He paused for a moment. Inahooli opened her mouth. He held up his hand, flat with the palm forward. The gesture meant “stop” or “wait.” It was identical with the human gesture.

“Sometimes the go-between can find no good reason for the argument. Then she looks further. Is there a malicious neighbor who has been telling lies or carrying stories? Have the women in the argument done anything that is unlucky or likely to cause anger either in the land of the spirits or in the rest of the village?

The go-between keeps looking until she finds a good reason for the argument. Now—” He touched his chest, then straightened his arm, moving it out to the side. I didn’t recognize the gesture. It had a formal look, like the gestures used by professional speakers. Maybe it was a gesture reserved for special occasions: feasts and religious ceremonies. “I have been thinking about the reason for this argument. Everything you people have said is stupid. And we have no neighbors here to carry stories and tell lies. Therefore, the cause of this argument is magical.”

Inahooli frowned. “You are talking too much. I am getting confused. Everything was simple and clear before you people arrived.”

The oracle looked at Derek. “I thought maybe this is happening because of the bracelet. But I gave it back, and I performed a ceremony of propitiation.”

I grabbed Derek’s arm and pulled on his shirtsleeve. He jerked away from me. Too late. The cuff was open, and the thing on his wrist was visible. It was the bracelet, of course. Sunlight hit it. The metal glittered.

“He watched you last night,” I told the oracle. “He saw where you threw the bracelet. This morning he went swimming. Derek never gives up. That’s why he has tenure.”

“What?” the oracle asked.

“It’s difficult to explain.”

Derek took off the bracelet. “Okay. You win, Lixia.” He tossed the bracelet to the oracle. “Get rid of it. Lixia can watch me to make sure I don’t watch you.”

“What is this about?” Inahooli asked.

The Voice of the Waterfall answered. “This one”—he waved to Derek—“took the bracelet, and he had no right to. It was a gift to a spirit or demon, whoever inhabits the lake of boiling mud that is to the east of here.”

“It belongs to the Trickster.” The woman stared at Derek. “You are very unlucky. He does not forget. And it is very hard to get away from him.”

“You see?” said the oracle. “There is always a good reason for everything. This”—he held up the bracelet—“is the reason for our argument.”

“Do you believe this?” Derek asked the woman.

She frowned. “No. The Trickster is angry with you. But I am the one who is having the bad luck. That doesn’t seem right.” She closed her eyes and pressed her lips together. We all waited. After a minute she opened her eyes. “The Groundbird Clan!”

“What?” said Derek.

“Their ceremony follows ours, and we always overshadow them. Our tower is always taller and better-looking. Our dancers and storytellers have more skill. I know they are envious, and the new shamaness was born in their clan—though now, of course, she belongs to the Clan of the First Magician. But a woman does not forget what she learned as a child in the tent of her mother. Yes!” She made the gesture of affirmation. “She has performed some kind of magic rite and made this happen.” She looked at the oracle. “You were right about the malicious neighbors. I should have thought of this before. There is nothing wrong with the tower. She drove me crazy with magic and made me think the tower is ruined.”

“What about the bracelet?” the oracle said.

“That will certainly cause bad luck, but not to me. No, this is due to the Groundbird Clan.” She fell quiet, obviously brooding.

“You said, the groundbird stole fire from the sky.”

She looked at me, then made the gesture of agreement.

“Did you see the moon last night? It is on fire. Could that have anything to do with what is happening here? Could it be an omen? A sign of magic?”

“No.” She paused. “Yes. Maybe. I have never been good with omens. Someone else has to explain them. I never understand what they mean. I have to get back to the tower. If the shamaness is trying to drive me crazy, then I must try to be ordinary. I have to go back to my usual behavior. I have to do what I’m supposed to do.” She reached down and pulled at the fabric that held her feet. “Help me! I can’t stay here. Who knows what is happening to the tower?”

The oracle cut her free. She pushed herself up on her knees, then tried to get up on one foot. She couldn’t. “My ankles don’t work.”

“To hell with it,” said Derek. He grabbed the woman under the arms and pulled her up. “Hold on to me.” He lifted her out of the canoe. “Can you stand?”

“No.”

He kept one arm around her. “Lean on me. Try to walk.”

She stumbled forward.

“Okay. Keep going.”

They walked back and forth. I watched and tried to figure out what had happened. What had we been talking about? What had been resolved?

After a while she was able to walk on her own. She made the gesture that indicated completion and then the gesture that meant gratitude. “I will go now. The tower must be guarded. And if you are willing to take my advice, get rid of the bracelet. Give it back to the Trickster, or else he will cause you a lot of trouble.” She pushed one of the canoes out into the water, jumped in, and began to paddle. In a minute or two she was gone, out of sight among the reeds.

“I am going to hide the bracelet,” the oracle said. “Lixia, you watch that man. He cannot be trusted.” The oracle walked away.

I looked at Derek.

He grinned and shrugged. “I seem to be getting a bad reputation.”

“Uh-huh. And you deserve it. I’ve always heard that you were first-rate in the field. Well, if this is a sample…”

He began to frown, drawing down his thick blond eyebrows.

“You interfered with a ceremony. You stole something that’s magical or—at least—owned by a magical being. Are you out of your mind? How could you risk your relationship with the oracle? He’s an excellent informant. Do you think people like that grow on trees?”

“He never would have known except for you. You decided it was time for a big revelation.”

I thought for a moment. “That’s true enough.”

“I ought to be angry with you, Lixia. I’ve lost a valuable artifact, and I’m going to have to spend a lot of time convincing the oracle that I am not—most of the time—a thief. Well—” He made the gesture that meant “so be it.” “I’ll talk him around. And I don’t believe in holding a grudge. So what do you say we forget this?”

I laughed. The man was superb. After everything he’d done, he was willing to forgive me. “Okay. Do you want to shake on it?” I held out my hand. We shook.

“I’m getting hungry,” Derek said. “What do you say we check the fish traps?”

I made the gesture of agreement. We waded out. The traps were empty, though something had paid a visit to them. The bait was gone.

“Dammit,” I said.

We waded back to shore, bringing the traps with us.

The oracle came down the beach. His hands were empty. He had gotten rid of the bracelet. “No fish?”

“Not a thing.”

“Aiya!” He paused and scratched his nose. “We should have asked the crazy woman if she had anything to spare. Well, I have seen plants that are edible. We will gather them.”

Derek shook his head, then made the gesture that meant “no.” “You two go. It’s time I began to think about hunting. I’ll look for wood. Maybe I can make a new bow or a spear.”

I went with the oracle. We dug roots and gathered berries. He told me stories about the various kinds of vegetation: how the bloodroot got its color and why the sunleaf turned always toward the sun and why no man would eat any part of the hubaiavine, though women relished it.

Late in the afternoon we went back to camp. Derek was there. He had a long piece of wood. “A spear,” he said.