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At noon Aunt Jo brought Fawn up to her office and the three of them had sandwiches. The happiness shining in Jo’s eyes, told Shandra the meeting with the social worker and Liz had gone well.
“Does Uncle Martin know what you did?” Shandra asked, pointing at Fawn with a potato chip.
“He does,” Uncle Martin said from the office door. He walked over to Jo and peered down at the child. “Your aunt has wanted a daughter for a long time. After Andy’s rough birth, the doctor suggested we not have any more.” He glanced at his wife. Love shone like beacons from his eyes. “She now has her wish.”
Jo squeezed his hand. “Thank you for indulging me this wish.”
“I can’t say no to you.” He knelt on the floor next to Fawn who had been playing with a paper clip dispenser. “How would you like to come with me? I have a pony who has been asking to see you.”
The child’s eyes lit up for the first time since this morning. “A pony?” she whispered.
“Yes. Her name is Princess and she’s been wanting to meet you.” Martin winked at Jo over the child’s head.
“Princess? Really?” Fawn spun and slapped her hands and forearms in Aunt Jo’s lap. “Can I see Princess Pony?”
Jo ran a hand down the child’s face. “Of course, you can. You can see Princess Pony every day, you’ll be coming to live with Uncle Martin, Andy, and I. Would you like that?”
The child’s eyes teared up. “Mommy isn’t coming back.”
“That’s right. Your mommy had a bad accident. She can’t come back. But we’d love to have you come live with us. We have horses, lots of land, and a room just for you.” Aunt Jo’s eyes glistened with tears. Only the white knuckles as she gripped the arms of the chair showed how much the child’s answer meant to her.
“I see pony and live with you.” She flung her small arms around Jo and hugged.
“Come on then, Princess is waiting.” Uncle Martin held out his hand. Fawn clutched two fingers and waved at us as they walked out of the room.
“That’s a good man you have there, Aunt Jo.” Shandra could barely say the words for the lump in her throat.
“I knew that the minute I laid eyes on him all those years ago.” She sniffed. “I have the conference room reserved for your first lesson. When your food has settled let me know.”
Shandra studied her aunt. The woman had more grace, love, and strength than anyone she’d ever met. “Don’t you think we need to get some clothes and things for Fawn? And which room is hers?”
Jo smiled. “I called your cousin Sylvia. She’s taking her daughter’s outgrown clothes to the ranch today. Velma rounded up some toys and Andy moved into the barn. He’s been threatening to do it for a while now. Claims he’s too old to be living at home.” She laughed. “I guess in the barn he feels he has privacy.”
“When did you talk to all of these people?” Shandra couldn’t believe what her aunt had accomplished in a short amount of time.
“Last night. I asked Martin what he thought, he agreed, and I called everyone. I just had to persuade Birdie it was the right thing to do.” Jo scowled.
“Was Birdie really okay with you taking her great-granddaughter?”
“It seems someone has been slipping money into her mailbox once a month since the birth of Fawn. She was more worried about losing the money than the child.”
Shandra sat up straight. “Do you think it was Duke making what he considered a restitution for having fathered a child?”
“That or someone else felt guilty.” Aunt Jo’s eyes held a determined glint to them. “I will make sure that child is loved and never knows her mother was anything other than a loving mother.”
Shandra stood. “Come on. I’m ready to learn about dancing.” When her aunt stood, Shandra put an arm around her shoulders and squeezed. “You are the best thing to happen to that little girl.”
She just hoped Duke didn’t try to take the child away.
~*~
“Listen to the beat. It is the heart of our people. You dance to the beat and feel it in your bones.” Aunt Jo raised the volume on the drum song playing. She grasped Shandra’s hand and led her to the middle of the room. When they’d first entered the room, they’d shoved the tables against the walls and placed the chairs on top.
“Hear the heartbeat.” Jo closed her eyes, listened, and her feet began moving, pressing into the ground with each beat that reverberated off the walls of the small room.
Shandra tried to listen to the beat, follow it with her heart and her feet, but her mind kept circling to Nelly. She’d expected grandmother to come to her in a dream last night. But she hadn’t and now she would need to bring her into a dream.
“What are they saying?” she asked. Her feet slowly picking up the beat but wondering at the singing.
“They aren’t saying words. It is only sounds.” Aunt Jo stopped and studied her. “You aren’t putting all of your heart into this.”
“I can’t concentrate on my wedding knowing there is someone, perhaps someone we know, who coldly killed Nelly.” A shiver raced up her spine at the thought it could be someone they knew.
“Then dance and ask for help in solving the murder so you can enjoy your wedding.”
