Livvy nodded.
Soon, Livvy was standing in a small fog bank of earthy, reddish dust that rose up to about mid-shin. Tiny whirlpools swirled around her and, as she watched, they stopped and slowly settled back to the bedrock, which was no longer bedrock. Instead, a fine, liquid mud had replaced it. Livvy began to sink. She looked up at Coco.
“Clay,” Coco said. “The earth. The opposite of the sky and also the source of all life.”
A mud bath? That was going to be the answer?
“You gave of yourself to save that person,” Coco continued. “And now that self needs to be replenished.”
The clay had soaked through her boots and socks and now penetrated her jeans. It felt warm and incredibly silky.
“Lightning took something away but the earth will give it back.”
As if in agreement, bolts of electricity arced beneath the clouds and thunder echoed from the rocks around them and then back through the plaza. Coco surveyed the dark sky.
Livvy had sunk to mid-thigh now and felt something start to happen–a tingling sensation in her left leg. She continued to sink and automatically lifted her hands to keep them clear. As the mud rose up to her hip, the tingling sensation changed. It buzzed. Livvy frowned at the mud.
“Coco, it’s–”
The buzzing suddenly turned to a vibration.
“I know,” Coco said.
Livvy had to look up from where she had sunk. The mud was waist high. Coco’s face was calm but Livvy felt a kernel of fear building inside. The mud, which had been smooth and still, started to swirl. The vibration built up until small waves and troughs mounded in the mud and tiny drops of it leapt from the tips of the waves.
“Coco,” Livvy said but her voice shook with the vibration.
Without warning, the vibration ramped up, shaking her entire body. Pressure and pain quickly followed. Livvy balled her hands into fists, squeezed her eyes shut, and stifled a scream. But she didn’t try to escape and she didn’t move her legs.
“Good girl,” said Coco from somewhere above.
Livvy couldn’t spare the energy it would take to look at her. Even through her eyelids Livvy knew lightning was flashing above them, as though it were agitated, even eager.
Don’t think of it. Don’t call it down.
The pain ratcheted up a notch. Thunder cracked directly over them. An acidic feeling rose in her throat.
Oh no, I’m going to throw up.
“Give me your hand,” Coco said.
Livvy opened her eyes, jerked her head up and realized her vision was collapsing into a tunnel.
I’m passing out.
“Olivia!” Coco yelled. “Your hand!”
Coco was in silhouette as lightning fired non-stop in the clouds behind her. Livvy’s vision quaked from the wild shaking; Coco seemed to jerk around with multiple arms and legs. Livvy could barely hear her.
“Your hand!”
Suddenly, a sheet of lightning spread over the sky and Livvy saw Coco’s outthrust hand.
She tried to move her own.
Where was it?
“I’ve got you!” she heard Coco shout.
CHAPTER TEN
CELESTINO POUNDED ON the door with his gloved hand. He waited a few seconds and pounded again.
The door opened and light from the interior spilled into the entryway, causing him to blink. When the man in the doorway saw who it was, he glanced backward and shut the door.
“What are you doing here?” Victor said.
“You know what I’m doing here,” Celestino barked. “Where is she?”
“I told you on the phone,” Victor said, jamming his hands into his pants pockets. “She disappeared.”
“Nobody just disappears. Not up here.”
Celestino stared at the man, watched his face. He was hiding something.
“Where did you see her last?” he demanded.
“She was running,” Victor finally muttered. “Or, limping and running.”
“Running?” Celestino demanded. “Running why?”
“I don’t know,” he said, turning back to the door. “Why don’t you ask Dale.”
Celestino grabbed his arm, spun him around, and forced his back to the wall next to the door.
“Dale!” he breathed into Victor’s face. “Do you understand what’s at stake here?” He shook him and stared directly into his eyes. “Do you?”
By all the gods, did he have to begin every conversation with what was important and what wasn’t? Was he the only one who saw it?
Victor scowled and cast his eyes down. Celestino let him go.
“Which way did she run?”
“She headed east, out of the village.”
Celestino’s mouth opened in shock.
“It started to get dark,” Victor grumbled. “The temperature was dropping.” He looked to the sky. “I think it might even–”
Celestino turned and left him standing there.
To the east of the village was only the road and the edge of the mesa.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
LIVVY WOKE WITH a start. She tried raising her hands, but they were stuck. She looked down, still trying to free them, when she realized it was only a thick blanket. She flipped it off, sat up, and stared at her legs. Her boots, her pants, everything was clean and dry.
“Welcome back,” said Coco.
Livvy couldn’t stop staring at her legs, but she finally looked over at Coco.
“I know,” said Coco. “It’s strange. You’ve probably never been a patient before.”
Coco knelt on the floor. Beautiful rugs with large geometric designs covered the entire surface, overlapping one another. A fire crackled in a stone-lined pit. Over it, a gleaming copper kettle was suspended from an iron rack. Smooth white plaster covered the circular walls. Dozens of different colored candles circled the room, most on a low ledge but some set into niches. The candles and the fire were the only lights in the room.
It was beautiful and calming, yet Livvy still felt uneasy.
