Sophie Birdsong has Osage Indian blood coursing through her lovely veins. When asked how much, "Some," she says. If pressed for something more definitive, "Quite a bit." Quite a bit indeed, for her face is like finely polished mahogany; large, opulent eyes, dark as nuggets of coal. She's five-foot-three and a "compact load," a friend once affectionately told her. Sophie has a Christmas Candle; the two of them have a secret. And when her antediluvian,...