Bear's Heart (New Legends of the Southwest Book 2) Read online

  After the first day Jack brought some of the healthy ones from the village to where I sat and their voices joined with mine. They did not know Tomás, but it could not hurt that others, even strangers, sought to give honor to the dead.

  And we sang and sang and finally it was over.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The absence of the wind echoed in my ears as I woke. Jack sat propped against an adobe wall, sound asleep in a beam of light from a high window that flooded a corner of the room.

  I got out of the blankets and passed him silently. I was sure he had slept as little as I had during the sing. I passed from the adobe-walled room into the adjoining one. Ash and Maggie talked in hushed voices, but stopped when they saw me.

  Maggie pushed herself to her feet and came to where I leaned just inside the door. “Jack told me a little of what you did. Thank you.”

  I embraced her, but felt hollow, strange inside. “I wish I had seen the truth sooner. I do not know if the wind killed any, but because I was slow in my understanding, more fell ill than would have.”

  Ash spoke. “Like me?” He shook his head. “Bear Girl, you did what you could. No one could have known what happened, so long ago, so far from here.”

  I looked at him, but could only see Tomás and Isabel as they had been at the end, huddled in the dying light, the smoke wrapping around them.

  “Hey.”

  I blinked and again saw Maggie in front of me.

  “You should go rest more.”

  “No, I need to check on my patients and see how people fare.”

  She smiled. “You taught your assistants well. We’ve already checked on all the villagers who fell ill to the wind. Even the worst are now sleeping peacefully and many are already awake.”

  “My mother is up, making soup, already asking when we are going to get on with the spring planting,” Ash added with a grin.

  “Then I should go back to my parents’ home. They will be worried.”

  “A message has already been sent to them and they have sent messages of their own. They know you are here and are well. Really,” Maggie’s brows drew together as she searched my face, “there is nothing you must do right now.”

  “Except rest more.” Jack spoke from behind me and put his arm around my waist to guide me back to the pallet.

  I protested, there were things that must be done, I had to...

  He refused to listen. “Your only responsibility right now is to rest. Later we’ll talk.” His eyes lowered. “We’ll all talk. And I’ll need you then.”

  ~ * * * ~

  I woke again and watched the last of the light scattered across the floor. I did not see Jack this time, but heard low whispers from next door.

  ~ * * * ~

  When I woke the third time, sunlight again streamed through the window. A large covered basket sat next to where Jack lay watching me. I reached towards it but he grabbed my wrist.

  “But, what is inside?”

  He opened the lid, just a crack, for me to peer in.

  ~ * * * ~

  Later, all four of us sat outside underneath the spreading arms of the ancient shade tree in the middle of Ash’s village, just now putting forth pale green buds.

  Throughout the day the village had come back to life as the last sleepers woke. Ash’s mother had held me as she told me of the death of two of the oldest ones. Even knowing there was nothing I could have done, their loss cut me.

  We had spent the rest of the long morning telling our stories. At the end, Maggie spoke. “I still don’t understand how his call for help could have gotten so twisted. How could something there affect people here?”

  Jack answered first. “I’ve been thinking about that a lot. I think Tomás’ call for help should have come here back then, to where Spider Old Woman and Coyote are. But the collapse of the church in the fire sealed it in somehow. And the magic circled around and around, like a dust devil.”

  “Until they opened the graves,” Ash whispered. “And then it swept over our land as the crying wind.”

  Maggie pulled her backpack to her. “Come on, Jack. It’s time for us to get home. Let’s see what we can tell Mom and Dad this time.”

  She stood and brushed off her pants, but he only put a hand out to stop her. “Wait. We need to talk.”

  She looked confused. “We can talk on the way home, right?”

  “No, Maggie. We need to talk here, now, with our friends.”

  She sat back down, a pout on her lips. “All right. I know we need to figure out how we’re going to work things. I know I can’t keep abandoning you when I go to school. And I’m sorry that I didn’t think about it before.”

  Jack took one deep breath, another. “Maggie. I can’t go home with you.”

  “What?”

  “Please, let me say it all at once. This is hard, so hard, but I can’t. So, let me say it one time and be done.”

  She stared at him in disbelief, shocked into silence.

  “Maggie, how old am I?”

  “Um, you’re three, maybe four?”

  “Do I look that young to you?”

  “No, of course not. Dogs age differently . . .” She faded off.

  He looked away from her pain. “I can’t stay with you. I don’t know if things will be different here, but I know that in the year since Shriveled Corn Man changed me, I’ve gone from being younger than you to older. How old will I be next year? How long until I’m older than Mom and Dad? I’ve got to stay here, where someone might have an answer.”

  Tears welled in Maggie’s eyes and I placed my hand on Jack’s arm. “Enough.” I whispered. “She understands.”

  “I can still come visit if you want. You’re still my sister, my best friend.” A faint smile crossed his face. “I didn’t mind waiting for you. I would have done it forever. But here I can do things. I don’t know for how long, but I can have a life where everyone knows what I am, what I can do.”

  She stayed silent.

  “Maggie? Can I still come visit?”

  She flung herself forward, breathing in loud racking sobs.

