‘I don’t understand why he’d have wanted to dress up like that, though,’ Spotted Eagle said. ‘Wouldn’t all that gear have slowed him down?’
I had wondered that myself, and when the answer had come to me I was not sure whether I found it encouraging or more frightening than ever; for no animal is more dangerous than one driven mad by fear.
‘He’s afraid. His nerve went, after what happened to him in Tetzcoco. Now he needs the uniform, because it’s only when he’s wearing it that he can feel like a warrior – brave, invincible, knowing everyone he sees will be more frightened of him than he is of them. Quail’ – I looked gravely at the fisherman – ‘if he’d been wearing it when your daughter started taking pot shots at him with her throwing stick, he’d have stood his ground, and we’d all be dead by now.’
‘I know it,’ Quail said. ‘Though if you’d told us this at the time, we might have picked that costume of his up and brought it back with us!’
Goose spoke then, although her voice was so thin and shaky with fatigue that I had difficulty recognising it. ‘Was it Red Macaw we saw, following Star’s funeral procession?’
‘I think it must have been,’ I said. ‘Though what he thought he was doing, I don’t know. “I wanted to see her” - that’s what he said just before he died. Maybe that was it. He just wanted to say goodbye.’ I could not resist looking at Handy then.
The commoner returned my glance steadily. ‘They’re together now,’ he said quietly.
‘We’ll go and get her in the morning,’ Quail assured him.
‘Why was Red Macaw out in the marshes anyway, when he was supposed to be trying to join the army?’ Lily asked. ‘Was he following the captain?’
‘He may have been. But the otomi said he sneaked up on him.’ I recalled how he had been when he had said this. ‘It’s odd. He went berserk when he found Red Macaw was dead – as though something dreadful was going to happen as a result. He clearly didn’t intend to kill him. Then he wanted me to bury him as fast as possible, as though he wanted to hide what he’d done from someone – the sorcerer, I think, though I can’t see why. Covering up what he’d done was even more important to him than killing me!’
‘But why was Red Macaw there at all?’
‘I don’t know.’
Lily persisted with another question: ‘You told us he said “Stop”. What did he want to stop?’
‘I’ve no idea, except I thought it had something to do with what he said before – about wanting to see “her”. But he was almost dead. He probably didn’t know what he was saying.’
‘What about... What about the things that are missing?’ Spotted Eagle demanded sharply. ‘My mother’s arm? Her hair?’
‘The captain will have the hair,’ I said. ‘It’s what he wanted all along – a charm to make him invincible. He needs that, and the uniform, and then on top of all that he has to have a sorcerer with him, a dancer with a dead woman’s forearm – I’m sorry, with Star’s forearm – to lull us all to sleep before he attacks. And all to conquer his fear, so that he can kill me.’ I shivered. ‘It’s all fear, do you understand?’ I could hear the tremor in my voice, reflecting my own terror. ‘He’s become afraid of everything. He’s terrified of his ally, the sorcerer, whoever he is. I could tell that while we were out there in the marshes, burying Red Macaw. All that fear – and he’s got it into his head that the one thing that will overcome it, that will prove to himself and everyone else and the gods that he’s still the mighty warrior, is to kill me!’
‘Well, he won’t do it tonight,’ Quail said stoutly. ‘The courtyard’s full of men and so’s the street outside. There are even a couple on the roof. And we aren’t about to be lulled to sleep, sorcerer or no sorcerer!’
They left Lily and me alone by the hearth. Handy and what was left of his family, along with their many guests, moved away, one by one, curling up to sleep in the corners, or creeping out into the courtyard to join the guards there or look for a space in one of the other rooms.
‘Will they try again tonight?’ the woman asked.
I lay on my back, watching the reflected light of the dying flames dancing on the roof overhead. ‘The captain and the sorcerer? I don’t know. At least the place is well guarded.’
‘But if it isn’t tonight...’
‘I know.’ I paused, listening to the sound of our breathing, the faint crackling of the fire, and a soft footstep from outside the room. ‘If they don’t come tonight, it’ll be tomorrow, or the day after. Unless we can find some way to stop them first.’
‘Would we get Star’s hair and forearm back then?’ she asked.
The question surprised me: it was hard to think of much beyond preserving our lives. Yet she reminded me of that other female being, Star’s ghost, and the promise I had felt compelled to make to her, for fear of the vengeance that might follow if I did not. ‘I hope so,’ I said. ‘I just wish I knew where to look. The captain must have abandoned Handy’s plot by now – he’ll be expecting the place to be swarming with men tomorrow, all out for his blood on account of
