CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE SHADES OF GREY #3
“What did I do?” asked Greyeagle.
“So much memory,” she said, “shared pain, shared love, and family. You two idiots need to forget the trouble between you and remember that you are brothers, first and foremost. You are both grandsons of the White Bear, no matter which path you choose to take in life. Nothing will ever change that. Embrace your family while you have it. I would give almost anything to hold mine one more time. They are dust a hundred years now. Yours is across the table. Stop being stupid.”
“She speaks the truth,” Jay said.
“Do not think you are immune, Jay Matoskah,” said Rose. “I would have smacked you too, if I could reach you.”
Kade laughed. Not a mild chuckle, but a deep belly laugh. Greyeagle joined him, and Jay shook his head but wore a broad smile.
“She’s not wrong, grandfather,” Kade said.
“I am sorry, Kade,” Jay said sadly. “I should have fought harder for you. We all thought you were dead, but I should never have stopped fighting to clear your name. But I need to say this. I never stopped loving you, even though we thought you were lost to us. You are and always will be my grandson and welcome by my fire. Both of you.”
“Listen to him, idiots,” Rose said. “And respect your elders.”
“Yes, grandmother,” Kade said.
That seemed to take Rose completely off guard.
“What did you call me?” she asked quietly.
“Grandmother,” Greyeagle added. “You are a respected elder and deserve to be honored as such. I am sorry I didn’t say it earlier.”
“What he said,” Kade added. “And you are always welcome at our fire.”
“Do you mean that?” Rose asked softly.
“We all do,” Jay said. “You are welcome at my fire and my home whenever you please. We could share wisdom and learn from each other.”
“I… I would like that,” Rose said. “This better not be a trick, old man.”
“No tricks,” Jay said, nodding respectfully. “You would see the deception in my eyes.”
She leaned back in her chair for a moment.
“Alright, my grandsons,” she said, smiling genuinely for the first time. “For that honor, I thank you all. I want to feel like I have a family again.”
“You have for a very long time,” Kade said. “You just didn’t know it. You are to the Makhótaneo’o what grandfather is to the Hotamétaneo’o.”
“I had not considered that,” she said, nodding at Kade.
Rose sat there for a moment, sipping her tea. They could see she was deep in thought, and no one interrupted her. Finally, she looked up and nodded.
“There may not be a way to stop the Ma’êstse-hóhkeso,” she said softly. “But there might be a way to put them back to sleep.”
“Anything you can share would help us greatly,” Jay said.
“There’s an old expression that I learned long ago from my grandfather,” she said. “He died at Wounded Knee, but I never forgot his words. The Ma’êstse-hóhkeso come when there is imbalance. There might be a way to restore that balance without more loss of life.”
“We’d be willing to try about anything,” Greyeagle said hopefully.
“Anything but pineapple on pizza,” Kade added. “That’s just an abomination, and I think we can all agree on that.”
Jay scowled at Kade, Greyeagle hid his face, and Rose chuckled.
“Idiots,” she said, laughing softly.
“How do we restore the balance?” asked Jay, shaking his head at Kade and smiling.
“It’s the Riddle of the Makhótaneo’o,” said Rose. “The wolf shall remember. The bone-dog shall forgive. When they share the same trail, the people shall be one pack again, and the land shall heal.”
“Does that mean that all the Makhótaneo’o will become Hotamétaneo’o?”
“No,” replied Rose. “It means they will learn from each other and become something stronger. The Hotamétaneo’o remember. The Makhótaneo’o endure. Together, they become what they were always meant to be. Oyáte.”
“The People,” Jay said, nodding at Rose and placing his hand on both Kade and Greyeagle. “I do not think that riddle was ever about wolves and bone-dogs. It was always about becoming one pack.”
“Who leads that pack?” asked Kade.
“I don’t care who leads it,” Greyeagle replied. “I just want us to be a family again.”
Kade stared at Greyeagle for a long moment, his eyes glistening with moisture.
“You really mean that, don’t you?” asked Kade.
“Always have,” Greyeagle said. “I don’t care who’s leading the pack. I just want my brother back.”
Kade got up, walked around the table, and threw his arms around Greyeagle. They hugged tightly for a long moment before Jay wrapped his arms around them both. They all wept. After a moment, Jay held his hand out to Rose. At first, she resisted, but she finally stood and joined the embrace.
“One people,” Kade said.
“One family,” added Greyeagle.
Kade sighed deeply and put his forehead against Greyeagle’s.
“Which is exactly why you should lead us,” Kade said. “You don’t think in terms of power or strength. You think of family first. I’ll follow you anywhere, brother.”
They sat there in silence for a long while. Tears were shed, and hearts were mended. They’d arrived at Rose’s cabin not sure where any of them stood. Now, they were all family.