<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'">"Keep your things with you," Vass said. He didn't seem concerned or interested in taking away the stranger's posessions. "I'm Vass, tribal council, and he's Mohigan. We're Wiyot and the area surrounding the Table is ours...again." The Wiyot weren't the only native tribes to make claims on their ancestral lands, but they were one of the few who had done so successfully. "And that's Maia," he added as they began to ride at a slow pace that Jack could keep up with on foot.<br/>
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Mohigan chuckled as he broke into a handsome grin. "Mad Maia," he added.<br/>
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"And I'm not Wiyot," Maia answered, seeming to take no insult on the addition to her name and only clarified that she did not share ancestry with her tribal friends. <br/>
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Mohigan's smile settled on his round facial features. "And 'Mad' because she's the only one with the balls to create trade routes over six states!"<br/>
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"I only made that loop once," she corrected again. "I stay mainly in California."<br/>
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She had been looking ahead as they rode, but her gaze then turn downward toward Jack. "I stay in the old break room of the gift shop. There's room for you there. You don't have much, you won't take up much space."<br/>
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Neither of the men showed any disagreement with her invitation and Mohigan veered to split from the group toward the inlet bay. "Time to check the nets. This is probably what you'll be helping me do tomorrow, Jack. Hope you don't mind getting wet!"<br/>
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He split off from the group leaving Vass, Maia, and Jack to finish the journey back without him. The landscape of Table Bluff Rancheria was beautiful with rolling open land dotted by copses of trees and coastal flora. The trails across it were well worn by hoof and foot over centuries giving fair access to its acreage. To the west was the ocean and ao the south was more California coast To the east California gave way to Nevada and the Black Rock Desert and to the north Humbolt Bay and surrounding wetlands put a fair distance between the reservation and what used to be the urban populace where the Mad River slowly snaked into questionable territory.</span>