Agnes said, “He has to spend time with me. He’s my personal Viking.”Tracy asked, “Have you ever been someone’s Viking before, Eric?”“No....That’s just for Agnes, my beautiful lady.” All three girls were listening and gave a chorus of “Aw,” to that.We then finished our meals in peace. The two guys on the end next to Melody and Tracy seemed to be interested in them. They gave some interest back. I thought that might be promising for Melody who needed a good partner to clear the air from Mike’s. ”“Just start at the beginning” intoned George Flynn. “Just start at the beginning.”Susan sighed then carried on with... “Well, you see, we missed the bus because Principal Jordan needed to see us about something. And because you guys were working late we had to walk home or call a cab but neither of us has any money and cabs are expensive and...”“You still could have called me at work” butted in Susan’s step-father. “I could have organized and paid for the cab from there.”“Yer, well, we didn’t. The water is refreshing, especially this time of year, before it gets too hot, but being IN the water is tiring."You'll see."Teri smiled and kept her thoughts to herself, but did enjoy the ice cream and cherry pie I set out for her. That told me she wasn't ashamed of herself or angry with me.We took our ice tea out on the front deck in the dark and watched the water go by. I could hear the occasional fish jump in search of insects to eat, and there was enough light to see when birds flew above. That spring nobody visited, so I went myself to fetch Mataoka’s ma to be a midwife, leaving plenty early enough. The path trampled from the smelting the year before was still quite visible and easy to follow.At the Indian village I could sense something was wrong. Lookouts spotted me as I approached, and I sensed that white men in general were no longer welcome, although I was their special friend.“Welcome,” said the chief, formally, in front of the crowd that had surrounded me as I’d come into.
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