by Sharon Sala
It was obvious by the more elaborate clothing and the pipe that he cradled in his arms, that the short, stocky man with gray hair and crooked feet was their medicine man.
When the New Ones saw the kind of dwellings in the little village, some guessed they were Hiaki, or the Yaqui, as they became known or maybe Apache. They had once been in the same basic region.
They called Luz Reyes up to the front of the march because she spoke those languages and because she was so elated to be walking in this land of her ancestors, she had been crying ever since they came down off the ridge.
Then they reached the village, and when the leader spoke and it was apparent they could understand him, she stepped aside to let the medicine man speak.
“I am Cualli. We are the Hiaki. Does the Dove come with you?”
Cualli watched as the crowd began to part. A young man with long hair and an even longer spear came toward him. And just when he thought the man would speak, he stepped aside and Cualli saw her, a very young, very tall woman wearing clothing made of something other than the skins of animals. She wore moccasins on her feet like they did, but there were no feathers in her hair. He had never seen a woman who stood so high from the ground. And then she spoke and he felt her words on his heart and knew it was the Dove.
“Cualli, I am the woman you seek. I am called Tyhen. Do you know why we are here?”
Cualli’s heart began to pound. He was standing in the presence of a woman with magic.
“I have had the vision,” he said.
She smiled, and when she did, Cualli smiled back.
Tyhen pointed to the people with her.
“We are many, but would ask to clean ourselves in your river and fill our water bags.”
“We would be honored,” Cualli said.
“We will not harm your crops. We will not spoil your village, and we thank you.”
“When you have rested, I would be honored if you and your elders would have food with us. I am sorry we do not have food for all.”
Tyhen shook her head. “We feed ourselves. It is allowed for us to fish in your river?”
“The river belongs to no one. You may fish.”
All of a sudden there was a large commotion behind Cualli, which made Yuma react. One moment he had been standing quietly to one side and the next he was in front of Tyhen, his spear held tightly in one hand to protect her.
Cualli blinked.
“Who is this man?” he asked, pointing at Yuma.
Tyhen smiled. “This is my man. His name is Yuma. He is the eagle who watches over the dove.”
Cualli nodded, and then glanced over his shoulder, frowning as the commotion continued.
All of a sudden a little woman appeared, pushing through the Hiaki to let her pass.
Tyhen took one look at her face and leaped forward, scooped her up into her arms, and began to cry.
“Little Mouse! My Little Mouse! Singing Bird has been grieving for you for so long she became sick. We thought you were dead!”
Yuma saw her and let out a cry of delight, which echoed throughout the crowd behind him.
Little Mouse’s heart swelled. The words were what she needed to hear. They did not forget her. They just got lost from each other.
Cualli stared. “You know this person?”
“Yes, yes,” Tyhen cried as she put her down, then couldn’t turn loose of her hand. “She was the best healer in Naaki Chava. She was Chief Cayatano’s favorite. I have known her all my life.”
Little Mouse lifted her chin, her eyes flashing, as if daring them to doubt her word again.
Chiiwi was at the edge of the crowd watching. His heart was sad. She was someone important and they loved her. Surely she would go with them when they left.
Tyhen turned to the New Ones, and as she spoke, her voice carried all the way to the back of where they were standing.
“Go to the river. Do no harm to the crops, and if you wish to wash your bodies, remember to go downriver. We do not foul the water they drink.”
As the people filed past in a quiet and orderly fashion, they nodded at Little Mouse or smiled to show their joy. But Cualli was shocked on an entirely different basis. He wanted to know how she could make her voice be heard in such a manner, and didn’t hesitate to ask.
“How did you do that with your voice? Is it magic?” he asked.
Tyhen shook her head. “I am the Windwalker’s daughter. The wind carries my voice when it needs to be heard. After we are clean, we will share your food.”
Little Mouse heard that as a dismissal and took Tyhen by the hand. “Come little whirlwind. I will show you and your eagle the way.”
Yuma smiled and winked, which made her giggle. He laughed with her, pretending he did not see her lack of hair and healing wounds.
“It is good to see you again, Little Mouse. Many people have mourned your death. It is good to know it did not happen.”
Little Mouse could barely contain a strut as she swaggered through the crowd. Then she caught a glimpse of Chiiwi’s face and stumbled.
Tyhen caught the look that passed between them and raised her eyebrows at Yuma, who quickly hid a smile.
“Little Mouse, am I not to meet your friend?” she asked.
She ducked her head, smiling shyly as she beckoned for him to join them.
Tyhen eyed the little man curiously, sensing something was different about him, and then the moment their gazes met, she knew.
She smiled, and he smiled back.
“I am Chiiwi, friend of Little Mouse.”
“I am Tyhen and this is Yuma. We are also her friends.”
“I am showing them the way to the river,” Little Mouse said.
Chiiwi pointed at all of the New Ones lining the shores in the act of washing themselves. “It is a very big river. They will see it.”
Little Mouse frowned back at him. “They thought I was dead. I thought they did not want me. We have much to tell.”
Chiiwi’s eyes widened. He had not known her heart had that sadness.
