Those-Who-Watch

Shine was fully awake, the unfamiliar sensation began just as all her receptions did, with a vibration. But this was different.

Dumpling's full moon cheeks filled in the bedside. She reached for Shine's thin arm and started to sign into her palm, "Hungry?" She spoke just as she would have done years ago.

Shine answered, "Seaweed soup swimming with egg noodles." That was something to smile about! Her words were sloshy like listening to the sound of waves riding over boulder tops.

Dumpling was a mix of surprise, relief and sorrow tumbled with hunger. Except for cinnamon toast and tea the rescue party had not eaten. Stan Costa was taking care of that part of things. She wondered whether seaweed soup with egg noodles would reach him.

The round old woman continued to answer through words signed into Shine's palm. Smiling, now that she realized what was going on Shine said in her deep watery voice, "Aunty D I can hear. While I lay in bed, maybe a couple days, or nights ago. It all started with a simple single repetition. NA NA."

How thoughtful of Those-Who-Watch to ease the girl into the world of sounds through the chant. These two, the round one and the girl who was more than just a little bit whale knew how vital the hum was. Each of them in their way made connection to essential factors through that low, slow utterance. Dumpling let one of them out ... 'hmmmm' and then gave credit. "It was Aka."

The fat Hoku Moon was indeed momona in her brilliant holoku, the gown of golden light bright through the upright presence of Trees. The webs that had held him fast released their grip. Fracturing at each spot of potential, the silver threads were drops of spider web and rain. A kind of blessing thought Aka's twin.

The beams of moonlight were the triggers. Wherever Lanalana and her kin go when Spider Season is pau, the exit is quick. On this particular Hoku Moon the children of the Silver-haired Raven and his Border Witch mate watched as the webs went through their metamorphosis. The young magician named for a powerful river wept. Tears of a magician named for a river went unnoticed. It was one of those tricks he had gotten very good at.

"Will you stay awhile now?" Aka was bundling up the silky threads into a sticky ball. There wasn't much to it, but, she would find a use for it.

"I'd like some food." The large bill or beak of a Raven is substantial, and it had been secured for four days. The birdman quickly shifted to human.

"Cinnamon toast. Apple pie?" His sister wiped the last of the webs onto her jeans.

"Funny. But no, I have this strange craving for a bowl of seaweed soup and egg noodles."

"Ah," said the collective voices of Those-Who-Watch, "the story continues." An untrained eye would think those were clouds passing in front of the Hoku Moon. But others with more practice with kilo recognize Those-Who-Watch in all their many holoku.

Half a moon

"It's not that you are no longer a caring mother," Lanalana was back in her own web. Semi-symmetrical the shape of the net far from orderly it was a mash of chaos to the uninitiated. From the corner, rather than from its center the Great Spider conversed with Pale.

"Your son has slipped on Grief, mistaking it as a permanent destination. He is young, talented and much loved by so many. But. He is young."

"It's his imagination. Stuck to Grief ... momentarily." Pale was privilege to the greater expanse of Border. Her thoughts weren't looking for assurance. She bantered with Lanalana with her own assurances in tact. "The half-half of the plumping  Moon will remind him of those twilight zones of luminous potential. You have entangled his beak." Pale laughed and accepted or maybe acknowledged how sometimes Storytellers need to be reminded of the pause. The Border Witch continued, "He is Male and there is that predisposition to enjoy the straight lines of plot."

Lanalana crawled from her corner as Wasp danced to free himself from her web. It was futile, he would be breakfast, and Lanalana would remember ... and say thank you. "His sister is very well named, mother. Her smile, could and does for many, distract from her bright and dangling magic. She is a medicine bag. Loose, dimpled and ..."

Pale added this: "Aka is patient."

Mahina rises in the early afternoon during the 'Ole times, Aka sat quietly at the table. There was no need to be anywhere else. She sensed the activity next door, but made no attempt to explore. 'Ole. Nothing. Nothing new just yet. Instead the twin began tapping on her lap. With both hands she kept a simple rhythm. Then simple sounds.

Na na. Accentuating the "ah" in each syllable, the sister  strung a web of open ended messages ...

Her brother heard.
The girl Shine heard.
The wind heard.

The sister strung a web of open ended messages ...

The Moon heard.
The Spider heard.
Their Mother heard.

Na na
Nana nana nana nana ...

Nana

Nana
Nana nana nana nana
Nana
Nana nana nana nana
Nana
Nana nana na nana i

Nana
Nana nana nana nana
Nana
Nana nana nana nana
Nana nana na nana i ke 

Nana
Nana nana nana nana
Nana
Nana nana nana nana
Nana
Nana nana na na i ke ku

Nana
Nana nana nana nana
Nana
Nana nana nana nana
Nana
Nana nana na na i ke kumu

One string, many knots

"Did you know nets are strung from one continuous string?" Dumpling's composure seemed to need the question to hold her together. She asked it of the air, the walls, Stan Costa. Still holding the tray of cinnamon toast quickly cooling she didn't stay long once she say Skeena. She hadn't asked for explanation. Aka signaled a give us a few ...  Dumpling thought about telling the loyal sister there was no answer at Maha's. But let the thought pass.

