St. Clair (Gives Light Series) by Rose Christo

the
    willow tree.
    "You know what I like to do?" Annie called up to
    Marilu. "Look in the branches for mourning
    cloaks."
    "Ooh, what are those?" Marilu called back.
    "Butterflies, of course! They live in willow trees.
    They're a lovely brown. The edges of their wings
    are white."
    I sat by the willow's hanging boughs and watched
    Marilu with careful eyes, afraid she might fall.
    "It's not that big of a fall," Rafael said at my side,
    his hair behind his ear, his face buried in his
    book. "Anyway, falling's good for a kid."
    "I wasn't aware you were the resident expert,"
    Annie returned.
    "Was I talking to you, Little Hawk?"
    I looked curiously at the book Rafael was reading.
    The plastic cover told me it was a library book.
    Principles of Voice Production , the book read.
    I think Rafael knew I was watching him. I noticed
    his eyes weren't moving.
    "Why the hell is cutting hay so hard, man?!"
    And here came Zeke.
    "It's not hard," Rafael shot at him. "You're just an
    ass."
    "Your ass is an ass! Ass man."
    "I don't think you should use that language in front
    of the C-H-I-L-D," Aubrey said nervously,
    glancing toward the willow tree.
    "I can spell," Marilu replied, puzzled.
    Marilu slid down the trunk of the willow tree and
    sat next to me, showing me a toothy smile. I
    ruffled her hair and she playfully crinkled her
    nose.
    I heard twigs snapping underfoot and glanced
    sharply east.
    Through the beech trees, I saw them: Three men in
    uniforms and hard hats. This struck me as bizarre
    for three reasons. The first was that the grotto was
    fairly well hidden; in seventeen years, no one but
    Annie had ever stumbled across it. The second
    was that I'd never seen anyone around the
    reservation wearing a hard hat before. And the
    third was that none of the three men were
    Shoshone.
    I jostled Rafael's arm and pointed. He followed
    my gaze, his face darkening.
    "Hey, ass man," Rafael mumbled to Zeke. "Go
    page reservation police."
    "Huh? How? Wait, why?"
    "There's a phone at the council building."
    Zeke
    clambered
    off
    the
    ground,
    looking
    bewildered, but followed the forest back to the
    main path.
    Annie got up and started walking toward the men.
    What the heck was she doing? I took Marilu by the
    hand and started after her. I noticed Rafael and
    Aubrey had done the same. I guess protecting
    Annie was instinctual for all three of us.
    The men were gesturing to the tops of the trees
    when Annie came to a swift stop in front of them.
    The way they looked at her, you would've thought
    she'd sprouted a second head or something.
    "Hello," said Annie, as polite as could be. "I'm
    sorry, but this isn't public property. This is a
    reservation."
    The men guffawed. I could see that they were
    prepared to ignore her.
    That's probably why she scooped a pebble off the
    ground and lobbed it at the nearest man's forehead.
    "Ow!"
    "Little lady," said one of the men--I almost laughed
    to see him backing out of her radius, "we're here
    on official business."
    "It can't possibly be official," Annie said, her
    voice rising. "I don't think you belong to our tribal
    council."
    "Kid--"
    Whatever he'd been about to say, I never heard it.
    I heard growling instead. And then the thick
    leaves of the creosote bushes parted, and Balto
    stalked over to us, snarling at the strangers.
    I was so stunned to see him, and so happy, I
    dropped down and put my arms around his slender
    neck in a hug. He pressed his wet nose against
    mine. I don't know if you've ever seen wolves just
    before a hunt, but they always bat noses with each
    other. I think that's their way of establishing
    camaraderie.
    Zeke came sprinting through the trees. Gabriel,
    Mr. Black Day, and a woman I didn't recognize
    were close behind him.
    "Hey, guys," Gabriel said genially, his tawny
    brown hair windswept. "What's going on here?"
    The man farthest from us frowned. "Bureau of
    Land Management sent us."
    Bureau of Land Management? The same guys
    Stuart had petitioned against. Did that mean