Qaletaqa

by Gladden, DelSheree

  Harvey rubbed his fingers in little circles over his temples. “How am I supposed to figure out where he’s taking her? I don’t know anything about your legends.”

  “This won’t take knowing about Tewa mythology,” I said quickly. “The answer won’t be in a legend. It will be on a map. You need to find places where the forest meets the desert. Once you have some ideas, Uriah can help you narrow them down.”

  “Maps, I can do maps. I’ve hiked all over Colorado using nothing but maps, and I work as a mountain guide, but there are thousands of deserts and thousands of forest in the world. How am I going to narrow that down?” Harvey asked.

  “It will be in the Southwest,” Uriah said. “He’ll stay in the Southwest, where he’s most familiar, but probably not in New Mexico. He’ll most likely expect me to know my own state the best.”

  I chuckled to myself at that thought. Before my father drugged me with the Shaxoa’s potion, Uriah had been away from our small town few enough times that he would need only one hand to count the trips. Unless the Matwau was waiting somewhere in the valleys and mesas just outside San Juan, Uriah would have as much hope of being familiar with some random spot in New Mexico as he would be with any patch of desert in the Sahara.

  “Well, that’s something to start with, I guess.” Harvey looked down at his worn out tennis shoes as he considered Uriah’s plan. “How will I get in contact with you if I find something?”

  “Do you have something I can write on?” Uriah asked.

  Harvey ducked into the kitchen and returned with a little notepad and plain yellow pencil. He handed them to Uriah expectantly.

  Uriah began scribbling down the number I had learned by heart on my drive from San Juan. Handing the pencil and notepad back to Harvey, he said, “This is my cell phone number. Call it anytime you need an update on what we’re doing or if you have something to tell us.”

  “Are you sure about me staying behind? I can’t stand the thought of Melody being alone and scared,” Harvey said.

  “I’m sure, Harvey. You staying here is the best way to help her. I promise,” Uriah said.

  “Does your phone have GPS on it?” Harvey asked.

  Uriah shook his head. “No, but it has the internet, if that helps.”

  “Here, take this with you,” Harvey said after grabbing a small device and charger off a shelf. “It’s Melody’s cell phone. It has full GPS capabilities on it. We use it when we go hiking sometimes. If I find anything on the maps, I can give you the coordinates and you can use the phone to find the right spot. Keep the phone on while you have it so you can let me know where you are if you need to.”

  “Thank you, Harvey,” Uriah said. “We’ll find her. I promise.” Uriah’s hand came up and squeezed Harvey’s shoulder. Harvey clenched his jaw in fearful determination.

  Taking his wallet out of the back pocket of his jeans, Harvey stuck the paper with Uriah’s phone number inside. He began folding the creased brown leather back up when he suddenly stopped. His fingers went right to the little plastic envelopes in the center and removed a wallet sized picture from the first plastic cover. He held the photo out to Uriah and I held my breath as I waited for his reaction.

  Uriah put his hand up, turning the offered picture away. My heart leapt at the gesture.

  “Keep it,” Uriah said. “I already know what she looks like.”

  An unwelcome heat spread through my chest at his words. He already knew her, knew her well enough never to forget her brilliant green eyes or soft auburn waves. How tight of a hold did the bond already have on him? I wondered. Did he even realize the danger he was in? The two wrapped up their plans as I stood next to Uriah, not hearing anything beyond my own trembling thoughts.

  6: Answer

  I closed the driver’s side door of my old pickup and sank into the seat. When we had pulled up to the little cottage I never expected to come face to face with the husband of my Twin Soul. The pressure to find a way out seemed to keep mounting no matter what I did. The one option I thought I’d had never really existed in the first place. How strong was I? I knew the strength of my love for Claire, but I knew the strength of the Twin Soul bond as well. As I sat shivering in my seat I wished I knew which one was stronger.

