by Lukens, Mark
Palmer knew Begay wasn’t happy that he had insisted on riding with him instead of following him around all day in his rental car. Palmer had given up trying to memorize the map and the crisscrossing of the roads out here on the Big Reservation. This reservation was huge—fifteen thousand square miles: the size of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts put together. He knew it would’ve only been a matter of time before Begay ditched him and then Palmer would’ve been hopelessly lost out here in these badlands. It was amazing to Palmer how remote some of these places were, and the GPS and reception on his cell phone were spotty at best. So he had decided to ride with Captain Begay, whether the man liked it or not.
*
An hour later, they drove down a long rutted trail through the brush and rocks, and then down a steep decline towards a large stand of trees with a creek running through them. Mountains rose up sharply in the distance. It was as beautiful as it was foreboding, Palmer thought.
Ten minutes later they pulled up to a group of trailers. Palmer thought the place looked like some kind of refugee camp. The trailers were rusted-out hulks with debris piled all around them. Abandoned junked cars and car parts hid in the weeds and scrub brush. A clothesline full of clothes was set up right in the front yard above a scattering of children’s toys.
A pregnant woman holding a baby came to the front door of the trailer, the door barely hanging on by its hinges. A curious three-year-old dressed in an oversized sweatshirt and baggy pants stood beside the woman on the untrustworthy wood deck in front of the door.
A scruffy-looking dog poked its head out of a doghouse that looked like it had been constructed from petrified wood. The dog didn’t even bark at them, it just stared at them with large eyes.
“Is this where Billy Nez lives?” Palmer asked as Begay parked the truck and turned off the engine.
“No.”
Palmer didn’t expect Begay to expound.
Begay got out of the truck and Palmer opened his door and stepped out into the cold. One thing was for sure, he wasn’t staying in the truck anymore.
“Ya-tah,” Begay said to the woman as he walked towards the trailers that sat nose to nose in the distance.
The young woman hadn’t made any kind of movement to come down and greet them.
Palmer watched as Begay made some kind of hand gesture to the woman. “Ya-tah,” he said again.
“Ya-tah-hay,” the woman finally answered in a low voice. She made a half-hearted gesture of her own back to Begay.
Begay said something in Navajo to the woman.
She just nodded her head towards the trees and the creek off in the distance.
“He’s that way,” Begay said to Palmer, already walking towards the trees.
It was a five-minute trek through the woods that lined the stream. Then they came to a squat dome of a structure covered with mud and grass. Not too far away from the mud hut, a fire was crackling inside a pit in the ground that was surrounded by rocks. Palmer noticed that there were rocks in the fire too.
“Wait out here,” Begay said as he walked towards a flap that served as a door to the hut.
Palmer thought about arguing.
“Sacred ceremony inside,” Begay said over his shoulder as if he sensed that Palmer was going to debate his request. He took off his coat before entering the hut, laying it down neatly over a large flat rock.
Palmer just nodded and sighed. He thought Begay had come here to arrest Billy Nez, not hang out with him inside some sweat lodge. Obviously obstruction of justice was a petty crime out here in these parts. Palmer hoped Begay would at least get the information they needed.
*
Begay pulled the flap back from the mud-covered hut and entered the dark steamy interior.
Billy Nez sat on a small colorful rug that was spread out on the hard-packed dirt floor on the opposite side of the hut. Billy was nearly naked, only wearing a loincloth. His skin was shiny with perspiration and his long dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail. He used to be a muscular man long ago, but now what muscles he had left sagged on his old man’s body. The wrinkles were deep lines etched into his brown face.
Begay noticed that there was a similar woven rug spread out on the floor not too far away from the flap—an invitation for him to sit down, Begay guessed. And in between the two rugs was a pit dug into the dirt floor, the pit filled with hot rocks and burning kindling. The meager amount of smoke the fire put out drifted up towards the hole in the middle of the ceiling at the top of the dome.
Begay unbuttoned his shirt a little and rolled up the sleeves to his elbows. He sat down cross-legged on the small woven rug. It was already so hot inside the hut—a stark contrast with the bitterly cold air outside.
“Did you come here to arrest me?” Billy asked in Navajo.
“Depends,” Begay answered in Navajo. He was sure Palmer had stayed close enough to the hut to listen to their conversation; he might even be right outside the flap. But he wouldn’t understand any of it.
“I have an FBI agent with me,” Begay said. “He’s waiting outside right now.”
Billy nodded, but he didn’t seem alarmed. He seemed like a man who felt righteous in his innocence. He didn’t ask what he was being hassled about. He didn’t try to run when they had shown up. He wasn’t drunk right now or belligerent. These were all plusses in Begay’s book, all good marks in favor of Billy Nez, and Begay would return the favor by hearing the man out.
“You tricked us,” Begay said when he realized Billy Nez was in no hurry to begin the conversation. “The map Alice Newcastle gave us led to an abandoned house.”
“I gave Alice the wrong map because I knew she would break her word and call the police. It doesn’t matter how long she has lived here on this land with us, she will never be one of us. She will never truly understand our ways.”
