they came to the small dwelling that once had been hers before she married Chief Silver Wing. In it now lay an ailing chiefâthe beloved Echohawk.
Mariah stiffened when she heard some sort of chanting coming from inside the wigwam. She looked quickly over to Nee-kah, questioning her with her eyes.
âThat is a Mide priest, one of our peopleâs shamans of the grand medicine society, the Mide-wi-win, that you are hearing,â Nee-kah said matter-of-factly. âHe comes now and then to work his cures over Echohawk. Come. Let us go inside. You can watch.â
Mariahâs knees were weak at the thought of seeing Echohawk again, having never forgotten their eye contact during the surprise ambush. Should he recognize her, so much would be lost to her.
Shakily she followed Nee-kah into the wigwam.
Chapter 8
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
âBlake
Â
Â
Â
Upon entering Echohawkâs wigwam, Mariah scarcely breathed. The room was dim, the fireâs glow and the faint light drifting down from the smoke hole in the ceiling giving off only enough light for her to see a man standing over Echohawk, who lay on a sleeping platform in the deep shadows along, one wall, furs spread over him, up to his chin.
From this distance Mariah could not see Echohawkâs face, but seeing how still he lay proved that her father had inflicted upon him a terrible injury.
Guilt spread through her like wildfire when she thought of that very instant she had seen her father bring the butt of his rifle across Echohawkâs skull. She ached inside to know how this injury had affected him.
He was partially blindâand he just might die!
Oh, but she wished from the bottom of her heart that she would be given a chance to make things up to him.
To see him full of life again.
To see the sparkle of his fathomless dark eyes....
âCome,â Nee-kah whispered, drawing Mariah from her troubled thoughts. Nee-kah tugged on her hand. âLet us sit down. We do not want to disturb the Mide priestâs healing ritual.â
Mariah smiled weakly and nodded. She followed Nee-kahâs lead and sat down on a soft mat in the far shadows, away from the Mide priest. She straightened her back and folded her legs beneath her as she leaned forward, wanting to see Echohawkâs face, yet still faint to her because of the damnable darkness of the wigwam.
She could not relax. The Mide priestâs appearance was frightening. On his forehead were two black lines that started at his eyes, and similar lines were painted by his ears. His hands, too, had been painted with dark lines.
âThe lines by the priestâs eyes show that he can see the future,â Nee-kah whispered. âAnd the ones by his ears are because he can tell what is happening even at a distance. His touch can bring healing or death. That is why there are marks on his hands.â
His breechclout was of white buckskin, decorated with designs of porcupine quills and both copper and silver beads. And he wore a thong with a white seashell around his neck.
Seeing the direction of Mariahâs gaze, Nee-kah explained, âThat shell is called a megis . It is a symbol of the Mideâs power.â
Folding her hands on her lap, Mariah watched attentively as the priest sat down beside Echohawkâs platform. When he picked up his drum and began to sing a high-pitched chant, his rawhide-covered drum thumping out the beat as he sang, the thump-thump of the drum unnerved Mariah even more.
To her, it seemed to carry with it the sound of doom.
As though Nee-kah had read Mariahâs thoughts, she leaned over and whispered into Mariahâs ear. âThe deep throb of the water drum the Mide priest is playing represents the heartbeat of the creator, the Great Spirit,â she explained. She lifted her nose into the air and sniffed. âAnd, No-din, do you smell the sweetness? Cedar boughs are burning in the lodge
Ellis Peters
Alexandra V
Anna Sheehan
Bobbi Marolt
Charlaine Harris
Maureen Lindley
Joanna A. Haze
Lolah Runda
Nonnie Frasier
Meredith Skye