Scandal (19 page)

Sam gave her hand a squeeze. "Well, that's all in the past now. We'll take care of Miss Lena,
and you girls get that quilt show done."

Again, the hints. What kind of plans, I wondered. It didn't feel to be my place to be asking
that, right now.

Magda put down her coffee cup. "I've got a call to make today to my friend, Mila. She's a
spiritual healer, I need her to come cleanse that grave. I want my place of peace and sanity back. But
first, I'm going to shower and get dressed. Nature Boy here has a few more tasks to do in my yard,
and while he's at that, you can be working on the quilt."

I told them about Len being in the show. Magda was okay with it. "It's good to have a man
quilter. We like the diversity." She laughed. "I saw his
Tumbling Blocks
entry at the Fair. It
deserved that blue ribbon." She turned back. "By the way, how're you two doing?"

Put on the spot I shrugged. "He's rather heavy-handed. The truth? I'm looking more
towards the fire chief."

They said together, "What fire chief?"

I'd told them about the flue fire, but none of the details about Len, or the fire chief. Now I
told them about the impromptu brunch and the sometime dinner plan.

"Sounds," said Sam, "like you are ready to come out of that box you've been in. And I'm glad
to hear it. You know I'm not a fan of Len. But whatever, whoever you choose, be easy on yourself. I
went through that you know, it takes a while to be steady again." He looked at Magda, "That means
you too. 'Cept, I think you've been alone long enough! I'm curious about that cleansing of the
ground."

I too was curious, but Magda wanted her shower and she promised to explain later.

I went into the quilt room. There was the quilt, ready, just as I'd left it. My eagerness to get
at it, to be adding the checked piece and perhaps something else, surprised me. I could hardly wait
until Magda could help me with the next step.

We'd stashed the rulers and mat in the cupboard. I took them to the table. Time to use the
fancy gadgets. The rotary cutter and pins were where I'd left them by the front piece. I was petting
the velvet when Magda came in. "Looks like you're moving along well. It's time to cut the check and
add it. But first, a little figuring."

"Oh, no, not the math." Working the lengths and widths in her mind to know what size
pieces to buy, and to cut, is easy for Magda. "I don't know how you do it."

"There is no trick to it, Annie! I will teach you. Don't worry about it. You have the
talent."

I raised my eyebrows.

"No, you do. I know you didn't think you could change Sophie's quilt, but you've already
spiced it up."

She was right about the rotary cutter, it was a slick tool, but I was cautious with the sharp
edge as we cut the check. She helped me pin the check to the block. "Oh, I do like it!

"I wonder what else you'll do with it. It's worthy of entry at our show. You'll be proud." She
stood up and waved me to the machine. "Sam and I must go fetch Mila. She is going to cleanse the
place where Lena buried Tommy. Even though he's no longer there I can't be at the studio without
thinking about it. We're going to pick up Lena for the ceremony, and I've asked Wish as well. We
figure to be at the studio around four. You will come, too, please?"

"Of course. Is there anything I can do?"

"Yes, there is. I need tobacco, a packet of the loose kind. And we must feed Mila. You can
pick up the tobacco and a pre-cooked chicken, perhaps some chips, and some salad makings. Bring
a jug of fresh, local-made cider, too. Here." She handed me a twenty-dollar bill. "While you're
shopping you can be planning, figure out what is going to be your back piece. I'm in favor of the
check for the back."

She turned to leave, but then turned back. "If you could be at the studio before four and air
the place out, I would much appreciate it."

I worked on Sophie's quilt until near two o'clock, and left it flat so I would see it first when I
returned.

I felt somewhat goosy as I entered the studio kitchen and looked through the windows into
the backyard. Someone had filled in the hole and raked it smooth, but the dirt over what had been
the grave was mounded and darker, still quite visible. I didn't know what Magda and Mila had
planned, but was glad that something more would be done.

The studio felt dark, whether because I knew what had happened there, or whether my
sense of the place changed when Thomas was unearthed I didn't know, but the mound gave me the
heebe-jeebies. I didn't like being there alone. I busied myself with putting away the groceries,
bringing down plates from the cupboard, setting out utensils on the counter. I was relieved to hear
a car in the front driveway, and voices as people came inside.