And at that moment, Tyhen’s heart broke. It was as she feared. Little Mouse thought they had not cared when they left her behind. She looked at Yuma as her eyes filled with tears.
He leaned forward, whispering near her ear. “Don’t cry. You know how that hurts my heart.”
Chiiwi patted Little Mouse’s shoulder. It was as much of an apology as he could manage in front of strangers.
Then they reached the river and Chiiwi looked at Little Mouse again. “I am a fisherman. I will catch fish for your friends,” he said and hurried away.
“Is he your man?” Yuma asked.
Little Mouse frowned. “He is nobody’s man. He will not take a woman, but nobody in the village knows why.”
“I know,” Tyhen said. “He is like the twins. He can hear what people think. So if they think bad things of him, he will not want them.”
Little Mouse’s mouth dropped as her eyes widened. Yuma laughed, leaned over, and whispered something in her ear that made her giggle and cover her face.
“Wait for me while I wash,” Tyhen said. “When I am clean, we will talk. Is this a safe place to walk in?” she asked.
Little Mouse nodded, then sat down on a rock by the river and pulled her knees up beneath her chin, too overjoyed to say any more.
Tyhen dropped her pack, dug out the soap Luz Reyes had made for her and then took off her shift and walked into the river.
Yuma was right behind her.
“Hold out your hand,” she said and gave him half of the soap she was holding.
Without another word, they walked out into the river until it was up to their waists, then began to wash, first their hair, then their bodies, then each other’s backs. Then when they were clean, they retrieved their clothing and washed it as well.
As Tyhen was scrubbing her shift, she glanced back at the shore where Little Mouse was sitting and then back at Yuma.
“What did you whisper in Little Mouse’s ear?”
&nb
sp; He grinned. “I asked her if she’d been thinking good thoughts about Chiiwi. Since it made her giggle, I would say that she has.”
Tyhen smiled. “I have to let my mother know we found Little Mouse. It will make her heart very happy.”
“Do you think that Little Mouse will want to come with us?” he asked.
Tyhen shook her head. “She likes Chiiwi. She will stay here, and that is good. Everybody needs to belong to someone like I belong to you.”
He took her face in his hands and kissed her soundly. “If I was not standing in water, I would puff out my chest and strut like the little roosters that used to be in Nantay’s pen in Naaki Chava.”
She giggled. The day was joyful. A lost friend had been found and they had water and good food to eat.
****
Singing Bird was cracking a coconut when she suddenly heard her daughter’s voice.
Mother. I have news.
Singing Bird was already smiling as she laid down the machete and pushed her hair out of her eyes.
“Is it good news?”
Yes. We have reached a river called Rio Yaqui. Yuma says to tell you it is in a place you once called Mexico.
Singing Bird sat down on the steps leading into the long house, picturing where they would be.
“You have walked a very long way already. Is everyone well? Have you had trouble?”
Tyhen wasn’t going to tell her about her battle with the outcasts. Ever.
We are well and had no trouble. But when we reached this river, we found someone who has been lost. Mother, we found Little Mouse!
Singing Bird leaped to her feet and started laughing and crying and then laughing again from the joy that filled her heart.
“I cannot believe this! What happened? How did we lose her? How did she come to be so far away?”
It was as you feared. She got left behind. She stayed in the palace until the day the mountain died. After that she ran away. Many days later she was captured by bad men and brought to this land. She is no longer captured and is happy in this village.
“My heart is so full of joy I can’t stop smiling,” Singing Bird said. “Will she go with you when you leave that place?”
No. There is a man who loves her. She will stay.
“Tell her I am sorry. Tell her I would never have left her behind had I known she was missing. Tell her for me.”
I already did. She cries no more. I have to go. We send our love.
Singing Bird began clapping and dancing and then ran off to find Cayetano. It wasn’t every day that someone came back from the dead.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The New Ones stayed two nights at the Rio Yaqui, washing clothes and catching fish and smoking most of it to take with them, while giving their weary feet a much needed rest.
Little Mouse was so elated to see the New Ones again that she spent most of her time within the camp, trading stories of their narrow escapes with her old friends.
Just before sundown on the first night of their encampment outside the Hiaki village, Little Mouse came looking for Yuma and Tyhen.
“You have not seen my home,” she said.
“Then we will see it,” Yuma said.
“You come now?” she asked.
Tyhen nodded. “We will come now.”
Little Mouse pointed at their packs. “Bring those with you.”
They did as she asked without question because Little Mouse always had a reason for everything she said and did.
When they reached the dugout, she led the way inside. They ducked their heads as they entered, but the room inside was high enough for them to stand upright.
“It belonged to a woman and her man who died and now it is mine,” she said.
Tyhen was fascinated by the creativity of digging below ground to build a dwelling, and even more so by the roof over their heads. The dwelling was small, but it felt safe, like being wrapped in her mother’s arms.
“It is very nice,” Tyhen said.
Little Mouse gave Yuma a sly glance. “For the time that you are here on the Rio Yaqui, we will trade beds. You sleep here with Tyhen. I will sleep in your tent so I can visit more with friends I will soon lose again.”
