The next, she was a darkened shell of her former self, and soon after she was gone. I’d held her in my arms there at the hospital as she lay dying, ...arely strong enough to speak, and when she did, she shocked me. Surprised me to say the least. ‘Jim, promise me something,’ she stated. ‘What?’ ‘No, not until you promise me you’ll grant my last request, no matter what you think or feel about it after I tell you what it is.’ ‘Ok,’ I said fighting back the tears. ‘I promise.’ Though at the moment,. ..S: I won't take no for an answer! I'll pick you up in one hour then. Textme your address. It will be fun, I promise. Bye!!!She hang up on me then and I was again frozen with my phone on my hand,just staring at it. What had I gotten myself into?Some time later I snapped out of it and realized I should get ready. Notknowing what to expert I decided to take a shower and freshen up. I didit in mom?s bathroom and used her special soap, shampoo and conditioner.I felt so soft and smelled so good. She grabbed at her throat in a protective gesture."Well," he drawled, "it just seemed to make sense that's who you would be. These guys, cops from New York, have threatened me. I beat the hell out of one in Ed's bar in Walden yesterday. Another one came out here and killed a kid I had doing chores for me. Then I shot a New York cop and killed him right here in this room last night. So, while I was trying to enjoy breakfast you come along and tried to run over my house."Suddenly they looked at. He got back to the question.“How large is your tribe, in population? Do you know the numbers, or can give a good guess?”“Not very large, for we were hit by an epidemic of disease some years back, when we lost a lot of old people and youngsters. The present tribe is about half the size of the fisher tribe; if that helps you.”“I get the idea. If there is no readily available land, it might be better to split your tribe and add part of it to several tribes, perhaps as a temporary measure until you.