37 The Bridge

WHEN I WALKED into the kitchen, Mom Mar was cleaning up and starting lunch already. She pointed out the front door, and I found Aubrey sitting on the steps feeding Blackfeather scraps of our breakfast. They seemed to have become good buddies all of a sudden. Raven was taking each offered scrap politely from her fingers and stepping aside to eat it. When he was finished, he would sidestep toward her and wait for her to feed him another piece.

“I’m glad my breakfast isn’t going to waste,” I laughed. Kyle came around the corner of the house and walked up to where Aubrey was sitting.

“Blackfeather and I have been having a very nice chat, Husband Ramie,” Aubrey said dreamily.

Awk!

The next thing I knew I was being given sips of water as Kyle held my head and Aubrey held the glass. Mom Mar was hovering over me. Mom Ash and Pa were kneeling on the other side. I hadn’t traveled. I hadn’t been anywhere. I just passed out when Aubrey called me...

“Why did you say that, Aubrey?” I demanded. “Why did you call me ‘Husband Ramie’? Why would you do that?”

“He said it would be okay,” she gasped. “No. He didn’t say anything. He just ... I just felt it in my head. That’s not right, either,” she struggled. “Ever since that time Rick lectured me in the cemetery, I’ve had this feeling of deep peace and love. It was like love transcends all ages and times. If I opened myself up, I could feel love for everyone, but especially for you two and ... And for everyone you’ve loved. I was looking at Blackfeather as he picked at that crust and just knew that I was sitting here with my Husband Kyle and my Husband Ramie. Why would he call you ‘Husband’? Wouldn’t you be my wife if we all got married?”

I could see that Aubrey was confused with what she had said and how she thought Raven had influenced her. I sat up and held her to me. But I wondered. If Blackfeather was at work, then maybe there was hope.

“It’s what my sweet, sweet Katie called me,” I said. “She started when I was disguised as a man and she was traveling as my wife. Aubrey ... Katie, are you here?” I said, looking desperately into her eyes.

“Oh! Do you think she might be time traveling from the past and be here?” Aubrey said, pointing at her head.

“Nobody travels from the past to the present,” Pa said firmly.

“Not true, Pa,” I said. “The rules you had when you traveled haven’t all applied to us. When I was fevered with the wolf-bite, just before you called Merv, Miranda spent a few minutes in my body. It scared her half to death. Kyle and Aubrey were watching a movie on the laptop and she thought they’d captured people’s souls and had them trapped in a box,” I laughed and looked desperately into Aubrey’s eyes. Oh, please tell me my sweet darling Katie has come to live in Aubrey! That something survived.

She got a scrunched up look on her face and I held my breath. Then she shook her head. “I don’t think so. I’m just here and I love you. I had this wonderful sense of complete love come over me and the sure knowledge that I was going to...” She caught her breath and her eyes popped wide open. She looked like she was starting to panic. But no Katie looked out her eyes. Oh my! I knew what she was going to say. I looked at Kyle and we looked over at Blackfeather. He was bobbing his head up and down. Of course, he might have just been looking for another crumb. I got to my feet and came around by Kyle. We both knew. We knelt in front of Aubrey.

“Aubrey Diaz,” I started.

“Will you marry us,” Kyle and I finished. The smile broke out on her face like sunshine.

“Yes!” She hugged us both to her. “I think we should wait a while before we start having babies, though,” she whispered. We laughed. Then Aubrey pulled me to the step beside her and turned to kneel next to Kyle.

“Laramie Wyoming,” Kyle started.

“Will you marry us?” he and Aubrey finished. They proposed to me! I couldn’t find my voice. I just kept nodding my head and kissing them. I pulled Kyle to the step and knelt beside Aubrey.

“Kyle Redtail,” she said.

“Will you marry us?”

Moms and Pa clapped their hands behind us. Moms both grabbed hold of Pa and dragged him into the house.

I hate to admit it, but I’ve read a few romance novels. Mom Mar is a sucker for them and I used to sneak them out of her room and read them at night. It’s almost impossible for two people to unbutton each other’s shirts at the same time. Add a third person and it gets even more complicated. Clothes don’t just ‘fall off’ as if they were leaves on trees. They get hooked on your earrings and tangled in your hair. Then there’s that moment when you start to pull your man’s shirt off and discover you didn’t unbutton the cuffs and he’s hogtied. Aubrey got to giggling so hard that we almost couldn’t get his hands free.