A Good High Place

Chapter 17

c H A P T e R S e V e N T e e N 1905 The day beams down on her, squeezes between the slats of the wigwam, kisses her on the cheek. Good, she thinks. if The day smiles, Hototo will take me fishing with him. The day tugs her along, coaxes her to an open window where she can see Hototo already down by the lake. Hototo is seven, and that makes Kachina five. Hototo’s stubby arms haul the heavy net loaded with fish onto the shore, and she can hear The day drumming, win adawege, happycrazy against the side of the dock. She smiles. it is always nice when The day sings. Surely Hototo will be pleased by the music, and it seems he is since she can hear him whistling along tunelessly. But then The day changes. A shadow passes over her hand, over her heart, and she can feel Him leading her outside toward Hototo. Thebigwaterslapscrazy-windigonowattheshoreline,slapsuphard against herchest, thewaterrisinginherthroat. Geeseswoopcloseto her head, squawking wildly. Watch out! Watch out! And that’s when Kachina sees Makwa move from behind the hemlocks and toward Hototo, who doesn’t seem to hear Kachina or The day speaking to him. What is wrong with him? she wonders. Hototo always listens to The day. it was Hototo who taught her to listen. 90 L.E. Kimball Makwa is moving steadily toward Hototo now, though Hototo has not once looked over his shoulder. Kachina screams a warning and slides down the embankment, placing herself between the looming black bear and the backside of Hototo. The bear lumbers within a few feet of Kachina, snarling and growling, blowing white foam from between ragged teeth, tongue lolling out of a bloody mouth. The tongue is long, like that of a snake. The tongue whips past Kachina and reaches for Hototo, who still does not hear The day. But then Kachina sees it isn’t Makwa after all but school-man. How he slides from proud Makwa to school-man is something Kachina will never understand. But Kachina knows if Hototo goes to the school in Mount Pleasant, he will learn about the world like the man says, but he will no longer be able to hear The day. Already he is becoming deaf to Him. Kachina spins four times like she has seen the sacred dancers do, but it does no good at all. Now she is inside the wigwam, izusa standing to the side, saying nothing. Saying nothing though the man is cutting Hototo’s braid. The braid that in the Anishinaabek way stands for the three things: body, mind, and spirit. The braid that shows how The day is keeping Hototo in balance. Hototo’s black hair separates as soon as it’s cut, fallsingreatpiles,likeshardsofblackshinylight,andKachinascoops it up, tears streaming down her face because izusa and school-man have decided Hototo must go. Hototo’s net is empty now, though Kachina doesn’t know how it got inside the wigwam. Hototo looks from Kachina to izusa, says nothing. He sets down his net and goes with school-man, who has become Makwa again. Hototo walks backward with him; Makwa drags him from sight. Until the last second, Hototo’s eyes never leave izusa’s face. Just when Kachina thinks Makwa is gone, the days have passed without him, he is back. She knows he is back for her. When she looks at izusa she can see that it is izusa’s wish that she go along, too. She doesn’t like to disobey izusa, but she knows she must not leave here. The day has told her as much. A GOOD HIGH PLACE 91 Makwa can’t make up his mind and has once again become school-man, but he suddenly looks pathetic, white, and powerless. Kachina is no longer frightened. She can hear The day talking to her. She steps outside as the man walks toward her with the scissors. She expects to see the sun glint off the cold steel, but that is when she realizes it is night. She squats in front of the fire, which has burned down into orange glowing embers. As the man approaches, she picks up one of the coals, transfers it hand to hand, like babies do when they play with stones. She hums softly, continuing to move the hot coal between her palms. Kachina...