BooksBarbecue
Back Walking in Two Worlds Save as PDF
Chapters (72)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Epigraph
  4. Anishinaabe Terms and Pronunciation Guide
  5. CHAPTER 1
  6. CHAPTER 2
  7. CHAPTER 3
  8. CHAPTER 4
  9. CHAPTER 5
  10. One Year Later
  11. CHAPTER 6
  12. CHAPTER 7
  13. CHAPTER 8
  14. CHAPTER 9
  15. CHAPTER 10
  16. CHAPTER 11
  17. CHAPTER 12
  18. CHAPTER 13
  19. CHAPTER 14
  20. CHAPTER 15
  21. CHAPTER 16
  22. CHAPTER 17
  23. CHAPTER 18
  24. CHAPTER 19
  25. CHAPTER 20
  26. CHAPTER 21
  27. CHAPTER 22
  28. CHAPTER 23
  29. CHAPTER 24
  30. CHAPTER 25
  31. CHAPTER 26
  32. CHAPTER 27
  33. CHAPTER 28
  34. CHAPTER 29
  35. CHAPTER 30
  36. CHAPTER 31
  37. CHAPTER 32
  38. CHAPTER 33
  39. CHAPTER 34
  40. CHAPTER 35
  41. CHAPTER 36
  42. CHAPTER 37
  43. CHAPTER 38
  44. CHAPTER 39
  45. CHAPTER 40
  46. CHAPTER 41
  47. CHAPTER 42
  48. CHAPTER 43
  49. CHAPTER 44
  50. CHAPTER 45
  51. CHAPTER 46
  52. CHAPTER 47
  53. CHAPTER 48
  54. CHAPTER 49
  55. CHAPTER 50
  56. CHAPTER 51
  57. CHAPTER 52
  58. CHAPTER 53
  59. CHAPTER 54
  60. CHAPTER 55
  61. CHAPTER 56
  62. CHAPTER 57
  63. CHAPTER 58
  64. CHAPTER 59
  65. CHAPTER 60
  66. CHAPTER 61
  67. CHAPTER 62
  68. CHAPTER 63
  69. CHAPTER 64
  70. CHAPTER 65
  71. ACKNOWEDGMENTS
  72. RESOURCES

Bugz hated how he’d grabbed her; she hated everything about how she felt right now. Her father stepped forward.

“Stop!” Bugz yelled. Frank ignored her. “If you come any closer, I swear…” She pulled her knife out and held it to her forearm. She thought of her cousin Ally. Frank stopped in his place. Bugz could see the tears forming in his eyes. He bit his lower lip.

Bugz studied her father. For a split second, she felt sorry for him. But her pain swallowed her again. Pain for her brother, pain for Feng, pain for losing the way things were just a short time ago.

She turned and ran into the dark forest.

CHAPTER 57

A resolute Bugz plunged her carving knife into the bark of a cedar tree. She peeled the outer bark and ran the knife along the trunk to tear off a long strip of inner bark that resembled a six-foot piece of string. She reached as high as she could and cut off another strip. As she peeled the long, thin stretches of bark from the tree, she exposed the wet, naked core beneath. Bugz set the ribbon of inner bark aside and peeled off another, then another, and another still. She had to work deliberately because the bark peeled much slower now than it would’ve in the spring. This gave her time to listen to the thoughts swirling in her head.

After Bugz had collected a score of these bark streamers, she carried them into the clearing where the Thunderbird’s Nest had once stood. It was now just a small field pockmarked with seemingly random rocks and stones. She sat on top of a large gray fragment of a boulder. She carefully selected three strips of cedar and tossed the rest into a pile within arm’s reach in the tall grass beside her. She lined up the tops and began to braid.

As Bugz’s fingers navigated between the strips of bark—pushing, pulling, and weaving on autopilot—she let herself relax. The repetitive task set her mind free. She wondered whether her dad really meant to counsel Waawaate to take a shortcut to the Spirit World. She wondered why Feng had lashed out at her. She wondered what her brother could do to heal himself.