CHAPTER 33

Up the river, Anoki washes her feet and hums a beautiful song. She carefully braids two long braids and wraps one into a bun, then looks at her brother, Walpi.

"I never hear you speak of Mali. Do you miss our sister?" Walpi asks, resting his feet in the stream.

"Of course. I think about her every day. Don't you miss her?" Anoki inquires, looking off in the distance with a somber expression. She wraps the other braid into a bun.

"No, not really."

Anoki gasps. "Why do you not miss our sister?"

Walpi shrugs. "No doubt the black robes have married her to some Mexican man by now. She has always been happy. I am sure she will be happy again."

I hadn't thought of that, Anoki thinks. "That is what they do." She gives an affirmative nod. Probably because the black robes tell them that a woman who isn't productive will have worms grow out of her fingers. I hate the Mexicans who pay the Navajo with whiskey to steal away our fine Hopi women.

"Soon she will have babies, and that always makes women happiest," Walpi nonchalantly replies, as he places his flute in his mouth and blows.

Anoki's eyes nearly spring out of her head. "Do you not understand a woman's mind or heart?"

Walpi looks at her with curiosity. "No. I am not a woman. How could I know a woman's thoughts?"

"Brother, I fear you have wasted too much time fishing and playing your flute. I think you are making yourself stupid. Come, listen to me." She pats the ground beside her. "A woman's heart is like a puzzle piece. When we are young like I am, women desperately want to find their place."

"How do you find your place?"

"That is not so easy. But we know it when our hearts are led to that place, because we follow the trail of love. But this is not all…"

"Love has no footprints to track. How would you ever find a woman's heart if it leaves no trail?"

"By love's bright wings."

"Love has wings? I don't think so. I think women just need to be told what to do and how to do it. They will be fine with a man who gives them babies, food, and leads them through life, with or without love."

"My worst fears are realized brother. You are stupid." She swats him on the head. "Without love, our sister will wish she were dead, even if her heart goes on beating and her lungs keep breathing."

"Do not tell me that. I cannot bear to think of her in pain."

"It is time for you to stop being foolish and start thinking manly thoughts. Now listen to your sister and see if you do not hear wisdom."

"Okay, I am listening."

"If the Navajo sold Mali to the Mexicans, would they not sell our mother?"

"Yes, I suppose they would."

"Do you miss our mother?"

Her words make Walpi's eyes tear up. "I miss Mother terribly. I miss bringing her presents. I miss her soothing voice. I miss her stories. No one should be without their mother. It is a hard life."

"Ah, so you know love because you love your mother. That is good. If Mother is sold, then she has a new family. Will those children make her happy?"

"I hadn't thought of that. What if she loves those children more than us? What can we do? We are a peaceful tribe." Walpi wipes tears from his eyes.

"See, love does have a trail. It is here on your cheeks. This is the concern I was looking for. Now think of how much sorrow Father must have. He loved Mother more than any man has ever loved a woman."

"How can you know?"

"You don't hear him crying all night? Where do you think the wildflowers beneath his window get their water? We live in a desert."

Walpi thinks on it for a moment, and then cries harder. "Don't tell me any more. I cannot hear your heavy words."

"But you must. Now listen. The other thing I was going to tell you about a woman is that she must not only know where her place is in the puzzle of life, but her mind will torture her until she knows what her part is in the puzzle. Here is the part we are going to play in the love for our mother. I have gathered many beads and precious yellow stones. The white men like the shiny soft gold very much. For this reason, all Indians are willing to trade with them. I will split what little we have, and I will offer every tribe we trade with a portion of the beads and yellow stone. When one of them brings us Mother, we will give them the rest. I will use the Mexicans' dirty dealings against them and offer something more valuable than whiskey. This is how we will bring our mother back to our family. This is also how we will get our sister home."

"I am even more sad for you now, sister. How do you know they won't kill you and take what little you have?"

"Because I have learned from the gophers. I have dug holes and buried it here and there in places only I know. I will not tell anyone, not even you."

