Shaxoa's Gift Read Free Page B

hand away and stepped back. “I have business with the
Elders.” Without a backward glance, she was gone.
    Her reaction to touching me, and her abrupt
departure, left me staring at the plain wood door. If Uriah is
what I truly want? Of course he was, I told myself firmly. I’d
already told her that. More than what she said, her reaction to me
bothered me even more. Right away I thought of Uriah’s painful
reaction to touching me, but that didn’t make sense. She’d touched
me plenty of times before, a hand shake or pat on the shoulder, but
she had never reacted like that before. There must have been some
other reason.
    I wanted to ask her about it, but what I
needed was an explanation of what was happening. Why did she offer
me advice, only to run away right after without explaining anything
to me? I had no answer to soothe my simmering frustration. I would
never understand Quaile, but I did wish that I could trust her.
    “I don’t believe her,” I said. “She knows
where Uriah is and what he’s doing. Why won’t she tell me?”
    “I can’t even begin to understand that
woman,” my mother said.
    Despite not being born into the Native
American Tewa tribe, my mother had still always held a great deal
of respect for the Elders and the traditions of the tribe. To hear
her refer to Quaile as “that woman” surprised me. Something had
definitely happened to put Quaile at odds with those who had always
considered her a sage advisor.
    “What happened while I was asleep?” I
asked.
    My mother’s step faltered, but she wrapped an
arm lovingly around my shoulders as she sat down next to me.
Holding nothing back, she told me of how my father had gone to the
Shaxoa, the tribal witch, and poisoned my tea with the herbs she
had given him. She told me how Quaile told them there was an
antidote, but only my Twin Soul could administer it.
    Quaile had given Uriah hope that he might
keep the bond from forming, only to betray him later when she
revealed that Daniel’s blood had to be mixed into the antidote. The
thought of having Daniel’s blood inside of me was disturbing, but
nowhere near as sickening as hearing of what Quaile had done to
Uriah. I had been right to mistrust her words.
    Hugging me when her tale was done, my mother
whispered once again that everything would be alright. I was
grateful for her honesty, but there was still so much I didn’t
understand. “Where is Dad?” I asked. Thoughts of where I hoped he
was, somewhere painful and terrifying, floated through my mind.
    My mother bristled at my words. “I sent him
home,” she said. “He’ll be dealt with, don’t worry.” Letting her
anger fall away, she smoothed my hair. “Uriah’s mother said that
you are welcome to stay here as long as you want. Or I can send
your father to his sister’s if you want to come home right
away.”
    I knew it must have been hard for her to
offer to let me stay away. My mother was my best friend aside from
Uriah, but given the choice, I couldn’t go home, not when I needed
every reminder of Uriah I could get to stave off the overpowering
urges of the Twin Soul bond.
    “I think I’ll stay here for now, Mom,” I
said. My words came out as a whisper.
    Her lip trembled only slightly, but her words
said she understood. “Alright, Claire, whatever you need. I’m here
for you. I always will be.”
    “Thanks, Mom. There’s just so much I still
don’t understand. I feel so lost without Uriah.” I wondered where
he was, what he was thinking, even as I struggled not to think
about Daniel at all. In the past year, the only time I ever had to
wonder what Uriah was thinking was when we were apart. Uriah’s
expressive face revealed every thought and emotion. Not knowing
what he was doing brought fresh tears to my eyes. I pushed them
away quickly. Crying wasn’t going to help me.
    “Are you hungry, honey?” my mother asked.
    I knew she was trying to distract me, and I
appreciated the effort. My mouth felt dry and sticky,