Barbara Cadwell

The Backside of the Page Barbara Cadwell

After commencing a study of Native Americans, I crossed paths with the great Lakotah Sioux warrior Crazy Horse and Black Buffalo Woman. That a man could so love a woman that he would forsake all when she chose another, I wondered: If they were alive today, what kind of people would they be, what kind of events would they attract, and would they attract each other? And so it's no coincidence that a midnight phone call draws Elizabeth Ingham from a slow-moving dream hours before departing New Hampshire for a Black Hills venue to write a married man from her life. Urgent, her uncle asks that she give a lift to Joe Parker, an injured high-steel worker who has finally decided to quit the Boston venue and return home to South Dakota and what's left of his family. Stage set. On the road, pensive. As Brave Woman Alone with only her dog for protection, the driver confronts the subtle foe in disguise while past transgressions trigger the passenger's self-disgust and guilt on this journey of many turns. Once settled, the novelist attends the annual Powwow at Pine Ridge. Spirit befriends wanderers; and in the afterglow of the gala festivity, Joe stirs up love with the self-styled romantic only to walk another dusty trail after a lone rider scatters rose petals in the dust. Strong words of comfort from mutual friends can neither break Elizabeth's silence nor dispel Joe's fear of loss whereupon he takes to a high mountain cave. So doing, he lays down his soul and cries for a dream. In this dimension, he talks with the woman clad in deerskin and awakes with a decision to let the matter sleep. Come the 13th hour, the leading lady asks the real question.