“Here,” said Coco. “Have some tea.” She put a ceramic mug with steam rising from it next to the fire pit. Then she looked up at Livvy. “You’ll have to come get it.”
Livvy looked down at her left leg and felt her hip. It didn’t feel any different but, then again, it never did when she was sitting. It was only by standing–or at least trying to stand–that she’d know. She glanced around for something to help her up.
“You’ll be all right,” Coco said. “Trust me.”
I’m by myself, Livvy thought, hundreds of miles from home, in a place I obviously don’t understand and she says ‘trust her.’
Is there a choice?
Livvy instantly regretted the thought. The woman had just performed a healing for her. She had trusted her for that.
She drew her feet closer and then put them over the edge of the pallet. She put a hand down next to her but hesitated. The thought of the pain that accompanied putting weight on her hip was daunting. She rocked forward, pressed upward, and let her thighs do the work. In moments, she was standing–easily and in comfort. Standing. She put equal weight on both feet. No pain!
“You did it!” Livvy exclaimed.
She spread her arms out and balanced on her left foot. There was a dull ache in her left hip and the leg wobbled uncontrollably. She immediately set her right foot down.
“I wouldn’t say I ‘did it’,” said Coco. “But I did what could be done. Most of the time, you won’t need a cane. Most of the time, you won’t have pain.”
Livvy looked down at her hip.
“But it’s a scar,” Coco said, quietly. “It’s not going to go away.”
Livvy nodded. It was as though she’d already known. A scar, a spiritual one but, like so much else, it remained with her in the real world. She thought again of the lightning strike that had created it. She’d made her choice in the fraction of a second and it had changed her forever. If she had known that saving someone would mean this, would she hav
e done it?
She subconsciously rubbed her hip.
I hope so.
She looked up at Coco, who was sipping her tea.
“Thank you, Coco. I … I … don’t know what to say.”
Despite all the healings she’d performed, Livvy had never really understood how clients felt. The thanks and hugs and tears had told her they were grateful. Now, though, she had an inkling of how much.
“You’re very welcome, dear,” said Coco, smiling at her as though admiring her handiwork. “As much as you’d probably like to skip around the room, it’d be best if you have a seat by the fire and a cup of tea.”
Livvy very much wanted to sit for a while and yet she also felt the urge to leave. She wanted to throw her arms around Coco but she found she also wanted to be home. As lovely as spending time with Coco seemed, Livvy couldn’t shake the feeling that this was not her place.
She stood, wavering.
“I don’t bite,” Coco said into her tea. Then she took a sip.
The tea smelled wonderful.
Livvy slowly sat down and settled into the same position as Coco. In the mug, she could see a beautiful orange color, like a chamomile tea, but darker. Livvy took a sip but then cocked her head. It looked like chamomile but it didn’t taste like that at all. It reminded her vaguely of Genmai-cha but that wasn’t quite right either. It was a little more earthy, even a little smoky.
“Greenthread tea,” said Coco. “Good for the blood.”
The light from the candles and the fire gave Coco’s face a soft and rosy look. Startled, Livvy realized she was beautiful–the high cheekbones, straight nose, and large eyes. It dawned on her that she was staring and she looked down.
“So, the Lightning Shaman pays us a visit,” said Coco quietly.
“You’re probably wondering what I’m doing here.”
Had she come looking for Tawa? Had she secretly been hoping to find a shaman who could heal her?
“No, not at all,” said Coco. “What I’m wondering is why you don’t have a crystal.”
Livvy looked up at her.
“What self-respecting shaman is running around without their crystal?”
Livvy looked down at Coco’s chest. There was no pendant. Then she saw a glint of metal at her neck. The silver chain went down inside the top of her dress. Her crystal was hidden from view.
Livvy no longer had one. She’d given hers to Min when they’d said good-bye. After all that Min had done, it had hardly been enough. Livvy pointedly looked down at her tea.
“So you really are without one?” Coco said.
“Yes, although I’m not sure I need one.”
She’d always known they all wore pendants–some with precious stones, some semi-precious, some with crystals. To her, though, they had seemed more like part of the uniform, an outward symbol of the inside calling.
“Wait,” Livvy said, putting her tea down. “Are you saying the crystals have a use?”
“Oh my,” said Coco.
She put her tea down as well. Instead of answering the question, though, she got up and went over to the low ledge. Livvy marveled at her grace, fascinated with her lithe movement, and didn’t even see her pick up the small leather pouch with which she had returned. It was decorated with glittering seed beads sown into roughly hexagonal patterns. She untied the drawstring at the top.
“Here,” Coco said, holding it out, about to upend it.
Livvy reached out her hand.
A silver chain slithered out and, after Coco shook the pouch, a brightly glinting crystal popped into Livvy’s palm. It hit the chain with a small clink.
Livvy had never seen a pendant like it. The silver base had a hammered look, even tarnished, as though it might be an antique. The silver chain ran through a rough metal loop at its top. Below it was a crystal that could hardly be called a crystal. Livvy held it up to the firelight.
At first, it seemed clear and she looked right through it. But as she turned it, it abruptly changed to a translucent aqua. Then it flashed through violet and bright green and then red. Was it a trick of the flickering flames?
