“I mean what I say, Chief Grey Feather.”
The chief smiled at me. “We have been waiting for you, Little Moon.”
I reeled backward as if struck. “How do you… how do you know my name?”
Olivia
How could this ancient chief have known the name Moon Lee had given me in the 21stcentury?
Roman put his hand out to steady me, yet I could tell by his bewildered expression he, too, was surprised by my response.
All around me, faces peered at me with concern.
Even though most of my onlookers didn’t understand English, I felt so oddly exposed, shot through by things I thought were my secrets.
“How… how could you know the name given to me by my friend and mentor?” I stammered.
Grey Feather’s eyes softened as he studied me. “Dancing Fire, the man you know as Moon Lee, told me.”
My head spun as my worlds, realities, and strange time-travel existence collided, blowing me apart. I pressed my palm to my forehead. “How can this be? I knew him in the twenty-first century, long after your time.”
“I think you know the answer, child. Moon Lee is a time traveler like you. And he is my brother. When you were born, he returned to this time for advice.” Chief Grey Feather picked up the last of his deer meat and popped it in his mouth as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
I looked to Roman for strength and comfort.
He reached for my shoulder and squeezed.
I glanced at Marcellious, who refused to meet my gaze.
It felt so strange that we were all connected, Roman, Marcellious, and I.
A couple of the tribeswomen rose from their seats and urged a few others to assist them in clearing the empty baskets we had used as plates.
Half of my food sat untouched, so they passed me by.
Grey Feather nodded at me. “This is a lot to absorb, child. I understand. You look like you need time to take all this in.”
“I… I don’t know what to say. You’re right—this is a lot of new information. Our lives—Roman’s, Marcellious’, and mine—are all inextricably woven together.”
I made a gesture familiar to my time: placing my fists against the sides of my head and then spreading my fingers wide as if my brain were blowing up.
The gesture translated in this century, too, as Grey Feather and Earth Bear chuckled.
Grey Feather made the same gesticulation against his head and laughed. Then, his son did the same.
“I must remember that,” he said to Earth Bear.
Laughter rippled through the onlookers as if they were in on the joke.
Soon I was surrounded by people appearing to blow up their brains.
I joined in the laughter, easing some of the tension I felt.
Grey Feather said, “Dancing Fire is my oldest brother. He was born on June 3rd, 1742. He was supposed to be chief to our people, but he couldn’t be due to his life circumstances, mainly his status as a Timeborne. I was appointed to take care of the people. Dancing Fire was a very honorable man. He was taught to defeat Balthazar but failed because destiny brought him to Elizabeth, Swift Hawk, and Hunting Wolf’s mother.”
“Wow,” I said, my head spinning once more.
Marcellious’ lip pulled back in a sneer.
