books 1 - 3

by Ella J. Smyth

  "Nina."

  She increased her speed until she caught up with her.

  "Hey. I wondered if we could talk."

  Nina tilted her head. "I’m not sure what we need to talk about, but sure. What’s on your mind?"

  The jut of Nina’s jaw, the way her eyes twinkled—she was making fun of Adi. Adi gritted her teeth.

  "I want to know more about Spider Woman."

  Nina laughed. "Spider woman? You’re interested in children’s tales?"

  No sign of recognition. Just Nina’s air of superiority, of mocking Adi. Adi worked hard to keep her face neutral, even though what she really wanted was to knock Nina on her ass.

  She asked, "What do you mean by children’s tales?”

  Nina pushed her long hair out of her face before answering, "Well, there are a lot of stories about Spider Woman. They say she hunted humans in the olden days. She lured children to her house, killed them, and boiled the bodies to render their fat. I can’t remember how she was defeated, but one of the stories goes that she was banished to the moon. You can still see her wizened, bent-over body every time there’s a full moon."

  Nina shrugged her shoulders. "It’s a disgusting tale told to children to keep them in line."

  Adi thought for a second. Time to be more direct. "You told me that you spoke to her. What did you mean by that?"

  Nina stared at her. "What do you mean, I talked to her? I never said that. How can I speak to something that only exists in stories?"

  Adi’s body tightened, and she went very still. "That’s what you said. You also told me to stay away from Honi or else."

  Nina threw her head back and laughed. "Well, I can’t deny that. But I never said I would hurt you. That would be stupid, wouldn’t it? Threaten you openly like that?"

  She stepped in a little closer and said so quietly that Adi had to strain to hear her.

  "I’d never threaten you openly. If I wanted you gone, you would never see it coming, Wasi’chu. I want Honi back, and you’ve just given me a great idea. People here already hate you for turning our sacrifice to ashes and making Honi drop out of college. What do you think they’ll do when I tell them that you’re a complete lunatic?”

  Nina grinned, a feral, triumphant glare, then turned around and walked away. Shit. With a sinking heart, Adi knew that Honi’s ex was right. Nina had lived here all her life, and people would be quite ready to believe the worst of Adi. Her hopes of being accepted by Honi’s family and his community had just taken another nosedive. She lowered her head and sighed. This was not going at all how she’d expected. When she looked up again, Nina had disappeared into the bar.

  Adi looked through the window. Honi sat at a large table, looking happy and comfortable. When Nina walked up to him, smiling broadly, he jumped up. His face lit up, and they were hugging and laughing like best friends. She knew he couldn’t see her outside as darkness fell across the mesa. Bitterly, she pondered the irony of the situation. Once again, she was outside in the dark, looking into the light, wishing for what she couldn’t have.

  After a moment, she shook off the self-pity. She was stronger than that. Nina hadn’t beaten her yet. Besides, the feeling in her gut that told her there was so much more to this than an old girlfriend wanting her man back, grew stronger and stronger.

  Either way, this day was a complete write-off. If she joined Honi now, it would end in a fight and hurtful words that couldn’t be taken back. Tomorrow she would hopefully be ready to turn this whole shit-fest around. She’d speak to him in the morning and straighten all this out.

  18

  Honi finished the last dregs of his beer. The alcohol was nowhere near as strong or clean-tasting as his favorite Pils in Germany, but the cold liquid reminded him of growing up in Heota; of sneaking beers from his friends’ parents’ fridges. He smacked his lips, savoring the tang of bitterness, before regretfully putting the bottle down.

  Nina’s hand was on his forearm, and he stared at it for a moment. His reaction time was shot. Maybe the last two drinks had been too much. Or the tequila shots before that. Everybody had insisted on buying him drinks. He couldn’t have refused, even though he’d tried at the beginning. But these were his people, many of whom he hadn’t seen in years.

  He felt a silly grin creep across his face. Damn, he couldn’t hold his liquor. Honi stood up, balancing against the table for a moment before smiling at Nina.

