Star People Legacy

by Smith, T. L.

I could see he was reaching past his own beliefs to come up with an explanation. “I guess you could call it that, but they’ve been here for as long as we have. A lot longer than even my people.” I heard the words coming out of my mouth, but I didn’t know why. I just knew they were true.

  “We have to go.” I turned back to the ridge, pulling down the branches and starting to erase our presence. “Bury that.” I pointed to the bile he’d spewed.

  He nodded, looking around for a pile of dirt or sand he could use, being careful in case we hadn’t already scared off any resident snakes. Somehow I had the feeling they were long gone. They were as much a part of the Earth as all the other natural critters. That monster wasn’t. They’d get as far away from this cursed place as possible.

  Lutz covered his mess, then mimicked my ground beating to hide his scuffs. He looked to me for approval and I gave it to him, letting him take the lead down the mountain as I swept up behind us. Getting down the cliff was a lot faster, both of us motivated by fear. We took no breaks until we reached the bikes.

  Lutz was gasping, trying to get a drink, spilling more water than went down his throat. “You said that was a water spirit. In case you didn’t notice, there’s no fucking water here. What the fuck is that thing doing here? And how do you know what the fuck it is?”

  I couldn’t blame him for being freaked out. “I don’t know. I mean I do, but I don’t have time to run down all the Native American Spirits for you, so welcome to my world. Now let’s get the fuck out of here. Okay?”

  CHAPTER

  12

  I threw my leg over my bike and helmeted up, triggering the motor, making sure it was still in street-mode. It ran quieter, which right now I desperately wanted as we made our escape. I rolled forward, but waited as Lutz mounted up.

  We made down to the next ridge when there was a sudden puff of dust just ahead of us. “Shit!” I swung my bike off course, several more dust clouds appeared where I’d just been. I gunned it over the top of the ridge, Lutz nearly slamming into me as he cleared it too.

  I slowed only long enough to shout at him. “Stick close if you can, otherwise, that is your target, west side.” I pointed to a distinctive ridge above where we’d parked the truck. I got a single nod and took off again.

  This wasn’t the route we’d taken coming in, but we had no choice. We had to get out of here before it got dark or we’d have to ditch the bikes and walk out. A part of me thought we would have to anyway, if we wanted to really lose these guys.

  I held off on that decision, continuing along the opposite side of the ridge, using it as cover, but trying to keep my body down against the body of the bike.

  Until they crested the ridge, they couldn’t shoot at us again, unless they came after us with the helicopter. The further we got out of the mountains, the less likely they’d risk following us. Getting into open airspace opened them up to being picked up by range surveillance. The range guys hated errant flyboys and wouldn’t hesitate to call in air support.

  We had to reach those foothills. Fast.

  Sticking to the ridge gave us cover, but it also opened us up to another risk. A curve around a large boulder brought us to the area I dreaded most. I’d avoided it on our way in because the goat path here ran right along a cliff edge.

  I stopped, looking up to see if we had anyone tailing us yet. “Hate to do this, but we have no choice. Be careful and stick to the path. If we have to ditch, go for the wall and be ready to shoot it out.”

  “Yes, ma’am!” He patted the strap of the rifle slung over his shoulder.

  I gave a glance down the cliff face, nearly three hundred feet straight down, maybe deeper with the graveyard of rock slides and gaping ravine at the bottom. Looking forward I pinpointed three strategic points where we had cover, pointing them out to Lutz. With a nod I took off, Lutz giving me room to navigate the narrow path.

  We made it to the first outcrop of rock, pausing to check the ridge and taking off to the next point. A boulder the size of a house left only enough room for us to squeeze our bikes through. From there to the third point the path was a bit wider. I revved it and took off.

  Almost to the end of the cliff trail I felt something graze my leg and my control panel exploded. I tried to swerve for the wall, but my tire blew and I skidded out. As I rolled off into rocks, my bike hit a crevice and somersaulted straight off the cliff. I hit the wall as bullets hit Lutz. I saw the back of his helmet shatter and his body stiffened, the swerve of the bike carried him over the edge before I could scream.

