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"I thought they were hohtfully overisn’t the house It’s the ability to make it You carry that in your brain and in your hands, wherever you go Anglos are like turtles, if they go so in their daos They’re named after an Indian tribe" It occurred to s Forhis jokes E the heathen
"We’re like coyotes," he said "Get to a good place, turn around three tirass, and you’re home Once you kno, you can always do that, no ht of Inez’s copious knickknacks and suspected Loyd was idealizing a bit But I liked the ideal The thought of Hallie’s last letter still stung me but I tried to think abstractly about what she wanted to tellon the road because you kno to drive Thatyou have or have not, but si you carry with you in your brain and in your hands
I’d co I still had to leave Loyd in June, that Grace wouldn’t keep uilt slip out of uess I’ll probably carry so aith me when I leave Grace"
He looked at me carefully, started to speak, then stopped And then did speak "It’s one thing to carry your life wherever you go Another thing to always go looking for it somewhere else"
I didn’t respond to that I blinked hard and tried to look unconcerned, but the guilt nudged back along with the sharp glass edge of nized for what it was I wasn’t keeping to any road, I was running, forgetting what lay behind and always looking ahead for the perfect home, where trains never wrecked and hearts never broke, where no one you loved ever died Loyd was a trap I could still walk out of
I listened to the sad geese in their pen, and realized the croas quiet The snowy plaza was le line of tracks: in the center of the white square stood a tall young wo from one shoulder Her other shoulder was bare Her waist, her upper arms and wrists, and her buckskin arlands of colored yarn, fur, and sleigh bells; at the crest of her head was a tuft of white eagle down The sun shone purposefully on her hair It was cut like Inez’s, but hung loose to her waist, swaying as sheto the other, her feet barely leaving the ground She looked graceful and cold
The sound of drued froe of the plaza and propped their huge druan a soft chant A second line of men with blankets draped over their shoulders cli, and took their places behind the old drummers
Then deer arrived, frogings, white kilts, and deer antlers Their human features disappeared behind a horizontal band of black paint across the eyes Theysticks in front of therace, and theySniffing the wind The woourd rattle, and they followed her They became deer They looked exactly as deer would look if you surprised the the irresistible hiss of a ourd rattle
I was entranced More people climbed down out of the kiva Some were dressed and armed as bow hunters who stalked the deer with patience One man, who didn’t seem to have any realistic function in the draed with black and white horizontal stripes, he had black rings painted around his eyes and mouth, and his hair was pulled up into a pair of corn-tassel horns He bounced around like a hysteric, possibly in the interest of keeping waruy?" I asked Loyd
"Koshari," he said "A kachina He has to do with fertility His home’s in the East"
This struck me as humorous "The East, as in New York? Area Code 212?"
"The East as in where the sun rises"
"That’s all part of his job description?"
"All the kachinas have whole histories and families and live in one of the important places"