by David Kersey
EPILOGUE
Joshua and Namanda exited the burning, dry, Arizona early summer sun by entering into the reservation Rec Hall. Dozens of the tribe, who had been anxiously awaiting their arrival, greeted them. A banner draped across the full length of one wall. ‘Welcome home, Joshua’. Amit and Shreya had made the trip up from Tucson, where both of them had landed positions with the University of Arizona. Amit taught strings, Shreya taught woodwinds. Good, strong employment. They would be eligible for green cards in two months, then citizenship in four more years. They were in good spirits.
After cake and ice cream, and reuniting with old friends and meeting new ones, Namanda led him outside. She jumped into an open air Jeep, and instructed him to sit in the passenger seat. She started the car, operated the stick shift, and accelerated away.
“You are not sixteen yet. What are you doing driving?”
“It’s the reservation. Who’s going to stop me? haHA.”
He watched her hair blow in the wind. Mesmerizing. “Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
The land rose gently as they rode, then began a steeper incline. They had left the barren, brown soil and entered into the land of firs, spruce, and quaking aspens. She slowed the car, rounded a bend, then stopped. “This is where we will live.”
A mobile home was tucked neatly inside the forest. “Namanda? I………
“Hush. We will keep the promise you made to my mother. We will live as a father and a daughter, that is, until I turn eighteen. Then I hope to wear a papoose not long after. We will come back here later. There’s more to see.”
“Namanda?”
“Yes, my new father?”
“I can’t see inside your head any more. Or anyone else’s.”
“I know. Congratulations. Maybe someday I will be so lucky.”
Namanda drove further up the winding roads, then came to an intersection. She turned left onto a paved road and continued. Joshua knew where he was.
“Holy cow! Would you look at that?”
“haHA. I’ve been busy while you got your beauty sleep.”
Three greenhouses, and a forest of trees, exotic ones, surrounding the buildings. “I can read your thoughts, and I’m way ahead of you. I’ve already planted crab apple trees, and you and I are going to spend our days making the NIL even better. I’ve even picked out a name for our new health drink. It will be called Crapple juice. haHA.”
They walked inside the older greenhouse that Joshua was familiar with. In a chair, supervising, or sleeping, was Hachika, who waved his cane, and said, “About time. Get to work.”
She took Joshua by the hand and led him to an office in the far corner of the building. Inside, there, displayed on shelving, were the artifacts from the cave in Kentucky. “I stole them. I hope you don’t mind. But wait before you scold me. I located the Shawnee tribe in Oklahoma, and I gave them more than half of what was down by the water in the cave. Don’t hate me, please. I even sold the rain stick you showed me that time. I needed to raise some money, so I did it.”
“I will have to turn you in to the FBI, you know. I might decide to wait on that. Yeah, after you are toting two papooses, I just might give them a call.”
They embraced, and held each other for a long time, then left for their new home.