  “Maggie?” Jack’s face filled with panic. Ash stroked her back, waited for the tears to subside. “Maggie, please stop? I have something for you.”

  She sat up, sniffing. “First,” she said. “I want you to know I’m not mad at you. Just angry that it has to be this way, that you’re right. But not mad with you. And yes, come visit. You better visit lots, or I’ll never forgive you.”

  He touched her hand lightly. “Good. It’ll be nice to see Mom and Dad too. It was neat to see where he works. I thought for a minute he guessed about me, at the very end. Anyhow.” Jack pulled the large basket out from behind the tree. “You do not have to accept this. You may not be ready. If so, I will keep it, so please don’t feel there’s an obligation.”

  Maggie shook her head. “Whatever it is, I’m sure I’ll love it. You’re as bad as Dad when he’s agonizing over birthday presents.”

  She reached for the basket, then pulled her hands back sharply.

  “Jack, did it just move? What is it?”

  He cracked open the woven lid, peeked inside, and then handed her a black-and-white kitten, with a long plume of a tail.

  “I went back for him. After everything, it seemed right that Nicco, or Nicco’s grandson, stay with one of us. I could not leave him alone in those trees. I think perhaps that line of cats stayed there because they sensed the spirit of Isabel. But with her gone from that place . . .” he shrugged.

  Maggie took the fuzzy bundle from him and bent over it, crying anew.

  “It is not much, but something small to fill the hole in your heart.”

  ~ * * * ~

  The kitten mewed and washed the tears from Maggie’s cheeks until they stopped, then curled into a ball of fluff. Ash reached over to stroke its sleeping body. “He is very soft.” An evil twinkle lit his eyes. “I would think he would make a great pair of slippers. Or even mittens. If there was enough to go around.”<
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  Maggie swatted him gently, so as not to disturb the kitten. “Don’t even think about it!” Her weak smile relieved us all. At the sight of it Jack’s shoulders slumped with relief. Along with her parents, Maggie was the most important person in his life. To change that relationship took more courage than I had, for I had not yet discovered a way to change the relationship with my own parents.

  Tired again, I lay back on the ground and watched the wisps of clouds across the deep-blue sky as they skidded along, caught by a wind so far above us that all we felt was the faintest breeze.

  “So, what now?” asked Ash.

  “Now?” I echoed. “Now, I need to go home. After that?” I shrugged, although from where I lay it was unlikely anyone could see me. “Who knows.”

  “Bear Girl?” Jack’s voice was soft.

  “Hmm?” I could feel myself lulled back to sleep by the warmth of the sun.

  “Would you mind if I traveled back with you? I haven’t seen much of the land and would like to get to know more people, more of how things work here, before I settle down somewhere.”

  Ash spoke up, “You know you always have a home in the village.”

  Then he grunted, as if someone had kicked him. I drifted further into sleep, but made myself mumble an answer. “Of course. Come visit my parents; they will have ideas on what you can do. They always have ideas for what is best for me.”

  I fell into the blackness, but heard Jack chuckle. “Not so different from home, then.”

  That night Maggie left, after making one further promise.

  “She is not a bad person.” I begged. “She is only a little difficult some days. Or most days. But Spider Old Woman wants to know how you are doing. If she did not, she never would have asked me.”

  “She could just show up in my dreams again.” Maggie grumbled.

  “She could, but she has not. I would take that to indicate she would like to see you in the flesh. You know there is a difference.”

  She nodded and I decided not to push my advantage too far. I hugged her and reached into the basket for a final pat of the kitten. Maggie had decided to name him Nicco the Twenty-Eighth, for we had no idea how many generations might separate him from his namesake.

  The golden eyes blinked lazily, then he retreated back to the shadows of his basket.

  “Mom and Dad aren’t allergic, are they?” Jack worried.

  “No, why?”

  “Remember when we were little and our neighbor’s cat had kittens? You wanted one and Mom wouldn’t let you.”

  Maggie laughed. “Silly, that was because they thought you would eat it.”

  He flushed. “I wouldn’t have . . . well, maybe.”

  Ash took the basket from her and started down the path. “Come on. If you have to leave, let’s go. Otherwise you’ll stay here talking half the night.”

  “I will not!”

  We could hear them bickering long after they walked out of sight.

  “It’s funny.”

  “Hmmm?” I turned to look at Jack.

  “Sometimes I think they like each other. And then sometimes they act like that.”

  I laughed. “I think the times they act like that prove they do like each other.”

  He shook his head. “Weird.”

  ~ * * * ~

  We did not leave the village until mid-morning the next day. Ash had returned and the three of us talked long into the night, far longer than we should have. But it was nice to have time to talk, to laugh, without the pressure of solving any mystery.

  I gathered my bear coat from Ash’s mother’s arms. She had kept it safe for me through everything. “Thank you.” I buried my face in the fur, again grateful beyond measure to be back near my own skin.

  Ash’s mother packed a basket for us to take back. “Now, none of your arguments, young woman. Your parents have sent us much help over the years, and I am sure that after the ordeal of the last few weeks they are exhausted. This should help restock their larder, give them a bit more of a break. Besides,” she continued, “some of those bundles are for Spider Old Woman. I’ve put her mark on them so you can be sure.”

