Free Grail Quest by D. Sallen

back. “Do you think she knows?”
    “If man and dog are same…she must know.”
    “We need to talk to her again.” Language was still a problem and I didn’t know if she was touchy about her lover. Figuring that women were pretty much the same regardless of tribe, we proceeded cautiously. “Coyote dog is still gone,” I ventured.
    “Yes.”
    “Do you expect him back?”
    She Shrugged. “Yes. Sometime…”
    “You also call your lover Coyote.”
    She frowned and sighed. “Same, same.”
    “Lover Coyote gone long time too. Will he come back?”
    “Yes. All time come back.”
    “Do you know where he is, and when he’ll come back?”
    “Come back when he want to. Now he with other girl. Leahna only one girl. He have many girl.”
    “Hold on! There are other girls around here?”
    “Many places. Other tribes up and down river. Coyote can have all girls.”
    “Huh? What do you mean.”
    “All girl like him. He give great pleasure. Not give baby.”
    “How can he do this? Do not men want to kill him?”
    “Yes. Men mad if they see him. Can’t see him. Can’t kill him. Coyote change shape. Can be man, can be Coyote, can be bird, maybe snake.”
    Moyock and I looked at each other. I blurted, “Zounds! He is a witch! A shape-shifter! That’s why he is frightened by the crucifix!”
    Both of us sat stunned. Recovering first, Moyock said, “Tell us more about Coyote. How he do these things?”
    “He magic person. Do many things. Play jokes, do silly things, sometimes he fooled by girls, find game, teach people to plant corn, pleasure girls, sometimes make it rain.”
    “Is he a god?”
    Leahna thought about this question. “He like God. Cannot be killed. No one worship him. Sometime he foolish.”
    “Does he ever cause harm? Hurt anyone? Since we are different could he harm us?”
    “Not harm people. Some time make mistake, cause hurt. Not on purpose.”
    “He’s certainly a different kind of witch, if he is one,” I said to Moyock. “Now that we know what he is like, I’m going to be very uneasy when he is around.”
    “Yes. Always first time for trouble. Who knows with witch?”
    “Getting to know her the last few days, I’ve ignored our greater problem. What do we do now? Do we go back to Jamestown? Do we stay here, or do we push on to find the Mandan?   We lost our canoes,” I said. “If we want to go west, to find the Holy Grail, we have to get them back…or ones like them.”
    “Leahna. The people you see in canoes. Are there villages near here?”
    “Some people near. I not go there. They kill my people. Maybe they kill me. Maybe they think I witch. Not true.”
    “A day and a half back we stayed one night at a large village of Cinsy Tribe. We didn’t see any others on the way down here. Are the other villages down river?”
    “Not far is falls. Coyote say many people live by falls.”
    “Too bad we’re not on speaking terms with Coyote. We could learn a lot from him.”
    Leahna said. “When he come back I ask him to talk to you.”
    “Can he change back to man anytime he likes?”
    “I think so. He change back when he want to pleasure me again. Maybe only Coyote-Man at night. Maybe only Coyote-Dog when sun up.”
    “I was struck from behind during the day. Dog could not do. Must have been Coyote-Man. Did you not see him then?”
    “No. Not see him hit you.” She blushed and hesitated. “He not hit you. You not see me in woods. You might be bad for me. I hit you.”
    Thanks for the headache, I thought. “That’s a relief. I didn’t want to think a dog could do it. Can you get Coyote to talk to us…before…or after…he wants you?”
    “I hold charm. He must wait. Do what I want. Charm scare him. I not know why. After pleasures me he not stay around to talk.”
    To Moyock, “I want to find the Holy Grail, so we need to hunt for the Mandan. But we’ve got no canoes. Without them, we couldn’t carry our trade goods and supplies. Before we make any definite plans we