  Claire’s soft hand reached over and took my bandaged one in hers. She stared at the tightly wrapped gauze with a frown, but remained quiet. I had no doubt she knew where the injury had come from. The smell of the potion I gave her held the unmistakable scent of blood.

  Talon slipped into my thoughts. “We should be on our way, Uriah.”

  I hesitated. Putting the key in the ignition meant letting go of Claire’s hand. Loosing Claire’s touch meant feeling Melody that much more clearly. Hearing about Melody had been harder than I’d expected. There were so many similarities between us they were impossible to miss. I knew Claire had recognized the same things, and I was thankful that she didn’t feel the need to discuss them.

  Glancing at Claire, I studied her face, trying to forget the picture Harvey tried to give me. I needed no more reminders of her. The pull of the bond was more than enough. The touch and sight of Claire helped me push the bond away, but Talon once again nudged his way into my mind.

  “Uriah, what you said about the Matwau’s creatures coming back to this place is most likely correct. I would like to put some distance between us and this cottage before stopping for the night,” Talon said.

  I sighed. Talon had of course heard everything I said inside the cottage, because I thought it first. Sometimes our ability to communicate through our thoughts was an immense blessing, but sometimes I wished for the peace of a quiet mind.

  “I will teach you when we stop,” Talon said.

  “Teach me what?” I asked.

  “How to keep the thoughts you do not want to share from reaching my mind.

  I grunted, realizing that Talon had heard my complaint. “I didn’t mean that badly, Talon. I am very grateful of your help. I just need some privacy sometimes.”

  “I understand. I will teach you, but first we should leave this place.” Talon’s paw reached up to scratch against the glass, bringing my eyes to his. I never realized how much emotion could hide in a cat’s eyes before meeting Talon. His eyes held urgency, and I knew better than to ignore his advice.

  “Are they close?” I asked.

  “I think a few are already here.”

  I jerked around to stare out the window. The low bushes and sprawling undergrowth that filled the forest floor prevented me from seeing anything outside the glow of the cottage’s porch light. I looked for the small flashes of canine eyes reflecting the light, but found nothing. Either their eyes were somehow different from what they once were, or they had concealed themselves too well for me to see them. Neither possibility sounded very comforting.

  “I don’t see any of them. Are they very close?”

  “I do not know exactly where they are, but every other forest animal has abandoned this spot. They fear these creatures and will not abide their presence,” Talon said.

  “What are they doing?”

  “Watching, I think. They are not here to harm you, simply to watch you for their master.” Talon paused, searching the forest again. “Even still, I do not think it is wise to remain here. We need to leave.”

  I couldn’t delay any longer.

  Taking my hand out of Claire’s, I brought the key to the ignition and pushed the sputtering engine to life. Driving down the two lane road proved to be a lonely experience. I was actually glad to see two headlights appear behind me as we left the back roads and once again reached the main street. We were back out on Highway Thirty-Six before Claire finally spoke.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  After how I had completely dropped out of the conversation with Harvey and then nearly bit his head off, it was a fair question to ask. I didn’t really know how to answer it, though.

  “Uh, yeah, I guess,” I muttered. “I wasn’t expecting any of that. How could she
be married?”

  “If I were a few months older, we would be married too,” Claire said, her soft voice trying to cover her amusement.”

  I sighed in irritation. “You know what I mean. Melody being married makes everything that much harder. I can’t handle any more pressure. I’m about to crack as it is. I can’t stand the thought of what will happen to Harvey if…” I couldn’t finish that sentence. The dip of Claire’s head said she knew exactly what I didn’t want to say. “I’m so scared of failing, Claire. I’ve hurt so many people already. I can’t bear the thought of harming anyone else.”

  Rubbing her hand comfortingly up and down my thigh didn’t do as much to calm me as I would have liked. “I know there’s a lot of pressure on you,” Claire said, “but you have to focus on the positive side.”

  “Like what?” I asked.

