She stretched, smiled—then sat bolt upright. “What time is it?”
“Relax. It’s almost eight.”
“We left the lab yesterday at about two, so that means the results ought to arrive in my email at around two this afternoon.”
Yes, it was going to be a long day.
She joined him for his morning prayer, learning to sayMitakuye Oyasininstead ofAmen. Not that he objected to her saying the latter, but she’d asked.
“It means ‘All my relations’ or ‘All my relatives.’ Maybe a better translation would be ‘We are all related.’ It reminds us that we are related to all life on this planet, from the birds to the animals to blades of grass.”
Okay, so his grandfather could probably explain that better than he had, but she seemed to understand.
She showered while he went down to find Winona on her way out the door to work and Old Man sitting with Doug at the table, arguing good-naturedly about tribal politics over scrambled eggs, bacon, and strong coffee. They looked up when he entered. “Good morning.”
He poured himself a cup of coffee. “Did you two sleep well?”
“Can’t complain,” Doug said.
“I got this arthritis in my knees,” Grandfather said. “It keeps me awake.”
This led to a discussion of the travails of growing older, which thankfully came to an end when Naomi appeared. She wore the sundress she’d worn the first day she’d come to stay with them, her dark hair damp.
“Hihanni waste,” she said.
Old Man chuckled, clearly pleased. “We’ll make a real Lakota of you yet.”
Chaska set a plate of food on the table for her, poured her a cup of coffee. “The locals are holding a fundraiser for Naomi tonight at Knockers, the local brew pub.”
“A fundraiser?” Doug asked.
Chaska explained how the attack by the two escaped cons had left Naomi with medical bills, car repair bills, and other problems. “The state of Colorado will cover most of her medical bills out of a victim’s compensation fund, and Frank, the guy who owns the local garage, is donating his time to repair her car, while some of us pay for parts. But there will still be expenses. No one in Scarlet wants to see Naomi pay a dime for what happened to her.”
Old Man nodded. “These are good people in this town.”
Doug had a torn expression on his face, as if he wanted to say something he knew he probably shouldn’t. “I’m happy to hear it. I hope we’re invited.”
Naomi looked up from her smartphone, where she’d been checking her email. “Of course, you can come. I would love to have you there.”
After breakfast, she asked Chaska to help her set up her tools and her PMC stuff, including the little kiln, or silver pot. “I have something I want to make for your grandfather and Doug.”
He thought this was a great idea, in no small part because it would take her mind off the test results. Soon she was busy cutting and sculpting something from sheets of PMC, while Old Man and Doug watched and asked an annoying number of questions.
Chaska decided to get a jump on the weekend by mowing the lawn. By the time he’d finished, Naomi’s work had begun to take recognizable shape.
She held out the pieces in her palm to show him—two small eagle feathers and two small medicine wheels, each with a little hole in it and each featuring tiny details carved into the surface. “Now I fire them.”
Chaska helped her light the silver pot and spotted the third aspen leaf she’d made that night when she’d made Winona’s earrings. He handed it to his grandfather. “Naomi made this.”
“That looks like someone took an aspen leaf and turned it into silver.”
“In a way, that’s what I did.” She explained how she’d made it using PMC paste and a real aspen leaf.
When the pieces were done firing, she asked Chaska to help her remove them from the silver pot. He carried them inside for her and set them on the table, getting her a bowl of water. He’d missed watching her work that night. He’d been in his office trying to avoid her, as if being in another room could stop him from falling in love with her.
Old Man was right. Hewasfoolish.
She took a little brush and scrubbed each piece, the glint of silver emerging. She held out the first finished feather. “See?”