Stan looked up to answer Dumpling's question. "I did know. Tata made nets. My grampa's nets dangling over the handles of old shovels in his gardens. The shuttle of string. Fine cotton before there was nylon. Making knots in patterns. 'Big eye, small eye.' The old time fishermen had more than one kind of net. Tata never rode boat to catch fish, always threw from the beach, or from the reef." It was surprising how questions could tickle all sorts of memories from a person.

The teapot of hot water and peppermint filled the room with the clean scent. Dumpling thought she saw the covers move. A small sound maybe. She set the tray on the nearby table, opened the aster-colored napkins.

"There was no answer at Maha's. I left a message on her answering machine." The gardener and gypsy woman remained old school. No cellphone. No roving technology. Of course the telepathy that was finely tuned made cellphones and ipads redundant. "Have you tracked her instead?" Stan rose from the bedside and crossed the room to join Dumpling. "She's elsewhere ... by the feel of things she and her old friend needed a moment together."

Stan and Dumpling sat at the table. Dumpling poured two fresh mugs of hot peppermint tea. The warm of the smooth ceramic was doing its job. The comfort moved. The toast was buttery and familiar. Delicious, crunchy and filled with just the right number of plump raisins the couple ate toast. Dumpling savored the taste of a good toast, dunked the tips into her tea. When her napkin was empty of toast she finally described the net next door.

The covers on the bed shifted, the bed creaked, Shine was awake.

Installation, constellation

"Like Gulliver. You have been installed." For such a diminutive Lanalana had a clear and peeling voice.

It wasn't often Aka laughed at her brother, she loved him and knew him as herself. She would not interfere, but the Grandmothers! They stepped in and when necessary fed you a story whole.  Lanalana and her family were quick in their artistry, their work as weavers of nets a skill overlooked by the many. Grandmother Spider dangled from her transparent thread stopping within inches of Skeena's entangled beak.

At such a position, the Raven's eyes crossed. He saw two Grandmothers. "For a time Young Magician, you will need to chew on the stories that come at you from all the hipu'u those knots of potential we have strung from here and there. All those people, all those places, all those tricks and illusions." The spiders spun and attached the young man without stinging, that was not necessary he was not their food.

"In the whole of things, we need you and your story as much as you need the stories clinging to you. What is being asked of you is ... reconsideration." The monologue seemed lengthy, and as such things happen only Skeena heard the words of Grandmother Spider. The Raven's beak was held fast but no silk prevented him from hearing and seeing her. And, his mind processed ...

Lanalana kept on. "The Sisters will rise on the horizon soon. On the bulge of this Green Place. Markers Skeena. From there count a full cycle of moon light."

She means to keep me through Makahiki.

Hearing his thoughts Grandmother Spider offered this, "No. We will not keep you bound the whole time, but, long enough for you to feel the gravity of the situation." Spiders do have a sense of humor, and though you have to be especially keen to the sound of it, spider laughter is infectious.

The rain had stopped. Outside, beads of 'ua ka lani caught in the web left empty. "Up high out there, my web and these that install you against the window slow the descent of rain. Water is meant to flow. Nearer the ground and tucked into the hedges around the Safety Pin Cafe, other Spiders collect raindrops for the day. In summer that clan was essential, like reservoirs on eight legs they slowed evaporation. A very big job!"

Where was she leading me? 

"You grow restless from the winding tale, Magician but it makes no never mind. No place to fly. No way yet to move. Timing Skeena." It was the second time Grandmother Spider had addressed him by name. "As in comedy and survival, it's all in the timing. These are the 'ole moon. You have time for reconsideration as is the nature of those moons. When the 'ole is pau, the webs will dissolve on their own. We Grandmothers have a tight network, and long memories. Make the most of the coming new year Raven Child."

Thin sunlight began to escape the ends of the paling clouds. Her story finished, Lanalana moved swiftly through the opened window, her family followed and by the time Dumpling returned with a tray of warm cinnamon toast wrapped in aster colored cloth napkins Ka La the sun was back to his full and present heat.

The door opened in. The spell of the moment shifted.

Through an open window

The Safety Pin Cafe was open every day and served a consistent simple menu: cinnamon toast with as much butter as you fancied, herbal teas with a preference for peppermint, and apple pie. The bread and the pie were baked daily, or more often depending upon the needs on any particular day. Almond and goat's milk whitened teas or were simply poured into shallow bowls for the kitties who loved being served without reservation.

The town had grown, and shrunk with time but through it all the quality of The Pin's common magic was its most valuable offering. Some knew to come for it; most found it on days ducks loved, and today was just that sort of day. The squall came suddenly and with great gusto. The window to the smallest of the three rooms upstairs was left open. First one and then the other Raven tucked their beaks and head through and landed softly on the backs of two wooden chairs.

