It Sleeps in Me Read Online Free PDF Page A

living person was too close to the breath, the shadow-soul, desperately looking for a new home, could shoot like an arrow into the living person.
    The shadow-soul was terrifying because at death all the evil leached from the other souls and settled in the shadow-soul. That
left the reflection-soul pure, fit to live among the blessed ancestors, while the cleansed eye-soul stayed with the body forever.
    A sudden chill went through her. Wink said he’d died three days ago. The evil shadow-soul wandered the earth for seven days after the body died, then it usually disintegrated into the air. Unless it sneaked into a new body.
    What had she been loving in her dreams?
    She stared wide-eyed at the wall.
    … The “fingers beneath the nostrils” greeting.
    Before they’d married, they’d had to undergo six moons of preparation: sanctification rituals, ceremonies of purification and absolution. In the midst of one of the rituals, surrounded by dozens of priests and family members, the greeting had been his way of saying, Meet me at my canoe. I’ll show you how much I love you.
    “No,” she murmured to reassure herself. “No, it’s not possible.” A swallow went down her dry throat. “Is it?”
    Footsteps sounded in the long hallway outside.
    Rockfish called, “Sora? The Loon war chief is here to see you.”
    “Please tell him I’ll meet him in the council chamber.”
    “He’s already there,” he said, but he didn’t walk away. She could hear him shifting outside; his woven palmetto moccasins scraped the hard-packed dirt floor.
    Sora slid the lid back onto the basket and turned. As she walked toward the door curtain, Rockfish asked, “Do you want me to go with you?”
    She ducked out into the torchlit hall and stared up into his soft brown eyes. He looked like a faithful sad-eyed old warrior. Clean gray hair fell around his triangular face.
    “Of course I do. What would I do without you?”
    He smiled and slipped his arm through hers. As they walked down the hall, he explained, “War Chief Grown Bear comes as an emissary of Chief Blue Bow.”
    She frowned. “I just spoke with him. Why would he send me a messenger so soon after our meeting?”

    “Apparently he has important news.”
    She heard the subtle irony in his voice. “What do you mean?”
    “Grown Bear brings a gift.”
    “What gift?”
    “He wouldn’t show it to me. Which means he’s either afraid I’ll deem it too paltry to grant him an audience with you, or he wants to see your face when he reveals it.”
    Sora looked at him from the corner of her eye. “My belly already aches.”
    She ducked beneath the door curtain into the council chamber and walked toward the central hearth, where the war chief sat. He leaped to his feet and rushed to meet her.
    Sora held out her hands, palms up, and he put his hands atop them, then knelt before her.
    “Chieftess Sora, I thank you for agreeing to meet with me.”
    The central fire hearth blazed. Those flames, along with the torches that lined the walls, gave the air a honeyed glow.
    “I am here to serve, War Chief. How may I help?”
    Grown Bear was a burly man, of medium height. One long slash of white scar tissue cut across his cheek and nose, making it appear that his face had two halves. He wore a rabbit-fur shoulder cape over a knee-length yellow shirt. No jewelry adorned his wrists or ears, but elaborate geometric tattoos decorated his face.
    He mouthed the ritual greeting, “I pray our ancestors fill the room around us, to help guide us.”
    “As do I.”
    He stood up. “I must tell you I was deeply grateful you won the game today. I knew I’d have to run for my life if you lost.”
    Sora smiled faintly. “Even if we’d lost, I would have given you safe passage back to your people, Grown Bear. We are not monsters.” Sora gestured to the six log benches around the fire hearth. “Please, let’s sit down and talk.”
    He bowed and followed as she led the way to the benches. Rockfish sat to