The crystal lit up like a flare. It cycled through colors in rapid succession, then emitted its own glaring beam directly back to the ground. Though the crystal stayed cool, the tight ray of light brightened like the sun and Livvy had to resist the urge to close her eyes. The beam was still inching toward the rainbow.
Suddenly, the light disappeared.
Livvy blinked and Blanca growled.
Maybe Tawa had had enough.
Fat chance, thought Livvy. But maybe they’d bought a little time.
“Let’s go,” Livvy yelled and Blanca hurtled upward.
As though spurred on by the thought of the rainbow disappearing, Blanca covered ground in enormous loping strides, surging upward. They quickly crested the highest point in the arch and Blanca picked up even more speed as she raced downward to the sipaapuni. Livvy could see it now–a gaping maw of blackness, torn ragged at the edges as if the sky was blue construction paper. It grew larger as they approached but Livvy realized it wasn’t as big as she’d feared. Then, she saw it wasn’t completely black. Someone was standing inside the opening.
Blanca must have sensed the tension Livvy felt as her pace slowed. As they neared, though, Livvy couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing: a double pointed hat and striped body paint.
“Leon?” she yelled.
“Olivia!” he yelled back.
“Go, Blanca,” Livvy said. “Hurry.”
In moments, they skidded to a stop at the beginning of the rainbow. Like Dale in the plaza below, Leon stood with his arms stretched out but pointing down instead of up, the air in front of him full of moisture.
“Look at me!” he crowed, grinning wildly.
Standing in the sky at the top of a rainbow, Livvy should have been frozen in fear, but to her great surprise, she found herself smiling at Leon.
“Yeah,” she said. “Look at you.”
“They say the dead add their strength to the living,” he said, still smiling. The colors of the rainbow danced in his dark eyes. “Who knew it could be so fun?”
He stood inside the opening, though Livvy couldn’t see his feet or how he was managing to stay there. Behind him, she saw nothing. That was the way to the Fifth World? A dark hole?
Suddenly, the rainbow exploded behind her. She and Blanca instinctively ducked and she felt the droplets pelt her back. She knew better than to look. Tawa was back.
“It’s time,” Leon said.
Livvy uncorked the gourd and poured some blue corn paste into her hand. She hadn’t realized it was the same exact color as the sky. She reached up her hand to the torn edge of the sipaapuni and smeared. It was a perfect match.
She poured out more paste and smeared it again, moving faster. Again, the black opening of the sipaapuni disappeared beneath the new patch of sky she had painted. She reached above Leon and sealed the top and then moved to the left. Using her speed, she sealed it all, except for where Leon stood. She was pouring more paste into her hand when she realized what it would mean to cover him. He was the source of this part of the rainbow. Once she covered him, the rainbow would be gone.
“You know what it’s like?” Leon said. “It’s like making people laugh.”
Livvy just stared at him. “It’s like what?”
Another explosion rocked them and Livvy toppled toward the sipaapuni. Without moving his hands, Leon shifted his waist and blocked her. She bounced lightly off his stomach as he gave a little push. She turned to look at the rainbow. There was a huge section missing. The water droplets hadn’t had time to coalesce. The section under her and Blanca was getting smaller.
She took off the necklace again. Blanca already knew what to do when Livvy grabbed her fur. Just as they reached the edge, the beam shot up from below. Livvy immediately placed the crystal in its path. As before, the beam glowed doubly bright but Tawa wasn’t going to give up so quickly. Though Livvy tracked it with the crystal, the beam kept moving toward the small patch of rainbow. Tawa had no intention of letting her seal the sipaapuni.
And Livvy had no intention of falling.
She lifted her other hand to the cloud above. Right now, she didn’t need the rest of the rainbow, just this small section. The beam touched the edge in a hissing puff of steam, even as Livvy tracked it with the crystal.
Blanca held her ground.
“Cloud!” Livvy yelled.
Slowly, the mass of moisture that was creating the middle of the rainbow drifted back in her direction, bringing the long trailing curtains of droplets below it.
