Cedar Woman (32 page)

He
felt
as
if
God,
or
Creator as
Peter,
Mary and
L
e
na
called
Hi
m
, were
t
o
uch
i
ng his
s
h
o
u
l
d
er,
g
iving
it
a
s
m
all
pat
o
f
a
p
pr
o
v
al
and
sa
y
i
n
g
, “G
oo
d w
or
k
,
m
y son.
Y
o
u
h
ave d
o
ne well
.
”

A
n
d he h
a
d.
Dean
k
n
e
w
th
at
t
h
e
wo
rk
w
as
go
o
d
,
a
n
d
t
h
at
L
e
na w
o
uld be
plea
s
ed with what
h
e h
a
d
ac
c
o
m
plish
e
d.

The
s
n
ap of
a
twig
c
a
us
e
d
h
i
m
to
t
u
r
n
.
Ne
l
li
e,
a
basket on
her
a
r
m
, walk
e
d
up
t
o
her
husb
an
d. Touch
i
ng
his
face
lov
i
ngly,
s
h
e
plac
e
d
her

c
h
eek a
g
a
i
n
st
h
is, still c
o
l
d
fr
o
m
t
h
e s
p
ar
k
l
i
n
g waters
o
f
W
o
lf
R
u
n. “Sweet
h
eart,” she
whis
p
e
re
d
,
“I
b
r
o
u
g
h
t
u
s
a
little
so
m
et
h
i
ng
.

Mary said
t
h
at
s
h
e is fast
i
n
g,
bu
t t
h
at we
s
h
ould eat. She
has no idea
how

l
o
ng
t
h
e
cere
m
on
y will
ta
k
e
t
on
ig
h
t.”
Wal
k
i
n
g
to
t
h
e
l
arge,
flat
roc
k
, whi
c
h
De
a
n
h
a
d
rested
up
on
m
o
m
ents earlier,
she laid
a small
cloth
and placed
t
h
e
ba
s
k
et in
t
h
e c
e
nt
e
r of
i
f
it.

“
I
wasn’t
sure
w
h
at we
s
h
ould
h
a
v
e
f
o
r su
pp
e
r,” Nellie
e
xp
lai
n
e
d
. “T
h
is
is
a
sol
e
m
n
n
ig
h
t,” s
h
e
c
on
t
i
nu
e
d,
“e
v
en
if
we
d
o
n’t
f
u
lly
u
n
d
e
rstand
it.
Still,
as
Mary a
n
d
Peter
are
always say
in
g
, ‘we are
all related’
a
nd
I
d
on
’t
want
us
to
do
a
n
y
thi
n
g
to
d
e
secrate
what
is
to
be
d
o
n
e
h
ere
t
o
ni
gh
t
.
So,”
Nellie
e
xp
l
ai
n
ed,
“I
h
o
p
e
you
d
on’t
mi
n
d
. Y
o
u
’
ve
be
e
n
w
o
rk
i
n
g
so
h
a
r
d
,
but
I
’ve
b
r
o
ug
h
t
us
a
s
i
m
p
l
e
d
i
nn
e
r
o
f

¹⁸
Woah-oo-ah-njee-h
a
hnj
(
n
j is a Fre
n
ch
J sou
n
d)

so
m
e
beans,
c
o
rn
bre
a
d
a
n
d spr
i
ng on
i
o
n
s
with
water f
ro
m t
h
e
spri
n
g
.” Dean s
m
iled:

“
On
l
y
tw
o
o
f
‘
t
he
t
h
ree
s
i
s
t
er
s
¹⁹
?
”
h
e
c
h
ortled
qu
i
etly,
referring
to t
h
e
co
m
b
i
n
ation
o
f
be
a
n
s
,
c
o
rn
a
nd
sq
ua
s
h whi
c
h
M
ary
h
ad
i
n
t
r
o
d
uc
e
d t
h
em
t
o
.

“
I re
m
e
m
b
ere
d
!”
Nellie
s
m
ile
d
, p
u
lli
n
g
a
s
m
a
ll
d
i
sh
o
f
fried zucch
i
n
i
f
r
om
t
h
e dep
t
hs
of t
h
e
w
ov
e
n ba
s
k
e
t.

Leani
n
g
o
v
er
i
n
s
il
ent
g
rat
it
ude
f
o
r
t
h
i
s de
a
r
wo
m
an,
w
h
o
rea
c
hed out
t
o
t
h
ose
s
h
e
l
o
v
e
d,
al
w
a
y
s
in
t
h
e
be
s
t
way
she
k
n
e
w
ho
w,
De
a
n placed
a
r
e
v
e
r
e
nt
kiss
upon
h
e
r
s
m
ooth, slightly
plu
m
p che
e
k.