Kat awakened alone, still feeling, or was it sensing, the presence of Dew on Flowers’s spirit. The night before, when they first met, the experience was mystical, with an underlying fear that hung over this spirit who had occupied Kat’s mind since the Sand Creek dream. She never knew Dew on Flowers, even during the dream, but Big Crow with Little Feet orchestrated everything to ensure she saw what she needed to see and hear what she needed to hear when Dew on Flowers was murdered. The murder in 1864 was when Kat received the spirit of the slain Indian woman, who was unknown at the time. Now she was known, physically known and visible, sitting at the foot of Kat’s bed. Was this spirit a threat or an answer to prayer?
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Chapter # 15 – Dark Side
When sunlight reached through the gap in the curtains the following morning, Kat awoke and found herself alone. Dew on Flowers was gone, but an air of her presence remained behind that conflicted with an emptiness she could not define. It was nothing tangible she could touch or feel, but both of those senses held on to the memory of the kiss that put her to sleep. How could an intimate exchange be so intense and only a few hours later be relegated to mere memories? Had Dew on Flowers successfully removed the Indian spirits? Kat struggled to realize a sense of completion, even though nothing felt undone. Was Kat and her unborn son now safe from the spirits who wanted to do harm? She needed closure and would pursue it doggedly until she found it, and when she did, it would not be what she anticipated…or wanted.
Still wearing her pajama bottoms and sleep shirt, Kat leaned her hips against the kitchen counter as she filled the brew basket of her Keurig with a dark roast blend. A yawn intervened forcing eyes closed as she blindly poked for the brew button. The machine told her she found it with a gurgling surge of water to start the brewing process. English muffin, halves mostly butchered, went into the toaster oven as she dug through the fridge door for black raspberry preserves. Her breakfast routine ran smoothly until her phone went off. Incoming call: Maddie
“God help me,” breathed Kay. “I have not even had my coffee. Protect my sister from me, Lord.”
Against her better judgment, Kat answered the call, “So…MOM, you couldn’t wait for me to get my poop in a group?”
Maddie replied, “Stop calling me mom, okay? I told you…and you promised…to call me first thing.”
“This is NOT first thing, MOM!” Kat fired back. “I haven’t even had my coffee.”
Things escalated and boiled over to another level of anger, and Maddie repeated her demand, “I said to stop calling me MOM, dammit.”
“Okay, dammit,” Kat responded with matching animosity. “Stop calling me like you are my mom with your mom-like questions and treating me like I’m an idiot, okay?”
It was on between them, and the day had barely begun. They would spar, pick, and accuse for a few minutes before getting past the cloud of sisterhood to an actual conversation. It’s a funny thing how love survives shit storms like that, but they had the process mastered, and it was an expected part of who they were to each other…undying love notwithstanding.
They knew when respective points had been made because the conversation ceased, not sure if the pause was to reload and regroup or to forgive and forget. Still, Kat took the lull in verbal combat to take her fist sip from a steaming cup of relief and said, “Sister, I just took my first taste of dark roast, and the only thing that would make it better is if you were sitting across from me to share.”
Maddie said, “Aww, that’s sweet, but I need to clarify…close enough to share…or close enough to throw something hard at me?”
They both had to laugh, which buried the hatchet…at least for a few minutes.
“Okay,” said Maddie, “You left me hanging with getting yourself mugged in the stairwell by two thugs that Big Crow dispatched. Then what…tell me, tell me…I want it all.”
So, Kat gave it up and had to answer enough questions to prompt a reload of the Keurig to brew a second cup of coffee.
Maddie remarked, “Damn, sister, did you get any sleep?”
“I did…eventually,” and Kat paused, contemplating if the remaining story details were necessary to endure what would follow. She continued at the risk of another free-for-all, “and it happened when I was in the arms of Dew on Flowers.”
“Oh shit, tell me this was a dream…tell me you haven’t gone to the dark side,” lamented Maddie.
“Stop it,” Kat snapped, “if I experienced the dark side, it’s not so dark. I’ve never felt so loved. Dew of Flowers is a spirit, Maddie. How can I even explain this? I never felt more loved and protected than when I was in her arms; honestly, she might have been held in my arms equally as strong. I can’t judge, but I can appreciate what my heart felt.”
“Whoa, sister,” said Maddie, “I think I need another cup of caffeine with something strong in it before I can wrap my head around this confession.”
“Make fun if you feel the need to stoop that low, but this is not a confession,” said Kat, anger ready to resurface, “but that woman solved my dilemma.”
“Your dilemma?” asked Maddie, digging for more.
“Yeah, evil Indian spirits were after my unborn son to kill him…and me…if necessary to stop this prophecy mess I’m tangled up in,” said Kat.
“Tangled is an understatement,” remarked Maddie before starting back in. “Jesus, Kat. First, you hear about a prophecy in a diner that does not exist, you fuck some random Indian on top of a mesa while never leaving your car, get yourself pregnant by who knows who or how, hang out with a spirit of an ancient medicine man who smells like smoke, and wind up in the arms of yet another Indian spirit. How could this clusterfuck you’re in be any more tangled?”