  She must have seen something in my face. “You are going to see her straightaway, aren’t you?”

  I had not thought of it, no. I had only thought to go home, to see my parents, have my life return safe and normal. “In a few days, perhaps . . .” my voice trailed off, as I could see from her expression that I had given the wrong response.

  “Or, I could go right away. But the house of my parents is on the way.”

  “Well, of course, girl. Go see your parents, but if you can, continue on to see Grandmother. Though she already must know the results of your task,” and she waved her hands through the still air, an odd reminder of the absence of the wind. “You know perfectly well she wants all the details and does not like to be kept waiting.”

  Like Maggie, I was surprised that Spider Old Woman had not visited my dreams to gather the information herself. Much faster that way, but I was grateful for her absence. I had enough of strange dreams and visions for a while.

  Chapter Fifteen

  I was tempted to stretch out the trip back to my parents’ home. From a distance the land appears to be covered in a veil of light green mist, but upon closer inspection the scrub is only putting forth the barest leaf buds, the sparse grasses just coming into their growth. Birds filled the sky and their loud voices at dawn and dusk made conversation impossible. Walking in silence with Jack soothed me and to watch him watch the land made me smile.

  He had insisted on carrying the basket for me, even though in bear shape I could carry its weight without thinking twice. But he asked that we stay in our human shapes while we traveled. It would be easier to point out features of the landscape if I had hands and fingers.

  “You know, once we change, I’ll be bigger than you.”

  He shrugged. “Yup.” Then he grinned. “But I don’t have to wear a fur coat around everywhere. Aren’t you roasting in that thing?”

  I shook my head. “How can I be hot in my own skin? That is just weird.”

  “ ‘Weird,’ she says.”

  And I hit him on the arm, much as I had just seen Maggie do to Ash.

  ~ * * * ~

  My parents waited for us outside the cliff door.

  I ran to their arms and Jack held back, giving us a moment. After a little crying and my father’s embrace that was almost enough to crack my ribs in this form, I stood back.

  “How did you know we were coming?” I looked from one to the other, their smiling faces, relaxed and happy, so different from how I had last seen them.

  My mother laughed, that fluttering trill I had feared to never hear again. “Spider Old Woman came to me. She told us you would be here today, at the hour when the sun touched the top of that tree.”

  She pointed and I turned to see the edge of the disk of the sun just resting on the top of a pine tree that stood by itself, a short distance apart from all the others. “And here you are!”

  My father walked to where Jack clutched the basket to his chest. “Thank you.”

  Jack blinked, looked startled. “Sir?”

  “I thank you for your care of our daughter. We have been told that you did much for her safety. Gave up much for her.”

  Jack looked at the ground, stammered a bit. I crossed over to them quickly, hoping to rescue him.

  “Father, Ash’s mother has sent you many things. Shall we bring them inside? Some are for Spider Old Woman.” I paused, drew breath, spoke quickly. “She asked that I bring them to her as soon as possible, I was thinking we could leave——”

  My mother interrupted. “Leave? I do not think so, cub.”

  “But,” I stood, shocked. After all I had been through, seen, done, was I still to be treated like a cub?

  My mother must have seen what I was thinking, for the smile she had fought to control burst forth. “Silly girl. You do not think that your father and I would keep you to ourselves now,
do you?”

  My mind reeled. I was not sure what to think.

  “You do not need to travel to see Spider Old Woman. She is here.”

  She gestured towards the opening of the cave.

  “Here?” I echoed. “In our home? I thought you meant she told you we were coming in a dream.”

  My mother laughed at my surprise. “Well, daughter, what are you waiting for?” Father scooped the basket from Jack’s grasp and held it lightly under one arm. His other hand rested gently on Jack’s shoulder, as if to try to reassure him. I found myself disturbed by Spider Old Woman at the best of times.

  I was wrong about Jack, though. Quick as thought he slipped out from under my father’s hand and went to her arms.

  “Grandmother! It is so good to see you.”

  He had spent time with her while waiting for Maggie once. He must have had a good memory of that time for him to be so comfortable with her now.

  I expected her usual sharp rebuffs to be directed at Jack’s exuberance, but she smiled and held him close to her.

  “It is good to see you as well, boy. I am pleased you have decided to stay with us. I am proud of you.”

  He beamed down at her and I realized how small she stood, leaning against his height.

  He stepped back, expecting me to hug her as well. I had never dreamed of taking such a liberty, but would not back down in front of him. She gave a brief nod and I gently embraced her thin shoulders.

  I handed her the charm she had given me so long ago. “Thank you, Grandmother. Your words started me on the right path to solve the problem. You were right. The cry was of loss and heartbreak, but never meant evil.”

  “All right. Enough time for stories once we’re all inside,” my father boomed.

  And we did not talk of anything more serious than the fish Spider Old Woman had seen in the river, or the crows that flocked north of our home, or what the year’s harvest might bring, until after dinner and after the packages and bundles Ash’s mother sent had been sorted and the ones for our family put neatly away.