Victim 18 post 16

They go inside and clean up Wren slipping out of her leather suit and into a pair of jeans and a tee shirt leaving her hair in its tight braid. She heads straight for the kitchen grabbing an apron from the hook inside the door as she steps over to the counter and starts to help her grandmother with dinner. The two look very much alike as they stand there dressed similarly in their bare feet only the color of their braids giving them away. Dinner is nearly done when the sound of the screen door slamming on its spring startles Wren out of her thoughts.

“Well, what do you know? I leave one maid in the house after lunch and return to find two.”

“Grandpa!”

A tall muscular gray haired man comes up to Wren and sweeps her from the floor and into a tight hug before setting her back to the floor.

“As glad as I always am to see you I am a might surprised at your appearance, or did I forget you were coming?”

“No, she just showed up out of the blue this afternoon just after lunch.”

“What’s wrong then because it’s unlike you to just show up.”

“If Wren wants me to explain I’ll tell you later but not now and not when there are too many ears around. Now go clean up for dinner. It'll be done soon.”

Her grandfather leaves with obvious concern showing in his face.

“So should I tell him what is up or do I keep it a secret between us?”

“I don’t know, I feel safe in Grandpa knowing but I don’t think he or I would feel comfortable knowing too much.”

“I’ll keep it to just the facts then and use as little else as I can to answer his questions. But, I need to talk to him soon or he’ll just worry until I do.”

“If you think it would be better to do it now I can finish dinner.”

“I think now would be the best time.”

Wren continues with the cooking, searching cabinets for ingredients as she goes. She hears the garage door open and steps through the joining door to see uncle Noah pushing her bike inside and parking it next to another large chrome and gold custom Harley.

“I didn’t think you would mind me putting it away for you.”

“No I don’t mind, I see you’ve kept Dad’s old bike.”

“Yea, it’s just as beautiful as the day he picked it up. I do ride it though, just not too often. I think I put just four thousand miles on it last year. You know if you ever want it all you have to do is ask.”

“I know but I gave it to you because that's what I thought Dad would want and because I knew you would enjoy it. Besides, it really doesn’t suit my style.”

“I kind of noticed that when you were in the drive earlier. I bet this thing will scoot right along.”

“Top ends over two hundred, though I’ve only had it up to one-eighty.”

“Are you ever going to find a husband as fast as you?”

“Maybe I already have.”

“Still seeing Norman?”

“Yes I am.”

“He’s not nearly as fast as I would have thought you’d pick.”

“Speed isn’t the only thing in life. Sometimes steady, solid, security mean more than speed.”

“True enough, and if I don’t start heading for home I won’t be secure in having a hot supper. I’ll see you tomorrow Wren.”

“See you uncle Noah.”

Wren watches her uncle leave through the garage door as he trips the switch to close it behind him. Dinner is done for sometime before Grandma and Grandpa come back into the room with her. She can see the faint tracings of tears on her grandpa's face as he re-enters the room. He doesn’t say a thing as he puts his arms around her and holds her tightly to him. They stand there for a long time as she feels his tears soaking through her shirt.

“So Norman has finally said he loves you?”

Wren’s embrace slackens and she steps back as her grandpa holds her hands. They stare deeply into each other's eyes for some time before she hesitantly speaks.

“Yes, he said it just the other day.”

“I’m sorry Wren, I was trying to find something happy in all of what Rose told me.”

With a smile seeping across her face she answers him again.

“That’s okay, it is the happiest thing to happen in the last few days.”

“So when is the big happy day?”

“He hasn’t gone that far yet. Though I hope it will be soon. If at all possible when the time comes I would like to have the wedding here.”

It’s her grandmother that answers her this time.

“It is much more than possible my dear. And when he has asked you we shall start the preparations.”

“That’s right, we will take the place of your father as is our duty. It will be a blessing and honor to take care of your ceremony. Now let's eat as we talk about the feast and Sun Dance yet to come.”

They sit around the table talking and planning for a wedding that still had not been asked for by the groom well after dinner is over. Wren forgets all about why she is there and by the time they go to bed her sleep is spent dreaming of all the things they have planned. She is woken early by her Grandma who leads her down to the kitchen. There sitting at the table is her Grandma’s sister, Painted Buffalo Woman.

“Wren you remember my sister don’t you?”

“Oh how could I ever forget her, you used to tell us such amazing stories around the campfire and within the darkened lodge of your teepee.”

“Well, I can see I made some kind of lasting impression on you.”

“Wren do you know when my sister woke me up this morning? Three A.M.!”

“Why?”

“Because I sensed something was wrong within her and I had to come and see what it was.”

“I hope you don’t mind but I told her some about your problem.”

“And I think I can help you. If you're willing to come with me to my lodge with Rose and a few other women of the clan.”

A deep silence falls upon the room as the two sisters watch Wren with the greatest interest and apprehension.

“I think, I think I will come with you. You have never led me astray in the past and I currently feel so lost within my own lodge.”

“Good that’s settled, now let's get going we have much to do.”

“But what about Grandpa?”

“He can take care of himself and besides I already talked to him and he isn’t expecting me to be here when he gets up.”

