Olivia Lawson Techno-Shaman Books 1 -3

by Green, M. Terry

  “Are you old?” asked the girl.

  Caught off-guard, Livvy laughed a little. She subconsciously touched her hair. As far as she knew, she was the only techno-shaman–or any kind of shaman–to have had their hair change color after their vision quest.

  “No,” she said, smiling down at the round little face. “I’m not old. My hair is just white.”

  The girl crinkled up her nose and giggled. She reminded Livvy of Min. Maybe it was the jet black hair and dark eyes. More likely it was that easy smile. Min was Korean, not Hopi, and she was a world away. Livvy’s own smile faded as she looked at the adorable straight cut of the girl’s bangs, just above her eyebrows.

  The girl buried her face in the fur of Jo Jo’s neck.

  Livvy smiled again.

  “And what’s your owner’s name, Jo Jo?”

  Jo Jo looked at her and then the pocket of her coat.

  “Oh, not saying huh?” She waited but the little girl kept a tight hold on Jo Jo’s neck. “Maybe another cookie will loosen your tongue.”

  Jo Jo licked his chops as Livvy reached into her pocket, but the sound of running feet made her and the little girl look up.

  “Miss, please!” said the tour guide.

  The woman came to Livvy’s side and put a hand under her elbow.

  “You’ve got to stay with the group.”

  “Sorry,” Livvy said, moving forward. “I’m coming.”

  Up ahead, it looked as though the rest of the tour group was clustered around a doorway and a folding table set up in front of it.

  Livvy glanced back and saw that the little girl and Jo Jo were following and, in the distance, the coyote had returned. It casually took a diagonal across the street behind them and peered in their direction.

  “That coyote,” said Livvy, looking forward before she tripped. “Are there many in the village?”

  The guide continued to support Livvy’s elbow, encouraging her forward.

  “Coyote?” she said, looking toward the group. “What coyote? Where?”

  “Behind us.”

  She stopped and looked behind them, as did Livvy. It was gone.

  “What coyote?” she repeated.

  “Grandpa!” called the little girl as she passed them. “Her hair is white!”

  Jo Jo paused, staring at Livvy’s pocket, then watched the little girl. Like an animal torn between stomach and loyalty, he swung his head one more time and then followed the girl.

  “There was a coyote there,” Livvy said.

  “We don’t have coyotes in the village,” said the guide. She urged her forward. “You must have seen a dog.”

  Livvy hesitated but then started limping toward the group again.

  “No, I don’t think–”

  “Sir, please!” the tour guide called out and released Livvy. “There is no photography allowed, not even of the artwork.”

  The guide quickly strode forward to the table.

  Livvy stopped to lean on her cane and again felt as though she were being watched. She slowly rubbed the back of her neck and stole a sideways look behind her. The street was empty except for a man crossing in the distance. He disappeared into the shadows between the buildings. Had he glanced at her just before vanishing?

  The shadow of a cloud passed over and the temperature dropped. Still watching the street, Livvy tugged her coat collar tighter against the new chill, then finally turned back toward the group. The tour guide looked as though she were about to call out to her. Livvy gave her a little wave and started forward, though most of the group was moving on. The little girl was peering at her from behind the table, her forehead and eyes bobbing up and down as she bounced in place. She seemed to be hiding among the small group of kachina dolls but then she turned to the older man standing behind the table.

  “Grandpa, she’s not old,” she declared.

  The old man smiled at her and patted her on the head.

  “Just a minute, Emma,” he said. “Let me finish this.”

  Emma started to bounce again and then coughed–the kind of cough that caught Livvy’s attention. It was too deep. In what seemed like a different life, when Livvy had been in medical school, she had thought to specialize in pediatrics. But it didn’t take a specialist to hear that something was wrong. Grandpa must have heard it too as he automatically put a hand around her tiny shoulder and pulled her close.

