Livvy sat down on the mat and Jack squatted down with her.
“Has she mentioned anything unusual lately? Like maybe an unhappy client or a bad visit?”
“Nothing,” he said quickly.
He was lying. She could tell. Besides, she had never heard of a shaman needing rescue from the multiverse.
“Really,” she said, fixing him with another glare.
He looked away.
“I think maybe she was trying something new,” he offered.
“Something…new,” she said. “That’s it?”
“Honestly, Livvy, I don’t know. She didn’t really share much about her work.”
He looked back at Indra’s quiet face then back at Livvy.
“Honestly, if I knew something that might help her, I’d say so. I’d do anything.”
That had the ring of truth–painful truth.
“Okay,” Livvy said as she turned on the goggles. “Do you know what her spirit helper is?”
He hesitated, knowing that this was information shamans never shared with one another, and rarely with their intimates. Livvy had never shared hers with anybody, except for SK.
“It could help,” she said.
It better help, she thought, already sensing that she shouldn’t be staying any longer in the multiverse than was necessary. She wasn’t even sure if she could see another shaman, except in this case, Indra had apparently not traveled as one.
“The butterfly,” Jack said.
Livvy laid down on the mat.
“Back in a bit,” she said, as she positioned the goggles over her eyes.
She took in a big slow breath of sage and exhaled as the symbols flashed by.
CHAPTER NINE
IN THE MIDDLEWORLD, the sun was bright and the forest air was crisp and clean. Livvy looked up to the sky and saw a few puffy white clouds hovering over the mountain range in the distance, beyond the black lake. As she watched, the clouds began to gather in front of her and then move off to the right, above the forest. She stepped off the path and headed in that direction.
Again she was struck by the lack of spirit traffic. She heard the twigs snapping under her feet but little else. She glanced from side to side, trying to see as far into the trees as she could, but there was no movement except for a slight breeze among the leaves.
As the thicket and undergrowth became more dense she had to push through, sometimes trudging sideways before being able to move forward again. The clouds had not stopped moving, so she knew she wasn’t there yet. Nothing moved along the ground either–no centipedes or beetles or snakes. It wasn’t just strange. It was eerie.
Her progress seemed to be blocked by an enormous clump of bushes, so she moved to the left and found that she was entering a clearing. The dappled sunlight of the trees gave way to an irregular oval of bright greens and yellows where the tall grass swayed hypnotically.
She stopped when a small movement in her peripheral vision caught her attention. She had almost convinced herself that she was alone but, as she watched, a giant swallowtail butterfly floated erratically into the clearing.
“Well, hello,” she said, as they approached one another. “Looks like I’m in the right place.”
The clouds above had slowed and the butterfly hovered a few paces in front of her.
“Lead the way,” she said, gesturing onward, which it did, to the center of the clearing.
When they stopped, Livvy stood in front of a low plant that she knew well. The large dark leaves and the trumpet-shaped white flowers of the datura plant were unmistakable. It was called devil’s weed in some parts of the world, angel’s trumpet in others. No matter the name though, its roots contained a powerful hallucinogenic that had been known to shamans for centuries. The butterfly settled on one of the flowers.
“Here?” she asked, watching the butterfly. “Where?”
It slowly flapped its wings but stayed put.
“Indra is here?” she tried again.
At the sound of Indra’s name, the flowers quivered. The butterfly barely hung on. Livvy bent down to have a closer look.
“Indra?” she said.
The plant shook violently this time, sending the butterfly off to hover close by.
“Indra!” Livvy shouted.
The ground seemed to mound up under the datura plant.
“What in the multiverse,” Livvy wondered out loud as she knelt next to the plant.
“Indra,” she yelled again.
The ground mounded up higher, breaking the soil on the top. She gathered a handful of the plant and pulled it out, clods of dirt still clinging to it, and tossed it aside. The top of a human hand was visible in the dirt. The butterfly settled on it.
“Yeah, yeah, I see it,” she said. “Move back.”
The butterfly flitted away.
Livvy brushed away handfuls of dirt and soon uncovered an arm and then a shoulder but, when she glanced back at the hand, it was buried again.
“Indra,” she said, as she brushed the dirt off the hand. “My name is Livvy. Jack sent me to bring you back. Help me if you can.”
The dirt mound took on the outline of a body as Indra tried to rise up through it. Livvy could smell the dampness of the soil. As she brushed at the dirt and looked down the length of Indra’s body, something in the distance caught her eye.
From the edge of the clearing, waving and beckoning her to come over, was the kachina.
“Oh no,” she muttered. “Not now.”
Something gripped Livvy’s arm and she jumped in response. She tore her eyes from the kachina and looked down to see Indra’s dirt-caked hand clutching her. Even as she started brushing dirt again, Livvy couldn’t resist glancing back at the kachina, who was closing the distance between them.
“All right,” said Livvy, looking back down at Indra. “Time to go.”
She began moving up Indra’s torso, brushing at the dirt frantically.
“Come on, Indra,” she yelled.
She saw Indra’s head and brushed the dirt out of her face as gently as she could. Indra was moving all of her limbs now.
