Devil Moon by David Thompson Read Free Book Online Page B

roared, but their valley was still.
    Two Knives did not sleep well. He would doze and wake with a start and then doze off again. This made two nights he had not gotten much sleep. Toward dawn he sat up, stiff and as tired as when he had lain down, and eased clear of Dove Sings and over to the hide. He took the lance. Quietly, he untied the hide enough to look out. It was too dark yet to see anything. He retied the hide and went back and waited for the others to rouse.
    They had not slept well either. Dove Sings had shadows under her eyes. Bright Rainbow’s eyes were red. Elk Running yawned and scratched and scowled at the world.
    “I did not hear the cat all night, Father. It must be gone.”
    “We will go see,” Two Knives said.
    “Now?” Dove Sings said. “Why not wait until the sun is all the way up? That way it cannot take you by surprise.”
    “It took Fox Tail by surprise,” Two Knives said, and was sorry he did when she flinched as if she had been struck. He strode to the flap. “I will go first.”
    “Be careful,” Dove Sings said.

Chapter Six
    In the gray light of predawn, the valley was serene and still save for writhing tendrils of mist.
    Two Knives had slung his bow over his shoulder and was holding the lance as he edged around the lodge. Elk Running was behind him. Two Knives was careful to keep his back to the lodge and whispered to his son to do the same.
    Two Knives stopped and probed the murky depths of the greenery for their adversary.
    “Where is it?” Elk Running whispered.
    Two Knives would like to think it was gone for good. But if the Devil Cat was like its tawny cousins, it had a territory it roamed. Which meant it would be back.
    “Do you see it anywhere?”
    “Not yet.”
    “I want to kill it for what it did to Fox Tail. I want to skin it and hang the hide on our wall.”
    To the east a golden glow was spreading across the sky. The stars were blinking out and being replaced by light blue.
    Elk Running fidgeted. “How long will we stand here?”
    “No longer,” Two Knives said. He believed the Devil Cat was gone, if only for a while. Hurrying inside, he imparted the news to his wife and daughter, ending with “We should go while we can.”
    “Go where?” Dove Sings asked.
    “We must leave the valley.”
    All three of them stared at him as if they must have misheard.
    “We have lived here since before Fox Tail was born,” Dove Sings said. “It is our home.”
    “We must go far enough that the Devil Cat will not find us,” Two Knives said. “We can pack and be gone before the morning is done.” They did not have a lot of possessions.
    “We are running away?” Elk Running said.
    “We are.”
    “It is wrong to run. This is our home, Father. And what of my brother? Did he die for nothing?”
    “He died as a warning to us,” Two Knives said. “The Devil Cat is too smart and too strong for us to kill. Our only hope to live is to let it have the valley.”
    “I do not like running.”
    “You are young yet. When you have grown more you will see that running to live another day is better than dying.”
    Dove Sings surprised him by saying, “I do not like running, either, husband. We should fight.”
    “For this?” Two Knives said, and stepping to the wall of limbs and brush, he smacked it. “We can build another lodge.”
    “I have many happy memories of our valley. We have been in peace here and our life has been good.”
    “Until now.”
    “I like it here, too,” Bright Rainbow said.
    Two Knives was irritated with them. He was the father and husband and they should accede to his wisdom. “The valley is not worth our lives.”
    “I think it is,” Elk Running said.
    “You have not seen the Devil Cat as I have,” Two Knives told him. “You do now know what we face.”
    “It is an animal, and animals can be killed.”
    “So can we,” Two Knives argued, but it was apparent he was speaking for nothing. The three were determined to stay. “My heart is sad