’ ‘I’ll be in my office all afternoon in case you think of anything that will help,’ the sheriff said, as he muscled his bulk behind the steer...ng wheel of the car. Neither one of them had said a word about Ally having stumbled across him at the mountain still, and, as long as it was making the sheriff a whole lot nicer to her and standoffish on Miranda, Ally would just leave it that way. Lois was at the door when the sheriff had driven off toward Washington and Ally came back up the walk. ‘I’m. Never mind, he thought. She will see and understand everything soon enough. "Our goddess bestows a gift, a talent if you will, on each member of the tribe at birth. She then visits his or her mother in a dream and tells her what gift she has bestowed on her child." And what is your little talent, Joseph?" I was given the ability to scare away pests," the young man declared."That doesn't seem like much of a talent," guffawed Dr. Murray."It is quite a gift in an agrarian society such as ours.. She shook her head. She looked nervous and worried, a rustic woman, getting a rough taste of the outside world. I put a hand on her shoulder and gently told her that there was no need to worry. She smiled briefly. I asked her to lie on the bed and rest I while went to the toilet to freshen up. She told me that it was okay, that she was not tired. But her face told me otherwise. "Amma," I told her, "I am like your son. I have a mother just like you at my home in Palakkad. So don’t be shy before. ” “Okay, how about we meet there instead and I’ll buy you lunch.” “You don’t need to do that.” “Bakery, line two please. Bakery, line two please.” “I insist. I have you drive all this way and from what I can tell, that store is pretty busy.” I giggled. It was the beginning of the month and it seemed that everyone in the area was doing their monthly grocery shopping today. “Sure,” I said. “I’ll meet you there.” “Great!” I put my phone back into my purse and walked across the parking lot.