Liz barely heard Spring Blossom direct the others to leave the lanterns at the mouth of the cave. As she glimpsed downward at the devastation, she did hear Spring Blossom say, "My brother and his friends will see that the oil is replenished." 

Liz was reminded of a miniature village her friend's father had established as a backdrop for his model train hobby. But this isn't a little model village, it's the homes of these girls and their loved ones. 

It looks like what happened after our 6th-grade science experiment down there. They only created a tiny earthquake with their pounding on that dirt pile that had a village on it.  

Shaking her head. Her heart sank as she reflected upon the fact, that devastation only lasted a few seconds. This annihilation of lives in front of me, has been going on for generations.

When Sage identified and described her living situation, it became obvious to Linda and Liz why Turtle, Sage, and Dragonfly were so close. Among a smattering of framed buildings, Sage pinpointed where their two-bedroom HUD home sat. 

There was bitterness in her voice as she reported, "It's not as elegant as some might think the way it sounds." Sarcasm surging, "Wow, you got a HUD home?" In a sing-songy tone, "How lucky." 

"Those buildings were given to our tribe over 50 years ago. The only reason they're still in good shape is because we take good care of them. No help from the government."

We have 3 families living in our fairly solid home. And we have," pausing to use cheering gestures,"indoor plumbing." 

Turtle joined in,"I'm the youngest of the girls so I haven't officially reached the stage where I can sleep on the couch yet. I spread out my sleeping bag and bedding, on the floor getting ready to climb in."

"And, "Dragonfly and Sage chime in, "We  sneek her in under our covers on the pull-out couch."

 Sage spoke lovingly of her older sister, "My sister, Feather, says she remembers being on the floor; so she doesn't mind and just scooches closer to the edge."


When morning came, and others were converting the bed back to a couch, Turtle, like the young boys from the other side of the room, rolled up her sleeping bag and tucked it away out of sight.  

Runs the Field pointed out her log cabin home where water supplies also had to be lugged. Grimacing, "I hope my little brother was able to get some of his friends to help out lugging water in while I was missing." 

"I do think my daily hauling buckets of water up the steep river embankment has helped strengthen my legs for running."

Dragonfly, usually concerned with time confessed, "It just occurred to me, I bet none of us have any idea what day it is." 

Liz and Linda looked at each other. They were even  oriented, as they had been trudging blindly upon the densely fogged highway for what seemed like many days. 

Strong Heart's voice quivered, "Now that we're almost home, I can't imagine what our families can be going through, especially since they've been through this before and the others never came home except my sister." 

"I know the ritual. Many of us do. When a sister, daughter, mother, or relative of a family goes missing, the house will be smoked up with sage and cedar for protection and purification for the loved ones.

Those familiar with the ritual chimed in. 

Velvet Dove breathed a sigh of relief, "At least everyone's been praying for our safe return. I wonder what specific power objects were set out for each of us?"

Three of them offered ideas. 

"Maybe a hawk feather." 

"Tobacco, definitely." 

"Mine always lay out animal hides." 

Sky turned to Liz and Linda, "They place ties of the four colors, red, yellow, black and white, which are symbols of the four corners of the earth, in strategic spots around our homes."

Star spoke of how she was envisioning the members of her family, "They're gathering in a circle to hold onto the something of mine and sending strong healing energy and protection out to me." 

Spring Blossom continued the recitation, "They're singing power songs." She smiled in praise, "They don't know yet, the cedar burning in the small stone bowl, has kept the evil, harming spirits away. We are safe."

Eyes of the Owl pointed out a house to the left of a burned-out area. She laughed, "Want to know how I was able to get into the closet for our packs?" 

In unison, they all said, "Yuh, how'd you manage that?"

"l learned to pick locks when we used to sneak into the burnt deserted buildings. We used to look around for any valuables left behind." 

Liz had seen the sky as the background for a land filled with pain and love. Those are their homes down there and we still need to make our way off this mountain. It's not going to be easy, looking at the way the land is shaped. I've never seen anything like that before. Weird.   

They had to step around the rocky ground and be careful not to propel from the ledge's edge. The most bizarre and challenging was the wavy ground Liz was noticing. 

Rather than waves of water, these consisted of orange soil and grasses of yellows and greens. It was obvious these formations had been caused by severe flooding at some point of time in the distant past.  
 
