Page 47 of Lost

“That’s easy,” said Anastasia, casting her big blue eyes upward at the raven. “I will send Tatsuwa to find you every day. He’ll circle around you. If you have a message for us, write it on a strip of paper and give it to him. He’ll get it to me. Likewise, if we have a message for you, Tatsuwa will bring it to you.”

“Um, how’s he going to find me?” Kevin gave the raven a side glance and the big bird croaked at him.

“Oh, you need not worry about that. If you’re outside, Tatsuwa will find you. His eyesight is as sharp as his intelligence.”

“Anastasia, my dear, I have seen your lovely raven before—he seems to always be close to you—but I have not heard you call him by name until recently. I have been meaning to tell you that I appreciate that you chose our Native word for him,” said Grandma Redbird, who moved over to stand close enough to the bird to stroke his shiny black feathers.

“Tatsuwa is Cherokee for raven?” Anastasia sounded surprised.

“It is,” said Grandma Redbird. “If you did not know that, how did you name him?”

Anastasia’s brilliant smile lit up the cave as she gazed lovingly up at the bird. “I did not name him. He told me his name, didn’t you, Tatsuwa?”

“Tatsuwa!”the raven said as clearly as the priestess he’d chosen as his own.

“Sometimes I think the two of them are closer than we are,” muttered Dragon.

“Jealous!”croaked Tatsuwa.

Anastasia laughed musically. “Oh, Tatsuwa, stop teasing Bryan.” The bird hopped down from his perch and waddled to Anastasia, snuggling against her side while she used one long, slender finger to stroke the downy feathers above his beak.

“How many words does he know?” asked Kevin, totally intrigued by the strange black bird.

“Oh, Tatsuwa doesn’t just mimic words. He speaks,” said Anastasia. She kissed the big bird on top of his head, and Kevin could swear he heard the creature purr.

“A ta-tsu-wa is a powerful ally,” said Grandma Redbird. “When they bond—they bond for life.”

“If only I’d known that when I found him, freezing and almost completely featherless last winter,” Dragon grumbled.

“Oh, Bryan, you would never have let him suffer and die,” said his beautiful mate. “Tatsuwa and I thank you for your good heart.”

“Thank you, Bryan,”said the bird, sounding disconcertingly like Anastasia.

“I draw the line with him sleeping with us,” said Dragon.

“My love, you know he prefers his nest.”

“Made from your hair.”

“Seriously?” Kevin asked Anastasia.

“It’s only partially made from my hair. The rest is from one of my old sweaters. And he doesn’t pull the hair from my head. He’s great at cleaning out my brushes.” The priestess’ eyes sparkled as she kissed the top of the raven’s sleek black head again.

“Hurmph,” Dragon grunted. Then his sardonic gaze went to Kevin. “But what all that means is the bird is freakishly smart and will do whatever Anastasia asks of him.”

“Okay, well, I guess he’ll be my cell phone then. It’s weird, but not as weird as the fact that he sleeps in a nest made of your mate’s hair.” Kevin stood and stretched, grimacing only a little at the tightness of his healing wound. “Are you ready, G-ma?”

“Absolutely.” Grandma Redbird stood and gave the raven another long stroke before embracing Anastasia and then her mate. “Thank you for trusting me.”

“And me.” Kevin held his hand out to Anastasia, who smiled sweetly before hugging him and kissing his cheek.

“You are as easy to trust as your grandmother,” said the priestess.

“Well, once we got over that red Mark of yours.” Dragon pulled Kevin into a back-clapping embrace as well. “Stay safe, Kevin Redbird. You may be our only hope at stopping this war without surrendering and dooming our world to Darkness.”

“Hey, no pressure, right?” Kevin forced himself not to crack his knuckles. As he and his g-ma followed Johnny B from the mouth of the cave, Tatsuwa flew past them and Kevin heard the bird calling on the wind,“Redbird Boy… Redbird Boy… Redbird Boy…”