Dance of the Bones

Gabe held it close to the fire and peered at it closely. “An owl and a turtle?” he asked finally.

“Yes, those are from the story of Little White Feather as well. Owl and Turtle were the first to help Shining Falls when she came under the spell of the Evil Giantess. I believe this is an ancient pot, Gabe, maybe even as old as the ones that belonged to Betraying Woman, the ones I found in the cave. It was made by someone who knew and loved the story of Little White Feather. The evil Milgahn woman had this pot with her on the night she shot Henry Rojas. It must have fallen out of her pocket, maybe when she was putting the duct tape on my face. And now I’m giving it to you.”

“For me?” Gabe asked in surprise. “To keep?”

“No,” Lani said, “I’m giving it to you to break.” She brought out one of Dan’s white hankies and laid it across a rock. “I want you to break it on this. Don’t smash it. I want you to crack it open very gently like you would if you were breaking an egg. Once you do, I want you to wrap the pieces up in the hankie, take them home, and glue them back together. By breaking the pot, you’ll be setting free the spirit of the woman who made it. And once you glue it back together, you’ll have a place to keep your divining crystals.”

Frowning in concentration, Gabe did as he was told. When he tapped the clay pot gently on the hankie--covered rock, it split apart into four distinct pieces.

“See there?” Lani grinned. “All of nature goes in four. And once you’ve tied the hankie shut, you can put it in this.”

Once again she reached into her backpack. This time she pulled out the second medicine basket, one she had woven with love in hopes of one day giving it to Gabe.

His jaw dropped in disbelief. “A medicine basket?” he asked. “A medicine basket of my very own?”

“Heu’u,” Lani said softly. “Yes, your grandfather, Fat Crack, and an old blind medicine man named Looks at Nothing would be very proud.”





ABOUT THE AUTHOR


J. A. JANCE is the New York Times bestselling author of the J. P. Beaumont series, the Joanna Brady series, the Ali Reynolds series, and five interrelated thrillers about the Walker family, as well as a volume of poetry. Born in South Dakota and brought up in Bisbee, Arizona, Jance lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington, and Tucson, Arizona.

www.jajance.com

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