Yuma grinned, then picked Little Mouse up and swung her in a circle, which made her giggle madly before he put her down.
Tyhen’s eyes widened. The luxury of privacy was something they had long since given up. “That would be a wonderful gift, and we thank you,” she said.
“Good. Then I will go,” she said and picked up a small pack and started up the steps.
“Wait. I will walk you back,” Yuma said. “I need to tell Johnston where we are, just in case.”
“I will wait here,” Tyhen said.
Little Mouse pointed to a covered pot sitting on her table. “For you if you are hungry.”
And with that she was gone with Yuma hurrying after her.
Tyhen turned and looked at the bed, which consisted of a large pile of skins and fur to soften the ground on which they lay. It was far from the comfortable bed she’d had in Cayetano’s palace, but after all they had been enduring and the tiny tent and mats where they laid their heads, this place was more luxurious in her eyes than any palace.
“All for us. On this night there will be little sleeping,” she said and clapped her hands.
****
Yuma ran all the way back to Little Mouse’s dugout. Tyhen’s name was on his lips as hurried inside, closing the door behind him.
Corn husks were floating in the air and beginning to move around the dugout in a circular motion. Leaves from some herb that she’d been drying were rattling where they hung and she was naked and lying on the bed of skins and furs.
He took a deep breath and then shed his clothes as he dropped into the bed beside her.
Tyhen ached deep in her belly for him to take her. She wanted to feel the power of his body and lose her mind. She parted her legs as she reached for his arm.
“Hurry, my Yuma.”
He slid between her knees and then they were one. The corn husks floated down from the ceiling, coming to lie where they fell. The dry herbs no longer rattled, but their scents now filled the air. They made love in a room smelling of something peppery and of sweet sage, and when she came in a gut-wrenching moan, he let go and went with her.
And so it went for the next two nights. Working all day to refit their packs and making love at night among the skins and furs in a room filled with sweet sage.
For the rest of her life, the scent of sweet sage would be the trigger to make Tyhen ache for the joining.
****
On the morning of the third day, they were packed and ready to leave when Cualli and the little Hiaki people came down to the river to see them off.
Little Mouse stood beside Chiiwi. The smile on Chiiwi’s face was broad as Little Mouse waved her good-bye. Now that she knew what held Chiiwi back, she made sure to let her feelings show.
Tyhen waved and waved until her sight was blurred by the tears of a final good-bye. Then she caught Yuma watching her and it was his steady gaze that settled her heart. She shifted her pack to a more comfortable position and fell into step within the column.
Thanks to Cualli and several of the others from the village, the New Ones had several landmarks to add to the map that they’d made. They now knew where they were going, and they would follow this very river for a very long way to get there.
****
Once the New Ones left Rio Yaqui, it triggered what the people all over the nations had been looking for. When the dove came into their land, the birds began to appear.
Villages in all four directions began seeing white doves. They were showing up in the villages of the Chumash in the west, and in the villages of the Shoshone to the north. They were appearing to the Apache, and to the Comanche, to the Caddo, and the Crow.
Far to the north, the Blackfoot saw the white dove flying, and when it landed on the chief’s dwelling for two days straight, they kne
w it was their sign.
The Sioux saw the dove and began to ready for the march.
The Cree and the Abanaki saw them. The Cherokee saw them. The Creek, the Shawnee, and the Crow saw the sign. Every tribe had been given the prophecy and they knew what had to be done.
Just like in the time before Firewalker, when the people had been shown Layla Birdsong’s rescue by a Windwalker and began their mass exodus to Arizona, so now these people were on the move. The sign of the dove had been seen and heeded, triggering what would become the second gathering. This one would be even larger than before, and this time with tribes of people, who in the time of Firewalker, had even ceased to exist. But this time the people were not running away to save their lives. They were going to meet their future.
****
One month later:
The New Ones had followed the river until the river was no more. Then the path they took led them back up into the mountains, and the first day they woke up with a covering of white on the ground, Tyhen finally understood the frozen.
There was less than an inch of the pure white dusting of snow, but it covered everything in sight. The sky had cleared and the bright sun made staring at the landscape painful, and the absence of color and definition was disconcerting to Tyhen and the children who had never seen snow.
Even with the clothing the New Ones had provided and the many hides they had tanned during their time in Naaki Chava to make clothing more fit for the cold, Tyhen couldn’t get warm. She’d been born in the tropics and her blood was too thin, Shirley Nantay said.
The men stayed on the lookout for rabbits and foxes, for the big wolves and the bears. And when the opportunity presented, they took them down with their spears or with bows and arrows, thanking them for their sacrifice to keep the people fed and warm and they kept moving. Eventually, Yuma had enough white rabbit skins for her to make them both warm leggings, and Shirley showed her how to line the moccasins with rabbit fur so their feet would stay warm. And just when Tyhen was getting used to breathing cold air, they came down from the mountains into a less frigid temperature. They had been given a brief introduction of the winter that was to come, but for now they were back in lighter clothing.