It was too much; his kindness was too hard to bear!The owner of Lucia's Kitchen sat and listened to the aching sobs while the girl struggled to regain...her composure. She was small, slim and pleasantly attractive though not stunning. Her thick hair was light brown and reached right down her back. She didn't have any possessions - not even a bag. He couldn't place her accent - and her voice was weak and croaky. It was as if she had suddenly appeared from nowhere in the middle of New York. Armando. "I think it would help me if I were to wrestle someone much heavier,"Claire announced. "And you'd be amazed how many calories you wouldburn up. What do you say, Jack? Are you game?"I felt myself being drawn into an impossible situation here. "I'mabout twice your weight, Claire. I could hurt you. On the other handI'm about twice your age. You could easily have me huffing andpuffing, and I would never be able to keep up with you."Claire would not be put off so easily. "Oh, don't be silly. “Dude!”“It’s all right, luv,” he said.He patted her sweater—the back, the front, the arms, under her breasts, making her flinch again.“Hey!” she said.“Apologies,” he said close to her ear. “Just doing my job.”She scoffed. “Right.”His hands slid back down to her waist. She squirmed as his hands touched her buttocks. And she jumped when she felt a hand between her legs.“What the fuck!”He held his hands up. “You never know, miss.”She glared at his face. His eyes were twinkling. She stared at the. “Hatalii, my mommy and daddy are dead. The bad man is dead too. Can I live with you now?”It turned out that the elderly couple, Sam White River and Mary Gray Squirrel, were tribal elders and that he was their medicine man, a tribal shaman. The middle-aged woman and one of the men, her husband, were Ajei’s grandparents, Albert and Martha Little Deer. The third man was also a member of the tribal police and didn’t give his name.He didn’t seem to care for me much, for some reason.Ajei was hesitant.