Chapter 7Early the next morning, Otter led me across the bridge to the south side of Turtle crick to his okinare, his medicine lodge. Steam already swirled around the interior of the small enclosure. After we stripped, he seated me opposite the opening before pouring more water on the glowing stones. Waves of heat instantly opened my pores. Sweat streamed in rivulets, leaving me giddy. I bowed my head as Otter intoned a request to Wakan Tanka, asking the Great Spirit to walk with me on my quest. He prayed for my body and my soul and my mind. When he finished, I sang the song I’d composed last night begging for enlightenment. The swirling, stultifying cloud inside the brush lodge purged my body of moisture and flushed hidden poisons from my pores. After a time, the toxins clogging my mind l