“The crystal of many colors,” said Coco lowly, as she too stared at it.
“It’s beautiful,” Livvy whispered, unable to stop turning it. “It’s … it’s …” She quickly coiled the chain up and closed her fingers over it and the crystal. “It’s too much.” She held out her closed hand to Coco. “I couldn’t possibly.”
“Nonsense, dear,” said Coco, picking up her tea. “It’s a gift.”
“But I can’t,” Livvy pleaded. “I’m already indebted to you for the healing. Honestly, it was something I hadn’t even remotely considered or planned.”
“It is a gift,” Coco repeated, emphasizing each word. “It wouldn’t be right to refuse a gift.”
Livvy’s hand wavered and then she clutched it to her chest with the other hand.
“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to … I would never …” She stopped herself and took a calming breath. “What I meant to say is thank you, Coco. Thank you, again.”
No matter what it takes, thought Livvy, I’ll pay Coco back–if I can figure out how to do that in the correct way. She lifted the chain over her head and the pendant dropped into place, the perfect length.
“There now,” said Coco, nodding. “It looks good on you.”
Livvy smiled at her and then looked down at it. It was mesmerizing.
“Well, it’s getting late,” said Coco.
Gods, thought Livvy, what time could it possibly be? She looked up as though she might be able to see the sky and, to her surprise, she did. Above them, the wood-beam and thatch ceiling had a square hole in it. A ladder made from rough poles protruded through it.
That’s odd. I don’t remember a ladder.
She looked at the floor around her.
In fact, I thought I fell in a landslide.
“Your first time in a kiva,” Coco said, standing.
Livvy stood as well. “I thought I fell,” she said.
Above, the moon was emerging from behind a cloud.
“You certainly landed with a bump,” said Coco.
How had she not seen the kiva when she’d fallen? Had it all been too dark and too quick? She’d been running–well, limping–away from the village and almost gone off the end of the mesa. She shook her head.
“Be careful on your way back, dear,” Coco said, holding out her arms.
Livvy automatically hugged her.
“I’ll be here when you need me,” Coco said into her ear.
Livvy had every intention of returning when she could figure out what she might bring as a payment for the healing, not to mention the crystal, but why would she “need” Coco?
As Coco released her, she must have seen the puzzled look on her face. “When you know why you’re here, of course.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
THE NIGHT TEMPERATURE had dropped to below freezing and a light frost covered the ground, making it easier to see in the dim moonlight. Livvy wasn’t in the dark long, though, when a flashlight became visible up ahead.
She’d only gone several yards from Coco’s home when the beam had appeared. She glanced backward but the ladder to Coco’s kiva was no longer visible. Even so, she knew she was easily within shouting distance if she needed help. Her leg and hip felt so good, she thought she might be able to run. As the person with the flashlight approached, she could see it wasn’t the first shaman or his friend, or anyone else she recognized.
“Are you all right?” he said.
Livvy squinted against the beam flitting over her face but didn’t try to block it.
“Yes,” she said. “I’m fine.”
“You know, it’s dangerous out here at night, let alone prohibited if you’re not with a tour guide.”
He lowered the beam and Livvy got a better look at him.
He was an older man judging from the color of his short hair and goatee. Behind the bifocals his eyes were dark and
he had the same olive skin as many of the Hopi she’d met but his face was narrow. The deep furrows in his forehead and the lines around his downturned mouth made it seem as though he was angry but his voice was friendly.
“I got separated from my tour group,” she explained.
“I heard,” he said.
“You heard?”
“Yes, but let’s get you back to your car. It’s freezing out here.”
She couldn’t argue with that.
“This way,” he said, aiming the flashlight along the ground.
“My name’s Celestino,” he said, as he walked beside her.
“Olivia,” she replied. “How did you know to look for me out here?”
“I heard you were with Dale and had come this way, so I took a chance.”
Livvy stopped. Was he a friend of that shaman, of Dale?
“It’s not like that,” he said, his voice calm. “I just want to talk to you. To explain. I don’t know what he’s told you.”
Livvy glanced behind them. At this point, she had no idea which way Coco might be.
“Really,” he said. “It’s too cold to stand out here. Please. The visitor center is on the other side of those buildings.”
Although he wore a puffy, red down jacket, Livvy could see he was slightly stooped. She started to walk again and he led the way, sweeping the beam.
“What did he say about the prophecy?”
The prophecy? This man was out here, in the dark, in the cold, looking for her with a flashlight to talk about a prophecy–more specifically, what that shaman had said about it. She was in the middle of something. That feeling of unease returned.
Livvy searched the way ahead. The village was getting closer but she didn’t know where her car would be. Even so, she was getting the distinct feeling that she ought to be running. She kept her voice level.
“The prophecy,” she repeated. “I’m afraid I don’t know anything about a prophecy.”
She caught him looking at her, a bit surprised, but he recovered quickly. Now he seemed to be reconsidering. He gave her a brief smile.
“The time of rebirth and purification for our people–one we’ve waited for, for thousands of years–is approaching. All the signs are coming to pass.”
Olivia Lawson Techno-Shaman Books 1 -3 Page 61
