Chapter 34

Well, going to watch Shen have puppies SOON didn’t mean that Shen was going to have puppies NOW. Surprise! Shen had her own schedule. The wolf bitch was alert and prowling around the few rooms that Toni had closed off for her. She was troubled, probably by the feelings inside her. She was going to whelp a bunch of puppies pretty damn soon.

But not this evening.

I went back to Dark Wolf’s and prowled myself. I prowled through the refrigerator, of course. It was many hours since lunch and I was a growing girl, after all. I made myself a sandwich of some kind of meat – who knew what kind? And a Dr. Pepper. How did Toni know that Dr. Pepper was my fave? I’m sure that Dark Wolf didn’t do the shopping. I laughed out loud at the thought of the Medicine Man pushing a shopping cart.

The laugh brought Marylou out of the office at the other end of the house. “Oh! Hi,” she said. “What’s so funny?”

“I was just making a sandwich, and thought of Dark Wolf pushing a shopping cart through a market.”

She smiled. “That IS a funny idea. I wonder if he’d wear the full chief’s war bonnet. I could see it if he tried to pay at the cashier with wampum. Ha Ha Ha ... Listen, I got to get to bed. Saturday morning is just a few hours away, and I havta hire some more people to work on the compound you outlined ... See ya tomorrow.”

Out the door she walked. I could hear the growl of her diesel outside.

Red?

[Yes, Lexi.]

Just checking in before I go to bed.

[You haven’t meditated, or done you katas, today. The financial markets have done their thing this week. We added another $325,000 to our legal stash.]

Our ‘stash?’ Nice use of colloquialism, Red. You should have been an Indian grandmother, with the way you keep track of what I should be doing. But you’re right. I need to get to ‘level’ and do my exercises. I wonder what Sensei has in mind for tomorrow.

[Unless it’s in the Shoshone Messenger, next week, I have no idea.]

Funny. You’re funny, you know that?

Retreating to my room, I meditated. I did my katas as Sensei would like, and meditated again as I went to sleep.

...

At breakfast the next morning, I saw that Dark Wolf was looking more upbeat. “Dark Wolf,” I began, “is the news of Bent Nose good today?”

“Yes, he’s had a stroke, but it was fairly minor. He’ll have to take a reduced role in Tribal affairs – at least until he recovers. But he’ll be getting speech and physical therapy daily. We’ll have to get a new guy at the Powwow spectacle to play the ‘Chief’ but ... well, life goes on.” He paused while we munched on jam-covered croissants. “This matter of Bent Nose has me thinking ... Tell me, granddaughter, do you think Crying Wolf would consider coming back to the Piaqogwaiq?”

I looked at him and saw the look of an old man, yearning to reconnect with his only child. “Honestly, grandfather, I do not know. He has a nice house outside Fort Worth, but I don’t see anything connecting him to the area. His house is filled with items that remind him of his Shoshone heritage.”

“I cannot ask him,” he said as he poured himself a mug of coffee. “It is not the place of a father to ask of his son.”

Okay, I could see the problem now. The father’s pride wouldn’t allow him to ask. Probably the same applied to the son. Men, hmmf indeed! We munched on in silence.

...

I went over to the desk and took out some paper. The details of the compound out near the kiln site were, of course, in my brain. I filled out the drawing on paper. I was getting better at copying things onto paper, though sometimes I felt like an advanced computer controlled copier.

[Would you rather I left you alone to work out the details, Lexi?]

No, Red, of course not. And I’m grateful for having all the details laid out with care.

[Then I shall continue to do so. By the way, you asked me to keep track of time. It is 11:30 and time to head over to your Sensei’s house.]

Thanks, Red. The time has passed quickly.

I gathered up the drawings I’d finished, and placed them on Marylou’s desk in the office area of Dark Wolf’s home. She, of course, was out at the log cabin office, on site.

I threw my gi and sparring shoes into Silver’s storage area and putt-putted over to Soon-san’s place. He was sitting in the upstairs living/dining room with a young man of about my age. Well, probably somewhat older. He was almost six feet tall and of Indian – I suspected Shoshone – extraction. He wore his hair in a long ponytail and seemed to be well muscled. He wore jeans and a white T-shirt.

“Ah, White Owl,” exclaimed Soon-san. “Allow me to introduce Adam Sun Bear.” He pronounced ‘sun’ as he would pronounce his own first name: like ‘soon.’”

The young Indian rose, and gave a brief bow. “I am Sun Bear.” He pronounced it like the ‘sun’ in the sky. “Sensei is my father. I am pleased to meet you, White Owl.” He paused, then addressed his father, before I could even respond. It was like he was carrying-on a conversation that was interrupted by my appearance. “With respect, father, I cannot spar with a child. She will be injured or the sparring will have no meaning to either of us.”

Sensei spoke to me. “White Owl, I have asked you here to spar with Sun Bear. It will give me a strong indication of how you have fared after your absence, and how he has fared after his time at college, away from my training.”

So, that told me where he was during my last stay in the Piaqogwaiq. I nodded to Soon-san and then addressed his son. “I will be honored to try and avoid injury during sparring with you,” I said with a grin. “I’m sure the sparring will have no meaning for you, but it will have significance for me.”

[Well played, Lexi.]

It is so easy to deal with males with an arrogance problem.

[Harrumph.]

Oh no! Not you, too. I had to stifle my laugh, or Sun Bear would think it was directed at him. Male ego was a fragile thing.

We went downstairs and I changed in the ladies’ room. Sensei was in a warm-up suit, but Sun Bear had changed into a gi. He wore a black belt, and I knew I’d have to work hard not to get blitzed. Mine was still only white – a beginner’s. It had come with the gi.

We separated and began our bows. I took an extra two seconds to bow, getting my mind settled into my ‘fighting level.’ I saw the red in his waist as he bowed.

I took a stance, and was confused at first. His left leg was only partially red while his right was vibrant. He took a large step, feinted with his left, crashed it to the floor with a mighty yell and began his real move: an axe kick – a high kick that was intended to come down on my head or shoulder with crushing force.

I stepped forward, taking a knee, as his left hit the ground, and crossed my forearms above my head and surged up, following his right leg as it went up. I hit him on the back of his thigh, throwing his balance off and he tumbled back. I’ll give him credit: he broke the fall and tumbled backward, to scramble back to his feet.

I jumped back, waiting for more. He obliged.

His left leg took a big step toward me, and his right lit up red, as he was prepping something. As his left leg hit, I went down and swept the left leg with both of mine. He again tumbled to the ground. He tried a right leg attack, but it went far off course, since I was on the ground. I flailed at his right thigh again with a TKD punch (which I’d learned from Sensei Lee, in Gallup, NM). It landed without much power, but it landed!