“He looked a bit sad when we left. That was the only bad part.”
Julia nodded as she chewed.
“Do you think we’ll be crazy, too?” asked Bird. “If everybody else is?”
Hannah opened the kitchen door. “I don’t want you kids to worry about that,” she said. “Every family has something to watch out for. Until Tanbark’s diagnosis, we thought we were just eccentric.” She smiled.
“But how will we know if we need help?” asked Julia.
“You will, now that you’re aware of what mental illness looks like. You’ve seen how it works.” Hannah put one hand on Julia’s shoulder and one on Bird’s. “You’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”
“What if we’re not?” Bird wanted a more solid assurance.
“Then we’ll figure that out. Together.”
Bird nodded. “Okay, I guess.” She was a little uneasy with this new concern. “But do you really think I’ll be fine? I can’t talk sometimes.”
Hannah put one hand on each girl’s shoulder. “Yes. I really think you’ll be fine. Both of you.”
There was a light tap on the kitchen screen door. Lucky jumped up to bark.
Bird saw their visitor first. “Sergeant Frank,” she said, and got up to open the door.
Julia stared at her sister, confused.
Hannah welcomed the man in. “Coffee? Tea? Have you had breakfast?”
“Hours ago, thanks, but I’ll have a coffee with milk and honey.” He smiled the smile that Bird had liked before. It warmed her somehow.
“What’s your name?” he asked Julia in his soft voice.
“Julia Simms,” she answered dutifully. “Why does everybody know you but me?”
Frank laughed kindly. “You’d already left the show grounds when I showed up, that’s why.”
Julia exhaled. “Oh, yeah. Mom had a meltdown.”
“Did you misbehave?” he asked, his voice warm with mischief.
“No! I don’t know why she left!” Julia was upset.
“I wasn’t serious, Julia. You look like you never misbehave.”
Julia studied him. “I do?”
“You do.” Frank spoke simply and honestly.
“Who are you? And why are you here?” she asked.
“Julia!” Hannah sent a warning look in her niece’s direction.
“No, no, Hannah. Those are good questions and I would like to answer them.” Frank sat down at the table and accepted the mug of steaming coffee that Hannah brought over from the counter. “I’m here to look into some irregularities.”
“What do you mean?”
“Some things are happening that shouldn’t be.”
“Here? At Saddle Creek Farm?” Julia exclaimed.
“Not at Saddle Creek Farm.” Frank smiled again. “I’m here to ask for help.”
Julia stared at him with widened eyes.
“I’m assuming that you will be discreet, and not mention my visit.”
Everyone nodded, but Julia nodded most vigorously.
“Good.”
Paul opened the kitchen door and stopped when he saw Frank. “Well! Good morning.”
Frank stood, and offered his hand. “Good morning. I’m Frank Skelton, sergeant with the RCMP.”
“And I’m Paul Daniels, doctor of veterinary medicine.” They shook hands in greeting. “Hannah told me you’d be dropping in.” Paul took a chair at the kitchen table.
Frank sat back down. “I’ll get right to it. We’re investigating events connected to show horses. Irregularities.” He nodded to Julia, then turned back to Paul. “To be exact, horses missing, injured, and killed for insurance purposes.”
Bird covered her mouth. Insurance fraud. She’d become far too aware of that dirty business since her grandfather’s misdeeds had come to light. This was worse than she’d imagined.
Frank continued. “I’m hoping that Bird can be helpful.”
Paul raised his eyebrows and glanced at Bird. “Really.”
Frank nodded, but said nothing.
Hannah brought Paul a cup of coffee, and refilled Frank’s mug.
“If anybody can help, you’ve got the right person in Bird.” Paul sent a proud glance in Bird’s direction.
The phone rang, and Hannah answered. “Hello? … Oh, Laura! … When is a good time? … We have company, but let me call you right back. … Bye.”
Hannah spoke to everyone. “Pete would like Bird to come over this morning to visit. I’m to call her back with a time.”
