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A soft fire burned in the firepit. There was a smell of sage in the air, intermingled with other scents that Shoshana did not recognize.
When White Moon saw Shoshana standing there, he rose slowly to his feet.
He went to Shoshana and gently embraced her. “She went softly into the night,” he murmured. “She is now where there is no pain or heartache. She is with those who have gone on before her.”
He gave her one last hug, then left the tepee.
Tears streaming from her eyes, Shoshana knelt down beside her mother. She noted how peaceful she looked, and that she did have a soft smile on her lips.
Her hair had been unbraided and brushed. She wore her loveliest doeskin dress, which displayed her own fancy beadwork.
Vermilion had been placed on her face, and her hands lay with twined fingers across her bosom.
“Ina, oh, Mother, I missed you so much through the years, and now I am forced to live with missing you again,” Shoshana sobbed, gently stroking her mother’s hand, which was cold to the touch. “But these past days were wonderful, Ina. Memories were made for me to cling to until the day I join you in the sky.”
She wiped tears from her eyes with her free hand and smiled down at her mother, whose eyes were peacefully closed. “I am so glad that I shared the news with you about the coming child,” she said softly. “I can feel in my heart and in my soul that I am with child. I need not count out the days until I see that another monthly flow has failed to come. This babe’s heart will beat within me just as mine beat in your body those long years ago. Ina, I shall cherish being a mother. And I will always keep you alive inside my children’s hearts and minds. I will tell them all about you so that they will actually be able to see you as if they had known you.”
Storm came into the lodge and knelt down beside Shoshana. “Are you all right?” he asked, sliding a comforting arm around her shoulders. “Is this too hard for you to bear?”
“It’s hard, but I shall make it all right,” Shoshana murmured. “Ina is still with me, you know.” She placed a hand over her heart. “In here, Storm. She will live on here until the day I die.”
“Ho, that is as it should be,” he said. “I urge you to rest before starting the task of preparing your mother for burial. I shall send for White Moon again. He can sit with her.”
“To-dah, I shall do it,” a voice said from behind them.
Shoshana and Storm turned. They were both surprised to see Dancing Willow standing in the entranceway. “Sister, it is you?” Storm said, rising. “How did you get here so quickly? Did you not wait to travel with the rest?”
“I dreamed, my brother, a dream that awakened me abruptly. After that I came on ahead of the others,” Dancing Willow said, entering and kneeling down beside Storm.
She looked past Storm at Shoshana. “Shoshana, I dreamed of your mother’s passing,” she murmured. “I knew that you would arrive home and find her gone. I came to be with you . . . to help you, for I am truly sorry about your mother. I am sorry for what you must be going through. I, too, lost a mother. I know the sorrow that fills the heart at such a loss.”
Shoshana was uncertain how to feel about what Dancing Willow was saying. Her sister-in-law had taken a risk, coming ahead of the others despite the dangers of traveling alone. There was more than one panther on this mountain.
Shoshana was touched by the effort she’d made to return to the stronghold. She rose and went to Dancing Willow. She held out her arms for her.
Dancing Willow rose. They embraced.
Storm looked on, feeling good about what he was witnessing. It seemed that his sister had finally gotten past her jealousy. There was no false note in what she said today.
He believed that Dancing Willow was finally ready to be Shoshana’s friend, and a sister that Storm could again admire, be proud of, and love.
“I am so sorry about all that I have done to make you uncomfortable as my brother’s wife,” Dancing Willow murmured. “I shall never again behave unkindly toward you.”
“I believe you,” Shoshana murmured, then stepped away from her. “You said that you dreamed of my mother’s death. Dancing Willow, I ofttimes have had dreams, too, that came to pass. Sometimes I feel that it is a blessing, yet other times I don’t. Do you feel blessed to have such dreams?”
“Ho, I do,” Dancing Willow said, nodding. “Those of us who dream are blessed. It is a miracle to dream of what is yet to come.”
Shoshana turned and gazed down at her mother. “I dreamed often about finding my mother before it finally happened,” she said softly. “I shall . . . never . . . forget those dreams, nor the eagle that was a part of them.”
“You dream of eagles, too?” Dancing Willow asked, bringing Shoshana’s eyes back to her.
“Ho, I have, often,” Shoshana murmured.
“Does it have large, golden eyes that seem to talk to you, and does it have large, golden talons?” Dancing Willow asked, her eyes searching Shoshana’s.
Shoshana was amazed by what Dancing Willow had just revealed to her. It did seem th
e same eagle visited each of their dreams.