Wish Kelly wore plain clothes, Magda had on a sky blue skirt and a white blouse with a
yellow, flowered vest. Lena was dressed in black slacks and a thin tan sweater over which she wore
a hip length black jacket. Her expression was tense.

The woman with them must be Mila, a small woman with a serene expression on her deep
brown face. Behind her came Sam, like the sheriff wearing jeans and plaid shirt--the equivalent, for
many Oregon men, of dressed up.

Sam set the basket he held on the picnic table.

I handed the pouch of tobacco to Magda.

She did the introductions.

Mila's black hair was gathered at the back of her neck in a long braid. Over a long-sleeved
black tee she wore a red vest printed with native symbols, spirals of eternity, shafted arrows,
mountains shaped of triangles. Her long, dark blue skirt brushed the tops of sturdy black oxfords.
Around her neck was a beaded necklace, with a small leather bag hanging from it. She wrapped her
hand around it occasionally as she talked.

I gave Lena a hug, and felt some of the tenseness leave her body as I released her. She was
near tears. She went to stand by Magda, who took her hand.

Mila led us to stand around the mound, close to each other, and began to speak. "The
feather of an eagle is sacred." From the basket on the table, she took a dark feather about a foot long
with a shaft half again that length. The shaft was beaded in a diamond design, with several thin
strips of white leather hanging from it. "The spirit of our winged friend will help in our purification
ceremony."

She held the feather by the beaded handle, gently moving it from side to side. "Magda has
told me the ugly thing that happened here. The spirit energy from a tragedy can hang around unless
we help it along, to go on to its own healing. We are here to help the spirit of Thomas. We're also
here for the spirit of the bear.

"We call on the four directions: To the East." She raised the feather. "To the South." Turning
full circle, she offered it to the West, and then the North. After returning the feather to the basket
Mila took out a large shell holding a herb bundle of silvered, dried sage that was several inches long,
a candle, and matches.

"The smoke of sage will cleanse." She lit the candle and set it back into the bowl. Her
cheekbones came into high relief and a glow lit her dark eyes as she held the end of the sage bundle
in the candle flame. It took some perseverance but it finally caught. She shook it to extinguish the
flame, leaving an aromatic smoke to rise.

"The smoke will carry away the negative spirits that remain here, or that we bring with us.
If you have a problem with the ceremony you can say 'no' as I come to you, and I'll pass you
by."

If Magda had asked for this to be done, I was in.

"First, we will smudge with the smoke, then each of us will have a chance to talk to the
spirit of the man who died, or to say whatever you want. Magda, I will start with you."

She moved the smoke up and down in front of Magda. With her hands Magda pulled the
smoke onto her head. Breathing deep of the aromatic tendrils, she washed her face in it. She turned
around and Mila bathed her back in the smoke. Magda turned around and said, "Thank you," to Mila
who acknowledged the respect with what sounded like, "Ah ho!" She repeated the smudging for
Lena, Sam, Wish Kelly, and me. She handed Sam the bundle. "As our elder would you please smudge
me?"

"With pleasure." Sam followed Mila's lead as if he was familiar, and comfortable with the
action. When he finished, Mila took the bundle and returned it to the bowl. She set the bowl, still
trailing smoke, on the mound. The small flame of the candle flickered.

She stood still, her head tilted towards the sky, murmuring in a low voice. The late
afternoon sun cast color onto the high clouds, outlining them with silver. A robin settled down on
the grass some feet from us, cocked his head, hopped a few inches, tilted his head again, and pecked
sharply at the ground. As Mila continued to pray, the robin snagged a worm and flew away with
it.

Mila's voice became louder. I heard again, "Ah ho!"

Peace settled into me.

"I have asked forgiveness from the spirit of the bear for the taking of his life without
respect." She opened the tobacco packet, took out pieces and sprinkled them onto the ground.
"Lena, you might also want to do this, to let the spirit of the bear go."

Mila turned to Magda. "You asked for this healing. Creator and His spirits are with us. Now
is your time to speak."

