Qaletaqa

by Gladden, DelSheree

  If Bhawana was the only one who had had a vision of Uriah, then maybe I would have been forced to agree. Besides, if she was right about Uriah facing the Matwau alone, she also had to be right about what would happen after the fight. There was no chance of me ever admitting that. Nampeyo’s vision was more specific, detailed to give her descendant a chance to fulfill their destiny. I had put so much into her vision, I couldn’t go back now. I wanted to prove Bhawana wrong on how Uriah would beat the Matwau. Because if I did, maybe she would be wrong about Uriah and Melody too. She had to be wrong.

  Uriah wanted my promise, though. What could I say? I would never leave him to fight alone. I still wasn’t sure exactly how my part in this bit of history was going to play out, but I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to help the man I loved. Glancing over my shoulder at Uriah, I could see that his face was adamant in his decision. He would not move from that spot without me making the promise.

  I made my choice. I lied.

  “I promise I’ll stay away from the Matwau, if that’s what you really want.”

  Uriah watched me. I had given in when he would have expected me to fight him. Keeping my face calm was too difficult to manage, so I tried to look defeated rather than deceitful. It seemed to work. Sighing in quiet relief, he lowered his gaze. I looked away again and hid my face.

  “You don’t have to leave yet,” Uriah said. His hands grasped my shoulders and ran down my arms. “The creatures are coming back to watch us. We can’t split up until they leave us alone again. I don’t want them figuring out what we’re doing.”

  I took Uriah’s hands and pulled his arms around me. I hoped the creatures never left us. Well, part of me did. We had worked so hard to find out the Matwau’s secret. I couldn’t let that advantage pass by, even if it meant letting Uriah make part of his journey alone.

  “We should get going,” Harvey said suddenly. “Even if the creatures are watching us, we still shouldn’t waste any time. We may not have much left.”

  25: Second Chance to Choose

  For the first time ever, I wondered if Claire was lying to me. She had given me the answer I wanted, but I didn’t believe it. That terrified me. I shoved a stray pair of socks into my backpack and watched her. Harvey had gone back to his room to gather his own things, and Claire was suddenly extremely busy rounding up her loose possessions.

  I understood why Claire wanted to be with me when I faced the Matwau. She believed that if she was there at the end I would be less likely to run away with Melody. It was impossible for either of us to stop thinking about the prophecy. I couldn’t get those last few words out of my head no matter how hard I tried.

  Nothing of Bhawana’s vision had come to pass yet, but everything was leading up to it. I could feel events pulling me step by step toward my prophesied fate. I clung to the hope Samantha and Kaya had given me about the Bhawana’s misconception, but felt compelled to let the vision play out exactly as it had been shown. Resisting Melody depended on my own strength. Claire had done it, and so could I. Beating the Matwau, however, depended on me following the exact steps I had been given.

  I would simply have to hope Claire would come to see the importance of keeping her promise before she had the chance to break it. Her stepping into the fight would lead to Talon lying on the desert floor bleeding to death like I had seen when Kaya looked into my future. I had no reason to make that particular connection, but somehow I knew it to be true. There was no other way for Talon to end up dead unless he joined the fight. Talon knew how important Claire was to me. Although he would surely threaten to gut me himself when I asked him to guard Claire instead of help me, he would agree to it in the end. He didn’t know love the way humans did, but he understood my enveloping need to protect Claire, and would keep her from harm when I couldn’t.

  If Claire breaks her promise and follows me, so will Talon.

  The harsh sound of the zipper on Claire’s backpack being zipped up startled me. I realized I was holding a wobbled up shirt in my hand, frozen right above my own pack. Hurriedly stuffing it in, I pulled the zipper closed and swung the bag onto my shoulder. Claire was already standing by the door with her own bag. She was unusually quiet, especially for what lay ahead.

  “Ready?” I asked.

  Claire nodded and pulled the door open to find Harvey standing there with a hand poised to knock.

  “Oh, good, you guys are ready,” Harvey said as he lowered his hand. “Let’s get going then.”

  Without waiting, Harvey turned and stalked down the hallway. Claire was quick to follow him. I felt like I was wading through hip deep water as I trailed behind them down hall.

  The not so fresh air of Greeley did little to cheer the three of us as we stepped into the parking lot. The gentle calming presence of Talon did help take away some of the bile building in my throat. Not wanting to send Harvey into a fit again, Talon stayed out of sight as he waited for me to come to him.

  I pushed through the thick bushes at the end of the parking lot. Talon’s extended claws scratched at the ground. His ears were laid back as well.

  “The creatures have returned,” he said.

  “Melody warned me they were on their way back last night when I spoke to her,” I said.

  A low growl made Talon’s upper lip curl up over his sharp teeth. “Sometimes I regret teaching you how to shield your thoughts from me,” he said, making a visible effort to relax his irritation. “You could have warned me about them returning. I very nearly stumbled upon one of them on my way back to meet you.”

  “Sorry, Talon.” Ever since Talon had taught me how to make the shield I had worked to make it a permanent part of me. I valued Talon’s thoughts immensely, but I valued the peace of having no one sifting through my mind whenever they pleased as well. Still, I should have thought to pass the warning on to Talon as soon as I woke up.

