Jimmy sat in the sweat lodge, wearing only his longjohns, waiting, feeling utterly ridiculous. What kind of ceremony was this? Teaspoon had sent him in just a few minutes ago and he was already burning up. A few moments later he heard a wagon pull up and a buzz of noises. Priscilla must be here, he realized. And a few minutes later, Buck carried her in. She was still in her nightgown. Carefully Buck placed her in Jimmy’s arms.

Jimmy nuzzled her neck. “You’ll be okay,” he assured her. He knew she would not respond. But he could not help himself. For a split second he thought he alone could help her. He could not help but feel disappointed when she still lay there, limp and unresponsive.

She would be better soon, Jimmy thought. He held her close. God, she was so thin now. She was always slender, but at least she used to have some meat on her bones. Jimmy recalled quite clearly how it felt running his hands over her curves. Now when he touched her he feared she might break. There were no curves, just sharp angles.

Teaspoon and Buck, along with a tall Indian man Jimmy had never seen before entered the sweat lodge. Jimmy tried to explain what was going on to Priscilla. It made him feel better to talk to her. He told her that Teaspoon was stoking the fire, that Buck was shaking the stick that had various small objects tied to it. He described a tall Indian to her, and asked her to listen to his drum playing. As Teaspoon began chanting, Jimmy felt himself grow faint in the heat. But he held on to Priscilla tightly and did what Teaspoon asked. He remembered what it was like on the farm.

Jimmy lost all concept of time and space. Teaspoon’s words and the rhythmic beating of the drum became one. He recalled the stories Cody had told him about Priscilla. He even thought he had laughed out loud about the one where she threw a pie at Cody for something or another. He remembered her words in the bedroom, kissing her, touching her skin. It felt like hours had passed, but Jimmy kept on remembering, sometimes it was the same memory over and over, sometimes a new one. But he had to do this. He had to try to help Priscilla become whole. Sometime during the ceremony, Jimmy felt a surge of energy pass through him and he held tight to Priscilla.

He did not know how it happened, but soon after that he felt Priscilla slip an arm upward and touch his cheek. He held her even closer and he felt himself start to lose consciousness. He blocked out any thought of tomorrow. He had to hold on to this moment. It was all that was left to him

He did not know how much time had passed, but eventually he felt Teaspoon lift Priscilla up. “No,” he protested. Not yet.

“The ceremony is over. She needs to get out of the heat now,” Teaspoon told him.

Jimmy wanted to protest further but he could not. He could only watch as Priscilla disappeared. Buck held his arm, helping him rise to his feet. “It worked,” Buck said quietly.

Jimmy could only nod.

“I’m going to wash up,” Buck continued.

“I’m going to sit outside for a while,” Jimmy said, finally able to speak. He felt utterly drained. He needed some time to recover from all this.

Jimmy stepped outside of the sweat lodge and sat on a large rock. Someone handed him a cup of water. “Thanks.”

“You are welcome,” Lorna replied.

Jimmy looked at her in surprise. He did not know she was even here. “Cill gone?” he asked quietly. He was too worn out to be embarrassed by his state of clothing. If Lorna was unfazed why should he care?

“My father took her home. He wants the doctor to examine her.”

“Oh.”

“Do you want my opinion?”

Jimmy shrugged. He figured he would hear either way.

“Let me start by telling you a story,” Lorna said. “Do you know why we moved out here?”

“An aunt was killed.” Jimmy recalled Priscilla mentioning that.

Lorna nodded. “Cill was with her.”

Jimmy stared at Lorna. “She never told me that.”

“I don’t even know if she remembers. I think she blocked it out. My mother told me. It was my father’s sister and he was so upset. He never wanted to talk about it. That’s the way he is,” she said sadly. “He thinks if he makes the bad stuff go away, it will vanish, poof, and there will be nothing to worry about.”

Jimmy watched her carefully. Lorna was trying to make a point.

“So we came here and Cill was fine. Until this.”

“And your father is trying to make me go poof.”

“That is part of it,” Lorna answered thoughtfully. “But part of the reason I think Cill got so bad was because she never got to make sense of our aunt being killed. I think it just stayed with her and then this woman was killed and it all became too much.” She shook her head. “It didn’t help any that she couldn’t talk to you, try to sort it out.

“I know the deal you made with my father,” Lorna continued. “You can’t keep it.”

“What choice do I have?”

“Sneak around, defy him, I don’t know. Doesn’t she mean anything to you? Do you know how badly this will hurt her?”

“But what if your father is right?”

“You are too stupid for words,” Lorna yelled at him. And Jimmy’s mouth fell open. Lorna was the demure one; Priscilla was supposed to have all the gumption. “I can see Cody but she can’t see you? Where is the logic in that?”

“You haven’t been dragged away by some fella because of Cody,” Jimmy retorted.

“So shoot the fella next time and my sister won’t be grabbed,” Lorna fired back. She rose to her feet. “You are going to regret this,” she told him threateningly and then she marched off, leaving Jimmy sitting on the rock, shaking his head.