Blind Fury by Linda I. Shands Page B

the tack room. “First prize in what?”
    â€œWhy, mud wrestling, Ma’am.” He tipped his hat, then stood and turned Ryan around. Ryan’s face and hair were caked with muck except for under his eyes, where tears had diluted the mixture enough for his skin to show through.
    â€œSorry, Princess,” Colin said, “but you look even worse than he does.”
    Anne met them on the porch. Wakara had never seen her rattled before, but the cook’s face was as white as Ryan’s had been. When Kara and Colin assured her everyone wasall right, she swung her cast around and sat down heavily on the bench. Ryan burst into tears again and ran into her arms.
    â€œThat stupid, snot-face Star. I don’t like him anymore.”
    Anne held him a minute, then pushed him to arm’s length. “To learn to ride, you must learn to fall.”
    She looked at Wakara. “For now, you must get warm.”
    Only then did Kara realize she was shaking, and her fingers, without the gloves, were prickly with cold.
    Colin took Ryan’s hand and led him toward the bunkhouse, where they had just installed a second shower. “Come on, cowboy, let’s get you cleaned up.”
    Tia flashed Wakara a sympathetic look. “You’d better go in. I’ll take care of the horses.”
    Kara nodded gratefully and followed Anne into the house. She stripped off her shirt and jeans, tossed them into the stationary tub by the washer, and hurried upstairs.
    Twenty minutes later, she had showered and finished drying her hair. She picked through the nearly empty closet, then pulled on clean jeans and the soft, blue turtleneck Dad had given her last Christmas. She felt a slight thrill when she thought about tomorrow’s plans with Colin. Working out the survival routine for Health class would be fun.
    The smell that greeted her when she opened her bedroom door made her mouth water. She took the stairs two at a time and made it to the kitchen just as Tia walked in the back door.
    â€œThe horses are in their stalls. I hosed off their legs and gave them some grain, but Star was so tired, he just lay down.” She paused and sniffed. “Umm, what’s that smell?”
    Kara lifted the lid on a huge cast-iron skillet sitting on the back of the stove. “It’s Anne’s beef Stroganoff.” She grinned at Tia. “I’ll check on Star after dinner. Want to stay?”
    Tia dove for the phone. “I’ll call Pops and tell him I’ll be late. We haven’t even started on our homework.”

“O H , MY GOODNESS , they found Ishi’s brain!”
    â€œWhat?” Kara set aside her history book and joined Tia at the computer. “Where? What do you mean, ‘they found Ishi’s brain’?”
    â€œOnly in the Smithsonian! Look—it says in this article Ishi’s brain has been in storage for eighty-two years, and now some tribes in northern California want it back. This is too weird.”
    Kara felt a surge of excitement. There was less than a zero chance this Ishi was her relative, but because his mother’s nickname was Wakara, she somehow felt a kinship to both of them.
    It was a long article. Kara pulled each page from the printer as soon as it came out and stacked the pages in chronological order.
    â€œWhoa. You’re right. It says here that historical records document the Yana survivors who found refuge among other tribes.”
    Tia broke in, “Right. Ishi was Yahi, but they were an offshoot from the Yana tribe, and the languages were reallyclose. That means the word Wakara could have come from either group.”
    â€œAnd there are descendants of the Yana tribe still there.” Wakara felt goose bumps up and down her arms.
    â€œYeah.” Tia scrolled back to the first page. When it was on the screen, she drew the mouse along one sentence and clicked on the BOLD key. “Here—the Redding Rancheria and Pit River