Shandra stopped hopping from foot to foot and watched her aunt. She meant what she said. Could dancing help her find guidance? Shrugging, Shandra listened to the music, focusing on the beats, she pressed her feet to the floor with the same calm and preciseness as Jo.
Her mind centered on the beat, the voices became a white noise in the background. White, fluffy clouds drifted into her thoughts. One by one they captured her questions and floated out of her head toward the sky.
The drums grew louder, the voices more insistent. The beat resounded in her body, from her feet touching the ground, up her legs, through her body, and into her heart and mind. Visions of her ancestors dancing around a fire. Grandmother stood behind the dancers, her arms open as if embracing the ceremony.
I must talk to you. Shandra beseeched her grandmother.
Her grandmother shook her head, the music faded, and her steps failed. Shandra stumbled backwards.
Aunt Jo caught her in her arms. “Did you trip?”
“Why wouldn’t she talk to me?”
“Who?” Aunt Jo turned the music off.
“Grandmother.”
Her aunt studied her. “You saw mother while you were dancing?”
Shandra shook out of the memory and glanced at her aunt. The look on Jo’s face told her to not say too much. While Aunt Jo understood Shandra had certain abilities, it was clear she didn’t fully comprehend them.
“I saw many people dancing around a fire.”
Jo picked up the cd case and pointed to the first song. Fire Song.
Another chill chased down her spine. She needed to talk to Velma. “I think this is enough dancing for today. I’ll call Velma and have her pick me up.”
Aunt Jo shook her head. “I’ll drop you off there. I can leave for the day.”
They put the conference room back together and headed to the office to pick up their purses and for Jo to log out.
Pim Solomon, the runner up for Shandra’s scholarship, stood at the entry of the building, reading the bulletin board.
Shandra followed Jo into the office, wondering if the young woman always spent this much time at the center. Jo turned off her computer and pulled open the desk drawer where she kept her purse. Shandra opened the door to the storage room to get her fringed bag.
Turning from closing the door, she found Pim standing in the office doorway.
“Good afternoon, Pim. Do you need something from me?” Jo asked.
The young woman’s face deepened in color. “I-I hate to ask, but mom was wondering if you were going to pick a second choice for the scholarship since, you know, Nelly can’t use it.”
Shandra stared at the young woman. Did she know she was the runner-up, or just hoping she had finished close to the top and might have a chance at the scholarship?
“To not dishonor Nelly’s passing, I’ll make the formal announcement next week about who will receive the scholarship.” She hadn’t thought of anything beyond Nelly’s killer should be found. Holding off until next week seemed like the most plausible thing to do, given the circumstances.
“Okay, sounds good.” She continued to stand in the door.
“We’re on our way out,” Jo said, walking toward the only exit from the room.
“Oh, of course.” Pim backed up. “Do you need help with anything?”
“We’re good,” Shandra said.
“Okay. I’ll finish reading the activities. Thank you for your answer.” Pim walked stiffly over to the bulletin board and acted as if she were enthralled by the events posted there.
Outside, Shandra asked her aunt, “Is she always that...awkward?”
“As she grows older her shyness and social skills make her appear awkward. She has a brilliant mind. Top of her class when she graduated.” Jo unlocked her car.
Shandra’s gaze traveled to the fenced in sweat lodge down below the community center. She really wanted to have a better look around today. It didn’t appear as if the police had put up crime scene tape.
“I think I’ll have a look around and call Velma.”
Jo stopped lowering into her car and stood. “I don’t like you nosing around alone. What would Ryan say?”
“Have back up.” Shandra pulled out her phone and dialed Velma.
“Shandra, I was just thinking about you,” Velma said.
She’d discovered when Velma had a sight or dream her voice had a different timbre to it. That’s what she heard now. “Then you know I would like you to come to the community center and help me look around down by the sweat lodge.”
“That’s not what I was thinking, and you shouldn’t be either. Looking into murders in a sacred place is not good for anyone.” Velma’s words might have sounded against the adventure, but her tone held excitement.
“I’ll be down by the sweat lodge when you get here.” Shandra terminated the conversation and smiled at Jo. “She’ll be here soon. Go home and check on Fawn.”
“I don’t like leaving you here alone.” Jo started to lower herself into her car.
“I’ll only be alone for ten-fifteen minutes the way Velma drives.” Shandra closed the door on her aunt. “I’ll see you whenever Velma can drop me off.”
She watched her aunt drive out of the parking lot and turn onto the highway before facing the road down to the sweat lodge. She wasn’t sure what she’d find but there had to be a clue there somewhere. It was obvious from her experience while dancing, grandmother wasn’t going to help.