Page 80 of Wind Rider

“You must go. Now.” Father John’s voice was flat and emotionless—like the edge of a knife.

“I—I did not mean to offend,” Dove said.

Mari touched the girl’s arm, silencing her. “Father John, Dove only did what you asked of her. She looked with no eyes and told you what she saw. I have not known her long, but she has given me her oath to only tell the truth. I believe her, and I think you should, too.”

Father John met her gaze, and Mari saw complete denial there, as well as simmering anger. “Place your offerings at the feet of the Mother. I will gather your Pack. You will leave. Now. You will not speak to any of our people. Do you understand me?”

“I do, and we will leave. But first, I would like to meet with your Elder Council, or whatever governing body is in charge of your people,” Mari said as Isabel and Jenna hastily deposited the gifts at the feet of the Mother idol.

“I am Father John, Senior Priest. I speak for the Saleesh. If you wish to rejoin your boats you will leave. Now. And for the rest of your journey on our river you will not utter one word of what that woman said to any Saleesh. Ever.” He pointed accusingly at Dove. “I have eyes and ears in each of our villages. Should I hear even a rumor of the nonsense your eyeless Seer spouted I will declare that your people are not to be allowed passage on our river.”

“But we only wanted to—” Mari began. This time it was Dove’s hand on her arm stilling her.

“It will do no good. He has eyes, but does not wish to see, and in his blindness he has doomed his people.”

“I have eyes, and I know evil when I see it. You bring evil here. I should have expected no less from unchaste women who play at leadership. You speak of shadows and death, but our village is a place of light and beauty. We guard the river and the Mother guards us. We keep the spirits at peace.We are Saleesh!” Father John spat the words at Dove. “Now leaveus or I will order your boats to be broken and sunk to the bottom of our river for your blasphemy.” Then he turned on his heels and, robes flapping in his wake like a foolish old bird, he strode into the marketplace, calling for the Pack to gather.

“His people are going to die,” Dove said softly.

Dove’s words pressed against Mari’s skin, lifting the small hairs on her arms and the back of her neck. She gazed around at the peaceful, prosperous village filled with women and children, and Mari felt a terrible sinking within her—like she was drowning in the shadow tide that would come. “I have to do something.”

“You just did, Mari,” Jenna said. “Or, you tried to. All four of us tried to.”

“Yeah, Dove warned him—he’s their leader—and not only is he refusing to listen, but he threatened us,” Isabel said.

“I could try to talk to him again,” said Dove.

“Or we could get one of the Saleesh women alone—maybe one of the older women. We could tell her. Maybe she would listen to reason,” Jenna said.

“That’s not going to work. Remember what Antreas said about the Saleesh being patriarchal,” Isabel said.

“But he also said they love and care for their women,” said Jenna.

“Loving and caring for their women is not the same as respecting and valuing their opinions.” Mari sighed. “Look at them.” She pointed to the marketplace. Father John had flapped his way through it, telling the Saleesh women that they were to close trading with the Pack. “There is no discussion. No questioning. Nothing. Father John gave an order and all the women are leaping to respond. They won’t listen to us, and why should they? He’s their leader, not Dove. Not me. No. I won’t risk the Pack. Let’s get out of here, like he said—now.”

The Pack was quickly gathered up with no explanation. Father John disappeared, leaving a somber, younger man called Brother Joseph to lead the Pack through the village and up the narrow, winding trail that ran along the steep bank of the river.

“You must move swiftly, please. Father John wants you to camp onthe far side of the Of the Gods ruins this night. So, come! Come! Follow me.”

His robes weren’t as voluminous as were Father John’s, but Mari thought he, too, looked birdlike as he gestured and pointed.

“Excuse me, Brother Joseph. Antreas, our guide and the Companion to the Lynx, Bast, was going to meet us here in the village,” Danita said.

“The Lynx man knows the way. There is no need to wait for him, and it is not permitted. As I said, Father John insists you leave. Now. Follow me.” The tall young man turned and rushed to the front of the Pack, gesturing for them to follow him.

“Antreas will be fine,” Mari told Danita. “He has been here—several times. Don’t worry. And if for some reason he doesn’t meet us tonight, I promise you little Cammy will lead Davis right to him.”

“You would do that? Send Davis to find Antreas? Even after Father John threatened us?” Danita said.

“We’re a Pack. We don’t leave our people behind.”

Nik and Laru joined them then, with Sora close behind. Nik lowered his voice. “What happened?”

“The short version is Dove had a vision because Father John asked her to, but he didn’t like what she saw. When we tried to talk with him about it, he kicked us out,” Mari said. “Sorry if that messed up your trading.”

“Not mine. I was mostly just looking,” Nik said. “They have an amazing selection of trade goods. I’d just found some excellent-looking charcoal pencils I thought you’d like for sketching, when Father John proclaimed the market closed and that was that. No one spoke except to call the children. They just closed everything up and turned their backs on us.”

“Literally!” Sora said. “Thankfully, I’d already traded for a nice supply of spices and salt.” She lifted a piece of cloth that had been fashioned into a bag that was bulging with spices.