“No. Please. No.” Hugging her was like hugging a draft or a gleam of moonlight. My hands had never felt so empty. I squeezed them into fists while my hope of ever holding her again caught fire and burned its way to my heart.
Her silhouette solidified on the stone hearth. The flame danced inches behind her. Then the blaze intensified and transformed into something like a clawed hand. It crackled above her. I reached for her again. The hand smashed down and dragged her into its fiery pith. I dove after her.
My face and arms stung as I lay in the dirt. The heat from the fire fueled the pain, evidence that my chase with Annie wasn’t a dream.
A deep voice drifted down. “Half-wit.”
I flinched and opened my eyes. The voice’s owner stooped over me. Long black hair hung in sheets around his dark face. On the other side of the fire, an elder man with silver braids perched on a log. Darwin rested at his feet.
The elder said, “Leave her be, Badger.”
Badger straightened but stayed at my side. “She’s covered in burns. What if she tries to throw herself into the fire again?”
The elder stood and approached. I trembled with trepidation and chill from the burns. I couldn’t feel the weight of the carbine. It was nowhere in sight.
He crouched in front of me. Dark senescent skin announced his Native American heritage. Black and red feathers twisted through leather accessories in his hair and clothing. “Do you chase ghosts, or do they chase you?”
My shoulders bunched at the intimation. “Depends on the ghost.”
A toothless smile crossed his wizened face. “I suppose what is true in our world is also true in the spirit world. The children are our guides. They preserve the truth.”
I must have been hallucinating. How else would he know anything about children who haunt me? I moved my head a few inches. The carbine leaned against a black cherry tree several yards away.
His voice soothed. “You don’t need gunpowder here, woman. We are a peaceful people.”
I kept my eyes on the gun.
“I have herbal medicines for your burns. Can you stand?”
I lifted my upper body. My sagacious pup stood in anticipation. His instincts hadn’t misguided me yet. If he trusted them then I should.
Badger helped me to my feet. My skin burned under his touch, but I didn’t react.
“What do you want?” I asked the elder.
“A nation is as strong as the hearts of its women. Its warriors may be brave and many, but when the blood of its women spills upon the earth, the battle is lost.”
Darwin remained still as if waiting for me to follow his trust. I wasn’t going to let the old man deflect my question. “What do you want?”
He sighed. “The great Chief Seattle spoke of the end of living and the beginning of survival. This is not want. This is hope. Come.”
I lunged for the carbine. Tension unfurled inside me when I gripped it. Behind me, the two men waited, unmoved. Maybe I was paranoid, but I wasn’t inclined to drop my guard. I stood, shoulders back, and nodded.
They guided me through the woods and ended the hike at a stream, bordered by a few lean-to’s fashioned from dead branches and spruce needles. I followed the elder to his lean-to in the heart of the camp with Darwin at my side. He pointed to a sanguine wool blanket as he rummaged through his baskets of dried herbs and ointments.
I settled on the blanket, the carbine on my knees. “What’s your name?”
He found what he was looking for and squatted before me. His eyes flicked to the gun and back to me. “My people call me Owota la Akicita.”
I blinked. “Oh…wha—”
“Call me Akicita.”
“Ah-kee-chee-tah. I’m Evie. So what does it mean, your name?”
He opened a small jar and plunged two fingers in it. “Honest peacekeeper.” He held up the fingers caked in salve. “This will burn.”
I nodded and sensed someone behind me.
“Lean against Badger.” He slavered my face with the minty smelling anodyne. I jerked back at the stinging sensation. Badger pressed against my back. I closed my eyes and let the man rub my face and arms.
Palliative humming rumbled from his chest as he worked. My burns began to numb. Drowsiness settled on me like a heavy blanket. Then I could no longer fight the weight of my eyelids.
“Good Morning, Half-wit.”
I rubbed my eyes against the twilight.
“No. No. Don’t rub.” Concern coated the soft voice.
I dropped my hands and smiled. “Hence, Half-wit?”
He laughed and knelt at my side. “Yes, very. And you must be feeling better.” His inquisitive brown eyes pierced mine. “So who are you?”
“Um—”
“Oh wait. It’s Evie, right? Akicita told me.”
A boyish smile stretched under sharp cheekbones. His thick hair draped his shoulders and back. My fingertips tingled to touch his dark skin which looked like it had been sanded to a smooth perfection.