IN THE MOON WHEN THE CHERRIES TURN BLACK, smallpox came to the village, and the Black Beauty wasn’t enough to keep him safe. When the man died, some were shocked. Others said it was no surprise: Since he’d been using the power of the horned serpent, it was only a matter of time before he was defeated like the serpent.

He was buried with it, though placed apart from the other platforms, out of both respect and fear.

Still, many boys hoped that when they went searching for their vision, they would find the horned serpent and win a tooth of their own. But the man had never talked much about where he’d found his gift. He said he couldn’t remember exactly. After all, he’d woken up walking.

The only person he’d told was his own son, and even he hadn’t been able to locate the exact place where his father had found the Black Beauty.