With that the three women looking very much alike go out the front door where three horses stand already saddled and ready to go. Wren knows the ride to Painted Buffalo’s lodge and typically the only way one visits her is to arrive on horseback. Painted Buffalo lives at the far end of the ranch and at the very edge of the Bad Lands. Her lodge is as traditional as can possibly be right down to the fact that she does indeed live in a teepee. She is well regarded by her clan and others as a woman of great power and insight, though she never claims to have done anything great, only stating that she is just a simple woman trying to lead a very simple life. Part way through the ride Wren notices that the two other women are eating something from a leather bag tied to their saddle horns. Finding a similar bag attached to her own she reaches inside. Where she finds dried berries and buffalo jerky, a water skin is hanging from the other side of the horn. The water is definitely from the one modern convenience that her aunt has, a well. It is very hard water with the taste of minerals so thick that to Wren it is like drinking the dust off a gravel road.

The sun that was low in the sky when they left the house is just starting to shine into their eyes as the sight of the large teepee of Wren’s great aunt comes into sight. She can see two other people setting up the large circular frame of a sweat lodge which puzzles Wren. She had only ever seen or experienced them during religious events and she can not think of any lining up with her appearance this time. A light smoke can be seen rising up out of the smoke hole of the teepee and as they get closer Wren can make out the scent of something cooking.

“Excuse me but where is uncle Ron?”

“He’s out with your cousins Running Bear and Dancing Coyote mending the fence line for your Grandfather.”

They stop at a barn within sight of the teepee, unsaddle the horses and lead them into the paddock. They cross the narrow bridge over a small creek that Wren knows to be the boundary to Painted Buffalo Woman’s land on foot. Once inside the boundary the modern world is forbidden, even language changes as Painted Buffalo will only speak Lakota in and around her own home. As they draw nearer Wren can see coming out of the lodge her cousin Brook so she knows three of the women but the other two are not familiar to her.

“Wren this is Jane, her sister Heather, and you know Singing Brook already.”

Wren is immediately latched into a strong bear hug by her cousin.

“Wren! No one told me you were coming! We have so much to talk about. It’s been far too long.”

“Yes it has been too long and we do have much to talk about.”

“That will come later. Come let’s finish setting up the sweat lodge and then we can talk over lunch.”

They all do as Painted Buffalo asks, chatting and singing as they cover the lodge in its traditional hides and ready a fire not far outside of it to heat the stones that will create the heat and steam of the lodge.

When they are done Brook disappears inside the main lodge and returns with a large earthenware pot hanging from a lashing of heavy leather thongs. She sets the pot near the now hot campfire and Painted Buffalo brings forth six earthenware bowls and wooden spoons. They sit and eat the corn and buffalo stew still chatting and really getting to know each other. After lunch they all clean up the bowls and return the stew pot to the low fire within the teepee. They all regroup around the fire each with a water skin freshly filled from the well. It is at this point that Painted Buffalo takes charge once again.

“Now we are all here for different reasons. Some tragic, some horrific, and one joyous. Heather, would you care to start with why you brought your sister here?”

“I brought Jane to seek solace, you see her husband died a few weeks ago when his truck slid off the road on a patch of ice. He left her alone and expecting their first child.”

“Rose, why is Wren here?”

“She came seeking the emotional support of her family in a time of deep personal crisis. She was brutally gang raped about a week ago.”

“No! That’s awful!”

“How could something like that happen? How are you coping?”

“That makes my problems pale in comparison.”

“Now, now ladies. Tell us Singing Brook why are you here?”

“I came to share the joyous news that first I have been accepted at UCLA school of medicine and that my long time boyfriend John has asked me to be his wife.”



Their reasons for being there are all laid out in the open. They all realize that they really do not know each other that well yet and all start talking anew. They sit around the fire talking, crying, and consoling each other. They spend a long time working through each other's problems until at last they all start laughing and crying at the same time.

“Now that we have seen, heard and shared our problems, joys and experiences let us enter the lodge and banish these problems from our minds so like a phoenix we can re-enter our lives reborn and new.”

They each prepare to enter the lodge shedding their clothes and each taking a set of stick tongs to carry the hot rocks in with them from the fire. With a couple of trips all the stones are inside and a small candle is lit and the flap closed. Painted Buffalo pours water over some of the stones and lays dried sage on others. The scent of the sage fills the small room instantly and the steam brings with it the heat of the stones. Soon Painted buffalo is saying prayers of thanks to the great spirit.

“Wankan Tanka we thank you for all the great things you have given us. For our food, our clothes, our shelters, our earthly bodies. We thank you for the chance to learn and grow from and with each other. For through our tragedies and our joys we grow and learn. May we each come to understand you better through our experiences today.”

She pauses a short while then after some more prayers they all leave the lodge and head for the creek. They all wade out into the hip deep icy cold water sitting down so it is up to their necks to allow the water to wash away the sweat, cares and troubles so all is flushed away with the rushing water to leave them pure and reborn.

Afterward they wrap themselves with soft buffalo robes and return to the main lodge. They redress in the warmth of the teepee, and eat the last of the stew and each in turn taking the sacred pipe to offer thanks to Wankan Tanka in each of the four directions. It is getting dark and all are getting sleepy once they have their dishes all cleaned. They stretch out around the center fire of the teepee upon and under skins and each in turn falls into deep sleep.