She wraps her arms around Walpi and hugs him.

"Won't Mali and Mother have children? Will they bring them here, too?"

"Yes. Everything that was ours will be ours again."

"Do you promise?" Walpi asks, sitting up and wiping his nose with his arm.

"Yes, I promise. Now let us talk about something else. I do not like to see you so sad."

"What do you want to talk about?" Walpi asks as he lifts his flute and plays a song that his mother used to ask him to play.

"Oh, I like this song," Anoki compliments him. She looks around and shakes her head like she's thinking terribly hard. "Tell me, Brother. When does a man know he loves a woman?"

"How should I know? I have never been in love."

"Never?"

"No, never!" He gives her a long, firm glance that lets her know he's not playing her game.

"Too bad," she says with a shrug. "For a woman it makes our blood boil like hot springs, and every part of our bodies comes to life with a tingling sensitivity that makes us feel like we are…"

She's succeeds in gaining his attention.

"Are…?"

"You won't know until it happens to you because you would not humor your sweet sister." She sticks her tongue out at him.

He gasps, then sticks his tongue out at her. "I knew you were teasing me. You are like the bobcat. Using crafty cunning wildcat calls that taunt and trick."

Anoki shrugs as she winds her other braid up and fastens it in place.

"It is like you are floating away." She grins and presses her hands to her mouth. "No, it is like you are flying away, even though your feet are planted on the ground."

Walpi looks at her feet. "Are you floating or flying?"

She looks down and gives it some thought. "I do not know for certain. I feel a rush of wind. I look up and I see the clouds. Then I spin around because…" She spins around, then stops.

"Because what?"

"Because…I don't know what else to do. I am just so happy! I am always moving, but then I am standing still."

Along the riverbank, Kiowa hides in the weeds. He hears what she says but cannot understand her Hopi words.

"She is the most beautiful, graceful creature I have ever seen," he whispers to Night Wind.

Where is your courage, you fool? he asks himself. You have planned this a certain way. Why do you not rush to her and lift her up on your horse and steal her away?

He nervously chews on his fingernails.

"Her hair is still woven in buns. She is shielded by the magic of purity." He pats his horse. "Do not laugh at me, friend. Of course I had words aplenty. We were alone in our tepee, then. In the sanctity of our home, I could say anything. Now she is there and I am here and I feel much safer behind this wall thorny weeds."

Anoki spins around and flaps her arms like a bird.

Oh, how I wish she knew how much I love her. What am I to do? Should I hide like a bug or charge like a mountain lion? It would be wise to first see why she is so excited.

"Father will wonder where we are if we do not return home soon," Walpi informs his sister.

"Just a few more moments," she says wistfully, looking off in the distant horizon.

"Every day you come here and bathe, more often than any woman in the town. You stop and stare off to the skies. Tell me, Sister, are you going to float or fly away?"

She shrugs, smiles, and shouts, "If I could, I would fly back into his arms." She wraps her arms around herself and pretends it is Kiowa holding her. Around and around she spins, never taking her eyes off the horizon. "Oh, Kiowa, where are you, my brave, strong chief?"

A safe distance from her, Kiowa beams with sheer delight when he hears his name. Does she speak of me or of my tribe? he wonders.

Walpi plays his flute faster. This will make her fly.

With a heart full of hope, Anoki begins singing a song she's practiced all winter.

My fingers twist around dandelion stocks. I pull them till they pop.

Then press their root to my ear. They say nothing. I frown.

The Navajo burned our crops and starved our bellies.

I smile, for my eyes don't eat unless they feast on you.

My lips thirst for yours. My ears listen for…Kiowa!

BRAVE WAR CHIEF. You charged through the walls of my heart.

If only I could go back to the night that you caught me. Catch me again!

You saved me that day. And the next day, and every day since, I have prayed for word.

Your voice is all I want, yet WINTER snowflakes fell and no words at all.

Does the howling wind blow words from you to me? Can the wind be so empty?

Or is that Night Wind rushing past me?

My love is powerful. It will float Night Wind to the sky and send word back.