“Hurry,” Livvy muttered.
The crystal was heating up. Livvy heard the hissing of the steam near her feet and felt a burning at her fingertips. Tawa must be burning as well.
As the cloud came into range the highest arch of the rainbow disappeared but her section grew, even as more steam rose from the beam. The crystal was painful to hold now. Steam rose from all around her as the beam battled the added moisture. The air itself began to heat and brighten. Livvy felt as though her hand were crisping but couldn’t see it in the glare. The pain was mounting. She couldn’t hold it for much longer.
If I drop it, we’ll die!
The pain was too much. She screamed.
But then the beam wavered, dimmed, and blinked out altogether. The air immediately cooled and the entire rainbow flared back into life. Livvy sank to her knees, breathing hard, and cradled the hand that held the crystal. The skin had turned a deep red but she couldn’t worry about it now. She draped the chain back around her neck as she stood.
At the sipaapuni, Leon waited, his hands still outstretched. She lifted the gourd and Leon smiled at her. Then she remembered what he’d said.
“Why is this like making people laugh?” she asked.
The corner of his mouth crooked up into a mischievous little smile.
“Timing,” he said. “It’s all about timing.”
She looked down at the cornmeal on her hand and then back at him. She and Blanca would only have a fraction of a second to retreat to the arch being created by the cloud. Could lightning move fast enough? It’d help if she were already moving. She glanced to the right side of the rainbow. It’d only be a running start of several yards, then she’d need to make a hard left turn or risk running off into nothing.
Yes, it was going to take timing–and speed.
She looked back to Leon who was smiling down on the mesa.
“Tell him something for me,” he said, still looking down.
“Of course,” Livvy said.
“Tell him I want him to smile.”
She cocked her head a little but nodded in reply.
“It was good to meet you, Leon,” she said quietly. “And thank you for this.”
She glanced down at the rainbow beneath her feet.
“I’d shake your hand,” he said. Then he looked at his hands and shrugged.
“Right,” she said.
She poured out some blue paste and smeared it in front of his smiling face, then his body, down to his hands. Only a thin blank space remained.
Livvy and Blanca backed up. They went as far to the right as they could, up to the edge. Then they turned together and paused. Livvy poured blue paste for the final time.
“It’s going to be close,” she whispered.
Blanca crouched down low like a sprinter in the starting position. Livvy did the same. She stared at the small crack in the sky, visualized turning there, and then hoped that Blanca’s speed would be enough. Close was putting it mildly.
She took a deep breath and grabbed a handful of fur at the back of Blanca’s neck.
“Go!” she said.
She and Blanca lunged forward as one. Before she even registered their movement, they were at the sipaapuni. Livvy put out her hand just in time and smeared the last of the cornmeal as she and Blanca turned. As expected, Blanca dug in her claws for the pivot as Livvy slingshot around her, already increasing speed. The surroundings blurred. The only thing in focus was the rainbow directly ahead. She felt her f
eet skimming as the skin on her face stretched taut. The surrounding light faded. The rainbow behind them was disappearing.
She felt the tug of Blanca’s weight in her hand and grabbed so hard she knew her nails must be digging in. They were on the downward slope now and Livvy had a moment to wonder if this is what free fall was like. Blanca no longer had to run as their enormous momentum carried them down. Unlike the journey up, their descent would only take seconds. Sparks flew from Blanca’s paws as she tried to slow their descent. Livvy did the same, trying to skid, but their speed didn’t change.
The ground rushed up at them as the bottom part of the rainbow became nearly vertical.
Oh gods. This can’t end well.
Then Livvy saw it–growing so fast she didn’t realize what it was until they hit it. A fine, gossamer net had been strung at the bottom. She and Blanca sailed into it as it billowed and expanded. She felt their speed fall away and the net stretch as the two of them pushed it to its limit. It bottomed out and then buoyed them gently up before settling to a rest. Livvy marveled at how shiny and soft it felt–like silk. Blanca clawed lightly at the fabric, easily ripping it, and the two of them tumbled out into the plaza.