“Sister, if I could tell the story better than I already have, with more truth than what I’ve already experienced, I’d do it just for you, but if what I’ve shared honestly with you does not sit right enough to satisfy you…fuck you…and your little dog,” spat Kat with renewed anger and disconnected the call without another word.
Sometimes, there needed to be a fire line established to prevent a greater fire from raging out of control. Fuck you and your little dog; never mind that Maddie didn’t have a little dog; it served as Kat’s stake-in-the-ground statement to back off.
It took an hour and fifteen minutes for Kat’s phone to ring with Maddie’s name displayed as the caller. Kat had a choice to make. Should she dive back in and refresh her displeasure or shut it and listen to her sister grovel? Who knows if she would actually grovel, but it might be worth the wait to hear her submit an apology.
“Who’s calling?” said Kat when she answered the call.
“Start that shit with me, Kat, and you know what you can do with your little dog.”
“Sorry,” said Kat, “I don’t have a little dog.”
Maddie attempted to sanitize her thoughts with a diminished in-your-face tone. “Are we going to trade blows or have an adult conversation?”
Kat said, “I’m sorry. I needed to make sure our disrespect was properly balanced. We can swap punches or talk like grown-ups. We have established one thing, though…neither of us has a little dog.”
She heard Maddie muffle a laugh and then exhale an exasperated breath before she spoke, “I’m sorry, too. You’ve been through some amazing shit, Kat, and I cannot imagine how I’d react or survive if it had been me. You’re stronger, my sister, than me, and I’m proud of how you followed through with something I don’t think I would even have had the intestinal fortitude to consider.”
“Thank you for saying that,” said Kat, “and I forgive you for being such a flaming shit ass.” Pausing before continuing just long enough to allow her point to settle in, “But you were, and I still forgive you.”
“Okay,” said Maddie, apologizing without using the word sorry, “I was flaming, but I’m not so sure about the shit ass part of it. C’mon, let’s try this again. Tell me about the dark side. I’m concerned.”
“Don’t be,” said Kat, “I’ve never met anyone that made me feel like they had my best interests close to the surface of all things good. In the few minutes we were together, she knew me. She knew how I struggled with the transition from being a committed, childless person to a mother who would die for her child. I never saw that in me and am baffled by how it became so strong in me. You and I never really talked about having children, and I certainly never wanted a kid of my own.”
“Mom was always hinting at me to get busy and give her a grandchild,” said Maddie
Kat replied, “Well, her wish is being fulfilled. As I speak, a child is growing in my womb, and he will not be an ordinary child. Nothing about this pregnancy will be ordinary based on what Big Crow with Little Feet told me. Dew on Flowers confirmed it with additional details Big Crow never shared. My baby has the spirit of a human…and…spirits of Indians long past from this world. I’m unsure how to explain or describe it, but things that were good about this child in my womb have connections to evil forces who want to destroy us. My baby and I are in the middle of it. If I didn’t have supernatural help from Big Crow with Little Feet, I would already be dead with my baby, and the evil spirits could chalk up a win.”
Maddie said, “I cannot imagine how you are dealing with all this.”
“I don’t either, but I have no choice,” said Kat, “I don’t know if Dew on Flowers did something to remove the Indian spirits from my baby or not. I can’t tell if there’s something different going on inside of me or if I’m just hoping there is. She told me he would be a healthy baby boy and grow up to be a leader of men with no spirit connections beyond our human spirits. I want to believe she was truthful, but I honestly don’t know for sure.”
“I’m almost afraid to ask, but what did Dew on Flowers do?” asked Maddie.
“I do not know. I honestly don’t, Maddie, but she gathered me in her arms and held me. Hear me, sister, she held me in her arms. She protected me and my baby. We both cried, and I swear, I held her back with all the love I could serve up. It takes my breath away to remember how it felt in the safety of her arms. When she kissed me, I fell into the deepest sleep.”
“Kissed you? Oh my, this keeps getting better. Did you kiss her back?” challenged Maddie, still dealing with her dark side paranoia.
Kat could feel defensiveness welling up and had to tamp it down or risk another sibling skirmish, “No. It wasn’t that kind of kiss. There was nothing sexual about it. There was nothing dark about that side either, sister, trust me.”
Maddie did not speak for a moment before letting the subject drop and defaulting to the big sister in charge, “So, what are your plans?”
“I’m going back to work on Monday, and I have an OB-GYN appointment with Dr. Sun on Wednesday.”
Maddie asked, “Have you done a home pregnancy test yet?”
“No,” said Kat, “I’ve been told by a couple of spirits I am pregnant, but I want to know for sure, and my OB will handle that for me.”
“So, you’ll believe the words of random Indian spirits but not in the technology that could end the suspense?” asked Maddie.
“I don’t trust anything right now, Maddie, and I cannot waste any more time thinking about it. Dr. Sun is who I trust, and her confirmation, one way or another, is the only thing I’ll trust. I need normal back in my life.
Kat would find nothing remotely close to normal on Wednesday’s visit with Dr. Sun.
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I hope you enjoyed chapter #15! I’m still editing and writing, so this is a work in progress that may become a novel one day. I’ll continue to share each chapter, so keep checking back. I would love to know your thoughts so far at gdogwise@live.com Enjoy the read!
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