This evening, all of the youth’s family and friends had gathered. Rows of pickups edged the ridge above them. As the sun sank behind the scarp to the west, people moved around quietly, setting up temporary camps, spreading tarps and blankets and placing pots for coffee or stew on small fires.
Emma Begay, the boy’s mother, insisted Maude and Fran join the family. Maude added their basket of delicious pinyon cakes to the special spread of food. The cakes were small sweet biscuits made with crushed nuts from the scrubby little pines of the area. Maude dropped to sit cross-legged beside Emma. Fran sat down near them to wait for the ceremony to begin.
She could not tear her gaze away from Ben. He sat quietly, his gaze lowered, but with the tight shirt molding his muscled torso and the pagan s
