Yet she had not fully trusted that enough to ask John to willingly lead her to the carnival. Knowing the mean side of him so well, Kaylene dared not depend on him changing so much so quickly.
Therefore, they would follow him without him being aware of their presence on the trail.
Kaylene gazed over at Dawnmarie, where she sat opposite the fire from her on the bench. She smiled when she saw Dawnmarie’s radiance, and the peace she outwardly showed as she sat among her true people, participating in the ceremony that would bond her with them for eternity.
Dawnmarie surely had to know now, for certain, that she had a place in the hereafter with those who had passed on before her. A place was being reserved in the heavens, where she would one day walk hand in hand again with her dearly departed mother, Doe Eyes.
Kaylene frowned when she looked among the warriors who sat around the fire. Black Hair wasn’t there. No one had seen him since Running Fawn had left the village.
Sighing, Kaylene realized that the celebration today was tarnished somewhat by the girls being sent into exile, and from those who loved Black Hair, wondering where he might be. He hadn’t told anyone he was leaving, yet he had gone without a trace.
Everything was keenly quiet in the council house. There were no musical instruments playing. All that could be heard above the popping and hissing of fire in the firepit, were the breaths of the people.
All waited for Fire Thunder to begin the ceremony. It would not last long, but it meant very much to everyone who was in attendance today.
Fire Thunder stepped down from his bench. He withdrew a small pouch from his front right breeches pocket. He held it in the palm of his left hand as he rose his eyes upward, his voice low and husky as he prayed and chanted.
He stopped long enough to open the pouch and sprinkle some tobacco into the fire. This was his offering to the spirits.
He again prayed, notifying the other manitou to carry the message to the spirits of the deceased who dwelled in the West with Pepazce. The spirits were urged to attend the feast.
Goosebumps rose on Kaylene’s flesh as Fire Thunder continued to pray, asking for blessings and long life for all those present. He prayed for Dawnmarie, asking the spirits to accept her as one with them.
When Fire Thunder’s prayers ceased and he sat down again beside Kaylene, an elderly man stepped forth who was called the “waiter” today. With a trembling hand, he dipped his ladle into one of the pots of stew and took a bit of the food from the brass kettle. He slowly poured the food on the ground to the west of the fire, this also a gift for the spirits.
After he had served the spirits, he emptied the contents of the kettle into large pans and placed several in front of the benches where the people sat, quietly waiting to do what was required of them next.
He then passed everyone broken pieces of fry bread, and then bits of the sweet berry cakes.
Before everyone began to eat, Fire Thunder rose from the bench again and sprinkled a bit of Indian tobacco near the food for the spirits and invited them to join them for this occasion.
“Your sons and daughters are giving you tobacco and a feast,” Fire Thunder said, his eyes lifted heavenward. “Surely come and join us in this occasion.”
He sat back down and joined the others as they quietly partook of the food.
While eating, and being a part of this spiritual ritual, Kaylene felt the same strange feelings overwhelm her that she had felt countless times since she had arrived at this Indian village.
She did not feel awkward or strange partaking in this ceremony. She felt as though she had done it before, somewhere in time, through the eyes of someone else, yet in
truth, whose eyes were now her own.
A shiver raced through her when she felt as though someone’s breath was touching her cheek in a soft, caressing kiss. But Fire Thunder was the only one near her, and he was meditatively eating the food, not even offering her a quick glance, much less a kiss.
The strangeness of these feelings somewhat frightened her. Would she ever know why it was happening? How would anyone even know how to explain it?
The food now gone from the pans and large copper pots, Fire Thunder rose to his feet again and prayed.
When the prayer was over, everyone rose and left quietly through the door at the north side of the lodge.
The last to leave, Kaylene walked beside Fire Thunder toward the north door.
A sound behind her caused her to look over her shoulder just as the waiter took a burned end of a log and carefully raked the food and tobacco that had been offered to the spirits into the fire.
Fire Thunder caught her looking at what the waiter was doing. “The fire will be allowed to burn until morning,” he explained. “Before breakfast tomorrow the ashes will be gathered and taken outside, to the west side of the council house, in a place specifically reserved for this purpose.”
“You told me that there are three such ceremonies like the one that was performed today,” Kaylene said as she walked with Fire Thunder. “When will the next one be held?”
“The second Feast of the Dead will be held in the summer when cantaloupe and watermelon will be the main foods served,” he said, smiling at White Wolf as he and Dawnmarie waited outside for them.