Frank said, “Why not now? I need to talk to Bird privately. I can drive her over in my car.”
Bird looked warily at Hannah, who nodded approval.
“Okay. I guess so,” said Bird. She felt cautious. She was about to enter the sinister world of police work. She did not take it lightly.
“I’ll pick you up in an hour,” said Hannah as she pressed the Piersons’ number.
Frank rose and shook hands with Paul and Hannah, and acknowledged Julia. “We’ll see more of each other, I’m sure,” he said. “Thanks for the coffee.”
Once outside, Bird got in the passenger side of the old black Chevrolet sedan that Frank was driving. It was scratched and filthy, and needed a new muffler. It needed a new everything, Bird thought. “Nice wheels, Frank.”
Frank laughed softly. “It’s my cover, but I couldn’t afford much better anyway.”
“I wasn’t insulting you.”
“I know. You couldn’t if you tried.”
They drove out the lane and down the gravel road. The Piersons didn’t live far away, and Bird waited for Frank to start explaining.
After a few seconds, he began to talk. “You have a gift with horses, Bird, and I’d like you to use it. I’ve taken a job with Dexter Pill to get inside his operation, and I’m learning what’s going on.”
That much she’d already guessed.
“His fingerprints don’t match the ones on the BB gun.”
Bird absorbed this new information. “Whose are they, then?”
“I’m working on it.”
“I thought for sure they’d be his!”
“Me, too. But there’s more. You know the horse Gladiator?” Bird nodded.
“He’s going to have an accident.”
Bird jolted forward. “What?”
“He’s fully insured at an inflated price. Dexter can’t sell him. The horse is fried.”
Bird knew what that meant. When a horse is so confused and insecure that he panics and fears everything, it’s considered “fried.” Only time and patience can help the horse regain his confidence and become able to work again. A fried horse is unsellable. Very few trainers were capable of reversing that mental condition.
Frank repeated, “He’s going to have an accident.”
“Holy. When?”
“Soon. We have to watch this situation carefully. My people have a saying: Never take your foot off the head of a snake.”
Bird thought this was a good concept, and very descriptive. “I want to learn more about our people’s sayings,” she said. “Can you teach me?”
Frank looked at the girl warmly. “Let me tell you about the two wolves.”
“Two wolves?”
“Yes. It’s a Cherokee legend. Two wolves live inside our heads. One is very bad — greedy, selfish, jealous, and evil. One is very good — loving, giving, kind, and generous. They always fight.”
“They fight?”
“Yes, they fight.”
“So, who wins?”
“The one we feed.”
Bird sat and thought about Frank’s story. It was a good one. She’d try to remember it, and try to feed her Good Wolf as often as she possibly could. Even when her mother drove her crazy.
They pulled in to the Merry Fields driveway and stopped at the kitchen door. Laura saw Bird through the window and threw open the door, smiling expectantly.
“I have to go, but how can I help with Glad?” Bird asked Frank, her hand on the door handle.
“I don�
��t know yet, but I want you to be ready when I call.”
She nodded. “I’ll do whatever I can. Can we stop this from happening?”
Frank stared straight ahead. “Possibly, but we may need something to happen to Glad in order to put Dexter away. We need proof.”
Bird’s head was swimming. She waved at Laura, indicating that she would be there in a minute. “This is horrible. Glad’s a good horse.”
“So were the other horses, Bird, and so are the ones yet to be affected. We must stop him.”
“Has Dexter done this before?”
Frank nodded. “Tall Sox? He was lucky that you and Sally stole him away.”
Now Bird was even more confused. “Tell me what you mean!”
“Be careful what you believe and who you believe. Tall Sox was on the list.”
“The list?”
Frank reached across Bird and opened her door. “Of vulnerable horses. Be ready when I call.”
She nodded slowly and got out.
“Bird, dear!” called Laura as Frank turned the car around and drove off. “Come on in! Pete wants to see you!”
Bird shook her head. Astonishing. Tall Sox? Was he still in danger? She walked to the house in a daze.
“Bird, dear? Are you feeling well?” Laura’s face was creased in concern.
“I’m fine. Really.” She tried to smile.
Laura looked down the road in the direction of the disappearing sedan. “Who was that?”
“He works for Dexter Pill.” Bird realized that she’d already fallen into her new job as secret agent. She hadn’t lied — Frank Skelton did work for Dexter Pill — but she hadn’t told the whole truth, either.
“You be careful who you take rides with, dear.”
Bird smiled. Mrs. Pierson would feel better if she knew that he was a policeman, but Bird couldn’t tell her. Horses’ lives were at risk, and Bird had a job to do. She wanted to do it well.
11
PETE'S VERSION
In the beginning of all things, wisdom and knowledge
were with the animals, for Tiraw, the One Above,
did not speak directly to man. … he showed himself
through the beast, and from them and from the stars
and the sun and the moon, should man learn.
— Eagle Chief (Letakos-Lesa), Pawnee
Pete Pierson was sitting in his big armchair beside the kitchen fireplace when Bird entered the room. She smiled with pure delight at how well he looked.
“Bird, my girl. Come on over here.” Pete reached out his arm and motioned for Bird to sit in the chair beside him. “How do I look?”
“A little better than you did in the hospital.”
“Only a little?”
Bird laughed. “But way better than you did when I saw you on the hall floor.”
Pete chuckled. “I should hope so.” He patted her arm. “I feel better, too.”
“That’s good,” said Bird. She squeezed his hand.
“So tell me what’s been going on,” Pete said. “I’m out of the loop.”
Bird wondered how much to tell. “Well, Sundancer’s in shape and ready to go. We had a little bad luck at the show on Friday, but there’s another one next week. I’d love you to come if you can.”
Pete grinned. “I’m on. Laura?”
Laura was at the counter. “I’m coming, too!”
“Where’s the coffee and cookies? People are hungry!”
“I made banana bread last night with vanilla icing. Nothing better on earth with coffee. Or milk.” She nodded to Bird as she carried a tray to the side table beside Pete, and began to serve.
“Pete first, of course,” she smiled. “It’s so good to have him home.” Laura kissed him on the top of his bald head.
“And so good to have visitors,” Pete added. “I was getting hard to please until you came over.”
“Never!” said Laura. “You’re always perfect!”
Pete turned to Bird. “You were asking me some questions at the hospital. About your father. I think I nodded off before I answered.”
“You did. I’d love to know all about him.” Bird took a big bite of the bread. “De-licious!” she mumbled through her mouthful.
“I don’t know very much. He came to Caledon for a rodeo competition at the fairgrounds. It was a really big deal. Everybody knew about Indie.”
“I remember!” exclaimed Laura. “There were posters and fliers and radio ads. He was unbeatable, and his advance publicity was huge. People lined up for autographs! He was very handsome.” She studied Bird’s face. “I always thought you took after him.”
Bird tucked her feet under herself and settled in. She was ready to listen for hours.
“I met him, too,” continued Pete. “I had an idea that he could give a seminar on horsemanship, but he was moving on and he had no interest. He was polite, but he declined.”
“It would’ve been very helpful for a lot of folk around here,” added Laura. “People need advice about horses, and who better to give it than the Indian Cowboy himself?”
“So, what happened then?” asked Bird.
“Well, the rodeo ended and the cowboys left town.”
Bird waited for more, then asked, “That’s all?”
“I told you I didn’t know much.”
Bird shook off her disappointment and probed Pete’s memory. “Did Mom meet him then?”
“No, I don’t think so. I think she met him later, in Calgary.”
“What do you know about how he died?”
“Only what was in the papers. A small plane went down. There were no survivors.”
Now Bird let the disappointment wash over her. It seemed that she’d never know more about her father than these few basic facts. Even when she’d Googled him, she only found a list of his rodeo championships. Nobody knew him except her mother, and Eva got upset with her for asking.
Laura tilted her head in sympathy. “Sorry, dear. That’s all we knew about him until we heard the gossip about Eva being pregnant.”
“Gossip from the gossipers,” Pete said angrily. “You’d think nobody had anything else to talk about!”
“Eva’s family took it hard, especially Kenneth. He was fit to be tied. Not Hannah, of course,” Laura added quickly. “She didn’t care if Eva’s child was half Indian.”
Bird was taken aback. “What do you mean?”
“Laura!” chastised Pete.
“I want to know!” Bird sat up and stared at Pete and Laura. “Tell me!”
Pete sighed. “The truth of the matter is this: People make generalizations. There’s a stereotype out there. People make judgments.”
“About what?” Bird asked.
Pete looked at Laura. “You tell her.”
Laura folded her hands in her lap. “Back then, there weren’t too many people in this community who weren’t white,” she said. “It’s all changing of course, as it should, and today it’s a much different world than when you were born, but” — she inhaled and stared at the wall for a few seconds before continuing — “when Eva got pregnant with a North American Native, chins wagged.”
It sure was different now, thought Bird as she pictured the variety of skin colours of the kids at her school. And the variety of religions, too. They were all just people to her. She couldn’t imagine it being different than that.
“Chins would’ve wagged anyway, Bird. They always do when a young woman gets pregnant out of wedlock,” said Pete.
“And Eva always caused a stir,” added Laura. “One way or the other.”
“True enough,” agreed Pete. “Your mother got a lot of attention.” Bird brought the subject back to her father. “But you’re telling me that people gossiped more because Indian Fred wasn’t white? Didn’t you tell me everybody admired him? Asked him for autographs? Stood in line to see him?”
“Oh, yes,” answered Pete. “Absolutely. It didn’t make sense to me, but Eva was almost shunned over it.”
Bird felt the u
nfairness of it. “Is that why she doesn’t like to talk about my father?”
Laura nodded in thought. “It was a very difficult time for her.”
“And is that why she didn’t ever tell me that I’m half Indian? Metis? Is that why she wants me to be blonde, like Julia?”
“I don’t know about that, Bird,” said Pete. “You’ll have to have a real conversation with your mother about it.”
“Right,” snorted Bird. “Like that’ll happen.”
“More banana bread, dear?” offered Laura.
Bird shook her head. “So tell me, what are these stereotypes you talked about?”
“There’s a problem with stereotypes, Bird,” said Pete. “They don’t usually fit.”
“I want to know.”
“They might fit one person but not the next, and we must always steer away from generalities, especially about groups of people, who are all separate individuals,” Pete explained carefully, “with individual traits.”
Bird knew he was trying to avoid her question. “I want adjectives.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes. Just give me three.”
Pete frowned as he spoke. “Lazy. Alcoholic. Unreliable.”
“Wow,” said Bird. Her stomach felt unsettled. She remembered Dexter calling Frank a lazy Indian. And accusing him of drinking on the job. “But that has nothing to do with my father! He wasn’t lazy or alcoholic or unreliable! Was he?”
“He sure wasn’t lazy. I know that for a fact.” Pete poured himself another cup of coffee.
“You mean he was an alcoholic and unreliable?”
“He wasn’t an alcoholic, either,” answered Laura. “But as for unreliable, I guess he didn’t stay around to be a father to you.” She murmured so quietly that Bird hardly heard her.
Bird inhaled deeply. She stood and picked up her plate and glass of milk. “Thank you both. I have a lot to think about.”
“You’re not leaving, are you?” asked Pete.
“Yes. I’m going to walk home.”
“We’ve upset you, dear.” Laura’s eyes looked worried.
“You’ve told me the truth. I appreciate that.” Bird put the plate and glass in the sink. “Nobody else has.” She turned to go.
“But there are good stereotypes, too, Bird,” Pete said firmly. “Preservers of nature. Wise. Spiritual. Brave. These are also stereotypes of Indians, and also not always true.”
Dark Days at Saddle Creek Page 12