"Your timing couldn't be more perfect," Dumpling pulled the window shut, well nearly. Even with the pouring rain a sliver of opening called for the fresh air. Let us breathe said the walls. They were used to the feel of Saratoga Pass against their enduring coat of pale lavender milk paint.

The siblings shifted slowly from feather to flesh in no hurry to move from the betweens. Leaving them to make their adjustments, Dumpling opened the bedroom door, quietly shut it behind her and crossed the hallway to the largest of the three rooms. She said, "They're back Stan. I'm going downstairs for a tray. How is she?" Dumpling looked from her man to the girl who still slept with the faded denim patchworked skirt wrapped like bunting. Her arms were freed of cover. Pillows surrounded her for reassurance. "She hasn't moved an inch. But her breathing is deep and regular."

"I think it's time to get Maha," next to Pale the Apple Tree Gardner aka Gypsy Woman was Aunty Everything to Aka and Skeena. "The boy will need to plant some of the ..." Dumpling struggled for the word.

Stan offered, 'bile.' "Her son is churning from anger and Maha can help with that. Slowly but surely she will offer the next best steps." Stan sat close to the bed, alternating between a gentle stroke across the young woman's broad forehead and squeezes applied meaningfully from her shoulder to the ends of her fingertips. First one shoulder, then the other. While Dumpling pursued tea and made a call the bass playing botanist's attention was caught by the activity of Lanalana, a spider. She was cleaning house.

The winds were cluttering her web with Hemlock needles. Built under the generous eaves Lanalana might be able weather the squall. Unaware until today of the diligent care involved in web maintenance Stan watched as all eight legs dislodged the offending needle. A piece of Nature that could not feed her was not allowed to simply litter. "Nature's Efficacy," he whispered, still working the muscles of Shine's arms. The musician never ceased in his amazement for the order of All. Food/Not Food. Live. Die.

A thump across the hallway. One of the chairs fell against the wall. Skeena retained his Raven, the chair he'd landed on jarred the wall beneath the window. He wanted out. "Wait, please wait," Aka knew never to interfere with the trajectory of a Beings choice. The St. Joan's Wort had worn off and she had nothing more. Their mother's presence was still fresh in this room. She felt it, and of course, Skeena felt it. "Where will you go? The ones who love you most are right here, or on their way here. If you leave now the mending will take longer, the songs will gape, the wound will fester."

In his human form Skeena would have no trouble with the window, and even as Raven, the window ought not to have been an obstacle. That it was was sign enough the Magician was tangled and his energy? The Raven with the silver-band of feathers rapped hard against the open window. From her side Lanalana considered the sharp sound piercing the windblown storm gathering force. Rap Rapraprap. The Hemlock sent no more needles, but the irritation of sounds became a drum beat. Lanalana used the sound to call the Others.

Through the open window one, two, three and then a dozen, two dozen and more came on their eight legs. Rap Rapraprap. The Raven caused the drumming. The spiders came. The spiders came. The spiders came and began to weave their nets in seemingly delicate, yet formidable silk threads. Rap Rapraprap. Rap. Rap. Rap. And then it was quite.

Two and two

The men emptied the last of the bitter ale, laughed at the joke Jacob shared about the latest tattle going on in town. Something about a Bunny Round-up. The Surveyor collected the two green bottles and tossed them into the plastic bin with circling arrows.

"That's some mean homebrew," the shorter of the two men with tools said. A burp punctuated the compliment. "I like the label. A few of them could do it. Put you there." Jacob's tall green bottles wore beautifully rendered capital letters in deep blue against a pale green background. Two "T's" separated with small white italicized letters a n d. Enjoying the companionable distraction of men enjoying a beer,
Jacob laughed and nodded. "Would you like another?"
"No, no. Geez we came down for ..." The tall upright man broad shouldered with legs that bowed either from lack of calcium or too many hours on a horse found himself lost with why they were at the Public Access. Jacob did not add nor subtract from the men's state. His attention to his company never veered though he did look up when two Raven flew low and away as he walked the men to their truck.
"Thanks for the brew."
"Happy to shoot the breeze, anytime. You see my truck, come looking for me I'll be about somewhere close."

No amount of explanation would have mattered. The gatekeeper did not expand on the meaning of the two blue T's and only later, much later would the men remember they had been at the end of the road near the Public Access. The tide was as high as it gets for early Fall, the Twins were airborne and for now, Jacob and Rabbit were just two friends considering the direction of the Winds.

"You hear any of that chit chat?" Jacob asked Rabbit, who was busy digging a new tunnel at the back of one of the barrels.
"I did. 'specially loved the part where you never corrected the short one who might have thought the label referred to the boom boom boom ..." The two friends laughed at what they knew to be the truth of the letters.
"Winter's gonna be drier than most Jacob. Mud might get cakey. Good you raked in that kelp when you did. Will break down over your garden beds real nice." Rabbit changed the subject, making it clear just what was important.
"Those Raven kids. The boy? Did he make the most of the remedy left by his Ma?" Rabbit was very fond of family, and had the heart broken over and over again from loosing brothers, a father, a cousin. His kind multiplied because they had a lot of ground to cover. It took a score of them to keep up with all the predators who counted on them for breakfast, lunch and snacks. Jacob loved Rabbit.
"The way is still in the making Rabbit. Two and two gives you four."
"And if you're lucky there will be more." On his hind legs the Hare did a small jig. The man with the curved spine danced too.