Magda took a deep breath. "I want to speak to Tommy. I don't know if your spirit is here... I
hope so. I've been so angry at you. I've hated you. I'm glad you can't hurt me anymore. That's awful
to say but it is what's in my heart. I want to change that now, to release you, and myself, from this
pain we've put on each other. I did love you." Her voice faltered and her tears flowed in a stream.
Silently she brushed the tears away with her left hand, her right still tight within Lena's grasp.
"That's all I have to say now."

Mila looked at Lena and nodded.

Lena released Magda's hand and clutched hers together, as if she was praying.

"Oh, God. I feel so awful. I killed this man." She took a deep breath and continued. "Tom,
you know I didn't mean to. I wonder if you can hear me, can feel my sadness. My sorrow. I don't
know if I would make it different if I had a chance to do it again. I was so frightened of you. I pray
that your spirit can leave now. I want to let you go. I want us both to be free. I forgive you. And I
forgive me."

She let her hands fall to her sides, bent her head. "Amen." When she raised her head, there
was a gentle smile on her lips. No tears. "Oh, yes," she took the packet that Mila offered. "Bear, I'm
sorry. You were just being a bear. And I was a scared woman. Please forgive me." She sprinkled
tobacco onto the ground.

Sam spoke then. "Man, if your spirit is listening, I say to you, you can go on your way now.
I'm here to help Magda, with or without your blessing. But I hope you go now to a restful peace.
This place needs it. So does Magda." There was an edge to his voice. "I'm done." He nodded to
Mila.

Mila said, "Mr. Sam, think about this. Are you done? This ceremony is a cleansing of all our
spirits, including yours."

"You want more from me? I don't even know this person."

"But you have anger at him, anger that is here, now. I'm asking you to find a way to give
that negative energy to the smoke. This is the time to let him go on his spirit journey."

Sam seemed to consider her words. Asking Mila's permission with a look, he took up the
sage. Bringing it closer to his face, he blew on the pale red embers, rekindling the smoke. "So, Tom. I
don't suppose you meant this to happen. I've made a mistake or two in my life too." He stopped, and
then said, "If your spirit is really here I sure don't want to be the one to keep it here. So, I let my
hard feelings for you all go up in smoke." He held the bundle in front of him, took a deep breath and
blew into the smoke.

He handed the bundle to Mila. "Hey, give me that tobacco, please." He tore off a large chunk,
that he shredded into smaller pieces. He sprinkled them over the mound. "Dang! I feel better. Hope
that all worked for him."

"Thank you, Sam." To the sheriff and me she said, "Which of you wants to go first?"

We didn't have much to say. He muttered, "Rest in peace, man."

I said, "Amen," hoping I didn't sound flip.

Mila brought the sage bundle back to Magda. "Anything else?"

"I'd like to smudge Tommy's spirit."

Mila waved the sage, bringing forth a good blaze on the end of the bundle until the smoke
was heavy. She handed it to Magda. "Release him."

Magda looked in front of her as if she could see him, waved the smoke in a long, deep oval.
"Tommy. I pray that you find a place to fish and..." She smiled. "...to ride your board through the
tunnel of a long wave. So long."

Mila took the bundle, said, "Ah ho!" and waved it over what now felt to be an empty mound.
In a wide arc, she released the smoke to the Four Directions. "We send this smoke into every corner
of this yard, through the trees, the flowers, freeing all the creatures from what happened here: the
flying ones, the creeping ones, the two legged and the four legged. Let the people who live and come
here feel peace. Ah ho!"

Her lips relaxed into a soft smile. She placed the smoking sage into the shell, set the shell
onto the center of the cleansed earth, took up the feather. Waving it sharply over the candle flame,
she extinguished it. "I think there is food, now?"

We followed Magda into the kitchen where we feasted. For the first time in many days
everyone appeared to be happy. Released. I couldn't fathom the why of it, not sure I believed in the
effect of the ceremony. But it didn't matter. The peace in the air was palpable and the smell of the
sage on our clothes and in our hair filled the kitchen.

Mila said, "I'll leave the bowl and sage here with you. If you like you can smudge the house,
inside and out. Anytime. Or not, as you want. I thank you for asking me to do the ceremony."