“You can use this room,” Jackson said, rising from his chair. He wasn’t sure what Smokey was up to, but he trusted the grizzly knew what he was doing.
Keeping his face impassive, Reeve felt the gaze on him as each one left the room, fighting a smile at their protectiveness of Smokey. When the door shut on the last to leave, he turned to Smokey and said, “I’ve been waiting a long time for you.”
“You have?” Smokey asked, confusion showing on his face.
Chuckling, Reeve said, “Both me and my animal to be exact.”
“Your animal?” Smokey asked. “I don’t understand…you knew where I was except for the last five years. And even then, you could have found me. And what does your animal have to do with me?”
“So you still don’t know who I am?”
“Uhm…Reeve Nicolet…trainer from hell.”
Laughing, Reeve said, “I guess I deserve that.”
“Well I sure as shit didn’t deserve that treatment.”
“At the time, I thought you did,” Reeve said.
“I don’t know why, but that’s history,” Smokey muttered.
“Besides me being the trainer from hell, what else do you know about me?” asked Reeve.
Shrugging, Smokey said, “Not much, given I have no fucking idea why we’re playing twenty questions.”
Pausing for a moment, Reeve stared intently into Smokey’s eyes, finding exactly what he and his animal had been biding theirtime to see for many years. He’d been close to returning to the Great Spirit to confess his failure, but something always stopped him. Now he knew what his animal had known all along.
Locking his eyes with Smokey’s, Reeve announced quietly, “I am Tatanka Spirit. We have been waiting for you, Lord Manetu.”
Chapter 23
Shocked, Smokey asked, “You know who I am? How?”
“I told you…I’m Tatanka Spirit,” Reeve said smiling. “I knew who you were back when you first joined the agency.”
“Why didn’t you tell me then who you were?”
“You weren’t ready. Why has it taken you so long to accept who you are?”
Ignoring Reeve’s question, Smokey asked, “What’s a Tatanka Spirit? I never heard my grandfather mention it.”
“It’s not a ‘what,’ but a ‘who’…”
“Still playing games with me,” Smokey growled.
“You didn’t let me finish. Tatanka is a buffalo and Spirit means white. I’m a white buffalo.”
Smokey stared at Reeve in awe. He remembered the stories his grandfather told him about the white buffalo who was sacred to their people, but Smokey had always thought it was a myth. His grandfather never gave any indication that it was true or that a white buffalo would seek him out.
“Your expression shows me you’ve heard of me…at least you know the importance of a white buffalo,” Reeve said quietly.
“I do…but I didn’t think you really existed.”
Chuckling, Reeve said, “I’m not surprised…unfortunately there are many who disbelieve, as you did.”
“But not any longer,” Smokey muttered.
“Good to hear…that will make my job easier.”