  Stunned, I laid there for a second, then remembered we were being hunted. I pushed up and got my bearings. I couldn’t stay here. They’d come this way to make sure we were dead. Against the wall I was covered by an outcropping cut out by rain and wind.

  I stuck to it, backtracking to the second checkpoint, the huge boulder. It nearly blocked the path, but there was a gap on this side. A spot just big enough for me to squeeze into it. I had to remove my backpack to fit through.

  There was more room inside. Water had washed out some of the rock behind the crevice, creating a cave, letting me disappear completely. I dropped my backpack and slid down the wall. I felt the little rock in my pocket, taking it out and squeezing it tight in one hand, my gun in the other. Just then I heard the familiar sound of rattling.

  “Really?” Squinting my eyes in the dark shadows of the makeshift cave, I saw a huge rattler coiled up, staring back at me. Any other time I’d consider shooting it, but that wouldn’t work, so I stared back at it. “Just fucking bite me and get it over with.” It was a whisper, in the language I nearly never spoke.

  The snake stopped rattling and dropped its defensive posture.

  Ok…kay. Instinct rose up in me. I pulled my water bottle out and poured water onto the cave floor. It trickled down towards the snake. Miraculously, it stopped watching me, its flickering tongue lapping up the offering. “Thank you.” I whispered to the snake.

  Leaning my head against the wall, the last few minutes replayed in my head. Lutz was dead and I was hiding in a cave with a rattlesnake as my new best friend. This was not how I’d seen this going. What was I going to tell Sabrina, his family? Silent tears trickled down my cheeks.

  A little rattle from the snake got my attention. It faced the opening of our cave. I didn’t move, but the snake did, slithering closer to the entrance and recoiling. She didn’t take her eyes off the one way into our hideout.

  “Dis’ it. There’s da guy.” Someone slurred with a terrible southern accent.

  “And his bike, wait… there’s the other bike. I told you I got her.” The other voice was without an accent.

  “Guess ya did. I’s sure she cleared da cliffs.” I heard a hard slap.

  “Damn you! Shove me again and you’ll join our friends down there.” There was some grumbling and more cursing. Laughter. Maybe four guys? “I got her, but I don’t see her body down there.”

  “Could be in d’hole, but we betta search. Boss’ll toss ya into dat pit if ya wrong.”

  “Yeah, both of us. You two, head on down the path. I hit her, so she’d be bleeding. Get back here before it gets dark. We need to be over the ridge for our extraction.”

  Hearing that, I looked down and saw blood on my leg. The shock of hitting the wall, then seeing Lutz die, must have blurred it out. I was bleeding, but not enough to leave a trail.

  “Too bad they came back sticking their nose into our business. Jeeters said he was sure those papers would keep their mouths shut, backed up by sending them those threats.”

  “Dey didn’t talk, or we’d be worr’in bout all kinda soldiers up in here.”

  “Still, while no one’s going to miss the Mexicans, two Marines are another story. That Border Patrol officer is going to suspect they came back.”

  “Itza lot of moun’ins and dey din come up da wash. Dey won’t find us. And dat loada bodies got dumped miles from ere. Maxi’s gotta a’hole new batch ta play with. Nough for us ta hold out until the army giv
es up.”

  “If they find our friends down there, they’ll find bullet holes in them.”

  “Won’t be no bodies if furred co’otes get’em. If na, da two-leg kind get blamed. We jus gotta lay low.” The speaker gave a sigh. “Shame, mighta been fun keep’n her round.”

  “Yeah, like the boss would let that happen.” The other speaker laughed. “I was standing behind him and saw the look in her eyes. She’s the dangerous kind.”

  “An’ we not?”

  “Man, when someone stops asking questions, they’re ready to shoot. If Jeeter’d flinched, she’d have plugged him, me and probably a few more before we got her. If we got her.” He let out a sigh. “And I saw the tat on her arm. A Raider Cross with hash-marks, Special Forces with recorded kills. Nothing sweet under the skin of that dame.”

