Qaletaqa

by Gladden, DelSheree

  “Claire, whatever this leads to, I’ll be there with you. I’ll help in whatever way I can. I don’t like pressuring you into this, but it could make a difference when I catch up to the Matwau. I don’t want to sound selfish, but if there’s some way you can help me get rid of the Matwau and save Melody I have to consider it. Please, Claire, Kaya can teach you.”

  “Teach me what, Uriah?” Claire looked to me, the question sincere. Turning away from me when I didn’t answer right away, she stared out the window at the plains of northern Colorado.

  “You won’t be like Quaile. You’ll be the kind of shaman we wish Quaile would have been for us. You’ll help people and be a good leader. You don’t even have to tell Quaile if you don’t want to. Kaya can teach you anything Quaile can,” I said, “probably a lot more.”

  I needed her to agree with me.

  “Thanks,” Claire said, “but it’s not that. I’m just afraid learning about these powers I’m supposed to have will change me, change something between us. What if my powers only make things worse with the bond?” Meeting my eyes, she waited for my response.

  I hesitated before answering. The bond seemed to urge me to speak. I could feel the need to make the connection with Melody as the bond pulsed around me. I tried to push those thoughts away. Making the bond was not why I wanted to find Melody. I just wanted to save her and hand her back over to Harvey. How did I make that clear to Claire, though? There was no way to say it without sounding like I only wanted to use her. I had to say it.

  “If you let Kaya teach you, she might be able to teach you how to see the possibilities of the future. If you could do that, we might be able to get a jump on what the Matwau is planning.” I stared at the road as I spoke. Not wanting her to see the shame in my face. “I don’t know what else might happen if your powers become involved, but I haven’t got any other ideas of how to get ahead of the Matwau. I don’t want to say it’s worth the risk, because I would never do anything that would put me in jeopardy of losing you, but really think you could help us. The way we’re connected, I think you’re meant to help me, not make things worse.”

  “But what if I’m only meant to help you save Melody and form the bond?” Claire asked.

  Speechless, I looked away. I felt her shift in her seat, but did not change my position.

  “I guess I never considered that,” I said. I chanced looking at her. She looked troubled, but not angry at my lack of forward thinking. I let out a breath and hugged her a little closer. “I refuse to lose you, Claire. If you don’t want to do this, I won’t ask again.”

  “Do you really think it would help? Could Kaya really teach me about seeing the future? I mean, what if I’m not even ready for that yet. What if it doesn’t work?” she asked.

  “If it doesn’t work, oh well. We’re back where we started,” I said. “But if it does work? Well, that could make a huge difference in how everything works out. As far as Melody goes, shaman have nothing to do with a bond forming, so I honestly don’t think your powers being involved would mean anything.”

  Nodding slowly, Claire absently picked at a loose thread on her jeans. I wished I could tell what she was thinking. Talon could, but I would never have asked him to tell me, even though it would have been extremely useful at times. Talon was out scouting the area anyway. He had no time to play telephone with Claire’s thoughts.

  “Okay,” Claire finally said, “I’ll try.”

  I leaned over and kissed her forehead, relief and more than a bit of fear nestling in the pit of my stomach. “Thank you.”

  That brought a smile to Claire’s face, and I felt bad for having made it disappear in the first place. It would be worth it in the end. Claire had raised some valid concerns, but I was sure this would help us. I had been through too many fantastic things in the past few weeks to have it all be for nothing. If Claire was a shaman, it had to be so she could help me.

  “Did Kaya want me to call her?” Claire asked.

  I reached for the phone just as it started ringing. The surprise held my hand for a second. “Kaya must be anxious to get started,” I said. Picking up the phone, I saw a Colorado phone number on the display. It wasn’t Kaya. It was Harvey again.

  Claire saw the number as well. “Harvey?”

  I nodded. I felt bad or him, being stuck at home waiting for updates, but there was just no way I could let him come with us. It was too much of a risk. I answered the call on the fourth ring.

  “Hey, