by Ana Meadows
She took her camera bag and her sunglasses and headed down the stairs. As she did, she could smell something delicious coming from the direction of the dining room. Unable to resist, she poked her head inside and she saw a buffet-type spread of biscuits and gravy, eggs, sausage, bacon, toast and pancakes. There were about five people in the dining room, workers or guests, she didn’t know.
“You gonna go in?” She turned and saw an older man in jeans, boots and cowboy hat standing behind her.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “You go ahead. I’m still deciding.”
The old man grinned at her. It was a nice smile and it made Raine want to smile back. “You must be new here because if you ever tasted Miss May’s breakfast there would be no need to decide.” He tipped his hat at her then and went inside. Raine decided that it would probably be impolite not to at least taste the food so she went in behind him. After fixing her plate she turned towards the large ranch style table. There was an empty seat next to a family that looked like they were here on vacation. Sitting down next to a sulky boy of about fifteen Raine began to eat. When she finished she had to admit that the old cowboy had been right, she doubted she would be able to pass up the dining room again while they were here. It was probably the single best breakfast she had ever eaten. The boy next to her was introduced to Raine by his mother, Celeste. His name was Brian and apparently he had wanted to go to Disneyland. Raine didn’t rub it in and tell the poor boy that she only lived about five miles from the park. His mother told her that they lived in Chicago and she thought the fresh air and wide open spaces would be good for him.
She got up to put her plate in the bucket that she saw everyone else putting his or her finished crockery in. A middle-aged woman with blonde hair pulled back away from her round face and a big smile said, “Hi! I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure. I’m Miss May Montgomery.”
“Oh, you own the inn,” Raine said. “This is such a lovely place, and thank you for breakfast it was wonderful. I’m Raine. My boyfriend and I are in room two.”
The older woman’s smile got even brighter and she said, “Oh yes, ya’ll checked in last night. Welcome to my humble little Inn. I can’t tell you how happy and proud it makes me when someone likes my place, even more so when they like my cooking.” Raine noticed her looking around the room as she talked, making sure that everything was running smoothly.
“Well, I honestly love both,” Raine told her. “Although I’m going to have to walk five miles this morning to work off the breakfast I’m sure!”
May laughed and patted her rotund belly. “I guess you better, sweetie. Believe it or not, I used to be a pretty, skinny young thing like you.”
“You’re still beautiful.”
“Oh I like you!” Miss May told her, “Is your boyfriend here with you? I talked to him on the phone I believe when he made the reservations. He seems like a nice boy, I’d love to meet him.”
“He’s not here this morning, ma’am,” Raine said. “He’s off to work already.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. I know work is necessary, believe me. But, I like to see my guests at least have a little bit of fun while they’re here.”
“I’m sure he will when he finishes up what he came to do,” Raine lied. Fun and Jack hadn’t been meeting up much for a while now, unless you counted sex.
May introduced Raine to a few of the other guests, and gave her directions out to a spot where she thought Raine would be able to get a few nice shots of the mountain ranges and maybe even see a little of the local wildlife. They were surrounded by hills, but off in the distance you could see the peaks of the Big Belt and Little Belt mountains. She also told her that while they were in Montana they should visit Yellowstone National Park.
Miss May was quite a talker, but Raine finally got set out on her way, walking towards town with her camera bag in tow. May had slipped her a bottle of water and a granola bar before she left. Raine decided that she liked her too.
Raine thought about Jack again and wondered if he would be upset at all when she finally had the talk she needed to have with him. He was fond of telling her how well she “decorated” his arm when they went to the big parties that his office occasionally threw for clients. As much as she loved art, she didn’t want to be anyone’s decoration. She craved so much more than that.
As Raine walked along she took photographs of the quaint little buildings in town as well as the landscape. In town there wasn't much. Just a few empty buildings. There was a bar with no windows, just one of those old neon signs that says ‘Cocktails’ out front. The little school was just a cube of buildings with a chain link fence around it that reminded Raine of an old prison. The sheriff’s office shared space with the post office and next to that was a big store, reminiscent of an old five and dime that sells everything in one place: clothes, chairs, soap, televisions and snacks. There was also a little grocery store at the end of the block next to a tiny little library and a diner. The diner was painted peach and sported a big sign with a pie and a peach on it, and was aptly called ‘Peach Diner.’
As Raine came to the edge of town just beyond the diner, she saw a beautiful little trail that looked like it led up to the foothills. She began to follow it, snapping photographs of colorful birds and wildflowers that grew alongside. Before she had gone far she heard raised voices. It sounded like someone was arguing. She didn’t want to intrude, but wanting to make sure that all was okay, she followed the sound. She came to another little clearing and saw a group of five or six teenage boys. Most of them were white, dressed in jeans and boots, which seemed to be the staple dress for this part of the country. One of the boys looked different from the others, Raine thought he was possibly a Native American, and he seemed to be the one that was being taunted. He was fourteen or fifteen years old and had dark skin and really big, dark eyes. His hair was black and so shiny the sun glinted off of it. He was dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt and wore some kind of turquoise medallion around his neck.
“Give it back,” the Native American boy was saying to one of the others. He stepped towards a blond headed boy in a red racing t-shirt and the boy threw whatever was in his hand to another boy about three feet away.
“Come and get it,” that boy said, holding up what looked like a silver bracelet. The other boy started towards him but before he got there, the bracelet was thrown again. This one was huge and looked like a football linebacker with broad shoulders and massive tree trunks for thighs. He didn’t say a thing; he just held out the bracelet and smiled. This time, however when the Native American boy went to grab it, the big guy pushed his fist into the boy’s skinny chest and knocked him to the ground. That was when Raine couldn’t just sit back and watch any longer.
“Hey! Leave him alone!”
The boys looked startled and then frightened. When Raine stepped out from where she had been watching them, however, they looked relieved. Raine was only five foot three on a good day in her shoes and her weight fluctuated between one hundred and five to one hundred fifteen pounds depending on the time of the month. Every one of these boys was at least a head taller than her, some of them two.
“Is this your girlfriend, Flathead?”
The boy with the medallion said nothing. He just jumped up from the ground and brushed himself off. From his look, Raine wasn’t sure he appreciated her intervention. She figured out why with the next boy’s words.
“No. He doesn’t have a girlfriend. He mates with elk and buffalo. She must be his social worker. You know how these Indians are all on Welfare because their daddies are too drunk to work.”
Raine rolled her eyes and sighed at the level of these children’s meanness. “You boys should be ashamed of yourselves. If that bracelet is his, why don’t you just give it to him and go? I don’t think you’d like for me to call the sheriff.”
The boy’s all laughed at that, and then the big boy said, “Yeah lady. Go ahead and call him. I need a ride home anyways, maybe the sheriff, also known as my dad wil
l give me a lift.”
The other boys thought that was hilarious. While the big guy was distracted however, the Native American boy saw his chance and grabbed the bracelet he still held out in his hand. They started to tussle over it and Raine was afraid the smaller boy was going to get hurt. She didn’t know what to do and was just yelling for them to stop.
Raine then heard the sound of some kind of vehicle approaching. The boys heard it too and the Native American boy smiled and said something that sounded like J.C. Raine didn’t know what it meant, but as a small motorbike drove up, the rest of the boys scattered. Raine caught herself suddenly staring at the man on the bike. He was around her age, maybe twenty-six or seven and he had the same shiny black hair the teenager. His eyes were dark too and framed by the longest eyelashes Raine had ever seen in real life. The man looked at the boy and cocked his head. The boy went over and got on the back of the bike.
“Are you okay, Miss?” the man asked her.
“Um, Yes, I’m fine,” she said, becoming increasingly aware of how dry her mouth had suddenly gotten.
“She was helping me,” the boy told him.
“Well, in that case, thank you for assisting my nephew,” the man said. “My name’s Jacy and the boy here is Ben.”
“Hi…and you’re welcome. I’m not sure I helped much.”
Jacy shrugged and said, “Most people wouldn’t have tried. Have a nice day Miss…”
“Raine,” she said. Jacy grinned, but didn’t say anything else. He and the boy both just gave her a little wave as he started the bike and drove away. Raine was left standing there wondering why that simple smile from the handsome stranger had left her heart racing and her breathing ragged. On top of that, she felt like she hadn’t had a drink of water in days. She took out the bottle she had brought with her and drank the whole thing down in big gulps.
***
Trying to shake off the obvious spark of attraction she had felt, Raine resumed her walk and her picture taking. After she’d gone a few miles up the trail she saw that although it didn’t end, the remainder of it seemed to be blocked from public entry by a large iron gate with a big metal lock on it. A barbed wire fence that had warning signs posted along it said: “No Trespassing without specific permission of the tribal leaders. Violators will be prosecuted.”
The old barbed wire of the fence and along the top of the metal gate had a fine rope of silver wire that ran through it as well. Raine assumed that was what the ‘Danger, electrified fence’ signs were about. She snapped some photos of it all, not sure what she would ever use them for. The other side of the fence looked so cool and inviting with all of its trees and other greenery.
She finally turned back around and headed back to town. Her curiosity about what she assumed to be Native American lands and why they were so protective of outsiders being on them had been peaked. It wasn’t marked as a reservation like the ones that she had seen in California were, but it seemed to be locked up as tight as Fort Knox. She walked the four or five miles back into town and found the diner once again.
The diner reminded her of something out of an old movie. It was aptly named and still had what looked to be its original peach colored Formica counter and matching vinyl stools that were riveted to the floor. There were glass displays behind the counter of delicious looking pies and tables surrounded big windows that looked out over the rest of the town. Besides Raine, there were only three or four other customers. She took a seat at the counter and a middle-aged red-headed woman in a peach colored waitress uniform came over with a pot of coffee.
“Coffee, hon?” the woman asked her.
“Sure, thanks,” Raine said. The woman poured her coffee and sat a little pitcher of creamer in front of her.
“Did you want to see a menu?” Raine was still pretty stuffed from her big breakfast, but the pies looked really good.
“Maybe just a small piece of that peach pie there,” she said.
The other woman smiled. “Big or small slice is the same price. I’ll give you a big one and if you can’t eat it all right now, it’ll make a fine midnight snack. This peach pie is what we’re famous for. But, I’m sure you figured that out on your way in,” the woman said, poking fun at the whole peach ambiance of the place.
Raine smiled. “Thank you,” she said. The woman cut the pie and sat a huge piece down in front of her.
“Are you new here in town?” she asked.
“I’m just here for a few days or maybe a week,” Raine replied. “My boyfriend is here for work, and I’m along for the ride, sort of. I’m an artist and I’m also looking for some inspiration while I’m here. It’s a really nice little town though. I’m glad I came along.”
The woman gave her a smile that said she thought Raine was just being polite. “It’s a tired old place,” she said. “I’ve been here my whole life, and things rarely ever change. This old diner’s been painted twice in my lifetime that I can recall, and both times they acted like it would implode upon itself if it wasn’t painted peach. I’m tempted to paint it lime next time and give a few of the old geezers in town a heart attack.”
Raine laughed at that and took a bite of her pie. After swallowing it she said, “I don’t know about the colors, but this is just about the best pie I’ve ever tasted.”
The woman smiled, “Good. My name is Shirley by the way, and I’m the current owner and baker. I still have dreams of leaving this old dusty town some day and starting my bakery up in the city, but I don’t know if they’d like my peach pie as much as they do out here in the middle of nowhere.”
“Well, I live in a city, and I’ve never tasted anything like this so I’m sure you’d do great,” Raine told her. “Hey, can I ask you a question?”
“Sure honey.”
“I was just up the trail that leads out of town taking some pictures and I came to the spot where it’s all fenced off and there are warning signs everywhere. What’s that about?”
Shirley sighed. “That’s probably this town’s biggest source of contention,” she said. “The Native Americans have eight recognized reservations in Montana. Most of those people that live on the reservations receive monthly checks from their government from the money the casinos and resorts their people built are making. It’s a good program, and one their government designed to make sure that some don’t go hungry while others are getting rich. Our own government should take a look at it if you ask me. But anyways, there are a group of them, a mixture of about five different tribes I think that bought their own piece of land just above our town here, between the mountains and us. They didn’t want to be supported off gambling money. They looked at it as a “hand-out” from their government. They formed a weird little mixed tribe and organized their own government. Since they don’t live on the actual reservation, they are subject to our laws, but they exist up there pretty peacefully these days.”
“What do they live on if they don’t take money from their tribes? Do they work in town?” Raine asked her.
“No, they try not to do too much here in town. I hate to admit it about my fellow citizens but the folks here have a long memory and they still punish these people today for things their ancestors did years ago.”
“Their ancestors? You mean like in the old west? Scalping’s and raids and all that?”
Shirley laughed, “No honey, nothing that dramatic. Modern ancestors. It was about thirty years ago when they bought that land and moved their little tribe onto it. They say it was their land to begin with and then in the 1800’s the government stole it from them. After that it was a wildlife preserve for a while and then they opened it up for hunting after the wildlife started procreating a little too much if you know what I mean. I’m not sure if all that’s true or not, but from what I know about history and Native Americans, I don’t doubt it. This little mixed tribe went into the lumber business and they knew how to harvest the trees and replant them, not taking too many so as to upset the ecology of it all. They also hunted and fished and planted a fe
w crops of vegetables for their own use. They formed a tight-knit, self-contained little group.”