“That’s it!” Livvy yelled.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the kachina growing larger.
“Open your eyes, Indra,” she said, shoving the dirt furiously now as it moved to re-cover her. “Open your eyes!”
Indra’s eyes opened and, with a great effort, she reached a hand up out of the dirt, trying to sit up. Livvy immediately gripped her hand and stood up, yanking Indra with her, clear of the ground.
“Gotcha!”
CHAPTER TEN
IN THE REAL world, Indra sat bolt upright in bed, wiping at her face.
“Indra!” cried Jack, rushing over to her.
“Jack?” she said, confused, as he hugged her. “Where’s Livvy?”
“Here,” said Livvy, taking off the goggles as she sat up beside the bed.
Indra pried herself loose from Jack and scooted to the edge of the bed, swinging her legs over. Livvy quickly touched the metal frame of the bed and discharged a small spark as Indra got on her knees next to her and enveloped her in a hug.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
Livvy awkwardly patted Indra’s back.
“Um, no problem,” she said, waiting for the hug to be over but Indra clung to her, rocking them both.
“Thank you,” she said again.
Livvy did her best to return the hug this time.
“I thought I’d never come back,” Indra said.
Jack had come around to their side of the bed and helped Indra to her feet.
“What happened?” he asked.
Indra saw her robe on the bed, realized she was only wearing a nightgown, and reached for it.
“I don’t know,” she said, as Jack helped her with the robe. “I think one minute I was dreaming and the next, everything was dark.”
Livvy had put away her goggles and was rolling up her mat.
“How did you find me?”
Livvy stood up a
nd slung her shoulder bag on, looking at the floor.
“I followed a certain…butterfly,” she said finally.
“Ah,” said Indra, understanding.
She looked at Jack and smiled, knowing he had revealed her spirit helper to save her life. There were a few moments of silence as Livvy watched them hold hands, before she pointedly looked back at the floor. She suppressed an urge to run from the room, so that she could ask a question.
“Besides me,” Livvy began, “Did you um…maybe see anybody else in the middleworld?”
“Anybody else?” Indra asked, cocking her head.
“Yeah,” said Livvy. “Like…anybody?”
Somehow the kachina had found her in the middleworld but she still had to wonder if she had been seeing things. If another shaman had seen it, she would at least have confirmation.
“No,” Indra said, shaking her head as she tried to remember. “You’re the only person I saw.”
Jack stepped closer to Indra and put an arm around her shoulders.
“Okay, well, I need to get going,” said Livvy, backing toward the bedroom door.
“Right,” said Jack, even as Indra was saying, “So soon? Can’t you stay for a minute?”
Under any other circumstances, Livvy might have considered it. At times she craved the company of other shamans, people who understood what it was like to work in the multiverse. The prohibition against associating with other shamans had never made sense to her. Indra had a tender way about her, the way she spoke and moved. The more Livvy looked at her though, with her dark hair and eyes, and the luminous skin, the more she realized that Indra was everything she wasn’t.
“No, I can’t stay,” said Livvy, backing out of the bedroom with Jack following.
As they headed down the stairs, Livvy glanced at the familiar living room. All of the furniture was still in the same place, but something seemed wrong. Something was missing.
“Where’s Buster’s tree?” she asked.
Buster was Jack’s little grey cat, a friendly but sometimes too adventurous little creature that Livvy had bailed out of more than a couple of high perches.
“I had to put him to sleep,” he said, as they headed down the stairs with Indra following.
“Oh,” said Livvy, stopping at the front door. “I’m sorry to hear that.” And why didn’t you tell me?
“I didn’t realize that you two knew each other,” said Indra, smiling, curious at the revelation.
Livvy looked at Jack, who wouldn’t meet her eyes.
“Oh really?” said Livvy.
No wonder Indra seemed so comfortable. She didn’t know that Livvy was the ex-girlfriend. Jack had probably never told her that he had dated a shaman before. He quickly pulled out a few twenty dollar bills from his pocket and held them out to Livvy.
“Oh, please,” she said, as she turned away and opened the front door.
“I know you could use it,” he said from the doorway but she was already headed toward the sidewalk.
“Keep it,” she said over her shoulder.
“Thank you, Livvy,” she heard Indra call.
She waved a hand without looking back and then was on the sidewalk. What a fabulous day this was turning out to be.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
LIVVY SAT AT the back of the bus, doing what she always did on bus rides: checking messages and news feeds. The shaman channels were more active than usual. Users who hadn’t posted in a while were posting again. A doctor friend with whom she’d gone to medical school had messaged about being crazy busy in the emergency room and pulling a ridiculously long shift. A couple of shamans were talking about strange multiverse experiences.
She could relate. Then, of course, there had been the extra special bonus of Jack and Indra. They had seemed–what would be the right word–happy. Yeah, that was probably it.
She sighed, leaned her head against the window and watched the familiar city flow by. Carnecerias and lavanderias, meat shops and coin laundries, flashed by along with seafood restaurants and taco shops. The sidewalks were crowded with women pushing strollers and hauling groceries. Occasionally a pickup truck with a brahma bull on the door went by. Most of the men who wore a straw cowboy hat were older. The younger ones wore baseball caps or ski caps, even in this weather. It wasn’t the worst neighborhood in L.A. but, this close to downtown, good blocks and bad blocks were side by side.
