Bundle back to his breast, stroking it reverently as he
whispered a prayer of thanks under his breath.
                   "It's a girl," Sage Root whispered, looking
furtively toward Heavy Beaver.
                   "Why am I not surprised?" Heavy
Beaver loomed, crouched under the low spread of the shelter. The look in his
eyes tickled a cold shiver down Little Dancer's spine.
                   "Another girl? And born under the
influence of malignant Spirit Power?" Heavy Beaver crossed his arms.
"A wondrous gift to the People."
                   Dancing Doe worked her mouth dryly, too spent
to do anything but stare with fright-wide eyes at the Spirit Dreamer.
                   In his accented speech, Two Smokes said softly,
"The Wolf Bundle isn't evil. It's—"
                  "Just what I'd expect from Anit'ah —and from something the likes of you. What are you?
A woman in a man's body like you claim? Surely a curse if I've ever heard one.
And yet you'd pollute the birthing lodge?"
                   Two Smokes closed his eyes, expression pained.
                   "Leave him alone." Sage Root turned
where she rested on her heels. "The Wolf Bundle freed the child."
                   "Another girl. A mouth to feed while men
go hungry."
                   "So you say!" Sage Root colored.
"You can't keep blaming starvation on women. We're the People! Why have
you turned your hatred against us? What's your purpose? To drive the People
apart? Then you're succeeding! We're not animals."
                   "Oh? And you think the Wise One Above
hasn't—"
                   "I think your Dreams are false. "
                   Stunned silence filled the lodge as Sage Root
realized what she'd said.
                   Where he crouched in the night, Little Dancer
started, gasping. Immediately eyes went his direction.
                   "Who?" Heavy Beaver wondered,
"Another pollution?" He reached for the flap, and in that instant,
Little Dancer jumped to his feet, vaulted the sage, and sped into the darkness.
                   Heart pounding, he crept around a lodge,
hearing old Two Elks snoring softly. On silent feet, he circled, drawing near
as Heavy Beaver reentered the lodge.
                   "Someone fast—or some thing. Tell me now
that this Wolf Bundle isn't evil." The words carried as Little Dancer
dropped on his belly to wiggle up next to a cottonwood bole. The