Raven Mocker by Don Coldsmith Read Free Book Online Page B

gasps indicated that not everyone in the town was aware of the topic under discussion.
    “And who… Please state your name, and that of him whom you accuse.”
    “Not
him
, but
her!”
The woman pointed to Snakewater.
    “Your
name,” persisted Three Fingers. He wanted no misunderstanding.
    “Spotted Bird,” the woman retorted. “This woman stole the life-years of my baby.”
    Snakewater remembered her now. A tragic death… She had felt it deeply herself …. A beautiful child. Only a few moons old, dying, lungs filling, and coughing with no effect. She could well remember the look of panic in the child’s eyes. She had even tried to breathe the life back into the tiny chest.
    Spotted Bird was talking “… and I
saw
her suck the life from my daughter’s nose and mouth,” she finished.
    “I tried to
save
her!” protested Snakewater.
    There were several derisive hoots from the crowd.
    “She was present at my brother’s death!” shouted another woman.
    “He was killed by a bear!” Snakewater answered indignantly.
    Three Fingers quieted the crowd and spoke firmly.
    “Let us be reasonable,” he insisted. “Snakewater has been present at many deaths. She has been asked there because of her medicine, is it not so? Now, let me ask you… How many are
alive
today because of the powerful medicine of this woman?”
    There was a moment of stunned silence.
    “I
am!”
called a burly warrior.
    “And I!” added a young woman.
    There was a ripple of agreement.
    “So …?” said Three Fingers in mock surprise. “It seems we can prove little here. And let us think on this: No matter how powerful a medicine may be, eventually it fails. Otherwise everyone would live forever, no?”
    Silence was heavy in the town house for a moment. Then…
    “Except for the Raven Mocker, who
does
live forever!” called Spotted Bird, the complainant.
    “Wait!” said another woman. “That is only a story, like that of the Giant Leech, to frighten children into obedience.”
    “How do you know? Are you
sure?”
asked someone.
    There was a babble of voices, and the Peace Chief was forced to quiet the crowd again.
    “This is going nowhere,” he stated firmly. “I have heard nothing but opinions. Let me ask: Does anyone have any
proof
, one way or another?”
    There was silence, and he continued quickly, before anyone could break the ribbon of this line of thought.
    “Does anyone have any proof that the Raven Mocker is more than a story?”
    Again there was silence.
    “Let us think on this, then,” said Three Fingers. “Let us consider, and meet again in seven days. That will give us time to seek visions for guidance. It is good to sleep on such matters. And one other thing: For most problems we have solutions. Laws. It is the way of the Real People. Does anyone know of any precedent here? Did anyone ever hear of how a Raven Mocker case was handled? Did we ever
hear
of a real Raven Mocker?”
    In the ensuing silence one voice was heard. It was quiet, but effective.
    “Not until now!”

8

    W orries hung over her in the ensuing days. One was the awareness that someone had tried to kill her with the snake. At least it seemed so. Another, the disquieting events at the Council, and the knowledge that another Council hearing was pending. Still another, perhaps worse, was the suspicion that the accusation might even be justified in some way.
Maybe they are right. I could be a Raven Mocker.
    With the next breath she would think such an idea ridiculous. Surely it could not happen to a person without his or her knowledge.
When
could it have happened? But close on the heels of that thought, another…
Maybe I was born with it.
    She had always been different in many ways. She knew it. Everyone knew it, from the time she was small. Perhaps that was the difference. The Raven Mocker, born among ordinary humans, of human parents, but with the ability to transfer and absorb the unused life-years of the dying ….
    But if that were true,