  “She has someone she wants to come back to. Harvey absolutely adores Melody. That was obvious. And I’m sure Melody loves him just as much,” Claire said. “If Melody didn’t have someone she wanted to run back to, well, that would only make this harder than it already is. Harvey is a blessing.”

  Even with how much added pressure I felt because of Harvey, I had to admit Claire was right. If I didn’t have Claire, there would be nothing to stop me from falling for Melody. It would be Claire and Daniel all over again. Only many times worse.

  “Do you think I was wrong to lie to him?” I asked.

  “No,” Claire said quickly. “Harvey wouldn’t have understood what’s going on. It was hard enough for him to accept what you did tell him.”

  I nodded. I still wasn’t sure either of us was right, but it made me feel better to hear Claire agree with me. Selfish reasons or not, I didn’t want Harvey coming with us. Claire fell into a thoughtful silence and I hoped any other questions she had after meeting Harvey would stay buried for now. Some of those questions, I didn’t think I had the strength to answer. Settling into my seat again, I wanted nothing more than to hold Claire. Claire, however, suddenly decided she wasn’t done with her questions after all.

  It was a simple question, but one I had purposely not covered before.

  “You already knew what she looked like?”

  Taking my right hand off the steering wheel, I dropped it into hers and held on tightly. “I saw her when she was taken.”

  “You saw her?”

  “The second he grabbed her, these images jumped into my mind. I saw her face. She was crying and terrified. Then I saw the Matwau standing over her laughing. I was so scared for her.” I had been terrified of what might happen to her. The vision left me lying on the floor, curled up in pain. I didn’t share that part with Claire. Her grip had already grown tighter on my hand. She was scared. I was still scared of what my future held, but I had to have faith in my love for Claire.

  “It didn’t stop you from bringing me the potion, though,” Claire said. Her voice was soft, almost unsure.

  “No, I had already made my choice about that. Whatever happened to Melody, there was no way I was going to leave you to fend for yourself any longer,” I said. “It was a mistake to have left you in the first place.”

  Claire sat quietly for a few minutes. I wondered what she was thinking about. I wanted her to know that I was just as scared as she was, but at the same time I was afraid that admitting my fears would only deepen hers. I wanted to turn away from Melody and be sure of my fate, but I knew that I never could. My happy life with Claire would always be tainted by the memory of the young woman I had condemned to death. I wanted no regrets when I finally met Claire in front of the Elders. Our life together as man and wife should start with hope, not sadness.

  Claire dumped the Shaxoa’s potion down the sink, knowing full well the risk she was taking. She smothered the bond with her love for me. That gave me strength beyond anything else. She had faith that we would be together despite the battle looming in the distance. If she had wanted to take the easy way out, she could have. But I think she would have had the same problem following her through life if she did. Guilt. I was in need just as much as Melody. I needed her help and she knew that. Claire could no more abandon me when I needed her than I could turn my back on Melody. It was a strange chain that had linked us all together, but somehow we would make it work.

  “Do you know how far away she is?” Claire asked.

  The words broke me out of my thoughts. “I have a sense of the distance between us, but I don’t really how far away she is.”

  Claire bit the corner of her mouth and turned away from me briefly. When she looked back at me, her cheeks were flushed in the pale moonlight, her breathing a little faster than before. The sudden change worried me. I desperately wanted to know what she was thinking. Why couldn’t my connection with Talon have stretched just a little bit further to other humans?

  “Is she far enough away that we’ll need to stop for the night?” Claire asked.

  The question startled me. My mind raced to understand the emotions playing on Claire’s features and in her body language. Did the blood rushing to her cheeks show embarrassment or desire? Had her breathing changed because she was worried about spending the night with me, or because she thought it might be our last night together? A few days earlier I would have been able to guess her desires, we had talked about it often enough to know what we wanted, but sitting next to her now, I felt lost.