Begay sighed. He didn’t want to get off track into some philosophical conversation with Billy right now. “Alice called us because it was the right thing to do. Those three are wanted by the law.”
“One is only a boy.”
“Yes, but the man they are traveling with is a suspect in at least twenty-one murders, two stolen vehicles, and one bank robbery. You’re helping a possible criminal.”
“Sometimes you must overlook some bad to find the greater good.”
“And you think twenty-one murders is only a little bad?”
“I don’t believe your suspect murdered those people.”
Begay nodded. “And who did?”
“You know who murdered those people. You know what murdered them.”
Begay didn’t respond.
Billy Nez ladled some water from a wooden bucket near him and drenched the hot rocks. The rocks hissed when the water hit them, steam rising up instantly.
“It has happened before,” Billy said as he put the wooden ladle back into the bucket of water. “The chindi is back and it wants things.”
“Chindi?” Begay asked, surprised that Billy was using the Navajo word for ghost.
“Chindi,” Billy repeated. “Or yenaldooshi—skinwalkers. Darkwind. Anasazi, Ancient Enemy. Whatever you want to call it. But it’s here again. What happened to that boy’s parents, and what happened to those belegana scientists in that cave, you know there is no rational explanation for that.”
“So you led those three where? Right to the chindi?”
“No. I led them to someone who can help them.”
“Who?” Begay asked.
“A yataalii—a true medicine man.”
“What’s his name?” Begay asked. “Joe Blackhorn?”
If Billy was surprised that Begay already knew they had gone to find Joe Blackhorn, he didn’t show it.
“We know that’s where you sent them. But we just don’t know where to find Joe Blackhorn. I need to find those three before something else happens. I need to help David.”
“The boy is pursued by the Darkwind. Only he can drive it away again.”
Begay let out an
other long breath, trying to remain calm.
“I know you say you don’t believe,” Billy said. “I know you try not to believe. But deep down inside, you know something is wrong with these murders. You know something is different about the boy and the woman on the run.”
Begay thought of his conversations with Agent Palmer a few days ago and how similar they were to the one he was having with Billy right now. But in that conversation it had been him trying to convince Palmer that something supernatural might be going on, and it had been Palmer who wouldn’t even consider it.
“I met with that woman and the boy,” Billy said.
Begay nodded, indicating that he already knew that. “The boy’s name is David. David Bear.”
“They were not being forced to do anything by that man they were with. They are not being held captive by him.”
“You met the man with them? You saw him?”
“He waited outside in a pickup truck while we met the woman and David at the diner. Once they were inside the diner, they could’ve asked us to help them. They could’ve called the police. They could’ve run. But they didn’t choose to do any of those things.”
Thanks for your expert opinion, Begay thought but he bit back the words.
“They risked everything to find Joe Blackhorn,” Billy said.
Once again Begay thought of the same thing he’d said to Agent Palmer not too long ago. Why would they risk everything to come back down here and find this shaman?
“Alice knew that I knew how to find Joe Blackhorn,” Billy continued. “We agreed to give the woman a different map so she could be caught by the police. But what Alice didn’t know was that I drew two maps, and the other one led to Joe Blackhorn’s home. I wanted to hear the woman’s story first. After I listened to her story, I knew she was telling the truth, and I knew the Ancient Enemy had come again. I knew the boy could fight the Ancient Enemy, and I knew Joe Blackhorn could help him. Later, we ambushed the three of them on the road and I gave the woman the real map. I put her on the path to find Joe Blackhorn.”
“I need to find them,” Begay said. “I need you to show me where they are.”
Billy ladled more water onto the hot rocks, taking his time. Then he shrugged. “I have a map that I have drawn for you. But the four of them may not be there now.”
“Why not? Do you know where they are going?”
“There’s a sacred place,” Billy answered. “A place where the barrier between our world and the Darkwind’s world is the weakest. Joe Blackhorn will take the boy there to fight it, to send it back for good.”
Begay was beginning to get impatient. He was starting to sweat underneath his clothes and his crossed legs were cramping up a little. “Billy, I won’t come back here and arrest you if you give me that map. If you help me.”
“This is going to be a dangerous journey for you,” Billy said. “Who are you taking with you?”
Begay didn’t answer; he just huffed loudly, hopefully showing Billy that he was tiring of this game of his.
“Many could be killed,” Billy said, unperturbed by Begay’s show of disapproval.
Begay thought it over. He had to be careful here because he knew Billy Nez was not afraid of being arrested and locked up. He couldn’t threaten him to get what he wanted. He had to make sure that Billy was telling him the truth and not sending him on another wild goose chase.
“Don’t take too many men with you,” Billy said. “They will just end up dying and their blood will be on your hands. I would ask you not to go, to let the boy fight the Darkwind on his own, but I know eventually someone else will tell you where Joe Blackhorn lives.”
“I won’t take any of my men with me,” Begay promised, but he knew one person that he would be taking with him whether he wanted to or not, and that person was standing right outside the flap of this hogan.
Billy pulled out a small leather bag from behind him and opened the drawstrings. He pulled out a folded-up piece of thick white paper and another object. He stood up, the sweat running down his nearly naked body.