  The inquisitive couple had lingered behind to purchase two of the dolls. The woman was paying Emma’s grandfather in hundred dollar bills and, as interesting as that was, Livvy found herself distracted by the husband. There was something about the set of his shoulders.

  What was he doing?

  Livvy moved closer to the edge of the table. He seemed to be looking toward the kachina dolls but really he was holding his phone up to one in particular.

  “Do you have some twenties?” the woman said to him.

  Startled out of his concentration on the phone, he set it on the table and went for his wallet. He had been trying to take a picture of the kachinas, including the little girl behind them.

  What is it with these people? Why is “no pictures” such a hard rule to follow?

  As the man went through his paper bills, Livvy quietly inched closer. She moved her hand in the direction of the kachina doll in front of him but brushed the phone with the side of her hand.

  Even before her vision quest or having the slightest inkling of what a lightning shaman might be, Livvy had always been a source of static electricity. It had been something of a joke between her and her high school friends, but, at the outset of her shamanic career, it became something she’d tried to hide. Her gleaming white hair had been more than enough to put off prospective clients. Finally though, the static sparks had turned into her calling card when knowledge of her power began to spread, bringing clients, fame, and attention–both good and bad. Despite having learned to discharge electricity to keys, pens, and whatever else might be at hand, Livvy regularly had to replace her own electronics.

  A bright blue spark popped between her hand and the phone. There was a glow on its glass front and then nothing. Livvy picked up a kachina doll as the little girl gasped.

  “Is that enough?” the man said to his wife, as he glanced at his phone.

  Livvy looked at Emma. Her eyes had gone wide and her mouth hung open as she stared at the phone. Then she looked up at Livvy, who gave her a small grin and then winked.

  Emma instantly covered her mouth with both tiny hands as her eyes became half moons.

  “My phone’s dead,” declared the man.

  His wallet had only gotten halfway to his pocket when he’d picked up the phone. He repeatedly clicked the power button but it wouldn’t turn on.

  “What, dear?” said his wife, as she carefully stowed her new acquisitions in a canvas tote bag.

  “My phone’s dead,” he repeated, puzzled.

  A giggle escaped the little girl.

  Both her grandfather and the man looked down at her. Hands still covering her mouth, she couldn’t help but look at Livvy. The two men followed her gaze and, by the time his wife was done with the bag, she was looking at Livvy as well.

  Still holding the kachina doll, Livvy casually gazed up at each of them and then smiled.

  “How much for this one?” she asked the carver, holding her voice steady.

  “Prices are on the bottom,” he said, nodding at it. “That’s an eagle dancer.”

  “Come on, dear,” said the wife. “We’re getting behind.”

  The husband had been staring at Livvy’s hair. Livvy looked at the bottom of the doll. “One-hundred and seventy-five dollars” was printed on a circular blue sticker.

  “What did you say about your phone?” his wife said over her shoulder.

  As the husband turned to follow her, he realized he still had his wallet out. He fumbled it and the phone as he caught up to her.

  “It’s dead,” he said. “I was just using it and now it’s dead.”

  Livv
y turned the kachina over in her hands.

  “It’s lovely,” she said.

  She looked at Emma, who was grinning at her. Emma’s grandfather looked between the two of them but didn’t say anything.

  Livvy gently set the kachina back down. It truly was lovely. The feathered arms of the dancer were thrust out to the side as he half-crouched with one foot upraised, his masked face pointed skyward as though he might actually take flight.

  “You wouldn’t happen to have one of Tawa?” Livvy asked, almost tripping over his name.

  As she said it, she realized why she was here. Although she had seemingly driven without aim, following road signs that looked interesting, she had really come because of Tawa, the Hopi sun kachina and creator. He had appeared to her in the real world and helped her in the Multiverse.

  “No,” said Emma’s grandfather. “I don’t get much call for Tawa. But if you’d like to commission one, I’m sure I can do it for you.”