As the bus made its way from stop to stop with passengers coming and going, Livvy closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun through the window. She hadn’t realized how tired she was.
Then she remembered the kachina. She opened her eyes, sat up and did a quick search on the net. There might be hundreds of different kachinas but only one with a giant feather-fringed turquoise-colored face. Sure enough, it didn’t take long to find him. He was Tawa, the Hopi sun kachina, a creator and bringer of life. The Hopi were a Native American tribe who lived on the mesa tops of northeastern Arizona. Their village, Oraibi, was the oldest continually occupied village in North America. As she looked at images of him, or the small kachina dolls that were for sale at various trading post sites, she realized that only the bottom half of his face was turquoise. The upper half was divided into two quarters, one red and one yellow, separated from each other by a band of white. The black rectangular eyes and triangle mouth sat in the lower turquoise half. His gigantic face was nearly the size of his upper body. The same alternating colors of red, yellow, and turquoise repeated throughout: red moccasins, turquoise and yellow body paint, black geometric designs on the white kilt.
Livvy sighed, looking back toward the bus window and, as the sun streamed in, she caught a reflection of herself: slim with sea green eyes, her nose small and straight, her face framed by the blindingly white hair. Ever since she was small, she’d been told she was pretty. Jack had always said he especially loved her lips, particularly when she smiled. As the sunlight and her reflection vanished, she looked away. Jack again. Exhaling, she forced the thought of him out of her mind.
She looked back down at her phone and a small painting of the kachina, of Tawa. What would a bringer of life, one of the most powerful kachinas in the Hopi pantheon, want from her?
CHAPTER TWELVE
AT THE TOP of the stairs, Livvy exited into the long hallway that led to her apartment. The automatic arm at the top of the stairwell door had probably been broken long before she’d moved in. There wasn’t an elevator or air conditioning, and sometimes no heat in the building, but the price was right. She was close to her clientele, she didn’t overlap any other shaman’s territory, and she didn’t need to take on a roommate.
As she turned the corner to her apartment, still a few yards from the front door, she stopped. Someone familiar was waiting. The kachina looked right at her. Heart pounding, she glanced behind her. Maybe this time there’d be a witness, she thought, but the hall was empty. When she looked back, he was gone.
“No,” she muttered.
Like before, the fact that he would disappear somehow spooked her more than the fact that he had appeared. Now that she had also seen him in the multiverse, she knew he had to be a spirit. Was he following her? Stalking her? Was he manifesting physically?
Calm down. Think for a second. She could run, get as far away as possible. That’s really what she wanted to do. But then what? Would he follow her? She stared at her front door. Was he waiting inside right now? Maybe she should call somebody. She started to reach for her phone. But who would she call, SK? Her hand stopped. What if the kachina disappeared before he got there? Yeah, that’d look great. She didn’t even know if he was still here.
She took her phone out but instead of making a call, she turned on the camera. If she couldn’t have a witness, maybe she could at least get proof. A small spark jumped between her keys and the deadbolt as she unlocked it. She opened the door.
The kachina was in the middle of the small front room that served as the living room, dining room and kitchen.
“Say cheese,�
�� she said under her breath, and snapped a photo.
The kachina tilted his enormous head to the side and they both stood there for several seconds, looking at each other.
Livvy tensed as he slowly raised his rattle and pointed at her. She heard the pellets sliding around inside.
“Just tell me what you want,” she barked, louder than she’d intended.
He lowered the rattle a few inches, still pointing, but not directly at her.
She looked down, following his eyeless gaze, but kept him in her peripheral vision. He was pointing to her shoulder bag. She frowned.
“You want something in there?”
He shook the rattle once, at the bag.
Maybe if she gave him what he wanted, he’d leave her alone. Without taking her eyes off the kachina, she reached down to her side, opened the bag, and brought out the first thing she touched–her small pillow. She held it out between them.
“You want the pillow?”
He shook his head slowly.
“No,” she confirmed.
Still watching him, she put the pillow back and fished around for something else. As she looked at the mask, she realized that several of the feathers around the edge looked slightly darker than the rest, singed.
She pulled out her goggles and the rattle went off like a Geiger counter. The explosive sound made her jump, hand flying to her heart, as though that could keep it from pounding.
“The goggles?” she finally asked, holding them out.
The kachina made a beckoning motion with his other hand. “Come on,” he seemed to insist. He didn’t want the goggles. He wanted her to come to the multiverse.
“Uh, no,” she said, as she shook her head and jammed the goggles back in the bag. “I don’t think that’d be a good idea.”
It dawned on her that he must have been trying to take her to the multiverse when he had reached out for her that morning. SK had said she wasn’t the kind of shaman a kachina would seek out and yet, here he was again. Then she remembered how serious SK had become.
Shaman, Healer, Heretic (Olivia Lawson Techno-Shaman) Page 5