  “Well, it’s been great, but I need to get home. Adi’s waiting for me.”

  Nina threw her head back and laughed an ear-splitting trill. Honi hadn’t heard that particular noise from her before. It wasn’t a nice sound, and for a split-second, an eerie darkness diffused Nina’s outline. Honi rubbed his eyes, and when he opened them again, Nina looked at him with real concern in her face. There was nothing off about her. She was his friend, and he was fortunate to have her in his life.

  “Are you okay to walk home?” she asked.

  Honi nodded. He was fine. After all, this was Heota, the most boring place in the world. He got up and only swayed slightly as he passed through the door to the outside. It wasn’t that late yet, anyway. And there was something he’d meant to do tonight. Something important that couldn’t wait.

  He jumped as his butt buzzed. Retrieving his cell phone from his back pocket, he smacked his forehead as John’s phone number flashed on his screen. That was it! How could he have forgotten! He answered the call and smiled.

  “Hey! John!”

  Silence. Then his mentor and shaman’s voice sounded out of the tiny speakers.

  “Hey to you, too. Have you been drinking?”

  Honi giggled. “No. Of course not. Well, maybe a beer. Or two.”

  John laughed. “I suppose I better speak to you tomorrow then? You sound like you need a good night’s sleep.”

  Honi said quickly, “Oh no, I need to speak to you now. I’m fine. It’s already wearing off in the night air.”

  When John didn’t say anything, Honi continued, “I spoke to Con today. He’s a spirit walker who hasn’t found his animal yet.”

  When John answered, the amusement was gone from his voice. “Damn. He’s old to not have a spirit animal.”

  “Exactly. This is what I wanted to talk to you about. He’s drifting towards a crisis. Already he spirit-walks without protection in the other world. He’s frightened because he sees creatures but doesn’t yet understand what he sees. Sound familiar?”

  John said nothing. For a moment, Honi was deep in thought, remembering how Adi had found out about her ability. He was sure John was having similar thoughts about a young man killed by spirit animals many decades ago. At the time, nobody had realized what had happened but the queen had confirmed that untrained spirit walkers posed a terrible danger to the balance of the worlds. She would send her creatures to take out Con soon, of that Honi had no doubt. God, he hated her.

  John interrupted his spiraling train of thought. “You’re the senior spirit walker in the area. What do you suggest?”

  Honi stood up straighter. Wow, that felt good. Being acknowledged like that by his mentor. Even though Adi was stronger than him, he was Mekui’te. He would prove to the elders he was doing the right thing.

  “I think we should organize a spirit quest for Con. The same way you did for me. And we should do it very soon. I fear we don’t have much time.”

  John grunted. “I agree. Let me talk to his mom. If he can see spirit animals and has started to walk the worlds, he needs a companion, and training. Let’s meet tomorrow first thing and talk details.”

  After the conversation, Honi felt lighter. He hadn’t realized how much Con and his problem had weighted on his mind. This could work out really well for everybody. Con would be safe, and the elders would finally see how important his work was. And basking in Adi’s admiration for once wouldn’t be a hardship either.

  19

  Adi had a vague recollection of somebody knocking at her door and asking if she wanted to come for dinner. She was too tire
d to respond and fell back asleep.

  The next time she opened her eyes, it was six o’clock in the morning. She stretched luxuriously, stretching her arms over her head, and reveled in the tingles running up and down her spine. After a quick shower, she pulled a new set of clothes from her suitcase. She felt much better today, rested and alert.

  Adi left her room, fully intent on speaking with Honi about last night. She closed the room door and listened. Houses were strange in the mornings, and this particular one had paper-thin walls. If she strained her ears, she could hear sleep noises from several people. Bed springs protested under shifting bodyweight. Something that sounded like tiny claws scuttled in the walls. Birdsong erupted outside—maybe a cat had tried to sneak up on the local blackbird population. Either way, the cacophony went way beyond the dawn chorus. This was a dawn riot.

