She’d escaped from the truck on the second night of her rescue when it stopped at the gate of Silver City. They were transferring her from a room at the Soviet clinic where her maladies were treated. She believed she must have been on her way to the abattoir. Her instinct told her to take advantage of this comparative freedom and seek out the shaman. It told her he was close by. She followed her nose to his house and lay in wait in the lot behind his yard.
Yeh Ming lived inside an old man. When the host slept, the bear asked the shaman for help. He allowed her to share thoughts for a time with her ancestors. He told her not to fear these new events in her life. She’d suffered so much unfortunate karma already, what remained could only be good. Her next life would be wonderful. She should seek out the people who had taken her from the hotel.
She thanked him and went to search for the gates of Silver City. It took her the longest time to find them. She was used up. Her natural senses were draining away. She wouldn’t see out this hot season, but her last months would be the happiest she’d known.
She lay on her back there in the large cage, took hold of a bunch of ladyfinger bananas in both paws, squeezed them like a concertina player, and sucked out the delicious fruit.
Thirty-Three Teeth Page 22