Cedar Woman (128 page)

In
s
p
ir
e
d by the
historical
accounts
of Monte
z
u
m
a’s favorite
dr
i
nk
of c
ho
c
o
l
ate, mi
x
ed
with
h
o
t water a
n
d
p
e
p
p
ers, Le
n
a w
o
r
k
ed
d
ili
g
e
n
tly
o
n t
h
e
recipe,
u
n
til
she
attai
n
ed
t
h
e
p
erfect
m
ix
o
f
sweet
ch
o
c
o
late, co
m
b
ined
with
the h
e
at
of
cayenn
e
.
T
h
e res
t
a
u
rant cou
l
d
n
’t
m
ake enough of
t
h
e
m
, as the de
m
a
nd
r
o
se al
m
o
st daily.

S
o
nny sa
u
n
te
r
ed
in
and
wal
k
ed
t
o
wa
r
d
M
ichael. Peeking ov
e
r

Mic
h
ael’s left
s
h
o
u
l
d
er, S
o
nny
p
r
o
n
ou
n
ced,

“
M
an!
Tha
t
’
s
m
y
lunch
y
o
u
’re
m
aking,
C
o
u
si
n
.”
L
au
g
hi
n
g
, Michael returned,

“
No
wa
y
.
This
is
for
table
five.”
S
o
nny
c
h
uckl
e
d
,
a
n
d
p
a
tting
his b
r
oth
e
r/c
o
usin
on
t
h
e
ba
c
k
,
l
e
ft
t
h
e
kitch
e
n.
He
k
n
e
w
t
h
at so
o
n
M
ichael w
o
uld
pr
e
p
a
r
e
his
di
n
n
e
r
,
a
nd
he
was
a
n
xi
o
u
s
to
relax
and
en
joy
t
h
e

meal.

He walk
e
d
over
to where Nickie
sto
o
d
at t
h
e
h
o
stess bo
o
t
h
,
and uttering a
few
pleasantrie
s
,
s
t
rolled away.

Nickie
Mako
c
h
e`
Wanbl
a
ka
Tuwa
Ista
Nu
m
p
a
W
i
nyan,
or
Ista

Nu
m
p
a
⁸⁷
f
o
r
sho
r
t
,
Gree
n
e stood
c
o
m
p
letely
s
t
ill.
Outwar
d
ly,
it
a
pp
eared

⁸⁷
Mah-koh-cheay
wahn-blah-
k
ah
tdoo-wah
eesh-t
d
a
h
noom-pah
ween
-
y
ahn

–
Two-E
y
ed
W
o
man
Who
Sees
in Both
Worlds

as
i
f
n
o
t
h
in
g
had
c
h
a
n
g
e
d.
W
e
re
s
o
m
eone
t
o
obs
er
ve
m
o
re
close
ly
, how
e
ver, they
would see
t
h
at
she was, to say t
h
e least, a
g
itate
d
.

Sweat
f
o
r
m
ed
alo
n
g
h
e
r
h
a
irli
n
e,
a
n
d
h
e
r breath
c
au
g
h
t in
h
e
r t
h
r
o
at.
Her
st
o
m
ach cle
n
ched as
a
feeling
o
f
h
o
p
eless
n
ess
filled its cavit
y
,
and
t
h
e
p
ou
nd
i
ng
o
f
h
er
he
a
rt
was
d
r
o
w
n
e
d
o
u
t
by
t
h
e
r
o
ari
n
g
i
n

her ear
s
. Nick
i
e was
hopeles
s
ly in love
wi
t
h Sonny.

Da
ug
h
ter
o
f
t
h
e
C
o
m
anche,
Nickie
st
o
od
a
t
5’4
”
.
H
e
r
ro
u
n
d
fac
e
,
an
d
s
li
g
h
tly
p
l
u
m
p
b
o
d
y
,
d
id
no
t
a
nsw
e
r
to
t
h
e
m
oder
n
A
m
er
i
ca
n
i
dea
l
o
f beaut
y
.
M
o
st wo
m
en
w
r
ote
her
o
ff
as
u
n
att
r
acti
v
e.
M
en
f
ou
nd
h
e
r fasci
n
atin
g
.