The first trick

The vial of Hypericum Perforatum warmed a place between the breast feathers of the Silver-bird's son. Slowing or tempering his heart? An on-looker could guess. His sister simply held Skeena long enough and tender enough to make the connection to a time of first tricks. That place where innocence was big and curiosity broad.

"I hear the old welder." It was the first time Skeena spoke. They knew it was Alex Santiago he was hearing.
"I was with him as I was at thirteen. We were playing with the coppers. The pennies." Aka listened. She was extremely good at listening. "Tell me more."

"Alex is showing me how to pull pennies and there is a story to go with his teaching. I am in the story. Another and another story. "Now, show me what you've up your sleeve or is it behind your left ear?" A chicken egg still warm popped from behind the boy's ear. The boy loved it when the eggs were still warm. "Sunny-side up then," the old magician emptied the near dozen eggs from his coat sleeve, "or perhaps a omelet as fluffy as feathers?" Into the boy's broad smile the magician tucked a penny minted 1947. Keep it safe for uncommon necessity. Someday the young magician would grow into that understanding. For now he would not hear the spell, nor feel its magic hibernating; it was enough to have it spoken to him. The penny would wait."

The spell of old stories wore like clouds. They came and stayed long enough, as if enough was just that. Skeena felt behind his ear half-expecting an egg to be there. When he smiled the subtle shift had begun. Flow was slow, but, it was starting. 

"I have not seen Alex for ..." The young man had to count to be sure. "I haven't seen him for more than twenty years." Alex Santiago was all spirit now. It was probably why her brother could hear him that much better. 
"Camilia? Does she keep the old shop?"
"No welder's gear, but, remnants and reminders of his trade are everywhere in the old barn." 
"The sign, is that still there?" 
"Yes." 
"Does she still stitch?" He asked, piecing time together as a form of salve.
"She does." 
"I have been away for too long Aka." His fame as storyteller and magician made life on the borders an exemplary frame. It was impossible not to watch him. Many people knew him, loved him, only a handful knew his secrets and even they guessed at most answers.
"You had places to be. Migration. Spreading the gene pool." The two of them laughed at that one. "Never to marry, but in many beds." It was Skeena who said the words and found them sorrowful. 

St. Joan's Wort was working her remedy, her brother's face now more man than bird Aka was grateful as she felt the tide's shift come and go. There was just enough time for a slip of acceptance to come with the next incoming tide. "The girl, Shine. Is she so special that Ma would lele ... on her behalf?"

Aka knew it was a sacrifice done without reservation. She said this, "Shine could easily have chosen to stay away even if Ma chose to lele. Like us the muliwai is a  current easily swum. She could be as much mermaid, or whale girl as we can be Raven. The difference? Well, each of the gifts is unique. Shine has a way with the hum that is missing from the Home Place. Ma knew that."

"Did she." It was not a question, but, was instead one of those breezes that recognizes the feel of something with open windows. An open-ended wind. The tide lapped close-by. Clap, clap, clap. 

The wobble

"They been gone a very long time, Jacob." Rabbit was measuring time from his end of the world. So much was going on at the edge of things. His tangle of Blackberries, his home, was now heaped into slices--the work of men with tools and trucks. Jacob had watched the men and sent word to his long-eared Hare friend in time to save a bit of trauma. Who really needs more chaos was the gatekeeper's mantra. Who truly needs it? Jacob and his wife made room for Rabbit and his wife. There was always plenty of space among the chattel of barrels and compost piles where Beings could safely regroup.

Rabbit was right, Skeena and Aka sat on the Fallen Tree for a very long time. Enfolded in the black shiny wings of magic, the sister kept time from moving. For awhile sorrow must be given its due. Jacob the Surveyor explained to Rabbit, "Just as you are part of the world where men and their tools rip at the story you are telling, those between, the ones who grow ... and thrive on the wobble between worlds need a bit of compost to begin again. A little bit of a long time ago mixed with the promise of something yet to be. A possibility. An unexpected cross piece."

"He is lucky to have a sister then. Someone who has some of that long time ago. A warm pulsing someone who doesn't need words, but can give me songs." Rabbit was no dummy, and no stranger to loss. His nose twitched. "People on two legs are coming." He wondered whether the glamour of Jacob's magic would stay them away from Raven's children.

"There is plenty enough yet." Jacob reassured. "You have business of your own."

"Can you manage without me?" Rabbit was a loyal friend.

"I will miss you. But, I know you'll come if I need you." It was true.

