“Well,” Łizhin says, sounding thoughtful, “there are stories.…See those white streaks near the top of the rock? Some say those are the bones of the children she has eaten.”
“What?!” Mr. Yazzie never said anything about Spider Woman eating kids.
“I wouldn’t worry about it. It’s only the naughty ones.”
“Pretty sure eating children of any kind is frowned upon! Somebody could have mentioned it, you know?”
“You’ll be fine,” the herald says.
She circles the rock as we come in for a landing. We’re close enough now that I can see figures on top—two massive birds, one blue and one yellow, and two humans. Mac and Davery!
After what Łizhin said about an accident, I was worried that one of them was hurt, or worse. But they look okay to me. Mac has his hair hanging down in his face and his hands stuffed in his pockets, as usual. Davery waves calmly as Łizhin settles next to Dólii and Tsídii.
Once we’ve landed, I jump from Łizhin’s back and rush over to Davery and Mac. Unthinking, I go to give Davery a hug, but he looks startled and holds out a fist instead. “Oh,” I say, embarrassed. “Sorry.” We fist-bump, ending with our three-part secret handshake. I mean, it’s not like we can’t hug each other. We’ve hugged before. But it’s already getting a little awkward being boy/girl best friends, and hugging reminds us of that, so fist-bump secret handshake it is.
I punch Mac in the shoulder, which is pretty much the same thing as a hug. Besides, it’s payback for that earlier punch-not-pinch he gave me. I hope he knows it’s because I’m happy to see him, but he sort of stumbles away from me, head down with his face still hidden behind his black hair.
“What’s wrong with you?” I can’t imagine why Mac’s being a party pooper. But little brothers are moody, especially artsy-fartsy ones, so I don’t worry about it too much.
“You want to see the black jet I got for Spider Woman?” I take off my backpack and reach into the pocket. I carefully pull out the tissue containing the perfect white shell and Black Jet Girl’s earring and open it on the ground. “Let me see what you got!”
Davery comes over and removes a folded leaf from his back. He unwraps it to reveal an abalone shell, perfectly shaped and as bright and glimmering as a pearl.
“It’s beautiful!” I whisper, running a finger over the edge.
“It came from the shoulder of the guardian, Abalone Shell Boy. He said it was important to give Na’ashjéii Asdzáá the best.”
“Black Jet Girl said the same thing,” I say.
“Mac?” I look up at my brother. “Let’s see your turquoise.”
He flicks his hair back and crosses his arms. “This quest is a waste of time,” he mutters. “Like rocks and shells are going to get us anything good. We need swords or guns or something to fight the monsters. Not a bunch of junk.”
I frown, surprised by Mac’s words. “We’re taking these as gifts to Spider Woman in exchange for a map, not using them against Mr. Charles and his monster crew directly.”
“It’s still stupid,” he grumbles, kicking at some loose rocks. The three heralds flutter nervously.
“I think you should tell them, Mac, child Born for Water.”
It’s Mr. Yazzie. In my excitement, I’d forgotten about him. He emerges from the neck of Mac’s hoodie and looks up at him, his face sympathetic.
I plant my hands on my hips. “What’s going on? Mac, you better stop moping and start talking. Łizhin said there was an accident. Is that why you’re upset? Did you have a…bathroom accident? Like that time at sleepaway camp? Dad said it’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
My brother rolls his eyes so hard I’m surprised they don’t fall out of his head and bounce off the top of Spider Rock.
“If I may,” Mr. Yazzie says, clearing his throat. He climbs down Mac’s torso and leg and makes his way over to where Davery and I laid out the gifts. “I’m afraid young Mac failed to secure the turquoise from Tsoodził, and he feels just terrible about it.”
“Oh no!” I whisper. “What happened?”
“Nothing happened!” Mac stomps his foot, and eight hundred feet below us, the river that cuts through Canyon de Chelly suddenly rushes faster, whitecaps rippling across the previously calm surface.
“Watch your anger, Mac,” Mr. Yazzie says. “The water responds to it.”
Mac looks both abashed and pleased. And then a little scared. Ancestral powers are definitely cool, but it’s not ideal when you cause a minor flood by throwing a temper tantrum.
We move back from the edge, and Mac flops himself down next to Davery, who has been sitting and watching calmly this whole time. Mac picks up the black jet earring, turning it over in his hand. “Sorry,” he mumbles.
“What happened?”
“I tried, Z,” he says finally, sounding like he feels crummy. “But at first we couldn’t find the guardian of the mountain, and then, by the time we did, a storm was coming in. We got the turquoise and I was holding it in my hand, but it was raining and Dólii’s feathers were slippery. When he made a sharp turn, I lost my balance and Mr. Yazzie fell out of my hoodie. I couldn’t grab him and hold on at the same time with only one hand. I had to catch Mr. Yazzie or save the turquoise. I chose Mr. Yazzie.”
“And many blessings that you did, Mac,” Mr. Yazzie says. “I am a very resilient horned toad, but even I have limits. One of them is not being able to survive a fall like that.”
“It was my fault,” Dólii says, sticking his large head in between us. “I should have warned Mac I was turning.”
“No, no, it was my fault,” Mr. Yazzie says. “If I hadn’t lost my grip…”
“It sounds like it was no one’s fault,” Łizhin says, joining us. “Accidents happen.”
“But what do we do now?” Mac wails. “We still need the turquoise if we want Spider Woman to give us the map! Dad should never have made us do this alone!”
Davery frowns and opens his mouth like he’s about to say something about Dad’s kidnapping, but I shake my head and mouth, He doesn’t know.
You have to tell him.
Not yet.
But—
I gesture to my miserable little brother. Now’s not the time to lay something as scary as that on him. Davery looks at Mac, too, and his face softens. You’re right, he mouths.
“Hey, Mac, I have some turquoise,” I say, clutching my pendant, the one I wear all the time. The gift from my mom, who I now know was a monsterslayer. Or at least had monsterslayer heritage that she passed down to me. But she’s gone, so it’s up to me to fight the monsters and save our dad.
“Are you sure?” Davery asks me. “I know how much that necklace means to you. Maybe we can go back to Tsoodził tomorrow and try again.”
“We don’t have time for that,” I say. “Besides, according to Black Jet Girl, I shouldn’t be afraid to make a sacrifice. She said the things that mean the most to us have the most power. My necklace must be super powerful, because it means everything.”
The heralds all make chirping sounds of approval. I hug Mac, who smiles weakly with relief (or is it guilt?). Davery gives me another fist bump.