Page 56 of Hummingbird and Kraken

“May!” Declan leapt down the two porch steps and knelt on the ground so that she could sniff and climb all over him. She gave him a few licks on his hand with her rough tongue, which hurt a bit but was endlessly endearing.

When May wandered off to do kitten things, he stood and gave Ro a hug. He could hear Geir grunting behind him, which made him giggle. There really wasn’t any competition, which made it kind of funny when Geir got all possessive. In the long run, it wasn’t healthy, but right now it was kind of cute. They’d have to talk about that later.

Declan returned to his seat on the bench and Geir’s arm wrapped around him. Ro took a chair and May padded across the banister, her tail waving.

“How’s it going?” Declan asked.

Ro sighed, then gave May a look and found her looking back at him. It looked like whatever he wanted to say wasn’t meant for little ears. “Things are a bit tense right now.” She jumped onto Ro’s shoulder and he gave a slight wince at her claws. “May and I picked you some beautiful raspberries, though!” He gestured toward the truck. “And I brought a few other veggies you might be interested in.”

“Oh, thank you! May, you’re such a good helper,” Declan praised.

The kitten jumped into his lap, her little claws digging into his bare legs. No wonder Ro had winced. A moment later, he had a lap full of squirming four-year-old trying to give him a hug. “I picked them! Can we do horsey rides?”

“Clothing, May,” Ro reminded.

She pouted.

“When you’re wearing clothes, you can ask Declan if he’ll give you horsey rides.” Ro dug into the backpack and produced a shirt and a pair of shorts which the two of them together wiggled her into.

“Now?”

Declan considered. “Give me just a minute. I want to talk to Ro about some boring grown up things. Can you find me the prettiest rocks from the driveway?”

May scampered away, only to return a second later. “Ready!” she called.

He accepted a small pinkish rock from her, along with a rough gray one and a handful of grass. “Thank you,” he said solemnly. “These are beautiful.” He set them on the bench.

She shook her head. “No, not there.”

“Oh? Where do they go?”

She pulled up the leather pouch that dangled around his neck. He still didn’t quite understand what it meant, but it had been a gift and he wore it most days. May pulled open the top and then squished the rocks and grass through. “There. That will give you health and poserisy. And keep you safe.”

“Poserisy?” he mouthed to Ro.

“Prosperity,” he whispered back.

Declan held the pouch close to his heart. “Thank you, May. That’s a beautiful gift.”

Ro added a suggestion. “You’ll need something that comes from an animal, too.”

She cocked her head to the side. “A bird feather?”

“Good thinking,” Ro answered. “Go see if you can find one.”

May clambered down the steps and began her pursuit.

Declan held up the pouch. “Does that actually mean anything? And is it, like, sacrilegious for her to pretend?”

Ro shrugged. “Medicine bundles touch the mystery of life through special objects, usually animal, plant, and mineral. We use flower pollen for some blessings. Eagle feathers are sacred, which is why there are U.S. laws to ensure that they’re equally distributed among the tribes and not available to outsiders. For May, it’s just a game, but I’m proud to see that she’s thinking about our traditions. You could also consider that the meaning is in the intentions behind the giving.”

“So I should look forward to good health, safety, and poserisy?”

They all laughed. “That’s right.”

When the humor died away, though, Ro’s face sobered. He opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it again.

“What’s up?” Declan asked.