With Rabbit speed the hare was gone, and Jacob the Surveyor turned his attention to the two men but not before the wise advocate turned his arched spine skyward. The moon was already in her other half-lit face kaohilani becoming smaller yet visible to those who knew to look for her in daylight. "Two more rises, Aka. You have two more tides and that will have to be enough." Fall was coming, the season of harvest brought endings. The Girl Twin heard Jacob. Her mother's story makings fed them. "Thank you Jacob," Aka knew the protocol of gift-giving. "I hear."

Hapai with magic

The two children born to a Raven and a Border Wahine, a wahine being woman, and really not "witch" though there is nothing wrong with that role ... sat together on a Fallen Tree and rode the Wa Kupuna ... the time of Ancestors. They were being given the stories their mother had recorded in her journals as storykeeper, storyteller. So often the archives of all the best stories wait for just the right incoming tide. The time of Ka Piko o Wakea, the Fall Equinox was just the tide. From their mother's journal they heard this ... 

Max's visits always came with purpose. "It is not that we worry about you, Pale Wawae," Max considered my long-standing reputation for being independent. He weighed his words, admitting it had been almost twenty years since his last visit. Evolution was a slow process, and he knew my predispositions. Still ... he was on my side and continued this way:
"You are hapai with a child of magic and a third pregnancy will..." Max chose his remaining words carefully as he sat in the wooden chair facing me across from the small glass-topped table. "A third pregnancy will build quite a bridge." To draw a picture, the kahuna used his ten long fingers to make a grid, lacing them like a woven mat.
"Over, under, over, under," his deep voice chanted simply.
"Nothing different, nothing new"
"Over, under, over, under." Max flipped his hands over and tugged them apart.. They separated easily.
"Now let's do this together," he said and reached for my hand. I offered him the right, "No, the other one," asking for the left hand.
My fingers are slender and tapered, but not nearly three-quarters are long as Max's. Like teaching a child, Max inter-twined our fingers. The thumbs barely involved, but essential. Reading my thoughts he said, "Oh yes, the thumbs are always involved. It's they that make all the difference," Awkward though the lattice was when we were done the spaces and the lacing created a beautiful mat.
"Pull apart," he instructed. I did as told. Nothing. I caught his gaze, aware that the lesson was being cooked into me. I relaxed and our fingers fell naturally apart.
"There is room for the unpredictable. Gene pools broaden now just as they have since the voyaging canoes crossed oceans in search of new land. It is not uncommon for the Magic Ones to mate with common, or uncommon mortals." I was not quite 'common' though the label was something I had yearned for at different times through my life. Max continued, "Try as they did, the mothers' mysteries eventually trickle down to us. Some secrets were uncovered in spite of their best efforts to conceal. Now, you, Pale Wawae, are to bear a child of Raven. What is necessary to know?" Over bowls of chicken soup and egg noodles my godfather answered.

Is anyone keeping an eye on the twins? (click to find out)

Siblings

Raven did as his daughter asked. Stan wrapped Shine in the patchworked skirt and lifted her into him. For a few moments she met his eyes, but hers were still milky and unfocused. Once on his feet Dumpling stroked the girl's face looked in the direction of the Twins and saw that Aka had her brother enfolded in her arms; her arms turning to wings.

The sun seemed to pause. The sky brightened slowly. On the Tall One stretched horizontal to the bay the two siblings wrapped themselves into the feathered space of reassembling. Not here, not there the offspring of two very different Beings knew to unstitch for awhile. Aka handed her brother the vial. "Ma made this for you. Hypericum Perforatum for sadness." In their Raven forms the dose of St. Joan's wort was at least doubly potent. From his vantage point Jacob the Surveyor meddled for the second time. As Skeena loosened the stopper, pink liquid splashed, spilling a portion. Skeena drank the rest.

The Advocate spoke silently but loud enough for Rabbit to hear. "So, is that bit of remedy enough for that boy? Didn't his mother mean for him to have all of it?" Rabbit asked. Jacob had been a steward at these borders for a very very long time. He was often silent in his duties but he missed nothing. "Sometimes a mother will misjudge the potency of her own gifts. Sometimes less is more, they forget that." Rabbit trusted his sidekick, but wondered whether there was enough of the remedy to do the job. Together Rabbit and Jacob watched.

Minoaka had asked for enough time to comfort her twin, between them the memories of Raven and the Border Witch ran like salt water and fresh. The multiple messages dosed them, Skeena relaxed and for awhile they were eggs again listening to all the stories, all the songs. The history forward and back opened up.  Aka chanted. She called on her Ancestors to refresh their world. She chanted a traditional 'oli.

