The Antidote

In the days and weeks that follow the sheriff’s deposit/confession about planting the rabbits’ feet to frame Dew, many of the jurors who convicted Dew come to the Antidote. Plagued by guilt at having convicted him, they deposit their memories of the trial. One day, the sheriff himself arrives with a man named Alexander Kriska. Kriska discovered, upon making a withdrawal, that the deposit he made to the Antidote was not returned accurately. He is certain that the memory she gave him is a lie. Alone, the sheriff confronts her about this—he knows that the Antidote has begun inventing false tales in place of true withdrawals. He wants her help to fabricate a lie about the disappearance of Mink Petrusev that will help him to win reelection.

The Antidote recalls her friendship with an older girl who came to the Milford Home for Unwed Mothers after she did: 17-year-old Zinkála Nuni. A member of the Lakota tribe whose mother was killed at the Massacre of Wounded Knee, her given name was Lost Bird. She became famous for surviving the massacre as an infant, discovered alone but alive days later. She was stolen from the Lakota tribe by General Leonard Colby and raised by him and his wife.