People of the Nightland (North America's Forgotten Past) by W. Michael Gear, Kathleen O'Neal Gear Read Free Book Online

danced and flickered as they greedily consumed a collection of broken branches placed on the flames. The fire cast its warmth and light, cheery in the cool night. Keresa sat cross-legged and watched the branches burn, lost in her thoughts. Across from her, Kakala puffed at a stone pipe, blowing out wreaths of blue smoke to rise toward the star-speckled night sky.
    She could hear the soft whisper of Lake River, the great braided river that drained from Loon Lake, a great oval-shaped body of fresh water that lay to the west. Technically, Lake River marked the boundary between the Lame Bull and Sunpath territories. Kakala’s warriors had forded it earlier in the day, wading through the interwoven channels.
    Around them, spruce and hemlock reflected the firelight. Raising her eyes, she could see the five fires the slaves had made in the center of the clearing. The rest of her warriors were spaced around them, most relaxing and talking after having eaten.
    Between them and the slaves, stacked bundles of meat and fat had been laid out in a ring. The warriors kept bright fires, a deterrent to hungry bears, wolves, and lions. A stack of branches lay readily at hand in case any of the animals decided to challenge the humans. They would be met by burning brands and sharp darts.
    Hunting darts were made with detachable foreshafts that fitted into hollows on the main shaft body. When hunting animals, especially large ones like mammoth and buffalo, the stone-tipped foreshaft was driven deeply into the animal’s body, the springy fletched main shaft detaching to bounce back from the animal’s side. A hunter could retrieve it, twist another foreshaft onto the dart, and cast again. The embedded foreshafts continued to cut tissue, and allowed the blood to drain from the hole in the animal’s side.
    In war, her people preferred a solid dart, one that splintered, or broke its point on impact, so that an enemy warrior couldn’t pick it up and cast it back again.
    Keresa lowered her eyes to the fire.
    “You saw the Lame Bull hunters watching us ford the river today?” Kakala asked casually.
    “They just watch.” She shrugged. “They know we are just passing through.
    “So far.” Kakala puffed on his pipe before blowing the blue smoke through his puckered lips.
    “So far?” She glanced up at him.
    “How many of the Sunpath bands are left?” Kakala narrowed an eye as he studied her across the fire.
    “Maybe nine. All far to the south and west.”
    “Nashat is a clever old wolf,” Kakala muttered. “He made sure the Lame Bull People knew we just wished to pass in peace. Now we have destroyed most of the Sunpath villages, scattered their people, and left a whole countryside empty.” He smiled. “All but a band of Lame Bull People here in the spruce lands. The Lame Bull People have talked themselves into believing our quarrel was with the Sunpath.”
    She raised her eyes. “You think it is not?”
    Kakala chuckled softly to himself. “I think this was most cunningly done. Nashat knew the Sunpath People, understood how independent and disorganized they were. So, what would you do, Keresa? Tackle a large traditionally fragmented enemy? Or take on an easily united, but smaller foe?”
    “The Lame Bull People would have been a tougher nut to crack, but they’d have fallen.”
    Kakala nodded. “And what effect would that have had on the Sunpath People to the south?”
    She nodded, already knowing where he was going. “Seeing what
we did to the Lame Bull, they’d have overlooked their differences and united with Windwolf to fight us, wishing to avoid the same fate as the Lame Bull.”
    Kakala gestured with his pipe. “But now they are no threat, and the Lame Bull have come to believe we are invincible. As I said, Nashat is a cunning and devious one.”
    Keresa rubbed her shins. “So, you think the Lame Bull are next?”
    “You know the Guide’s words. We are the chosen people. Those who follow the ways of Wolf Dreamer must