Na ‘Aumakua mai ka la hiki a ka la kau!Mai ka ho’oku’i a ka halawaiNa ‘Aumakua ia Kahinakua, ia Kahina’aloIa ka’a ‘akau i ka lani‘O kiha i ka lani‘Owe i ka laniNunulu i ka laniKaholo i ka laniEia na pulapula a ‘oukou ‘o ka 'ohana Raven WawaeE malama ‘oukou ia makouE ulu i ka laniE ulu i ka honuaE ulu i ka pae’aina o Hawai’i a me ke'ia moku SalishE ho mai i ka ‘ikeE ho mai i ka ikaikaE ho mai i ke akamaiE ho mai i ka maopopo ponoE ho mai i ka ‘ike papaluaE ho mai i ka mana.‘Amama ua noa.

What does Aka's chant reveal? (click to find out)
Na ‘Aumakua
Adapted from Hawaiian Antiquities by David Malo

Pivot

Stan was a light-sleeper and the widely spaced limbs of the shelter made it easy to spot the talons. Shine would sleep for days, and Dumpling was happy to be herself again. Assured of his own shape Stan got to his knees and backed out.

Extending his hand Stan greeted the silver bird, "Raven. I'm glad it's you."
Raven accepted the long fingered hand in both his. "I wasn't sure who to expect to be honest, and under the circumstances I left the readings out of the equation." The two males held the handshake knowing their roles in this unfolding story would amend the future. Neither were afraid of how genealogy grew, but then it was Haumea and her plotting that would prevail. Raven looked deeply into the musician's heart. "How did you leave her?"

Stan pulled the small glass vial from his jeans' pocket, "She wanted you to have this. She said, 'Give this to him when the time is right. This would be that time." Pale had long been an experimenter with remedies, part of her culture as navigator at the edges required knowing who the Medicine Plants are. She was not indigenous to this Salish place, so one lifetime was hardly enough to know them all; but, she did her best. Raven looked at the pink-red liquid that filled the vial and nodded, "Thank you."

Skeena and Aka walked the shoreline at the water's edge. The tide was high but there was always walking room. Skeena had never met Stan Costa but had heard about him from his mother. Aka knew the man from their work in the gardens, and the band Sonics had her children mesmerized. She introduced her brother and gave Stan a big hug. The twins peeked in to see Dumpling circled around a thin young woman. It was hard to tell who she was, but, Aka knew. "You found her," Aka said through tears that made her already big golden eyes glow like amber. If she was back, there had been an agreement, of exchange. Skeena read his sister's thoughts, caught the drift of things. "NO! Ma stayed to sacrifice herself for that girl?"

An enraged Raven is not a element to interrupt. His outrage woke Dumpling. Shine did not stir. But then she was deaf. "Your mother was ready." The Silver-bird knew words would be useless, but tried anyway. Time would help. But explanations ... mostly they never worked. It was Aka who knew what her mother's wishes were. Minoaka never released her brother's hand. She walked slowly over to her father's side. "The vial dad. Ma meant for Skeena to have it, not you. Leave us here. You folks take the Subaru. Let me be with Skeena, and Ma. We'll meet you at the Pin. Don't go home yet, okay?"

Jacob the Surveyor had stayed a respectful distance away, but, he saw everything. It was of course his kuleana to know everything about Sunlight Beach. The public access was his domain, and meddling at pivotal times was his responsibility as well. With the bit of glamour to which he was entitled Jacob ensured the Twins their time to grieve their mother's choice. If there was a pivot to this Salish community's history this was it. Clank, clank. His sticks set the boundary.


And then what happened? (click to keep reading)

The rooster crows, ravens fly

As predicted, when Madrone reached the shore's edge Stan's plume of tail feathers quickly shifted to his favorite pair of old denim jeans. "I was gettin' used to them," Dumpling joked. "The tail feathers!" Nearly too tired to appreciate the humor Stan Costa took a moment. He was barefoot. The water was cold, he wondered how Shine survived the days of floating in water that cold. His brain wasn't going to ferret that one out. It was his experience with the Women that would give me his answers. For now he knew Shine needed to be carried to the shelter and all three of them would need sleep.

