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Show 12 "Father was a good medicine man, wasn't he, Mother?" asked Chua. "He tried to keep people alive if he could, didn't he?" Chua knew that his father was a good man. tot He just needed to hear his mother say it. He couldn't believe what the chiei said about / his father. "Your father was a good medicine man. It was his duty to try each new medicine before he gave it to" a sick person, especially the wife of the chief," Apa said. "I wish he hadn't tried new medicines," Chua said. "I wish he had used the old ones." Chua felt irritated inside. "The old ones didn't work on the wife of the chief," Apa said. "Your father didn't know that the raw leaves and stems of the Desert Plume would be poisonous when he tried them. The big yellow flowers look so safe. Your father's memory will live on, because of the new discovery he made. No one else will try the Desert Plume again." "I wish he were still alive," Chua said. He took a breath that filled his body, and then let it out very slowly. "I wish he were, too," Apa said with a sigh. "I must rest, but Uncle is getting farther ahead. I fear we will lose him." "Don't worry, he won't lose his new clan," Chua said, "no matter how small we are. Ahote was mean. Chua didn't want him around. His mother seemed to read his mind. "I don't like him hitting you like he did before the Snake Dance," Apa said. "He just shoved me after he tripped me," Chua said. |