With difficulty, they helped one another up to the tip of the wave, holding onto each other as they made their way down the steep 45-degree angle. This went on three or four times with a few feet of respite between the undulations. Exhausted, they reached smoother level ground for about a couple thousand feet.

Before beginning the downward trek, the teens offered tobacco to the Earth Mother and to the life-giving waters of the sacred river in the distance. 

Sage explained, "This is one of the areas many have come to do their Vision Quests. They have to climb all the way up here to search for solitude. This is where they will fast without food and water to learn to pray. Let's take a moment to honor this sacred area. 

After everyone paused with their heads bowed, Turtle asked, " Is this where you are going to have to come for your Vision Quest?"

Sage nodded yes.

"Will you have to climb all the way back up here?"

Sage nodded yes again. 

Wow, it's hard enough going down. I can't imagine coming back up."

Sage pictured herself climbing back up this mountain. Hopefully, I will receive the visions I'm supposed to from the Creator to know my mission in life. "I'm still a junior in high school, so I have two more years before I begin to work on this commitment." 

Two years seems like an eternity but I'll begin deepening my spirituality before that. I'd say I've already begun after these last few days.

The easiest part was the dirt bike path leading toward buffalo herds foraging across lower grazing lands, with rainbow-colored wildflowers. Purple Pasque mixed well with pink bitterroot and yellow Fritillaries. White flowers blended with blue lupines.  

Pine groves opened up to sagebrush littered acres filled with thistle-like plants named Knapweed alongside purple Hounds Tongue. Crossing swamps on tiptoe, they finally found the dusty dirt road leading to the Community Center.

"Oh look, there's our dogs coming to meet us." 

"How did they know?" 

"I wonder if they come here every day waiting for us." 

Others came running as if they too, had routinely held vigil. Liz and Linda's hearts swelled with tearful joy. Others ran back to tell the kids on bicycles, "Go notify all the families, our girls are finally safely home." 

Some rode horses to escort everyone to the tribal Community Center.  Standing in the doorway at the top of the steps, was the Chief with the grandest smile. She stepped down to the parade of the returning girls. Before they'd even turned up the walkway, she tightly embraced each one.

With so much joyful chanting in the air and thankful reunions going on around them, Liz and Linda stood aside in wonder. 

Family after family approached and joined in the celebration. Someone must have inquired about the girls' rescuers as they lined up in front of Linda and Liz to bow and touch their foreheads in respect and honor. 

Chanting and two-step dancing, a traditional dance, began. They processed up the steps to the large dining room. Before they knew it, Liz and Linda were invited by the Chief, herself, to be seated on one of the benches. 

She served them plates of bread resembling the fried bread dough they relished and devoured at their local county fair. She told them the origin of making fry bread.

"Sticking us on reservations, the government gave the us large amounts of flour and lard. We looked at our other food and decided to make fry bread adding various ingredients." 

What the hungry duo gratefully saw in front of them was fry bread with taco fixings. Extremely hungry, they had to be conscious of not eating too fast.

They were both mesmerized when the Chief came to their pine hewn table, " Welcome, I am Lavendar, Chief of this Crow Tribe. Thank you so much for bring our girls back to us." 

"We feared we'd never see them again. So many have been taken from us forever. How did you ever discover where the girls were? And how did you ever get them out?" 

She may have made a mistake asking Liz and Linda to tell their story. They loved to talk and talk. She listened intently, "First our car stalled and we began walking. Then we came upon a creepy looking house with someone with a gun guarding the front door and there were iron bars on the windows. We knew we had to get a look inside and figure out how to free them." 

"I'm sure the girls will tell you the rest. There's been one adventure after another since we left our car. We hope this is the last one. And we really need to be on their way."

After using the facilities, with mixed emotions, they said their good-byes. They were given a guide to make their way to the highway, they'd originally been walking upon. They told him how relieved they were they did not have to go back by way of the cave. 

"With so many twists and turns and passageways, we were afraid if we had to go back through the cave we'd never be found, even by Spring Blossom's brother and his friends."

The guide shook his head, "I'll never figure out how they find their way around in there. He clearly has special powers granted him by the Creator. I went with them one time. I was glad when we finally got out of there."

They reached the point where the two travelers were to go their own way. Bowing, touching his forehead, the guide turned around and walked back toward the Community Center. 

Spying the highway just over the brow of the hill, taking their routine three deep breaths, Liz and Linda stepped forward, to embrace their next adventure.