Dumpling's skirt would have to do as a nest. Without a second thought she found a small hole and tore. Split in two it covered the sandy floor well enough. Gently from Stan's arms, Shine folded herself into a curve. Dumpling spooned against her to warm the girl's back. Stan arched behind Dumpling. Exhaustion blanketed them. Mahina watched, and from their watery outposts Kohola and her family were satisfied, "It continues then." Hi'iaka agreed. There was more to come and this was as good a place to grow new land.

~~~~~

Three ravens flying is not an uncommon sight. Ravens in a Subaru? People might turn and stare. It was still early when the Silver-haired Raven woke his son, and then his daughter. "We have something to do," is all he said. His children were used to minimal conversations and rarely did their father wake them any more. In his vest pocket Raven pulled long feathers. At first Skeena mistook them for Raven's. Blinking sleep from his eyes he recognized the color was not ink blue-black. "Rooster." Aka was either more awake or just more attuned to the differences. She and her own children had a yard full of chickens and a rooster. "Has the rooster crowed?" She asked quietly, Aka had a subtle humor but always well-directed. She knew her father would not be toting those feathers without some special destination in mind.

Pale's green Subaru. The Silver-haired Raven never drove it. Aka had her own set of keys to her mother's car. Skeena rode shotgun. Their father would lead. Flying low with great strokes of his long feathered wings Raven flew over the curving drive from cottage to the main road. It was early enough to avoid most of the commuter traffic. He led his children to Sunlight Beach. Less than five minutes from the cottage, the public access lot was quiet and empty. Even Rabbit was still asleep. Jacob the Surveyor was not asleep. Watchful the barrel-chested bearded advocate quietly observed from behind the trellis of Scarlet Runners. Three Ravens on the beach before sunrise. Three Ravens shifted to Human, now that was something he'd remember. He made no sound, and made no attempt to approach.

This was a familiar place to Aka, a spot she and her children loved to walk. All the Bird Clans recognized her as one of the few who crossed, and though some of the visiting relations fussed over the inter-species mingling it was never an issue. The Silver-haired Raven was a Being respected for his essence. No one messed with him or his people. His appearance was rare here on the public access. Jacob took note, especially so when he recognized the brocade vest buttoned around the great bird's chest. Jacob waited, just in case.

The Tree lined beach was a holding place for the Tall Ones in their later forms of being. Drift wood was a casual way of naming them, like Nurse log was a role given by humans, here on the shore of the Salish Trees served even after they fell. This morning Skeena and his sister walked around the fallen Trees taking the longer route along the bank that led to the Saltwater Marsh. Their father flew to the shelter landing softly on the cobbled roof, and waited, too. "What do you think we'll find?" Skeena knew it had something to do with Pale but would not venture a guess. His sister simply reached for his hand and squeezed.

What did they find? (click to find out)

Half-half

The corridor of sunlight drew a perfect pathway for the return.

"We can wait here for the tide to bring us into shore," Hi'iaka always appreciated the Equinox of equalizing time. Unpinning her kikepa from the linkage with Dumpling's skirt Hi'iaka paused and felt Shine's forehead with the gentle touch of a loving aunt. There was neither fever nor chill, but, the girl needed something. All about her it was obviously feeding time. The Herons gathered nearby and a ways away from the muddle of Gulls engaged in many conversations. Decisions about meals perhaps. The goddess put out the request, "The girl needs something more than the limu. A share of your dinner would serve her well." The Gulls were too busy arguing among themselves, but, Heron heard. With her long bill she speared a small fish. "Mahalo, thank you." Hi'iaka pulled the still flopping fish from the long bill, opened her mouth and chewed. The masticated flesh would be easier for the weakened girl to digest. Like a mother bird the goddess fed the muliwai small bits, massaging the girl's throat to aid her swallowing.

Dumpling still a hen, watched the miracle of border life from the stilled platform of Madrone. Instinctively she began to vocalize. Simple hums, like bees, Dumpling hummed. The sun quickly sunk behind the ridge leaving that inimitable color of Sunset when the atmosphere is clean. Not so much brilliant as beautiful, the last days of summer coated her throat. Above them Mahina the moon in her 'Ole Pau face looked at the scene below. The water was very shallow where the two birds and the girl floated. Dumpling's humming was not only coating her throat it was the sound necessary to bring her through the square hole. Like a wild snail chewing the hums returned Dumpling to woman.

The log tettered, but only momentarily. Dumpling the hen slipping from bird to woman with little drama. Her feet found the sand easily. Dumpling stood, holding the Madrone. Stan remained rooster mesmerized at the capacity of the female. A goddess chewing fish for a small girl-child. His lover and partner drawing ancient sounds from some primal spot only women knew, he speculated on that one. Yet, he had watched what happened again and again when women hummed. His bass could do that as well.

It was not quite dark when Shine made a small sound. Stan was familiar with the way music came together for her. The tide was beginning its flow. Hi'iaka pushed the Madrone so it remained at standing level for Dumpling. "Keep pushing them toward the beach, Dumpling. When you are beached, Stan will be your man again. There is a place to shelter you tonight and then the morning will be ready for you."

"Won't you stay?"

"No. This girl needs the company of Familiars. In time, we will meet again. But now, she needs family. Be that for her." The goddess was gone, but not before she fastened the brass safety pin to the front of Shine's tattered blouse. "This will hold her fast enough."


What happened next?(click to find out) 

Exchange

