Free Cedar Woman by Debra Shiveley Welch

eunited with h er fa m il y , and to f i nd o u t ho w her ate was. She pray e d m o st of t h e way, s ilent, g azing o u t t h e w i n d ows, as f a rm la n d and sta n di n g c o r n so on t u r n e d to r o w s of h ou s es, i n d u str i ous t o w n s, an d fi n ally, t h e tall bu il d i n gs o f dow n t o w n C o lu m bu s, O h io.
 

     
Dean e x it ed o f f o f U S 2 3 , a n d dr ove t h e sh ort d i s t ance t o t h e F ro n t S t reet ap a r t m ent, brea t h in g a pra ye r of g r at it ude at t h e s i ght of Re va Catcher st e pp i ng o u t of a br i ghtly pa i n ted Yell o w Ca b .
     
     
    Dean wal k e d up to Reva T w o Str i kes Catcher, h an d e x tend e d in welco m e.
    “ M rs. Catche r, ” he m u r m ured. “I w is h we could h a ve m et un d er better circu m stances, b u t I am still glad to finally m ake y our
    acqua i n tanc e .”
    Reva gazed at the su n-bronzed far m er and s m iled g e ntly.
    “ Creator has d ecided t h at w e m eet, and so we h a ve. T h a nk yo u fo r ta k i n g s u ch go o d care of m y s o n a n d h is f a mi l y .”
    As R eva s p o k e , she rea c hed o u t to Lena, s m oo t hi n g h e r g l ossy hair gentl y , finally placing h e r l e ft h a nd up o n h e r o n ly g ra n d c hil d ’s s ho u l d e r.
    “ W ak a n T a nka has chosen a great friend for m y son. I a m
    grateful.”
    Dean blu s hed, not a n easy acco m p lis h m en t under his per m anent far m e r ’s s u n-b r o n ze d tan , a n d t h an k e d h e r.

“ N o w,” he o ff ere d , clearing his t h r o at fr o m t h e e m otion- i n sp i red tears w h ich filled it, “let’s g et y ou r b a g s i n to t h e apartme n t, and I will ta k e you to Pe t er.
 
    Lena sat i n th e c o rn e r of h e r fa t h er’s s m all room in the medical center. T h e door w a s clo s ed, an d Mary h a d r e quest e d that t h ey be u n d istur b e d unti l t h e d oo r wa s o p e n e d . T h e n u rs e t o w h o m s h e’ d s p o k en l o o k ed a b it c on cer n ed, b u t s h e tr u sted M ary’s ju dg m ent, e v en t h ou g h she ’ d only k n o w n her f o r a wee k , a nd d e cided t o g i ve her s o m e t i m e . She k n ew th at M ary was p e r f or m i ng so m e t h i ng ca l l ed a heal i n g cere m ony, and held deep re s p ect, as well a s a c e rtain aw e, and a lot of cur i osity, for Native A m erican pra c tices. She wish e d she cou l d be includ e d s o that she cou l d s ee what a hea l ing cere m ony was all about. She h op e d t h at M ary w o uld g ive her an Ind i an na m e, so sh e acquiesced, a n d lo ok e d l o n g in g l y t o ward t h e d oor t h e e n t i re t i m e.
    Beside M ary was Tell Wo l f Catche r , Pe t er’s co usi n , w h o d r o v e from Iowa to h elp with t h e h eali n g cerem on y which Mary was a b o u t t o beg i n.
    M ary f i rst s m u d g e d t h e roo m , br i ng i ng a l l sp i r it s i n t o har m on y . They h a d not b een a b le to p er f o rm a sweat lodge c e re m ony, so Tell Wolf requested the use of the s w eat lodge of his b r o t her, Joe Red Bea r , b ef o re leaving Iowa.
    M ary plac e d t h e m edicine b u n d le L e na m ade in t h e b e d beside h e r hu s b an d . W avi n g h e r p r a y er feath e r above hi m , sh e prayed t o Tan k asil u s 29 to m ake her h u s b and w hole, an d to m ake her w h ole aga i n. She prayed t h at Peter’s taku skan s k a n 30 b e ret u r n ed to its s h ell. Tell Wo l f held t h e ca n u m pa 31 above Pet e r a n d pray e d as we l l, as Mary cont in u e d t o w ave her p ra y er feather a bo v e her h u s b a nd ’s b o d y , w a v ing , wa v i n g , e n treati n g h i s taku skan s k an to return to its s h ell.
    Le n a o b ser v ed h er m o t h er s o l e m n ly. A g ain s h e was e n thralled with her m o t h e r ’s floati n g hai r , whi c h b e g a n to t u r n gray t h e day of t h e accident. It floated upon the air li k e a wisp of s m oke, not unlike the tran s p ar e n t ri b b o n s t h at r o se f