by Aimée Thurlo
“Wait a minute. You never mentioned a gift from the peddler,” Gabriel snarled at his brother.
Joshua grinned. “It didn’t seem important at the time.”
“We’ll take that up later, when you’re feeling better. And believe me, I won’t forget it. For now, though, let’s get going.”
NYDIA SAT by the entrance of the hogan as Joshua did the life-enhancing sing her father-in-law had been waiting for, praying for success whatever the source. The effect on the elderly man was immediate and astonishing. Joshua led his patient in the final part of the chant, which had to be repeated word for word by her father-in-law. Lastly, he turned over the ritual basket, using it as a drum, as he invoked the aid of the gods.
Joshua continued, confident in Navajo beliefs that assured that if the chant was done precisely right, the gods would be impelled to grant the prayer.
At last, Joshua’s voice rose in power, filled with the timelessness of the Navajo Way. “The trail is covered in beauty. Beauty surrounds us,” he said, concluding the ceremony.
As silence descended over the hogan, a sense of expectation electrified the air.
Nydia’s father-in-law stood up slowly and with halting steps went to his wife. Harmony had been restored. Energy and life burned in the elderly man’s gaze as he looked at his family and nodded with a grateful smile.
Nydia looked down at her son, and saw the wonder in his eyes. At one time, she would have been horrified to think that her own flesh and blood would choose the old ways over the new. Yet now, she saw things in a new light. There was strength and power in the beliefs that had held the People together through time.
“That was just awesome,” John said to Joshua, then hurried out to help his grandfather.
“Awesome?” Nydia chuckled, shaking her head over her son’s choice of words.
Joshua smiled down at her. “He’s everything our people have become, a blend of the old and the new. And that’s a good thing. Our strength depends on kids like him who, seeing the new, still value the old.”
Silence fell between them as they realized they were alone in the hogan. Nydia watched Joshua gather his ceremonial items, her heart heavy.
“There is one final favor I want to ask of you,” she said, her voice whisper soft.
“Whatever it is, all you have to do is name it,” he said gently.
“The rug. Take it and do whatever must be done with it. I’ve been thinking about this, and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s part of our destiny to right this wrong, too.”
Joshua brushed her face with his palm, and the caress made her breath catch in her throat. “I agree. But are you sure this is what you want?”
She nodded. “I’ve come to accept that there are things that, because of their nature, won’t fit within the framework of the Anglo world. But they still exist. Ignoring them isn’t an answer.”
He smiled. “Bring the rug to me.”
When Nydia returned, she placed the cursed object before him. She watched as he carefully unraveled a thread leading from the middle to the edge, then began a sing. The words of the chant led them from the present world to the land where gods ruled. His song reverberated with the strength of a hataalii who had earned his rightful place among the legends of the dineh after a trial by fire.
At long last, he handed the rug back to her. “The line freeing the spirit of the weaver has been made, and Spider Woman has been appeased. All that remains here is its beauty.”
As she took the rug from his hands, a great heaviness of spirit settled over her. They had reached the end of their journey, and as she’d known from the start, it was time for them to go their separate ways. Desolation wound itself around her heart in an endless, suffocating spiral.
She looked at Joshua, her throat burning. “And now you’ll go back to Four Winds?”
“I’m needed there,” he answered, just as her son came back into the hogan. “It’s part of the legacy that was handed down to me.”
John stood tall and proud before Joshua, his shoulders squared. “You are needed here, too, hataalii. By me, and the tribe. I want to be a singer like you. I need a teacher, and I want it to be you.”
“When the time comes, I will be your teacher,” Joshua agreed. “Until then, I have work elsewhere.”
John looked at his mother, then back at Joshua, and smiled. Taking his mother’s hand, he placed it in Joshua’s. “I have to grow up more before I get what I want, but you guys don’t have to wait for anything. You need each other. Anyone can see that! Teacher, you want her to be with you. So why don’t you just ask her?”
“Hush!” Nydia said. “You don’t understand.” She looked at Joshua, tears welling in her eyes. “I’ve always known that this moment would come. I know how much you value the peace of your solitary life, and how much you need that as a hataalii. You’re not bound by anything that’s happened between us.”
“It’s my heart that binds me, sawe.” He pressed her hand to his lips. “Come back to Four Winds with me. It’s time we were a family.”
“Mom, say yes!” John prodded in a harsh whisper, nudging her toward Joshua. “Sure, teacher, we’ll all go with you. Right, Mom?”
Nydia laughed, then looked down at her son. “Don’t you have something to do right now?”
“Oh—sure. I’ll make myself scarce.”
Joshua gently drew Nydia into his arms. “The old and the new, you and me, side by side, throughout all the days and nights of our lives. How does that sound to you?”
As his lips covered hers, her answer became only a sigh that was lost in the desert breeze.
Epilogue
John assisted Joshua as he finished the blessingway for the town of Four Winds. “The people here saved my life, now I return the gift in the way I was taught,” Joshua’s voice rang out. “The legacy of good bestowed on Four Winds by my ancestor, Flinthawk, is now renewed.”
A cheer rose from the gathered crowd as Jake Fields approached the singer. “As this town’s acting mayor, I’d like to present you with this key to your new cabin. You are part of this town forever, Joshua Blackhorse. We need you here.”
As Joshua accepted the gift, he glanced at his brothers. Gabriel smiled, his arm draped protectively around his pregnant wife. Lucas stood proud and alone. But as Lucas looked at Marlee, Joshua knew Shadow’s life path was destined to change before long.
Joshua’s gaze finally came to rest on the woman who would soon be his wife, and the boy who would become a son to him. “I do belong here, Mayor,” he said. “And thanks to Four Winds, I now share in the greatest gift of all.”
eISBN 978-14592-6857-9
HER HERO
Copyright © 1997 by Aimée Thurlo
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic. mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher. Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone beanng the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books SA.
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Printed in U.S.A.
Table of Contents
Cover Page
Table of Contents
Excerpt
Dear Reader
Dedication
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
/> Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Epilogue
Copyright
