Dance of the Bones by J. A. Jance

and see the future?”
    â€œIt’s not exactly like reading tea leaves,” Lani said. “Do you remember back when you were in third grade? I went with you on a nighttime school field trip to Kitt Peak, and they let us take turns looking through the telescopes.”
    â€œSure, I remember,” Gabe said with a laugh. “For a long time, I thought I’d be an astronomer someday when I grew up. I’m over that, too, by the way.”
    Ignoring his sarcasm, Lani continued. “When the scientists up there . . .” She paused and motioned with her head toward the collection of invisible buildings on top of the mountain that made up the Kitt Peak National Observatory. “When they look through their telescopes, they use powerful lenses to focus on things that eyes alone could never see. These crystals work the same way. They allow your mind to focus on things that you can’t necessarily see. Here, try it.”
    She passed the crystals over to Gabe. For a long time, he stared down at them. Finally, reluctantly, he held the first one up to his eye, peering through it at Lani.
    â€œWhat do you see?” she prompted.
    â€œYou, of course.”
    â€œBe honest now,” she said. “Tell the truth. Tell me what you really see. Don’t you see someone who’s a friend of your parents? Someone who won’t mind her own business and keeps telling you what to do?”
    Gabe looked crestfallen. “I guess,” he admitted.
    â€œTry again. Look at the fire this time,” she suggested. “What do you see there?”
    He held up the second crystal and peered through it.
    â€œI see a fire,” he answered, “a fire and nothing else.”
    â€œBut what is your mind focusing on as you look at the fire? Are you grateful to be sitting by it, glad of its warmth, or are you thinking something else? Maybe, instead of watching the fire burn, you’d rather be at home, playing with your Xbox or watching TV.”
    The startled expression on the boy’s face told Lani that she had hit the nail on the head. Gabe immediately passed the crystals back to Lani.
    â€œObviously I’m no good at this,” he said.
    â€œAll right,” Lani agreed. “Let me try.” She held one of the crystals up to her eye. “I see a boy who was born in the backseat of a car the night his grandfather was buried. Fat Crack knew before you were born that you would be a boy. He hoped you’d follow in his footsteps.”
    â€œAnd be what, a medicine man?” Gabe asked with a derisive snort. “Right. How much money do medicine men make these days? Where do they go to school?”
    â€œMedicine men go to school in places just like this,” Lani said quietly. “They sit around fires and listen to stories—­the stories their ancestors used to explain why the world around them—­their particular world—­was the way it was. Those stories don’t have to be scientifically accurate to be true, to contain elements of truth.”
    Gabe remained unconvinced. “Whatever,” he said dismissively, shaking his head.
    Lani held up the second crystal. Looking through it, she frowned as she spoke. “I see something strange here—­a woman, a white-­haired Milgahn woman. I don’t understand it, but she’s dangerous somehow. You need to stay away from her.”
    Lani found the idea of an Anglo woman being a Dangerous Object both worrisome and puzzling. Dangerous Objects were an essential part of the Tohono O’odham tradition of Staying Sickness. According to ancient customs, there were two kinds of sicknesses abroad in the world. Traveling Sicknesses, the kinds caused by germs, were the ones Dr. Walker-­Pardee routinely treated with antibiotics. Those affected everybody, Indian and Anglo alike. Staying Sicknesses, on the other hand, a kind of Spirit Sickness, were caused by Dangerous Objects and affected