Page 116 of Beautifully Wild

Eden wraps her arms around his waist and leans back, so her beautiful eyes capture his. “I know. I’ve thought it through, and it’s not right to put it off because it’s like I’m keeping a secret. They deserve to know of the possibility…”

He sighs loudly. “I have no idea how either one of them will react.”

He allows her to guide him out the door toward the shaman’s hut.

Mid-morning, he expects the shaman to be singing in the garden and is surprised to find him in his hut. The shaman steps through his doorway and greets them with an open hand. No headdress. No beads. Gray hair drooping over his shoulders, bloodshot eyes hinting at wariness.

Eden looks to Samuel before holding out the brush. “It was my grandmother’s. Ivy.”

Samuel translates her words. The shaman’s focus is on the brush, turning it over in his hands. He brings it to his nose, closes his eyes. His serious expression gives nothing away. He points to his hut, and both follow him inside.

Samuel watches Eden’s expression as she looks around, taking in the decorative ornaments and trophies lining the walls of the shaman’s private space. The shaman crouches and draws a circle in the dirt between them. From a clay bowl, he pinches something in powder form and sprinkles it to form three piles—a triangle over the circle. He bows his head and sings to the jungle, lifts his gaze to Samuel, and nods.

In a brief conversation, Samuel explains how Eden thought it coincidental the brush matched the mirror Kaikare owns even though these brushes were popular in a certain era. He chooses his words carefully so as not to offend him.

The shaman asks about her grandmother. Samuel relays what Eden had told him, although where Ivy volunteered is a mystery. Eden pulls out the photographs from her pack before Samuel can stop her.

The shaman gazes at the black and white image with no alarm in his expression. Samuel asks if he had seen a photograph before, and he nods, explaining many, many moons ago. A few minutes later, he hands the photograph to Eden without another word.

Samuel apologizes. Bowing his head, he excuses himself and asks for forgiveness.

The shaman nods. “I knew be-fore.”

Samuel and Eden gape at his broken English. “Ivy come here. I see spirit. You.”

Samuel responds in the Ularan language to clarify his words.

Eden gasps. “Is it why you allowed me to stay?”

The shaman nods to Eden.

“Did you have an affair with my grandmother?”

Samuel places a hand on hers, shakes his head in a gesture not to overstep their place. “Perhaps you should head back to the hut. I’ll take it from here. You can’t interrogate him with questions to satisfy your curiosity.”

“We’re talking about my grandmother here. I have a right to—”

“And he has a right to keep a secret. Let me speak with him without anguish in my voice.”

“There are many things I need to ask.”

“I know. We need to tread carefully. Otherwise, you’ll learn nothing more. I’ll ask him the important questions now.”

Eden lowers her gaze and chin before leaving Samuel alone with the shaman.

Free to speak openly, the shaman tells Samuel about the day Ivy landed in his village, and like Samuel, the shaman knew the moment those blue eyes met his, everything in his world would change.

He contemplated giving up his shaman training to be with her without considering her time being numbered in days. He fell in love with the white-haired woman who took away his words of speech. Samuel smiles, understanding infatuation. Their baby became sick, and she left the village to travel elsewhere when she didn’t believe their medicine would help. It angered the shaman, yet she had a will as fierce as her jaguar spirit. When she returned, she was different. Something had changed in the many, many moons she was gone. Kaikare had grown. He told her Kaikare belonged with him in the village. Her tears, he remembers. He touches his heart, and there’s a heart-wrenching look in his eyes as if he is reliving the memory. He tells Samuel Ivy’s spirit remained after she left. Samuel questions him, thinking he means death. The shaman’s hand rests on Samuel’s shoulder. The spirit of the blue-eyed jaguar that runs with Samuel in his dreams. The other jaguar is Ivy.

The younger jaguar is Eden.

Eden cannot remain here.

Besides the new danger of the Watache tribe, he can’t risk a claim made on their baby. Before reaching his hut, he sees her pacing near the doorway.

“So, what happened?” she says, eyes wide.

“You were right about the affair. He loved your grandmother very much and didn’t want her to leave. Kaikare is the shaman’s and your grandmother’s daughter.”

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