Dindi
During the feast and dancing, Miskymew and Puddlepaws escaped from Dindi's pack.
Dindi looked around, worried he might steal food from the feast mats. But she soon spotted the neko and kitten behind her.
Miskymew was riding on his back. The kitten crouched low to the ground. His eyes glowed with focus. His furry backside stuck up in the air. His tail flicked back and forth.
He was stalking a rodent of some kind—a mouse or a rat or something?
Puddlepaws pounced—and caught it!
Then he froze. He had no idea what to do next.
"Don't let it go!" squealed Miskymew. "I'll skin it for a cape!"
A girl swooped down and picked the rat up. "Fa! Go! Leave her alone! Oh, poor little one, are you okay? Did that meanie cat bite you?"
"Hey! That was my claim!" squawked the neko. But the human girl apparently could not see or hear the Purple fae. The human cuddled the rodent, which had two white stripes on its back.
Now Dindi saw more clearly. It wasn't a rat—it was a chipmunk. Puddlepaws darted away and hid behind one of the nearby huts.
"That's my cat," Dindi said. "Please don't chase him. He could get lost."
"He terrified my chipmunk!"
"I'm sure he didn't mean to," Dindi said. "He just wanted a snack. Maybe an arm. Or a leg."
The girl snorted.
She looked like most Yellow Bear folk—strong and healthy, with thick, dark gold hair cut short. She had golden hazel eyes. Her sun-warmed skin shone golden brown. Her dress was decorated with polished acorn caps and quail feathers. A single gold ring shone in her nose.
"My name is Gwenika," she said. Then she coughed and sat down beside Dindi, pushing Jensi out of the way.
Jensi had been talking with Yodigo and hadn't noticed Gwenika until now.
"Hey!" Jensi protested.
"Be careful sitting next to me," Gwenika said sadly. "I have Drowned Man's Lung."
Jensi quickly scooted away.
Now Dindi and Gwenika sat alone at the edge of the mat.
"Drowned Man's Lung?" Dindi said, shocked. That was a deadly, contagious disease. People with it were usually sent to the Deathsworn.
Gwenika chewed her lip. "I might be wrong. I'm still not sure. I have fever, coughing, and chest pain. It could be Drowned Man's Lung. Or maybe Black Boil Plague."
Both sounded terrible to Dindi.
She remembered when two of Jensi and Hadi's cousins died from disease. That was after Uncle Lobo had made a troll angry.
"I'm sorry," said Dindi. "How were you hexed?"
"I don't know yet. My mother won't help me. She says I'm not really sick."
"Oh." Dindi blinked. "What does your clan's Healer Tavaedi say?"
"My mother is the clan's Healer."
"Oh."
Dindi didn't know what else to say.
But Gwenika kept talking—fast.
She asked many questions but never waited for the answers.
"You have a cat? Where did you find him? What does he eat? Besides chipmunks? I've never met anyone with a pet before—not counting horses and goats. But goats aren't real pets because people eat them. Some people eat horses too, which makes sense—they have more meat than a chipmunk.
"Nobody here has horses, but I heard clans in the Rainbow Labyrinth do. Is that true?
"This is my chipmunk. I found him hurt and helped him heal."
Dindi nodded.
Gwenika beamed.
"That was during Stomach Upheaval. Stripe—my chipmunk—helped me get better."
During the rest of the meal, Gwenika talked about all the sicknesses she had survived in her short life.
Oddly, the more diseases she listed, the less Dindi worried about catching Drowned Man's Lung.
"You must stay with us tonight," Gwenika said after the dancing ended and people began to drift toward their huts.
Dindi followed her to one of the beehive-shaped houses marked with a golden Ladder-to-the-Sun on top.
There was no way either of them could reach the high window-door from the ground. And there was no ladder in sight.
"Hey!" Gwenika shouted, slapping the side of the house.
A girl appeared in the window. She looked Jensi's age.
"That's my sister, Gwena," Gwenika said. "Let us up!"
Gwena tossed a bundle over the ledge. A rope ladder with wooden slats unrolled. It dropped just low enough to reach.
Gwenika scrambled up. Dindi followed more slowly.
Once both girls were inside, Gwena pulled the ladder back up and tucked it into a niche beside the door. It took Dindi a moment to get used to the dim light.
Smoke stung her eyes.
Two small adobe steps led down from the door to the inside floor. The inside floor was higher than the ground outside. A fire flickered in a hearth at the center of the round room. Around the edges were raised adobe platforms for sitting, sleeping, and eating. Everything looked clean and well-kept.
It wasn't hard to guess which platform belonged to Gwenika.
Two rabbits snuggled under blankets there. Above them hung birdcages. Other cages nearby held a prairie vole, an opossum, and at least a dozen lizards. At the very back sat a large, covered pot.
From the pot came the unmistakable sound of a rattlesnake.
Each animal had some kind of injury. The birds had broken wings. The lizards had no tails. One rabbit limped. The other had a hurt ear.
Dindi didn't want to know what was wrong with the rattlesnake.
Puddlepaws, who had returned to Dindi's pack, peeked out and stared hungrily at the rabbits.
Then Gwenika and Gwena's mother stepped into the room.
It was none other than Zavaedi Brena.
Her welcome included a very close and serious set of questions—especially about Dindi's family.
"So," Brena said, "no Tavaedies in your family?"
"No, Auntie," Dindi said.
Brena asked the same question several different ways, but Dindi gave the same answer.
Brena frowned and gave her daughters a look. Just a small shake of her head.
After that, Gwena avoided talking to Dindi. But Gwenika didn't seem to notice the hint.
"You'll stay with us," Gwenika told Dindi happily.
Dindi was exhausted and just wanted to sleep. But the sleeping platform barely had room for one person—definitely not two.
"Gwenika, sleep on the floor," said Zavaedi Brena.
"But her delicate health—" Gwenika's grandmother began.
"She will survive one night," Brena said firmly.
"I can sleep on the floor," Dindi offered.
"You're our guest," said Gwenika. "That wouldn't be right."