The Strange Tale of Turtle and Salt Woman

Turtle heard that Salt Woman was on the road again, and he was wanting a taste of her. Some miles from Cochiti, he stopped for directions at a Speedway gas station. The dwarf who ran the garage could not speak, but Turtle using the language of Sandhill cranes put a spell on him, making him dance directions. The dwarf’s jerky movements became more fluid as Turtle urged him to relate more of the Salt Woman. In these parts, Salt Woman had a rep. She traveled with a wooden puppet that she called her grandson. When she came to a pueblo she would ask for food for the boy. Some villages offered her food from the communal storehouse, and she would bless their store with her tears, while her grandson grew green leaves on the top of his wooden head, but in some pueblos the mayor would refuse to offer anything. Salt women would then turn the children of the village into chaparral jays. Turtle figured that the garage dwarf was just a fool, but he knew that a salty woman was worth finding, and so he drove on following her trail. Sure enough he found her in a bar in the Acoma settlement known as Sky City. Her grandson was with her. Turtle took a good look at Salt Woman. She was not young, her face was lined, but her hips were as round as fat babies, her belly dimpled, rosy, and delectable. The wooden child’s eyes opened wide as he watched Turtle walk up to the bar. Turtle was looking fine in his rhinestone studded jeans, his tan ruby fringed shirt and his white, eagle-feathered Stetson. Ordering tequila, he turned to the woman. "Will you give me one of your tears, mother"? He asked. "I have a thirst that can only be cured by a greater thirst". Salt Woman looked at Turtle: "And what will you give me in return"? "I will share my salt with you," turtle replied honestly. "The same as any man then," she said with a curling lip. "Yes mother, but my salt will make you younger,' turtle lied. Turtle will promise anything for sex, in this he is no better than most men. Salt Woman laughed out loud, yet a teardrop of sadness fell into Turtle’s tequila. In a flash Turtle drank it down, grabbed hold of the boy transforming him to a crane, then he took Salt Woman upstairs where they tasted their thirst – again and again.