She spent most of her life along rivers, preferring the ones
at higher elevations. Born in Yakima, Janelle Wilson was one quarter Yakima
Indian. She didn’t look Native American with her tawny brown hair and pale
brown eyes. Her heart was Native. Her heart belonged to Grandfather.
Grandfather was full-blood but a mix of two tribes. He
claimed Nez Pierce. Because of this and where he had chosen to live, Janelle
was allowed to spend the time where she wanted to be the most, along the rivers
in Idaho.
Janelle rarely heard herself called by her birth name. Everyone called her Jewel. Her one brother
had always called her Janelle. She adored the fact that he preferred the name.
It made her feel closer to him. Kellen Wilson had died in his mid-thirties.
Janelle often wondered about his presumed death. He was never found. Stories
trickled in about his death. None of it made sense. It was unlike Kellen to be
a part of anything violent, but the stories came from many sources, some of
which she honored absolute truth.
The loss of Kellen had left a hole in her heart and yet that
same hole created a growing gift that only Grandfather knew how to water and
make grow.
When thinking of her
two names, Janelle laughed. She didn’t even know what the words sounded like.
She just saw the “J” sign with most unless a close member of the family or
friend wanted her to know the name they were choosing to call her. To most,
Jewel was a beautiful endearment given to her by Grandfather when she was born.
He saw the light brown eyes of the child and called her Jewel of Sparkling
Water. Occasionally, someone very close to her would finger spell the enter
name given to her by Grandfather. The only ones who did this, signed with great
love in their eyes.
Janelle was not just hearing impaired. She was totally deaf.
The inner ear was missing some of the key elements for hearing. She often sat
along the Selway River, watching the sparkling wet in the midday light,
imagining the sparkles being sound. It always brought a smile to her face when
she thought things like this and when she smiled, her beauty became a stunning
light of its own. If a person was standing beside her, not seeing her face and
she turned to give them the inner sparkle, it stopped them cold.
She had a way with smiles that came from the inside. She
hypnotized her chosen recipient—giving them a sense of grace they would receive
from no other.
Along the rivers of the Clearwater and Bitterroot Wilderness,
Janelle was never alone. Grandfather taught her how to listen from the inside.
She heard things no one else ever did. Grandfather taught her how to feel the
hands of the little ones who guided her. Invisible, gentle touches stroked her
skin at intervals. She felt a warm sensation. Often the touches were followed
by smiles. They were not her smiles. She felt the water spirits joy in the
silent relationship. She felt love.
Grandfather was wise. Grandfather had many silent loves
touching his heart.
________________
“Did you spend any time with Janelle today?”
Harmony glanced up to her sister, Charm, and then back to
the little fishies in her calm pool of water at the shore of the Selway River.
“Yup. I gave her a hug. I think she might even hear me sometimes. I hope so.”
Charm stopped beside her little sister and splashed the
water gently with her fingers. “You know, we have a lot invested in her. She’s
one of the special ones we are always looking for.”
“Ya mean like May?” Harmony scrunched up her little face and
her tiny brown eyes threw a questioning look.
Charm shook her head, letting the heavy auburn locks flop
across her face. “No. Not like May. May is one of us. She was lost for a long
time in the streets. We were lucky to find her and get her back. Janelle is
fully human. That’s why we’re so interested in her. She sees things most humans
can’t see and she sees without eyes. That means she sees without looking.
Janelle is rare, Harmony.”
“Oh.” Harmony went back to placing the palms of her hands
gently in the water, hoping the fingerlings might swim into her hands. They
never did.
The two remained quiet for several minutes. Harmony was
content to play with her fish while Charm leaned back against a large granite
rock and closed her eyes. The late morning sun heated her body. Charm was
pulled out of a lazy lucid state with Harmony’s voice.
“Ya know, Janelle is going to New York City next week.”
“WHAT?”
________________
Chapter One: Always Keep a Card Hidden
Janelle had never been on an airplane. She always took
Greyhound from Yakima to Lewiston where Grandfather picked her up from the bus
station. They always stopped at the health food shop next door to grab a few of
Janelle’s favorite bars and drinks then hopped into Grandfather’s beaten down
ancient pickup truck of many colors. That was what Janelle called the truck. It
had at least five colors. The right front fender was replaced and donned the
usual primer rust color. The rest of the truck had been painted a number of
times and had other primer sprayed in ‘hurt’ areas. Janelle thought of the
truck as a horse.
This time there would be no Grandfather to pick her up at
the bus station, no health food store and no well-known faces. It was her first
real adventure, at age 18.
Janelle was a mixture of savant and a C- student. She had no
interest in history or geography and her grades showed it. She knew enough
about history to know that she had to be aware of the mistakes humans made in
the past as not to repeat those same mistakes. Looking at the news bored her.
She was ever amazed at the stupidity and the laziness of humans in general.
Grandfather was her teacher of history. He was enough.
Janelle excelled in mathematics and oddly, language arts and
literature. Those two last subjects were usually difficult for those with
hearing impairments because the language they spoke using ASL was far simpler
and faster to get a point across than the more cumbersome English language. But
Janelle became fascinated with the English language at a young age. To her, it
was like a mathematical puzzle using an alphabet instead of numbers. She turned
into a voracious reader with the help of her mother once she got over the hump
of understanding English syntax.
Janelle was excited to read the magazines on the plane but
even more excited to be trapped in a 747 with so many people because her true
genius was seeing people with an internal eye. It was a skill most people
ignored. She loved studying human behavior. She could sit in a mall food court
for two hours while her mother shopped, just watching. It was a silent dance of
manipulations, dressing rituals and mating practices. She saw herself as a
cutting edge psychologist, accepting the likelihood that she would never be
able to practice that art directly due to her loss of hearing. Research was
fine for her.
She was to take a bus into Sea-Tac and hop a plane for
O’Hare, change planes and land at LaGuardia where her two cousins, Frankie and
Norma would pick her up. Frankie was a girl. Janelle laughed about her choosing
Frankie over Francine. Frankie was actually a best friend while Norma was a
blood relative. To Janelle they were cousins.
Both New York girls were hearing impaired. They wore hearing
aids, signed quite well and spoke clearly enough for a hearing person to
understand them in a quiet atmosphere where they could concentrate on the
monotone voices.
Janelle snapped her suitcase shut and motioned to her mother
that she was ready to go.
As Janelle drove past the apple orchard with her mother at
the wheel, she remembered that her Grandfather had once called New York City
the Big Apple. She hoped she would see apple trees there to make her feel more
at home.
________________
Charm examined the layout of Sea-Tac Airport on a wall map.
Harmony was in a gift shop picking out post cards with her best friend Jax.
Both girls would pass for about eight years of age while Charm looked to be in
her late teens. The reality was that they were all so old no one could count
that high.
Harmony and Jax had backpacks stuffed full on their backs.
Jax was wearing a new pair of jeans instead of her worn out light blue
saggy-baggy ones that she adored. She had managed to bring the count of flowers
that sprouted in her hair down to just a few. The happier she was, the more
there were. It was the way of being Jax but she didn’t want to stick out too
much in a human crowd. She struggled hard with her thoughts, hoping for fewer
flowers. For Jax, that was hard work because she was almost always happy.
Along with her new jeans Jax wore a new bright yellow
t-shirt with flowers printed across the front. Mary Proud Moon, a local
resident and matron of the Selway River, had gotten her some new clothes when
she had last been to Lewiston so she would look decent when around humans. Jax
liked Mary a lot. Mary had been like a grandmother to Jax since the day she
appeared and befriended Harmony. Mary
Proud Moon was known as a “Between”. Not quite human—not quite immortal. Unlike
Jax and Harmony, Mary Proud Moon chose to look quite old. Her shiny silver hair
was usually pulled back in a tight bun on top and she wore a denim skirt and a
button down cotton shirt most of the time. Sometimes it was hard to tell if her
face was skin or the bark of a ponderosa. Her outward demeanor was like the
bark . . . until she allowed you into her hearts. Jax was allowed into Mary
Proud Moon’s heart. Jax didn’t see the ponderosa face. She saw love.
Jax was a Jax. Harmony and Charm were from the faery clans:
younger girls were called faeries, the older were fays. Their kind had no wings
and they were basically human sized but just a bit smaller. The kind with wings
was a different kind of faery. They belonged to Beam’s clan. As for the males
of the faery/fay clans? They preferred to be called clansmen.
Harmony had wanted a chance to talk to Janelle ‘human to
human’ for a long time. The clan’s folk had the ability to slow their vibration
rate down enough to form in physical. They had to change the way they dressed
and act a bit more ‘civilized’ but they did it often and were very active in
human affairs. There were only a rare few humans allowed to know of their
existence.
The ‘immortal’ clans were able to make the shift down to
human vibration levels more easily than fays, but all clans, Faery, Immortal
and Betweens, practiced the art and had created a network of connections
worldwide to help humanity grow up. It was slow work and it was a work they had
recently begun to feel was a failure. As far as they could tell, humans had
stopped trying.
Janelle had already boarded when all three girls, along with
their Aunt Rachel, arrived to the boarding gate. Rachel signed the papers and
helped to hang the under-age child tags around the necks of Harmony and Jax.
Harmony had flown ‘human style’ before. It was all too new for Jax who was
nervous about trusting a big chunk of metal to fly them where they wanted to go
when she could just as easily have “hoped” herself there in a shot. But it was
a chance to mingle with humans and she wanted very much to meet Janelle.
Harmony talked about Janelle constantly.
As Harmony marched ahead into the covered ramp with Jax
following, Charm turned to Rachel.
“I don’t trust those two alone as far as I can throw them,
Rachel.”
Rachel smiled knowingly with waist length black hair laying
across her form in graceful curves. She pulled her hair out of her black eyes
and dark face as she spoke. “Neither do I. That’s why your mother is waiting at
LaGuardia.”
Rachel stared momentarily at Charm’s face, seeing so much of
her mother face staring back at her. Charm brandished auburn hair with skin and
eyes that almost matched. It was a stunning look that only one other in the
clans had: Hope, Charm’s mother.
Charm continued. “What about the plane change at O’Hare?”
“O’Hare is covered by the airlines. They will escort the
girls. It should be the flight itself that bothers you.” She turned to face
Charm. “Can you imagine those two getting bored with the flight and simply leaving at 30,000 feet?” Rachel’s black
eyes sparkled as her face grew into a wide smile. “That would be a tale to
tell!”
Charm’s eyes grew wide. “Rache! Harmony would to that!”
Rachel shook her head calmly. “Not with Jhema and Jake on
board as hidden chaperones. Always keep a card hidden, especially with those
two young poker sharks.”
The face of the younger fay relaxed.
________________
Janelle was comfortably seated on the right isle of the 747.
She was a little disappointed that she had the aisle seat. She hoped no one too
large took up the other two seats between the window and her. She wanted to
watch the wing that was just ahead of her. Her mother told her that the wings
on a plane this large would flex up and down like they might be flapping. It
was a purposeful structural design. Flex instead of break. The entire fuselage,
she was told, would do the same. It made her nervous but it made sense. Too
ridged in any structure created cracks under stress. Not unlike human emotions.
She always equated things like this with human behaviors. It was a way to make
herself aware of all things like Grandfather had taught her.
To her delight, two little girls wearing back packs and
smiles stood beside her as the one in a green satin party dress with matching
shoes spoke. “Hi. I’m Harmony and this is my best friend Jax. Can we sit there
please?”
Janelle watched the motion of Harmony’s body and the look in
her eyes, realizing immediately that the two little girls with tags around
their necks were to be her travel partners. Janelle stood and let the two in.
She helped them stuff their packs under the seats in front and when the girls
were settled in, she dug into her own backpack and took out a small leather
covered notebook she carried with her at all times. With well-practiced hand
writing she explained to Harmony and Jax that she was deaf but could read lips
to some degree and she was more than happy to write notes to converse with
them.
Harmony beamed as her hands flew into action rapid fire:
“My mama taught me 150 languages and one of them is sign
language. Do you speak ASL or signed English?”
Janelle’s eyes grew wide as she spoke a difficult to grasp
monotone exasperation and signed back.
“150 languages!”
Jax quickly grabbed the pad of paper from Janelle’s lap and
scribbled a quick response: “Harmony likes to tell big stories.”
The three broke into laughter as Harmony quietly thanked Jax
in her head for getting her out of the jam. She had momentarily forgotten to
act ‘normal’ for humans.
After the thrill of the take-off which left both Jax and
Janelle wide eyed, the three chatted endlessly in silence. They had decided to
take in whispers as not to interrupt the other passengers. Harmony and Janelle
spent the better part of an hour teaching Jax some primary verbs and nouns in
ASL and they helped her realize that English syntax was a burden to true
communication when using ASL ‘slang’. Jax began to throw words out with facial
expression and feeling.
Janelle had quickly made two new friends.
______________
Jake and Jhema sat
several rows behind the girls on the center row with Jhema on the isle. She
leaned into the dark skin of her forever lifetime mate and whispered. “So far
this is working out well. I am betting Harmony is jumping out of her skin
wanting to tell Janelle who she really is.”
Jake smiled warmly. His teeth glistened over a dark Tamil
face. He looked at a woman who could be his twin as he spoke. “She will find a
way to do that in the next two days. Count on it.”
Jhema rolled her eyes as she sipped in her tea. Placing the
cup on her small fold-down table, she dipped the tea bag up and down in
Styrofoam instead of the fine china she was used to as she spoke. “That’s what
I am afraid of.”
______________
The trip seemed forever long. Each of the three girls had
taken cat naps, commented on the flapping 747 wings, and laughed uncontrollably
when they all took a careful look up the isle to see the fuselage moving like a
snake. This created a myriad of snake jokes from Harmony and Jax. It also
created a new set of friends for Janelle. It had been a long time since Janelle
felt this comfortable with someone new. Even though the girls could be half her
age, she was mystified with some of the things they knew. She was further magnetized
to them for the pure and honest ways with her. She wanted this pair to be real
friends.
“I gotta go to the bathroom.”
Janelle caught the word ‘bathroom’ coming off of Jax’s lips
and pointed ahead to a door a few yards away. The two girls scampered up the
aisle together and fought each other for the door handle to squeeze themselves
in. An airline attendant smiled as she walked by, hearing Jax expound from the
other side of the door.
“It’ sounds all windy-blowy in here . . . hey! How am I ‘spose ta wash my hands
in that! It’s too high!”
Janelle got up to stretch her legs. She’d been noticing
several people were up and around. Some sat on the arms of seats, conversing
with others. She assumed that they were making friends with new people. She
smiled warmly at the thought as she passed an attendant.
The attendant turned and faced the back of Janelle as she
walked by then spoke. “Your smile just made my day.”
Janelle stopped and looked around. The colors in the plane
seemed to change. They brightened much like the times when Grandfather was with
her. In her years spent with Grandfather, he had taught her to discern the
slightest changes in things with every working sense that she had. Her skills
were so honed that her mother joked that there was something supernatural about
the way Janelle saw things.
Janelle turned to see the flight attendant smiling back at
her. Janelle cocked her head and signed. “You have a beautiful smile too.”
The look on the attendant’s face queued Janelle to give an
explanation. She reacted with the sign “I’m deaf.”
The attendant nodded her head and signed back. “We get a lot
of hearing impaired people on this flight for some reason. You say you’re deaf.
Do you mean hearing impaired?”
Janelle was thrilled that yet another person on the flight
knew sign language. She went on to explain that she was totally deaf which
created a look of confusion on the attendant’s face . . . “Then how did you
know I commented on your smile? I said it with your back turned.”
Janelle rolled her eyes and her forever smile ignited again.
“Of course I knew what you said. Your colors reflected off the ceiling and
covered everyone. You said it genuinely. That always lights things up!”
Janelle turned and continued her journey, leaving the
attendant and one other who had listened into the conversation in awe. The two
attendants looked at each other wide eyed as Jax and Harmony stood outside of
the bathroom door, both expressing simultaneously under their breaths. “OOOoooooo.”
Jax and Harmony decided to explore and find new friends.
They stopped and said hi at intervals. Mostly the other children caught their
eyes. One woman caught Harmony by surprise. Harmony put her hands to her hips
and wagged her head side to side. “Hey! What are you two doing here?”
Jake put his finger to his lips and shushed Harmony. Jhema
leaned into Harmony and whispered. “We’re just as interested in Janelle as you
are. Don’t tell Jax we’re here. We want this to be as natural as possible. Can
you do that for me?”
Harmony’s defiance vanished as she nodded her head
exaggeratedly and skipped down the aisle to meet yet another little girl.
______________
Change of planes at O’Hare was uneventful. Jax and Harmony
were thrilled with the light display of the underground people moving belts to the
next flight. They were also curious as to why an airport in one of the coldest
parts of the country was made of glass, further tainting their views of the
average human IQ.
When Janelle found herself on a new jet seated once again
with the two curmudgeons, her eyes furrowed and suspicions were raised. Harmony
shrugged her shoulders and signed. “Gotta be a miracle, huh?”
Janelle smiled and turned to look out to the tarmac. She had
the window seat this time. It was cloudy outside. The temperature was in the
sixties. Late September was moving toward October. Harmony and Jax were busy
once again making friends on the plane once in flight. It gave Janelle time to
think about her cousins and why she was going to New York. It worried her. . . . Motion caught her eye as she turned
left.
“Well, look whose here!”
Janelle was greeted by the same flight attendant from the
previous plane who knew sign. She sat in an empty seat beside Janelle and
signed.
“We never had a chance to talk on the other plane. My name
is Jean. This is my shuttle home. I live in New York. Care if I spend some time
with you?”
Janelle’s face broke into a look of relief. The look didn’t
go unnoticed by Jean who cocked her head to the side as she signed. “And that
look is for?”
“My cousins want me to go to Zuccotti Park with them
tomorrow and the next day to see Occupy.”
Jean leaned back in her chair and nodded. Pieces were coming
together and they didn’t all look like chance. She stared at the overhead
storage for a moment and then looked at Janelle again.
“You’re scared.”
Janelle nodded her head as worry covered her face.
Jean rearranged her body to face Janelle so she could sign
better and so Janelle could see her lips better as she spoke.
“I work at Zuccotti. I was a crash cart nurse at a trauma
hospital in Seattle. Harborview. I worked it for about seven years before I
became a victim of my own work. I had been a flight attendant before and I
needed out of the stress. I lost all my seniority as a flight attendant and the
only work I could land was the continental US. Most people in this business
want flights to Japan or Hawaii. Most also want to be posted in Seattle but the
only ones who get that as home base are the ones with the most seniority. Long
story short, I live in New York City now.”
She stopped there to let all the new information sink in.
Janelle became quiet for a full minute. She finally told Jean that she was from
Yakima and flew out of Sea-Tac and then turned to the window for a moment. She
jerked her head around and faced Jean with a deadly series look.
“Your color is purple. It has streaks of red. You got hurt a
lot but you are an angel in a broken body. New York is going to explode in
three days. I don’t want to be there. Why would you choose to be where so many
angry people live?”
The revelation from Janelle did not take Jean totally by
surprise. In her seven years as a nurse, she had witnessed several events that
could never be explained with rational thought. Harmony and Jax had been
quietly standing behind and to the side of Jean listening in when Jax stage
whispered to Harmony.
“What’s an Occupy?”
Without waiting for a reply from Jean, Harmony burst in with
a verbal and signed assault on the question.
“Oh, Occupy is a thing, well, it’s a bunch of people ALL
over the country who are mad at the government and big ‘ol businesses who are
hogg’n all the money so regular people can’t take their kids to the doctor and
by new jeans. That’s what Jade told me. Jade is one of my sisters. I got three
sisters: Charm, Jade and Meili. Charm looks just like mama causes she’s the
only real daughter. The rest of us got ‘dopted. Anyway, the Occupy is people
march’n in the streets asking for a refund.”
Jean and Janelle burst into laughter as did several other
passengers who overheard Harmony’s dissertation on government spending.
One of the passengers added. “How do you add to that! It’s
the best explanation I’ve heard in weeks!”
More laughter ensued when someone else added. “She has a
better grasp of the situation than Fox.”
Another added. “Anyone
has a better take than Fox.”
Laughter continued.
The conversation grew among a number of people in pockets
across the length of the 747 cabin. Most conversations were about Harmony and
Jax. People had become delighted that the pair of ‘tagged’ girls were doing
their best to be diplomats of good manners and chatterbox joy with their chance
to meet new people. The plane was filled with a mixture of nationalities and
political philosophies. All thought it best to stray away from the pain of the
Occupy conversation and moved into other less volatile chat.
What most had not noticed was the fact that a nearly full
shuttle from Chicago to New York had suddenly become lit with happy
conversations between total strangers. Harmony and Jax were contagious. People left their seats and traded places
with others to have at the chance to share views of life in a situation where
people normally shunned open contact for the sake of “public politeness”.
It didn’t go unnoticed by Jean or Janelle who both shared
knowing glances that the two girls had a magical gift with people.
Janelle became suddenly quiet as she looked around the
interior of the plane. She stared up to the ceiling, and with her honed gift of
seeing what most never believed possible, she saw a change in the air. She both
sensed and saw it. Janelle tugged on Jean’s arm and pointed up. Jean scanned
the ceiling and saw nothing at first. She stared back at Janelle, knowing full
well that this woman was somewhat otherworldly herself and then looked up again
without intent. She just opened her eyes . . . .
Chapter Two: I’ll Raise You Ten
Harmony and Jax were back in their seats, tired of wandering
the plane. Conversations had calmed to a more natural nature. Janelle kept an
eye on the air in the cabin of the plane, feeling peace. It was a good change
from the day before. She had been so worried about flight underneath her
excitement for it.
There were enough spare seats on the flight that Harmony and
Jax were able to temporarily commandeer two seats across from Janelle, giving a
spare seat to Jean. Harmony laid her cards back onto the little fold out table
face down. “I’ll raise you ten.”
Jax looked in her packsack for more chocolate coins and
pulled out a handful. She placed nine of them on the table then ripped the gold
foil off of the tenth and popped it into her mouth. “Call. I owe you one.” Both
girls broke into giggles as their card game continued on.
Jean and Janelle had been very quiet for a long time.
Janelle was staring out the window blankly as Jean was going over her flight
schedule book. Getting bored with doing work on her down time, she put the book
back in her bag and got up to get a soda. She nudged Janelle and signed drink
with a question on her face. Janelle shook her off and signed ‘fine’.
Jean walked down the cabin aisle whispering to herself. “She’s not fine. I feel it the same way she
sees things.”
Jean arrived back at her seat with two cans of ginger ale
and four bags of nuts. She placed one drink and two bags of nuts in Janelle’s
lap with a smile. Janelle dropped her head to her chest and back up smiling
with a slightly red face.
“How did you know I like ginger ale?”
Jean shook her head. “I didn’t. If felt right.”
Janelle nodded her head as she examined the look on her new
friend’s face. “You know, don’t you? You’re picking it up.”
Jean signed ‘yes’ as she took a gulp of her drink. She
pulled her table down to her lap and put the drink and nuts on board so she
could continue talking:
“You have been pounding me with it and it’s getting worse.
What has you so strung out?”
Janelle’s face turned to a questioned look. “Strung out?
Stretched out?”
Jean realized she had taken American slang one step beyond
Janelle’s language base as she replied.
“Nervous. Anxious.”
Janelle shook her head as she quickly signed. “Scared to
death.”
This response took Jean by surprise with a single word
signed and a face of confused concern that told Janelle volumes. “Why?”
Janelle repositioned herself to face Jean more directly.
“Occupy. Something very bad is going to happen. I see it
when I look in dark spaces like shadows. I see pictures of police, ambulances,
people screaming and shouting. It looks like a war to me. I don’t want to go to
Zuccotti Park. I don’t want to go to the bridge with fighting.”
Harmony and Jax had quit playing cards and were listening
intently as were Jhema and Jake who were once again several seats back but at a
perfect angle for Jake to see and hear the conversation. Jhema got up to
reposition herself with someone she had met earlier. The conversation was
quietly gaining an interested audience from those close enough to hear.
Harmony entered the conversation. “What bridge?”
Janelle shook her head. Her face was racked with worry as
she tried to explain what she kept feeling and seeing. None of what she said
made sense to anyone but enough of it came out to concern a good many people.
After having met and spoken with Janelle, several of the passengers were taking
her seriously.
Jax was fidgeting and finally left her seat over the top of
Harmony and faced Jean. “Can you please sign for Janelle? I think I know what’s
wrong.”
The mid-portion of the 747 cabin was in a total hush as Jax
began. The flowers scattered in her hair ignited smiling quiet responses from
several.
“Ya see, Janelle, you’re a hero. I think you’re ‘spose ta be
there. Harmony tells me that people who have names that start with “J” are
heroes. Jade is Harmony’s big sister and she’s a hero for sure! I’ve seen her
do some pretty important things for other people. We got a lot of people in our
family that got ‘J’ names and all of ‘em do things that are extra special.
Harmony calls me a hero ‘cause I’m her bestest friend and I give candy apples
to strangers so maybe I’m a little hero too.”
Jax took a deep breath and continued to the delight of her
growing audience. “And, well, then there’s Papa Joe. He’s kinda like
everybody’s grandpa and everyone thinks he’s a hero ‘cause he stays quiet all
the time and watches everything just like you and then when the time is right,
he always knows what ta do. You do the same thing. I watch you and you’re
always see’n things other people miss so I think you’re ‘spose ta go to Zucot Park
ta be a hero and I bet Jean is too ‘cause she has a ‘J’ name too. That’s what I
think.”
The kind of childlike wisdom that poured from the small
one’s mouth was too much for those listening to contain as many of them
applauded Jax’s outpouring of faith.
The girls never finished their poker game. They ate the
chocolate coins. But they managed to raise the stakes of the flight. Their
faith in Janelle shook a lot of people into silence. It was a silence that
spawned a feeling so new that the cabin became quietly lighter.
Few noticed with their eyes. Everyone felt it. It even had a
word: Hope.
As special events go, this one topped the list for many on
the flight. The plane landed uneventfully on the tarmac. People left the plane
exchanging addresses, emails and phone numbers. They were all smiling long
before they met the relatives waiting for them in the terminal.
Janelle and Jean met Harmony’s mother, Hope. Hope signed the
papers needed to release the girls into her hands and they walked the corridors
telling stories of the events on the plane. Jake and Jhema ‘happened’ to walk
past Hope’s line of vision as Jhema shot Hope a wide eyed, eyebrows raised
look. Hope burst into laughter as Jake and Jhema disappeared into the crowd.
When the crowds cleared, Janelle bent to the two girls and
began to sign and talk the best she could.
“I don’t know who you are. Not really. I want to know. The
way you described ‘Papa Joe’ tells me you are from the Selway River. Am I
right?”
Harmony’s face blew from quiet listening and into shock as
she looked up to her mother’s smiling eyes. Hope bent to face Janelle and
signed.
“I know a little more about you than you might suspect,
Janelle. I know your grandfather. He is a great man. We all adore him. Papa Joe
is the one you are thinking of: your grandfather’s best friend and yes, we all
know Mary Proud Moon too. My girls and I tend to stay out of the lime light. We
like a quiet life. You know Mary as well, correct?”
“Well of course I know Mary. Anyone who lives within twenty
miles of Lowell and Three Rivers knows Mary Proud Moon!”
Jean’s face was growing into a relaxed glow as a look of
profound relief covered Janelle entire body.
“Then I can see you again?”
Hope nodded silently.
Jean took Janelle’s hand and pulled her to her feet. “I’m
going to spend the next few days at Zuccotti. I volunteer as a nurse there. I’d
like you there with me. You have a way of changing people just by being with
them. We need the kind of love you offer. We also need your insights.”
She turned to Hope. “Thank you for sharing your children
with us. They are a delight and I will make sure to find out where on earth the
Selway River is and come to visit.
Janelle pointed a hundred yards down the corridor at two
young women waving at her. It was her cousins.
Simultaneously, Jean caught sight of her husband walking
toward her. Jean dragged Janelle to meet him. He stood six foot six inches
tall. He was a big man with a broad smile. Janelle was filled with comfort just
to see him.
“Janelle, I want you to meet my husband, Captain Dave.
Everyone calls him that. He’s on the New York City police force. He’ll be at
Zuccotti with us . . .”
Prologue
Janelle was never alone along the rivers of the Clearwater
and Bitterroot Wilderness. Grandfather taught her how to listen from the
inside. She heard things no one else ever did. Grandfather taught her how to
feel the hands of the little ones who guided her. Invisible, gentle touches
stroked her skin at intervals. She felt a warm sensation. Often the touches
were followed by smiles. They were not her smiles. She felt the water spirits
joy in the silent relationship. She felt love.
Occupy was several weeks in her past. She had done a lot
there to help people. Nothing extraordinary . . . outwardly. She remembered one special event. It was quite small to
her. It was a whispering in her head when she chose to look away from the anger
and see the trees of the park . . .
“I’m always here, in
your heart, Janelle. You can’t lose me, no matter how far away you think you
can go. I follow you . . . like two chatterbox children on a mission. We always
sing right on key, and in Harmony.”
I have noted that DJ likes to begin a series of writing by
picking a word to define. It is a good tool for a writer. The problem that I am
having just now is that the word I want to define is Transcendence. When you understand the way I use the word, defining
it then becomes a wall to the very word itself. It is like defining ‘God’. I
use the word Allah in my practiced prayers but sometimes I use other words.
There are many words for Allah. None truly do justice to the force that fills
me in prayers.