  I couldn’t help but be a bit impressed that he saw my tattoo and knew what it meant. Few people outside the Marines did. And he’d been right. I now wished I had gone for the shootout.

  “Come on, we better look around a bit more before the team gets back.”

  “Ya right. She’s a lil thang and dey some big ho’s round ere.”

  I tensed, knowing this was the only place big enough to hide me. My friendly snake hadn’t relaxed at all, still poised by the slit between cliff and wall. Strange. Since I could walk I’d been taught to respect the creatures around me, but until now it had been only a lesson. Now those teachings were proving to be something more, something spiritual. A connection.

  The snake raised its head and tail.

  “Hey, we gotta ho’!” The southern voice boomed into the little cave. I pressed as far into the notch as I could.

  “Well, see if she’s in there.” The other man was a distance away.

  “You look. I hate ho’s.”

  “You big pussy.” The other man sounded closer. “Get out of the way.”

  Just then my snake hissed and rattled its tail. I saw its head bolt towards the opening.

  “Shit! Son of a bitch!” Both men swore at the same time.

  “Damn fucking thing nearly got me.” I heard the click of a safety being released.

  “Man, ya stupid? Ain’t nothing in dat ho’ but da snake.”

  “We don’t know that. Draw it out and I’ll shoot it.”

  My snake rattled more vehemently, but this time it wasn’t alone. I heard at least three more, though I couldn’t see them.

  “FUCK NO! Da’s a whole nest of’em in der.”

  I found it wildly ironic he was afraid of snakes, considering what he worked for.

  “Okay, okay, back away.” Both sounded scared now. “She didn’t go in there.”

  My snake and her friends rattled a few more times, then stopped, but she remained vigilant. I looked upwards. It was dark, but there were more notches in the wall. Clearly this was a favorite spot for them. Maybe a real nest. Arizona Diamondbacks were known to stay with their young, and co-parent with other females.

  I went back to being nervous, sitting in the middle of a snake nursery, though they didn’t seem to care I was there. It was over a half-hour before the rest of the team returned saying they saw no sign of footprints or blood. Finally they all agreed I was at the bottom of the cliff too.

  My friend relaxed her pose again, returning to a depression in the ground. Probably her nest. I waited another ten minutes before daring to shift positions, I slowly opened my backpack and using the flashlight on my phone, got a look at the cave.

  Other snakes were there, watching me, but not taking a defensive posture. Along one section of the wall I saw trickle marks where rainfall ran down the walls to collect on the floor. Monsoons would start soon, but it was dry in the cave.

  Tucking Yazzie’s little rock into my bra, where it would be touching my skin, I sang a prayer as I sacrificed one of my bottles of water. A tribute for the help they’d given me. I built a rock nest against the wall, making sure I could get the bottle up to one of the trickle marks.

  The bottle fit snug in the rocks. I cut a hole in it big enough for a snake’s head to reach inside for water, pinching the flap back again the wall to create a funnel. It would give them a few days water now and maybe something of a well for the future.

  “I thank your Earth Spirits for saving my life.” I put everything away and eased past my lethal friend to the entrance. She acted as if I wasn’t even there, as did the others.

  CHAPTER

  13

  Out in the open air again, I stuck to the boulder, listening for footsteps on the cliff path. They must have really believed me dead. I reached the point that had been just narrow enough for us to squeeze our bikes through. Looking around the boulder I saw no one. They were gone.

  I took a deep breath before looking down.

  If I hadn’t seen him die the second his helmet shattered, the fall would have finished the job. I dropped to my knees. Momentum had carried Lutz a ways from the cliff edge, thrown into a section where rockslides had created a slope. He laid tangled, limbs broken and twisted in unnatural positions.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let you come with me. I should have lied to you. I should have waited.” I whispered it down to Lutz, letting tears fall into the same void.

  A wind blew up the face of the cliff, carrying with it a sound like crying. Coyotes, but it wasn’t their usual voice as they went out on the hunt. This was mournful. “Oh, please. Leave him alone until I can come back for him.”

