Firekeeper’s Daughter

At the hotel, players are only allowed to spend one hour fraternizing with fans and girlfriends in the lobby. Ron is upstairs on the Boosters’ party floor, so, curious what Jamie will do unsupervised, Daunis grabs his hand. They watch Levi imitate the players’ performances from the game, but Daunis bristles when Levi says Stormy is “the baddest goon” from Sugar Island. She knows Dad was “the ultimate goon,” but Levi seems to forget about Dad sometimes. He remembers Dad pulling them around the ice with a scarf, but he insists the scarf was blue, not green, and that he can’t find it at his house. When Levi imitates Jamie, Daunis kisses Jamie and feels instantly terrible: Jamie almost flinches.

Daunis leads Jamie to a quiet corner and says that no matter what Ron says, pretending to be romantically involved is the best way to help the investigation. Gulping, he asks what happens when someone finds out what tribe they’re from. Daunis can only speak for Sugar Island (each tribe has its own rules), but she says enrolling kids with enrolled parents is easy. People have to enroll by their 19th birthday, though Sugar Island makes exceptions for kids who were adopted out. Seeing Jamie’s eyes widen, Daunis realizes that’s what happened to him. She says families search for babies who were adopted out, and there are healing ceremonies when members return. Other tribes likely do the same. Jamie thanks Daunis, and they share their first real kiss as they part ways in the elevator.

On the Booster floor, Daunis navigates the crowded hallway and jokes with Ron, who’s clearly tipsy. As she reaches her room, the woman who flashed a truck on the bus leaves Grant’s room looking a mess—and Grant, wrapped in a towel, looks wildly proud. Grant greets Daunis, and when she struggles to unlock her door, he helps her, noting that “The right moves make all the difference.” Daunis closes herself in. She has to avoid Grant for 22 more weeks.

At the game the next day, Coach Bobby scolds Daunis for lifting with her bad shoulder when she helps carry boxes of souvenir hockey pucks. The pucks in Daunis’s box are blank except for smudged dream catchers on one side—and Coach explains that Grant donated them to a tribal youth program, but Grant wants to keep his donation quiet. Daunis is enraged.

During the game, Daunis squeezes in next to Megan and accepts a gift bag. It contains a jersey that reads DAUNIS; Megan explains that they didn’t think it’d work to put Jamie, Levi, Stormy, and Mike’s name on her jersey (girlfriends have their boyfriend’s name on their jerseys). Daunis is touched. She proudly hands out pucks during intermission, but she notices people crying as they get texts. Daunis checks her phone. Auntie texted: Robin died of a meth overdose.