  His pronunciation of Tawa’s name was somewhere between a ‘t’ and ‘d’. She blinked as she realized she’d never heard his name spoken in his language.

  “Grandpa is the best kachina carver!” exclaimed Emma.

  He gently stroked the top of her shining black hair as she bounced under his hand.

  “I’m sure he is,” confirmed Livvy.

  There was that strange feeling again, as though eyes were tracking her every movement. She looked up the street. It was completely empty. The tour group was nowhere in sight.

  “Oops!” she said as she put her cane on the ground and her weight on it.

  “Looks like you’ve got some catching up to do,” said Grandpa.

  “Right,” said Livvy, turning to go. Then she paused and turned back. “I’m Livvy, by the way,” she said, holding out her hand.

  “Marvin,” the man said, grasping it as a small spark of electricity popped.

  Marvin jumped a little and released her hand. Livvy looked down at the little girl.

  “And you’re Emma,” she said, holding out her hand.

  Emma immediately grabbed it and squealed with delight as a tiny spark popped.

  “Okay,” said Livvy, when she finally let go. “I’d better hurry.” She gave the girl a final wink and turned toward the plaza.

  With a small hop on the good leg and barely touching the ground with the bad, she made it across the plaza and turned a corner into a passageway where she’d seen the husband and wife headed. At the opposite end of it, the tour group was standing in a tight knot, all faces turned to the guide, who was pointing at something. Livvy was breathing a sigh of relief when a shadow passed over her face and a strong hand clamped over her mouth. It jerked her backward through an open door that quickly slammed shut.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  LIVVY’S HANDS FLEW to her covered mouth but as soon as she heard the cane hit the floor, she knew she shouldn’t have let it go. Not only could it have been a weapon, her hip was now burning with pain. She struggled to stop the backward motion but whoever was behind her was strong. The hand over her mouth was so large it also covered her nose. The arm around her waist managed to lift her off the ground, even though she thrashed and tried to scream.

  “Olivia, stop!” she heard someone shout.

  Someone was standing in front of her–a young man her own height. His hazel eyes looked into hers.

  “Please, Olivia, stop!” he said, grasping her by the shoulders. “We’re not going to hurt you. We’re here to help.”

  She shoved his chest and managed to push him back but the arm on her waist tightened, to the point where she couldn’t breathe. Now her hands moved to the giant arm but there was no way she was going to budge it.

  “Leon, you’re hurting her!” said the man in front. “Put her down!”

  As her feet landed on the ground, she barely had time to suck in a breath before her left leg buckled and she groaned in pain. The young man darted forward and managed to catch her before she fell.

  “Oh gods,” he muttered, trying to lower her slowly. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “DISAPPEARED?” SCREAMED CELESTINO into the phone. “Disappeared? By the gods, I’ll show you disappeared.”

  He clenched his car keys so hard, he cut himself. He hurled them into the dirt next to the SUV with a dusty thump.

  How in the Multiverse does a white-haired woman with a cane in a tour group disappear? His mind raced. Techno-shamans everywhere had heard of the Lightning Shaman. The pueblo world was no different. But what was she doing here?

  And why now, of all times, why now?

  He glared down at the keys.

  “Keep looking,” he said finally. “I’m on my way.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  BREATHING HARD FROM the pain but no longer in agony, Livvy knelt on her throbbing left knee and quickly took in the surroundings. It was someone’s house and she was in the middle of a narrow room. To the right was a wood burning stove and to the left a plastic lawn chair next to a set of plywood shelves. The young man was crouching, between her and the front door, but was keeping his distance. He seemed to be waiting.

  Waiting for what?

  Livvy swallowed and tried to slow her breathing. Panic wasn’t going to help.

  “There really is no need to panic,” the young man said. He put a hand to his chest. “My name is Dale and this is Leon.” He gestured behind Livvy but she didn’t turn. “We’re trying to help you because you’re in danger.”

  Livvy stared at him. Was the panic that obvious?

