Leslie Silko - Gardens in the Dunes

They sat in silence awhile; Laura glanced around at the old forest and smiled, then in a soft voice she told Hattie: On the eve of the battle, her husband deserted his army command in Eritrea. The following day, Italian forces suffered terrible losses against the rebels; at first he was feared lost or taken prisoner. It was this confusion that brought such embarrassment later — early newspaper reports called him a “fallen hero,” but weeks later army intelligence learned the colonel had fled to Cairo.

They both were silent for a moment; Hattie kept her eyes to the ground, but Laura patted her arm cheerfully and smiled; it was for the best, she said.

Laura pointed at the chestnut and oak trees and the bowers of laurel and bay choked with brambles and holly that grew between the boulders and big rocks of the earth slide. The deadwood and debris were removed, but she did not have the heart to disturb the rest. The old wood remained as it was; fallen trees were left to nurture the earth for seedlings. Repairs were made only to the little canal that brought the stream from the hills to the woods; otherwise, they scarcely trimmed the paths enough to allow one to pass.

The path turned sharply at a stand of silver birches and suddenly there was a marble head of Medusa as big as a cookstove where it came to rest at the edge of the path after it rolled down the hillside. The head was dramatically tilted back to face the sky; she was a giant but no monster. The baby snakes that covered her head were dreamy eyed and gracefully arched above her brow, as unconcerned about the fall as their mistress, whose expression was serene, not furious.

Indigo rejoined them. Well, what did she think? Hattie asked. Indigo’s eyes were wide as she slowly shook her head; she wished Sister were there because Indigo knew that when she told her sister later, she’d never believe the head was this big! Wait until she told Mama and Sister! They would be amazed! They’d all heard the old-time people speculate about giants and the offspring of men who had sex with mares or cows.

Now the path began to level out in the dappled shade of the great trees towering above them. Laura described the most recent discovery: A storm with high winds and heavy rain lashed the hills and a number of the largest trees were lost. A lightning-struck oak crushed the rill, and the old woods were flooded; the embankments of the old landslide badly eroded. The morning after, as Laura accompanied the hired man to survey the damage, she noticed odd stonework protruding out of the side of the crumbled embankment a few feet away: it was a hidden grotto!

Edward walked a bit faster and asked what was found; Laura smiled but shook her head. She did not want to spoil the surprise. The stone archway of the grotto was outlined by velvet moss of bright emerald green; inside, splashing water reflected light on the rough stone walls. On a pedestal near the grotto center sat a nearly life-size marble figure of a bald fat man, naked and shamelessly astride a giant land tortoise. Hattie hurried to steer Indigo away from the vulgar marble, while Edward stopped with Laura to examine the figure.

In the stone niche at the back of the grotto Hattie noticed an egg-shaped sandstone that appeared to be far older than the marble fat man, and more proper for a young girl to see. As they approached it, Hattie noticed the stone was engraved with what appeared to be an eye on its end or the outline of a curled snake. She was about to reach out to touch its edge when suddenly she recognized it was a human vulva!

She stepped back so suddenly she bumped into Indigo. The dank odors of the grotto closed around her — she must get to fresh air at once! Outside, the fresh air restored her instantly but Edward and Laura were concerned; Hattie insisted she was all right. Food was all she needed; she only had tea and a biscuit for breakfast. After a short rest and something to eat, she would feel just fine. They could see the other gardens when it was cooler, later in the afternoon.

As they walked back to the house, Edward asked about the “female fertility figure”; Laura smiled at his choice of words. The incised egg was from the fourth millennium in Macedonia; it was the first piece of her collection to be installed in its new home, and the only piece sited in the old woods. All the other pieces of her collection were in the terraced gardens they’d see after lunch.

Edward asked if she worried about damage to the artifacts from the elements. Oh, Laura laughed, we bring them indoors in the winter. Edward nodded, though he did not approve of such a careless attitude toward rare artifacts. He reached into his pocket for his handkerchief and dabbed his forehead; he was feeling the heat now. He slowed his pace, conscious for the first time of a bit of soreness in the leg.

Now Hattie walked with Laura, who explained the meanings of the symbols found on Old European artifacts: The wavy lines symbolized rain; Vs and zigzags and chevrons symbolized river meanders as well as snakes and flocks of waterbirds; goddesses of the rivers transformed themselves to snakes and then waterbirds. The concentric circles were the all-seeing eyes of the Great Goddess; and the big triangles represented the pubic triangle, another emblem of the Great Goddess.

By the time they reached the house, Hattie felt completely restored. At lunch her appetite returned and she helped herself to the bread while the wine was poured. Before Edward could stop her, the maid filled Indigo’s glass with wine; immediately he moved the glass next to his wineglass. The discussion shifted to the question of serving wine to children; Hattie acknowledged the prohibition came directly from their puritan forefathers. The wine wasn’t strong! Let Indigo take a sip! But Edward was firm; Indigo must not have wine because she was an Indian; even the least amount might have a shocking effect.

Hattie tried to wash down the embarrassment she felt by drinking the wine. It was such lovely wine — it went down as gently as springwater. A sip would have been harmless, even educational, for the child. Hattie finished her glass of wine and the maid refilled it. She felt the wine begin to calm her, and her irritation at Edward diminished.

Indigo helped herself to the delicious fig bread in the basket on the table in front of her. She loved the feeling of the tiny seeds breaking between her teeth amid all the sweetness. The figs tasted as sweet as the dates she and Sister Salt gathered from the palm grove. The first course was spaghetti with tomato sauce and basil, followed with fried lamb cutlets and peas with ham. Indigo smiled at the cork’s squeak when the maid opened another bottle of wine. Then came a warm bowl of stewed sweet red peppers with yellow squash. Indigo’s eyes widened at the sight of food she knew, and as she tasted the peppers she thought of them grown so far from their original home; seeds must be among the greatest travelers of all!

They ate lemon ice cream later, while Laura talked about her hobby. The hybridizing procedures were simple enough for the amateur, which is how she began — an experiment that she did not expect to yield results; but she was delivered seed pods the first year. Beginner’s luck, she said, and a good deal of effort; for weeks she went into the garden before dawn with her tweezers and paper bags to cover the selected plants to protect them from accidental fertilization.

After lunch, while the sun was too bright and hot to walk comfortably in the gardens, they went to their rooms to rest. Indigo took her notebook and color pencils to her bedding on the floor and began to try to draw Rainbow perched on the cage top. She decided to put all his colors on the page first and then take a black pencil to draw his outline on the colors. The tiles were so cool she stopped from time to time to press her cheek against them, and before long she let go of the pencil in her fingers and stretched out on the bedsheet over the cool floor and fell asleep.