Begay stood up, happy to stretch out his aching legs. He wiped at his brow with the sleeve of his shirt. He was actually looking forward to going back out into that cold weather again.
Billy walked around the pit of hot rocks and stood in front of Begay. He handed him the paper. “This is the map.”
Begay didn’t bother unfolding the paper and looking at it, that would only offend Billy Nez. He tucked the folded-up paper down into the pocket of his jeans.
“I have something else for you,” Billy said. “I want you to accept it and keep it with you all the time when you pursue these three.”
Begay just nodded.
Billy held the other object in his hand out to Begay. It was a necklace of worn leather string with a large silver and turquoise charm on it.
“This is a special charm,” Billy said. “This is a magical charm that will protect you on your journey.”
Begay accepted the gift. He noticed that the charm could be twisted open. “What’s inside the charm?” he asked.
“Something to keep you safe,” was all that Billy would say.
CHAPTER 62
Captain Begay sat down in the driver’s seat of his Ford Bronco as Special Agent Palmer got into the passenger seat. The woman was standing again at the trailer door with her baby in her arms, staring at them silently. The dog poked his head out of his gray petrified home and watched them as silently as the woman did, and with seemingly the same expression.
“So?” Palmer asked as soon as they were back inside Begay’s truck. Palmer hadn’t said a word to Begay as they hiked back through the woods from the hut, and then across the junk-littered front yard to the truck. Billy Nez hadn’t come out of that mud hut structure with Begay so Palmer had to assume that Billy wasn’t being arrested today, which led him to assume that Begay had retrieved the information they had come all the way out here for.
Begay started his truck. It had gotten cold in the truck in the short time they’d been gone, but it was still better than the freezing wind outside. Begay turned the heater up all the way as he shifted into reverse and backed down the rutted trail that served as the driveway. Begay stretched a meaty arm out over the back of the seats as he turned around to look out the rear window, backing his truck up in between two rusted relics of automobiles to turn around.
Palmer felt agitated, shivering a little with both the cold (which didn’t seem to affect Begay at all) and the excitement that they could finally be close to finding the trail that led to Stella, David, and whoever they were traveling with. He was also agitated because Begay seemed to be purposely taking his time answering his question.
Palmer noticed the necklace that Begay was sporting as soon as he left the hut. He’d thought about asking about it or making some kind of wisecrack about bribes, but he kept his mouth shut, not sure if he would be somehow unknowingly offending the captain.
Begay shifted into drive and pulled back out onto the rutted trail from between the two rusted vehicles.
Palmer remained silent for a moment longer, waiting to see if Begay was going to respond to him yet. Begay seemed to be a different man now after his time inside the hut with Billy. Maybe they had smoked something together in there.
“Where are we going?” Palmer asked when he couldn’t stand Begay’s silence any longer.
Begay pulled out onto the narrow, two-lane road from the rutted driveway. There wasn’t another vehicle in sight on the road in either direction for as far as Palmer could see.
“Right now I’m going to find a gas station and fill my truck up.”
“He speaks,” Palmer said sarcastically. “And then?”
“And then I’m going to drive to Joe Blackhorn’s property.”
Palmer’s heart skipped a beat. He knew Begay had gotten the information they needed. “That guy …”
“Billy Nez,” Begay said.
“Yeah, Billy Nez. He told you where to find Blackhorn?”
“He gave me a map.”
“A map? Let me see.”
Begay drove in silence for a long moment, staring out the windshield.
Palmer was getting a little tired of the silent treatment. “Uh, the map?” he asked him.
“I burned it.”
“What?” Palmer asked. “What do you mean, you burned it?”
“I threw it in the fire right before we left,” Begay said.
“I didn’t see you do that,” Palmer said.
Begay glanced at Palmer for a moment, his expression saying: There are many things you haven’t noticed. “I’m not taking anyone with me to Joe Blackhorn’s place,” Begay said and turned to stare out the windshield again, his big hands gripping the steering wheel.
Palmer shook his head a little. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about. What … you’re worried this is another trick?”
Begay looked at Palmer again, his dark eyes fierce now. “No. Billy is telling the truth. This is no trick.”
“What is it then?”
“This is serious. Where I’m going … what we’re dealing with … it’s dangerous. More dangerous than you can imagine.”
“Jeez,” Palmer said, sighing out the word as he looked out the passenger window at the desert whipping by at eighty miles an hour. He looked back at Begay. “Not this again. What did that guy say to you in that hut?”
“Hogan,” Begay corrected. “It’s not a hut … it’s called a hogan.”
“Whatever,” Palmer said. He didn’t really care if he was offending Begay right now by calling a mud hut by the wrong name. “You let that guy, Billy Nez, spook you.”
Begay gave a slight shake of his head. “I’ve known it all along; I just didn’t want to admit it. But I know it now. What we’re dealing with, it’s bigger than you can imagine.”
Palmer tried hard to control his temper. “I want you to draw a map for me and my men. Right now. Pull over right now and draw that map.”
Begay glared at Palmer again, but not with hatred. This time there was sadness in his expression, like he was looking at some kind of farm animal that couldn’t possibly ever hope to understand him.