Leap into heaven without regard for the moon. She is jealous!

Dance on her face. Her light makes flames upon the water.

Sprint across the sparkling stars. My eyes fix on the sky.

You have gone too far! Turn around. I am the star!

The sun's eternal flame flickers. I want to see it dance in the palm of my hand. I reach to catch it…

Anoki doesn't finish. She reaches up for the sun and keeps her hand stretched out.

"And?" Walpi asks, breaking her spell.

"And what?" Anoki answers.

"And then what happens when you catch this flame?"

"I cannot know that. It hasn't happened yet. I can't finish my song until he finishes it for me."

"But you could just make up an ending. Then we would have another song to play at the next dance."

"Okay, then. I place my wishes on sparrows' wings." Anoki joins them by flapping her arms and pretending to fly away.

"Oh, forget it. You are wasting time with the birds. Who could know if he loves you but Kiowa himself?" Walpi interrupts.

"You cannot know what it is to be a woman and wish to be wanted."

"Of course not. I am a man. Why would I want to know such silly things?"

Anoki grunts, "What better moment can a woman have than to know her man wants her? Wants to grab her up and…?"

She captures Walpi's attention. "Yes, and…?"

"And I don't know…" She presses her hands to her lips. Her eyes burn with passion. Her heart is ablaze. In the first spark of love, anything is possible. Fan the spark and it grows into a flame. Maybe he can even steal my heart away. She searches the sky with hope filled eyes. Her bright smile begins to fade. Oh, I am tricking myself. He probably wants nothing to do with me. She presses the back of her hand to her forehead. Her smile turns to a frown. The Kiowa women are probably more beautiful than I am, anyway. He is from a warrior tribe. No doubt pretty women surround him. Their lips are thin. Mine are plump. Their eyes are wide like stones. Mine are oval like almonds. Their hair is wild and fine like Night Wind's. Mine is neatly braided like bread rolls stuck on both sides of my head like a ram. She presses her hands to her buns and then thrusts her arms out. They make a thud when they plop against her sides.

"What?" Walpi asks.

"I'm just a plain old Hopi Indian girl." Her thoughts flicker back to the other women. She can't help but think of him with other "fine Indian women." Her frown deepens and her happiness melts to welling tears.

Here I am dreaming of that night and probably he has forgotten all about me. She shrugs and looks down to the ground, wiping tears away. Perhaps I should just forget all about him. She bites her bottom lip and feels it quiver between her teeth. If that is even possible. She looks back up to the sky.

"What are these words? You cannot even seem to find them."

She shrugs and faces her brother. "Hope has slipped from my mind. Now I am filled with doubt."

"These are dangerous times, Sister. Hope is scarce. I would choose doubt. There is an abundance of doubt. Anyone in our tribe can find doubt. It hangs on all of our faces." He frowns and pulls at the corners of his mouth with his fingers to exaggerate the doubtful expression.

"Is it so wrong for the Hopi to have hope?"

"Yes, I think so." Walpi goes back to playing his flute.

"Then we disagree. I hope Kiowa…"

Kiowa thinks, For as many times as she's said my name, surely she's talking about me. But what is she saying? He feels like he did in his vision. He wants to move his feet, but they won't go. Will I blow apart like leaves? He holds his hands up in front of his face. Where is Moon Beam when I need him?

Night Wind whinnies as though he is growing as bored of this as Walpi is.

Anoki gasps.

Kiowa curses his horse. "You brave fool! I will make a deal with the heavens here and now. If they send Moon Beam back, I will trade you for him in an instant." With his chest puffed out, he lets Night Wind lead the way, while he thinks of what he has rehearsed to say.

A great rustling and snapping of branches startles Anoki and Walpi.

As Night Wind picks up his pace, Kiowa orients him toward Anoki.

Walpi panics and shouts, "RUN, SISTER!" He drops his flute and readies his hunting spear. "This time I will protect you, Anoki! I will lose no more women to the Mexicans!"

A question: Well ladies, did I hit my mark?