J. Jance - Kiss the Bees

"Looks At Nothing said I should keep them until I found a successor worthy of them," he said. "It was through using these that I knew to look for you near Rattlesnake Skull that morning. Now I want you to try it."

"Me?" Lani asked. "But I don't know what to do."

"Take your piece of pottery," Fat Crack directed. "Look at it for a time through each of the different crystals and tell me what you see."

One at a time, holding them up to the firelight, Lani examined the pottery through each of the first three crystals. "I'm not seeing anything," she said, when she put down the third. "It's not going to work."

"Try the last one," Fat Crack urged.

This time, instead of putting the crystal down, Lani continued staring at it for a long time. First a minute passed, and then another. Finally she looked up at him.

"The Apache warrior- Ohb-s-chu cheggiadkam-came back here looking for his lover, didn't he? He came looking for Betraying Woman. Somehow his spirit found its way into Andrew Carlisle."

Fat Crack nodded. "That's right," he said. "And into Mitch Johnson as well."

"And now they're free?"

"Yes," Gabe Ortiz answered. "When you broke Betraying Woman's pots after all this time, you set all of them free."

Gabe reached out. One at a time he picked up each of the four divining crystals and returned them to the bag. When the bag was tied shut, he placed the crystals-chamois bag and all-inside Lani's medicine basket.

"They belong to you now, Bat Meeter," he said with a smile. "They are a gift from Looks At Nothing to you, from one wise old siwani to a young one. Use them well."