The Visitant: Book I of the Anasazi Mysteries by W. Michael Gear, Kathleen O’Neal Gear Read Free Book Online

turn him over, Cloudblower? Perhaps he painted clan symbols on the front of his shirt.”
    Cloudblower grabbed the right arm and tugged. The rigid body flopped onto its back. As Cloudblower lowered the arm, the long sleeve pulled back, and a small, delicate hand adorned with a snake bracelet fell out.
    Stunned silence came over the assembly.
    A painful stinging sensation flooded Browser’s veins. “No. No, it …”
    The words died in his throat. He jumped into the pit and took the stiff fingers, examining the bracelet.
    “Oh,” Cloudblower whispered, and stumbled against the pit wall. “Blessed gods.”
    People surged forward, hissing.
    Flame Carrier cried, “Is it … ?”
    Cloudblower said, “Yes. I think so.”
    Flame Carrier shook her gray head. “Why would someone kill her and throw her into her own son’s burial pit? It makes no sense!”
    Catkin said, “It did to the killer.” She rose to her feet, looming over Browser.
    Browser rubbed his thumb over the back of Ash Girl’s death-cold hand, feeling nothing. No pain, no horror, only a numb sensation. His heart slowed, but each time it beat, it felt like a concussion in his chest.
    People shouted questions and a deep-throated rumble of coughing filled the morning.
    Browser looked up and, for the first time, noticed their brightly colored clothing and jewelry. They had worn their finest to honor his son. Terrible grief and pity for him filled their eyes. He stared at each person, his soul moving slowly, methodically, trying to recall their names. When he came to the end of the line, a sudden stab of naked terror went through him.
    “Blessed gods, where’s Hophorn?”

3
    C ATKIN FOLLOWED THE TRAIL OF RED MACAW FEATHERS she had noticed at the burial site. Wind Baby had blown the feathers about, but they appeared to lead from the burial pit to where the Sunwatcher sat with her head bowed.
    As Father Sun climbed higher into the sky, the sand gleamed like powdered amber. The fresh scents of thawing earth and wet grass carried in the cool air.
    She moved forward with her war club in her fist, her dark eyes searching the boulders, and brush.
    Shadows mottled the face of the cliff to her left, turning the eroded sandstone into a patchwork of gray and gold. The larger crevices could hide a man.
    With witchcraft lingering on the wind, Catkin would take no chances.
    Wreaths of sparks spiraled up from the Sunwatcher’s fire, which meant that someone had recently thrown wood onto it. Less than a quarter hand of time ago.
    Catkin stopped five paces away. The Sunwatcher did not move. Her long braid fell over her left shoulder, looking startlingly black against the red cape.
    Catkin gripped her club more tightly. She called, “Hophorn?”
    A flock of pinyon jays flew over the cliff, their blue-gray wings flashing in the sunlight.
    Catkin glanced at them. Witches often changed themselves into animals to elude capture, but these birds did not circle or appear unduly interested in the commotion below. They soared and dove in the sunlight, as if offering prayers to Father Sun.
    Catkin took another step. No tracks ringed the fire pit, but she walked wide around it, careful not to disturb anything. When she
reached the Sunwatcher’s side, she crouched. Ashes sheathed Hophorn’s hair and cape, and four lines led away from the body, pointing in the sacred directions. Two ash-coated eagle feathers stuck out from beneath her sandals.
    Catkin’s eyes slitted.
    Shamans dipped ashes from fire pits and scattered them to the four directions for physical purification. What could this mean?
    She reached for Hophorn’s chin, and tipped her pretty face up. Blood matted her hair to the left side of her skull. A trickle of crimson ran down Hophorn’s neck onto her red-feathered cape.
    Feet pounded behind Catkin.
    Browser’s voice had turned frantic. He yelled, “Is she alive?”
    “I don’t know yet. A moment.”
    He ran to Hophorn’s side and grabbed her hand to test her pulse.