Rogue Angel - Footprints Part 12

"Well, yeah, but in a nice rustic way."

Joey turned and mounted the steps. Annja followed, and as she did so the front door opened, letting out a wash of light onto the porch. Backlit, Annja could just make out the form of a man in a wheelchair waving them in.

Joey bent and hugged his grandfather. "Grandpa."

"Creeping Wolf," the old man said. "I see you've been busy tonight."

Joey nodded and stepped back, letting Annja into the house. "This is Annja Creed. She needs your help."

"About the woman?"

Joey nodded.

Annja frowned. "How does he know that?"

Joey shrugged. "I told him."

"When?"

"When I took a second to contact him."

Annja frowned. "Telepathy?"

Joey's grandfather coughed and waved his hand. "You see? Everyone tries to rationalize everything. That's the problem with people these days." He motioned to Annja. "Come in and sit by the fire. You look cold."

Annja walked inside and saw that the interior was much nicer than the exterior had led her to believe. A large stone fireplace occupied the central place in the living room. Beautiful, intricate Native American tapestries hung from the walls. The floor was covered in a thick rug that looked like bearskin, although she couldn't be sure.

She chose the threadbare recliner to sit in and marveled at how comfortable it was. Her spine relaxed into it and the cushions adjusted perfectly to her frame.

Joey's grandfather smiled. "Comfy chair, ain't it?"

"Very."

The old man wheeled himself over to the fire. In the twinkling light, Annja could see the wrinkled skin that looked like aged leather. His beard was almost entirely white and hung about two inches below his chin.

He spun around then and eyed her closely. After a moment he smiled. "You may call me Dancing Deer."

Annja frowned. The name simply didn't fit, given the old man's condition. Had it been some sort of cruel joke that someone had given him that name?

Dancing Deer merely smiled. "I wasn't always like this. In my youth, I ran through the woods with the joy of a deer that has just found its strength. Even now, the soul of a mighty buck beats within my chest. Legs aside, I am still a mighty warrior."

Annja bowed her head. "I'm honored to meet you. I've heard a great deal about you from Creeping Wolf."

Dancing Deer nodded. "My grandson is a credit to his people. And he's a fine scout in his own right. He has a lot to learn still, but I can see that he has been very useful to you already."

"And I'm hoping you can be just as useful," Annja said. "I need your help to find my friend, Jenny."

Dancing Deer nodded gravely. "I can see that. The concern you have for your friend is evident on your face. It troubles your spirit greatly."

"If something should happen to her, it would be my burden," Annja said. "I do not wish for any harm to come to her."

"Very well," Dancing Deer said. "Then I must ask you to sit still and allow me to track her."

Joey sat down on the couch. "I was the last to see her, Grandpa."

Dancing Deer nodded. "Come and kneel beside me for a moment."

Annja watched as Joey got off the couch and knelt next to Dancing Deer's wheelchair. The old man placed one hand on Joey's head and then closed his eyes. Annja could see him muttering something under his breath and then it was over quickly.

Dancing Deer looked at Joey. "Bring the sage, please."

Joey ran from the room and Annja could hear him rummaging through drawers, presumably in the kitchen. When he returned, he had a large bundle of leaves in his hand. Annja recognized it as the sage Dancing Deer had requested.

"Light it and let it smolder, please."

Joey leaned in close to the fire and let the bundle catch a kiss from one of the flames. The fire ate into the dried herbs and then Joey waved it to extinguish the flame. Smoke wafted into the room and Annja took a nice deep breath. The effect of the sage was relaxing.

Dancing Deer still had his eyes closed. "Move it around the room until we are surrounded by its essence."

Joey circled the room, letting the smoke hang in the air until it permeated everything. Finally he set the smoldering bundle in a small dish near the fire. Smoke continued to drift toward the ceiling.

Annja could feel her own eyelids getting heavy again. She desperately wanted to stay awake and watch Dancing Deer undertake the spirit track, but she wasn't sure that it was possible.

Dancing Deer looked to Joey again. "I am ready."

Joey glanced at Annja. "You need to be absolutely quiet, okay?"

She nodded.

Dancing Deer's eyes closed again, and this time he started a low chant that seemed to rumble up from somewhere deep inside his chest. As she listened to it, Annja could feel herself being carried along. A drum joined in the chant and she realized that Joey must have been drumming along in time to it.

Dancing Deer continued to chant and the drumming kept pace the entire way. Annja could feel herself starting to fall fast asleep.

She had to stay awake!

The chanting and drumming continued and now a new voice joined in. Joey was chanting along with his grandfather. How on earth were they going to be able to find Jenny? Annja desperately wanted to ask them but Joey had warned her not to make any noise. Whatever they were doing, clearly Annja saying anything would disrupt the procedure.

She relaxed and breathed deeply, inhaling and exhaling as she felt herself get lighter and lighter. The smell of sweet sage in the room drifted in and out of her lungs, and seemed to seep into every one of her muscles, making them relax even further.

The more Annja relaxed, the deeper she seemed to sink into the chair and the lighter she felt. It was an odd sort of sensation. While she'd experimented with hypnosis before, this was nothing like it. She was relaxed and deeply in some sort of state, but she simultaneously felt like she could lift right out of her chair as if she had no weight whatsoever.

The drumming and chanting seemed farther away now, as if Annja was somehow removed from it in some respects. She turned her eyes inward and saw the sword hanging in the s.p.a.ce in her mind's eye where it always resided. She could reach out and touch it if she wanted. But somehow she knew her attention was needed elsewhere.

She looked outward and, in an instant, found herself drifting up and out of the chair toward the ceiling. Then she was carried through the house and out into the dark night again. She could hear the wind but felt none of its cold bite.

She turned toward the woods where she and Joey had come from and let herself float that way. She drifted down the trail quickly, her feet never touching the ground at all.

Annja kept breathing deeply. Somehow the sage smell still lingered in her nostrils. Somehow it still kept relaxing her, even while she was outside of the house.