Livvy felt hands helping her up.
She and Blanca were surrounded. The plaza was full of ancestors.
Coco, Dale, and the stone-eater wrapped her up in a group hug.
“You did it!” Dale yelled, right into Coco’s ear.
“Not so loud!” protested Coco.
She and Dale let her go but the stone-eater was still hugging her furiously, had actually lifted her off the ground.
“Let her catch her breath,” said Coco. She patted him on the shoulder. “She has to breathe to do that.”
The stone-eater finally set her down and stood back, the bulging eyes swiveling on his face.
The ancestors had swarmed Blanca, hugging her around the neck, running their tiny hands through her fur as they laughed. The smallest ones jumped, trying to pat the top of her head.
Livvy nodded at her and motioned her down. Although she gave Livvy a long sideways look and whimpered a bit, she slowly settled to the ground and let the ancestors pile on.
Livvy looked at the net on the ground. It had saved their lives.
“Where did you get the net?” she said.
“Grandmother wove it,” Dale said.
Livvy blinked. The net was huge and it was indeed a net, not a blanket or piece of cloth. Livvy looked at Coco.
“You wove it? You mean, just now, you wove this entire thing?” Livvy gestured all around them where it laid.
Coco gave a tiny shrug.
“So I did. You might say it’s a specialty of mine.”
Livvy glanced at the sun in the sky. “I’d like to stay,” she said, looking at each of them in turn.
“But you’re worried about your young man,” Coco finished for her.
Livvy nodded and looked at Dale. “You’ll send help?”
“Yes,” he said.
“Go,” Coco whispered, as she gave her a final hug. “See you on the flip side.”
CHAPTER NINETY-SEVEN
IN THE REAL world, Livvy slowly opened her eyes.
“SK?” she said, though her lips were dry and stuck together at first. “SK?”
She blinked and turned to look for him, only to realize he was right there.
“SK?” she said again.
His head was resting on her shoulder, his arm draped across her stomach, and one leg thrown over hers. His eyes were closed.
She put a hand to the side of his face. It was cold.
Oh gods, no.
She quickly put a finger to his jugular. There was a pulse but it was weak.
“Thank the gods!” she muttered.
She felt the hand on her stomach. It was warmer than his face but not much. She quickly rubbed it and the crystal tumbled to the ground. She snatched it up and held it to his face, rolling his torso slightly away from her. His breathing was slow and shallow.
Hypothermia.
Oh gods, please don’t let it be too late.
She gently rolled him onto his back and found that the front of his shirt was damp but also a little warm. She felt the outside of his arm, which was wet and cold.
Of course.
Shared bodily warmth wouldn’t have been enough to save him but the excessive heat she generated in the Multiverse had been. She sat up and took off her jacket. She folded it up and laid it next to SK’s head then slowly rolled him from his back to his side. The front of him might be warm but he was still cold on the back. She scooted behind him, brought up her knees under his, and wrapped her arm across his chest.
“Hold on, SK,” she whispered in his ear. “Hold–”
There was the sound of footsteps and voices somewhere outside. Livvy saw for the first time that the burial chamber walls had fallen and there were rocks piled everywhere.
“Olivia?” a male voice said as a light filled the doorway of the adobe building.
Livvy squinted and pulled SK closer.
“There you are,” he said as he raised the lantern higher.
She recognized him. It was Emma’s grandfather, Marvin!
“They’re in here!” he called over his shoulder.
CHAPTER NINETY-EIGHT
THE CEMETERY WAS not what Livvy or SK had expected. They held hands as they slowly threaded their way around the graves. Small plots, some outlined in whitewashed stones, others covered in rough rocks, dotted the sparse landscape. There was no fence or sign, only an open and unused part of the mesa, some distance from the village. Faded wooden crosses, some with names and dates, and the occasional angel statue or marble headstone stood out. Dale stood in the distance gazing down at one in particular.
