Previously: Tommy is telling the story of the blanket Liz & Linda are sitting on. He is about to tell them why East of the 4 directions is black.

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Tommy explained that many tribes have different colors to represent the 4 Directions.

Liz wanted to get her question in before Tommy began his explanation. "I'm glad you mentioned the fact that there are different colors depending upon the tribe and the colors' meaning."

"Why is that?" Liz had Tommy's curiosity.

"I have Cree in my heritage. My great, great, grandmother was traced to be of the Cree tribe. When I did the research, I found that the Cree colors are different than the Crow colors. Where the color representing West for the Crow Nation is black the Cree have green."

Tommy admitted some Nations use other colors instead of Black, some Blue, others have Purple. Yet some other Nations such as the Cree have used Green in lieu of Black.

Tommy told of his Navajo friend who shared that his culture was quite different than the Crow ways. There are specific stones associated with each direction and color. The four directions are represented by four colors: White Shell represents the east, Turquoise the south, Yellow Abalone the west, and Jet Black the north.

Shaking his head, Tommy said, "My, we have gotten quite far from what we were going to discuss. I was going to tell why the crow is black." Tommy's voice had a tone of bewilderment in it.

Liz and Linda looked at each other knowingly. "Us?...Nah." They both laughed. "We both have ADD, so we tend to go way off most of the time, dragging others with us. We get easily distracted."

Linda said, "On top of that, I have HD. This is the longest I have been sitting since we left the car. I'm usually busy doing something."

"And I'm like a puddle. We laugh at how different we are about some things and yet are best friends."

Liz told of how when she was teaching, the discussion would get so far off track, some students would ask how we got so far away from the topic we were discussing. "I honestly had no idea."

"Well, that explains a lot." There was a frustration in Tommy's voice. Even though these ladies were unlike anyone he had ever encountered, he greatly enjoyed their company. He was saddened to think they would soon be parting ways. He knew the turn-off to the garage they were looking for was coming up soon.

"Now may I tell the story of why the crow is black?"

Both Linda and Liz settled back in their seats.

Their silence signaled Tommy he was good to go.

Instead of beginning the story, he announced the turn-off was coming up.

Liz stared in amazement at the sign reading Bear Cat Dog Grille 5 miles ahead. "There really is a grille by the same name as Kai Zita said. It sounded so much like my book Be Wee With Bea, I thought it was another illusion instead it is an allusion." She chuckled to herself.

"The sign doesn't mention an auto garage. But, Tommy you know your way around here; you would know if there is one. Good thing you're here. We might have gone right by it. God is certainly watching over us." Linda recognized God watching over all.

"We were clearly helped by Wolf the Pathfinder." Tommy put his fingers to his forehead in a gesture of honor.

"Oh yuh" Liz said, "It was Wolf who helped us find our way through the cave, to the opening in the ceiling. Ah, Wolf the Pathfinder."

The car veered to the right, spun around a sharp corner, through an underpass and up a hill to face a large sign with the arrow pointing to the Grille.

Linda and Liz clapped simultaneously.

Tommy pulled over to the side of the road. "The garage will be closed at this point, I say we have something to eat and rest for the night."

Liz and Linda were wondering why he was stopping a ways before the Grille when he said they should eat. As he snapped the tops off the containers, they remembered the meals they had previously been treated to. They were in the car driven by a chef. How could they have forgotten that?

"These will be cold but still good." He handed them a fork and plate filled with Swedish meatballs, air fryer stuffed mushrooms, sausage balls. "Do you want chips with that?"

He was referring to the vegetable, kale chips. Linda, who likes to eat healthily, said, "Yes, please."

Not much favor for vegetables, Liz declined.

A bottle of water was greatly welcomed by both, who sighed, knowing how good that meal was going to taste.

As before, for sweets, he had candied pecans, air fryer mini apple pies, and mini pecan pies. As they were munching the precious delicacies, they told Tommy he could tell his story about the crow now, and they promised to not interrupt him.

Tommy was not sure how long the ladies could hold to their promise, but he would begin.