  “I know,” said Leon. “Weird, isn’t it?”

  This time she had to look, craning her neck.

  Leon looked as though he might be about the same age as Dale, both in their mid-twenties, but he was huge. He wore overalls that ballooned out at the middle over his bulging girth and a striped short-sleeve t-shirt that showed his enormous and smoothly muscled arms. He wore his dark hair cropped short and smiled down at her.

  “Wow,” he said. “She really is the white sister.”

  “We didn’t mean to hurt you,” Dale said and Livvy looked back to him.

  His fine-boned face was framed in long, dark hair that fell down to his shoulders. He wore an aqua turtleneck sweater under a one-piece tunic. Livvy noticed for the first time that he also wore a thick silver chain with a smooth, cylindrical pendant of some type of green stone. He was a shaman.

  Livvy tensed. She had never encountered a male shaman before, though she’d heard of them. Was that common here? She should have known there’d be shamans on the reservation–shamans were everywhere. But why had they kidnapped her?

  “Look,” she began. “I’m not here as a shaman. I’m not here to compete with anybody or invade anybody’s turf.”

  She saw her cane on the floor near the front door.

  “I know,” Dale said, as though he actually did.

  “He doesn’t know anything,” said Leon.

  Livvy looked up at him, confused.

  Leon was grinning.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Leon,” said Dale, his voice tense. “Not now.”

  Livvy turned back to him.

  “We’re here to help you, Olivia,” he said. “But we need the tablet.”

  His face seemed so sincere, even pained.

  “We’re here to help ourselves,” said Leon.

  At that, Dale stood. “I’m serious, Leon,” he said. “Stop clowning. This is important.”

  “That’s the time to clown,” Leon replied.

  Dale put his hands on his hips and seemed about to reply but looked down at her instead. “I think you should come with us.”

  “Really,” said Livvy. Her cane looked impossibly far away. “I was thinking maybe I would leave,” she said, trying not to look as though she were staring at it.

  “No!” Dale said. “I mean, I don’t think that’d be a good idea.”

  The door wasn’t that far away but if they didn’t want her to leave, the
y could stop her. They already had. She glanced at the cane again. Escaping wasn’t going to be a matter of speed.

  Use your head, Livvy. The first thing you need to do is stand.

  She put her hands on her upraised knee.

  “Here, let me help,” said Dale. His extended hand appeared in front of her. She grasped it and a blue spark jumped out with a loud pop. “Ow!” said Dale, though he didn’t let go.

  The shock had surprised even her. The sparks were usually much smaller. Was the larger shock something her anxiety had produced?

  Hopefully so.

  “Leon?” said Dale as he pulled Livvy up from the front.

  Livvy felt Leon's strong hands under her arms and, with his help, she nearly jumped into a standing position. It took a few seconds to regain her balance. Leon moved around her to stand next to Dale. Now both of them stood between her and the front door. She’d only have one chance to make this work. She purposely leaned on her left leg, grimaced, and groaned.

  “Could I have my cane please?”

  “Of course!” said Dale, spinning around to fetch it.

  This was it. She started to move forward. Leon reached out a giant hand, whether to help or hinder her, she didn’t know, but it didn’t matter. She simultaneously reached out to him and a giant blue spark snapped on his exposed forearm.

  “Ouch!” he cried and stumbled backward, directly into Dale who was bent over picking up the cane.

  Livvy half-hopped, half-limped, and pushed past them, accelerating their fall. She reached the door just as Leon landed on top of Dale.

  “Ow, Leon, get off me.”

  “I think I have a burn,” Leon wailed.

  Livvy opened the door and was out on the street. Behind her, she heard Dale again.

  “Stop being such a baby and get off me!”

  She didn’t look back and chose a direction at random. With a hand on the stone walls of the homes to steady her, she hobbled down the darkening street.

  There was no sign of the tour group. She heard Dale behind her in the distance.

  “Which way did she go?”