The road started to move away from the rockface, dropping down into a treed area. They drove through a grove of aspen and cottonwood, then came out into a clearing by a fast-moving creek. Willow shrubs grew up from the banks.
Kelan drove across the water and up the other side. A small pool had formed at the edge of the creek, its water steaming in the cool valley air. He pulled around the pool and stopped just past the wide entrance of a cave.
“What is this place?” Fiona asked as she got out of the Jeep. “How did you ever find it?”
“Finding you was harder than finding this place.” He reached for her waist and pulled her close. Her hands moved up his chest to hold his neck. She took her hat off, and he kissed her lips. For a long minute, he lost himself in her eyes.
“You know, we are just like my grandfather and Bear Paw Woman.” He brushed his hands over her pale curls. “But our coloring is opposite.”
Fiona smiled. “Do you think they’re happy for us?”
“I know they are. We’re why they began the claiming ceremony.”
“What happens now?”
“I’ll prepare the cave.”
“Can I help?”
“No, but you can watch. I’ll explain as I go.”
Fiona went to stand at the edge of the cave. It looked as if someone had already swept it out and cleared any debris. It wasn’t a very large space, maybe ten by fifteen feet.
Kelan stood before the cave opening and lifted his hands, his arms spread wide. He said something in a language she didn’t understand. He lowered his arms and smiled at her. “I asked my ancestors to bless and protect this space and us while we unite our lives.”
Fiona smiled back at him. “It was beautiful.”
“It’s important, while our spirits are bare and our souls are open, to have their protection.”
He lit his sage and set it to smoke in his abalone shell, then walked into the cave. Making a circuit about the space, he spread the smoke, saying something else she didn’t understand. The hushed reverence in his words was mesmerizing.
He picked up a stick then drew a big circle in the dirt, and then a smaller one in the center. Checking the compass on his phone, he broke the circle into four quarters, then drew a line from each quarter to the inner circle.
He retrieved four small paint cans from the Jeep, along with four wide brushes. “This is the part of the ceremony Bear Paw Woman’s father had my grandfather add.” He gestured in the air. “We have the four elements represented already—air, water, earth, and the fire we’ll set. This circle represents the four directions, the four seasons, the four stages of human life. Including them in this way shows we accept that we become one from separate parts, just as you and I will become one from two separate beings.”
He painted the outer edge and one inside line for each color, explaining what he was doing as he went. “Yellow is for the east. It represents awareness, insights, and understanding. It’s the color of our souls and of spring. Red is for the south. It represents the struggles we have in our lives, transmuting negative to positive. It’s the color of our hearts and of summer. Black is for the west. It represents harvesting what we’ve sown, introspection, and life lessons. It’s the color of our minds and of autumn. White is for the north. It represents the skills we use to survive, the positive behaviors that help us live long and healthy lives. It’s the color of our bodies and of winter.”
“What’s the circle in the middle for?”
“That’s where we’ll sit during the ceremony, in the middle of these powerful energies.” He brought in rocks and placed them in a smaller circle in the middle. He collected kindling and wood for a fire and set it in the ring of rocks, along with a box of matches.
Kelan went back to the trunk and retrieved the small iron brands. Fiona frowned looking at them. How she wished the branding wasn’t part of the ceremony. He set them next to the fire ring. He must have noticed her concern when he came outside.
“Fiona, it will transform us both, uniting us. I’ll have the scars on my body, but you’ll have them in your heart. We’ll each remember the vows we had seared into us during our claiming.”
Fee blinked a tear away.
He went over to the Jeep and withdrew the last things from his trunk. His go-bag, which he set outside the cave entrance. And then two outfits—a white deerskin dress beautifully embellished with colorful beadwork, and a set of deerskin leggings and tunic. There was also a wide leather strip and what looked like a long, fringed scarf with more of the beadwork on the ends.
He went over to the cooler and pulled out two bottles of water. “Thirsty?”
“I am.” She cracked hers open and took a long swallow. “What happens now?”
“I start the fire, and while we wait for the irons to heat up, we bathe in the spring. When they’re hot, we begin.”
“How do you know how to do this ceremony?”
“I read and memorized it long ago. When I told my parents about you, my mother reminded me again of all its parts.”
“You told them about me?” Why that made her feel a bolt of dread, she didn’t know.
“They love you already, because I do.”
“Really?”
He came over and pulled her into his arms. “Absolutely. When things calm down, I’ll have them out to meet you. Or we’ll go see them.”
“I’d like that. It’s nice to have a family again.”
“Have you selected your vows?”
Fee nodded. “Do we discuss them first? What if I chose bad ones and you have to sear them into your skin?”
Kelan smiled. “Are they tenets you’ll live by?”
“Yes.”
“Then you can surprise me with them in the ceremony. Ready to begin?”
She nodded then touched her hand to her chest. “My heart is beating so hard.”