Livvy squeezed SK’s hand. Although he had insisted he was feeling better, Livvy knew he wasn’t fully recovered. It might be days before he regained his full strength and lost his sensitivity to cold. Dale had sent Marvin before he’d led the FBI to Celestino but it had taken him hours to get to them. Even so, Livvy didn’t want to think what might have happened if he hadn’t come when he did.
“I really think you should wait in the car,” she said, looking down at SK.
“If it starts to rain,” he said, “that’s exactly what I’ll do.” He looked up at her. “And don’t get any ideas about helping that along,” he said, as he pointed the bunch of flowers at her.
The sky was definitely threatening. Several lines of clouds moved across the sky, thick and dark, and it seemed cold enough for snow. It was fitting though, on this somber day.
Dale looked up as they approached and quickly wiped his eyes. Livvy embraced him.
“Dale,” she whispered.
She held him and slowly rubbed his back. It trembled under her hands as he silently wept. Her eyes filled with tears as well. If anyone understood that Leon’s life had not ended, only that he had left this world, it was shamans. But the shock of his death and the pain of his absence was raw. Dale patted her lightly on the back and let her go. They both took out tissues.
“I’m sorry we missed the funeral,” SK said quietly. “We were with the police.”
They had actually spent two hours with the police and one with the FBI. Celestino and three of his accomplices had been charged with attempted murder for imprisoning them in the granary. Frankmann was charged with Leon’s murder and wanted for two more. Although he’d been too smart to leave evidence of his crimes, the FBI hadn’t found it hard to track the albino on his journey from Florida. But now they had a kachina mask from which they’d gathered DNA.
SK placed the bouquet in the center of the stone mound. Nothing else marked it except a stick that stood upright among the stones. Dale looked at the flowers and gave a little nod.
“You didn’t miss the funeral,” he said, wiping his nose. “There wasn’t one. His family buried him last night.”
“What?” Livvy said.
“Traditional,” Dale said, as he squatt
ed down and arranged one of the stones. “We’ll all gather back here on the third day. Give him the send-off he deserves. We’ll give him his favorite food and bring prayer sticks. Then he can make his journey.” Dale gently touched the stick with his finger, tracing its length from where it emerged from the rocks to the top. Then he stood, continuing the motion toward the San Francisco Peaks. “He’ll leave to join the kachinas and help them to send rain.”
They all looked in that direction.
“He asked me to give you a message,” Livvy said quietly.
“He … he what?” Dale stammered, turning to her.
“At the top of the rainbow bridge,” she said. “Just before I left. He said he wants you to smile.”
SK looked up at her, apparently as puzzled as she was.
Dale nodded a little as a smile tugged up one corner of his mouth.
“It’s a clown thing,” he said, looking down at the mound. “When he’d leave for the plaza, his last thought was always to make at least one person smile.”
At that moment, the sun shone through a gap in the clouds. The crosses and statues of the graveyard now cast long, dark shadows. All eyes turned toward the new light and, as they watched, a rainbow appeared. Livvy felt SK’s hand in hers. Then, as the vibrant arch landed in the desert beyond the mesa, a second rainbow blazed to life above it, a smaller echo of the first.
“If that isn’t a way to get a smile,” said SK quietly, “I don’t know what is.”
Dale turned and grinned at him, his eyes brimming with tears. He looked as though he might say something but only nodded a few times instead.
Livvy squeezed SK’s hand.
The three of them stood in silence for a few minutes.
SK shivered and Livvy immediately checked on him. He shrugged one shoulder and then the other as if he were adjusting his coat, not looking at her. When he finally did, it was with feigned surprise and the ‘what?’ lift of the eyebrows.
Livvy turned to Dale who had crouched next to the grave.
“Nicely done,” Dale was whispering. “Nicely done.”
Livvy reached into her jacket pocket and brought out the crystal of many colors. Carefully, she lifted a small rock from the edge of the mound, tucked the crystal into the hollow, and then laid the rock back down.
Olivia Lawson Techno-Shaman Books 1 -3 Page 84