  As if in spite of my plea, a large coyote came up out of the ravine, slowly approaching Lutz’ body.

  No, no, no… I wanted to scream down the cliff to scare it off, but our assailants might hear me. Two more coyotes followed the first. I crawled over to loose rocks piled against the boulder, returning to the edge. I started to take aim, but the sight stopped me.

  More of the pack had reached Lutz’ body. They encircled it, laying down next to him. The large coyote sat at his head, keening that sad song. I put down the rocks and answered with a song, a prayer of protection. The coyote keened louder in response, his eyes directly on me.

  Looking at my hands planted on the ground, I caught my breath. They glowed, just as they had this morning after my weird dream. All the coyotes gazed at me, letting out soft howls. “Take care of my friend. I’ll be back for him.”

  The keening stopped and the large coyote laid down, resting his head on Lutz’ shoulder. I could barely believe what I was watching as the shadows of the mountains around us grew darker. Night would be here soon.

  I hated to leave, but there was nothing I could do for Lutz. Except live long enough to come back and avenge him. My hands glowed brighter with the thought. My whole body did. It should have scared me. This wasn’t natural, but neither was the Maxa’xak.

  I slipped back to the wall. I certainly didn’t need anyone noticing a walking glow stick.

  I had to move. Just because those men didn’t find me, or my body, didn’t mean they wouldn’t come back looking for me as it got darker. They had a helicopter to look for illegals. It probably had heat-seeking infrared equipment, radar-jammers, all kinds of technology. A body retained heat for several hours, enough to be detected. They’d be able to find me dead or alive in the dark, which was coming fast.

  Reaching a point where the path dropped down off the shelf, I heard a sound behind me. I dropped, expecting to be jumped on by the men. Instead beady eyes caught the remaining light. More coyotes.

  I stared back for a moment. “Well, as the animal Spirits are clearly siding with me today, are you here to help me?” The coyotes moved forward, heads down, no teeth bared. “Okay. I need to get to my truck.”

  I got up slowly and started back to the original path, as it was the safest descent. The coyotes trotted along after me, as if nothing more than domestic shepherds. I found the goat track, a few minutes later the sun disappeared completely.

  Using my flashlight, I could see by the shadows we were getting close to the foothills. I felt relief, until I heard a yipping from on
e of the coyotes. A light crested the ridge. I looked for a hole, but there was nothing but a couple bushes.

  I switched off the flashlight and tried to crawl between them. Next thing I knew one of the coyotes grabbed my hand, hard enough to keep me from jerking away, but not enough to break the skin. It pulled down. Instinct told me to obey.

  I curled up on the ground and the pack swarmed me. The big guy who’d pulled me down climbed on top my back. Others crowded around me. The helicopter’s lights hit us. I kept my head down and limbs folded up. The pack started howling, growling and yapping at the helicopter. I hoped I looked like one of the coyotes, or downed prey.

  Must have. After about fifteen more seconds the helicopter continued down the path, staying close to ground level to avoid air traffic control picking them up. I peeked up from the cluster, draping my arms over the backs of the pack. At the bottom of the mountain the helicopter swung back our way, but the searchlight was off. I stayed put until it veered into the nearest mountain ravine and disappeared.

  Way out on the flat of the desert I saw bright lights moving in a pattern northwards. Range maintenance teams? They’d be heading in. My enemies would want to avoid them. I remained with my canines another few minutes and got several licks to the face. I hugged the two I was clinging onto, my body emitting a soft glow with their loving. “Thank you, really.”

  I got more face licks from the others before a few of them took off down the path ahead of me. Scouting the way. The rest stayed with me. I let them lead me. The path frequently forked out into other paths, but they kept me on the one with bike tracks still in the dirt. As the moon crested the mountains, we reached the little canyon where I’d hidden the truck.

  The coyotes danced about as I threw all my stuff in the truck. I pulled out a pack of beef jerky Lutz had packed for our snacks. We’d never got around to it. There were a couple bottles of water in the truck. In the back was a hubcap Billy always complained fell off at every pot hole. I laid it on the ground and poured all my water into it.