Note: These characters (with the exception of the BWG's offspring) are not mine. They belong to Random House.

This is the sequel to my story called Questions. Some of this tale may not make much sense if you haven't read the other story first.

His Answer

Sometimes, there are places which hold significant meaning in our lives.

For Hallie Belden Regan, this place was a deep crevice in the earth at the back of the Wheeler's game preserve in Sleepyside, New York. The high rock walls on either side of the little trench had always reminded her of the dusty desert areas not far from her childhood home in Idaho. Whenever she would visit her cousins as a little girl, she often found her way to this spot and imagined she was living in the time of her mother's Native American ancestors; she would dance, chant, and create native looking carvings and paintings on the mud-caked ledges. It was a place of self-discovery. A place where she and her cousin Trixie had at first engaged in some of the most volatile of arguments, and then later forged the closest bonds of friendship. It was where she retreated to deal with her grief when her boyfriend Dan Mangan had passed away from cancer at nineteen. Returning, years later, with her sixteen year old son, she still viewed the crevice as a wealth of spiritual connection. There was something recorded on those walls that she simply had to share with Daniel.

As the pair rode on horseback towards the ancient crack in the earth, there was an open discussion of recent events and family business. Hallie was grateful to get this time with her middle child, especially now that her oldest son Will was living on his own. She let Daniel guide the conversation in any direction he wished.

"Mom, I think Will was happy to see us today. Not just because we told him we were going to help exercise the horses, but…well…just because. Do you think he misses living at home?" Daniel obviously missed having his brother down the hall.

"Oh, we're only five minutes away, and I think he's a little too busy to be homesick." Hallie responded confidently. "He certainly has done a lot to fix up the stables since he took over as the Wheeler's groom. Did you notice the new coat of paint in the office? I'm impressed."

"I think Candace had something to do with that. She's a pretty good influence on him. I like her. What do you think about her?" Daniel wagged his eyebrows and gave a grin at the mention of his older brother's girlfriend.

"She's a keeper." Hallie said with a smile. "If he lets that one get away, he's crazy."

"You wouldn't freak if he suddenly wanted to get married?"

"I…think it's a bit early for that. After all…she's going to need to finish her degree and he just got himself situated in the apartment…Of course I would freak, Daniel. They're barely twenty. She may be the right one, but it's just too soon."

Hallie had already been a little worried about Will moving too fast, but she knew her husband Bill had recently tackled that conversation with their son. She decided not to let Daniel's teasing make her nervous about the issue again. Will was the level-headed child out of her three. She didn't feel the need to question his decisions; however, if it had been her daughter Fiona they were discussing, Hallie would have been in a panic. Fiona was as passionate a person as there could be. She let her emotions dictate her actions, and she had always harbored bit of her father's quick temper. Hallie was thankful that the fifteen year old had not yet proclaimed to be in love with a boy. A frightening thought suddenly came to her.

I was her age when I started dating Dan.

As if instinctively knowing whom his mother was thinking about, Daniel interrupted Hallie's thoughts to keep the conversation light.

"I think Fiona likes Candace, too. And she's a really hard sell. I don't think she's liked any of Will's other girlfriends. You're right. Candace is probably the one."

The two rode in silence for a while before Hallie decided to turn the tables on Daniel.

"And what about you? Fiona said there were several girls at Ten Oaks who bugged her daily about you when you were in the hospital. Are you interested in anyone special?"

Daniel gave a nervous little snort; Hallie knew she had hit the right button for ultimate embarrassment.

"I don't know…I mean…there's nobody special…um…really…I think some of those girls just liked me because I played football. Matt's more popular than I am."

Hallie laughed at her son's modesty. She knew better. The phone rang off the hook when Daniel got his leg caught in a poacher's trap, and most of the calls were teenage girls who were worried about the handsome boy. Her cousin Brian's son, Matt, may have been the school's star quarterback, but Daniel was the local favorite. Hallie was proud of him for not getting an ego and for being too picky to choose a girl from his superficial fan club.

She gave her son a sideways glance and marveled at how much he had grown up in the months since his injury. He had gone through intensive and painful physical therapy without complaint, had quietly given up on his dream of earning a football scholarship to NYU, and had even started a volunteer chapter of the Hudson Equestrian And Riding Therapy organization at their family's horse farm. The special outreach group, called H.E.A.R.T. for short, had appealed to Daniel for many reasons, and it was obvious to everyone involved that he had found his calling. He had wanted to help others with physical injuries, like himself, those with emotional difficulties, like his autistic cousin Emily, and kids with terminal illnesses, such as Dan had. He was making a big difference in the lives of others; Hallie had never been more proud of him.

It wasn't long before the mother and son duo were arriving at their destination and slipping from their horses. Daniel had some difficulty making his way down the sloping embankment toward the crevice, even with the help of his cane, so Hallie went before him and helped to brace him. She knew Daniel's leg would never be as strong as it was before his accident, yet she was so thankful it didn't have to be amputated that she didn't mind when he needed help.

By the time they reached the floor of the trench, Daniel and Hallie were winded and needed to take a minute to catch their breath. They sat on a rocky outcropping and stared at the amazing crags before them. It was quite an odd looking place to be found in the middle of such a typical forest. The yellow-orange walls jutted upward toward the grassy ledge above. Several gnarled roots could be seen twisted within the dried clay and dirt.

