Jojo had presented himself as a lone emissary from his father MaNuitu ’sta, on behalf of Emmy, whom he kept hidden with Sarah, encamped deep in the cedar woods to the north of Three Spirits.
When Ksi Amawaal had heard Jojo’s eloquent description of Emmy’s quest, he understood immediately what he had to do to protect the women and wealth that would come from a skillful negotiation with the Northerners.
Alerted by Tsimshian runners who had the ability to move through their woods much faster than canoes traversed up the river, Ksi Amawaal knew the renegades were approaching, dressed as Kwakiutl. He had distaste for headhunters because of the havoc they continued to bring to white victims, and because the Brits and Americans, who could not distinguish one tribe from another, often brought indiscriminate retribution to many tribes, including his own. Ksi Amawaal knew of several misdirected lynchings that had been the consequence of predatory raids on white settlers. The Americans were even less discerning than the Brits, it seemed, so he knew he had to keep his people wary of both white tribes.
And as much as he would have liked to strike the raiders down as they moved in disguise into the Three Spirits, he would need to see the negotiation proceed in order to affect an open trade between the supplicant and sellers.
It was not his way to see blood spilled on Tsimshian rivers because that only dampened profitable exchange and brought bad luck. So Ksi Amawaal waited. And in the hours before the Northerners moved in, he discussed terms with Jojo; negotiated with several other tyees about slaves, tools, and contraband; and prepared his camp for the many feasts that would continue over the next few days.
The whiskey that Marté brought, however, complicated the affair, and by the time Anah arrived, many of the Tsimshian guardians were incapacitated. It would be a very dangerous negotiation.
Chapter Thirty-eight
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Jojo, Anah and Ksi Amawaal
Jojo took a circuitous route back to the encampment where Emmy and Sarah waited with the gold, doubling back several times to look for tracks other than his own.
He found a stranger’s footprints on the second pass and knew that someone was following. So he moved far away from Emmy back into the Three Spirits.
When he found a small stream, he backtracked in his own footsteps to a heavily branched tree. Using a long, sturdy branch, he vaulted over a bramble thicket and hid in the underbrush waiting for the tracker.
He finally showed.
It was Cull, making his way carefully, both knives drawn.
Jojo watched the huge man tracking in the long afternoon shadows of the forest, his head tilted to the ground with his blind eye turned upward.
Jojo held his breath as he watched Cull pass slowly down toward the stream. He knew if he were to have to fight Cull, he would have to move constantly to the man’s left blind side, but he also surmised that Cull had survived as long as he had by being very adept at killing with the two long ugly blades and knew many tricks that had surprised many unfortunate men.
Jojo cocked his second pistol carefully.
After ten minutes, Cull returned from the stream, inspecting the tracks. He stopped near the tree and looked right up the trunk into the dense foliage to where Jojo had considered hiding.
Jojo held his breath.
Finally, Cull turned away from the tree, spit, and sheathed his knives. He departed back toward the main camps.
Cull had likely given up because, in the waning light, his one eye had not seen the mark from the vaulting pole Jojo had used. But it was evident to Jojo that his tracker was experienced, and he would have to be very careful. He knew Cull would have found him had he tracked earlier in the day.
Jojo emerged and carefully followed Cull for a half mile to be certain the man was truly departing. He then swiftly moved back through the woods and found Emmy and Sarah.
He told them about Cull and said he had learned the Northerners had arrived in camp, and had brought several slaves with them, including a young white boy. But he didn’t know if was Jacob.
Seeing Emmy and Sarah’s excitement at the news, he tried to calm them and make them understand the danger they were now in.
“I will need to move you from here now and bring you closer in to Ksi Amawaal.”
“What was his decision?“ Emmy asked, hoping Jojo had been correct about the Tsimshian tyee.
“As I thought, he has agreed to be the negotiator in return for half of the gold. He does not want anything else and does not want any disruption to the potlatch.”
Seeing Emmy’s hopes rising, Jojo continued. “As soon as he has concluded the negotiation, however, Missus Evers, we are on our own and will need to move to the canoes and leave before Marté or the Northerners find us.”
“Do the Northerners know we are here?” Emmy asked. “I don’t know why, but Marté has not told them yet; otherwise, there would have been Haida looking for you with Cull.”
Emmy and Sarah both nodded.
“If I return with Jacob, we will need to move farther upstream and wait for this weather to turn bad again.”
“Why?” Sarah asked.
Jojo saw Emmy’s eyes widen when he mentioned Jacob again, but knew she did not understand his plan either.
“If Marté tells them about us — and he will at some point — then the Northerners will come looking for us. If they know about us before the negotiation, they will spread out through this forest looking for you. If Jacob is there and Marté tells them after the negotiation, and Ksi Amawaal is successful, the Haida will come looking for us to take Jacob back.”
Jojo could see that Emmy understood now.
“They will expect us to try to escape west, down the river to Fort Simpson. When some time has passed, they should give up, and we will leave the canoes and