  “They’ll probably be with us for a few hours or so,” I said. “The Matwau sent them back to watch us for a while. He doesn’t like the fact that I have companions with me.”

  “Does the Matwau know who your companions are?” Talon asked.

  When Melody told me about what she had overheard, she made a point of saying that the Matwau referred my companions as “the others.” He had yet to actually use Harvey or Claire’s names. As far as Melody knew, he didn’t know who I was travelling with, but I wasn’t sure about that. The creatures had been watching Harvey and Melody’s cottage. They would have seen Harvey when he got home.

  I doubted darkness would have obscured their vision at all, or that they wouldn’t have been able to figure out who Harvey was, even if they didn’t know his name. Claire could very well still be a mystery to the Matwau. The creatures had never seen her before we arrived at the cottage. She was just another human woman to them.

  “The Matwau may know who Harvey is, but I don’t think he knows Claire is who’s with me,” I said.

  Talon nodded. The emotion emanating from him felt satisfied and relieved. “Most of the animals flee when they feel the creatures presence, but only far enough to stay out of their path. They will not go far enough that they cannot still report of the creatures.”

  “Just let me know when they leave.”

  Now it was time to ask for Talon’s promise.

  “As soon as the creatures leave we’ll be splitting up. We know where the Matwau’s leading us. Harvey and Claire will head for Taos, New Mexico once we’re alone again. I want you to go with them.”

  Talon’s corded body tensed and his teeth were showing once again. “We have already discussed this. I will not leave you to fight the Matwau alone.”

  “You will, Talon. I need you to protect Claire. You know as well as I do that if the creatures find her they’ll kill her. I have no choice. I have to face the Matwau. I can’t protect Claire at the same time.” Talon didn’t relax even a little.

  “Claire will not be left behind any more than I will,” Talon said.

  “She’s already agreed.”

&nb
sp; It was difficult to tell a cougar’s emotion just by their furry faces, but the surprise floating into my mind was unmistakable. Surprise quickly deepened, and although Talon hid his thoughts from me, I could tell he was thinking carefully about what I had said. I wondered whether he was having the same trouble I was trying to figure out if Claire was lying when she agreed. Suddenly his usual calm returned and Talon straightened.

  “If Claire has agreed to stay behind, then I will add my promise to hers,” he said diplomatically.

  I wanted to feel relief at the second promise I desperately wanted to have, but instead I felt the same sneaking suspicion that Talon’s promise was as thin as Claire’s had been. I could feel my jaw tightening. Strength of will was not enough to unclench it. Nodding curtly, I turned away and pushed back through the bushes. Talon wriggled after me and leaped into the back of the truck with ease. He was scrunched under the motorcycle, nearly invisible, two seconds later.

  I glanced over at Harvey to see him tapping the top of his steering wheel with an anxious glare. I had explained on the way down that we had to stay together until the creatures abandoned their watch. Even though he understood the necessity of it, he still didn’t like it. Doing my best to ignore his steely expression, I climbed into the cab of the truck and drove out of the parking lot.

  “South?” Claire asked.

  I nodded. The bond had been waiting patiently when I awoke, tugging me back toward my home. The waiting part grated on me to the point of wanting to scream, but there was little I could do about it. The Matwau was undoubtedly enjoying the game he insisted we play.

  “Do you think he’s leading you to Taos already?” Claire shifted nervously at the thought. I hoped we hadn’t figured everything out too late for it to be useful.

  “He could still change his direction at any moment,” I said wearily. Reaching the end brought mixed feelings, but reaching it too quickly for Harvey and Claire to be safely out of the way brought only dread. “I doubt he’ll head straight there either way. I’ll probably have to go halfway to Texas before getting to Taos.” I tried to keep my tone light, but Claire didn’t seem to notice. Her grimace was her only response.

  Pulling the worn old book from Quaile out of her backpack, Claire held it in her lap for a few seconds before looking at me sideways. I knew she had been reading it to herself, trying to get through it as quickly as possible in hopes of finding something useful. She hadn’t bothered to share anything she’d read, so I assumed there was little in it that was useful to our looming problem.

  Shaman didn’t always have the same notion of what was important in a situation as the people actually in trouble. The book was probably filled with origination stories and anecdotes about the gods or Coyote or some such nonsense meant to give me wisdom before I met the Matwau. A clear cut “how-to” guide was what I really needed.

  At this point I had little hope there would be anything in the journal that I hadn’t already learned from either Kaya and Samantha or Ahiga anyway, but Claire’s hesitation to resume her quiet reading made me wonder what was really in the book. She had been acting strangely since we found each other again. At first I thought it was simply everything we had been through and still faced, but the more I thought on it the more I started to worry Claire’s promise wasn’t the only thing I should doubt. Did she know more than she was telling me?

  “Would you mind reading aloud?” I asked. “It gets really boring just watching the road, and I like hearing your voice while we drive.”

  Claire looked up, surprised by my request. The emotion only lasted a short time. She smiled and squeezed my hand. “Sure, Uriah. I’m sure we’ll find something useful in here.” Snuggling next to me Claire opened the book and began to read.

