“Nyet, spi dal’she,” she said dismissively.

The creature looked down at her again. “Do svendanya, sestra,” it rumbled. Then it let go of her hand and thudded ponderously back into the forest again.

Her legs felt as if she had no bones in them at all, and threatened to collapse under her. Somehow she managed to walk back to Jolene, who looked more approving now. She sat back down in the grass of the crick bank, then scooped up a handful of water and dashed it against her face. Distantly, a part of her wondered what on earth that language that Jolene had spouted was. It didn’t sound like anything she’d ever heard before. But—

Hadn’t Jolene said the thing was a “Borovoi”? That sounded like “Domovoy.” Was this creature from Roosha too? Had it come with her Great-Granpappy like the Domovoy had?

He was s’pposed to be real powerful. If Jolene c’n control thet thang, reckon he could.

But did that mean Jolene was Rooshan? Or did it just mean she knew some Rooshan palaver?

If she was Rooshan, that might have accounted for the outlandish— but beautiful!—dress that Anna had seen her in, that first day. Foreigners—well, you never knew what they’d wear, or not wear. Like that little bit of a petticoat that Pharoah’s daughter wore in that picture in her Bible, or the robes other people in her Bible wore.

She was so caught up in her thoughts that it wasn’t until she felt a tug on her sleeve that she realized there were three of the Little People—all male—standing next to her, waiting patiently for her to notice them. Unlike Elder and Younger Raven, these doll-sized men had heads shaved except for a single strip down the middle, and wore only leather breechcloths and leggings.

Jolene had on an expression of amusement again, but Anna was too pleased to see the Little People to take any offense at the fact that Jolene found her funny.

“You came!” she said joyfully in Cherokee, surprising shy smiles out of them. “Thank you for coming—” her mouth seemed to know the right honorific, even if her head didn’t, “—grandfathers. I hope I was not rude in calling you.”

“All was as it should be,” the one that had tugged her sleeve said. “What is it that you need, granddaughter?”

And they waited patiently while she gathered her thoughts, and considered each word carefully.

“I have just come into my power,” she told him. “I am unlearned, and I have many questions. Some of them my aunt does not know the answers to. I know that I may call upon the spirits of the earth, but I do not know which ones. May I call upon the spirits of the earth known to the Cherokee?”

“You may, if you call, and not summon,” the little man said, with a gravity worthy of Elder Raven. “Your best ally at most times will be Bear, and if you cannot think upon whom to call, call Bear. For every forest animal, there is a clan of Spirit Animals that can speak to you and aid you. Grandmother Spider will tell you about all of them; she is the wisest of us all, and the best teacher. You may summon the ordinary animals of the forest, as your aunt does, but they may not come when you call upon them unless your summons is very strong. Grandmother Spider can teach you about all that may be taught to you. Some, you may not learn, because you are not of the Cherokee People.”