  My own emotions were roiling inside of me. I hadn’t even thought about sleeping until Claire’s question left her lips. The feelings I had experienced after learning that Claire had been sleeping in my bed while I was in Hano came flooding back, intensified beyond belief. I wanted her as close to me as possible. I wanted her to fall asleep in my arms and wake up in the same place. There were definitely things I wanted to do between those two events as well.

  I realized I still hadn’t answered her question. Melody’s presence hovered in the back of my mind. The distance between us was almost tangible. I would never reach her tonight. Breathing in a deep, steady breath, I tried to answer in the calmest voice possible. “Yes, I think we’ll have to stop for the night.”

  Even with my careful preparation, my voice came out a touch too high and shaky. I waited for Claire’s response.

  Her body softened and leaned against me. “Okay,” was all she said.

  The breath I had been holding wanted to explode out of me, but I forced it to leave slow and smooth. Okay? What did that mean? Glancing away from the road, I looked down at Claire. Her eyes were closed, her face peaceful. I looked back into the night. The striping arched into the darkness, leading me on. I had no idea what the next few days would bring, let alone the next few hours, but I knew that for some reason my answer had been the one Claire needed.

  7: Shield

  The deep quiet left after the harsh rumbling of the truck’s engine woke Claire. She looked up at the hotel sign. An expression I had no interpretation for flitted across her face before she quelled it with a yawn.

  “Give me a minute,” I said. “Talon needs to talk to me about something. I’ll be right back.”

  Smiling at me sleepily, Claire dug her cell phone out of her pocket. “I’m going to call my mom and let her know we’re okay. She was furious when she found out I left San Juan. I promised to keep her updated.”

  “Good idea,” I said. “Would you mind calling my mom too? Tell her I love her and I’ll call her in the morning. I need to talk to Talon right now.”

  Claire nodded and absently tugged at her rumpled shirt as she started dialing. The movement drew my eye, and for the first time I looked at what she was wearing. Green and yellow were our junior high’s school colors. Claire turned to look at me and I saw the cracked white lettering on the front of the shirt. Carlos F. Vigil Junior High School Track and Field. A grin broke out across my face. Claire never ran track. I did.

  Following my gaze, Claire looked down at her shirt. She glanced back up sheepishly. “Do you mind?”

  I leaned in close to her. “I love it,” I said befo
re stealing a kiss from her.

  I was sorry to pull back, but a nudge from Talon reminded me that he was waiting. I gently closed the truck door and walked toward the edge of the deserted parking lot where Talon hid behind a stand of decorative bushes. An old, dark colored sedan pulled into the far end of the hotel parking lot, leaving me pretending to casually stretch my legs. I watched the car drive around the side of the building before continuing my walk.

  “I am going hunting,” Talon said when I finally reached him, “but before I go, I need to teach you how to shield your thoughts from me.”

  His phrasing struck me as odd. He needed to teach me?

  “Yes, I need to teach you. I will hunt, but I will not go far enough away to be spared what you will undoubtedly be thinking about tonight,” Talon said.

  Blood rushed to my face, lighting up my embarrassment. Why hadn’t he taught me to shield my thoughts sooner? My embarrassment turned quickly into irritation at my friend when I realized that he could have taught me the trick at any time, but chose not to.

  Talon’s strange feline laugh filled my mind. He was not sorry. I wondered if it were possible to embarrass a cougar.

  “Yes, I could have taught you at any time.”

  “Then why didn’t you?” I asked. Talon had proved immensely helpful, as well as being a good friend, but I was still pretty annoyed with him.

  “I kept you safe by listening to your thoughts. If I had taught you how to shield your thoughts in the beginning, I may not have gotten to you in time, and you would have ended up dead. I could not take the risk of letting you decided what you would pass on to me,” Talon said. There was no apology really, just a statement of fact as usual. His logical mind had so far never been wrong. Most likely he was right again. I gave up my irritation reluctantly and came back to the reason I was standing behind a row of bushes.