  “Sitting at the window, I watch the snow fall. Snow is such a rare treat in San Juan. I came out of Anise Yazzie’s house this afternoon just in time to see Uriah and Claire walking home from school.

  “Neither of them noticed me. They were too absorbed in simply being near each other. Every time I see them anymore they have the same look of complete devotion about them. On any other couple I would be filled with joy and hope for their future, but not on Uriah and Claire. When I see those two, my heart breaks. I want to tell them, warn them, but what good would that do? Why not let them have a little happiness before they are forced to part?

  “If there were any real chance of them staying together, I would do everything in my power to make it happen. Uriah and Claire were both good children to begin with, but each had their troubles. Uriah was far too passive and shy. He was always letting people push past him and ignore him. He was a very bright young man, but few ever knew it because he constantly downplayed his intelligence.

  “Claire on the other hand had no problem finding the spotlight. Beautiful and energetic, she often sought after attention to take the focus off the strained relationship between her and her father. Thomas is a poor excuse for a father, I will admit, but Claire was no help to the situation with her constant tantrums.”

  Claire grunted and lowered the book for a second. “This is a real self-esteem boosting section, isn’t it? I had no idea Quaile thought so highly of us.”

  “That was a long time ago, and Quaile is an idiot. I thought we already decided that one a while ago,” I said with a laugh. My arm slipped around her shoulders. “Besides, neither of us were that bad. I wasn’t shy or passive. I just didn’t need to pick fights or have a million friends. We’re not those same people anymore, anyway.”

  Claire’s sour expression softened. “No, I guess we’re not. Do you really think I was an attention seeking tantrum thrower?”

  “I think you were more of an attention magnet,” I said. I was only half teasing. Claire drew people to her without trying. Even Quaile should have been able to see the difference. “You were always so fun and energetic that people just wanted to be around you. And if you did throw any tantrums, I’m sure your dad deserved it.”

  “Do you want me to keep going?” Claire asked. “It may be too cheerful to handle.”

  “Go ahead. I could use the distraction,” I said.

  Claire nodded reluctantly and continued to read.

  “I was surprised when Uriah and Claire seemed to fall for each other so deeply. On the surface, they had so little in common. I have never believed the adage about opposites attracting. It honestly never made any sense to me, but as I have watched Uriah and Claire grow closer, I see exactly why they are so determined to be together. Where Uriah lacks, Claire can bring him up, and where Claire falls short, Uriah inspires her to do better.

  “I want so badly to tell them about the other Twin Souls before them that have fought the bond, because I know that when the time comes, these two will fight the bond harder than any other. I want to tell them, but fear holds me back. My mentor, Orenda, made me memorize every known story of Twin Souls, the ones with fairytale endings and the ones without. I doubted a few of the happier stories, but I believed every word of the sadder ones.

  “Reciting the tales of young lovers who spent their strength searching for a way to break the bond only to collapse in utter heartbreaking exhaustion, their hearts and bodies no longer able to fight, had torn away at me piece by piece. Yes, they wanted another beside their Twin Soul, but that desire alone was not enough. None of them had enough power or commitment to match the strength of the bond.

  “The lovers in the stories, their love was so strong in the beginning, but the bond hammered them into submission as time passed. My heart broke for them because even after they gave in to the bond they were not happy. They lived the rest of their lives bitter of the fate they had been forced to accept. What should have been a joyous occasion was forever tainted by their loss of choice and freedom.

  “I remember asking Orenda one day why such people were not allowed to choose whether or not they wanted the bond when they were faced with the decision. Orenda grabbed my chin painfully and pulled my face close to hers. ‘They already made that choice
once,’ she spat. ‘Why should they get a second chance to choose?’ I did not understand what she meant, but Orenda refused to discuss it anymore and sent me to pull weeds in her garden for my impudence.”

  I wasn’t sure whether that was the end of the entry or not, but Claire closed the journal and set it on the seat beside her. Ever since hearing about the others who fought the bond, I knew Claire had been mulling over the problem in her mind. She felt something important in that realization. Perhaps I was too focused on reaching Melody to feel it as well, or maybe it was another of Claire’s gifts manifesting itself, but I’d had no answer for her when she had asked me about it earlier.

  After hearing about Orenda’s angry reaction to a much younger Quaile’s curiosity, I still didn’t have anything to offer except more questions. Growing up, my mother never told me the sad tales of Twin Souls. I heard only about the brave warriors and happy endings. Twin Souls had been portrayed as a blessing. But even knowing the darker side, Orenda’s response made little sense.

  I waited, letting Claire try to puzzle it out.

  “It’s starting to make sense…I think,” Claire said. I raised my eyebrows in surprise. “It makes no sense that the Twin Soul bond would be able to take away your freewill, and like Kaya said, there’s no origination story for Twin Souls.”

  If this was making sense to Claire, it sure wasn’t making sense to me. “What do you mean?”

  Claire turned to look at me as if she had forgotten I was there. “Oh, um, Orenda told Quaile they had already made the choice and shouldn’t get to make it again. If they made the choice before they were born, then the Twin Souls bond isn’t actually taking away their freewill.”