The space of sacredness like the knot on a Spider's web was limitless. It was all potential. The Old Stories included hundreds of images about hei the net, the ensnaring possibilities. The great spider Uku Uku, Haumea's net flung high into the sky. Her tool for plotting all manner of potential. Hi'iaka was a goddess. But, before she was limitless she too was a sister, the youngest among many with the same name. In her present form she shared that potential with the musician and the woman shaped like ipu. There was a childishness the goddess enjoyed when she appeared as Bridge, or link. Hipu'u. Explorative! That was one of Pele's sister's great talents. Time travel was child's play, though so few Humans remember that. Flying on a patchwork skirt? This was a new twist. She liked new twists.

Dumpling the hen blinked a lot. The familiarity of her old skirt offered some comfort. So much had happened, there was no time for the fever of the Western mind. She was a hen, with a goddess and a rooster riding time toward a rescue. "Faith dear," it was Stan who read his Dumpling Woman's anxiety. "Let's just have some of it." It's hard to tell when a rooster is smiling, but Dumpling was pretty sure she could discern a turn of the lips on him. A second voice found her as the skirt began to zigzag between the clouds. It was a purr. Spirit Cat.  All borders opened, Dumpling felt her heart peel open. Alright. She hummed.

So the skirt in the hands of a much experienced goddess of exploration hovered no more than a foot over the tops of a mildly stirred ocean. It was an 'Ole Moon, not quite stable time. The waters were not fished now, no wise fisherfolk fished on the 'Ole. "There!" Hi'iaka spotted a length of Madrone, water-logged the smooth red-orange skinned Tree remained buoyant a perfect resting place. Her kin, wise in their selections, made sure the girl had the company of deep rootedness.

The girl was barely conscious, but she lived. Hi'iaka landed the skirt with its occupants beside the girl Shine. "Aw, there is just a bit of that left in her," She was assessing the life force of the young muliwai. "They have maintained her aka she retains a shadow. She retains her humanness." The goddess directed the two birds. In their present forms they would not add much weight to the Madrone. With swift and powerful movements the skirt became a towing line. Her own kikepa unfurled and linked to the skirt. Hi'iaka's strong and muscled physical form became a tug boat. A brass pin, one she treasured, secured skirt to kikepa. The goddess pulled.


There's more(click and read)...

Calendar names

The one on the frig read "September" there were notes written in her curling print. A scheduled event that would not happen. An appointment that would go unmet. Hung with clothespins the three weeks of the moon faces depicted a month of a different kind. Some called this month Mahoe Hope, others say this is the month Mahoe Mua or Hilinama, She lived between the borders of both calendars, a Border Witch did that...roamed the betweens.

There were notes left on the side of the frig as well ...
Old Man's Beard
growing on the wild downed branches
a tincture in 6 wks
lung infection, colds & flu
St. Joan's Wort
Hypericum perforatum her Latin name
yellow roadside flower turns red in spirits
dropper full for sadness and virus
Mullein stalk and leaves
sought them out on a neighborhood walk
too late, Vine Maples are orange
other places; maybe exchanged for money
#1 for lung strength
replace worry and fear about SARS (Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome)
Root of Corn Flower
Echinacea during acute infection 
never as prevention

Milk or cheese from Jude's dear goat
#2 for lungs Really? 

The 'ole moons 7 each malama
4 before full
3 after full

Raven flew through the open window to the cottage. He had felt Pale's lele, her departure. From his side of things serving the common magic of tea and toast to their neighbors, the Silver-haired birdman recognized the shift, registered the loss.

"Couldn't you have stopped Ma?" Skeena knew better, but even the Initiated falter in their commitments and cling to loved ones especially when there was no moment of saying good-bye. He was no child when his mother stepped onto the shore with Kaimalama Noa. Skeena was fully grown and was as well a generation bred of Raven and Border Witch. But it was the child who mourned and wished for just one more funny story, and the sweet breath of his mother as she pressed her hand to his face.

The great silver bird, his father, embraced his son. Enfolding him in his strong wings Raven pressed Skeena into his chest. The smell of cinnamon strong and nurturing, the young man sobbed then heaved the grief of human emotion. Never did his father suggest otherwise. It was always Pale's humanness and vulnerability that gave her children grace under fire. The two men wailed. She, the physical woman, would be missed.

Skeena's twin sister, Aka waited at the doorway. Skeena had come a long way to be with their father. His work, as magician took him away from this forest cottage. It was his design, and he did this with skill and agility. Visits between were less frequent, but, understandable. Both mother and son were, are, storytellers and upon her backbone Skeena grew the legacy. Minoaka, Aka, on the other hand was a root woman. She remained close and raised a pair of quarter-birds not far from their homeplace. She remained intimate with her parents' daily lives.

Aka knew it was Spider Season they were everywhere and she was glad to see their consistent seasonal presence. Large Familiar Spiders spun their webs off the kitchen roof. They waited for food and were quick to ensnare. Other families would spin their hammock-like webs that dangled between the spikes of Huckleberry and Wild Blueberry. These in particular would catch water, from the sacrifice, Earth is giving up the water, marking the potential for slowly and consistently refilling the aquifers beneath the forest floors. It was true, everything is sacrificed. Ohiwai. Day in day out. Sun rose ... HA. The first deep stirring! ENA ... intensity. HAENA. And when the sun sank in the west, it was a slow and gentle, exhalation ... HA. ENA ... breath.

"Spider Season," Aka finally said quietly once her family released each other. The men looked at Minoaka and saw the reflection of the first and last breath. Haena.

Keep going ... (click here)

* If you are new to the medicine stories, and the life of The Border Witch and her community, there are episodes that describe the early times of Skeena and his twin sister Aka. Click here.