  It still wasn’t loud enough to wake Honi. She had no idea when he’d come back from meeting with his friends the previous night. It must have been late, though. She snuck to his bedroom and opened the door, making sure his crazy mother wasn’t up yet.

  Honi lay on his back, snoring softly. She stood by his bed and watched him the way she rarely could when he was awake. His face was relaxed and his long black hair plaited to stop it from tangling up at night. He looked adorable, like a little boy, and Adi couldn’t bring herself to wake him up. She didn’t last long before feeling like a creeper. She backed away, leaving him to his dreams, and closed the door softly on the way out.

  Adi walked into the kitchen and straight to the fridge. This time, it was completely filled. Somebody must have driven to Lawton yesterday and bought supplies. Normally she would have felt reluctant to help herself, but she was starving. She’d literally had a bowl of soup and some slices of bread in nearly forty-eight hours.

  There was milk and cereal, and soon Adi sat at the kitchen table, munching away. Somebody had bought more black tea, and a mug of steaming, dark-amber liquid sat next to her bowl on the table. Adi loved the contrast between the cold milk, the crunchiness of the cereal, and the scalding bitter liquid to chase it all down with. She sighed contentedly. This was as close to heaven as she’d come since they’d arrived.

  The Germans had a saying, “Hunger ist der beste Koch” which translated to "hunger is the best chef". Honi found it hilarious that many German sayings were similar to American ones, but different enough to make them sound unfamiliar and funny.

  A pang of homesickness shot through Adi, this time so strong, tears welled up in her eyes. Angrily she wiped them away. This was ridiculous. When she’d been in Germany, she’d missed the USA. Now that she was back in America, she missed Germany. She’d read someplace that this was the curse of traveling. You were never quite happy where you ended up and always longed to be at another place. And that was another saying that seemed particularly apt at the moment.

  After breakfast, she watched the breaking dawn. She had been too hungry earlier to notice the darkness slowly receding. She walked the few hundred yards to the edge of the bluff and sat down, wrapped in a blanket that she’d taken from the living room.

  Adi looked out over the valley. Down below, the light hadn’t reached the fields and the road yet, but where she sat, the first rays of the sun rising behind her over the forest colored everything in a magical, golden-red light. Adi turned around and appreciated the beauty of the black trees behind her, the tips starkly outlined by the yellow ball rising higher and higher.

  There was some warmth in the rays, and she closed her eyes, lifting her face towards the rising sun. Soon the golden ball had risen too high and was blinding her even through her closed eyelids. Adi turned back towards the valley and stared as far as her eyes could reach. She inhaled the fresh morning air greedily.

  In this moment, she understood why people wanted to live here, despite the problems, the unemployment, the poverty. Here in this tiny place with only a part-time library and post office, she experienced the primal joy of the wide expanse of sky, of land, of nature.

  Adi closed her eyes and listened to birds singing their unfamiliar song, so different from Germany. It was late in the year for the dawn chorus, and she vowed to enjoy it while it lasted.

  Eventually, she shivered despite the blanket—it was time to go back inside. If Honi was awake, she could maybe speak with him and ask him to drive to town so that she could buy better winter clothes. She had a feeling her jacket wouldn’t be warm enough to face the impending winter.

  She blinked when she checked her cell phone. She’d been out here for two hours. Well, at least they’d probably all be up by now. On her way to the front door, she passed three cars parked outside the house. Visitors. Probably more relatives to welcome Honi back. Adi sighed. Today was shaping up to be another day where all his time would be taken up by everybody but Adi.

  When she rapped her knuckles at the door, an old man she hadn’t met before opened the door. Adi waited for him to step aside, but he held his ground. After an uncomfortably long silence, he asked, "Yes? Can I help you?"

  Adi smiled and stuck out her hand. "Hi, I’m Adi, Honi’s girlfriend. Nice to meet you."

  He looked down at her hand, shook his head, and stepped aside. In a gruff voice, he replied, "I know who you are. We were waiting for you."

