Shaxoa's Gift
instead of hers.
    “Daniel, you must leave,” Quaile said. Her
eyes and voice made it plain that she was quickly reaching her
limit of patience with him.
    “But, I want to stay with her. I can’t be
away from her,” he said. His agonized denial strained my resolve
even more.
    “What about your parents, young man?”
Quaile’s accusing voice made him wince. “You will have a hard time
explaining why you’re in New Mexico if your parents find out that
you left camp without permission for the weekend.”
    “Well, how am I supposed to get back? Take a
bus?” Daniel asked.
    The combative tone of his voice made Quaile’s
jaw tighten. She refused to listen to people when they didn’t speak
to her with full respect. I expected her to berate Daniel as she
would any other, but instead her wrinkled face softened.
    “There are no buses here,” Quaile said.
“Someone will have to drive you.” Quaile glanced around the room
hopefully.
    “I’ll take him back,” my brother, Cole,
said.
    I wanted to run to Cole and hug him fiercely.
He looked at me with sympathy, an apology on his face. He had gone
with Uriah to track Daniel down. I could tell that he felt
partially responsible for the pain and confusion I felt. I managed
a weak smile at him through my tears. He’d only done what he had to
so he and Uriah could save my life. I could never lay blame at
anyone’s feet except my father’s.
    Daniel wasn’t nearly as pleased as I was
about Cole’s offer. Scowling, Daniel folded his arms across his
chest. Watching him, I wondered at the gods’ choice. He was so
unlike Uriah. Uriah was strong and serious, thoughtful and
considerate. Whenever we were together I knew every ounce of his
attention was on me, making sure I was happy and loved.
    I knew it was unfair to say that Daniel was
none of those things, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t give myself any
more reasons to love him. If I was going to be able to stay true to
my love for Uriah, I knew I couldn’t allow myself even the smallest
amount of affection for Daniel. Perhaps that would never make sense
to anyone but me, but I couldn’t bear giving Uriah up.
    “Daniel, the camp counselors will notice
you’re gone if I don’t get you back soon. We should go,” Cole said.
He put a hand on Daniel’s shoulder, pulling him toward the
door.
    “Why don’t you take the car this time,” my
mother, Sarah Brant, said dryly. She tossed the keys to him without
letting go of me. “Those motorcycles weren’t supposed to leave the
garage and you knew it.” The look on her face said that she did not
appreciate Cole’s choice in vehicles when he left with Uriah two
days earlier. My mother had thrown a fit when my father bought the
motorcycles a few weeks ago and forbade him to ever use them.
    Cole shrugged casually under my mother’s
gaze, but when she looked away he cringed, knowing that he would
hear more about the topic when he got back. Grabbing Daniel’s
shoulder a little tighter, Cole pushed him toward the door. “Let’s
get going, Daniel.”
    “But,” Daniel started.
    “It is time for you to go,” Quaile said
stiffly.
    I watched Quaile carefully from my mother’s
side. I couldn’t understand why she was suddenly pushing Daniel
away. She had been the one to deny Uriah and I the right to marry
on tribal lands. She’d claimed that we weren’t Twin Souls, that we
would each meet our true Twin Souls in the future and be torn
apart. When we refused to accept her answer, saying that we would
simply leave San Juan Pueblo to be married, she had begged us not
to ignore her advice.
    Now she was ushering away the man she had
said I would find ultimate happiness with. Quaile had slipped away
right before Uriah left me, and only returned after he was gone.
Had she spoken with him? Was there something she wasn’t telling me?
There was so much that had happened that no one had had the chance
to explain to me. What happened on Uriah’s journey to find Daniel?
As soon as

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