Cedar Woman (108 page)

“
T
h
is is a
b
eautif
u
l sto
n
e,”
h
e
offered, stalling for ti
m
e. “It’s
m
y births
t
one
– Dece
m
ber,”
L
e
na
s
m
il
ed
.

Mi
chael
p
r
oc
e
ssed
t
h
e
in
f
orm
at
i
on,
and
r
e
alized
that
his
br
i
d
e
was

1
7
,
as
Julie
had
m
ention
e
d
j
u
st
b
e
f
o
re
t
h
e
cere
m
on
y
.
It
had
n
o
t regis
t
er
e
d
w
i
th
him
t
h
en,
but
n
o
w
he
g
ra
s
p
e
d
t
h
e
fact
t
h
at
Lena
was
not

o
f
an
a
g
e
to
marry
le
g
ally
wit
h
o
u
t
p
ar
e
ntal
consent.
Rev
a
,
as
an
elder
of

t
h
e
fa
m
i
l
y
,
and
Peter’s
m
o
t
h
er,
g
a
v
e
v
erbal
c
on
se
n
t
f
o
r
t
h
e
tra
d
itio
n
a
l N
d
N
w
ed
d
i
n
g, but p
a
r
e
ntal con
s
ent was ne
c
essar
y
,
o
r
t
h
ey w
o
uld h
a
ve
to wait
un
til Le
n
a
t
u
r
n
ed
18
in
Dec
e
m
b
er to
m
a
rry le
g
ally, if
th
ey wa
n
ted
to
d
o
s
o
w
ith
ou
t
i
n
v
o
l
v
i
n
g
he
r
p
a
ren
t
s
.
I
n
a
d
d
iti
on
,
h
e
tho
u
gh
t
t
o
hi
m
s
e
l
f
,
i
t
m
ay
t
ake
a
few
m
on
t
hs be
fo
re he
c
o
u
l
d rese
t
t
l
e,
so
t
h
ey
m
ay
as
we
l
l wa
i
t
un
ti
l
s
h
e
turne
d
1
8.

M
ichael wr
app
ed her in his
ar
m
s and
b
e
g
a
n.

“
Lena,
I have a
life
here
in
Keoku
k
.
I
h
a
ve
an
ap
a
rt
m
ent,
a
job
and
m
y fa
m
ily
is
here.

Michael tight
e
n
ed his
e
m
brace when
he
felt
Lena atte
m
p
t to sit
up. “C
h
a,
listen
n
o
w,
Little
Bird
–
e
x
c
u
se
m
e,
Ce
d
a
r
Woma
n
,”
h
e

lau
g
hed
q
u
ietl
y
,
c
h
uck
i
ng h
e
r
li
g
htly u
n
d
e
r t
h
e
ch
i
n
.

“
I
will
n
eed
to
cl
o
se
u
p
m
y
a
p
art
m
e
n
t,
g
ive
no
tice,
and
b
e
g
i
n
t
h
e search
for
a
new
job.
Wh
e
n
I
h
a
ve
acco
m
pl
i
shed
these
things,
I
will
m
eet
y
ou
i
n
C
o
l
u
m
bus.
I
t
’s
go
i
ng
t
o
t
ake
m
e
a
few
m
on
t
hs,
Mit
aw
in
,
b
u
t

I will
b
e t
h
ere!

Le
n
a
lay
qu
ietly
in
h
is
a
r
m
s. A
g
liste
n
i
n
g
tear
fell
fr
o
m
h
er
eye, a
n
d
drop
p
ed
o
n
to
Mic
h
ael
’
s
c
h
est.
He
t
o
ok
h
i
s
in
d
ex
f
i
n
g
er,
w
i
p
ed
u
p
t
h
e
t
ear
a
n
d
k
i
ssed
t
h
e
sa
lt
y
li
qu
id
.
H
i
s
he
a
rt
ached f
o
r
h
i
s
l
ovely
br
i
d
e. His
h
eart
was
also
h
ea
v
y,
b
u
t
t
h
ey
n
ee
d
ed
to
d
o
t
h
is
right,
so
t
h
at
t
h
eir life
toget
h
er
b
egan with
h
o
n
o
r
,
and with
all
people
i
n
vo
l
ved
tak
e
n
i
n
to consideration.

“
I
will
b
e
in
C
o
l
u
m
bu
s
soon
to
lo
o
k
for work.
I
n
e
ed
to
req
u
est
v
acati
o
n
ti
m
e
f
ro
m my
c
u
rrent
jo
b.
I’ll
tell
th
em t
h
at
I
a
m
m
ov
i
ng
.
My
bo
s
s
is
a
g
o
o
d
m
a
n
,
h
e’ll
g
i
ve
m
e
t
h
e
ti
m
e,
a
n
d
k
eep
m
e
o
n
un
til
I
fi
n
d so
m
ething
els
e
.”