It Dreams in Me Read Free

don’t have it as often as I used to. Only on rainy nights. And even then, over the past quarter moon, it’s lost some of its reality. Now, when the dream comes, I usually know that the pain in my belly is not poison. I can tell myself that it’s the wind I hear, not Flint singing me lullabies. And …”
A deep soul-wrenching ache swelled her chest. “My souls don’t rip apart when that tiny blue boy is born.”
    He reached out and brushed the black hair away from her eyes, then tipped her chin up to force her to look at him. His luminous eyes bulged slightly. “It wasn’t your fault. I’ve told you that before, but you still don’t believe me, do you? That’s why your shadow-soul keeps walking backward in time to relive that event.”
    She fumbled with her tea cup. “I can’t help it. My—my son is growing up inside me. Every night he gets a little older. Every morning I grieve his death.”
    Though she had been faithfully married to Flint for fourteen winters, he’d been afraid she was pregnant with another man’s child. She wasn’t. But he hadn’t believed her. He’d wanted to kill the baby and make certain she could never have another man’s child. The poison he’d given her had worked better than he’d planned. It had killed her ability to have anyone’s child. At least, no man’s seed had planted in her womb since that day.
    Strongheart shifted to sit cross-legged on the edge of her buffalohide. “Do you recall anything from the past few days?”
    “Just images. Things that make no sense.”
    “What things?”
    She closed her eyes and watched them again. “Screaming children running through the forest … houses burning … a—a dead man propped against a tree.”
    His expression slackened, but he said nothing.
    “What is it?” she asked. “Do the images mean something?” Blessed gods, what have I done this time?
    “Do you recall that Eagle Flute Village was attacked?”
    Her hand trembled; she had to set her cup down.
    Several days ago Flint had taken her to Eagle Flute Village hoping that Strongheart could Heal her. She suffered from the
Rainbow Black, an illness that caused people to see rainbows just before they fell down jerking all over.
    “I don’t recall anything,” she answered. “What happened? Who attacked?”
    Strongheart reached out to gently touch her hand. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told you so soon. You just awakened.”
    “I was once the high chieftess of the Black Falcon Nation. I must know what’s happening out there. Who attacked your village?”
    “Flint tells me they were members of his clan, the Water Hickory Clan.”
    She gave him a searching look. “Did your village fight back?” “The Water Hickory warriors attacked at night. Many of our people were in their blankets. Some escaped, but not many.”
    “Your family?
    He bowed his head and for a long time just stared at the wet ground. “Several were killed.”
    Lightning flashed overheard, and Strongheart’s hooked nose cast a curved shadow on his cheek. He was making an effort to keep his voice even, but she heard the pain just beneath the surface.
    She said, “This is my fault. If I’d been in Blackbird Town, I would have found a way to stop it.”
    Blackbird Town was the capital of the Black Falcon Nation. Their leader, High Matron Wink, was her oldest and most cherished friend.
    Strongheart looked up. “You think that the other clans knew about the attack, then?”
    “I don’t know, Strongheart.” She ran a hand through her tangled hair. “I don’t know.”
    “Perhaps it’s best not to assume you could have stopped it,” he said in a kind voice. “At least until we know what really happened.”

    “You once told me that guilt was fear, that it was my way of punishing myself for being afraid. I think I finally understand what you meant.”
    “Do you?”
    “Yes. I’m afraid that my best friend, Wink, needs me desperately … and instead I’m here with you.” Angry tears