Cedar Woman (77 page)

“
I
called
m
y
sisters
S
h
aron
a
n
d
Bek
k
i, who
were
li
v
i
n
g
in
Des M
o
i
n
es at t
h
e t
i
m
e. T
h
ey
t
o
ld
m
e
t
h
at I
ne
e
d
ed
to
g
o
to Lo
dg
e and
pray ab
o
u
t
it,
so
I
m
ade
arr
a
ng
em
ents
to
go
s
t
ay
with
t
h
em
so
t
h
at
I
c
o
uld
go

to
L
o
d
g
e.

“
Our
Lodge
Keeper
li
v
e
d
in
the
A
m
es,
Iowa
area,
so
we
had
to leave
al
m
o
st
a
s
soon
as I
dro
pp
e
d
o
f
f
m
y
clothes
at Sh
aro
n
'
s,
since
it
w
a
s r
ou
ghly an
ho
u
r
to get t
h
ere. It t
u
rns out t
h
at I
had
s
e
ver
a
l cousi
n
s
t
h
ere, and t
w
o of t
h
e
m
were
S
u
n
D
ancer
s
.

“
M
y
cousin
P
a
ul
h
a
d
i
n
vited
ano
t
her
co
usi
n
,
Lester,
t
o
po
u
r
water f
o
r
us,
so
I
m
ade
m
y
off
e
ri
n
g
of
t
o
bac
c
o
to bo
t
h
of
t
h
e
m
,
aski
n
g
t
h
em if
I cou
l
d
sweat.
T
h
ey
both
acc
e
pted,
an
d v
e
ry
soon,
m
y
sisters
and
I
were tyi
n
g
our
p
rayer ties
⁶⁸
in pre
p
arati
o
n for t
h
e cere
m
on
y to
c
o
me.

“
W
h
ile we
were
g
etting
ready
to
sweat,
a st
o
rm
m
ov
ed
i
n
,
and
I
kn
e
w
I
was
in
d
eep
p
o
o
,
as
I was
terrified
of
li
gh
t
n
i
n
g
.
I
was
t
o
ld
t
h
at
if
I pra
ye
d
a
n
d
o
f
fer
e
d
m
y
pipe
as
I
m
ade
m
y
way
f
r
om t
h
e
h
ouse
to
t
h
e Lo
dg
e
, I wo
u
l
d
b
e o
k
. It t
o
ok a
b
it
to
c
o
n
v
ince
m
e
to
walk
ou
t t
h
ere, b
u
t I fi
n
ally
g
a
v
e
i
n
.
And
ya k
n
ow,
I
will
n
e
v
e
r f
o
r
g
et
t
h
e
s
k
y
t
h
at
n
ig
h
t. All around
u
s
,
i
n
each
of
the
four
dir
ec
tion
s
,
were
sheets
of
ligh
t
ning,
but r
ig
h
t
abo
v
e
t
h
e
Lod
g
e the
sky
was
clear!

“
I
was
j
o
ki
n
g
ar
ou
nd
wi
t
h
m
y
frien
d
s
a
b
out
h
o
w
I
was
N
O
T
g
o
i
n
g
t
o
get
t
h
e
'
hot sea
t'
,
y
o
u
kn
o
w
,”
J
u
li
e
sa
i
d
,
no
dd
i
ng
t
o Reva,
“
t
he
s
e
at directly
across
t
h
e
pit,
and
cr
a
cki
n
g
all
kinds
of
b
a
d
joke
s
,
t
h
en
s
u
d
d
e
n
ly it
was
ti
m
e
to
g
o
i
n
t
o
t
h
e
Lo
dg
e
. We were stac
k
ed
i
n
,
two
d
ee
p
,
and
o
f c
o
urse
I
was
i
n t
h
e
‘h
o
t seat’," J
u
lie said wryly, gri
m
a
c
i
n
g
at
t
h
e iro
n
y.

"As I settled i
n
to
m
y seat, I realized
t
h
at t
h
ere was a
pr
a
y
er staff in f
r
ont
o
f
m
e
a
n
d
o
n
i
t
was
an
owl
fea
t
he
r.
⁶⁹
I
g
r
o
a
ned
a
nd
a
s
ked
i
f
a
n
yo
n
e would be
wil
l
ing
to
tr
a
d
e places
with
m
e
,
with
no
takers,
c
h
a!"
s
h
e chu
c
k
l
e
d
.
"
Any
wa
y
,
t
h
e
cer
e
m
ony s
t
ar
t
ed,
and
a
s
we re
a
ched
t
h
e
T
h
ir
d
D
o
o
r,
⁷⁰
o
u
r Wa
t
er
Po
ur
e
r
s
u
dd
enly a
n
n
ou
n
c
e
d: