Cady and the Bear Necklace (eBook)

1 - Watch Out! (Ganawaabi!)

I ran fast that night on my way to meet John Ray Chicaug in the woods. But I ran fast for another reason too. I wanted to forget about the eagle feather.

I’d snuck out of the house after my dad fell asleep in front of the television. I waited until his rumbling snores were louder than the news program he’d been watching. I’d crept from my bedroom into the upstairs hallway and down the back staircase into the kitchen. I turned off the security system Dad had installed the day after we’d moved into this old house on the south side of town. He’s a real security freak so it’s a good thing he’s handy with electronics. I carefully opened the outside door and then started running.

It wasn’t late, only about 7:30 or so, but because it’s early spring the nights can get cold. Not winter cold but cold enough to chill your bones if you don’t keep moving.

My name is Cady Whirlwind Thunder and nothing was going to keep me from meeting John Ray. John Ray is the best-looking guy at my new school. Until he asked me to meet him in the woods, I thought I was invisible to him because I’m the new girl. I’m almost 14 years old and John Ray is 16. I’m in love with him.

Last week I told Irish Morrissey, my best friend, that I love John Ray and she told me to knock it off. I’ve only been at Four Eagles School for three months and I’m happy to even have a friend. The school is on a Woodland Indian reservation about 20 miles from Barnesville in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Sault Sainte Marie, Canada, is less than two hundred miles from here, which tells you how far north we are.

I’m an enrolled member of the Woodland Nation but my school is open to everyone, natives and non-natives, and has 184 students from kindergarten through high school. I know this because I asked Irish and she knows everything, at least that’s what she tells me.

“Don’t you think you’re getting carried away about someone who doesn’t even know you exist?” Irish asked me when I told her how I felt about John Ray.

“Yeah, probably, but so what?” When I thought about John Ray I didn’t even know who I was anymore. I daydreamed about his hand brushing against my arm and then I’d hold my breath and wonder if he’d bend down to kiss me because he’s taller than I am.

I smiled as if I could hear Irish say, “Ney,” and then she’d laugh and shake her head. In our words, in Indian talk, “Ney” means “Silly girl, probably won’t happen.”

That magical night, the night I went running, I wore my black jeans, a navy hoodie, and my almost worn-out running shoes. They used to be bright blue and silver and even though they’re faded, they were still my favorites and I’d hoped they’d bring me good luck. I’d pulled my hood up to cover my hair because running was easier when it wasn’t blowing in my face. My hair was brown until two weeks ago, when I dyed it black— and now it looked dense and heavy. I stuck my skull-and-crossbones earrings, carved out of something that looks like white chalk, into my earlobes. I felt older when I wore them even though each one is only about the size of a dime. I tried not to wear them around my dad because he doesn’t like anything that he thinks is “sinister” (his word, not mine), but I figured they were so small that he probably wouldn’t notice them. I’d been in enough trouble with him during the past two years and we are just starting to get along again. I have a wicked temper and a short fuse. I know that’s not good, but it’s hard to change once your reputation is set.

That night I went running to the woods, my heart thumped and thumped. It was so loud that I’d crossed my fingers and pleaded with the universe not to let it explode through my chest. What if John Ray heard it? I swear I would have died of embarrassment.

The gym teacher at my last school taught us that when we’re excited, we should take deep breaths through our noses and then breathe out slowly through our mouths. I tried it a few times and it helped to calm my thoughts.

Maybe something good will finally happen for me. Maybe things will change now that we’ve moved.

My heart quieted down but I could still hear the soft thwack, thwack my shoes made as they hit the ground. It was spring so the leaves on the trees along my route rustled as the wind blew them in swirls around me. A blue jay squawked a harsh jaay-jaay until a dog barked, making me pick up my pace.

I slowed down so that I could pull my beat-up silver cell phone from the pocket of my jeans to check the time. Fifteen minutes had passed since I left my house. I looked up from my phone and spotted the rusted yellow trash can that marked the start of the trail to our meeting place.

I didn’t know why John Ray wanted to meet me. I crossed my fingers and hoped he would try to hug me because I wanted to let him hold me extra long before I pulled away. Just thinking about that sent shivers through me. Or would he want to tell me a story? That’s not as lame as it sounds. We both go to school on the reservation even though I live in town and John Ray lives on the rez with his family. His family is known for their storytelling.

“That family’s got good medicine. They tell good stories,” I’d heard one old lady tell another at a potluck dinner last month at the rez’s community center.

“Yeah,” another old lady said, laughing. “You’ve got to watch out for those smooth talkers, those storytellers. They can sweet-talk a person into doing almost anything.”

Those four old ladies laughed so hard they were crying. Actually, it sounded more like cackling, but it was a happy sound. Because I’m new here I didn’t know what to think. For a moment I even wondered if that was a warning because I’d been taught that stories are used to teach lessons and to pass on our culture. They’re not just for entertainment but these ladies were laughing as if stories were just for fun. Actually, they made it even sound kind of nasty and I didn’t like that. For Pete’s sake, they’re old. I mean really old, like my grandma’s age.

I hoped John Ray wouldn’t want to party. When kids meet up at night, they like to drink beer or anything else they can get from the older kids and smoke cigarettes or other stuff. I tasted beer once but spit it out because it tasted like dirty socks. Between you and me, I’d rather drink ginger ale, especially the kind they make in Michigan, and listen to John Ray tell a story.

I picked up my pace and then slowed down to follow a curve in the trail until I spotted him waiting for me next to some pine trees lined up in rows on either side of the path. I pulled my hood down so John Ray could see my hair. He wore jeans, scuffed brown leather ankle boots, and his black letter jacket with red sleeves and white lettering. I’d know that jacket anywhere because I’ve watched him so often at school. His name was stitched on the front and the name of our school, Four Eagles School, was underneath that.

We’d moved here from Minnesota where I would have attended a regular high school with grades 9 through 12. Four Eagles is different because it has a kindergarten, an elementary school and a high school. The hallways and floors are decorated with designs of long, stretched-out arrows in yellow and white and black and red. Four hallways branch off from the main entrance. Each hallway has its own color of arrow running down the center.

The night I went running was one of those magical nights when you could almost see the shadows on the moon. I crossed my fingers and made a wish that John Ray liked me as much as I liked him.

“Ahau, Cady,” he murmured as he reached out to touch my shoulder. “So you came after all.” I loved it that I could look up at him. I’m 5 feet 8 inches and John Ray is four inches taller than me. The softness in his voice stopped me more than his touch. I nodded my head then raised it and looked back at him.

“Follow me,” he instructed.

He signaled for me to keep up. It was almost 8 o’clock. Darkness deepened as we went into the woods and I was glad I’d brought a flashlight. It was about 10 inches long and the light it threw was hard and bright. John Ray carried his own flashlight and we needed both of them to light our way through the heavy shadows cast by the trees surrounding us. The stars disappeared because of the blanket of dark green leaves above us. The trees reached higher than the highest buildings in Minneapolis. At least that’s how it seemed to me that night.

Probably pine, birch, sugar maple and cedar. Oak? No, not this close to the beach. Here I go daydreaming again. Quit being such a dork, Cady, and concentrate on following John Ray.

I blinked my eyes and walked faster. A few minutes later I heard the soft and rhythmic sound of the waves washing onto the beach.

Although it was dark, it seemed safer outdoors than it did at home where the television always blared. My dad and his new wife, Francine, yell at each other a lot and that wakes up my baby brother, Colson. Then he starts crying. Dad met Francine two years ago at a powwow in Barnesville, her hometown, and that’s why we’d moved here after the baby was born.

I laughed out loud, which was...