********************************
Now Sittingjing-gongala was very worried about her
little grand-daughter. She had not been able to eat
all day. She tried to be calm as she
sat quietly by the fire with a fresh switch in
her hand. She was ready for Lali when
she came back. But Lali didn't come back.
In her other hand, Gongi held the small
stone head fragment and the little rattle.
She examined the stone carefully,
turning it over and over in her hands.
Then she stopped and looked deeply at the faces
carved into it. She was lost in thoughts...
thoughts of Lali...thoughts of Leula...
"How could this have happened?" she sighed.
"If only Chin-Honaw were here" she added
as a big tear fell from her eye.
She got up finally and went outside.
"You have to go find her old man" she screamed
frantically to Chin-Honaw's spirit.
"Go find her and bring her home!
Don't let her die in the snow dear husband."
She fell on her knees sobbing.
Tumbala knew Gongi was very sad,
and licked her face lovingly.
Way into the night the old woman sat up keeping
the fire going. The stars had changed position
when a deep dark cloud openned and in the
frigid pitch of night,
snow began to fall with florey and furry
thruout the valley. This worried Gongi
even more. Unable to contain her agitation,
long before morning, Gongi wrapped up
in her buffalo hide coat,
and called the chief of the village from his bed.
Chief Taweya was a very kind and humble man.
When he heard about Lali being missing,
he quickly got up and prepared to go out
and look for her.
Palikwa was Chief Taweya's wife.
Palik and Gongi were second cousins and they
had both grown up in the village together.
Gongi sat by the fire that Palikwa made warming
her hands and feet, sipping the hot soup her good cousin
brought her. Palikwa had borne
eight children, five of them sons.
She woke her sons so they could
go out with their father to look for Lali as
soon as it was light enough to make their way
thru the new fallen snow.
Palikwa sat up with Sittingjing-gongala
by the fire, patting her hands and urging her
to trust in the mercy of the Great Spirit.
Gongi looked up thru the teepee where the smoke
from the fire spiraled up and out thru the open vent.
Gongi could see a patch of lavender sky
thru the smoke. Morning was coming at last.
The Chief and his boys finished their soup.
As they filed out each one placed a kiss
on Gongi and Palik's cheeks.
Palik and Gongi watched them go.
"Now don't worry anymore my dear,'
spoke Palik tenderly.
"They'll find Lali and bring her home safely."
Gongi just nodded somberly as she left Palik
at the door of the teepee.
"Why are you going?" called Palik.
"Stay here with me until they get back Gongi."
But Gongi just waved and even managed
a little smile, so Palik went back
inside to start her chores,
and Gongi continued along the stream to
her camp. The snow had stopped now,
but the sky was still heavy and dark.
The snow storm was just beginning.
**************************************
Lali awoke with the moon in her face.
Something was biting her inside her mocossin,
so she took it off. She scratched her foot, and
took the other mocassin off too because they were wet and clammy. It felt good to let
her feet breathe aain,
and she wiggled her toes to unstick them from each other.
There was a great stillness in the forest.
Lali thought everyone was sleeping until
she heard a noise.
At first she thought it was Lokie coming to find her.
But then she heard the low grumbling sound
of a hungry stomach lurking out there, waiting...
Lali was very frightened now and held her breath.
She curled into a ball again and didn't make a sound.
She heard the galluphing of padded paws as
they sprinted off in chase with a rabbit or
other small prey. She would be safe now.
Lali sat up, still trembling from the close encounter.
As she scratched and massaged her toes,
tears formed in her eyes. She wished she were
home with Gongi now.
When would Lokie come back so they could
find their way home again!
Lali found herself reciting the little song
her grandma always sang to her when
she was very small.
It was a counting song. As she recited it, she felt
more relaxed and smiled remembering how much fun
it was when grandma pulled her fingers and toes
This is how the song went:
"I walked al-one and fell in-to (two)
A rabbit hole that smelled like dudu.
Three beetles heard my (four) forlorn cry,
And helped me get it out in five!
We flew and flew into the moon,
Six full days in seven rooms;
We (eight) ate all day and dined all night,
And sang nine songs to the morning light.
The bear went home at ten a.m., and then,
Came back at eleven again.
For twelve whole hours our stories we told.
On the thirteenth hour, the turtle spoke:
Fourteen years I've walked this trail,
Fifteen floods, sixteen with hail,
I've got seventeen scales on every leg,
And eighteen on the back tail gate.
But never, in nineteen days or more,
Have I seen twenty toes and fingers
More pretty than yours!!!"
It was not long before the moon set. Lali was cold and put her moccassins back on.
Then she lay in the
cold wet darkness shivering....alone now, thinking....
The Thunderheads were hovering almost above her now.
