“That’s just it.” Her lower lip quivered. “I’m afraid they’ll always think of me as an outsider.”
“Some probably will,” he said. “But not my family. Tonya liked you from the very start. Huttsi will too. Kenu is more reserved and harder to read. He may take a while longer, but be patient. He has a strong sense of family. I know he’ll come to love you as a daughter.”
He parked the truck and gave her a reassuring peck. “If you are uncomfortable in any way, just say the word, and we’ll go.”
“Thank you for bringing me here, Keith. I know how hard this must be for you.”
“It is,” he confessed, “but your presence has made it much easier. Come, it’s time to meet my family.” Taking her hand, Keith led Miranda around to the back of the house.
“The back door?” she asked with a puzzled look.
He grinned. “My grandmother will be in the kitchen. She always is at this time of day.” He followed with a knock and then entered without waiting for a reply.
“Two Wolves!” Huttsi’s eyes lit up. “My heart jumps. It has been far too long.” Dropping the dough she was working with, she came to him, wrapping flour-covered arms around him.
He hugged her back and planted a kiss on her wrinkled cheek. “Huttsi, there’s someone you need to meet.” He reached for Miranda, who stood in the doorway, hands clasped in front of her and a nervous smile hovering on her lips. Bringing her close to his side, he completed the introduction. “This is Miranda…my wife.”
Huttsi’s black eyes widened. “Your wife?”
“Yes.” He grinned and kissed Miranda’s hand. “We got married yesterday. We had originally planned to wait until next year, but neither of us wanted a big wedding, so there seemed no real reason to wait.”
Huttsi gave a solemn nod. “So you have finally chosen.”
He knew what she meant. He’d decided to live his life outside of the reservation. “Yes. I have chosen.”
She looked to Miranda, the corner of her lips curving with approval. “It is good. Go now and find your grandfather.”
He hesitated to leave Miranda, who appeared tense enough to break.
“Come, child.” Huttsi offered a soft smile and took her by the arm. “I must teach you to make fry bread.”
Keith cocked a brow at Miranda in a silent question. She answered with a firm nod. “It’s all good, Keith. Go to him.”
Once more, Keith found his grandfather at the sweat lodge, this time outside talking with some elders. He regarded Keith without even blinking. “I knew you would come.”
“How? Was it a vision?”
Kenu nodded. “Two visions.”
“What were these two visions, Kenu?” Keith asked, handing him a pouch of tobacco.
“The first vision was the return of the black wolf and the white wolf. Once more they were engaged in a great battle, but this time as they tumbled together locked in combat, the two bodies merged into one—a gray wolf.”
Keith considered Kenu in amazement. How could he know that Keith’s struggle was over? That he’d finally come to reconcile his two worlds? “What was the second vision, Kenu?” he asked.
“It was once more the gray wolf, but this time he was bedded down in a great field…with a doe.”
Aiwattsi. How did the old man know? He’d said nothing to his family about Miranda. Had Tonya? Even if she had, he hadn’t shared his pet name for her with anyone. His wonderment became awe. “I brought you a gift, Kenu.”
His grandfather smiled. “Show me this gift…Gray Wolf.”
Keith led him to the horse trailer where he unloaded Blue Eye. The horse came quietly off the trailer and eyed the old man with a toss of his head and a snort.
“You have brought back the spirit horse?”
“Yes,” Keith replied. “But this time, he, like me, is complete.”
Epilogue
Sundance Film Festival, Park City, Utah
One year later
“And the winner for Best Independent American Documentary is Native Whispers, a moving biopic of a man, a horse, and mutual redemption, produced and directed by Miranda Sutton-Russo.”
Miranda’s hands shook as she ascended the steps to the podium and microphone. The single note card wavered in her trembling hands. Although she’d penned a brief acceptance speech on the million-to-one chance that she’d actually win, her eyes were now too blurred with tears to make out the words. Letting the card flutter to the stage, she stepped up to the mic to speak the words that were imprinted on her heart.