When she thought he had rested long enough, Hallie took Daniel's hands, pulled him gently to his feet, and slowly led him toward the entrance to the crevice. It was wide enough for the two of them to walk through in tandem. Daniel lifted his eyes and was instantly amazed at what he saw.

"These drawings…you…you did these?"

"Mmmm, most of them. I was just a kid, really."

Daniel knew his mother had gone to art school and was a skilled art dealer, but he had never really seen much of her own handiwork before. He was struck by how talented she was, even as a child.

"They look so…authentic. Like real Nez Perce artists drew them, or something."

"Oh, you're silly. They're just scribbles." But, Daniel could see underneath his mother's humbleness and knew she was flattered that he admired what she had done.

She smiled at him as he took in the images of animals and people. The scenes of happiness and childhood whimsy were mixed with natural colors and textures. After a while, Halllie touched the boy gently on the arm and pointed to a specific area further down into the large crack in the earth.

"Look at these over here. Trixie, Mart, and I created our own name totems. We were probably around nine and ten years old, give or take a few years."

Despite the weathering of the walls' surfaces, the colorful etchings could still be seen clearly, and Daniel was astounded at how detailed his mother and cousins had made their drawings. He knew that names were extremely important in his grandmother's culture, and these kinds of images were supposed to reveal personality and the significance of one's name to his or her being. He thought his mother's name totem captured her temperament exactly.

Around each letter of the woman's name was a different type of wildflower. A jagged bolt of lightning was striking the middle of her name, and a shooting star was flying off the end, as if escaping into the sky.

That's Mom, alright, Daniel thought to himself. He knew she was just as wild and beautiful as those flowers, as quick and brilliant as the lightning, and as free and dreamy as the shooting star. He gave her a quick hug to show her how much he appreciated her.

"I guess Mart really knew himself pretty well, huh?" Daniel asked, pointing at Martin Belden's name totem and laughing. "Are those hamburgers?"

"I think so…no…wait…they're supposed to be sloppy Joe's." The two laughed together.

"Yeah, but the dictionary says it all." Their giggles echoed off the close walls.

"And Trixie's is just as perfect. Look at hers." Hallie said, pointing.

The mystery lover had painted a magnifying glass and a can of strawberry soda beside her name. A pleasant vine of honeysuckle wound itself around the letters and ended in the clasp of a familiar looking bird.

"Oh, a bobwhite!" Daniel exclaimed. "Wow! Did she draw that?"

"Well…I helped," Hallie said proudly.

"These are great, Mom. Thanks for bringing me here."

Hallie took a deep breath and began to pull Daniel even further into the crevice.

"There's more." She said quietly.

Daniel could tell that what she wanted to show him next would be something very important.

"Once, when Trixie and I had been at each other's throats for a few days, we suddenly found some common ground and made up…and …I did this one. I guess I was about your age, then."

Hallie pointed to an elaborately sketched image of her name and Trixie's name, beginning as two separate words and ending up merged into one at the last two vowels. The letters were the limbs and roots of incredibly detailed trees with leaves that held shimmering drops of dew.

Daniel blinked in awe at its beauty.

"I…I told Dan about it, and I…I brought him here to show it to him. He said that there were times when he and Bill didn't quite see eye to eye…and…then…they would be in sync again, like Trixie and me…and…well…he felt like he needed to make one, too."

Hallie stepped aside and revealed an image on the earthen wall behind her that she had been concealing with her body.

It wasn't as big as the other pictures, but it was by far the most significant to Daniel.

The name totem began with an R and E sketched in brown letters on the back of a horse. The third consonant was a mixed image of a G in brown, tangled up with a D in blue, and it suddenly seemed to blend itself into a cityscape around the letters A and N in indigo. Dan had blended his name with Regan's to show how the two had become close, despite not even knowing about each other for many years. They were so different and yet so much alike.

Daniel knew why his mother was showing this to him.

He had asked her when it was that she had begun to love Bill Regan more than Dan. He understood now why the line between her love for the two of them was not so distinct. Why even he could not bring himself to separate them in his mind when it came to the idea of a father.

Daniel turned to his mother and fought back the emotion rising within him.

"Why…why didn't you ever…you know…finish it with your name? I think the A in Dan's part here would be the perfect place to…"

"I was never one with Dan the way I am with Bill." Hallie's voice was soft but held no regret. Daniel stood silently and let the reality of her words sink into his understanding. How odd it seemed to him that there had been such limited physical intimacy between the two people whose DNA had blended together in his conception.

"Besides," Hallie continued, "This is a man's totem." She reached into the saddle bag she had been carrying over her shoulder and pulled out a box of oil pastels. She pulled off the top cover and offered the color choices to her son with tears in her eyes.

"Go ahead," she whispered, "It is your right of passage to become the son of your fathers."

With more love in his soul than he ever believed he had the right to feel, Daniel chose a bright red hue and began sketching an I, an E, and an L beside the N on the wall in front of him. Never stopping to consider what symbols spoke best of him, he quickly drew the outline of a heart and the logo for his volunteer riding organization.

Now, it was complete.

The fullness of it suddenly overwhelmed him. He stood, staring at it with a new understanding of who he really was.

He had once asked Mart to tell him about Dan, his real father.

As he reached up and placed a shaking hand on the blended image of the three names before him, he knew… he had the answer.