She could see Their Scowling Faces
blowing the wind in her direction as it thrashed
fiercely shaking the tree she was under
as if to draw her out. But Lali lay quietly. She was
so sorry and scaird. She even promiced the
Great Spirit and her Ancestral Grandmothers
she would always be a good girl from now on,
and always help Gongi whenever she asked Lali
to give her a hand with the chores...
If only she and Lokie could get back home
to their village again unharmed.
Lali was repeating the counting song over and over
again in her mind as she drifted off into a deep sleep.
In her dream she was walking down a steep trail
and she slipped into an icy dream world, she would
not remember.
Suddenly someone was calling her name.
Now she was back under the fir tree, clinging for life.
When she heard her name called, she openned her eyes.
An old man, strangely familiar, was approaching her.
Although she thought she was well hidden, he knew
exactly where she was. He was holding Gongi's
little beaded purse in his outstretched hand for her
to take. When she took the purse,
he smiled and nodded his head
reassuringly. Then he resumed his journey down
the trail, disappearing into the shadows.
Lali felt a warm glow as she clutched the purse
to her heart.
She forgot to shiver, and settled down cozily,
resting comfortably until sunrize.
While she slept, the Thunderclouds released great
sheets of snow, but Lali didn't know because she was
dreaming, clutching the little beaded purse.
It was the very first snow of the season and the trail
that Lokie and Lali made was covered up
by the soft falling crystals as they sparkled brilliantly
everywhere in heaps.
The water from the river rushed and laughed
over the rocks. Droplets shone like
jewels in the morning sun.
But soon the sky become grey. The few patches
of blue closed up and the water rushed more swiftly
as the snow fell harder.
The whole countryside lay expectant and eager.
The vibration was in the air. The snow soothed
the earth, let it sleep, with all it's precious seeds.
Sleep until another Spring...but Lali must not
sleep until Spring. Why didn't she move?
Lali lay there dreaming. Finally the aching in her
limbs and joints made her shift her position again.
She reached in her dream for Lokie, but when
he saw her, he merrily escaped again.
The birds chirped loudly in the boughs above her.
Lali sat up. The sun was peaking thru the clouds.
The whole forest was dressed in white
from bough to root. The sun was bright,
the air was crisp and clean.
If only Lokie would come back.
Tears ran down Lali's face.
She rubbed her empty stomach and looked
around to see if there was something to eat.
But there was only snow, deeply piled
in banks. Lali scooped a handful of snow
and put it in her mouth.
It was crunchy and cold.
Just then she heard a crunching sound behind her.
Lali held her breath. She tried to look
without being seen, between the pine needles.
She was listening quietly. She smelled the air.
"Hmmm. Not a bear" she thought.
"I hope it's not a mountain lion"
As she was straining to see what she could see,
Lokie's big nose pushed it's way thru the
low bough under which Lali was hiding.
"Lokie" she cried. "Oh Lokie, you came back.
You naughty naughty pony" she scolded
and kissed his nose.
Lokie was sorry he'd run away and he was tired
now of the game and wanted to get back to the
village. There his hay was plentiful
and there was enough corn to last til Spring.
He had enough of eatting bitter bark.
Soon they were on their way back to the village.
But Lokie wasn't sure which way to go.
Then it started to snow again.
The snow was up to Lokie's knees now
as he trudged painful thru the snow.
He was tired and wanted to rest.
But Lali wouldn't let him rest even though
she was tired and weak from cold and hunger too.
Lali wanted to get home before lunch.
They went on for a long time, but
nothing looked familiar.
The snow continued well past noon
as Lokie and Lali wandered aimlessly thru the
forest and finally,
they could go no more.
When night fell, Lokie couldn't go on anymore.
His knees buckled, he laid down in the
snow with a sigh of relief. Lali slipped off
his back and jumped on him
pulling his mane and scolding him.
"You can't go to sleep now Lokie. Get up!
Get up!" But Lokie laid his head gently
on a pillow of snow,
and was already dreaming. There was nothing
Lali could do now to wake him.
Discouraged and weak, she crawled up
beside him laying her head on his
big warm belly. Her butt was tucked up by his
shoulder, between his front legs.
The snow continued
to fall gently covering their
bodies completely as they dreamed of
Gongi's savory buffalo stew and fat corn tortillas.
Lali felt safe and warm snuggled up in a ball, protected from the wind and cold by Lokie's
body, which was as warm as a furnace.
Lali and Lokie had forgotten they were lost.
They didn't know the snow had covered them.
Lokie was dreaming about the little mare
that lived next door to Gongi. He loved playing
with her in the meadow. Just thinking of her
made him feel all warm, and the warmth
he generated, kept him and Lali alive
thru the bitter night.
As they slept through the night, the wind blew
fiercely all about them, and the icy snow crystals
kept falling and falling.
When the snow finally stopped falling,
the frozen crystals reflected the moonlight
in rainbows. Inside, hidden together within
their cacoon of snowflakes, they were dreaming,
unaware that the storm had passed.
Please go on to Chapter 2, page 16
