She lay back and looked up at the ceiling, her hands folded on her stomach.
"What do we do?" I asked. Robin shook her head,
"Nothing," Gin said. "Go write in your notebooks. I have mine half-filled."
"I'll write something. What I write will make her ears burn," Robin threatened,
Gia. smiled. "Good idea. That's what I'm doing." We had no idea what she meant.
But we would.
Soon.
We would.
15
Posy Returns
.
Teal wasn't sent to any real hospital. Natani's
Indian medicine worked well. After another two days, she appeared at the barracks, weakened, but essentially well enough to be on her awn again with just a little limp in her walk. The snake bite and the events afterward appeared to have erased most of her memories of our desert ordeal. Robin and I had to describe it all to her, and as we did, she kept shaking her head and saving, "I did that? We did that?"
Apparently she had been in more of a daze and in more confusion than we'd realized after she had been bitten by the sidewinder.
Apparently because of her condition. Dr. Foreman did not give her a notebook to fill with thoughts and lessons learned. Neither Robin nor I had really done much in ours, but we were told we wou
ld not be given back our mattresses, blankets, and pillows until we had completed the notebooks.
I was afraid of writing anything truthful, afraid that somehow Dr. Foreman would find a way to use it against me, use it as a weapon to tear me down, just as she had done with my revelation about my fear of rats. Gia was writing in hers, but we had no idea what she wrote. She wouldn't reveal it. She just kept mumbling, "I'll remind her. I'll remind her,"
One of the first things I did when I had free time was to thank Natani. He said nothing, admitting to nothing until I described how I had found my shell and used it to help get me through the ordeal.
"So now I shall no longer call you daughter of the sun. You are daughter of the tortoise." he said, and came the closest to laughing with me.
"You shouldn't stay here. Natani. This is a mean and ugly place. You don't belong here.'
"I must stay with my plants, my animals, my trees. We look after each other. Someday, daughter of the tortoise, you will learn that the Earth Mother is your true friend and the only home you will have."
"I think I learned that already, Natani. Thanks again for what you did for us."
He nodded and smiled. "You did well with what you learned."
Because of our near exhaustion and what we had endured, we weren't given heavy, long labor during the first few days after our return. Most of my day was spent helping Natani with the horses. work I had come to love. One afternoon. Natani asked me if I would like to learn how to ride Wind Song, I was terrified of the idea, but he told me I was ready and Wind Song approved. I had little doubt that he could speak to horses.
Natani showed me how to ride bareback. His first instruction was to mount Wind Song from the left side. Even at his age, he was nimble enough to leap and swing his leg over Wind Song's back. I tried it and failed miserably, probably because I was too frightened. Finally, he boosted me up and I swung my leg over. It was not exactly the most comfortable place to be. but Natani said I needed to relax and believe in myself. and if I did, it would be like riding on a cloud.
"Be one with Wind Song. He will know if you feel like a stranger. He will not expect it or like it if you don't join with him." Natani advised.
I put my hand on Wind Song's powerful neck and he shook his head and then tapped the ground with his right hoof.
"He says hello." Natani told me.
"Hello, Wind Song," I replied.
Natani handed me the reins, which he wanted me to take in my left hand first.