touch my skin and my hair; I let them caress the necklace, until at last I thought I must show I was satisfied with their thanks, and took a step away so that I was raised a little on the slope above the river.
The Indians accepted that this marked the end of whatever ceremony we had just undertaken, and promptly returned to the work we had interrupted. They untied the rope from the body of the alligator, then used one part of it to truss up the jaws and another part to make a kind of cradle to support the body. Once this was done they watched us lead our ponies to the water and there enjoy the drink they had wanted for so long, then divided into two groups, picked up their trophy, and set off along the river-bank. Every few paces one or other of them turned round to make sure we were following—which of course we were, leading our ponies behind us, and believing these men were the friends we had imagined, the guides who would lead us to others of our own kind, who in time would show us the way home. They made a very pretty picture with the sun dappling on their naked shoulders, and glinting in the moss that hung around us on every side.
CHAPTER 13
In the Village
It was now more than twelve hours since we had escaped from our prison, maybe fifteen, and because we had spent all that time in the wilderness, with every minute stretched by thirst and hunger and anxiety and astonishment, I had not been able to calculate how far we had traveled. Now, as we followed along the river path, I had a moment to think more clearly. Forty miles, I decided; forty miles at the most.
While this helped me understand how our friends had heard of Black Cloud, it also told me that he would find us very easily if he wanted. For this reason I often looked over my shoulder as we led our ponies forward, but saw only leaf-shadows closing behind us, and the beards of moss swaying gently where we had brushed against them.
Our friends had no such fears but chatted eagerly to one another, often turning round to marvel at us, and sometimes calling out in cheerful voices. As their talk continued I noticed here and there a resemblance to French and Spanish, both of them languages I had previously heard among the sailors on the Thames. This confirmed my idea that others like us must have passed this way, not as maroons but as travelers who had plunged into the emptiness to find trade, or missionaries determined to make conversions.
For all that, we saw no trace whatsoever of other men or families on our march—let alone of Europeans. Nothing, that is, until we came to the end of the wood and I smelled a sweet scent I knew was woodsmoke, and glimpsed patches of red and green and white between the branches ahead. As we stepped into the open I saw these were animal skins that had been dyed and stitched together to make tepees: ten, twelve, twenty of them.
We had reached a part of the country where the river, swirling heavily as it worked through a tight bend, had repeatedly collapsed the bank and so produced a miniature plain about an acre in extent, very convenient for a settlement. Water nearby for washing and drinking; the wood for protection and fuel; and on the two remaining sides, the wilderness. In the soft light of afternoon even these two wide prospects seemed peaceful, with the air beginning to cool, and purple clouds swelling along the horizon.
I did not have long to think of such things, because everyone in the village rushed forward as soon as they saw us, with no shyness and no suspicion—the women in dresses made of animal skin, with blankets pulled around their shoulders; the children wearing little skirts regardless of their sex; the men in tunics. In every case their hair was cut short, which meant they were not able to prettify themselves much; a few of the women had feathers dangling from their ears, and their foreheads were decorated with the same single charcoal lines as the men. This was all I could see in the way of ornament; it
The Indians accepted that this marked the end of whatever ceremony we had just undertaken, and promptly returned to the work we had interrupted. They untied the rope from the body of the alligator, then used one part of it to truss up the jaws and another part to make a kind of cradle to support the body. Once this was done they watched us lead our ponies to the water and there enjoy the drink they had wanted for so long, then divided into two groups, picked up their trophy, and set off along the river-bank. Every few paces one or other of them turned round to make sure we were following—which of course we were, leading our ponies behind us, and believing these men were the friends we had imagined, the guides who would lead us to others of our own kind, who in time would show us the way home. They made a very pretty picture with the sun dappling on their naked shoulders, and glinting in the moss that hung around us on every side.
CHAPTER 13
In the Village
It was now more than twelve hours since we had escaped from our prison, maybe fifteen, and because we had spent all that time in the wilderness, with every minute stretched by thirst and hunger and anxiety and astonishment, I had not been able to calculate how far we had traveled. Now, as we followed along the river path, I had a moment to think more clearly. Forty miles, I decided; forty miles at the most.
While this helped me understand how our friends had heard of Black Cloud, it also told me that he would find us very easily if he wanted. For this reason I often looked over my shoulder as we led our ponies forward, but saw only leaf-shadows closing behind us, and the beards of moss swaying gently where we had brushed against them.
Our friends had no such fears but chatted eagerly to one another, often turning round to marvel at us, and sometimes calling out in cheerful voices. As their talk continued I noticed here and there a resemblance to French and Spanish, both of them languages I had previously heard among the sailors on the Thames. This confirmed my idea that others like us must have passed this way, not as maroons but as travelers who had plunged into the emptiness to find trade, or missionaries determined to make conversions.
For all that, we saw no trace whatsoever of other men or families on our march—let alone of Europeans. Nothing, that is, until we came to the end of the wood and I smelled a sweet scent I knew was woodsmoke, and glimpsed patches of red and green and white between the branches ahead. As we stepped into the open I saw these were animal skins that had been dyed and stitched together to make tepees: ten, twelve, twenty of them.
We had reached a part of the country where the river, swirling heavily as it worked through a tight bend, had repeatedly collapsed the bank and so produced a miniature plain about an acre in extent, very convenient for a settlement. Water nearby for washing and drinking; the wood for protection and fuel; and on the two remaining sides, the wilderness. In the soft light of afternoon even these two wide prospects seemed peaceful, with the air beginning to cool, and purple clouds swelling along the horizon.
I did not have long to think of such things, because everyone in the village rushed forward as soon as they saw us, with no shyness and no suspicion—the women in dresses made of animal skin, with blankets pulled around their shoulders; the children wearing little skirts regardless of their sex; the men in tunics. In every case their hair was cut short, which meant they were not able to prettify themselves much; a few of the women had feathers dangling from their ears, and their foreheads were decorated with the same single charcoal lines as the men. This was all I could see in the way of ornament; it
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