  Adi felt her ears burn red. What was that? Was everybody in this place rude and unwelcoming? And why had he asked her who she was if he knew? Seriously? Were they all trying to out-psych her? She mutely followed the old man, growing anger and apprehension heating up her face.

  Staying in this place did nothing for her blood pressure. She took a deep breath when he opened the door to the living room. It was full of people and their spirit animals. Honi sat on the sofa next to his mother, smiling and laughing with another older woman. Nina stood behind them, talking animatedly to a young man who resembled her vaguely.

  When Adi’s guide ushered her in to the room, the sudden silence unnerved her even more. She fought the urge to back out and run. Before she could say anything, Honi jumped up and put his arm around her shoulder, smiling broadly.

  "Everybody, this is Adi. I’m so happy you finally get to meet her."

  He beamed around the room, oblivious to the dark looks that came Adi’s way. She smiled, looking from face to face, hoping for some positive reaction. For Honi sake, she’d try. But there was nothing. Wherever she looked, her gaze was met by inscrutable dark eyes. Nobody frowned at her, but she certainly didn’t feel welcome.

  Eventually a figure pushed from the corner of the room towards her, and to her relief, Adi recognized John. His face bore the only smile in the room apart from Honi, but Adi wasn’t fooled. There was something going on. John’s eyes looked serious, and when he opened his mouth, Adi felt the first prickles of apprehension.

  "Adi, so good to see you again. We were waiting for you. I would like you to meet the elders."

  Adi nodded politely as John introduced each man and woman, one by one. Adi wasn’t great with names, and she knew she would have to meet these people several times before she could be sure to remember the names.

  Once the introductions were done with, Adi was offered a chair. The conversation in the room had died down completely, and while everybody found a seat, Adi whispered to Honi, "Do you know what’s going on?"

  Honi shook his head. His face was calm, yet serious. He took her hand and squeezed. Then they both waited. An old man with a face as craggy as the landscape outside, his hair white and plaited down his back, spoke first.

  "Adi, I would be lying if I said that I was happy to see you here."

  Adi’s smile slipped off her face. Jesus, now they didn’t even try to be polite any more.

  "We, the tribal elders, decided that Honi was smart and driven enough to become our advocate. As a community, we need much more representation. We are constantly under siege from developers and government agents who try to either take things from us or deny us things that we have rights to. Like clean water, electricity, schools. Honi had agreed
to let us pay for his education. In return, he was to become a legal advocate, a lawyer specializing in native rights. We were devastated to find that he had dropped out of his course after meeting you."

  Adi stared at them with wide eyes. Yes, that was what had happened. But it wasn’t the full story. Between the two of them, Adi and Honi had saved the world. She didn’t know what to say. When she looked at Honi, the expression on his face made her feel a little better. He was outraged. Angry, upset, and when he looked at Adi, worried as well.

  "We know you didn’t intend to cause this. But we are sure that Honi changed after meeting you. It was your presence, starting up this relationship with you, that turned his head away from what was best for his tribe. We have spent a lot of money on his education. Money we couldn’t afford to spend. And you have to understand that the entire village of Heota is angry."

  The older man’s voice had grown more and more hostile. As Adi looked around the room, she saw several heads nod, looking equally grim. Nina’s face was devoid of expression, except for the gleam in her eyes that showed how much she was enjoying Adi’s predicament. Even John, who knew about spirit walkers, looked concerned. When the old man opened his mouth again, Honi jumped up.

  "Stop,” he demanded loudly. He glared around the room before continuing, "Stop attacking Adi. I hadn’t planned for this to happen. I fell in love, and it changed everything. I understand that the village is angry. I will work for the rest of my life to repay my debt to you all. But this is my path now, and I cannot change it."

  He took a deep breath, pain etched into his face. “With all due respect to the elders, it was my decision to drop out of college. John told you what happened. It had nothing to do with Adi. If anything, she helped me see that there was another path to help this village. And the entire Mekui’te nation.”