Chapter 35

I went back to Dark Wolf’s place. Neither Marylou nor Toni were there. Dark Wolf was at the Powwow grounds. I thought about going out to the kiln compound, but that would take at least a couple of hours. Silver was a good ve-hickle, but he wasn’t the speediest of mounts.

I made an after-lunch snack for myself and took it outside. Sitting in the shade of a large pine tree (okay, so maybe it wasn’t a ‘pine’ exactly, but it was an evergreen and it had pointy needles) I just looked at Hunter, while he looked at me.

[Lexi, are you certain that you weren’t a bit hormonal during your outburst at Sun Bear? It is time for your period, you know.]

You too? A female says something you don’t like, and – whammo – it’s because she’s having a period? You ARE a male, I’m sure of it. Didn’t sixteen centuries teach you anything?

[Lexi, calm yourself. I am not a male, nor a female.] He turned on a robotic voice. [I am neither. I only raised a point, since I think your outburst was somewhat overdone. Sun Bear will be a part of your life – a valuable part in many ways. Of course, he has to prove himself. You’ll see.]

Sun Bear? He’s long and lean. Good underlying musculature. But his attitude, ugh.

My mind was adrift for a while. Thinking of Painted Rock, doing his TKD down among the Diné. Then Sun Bear. Not a nice guy, but nice to look at. Involved with Karate. They were almost the same, only different. I closed my eyes and fell asleep, amid thoughts of Rock, Bear and Tommy Sussex with his pants around his shoes.

When I awoke, my internal clock told me it was several hours later. A crow (or a raven or a starling – never could tell those black birds apart) was delicately picking at my sandwich, which had fallen out of my hand. Imagine! I fell asleep and didn’t finish my snack. Maybe I was on my period and everything was out of whack.

[Lexi, crows and ravens are different names for the same bird. A raven is sometimes the name for a slightly larger bird, but biologically it’s the same bird. A starling is an entirely different bird, somewhat smaller.]

I forgot, I’ve got Wikipedia at my slightest beck and call. Thanks, Red.

My mind must have been in neutral. I started thinking: if things being wrong was called ‘out of whack’ what would be ‘in whack’?

[Lexi, wake up! You’re drifting again. It’s almost five o’clock and people will start coming to the house.]

I looked at Hunter, still on his perch. I’ll bet things are always in whack for him. I gave myself a mental shake, like a dog coming out of a lake. Speaking of dogs, I wondered if Shen had had her puppies.

Marylou stuck her head out the back door. “Hi. You look comfy. Could we get together tomorrow to go over what you have in mind for the compound?”

She paused to see if I was going to say anything other than “Sure” and then waved and went back inside.

Dark Wolf was just getting Missauga settled in the paddock and I roused myself to greet him half-way between the barn and the house. “Did you have a productive day, White Owl?” he asked.

“Not really,” I replied. “Adam Sun Bear and I met and we threw some dust at each other. We agreed to start over again. I hope that Maritsuki won’t be disappointed with me. I didn’t care for Sun Bear’s attitude toward Shoshone traditions.”

“Hmmf,” he said. After a few steps he continued, “When young men go to a far away college it is both good and bad. Good for them to learn new things. Bad for staying connected to the Tribe.”

There it was again. The Crying Wolf / Dark Wolf puzzle. It seemed Soon Maritsuki was to have a similar conundrum with Sun Bear.

After supper, Soon-san called. He said that Alonso Dark Water would be coordinating my protection and my travel while I was in the Wind River Reservation. He and Sun Bear would be picking me up tomorrow morning, and what time would be convenient? We picked about nine. I remember meeting Alonso earlier, after the ‘Maritsuki Technique’ training session, some weeks back. Red’s download said that he was a Sergeant in the Shoshone-Arapaho Police Department.

I worked a little on the drawings for the buildings in the compound and a general outline of the compound itself. I liked the way it was coming along. A big hacienda for me surrounded by a large fenced-in area for the dogs. A security building ... or maybe a police station? But the security force would focus on the kilns and my safety. An airport big enough to take the planes that would deliver the lithium crystals. I wondered how many pounds (tons?) of crystals we’d need to move on a regular basis.

Places for the workers and the support buildings for that: store, daycare, training, and a recreation center. No sense building a ghetto for them to live in.

Oh. A headquarters building for the Spirit of the Hunter, Inc., Wyoming division.

[Lexi, time for you to do your katas and meditate before bedtime.]

Red, does your alarm clock have a snooze button? Okay, okay. I’m going.

... ...

[Lexi, it’s 7:30. You want to have breakfast before you go, don’t you?]

Huh? Morning already? Okay, okay. I’m up.

[Have you noticed that your sleep-Jersey doesn’t come to the same place on your thighs that it used to? You have grown significantly in the past month. I fear that my adjustments to your reaction to hormone releases may have accelerated your growth spurts. My view of your original history showed that you didn’t grow significantly until you were sixteen. Now it is happening at your current age: thirteen and a quarter.]

No sweat. I hated being so small. I’ll just have to get some shorts to sleep in.

[What about the corollary? That perhaps my adjustments will allow you to be taller overall? Will that be a problem?]

What are you going to do about it? If I turn out to be several inches taller than my original life #1 height of 5’6” I won’t mind. Unless I don’t stop growing. Then I guess I’ll be a basketball player. Can’t change it now, can we?

[Of course not. We shall have to wait, and see how your life #2 body deals with it, I guess.]

Red! Snap out of it. I’ve never seen you have doubts about something you can’t change. Now, get back in whack!

I took my new, somewhat longer and baggier, jeans into the bathroom. I would have to take a fold out of the hem of my jeans pretty soon. I showered and took some extra time to braid my long hair. Nothing fancy, just a long ponytail type braid. I threw on a nice blouse – if my jeans were ill-fitting, I still wanted to look okay. All right, I wanted to look good.

I went out for breakfast, and found Dark Wolf eating some blueberries and munching on a croissant. I plated some of the same for me. Coffee for Dark Wolf, OJ for me.

“Where’s Toni?” I asked.

“Antonia is helping Shen have her puppies this morning. I can’t imagine why. Wolves have had pups for thousands of years without help.” He shoveled blueberries in between sentences.

“I’m going out with one of Soon-san’s students this morning. We’re going out to the area near the gopher hole you recommended. That’s a bit on the rough and ready side for me,” I said.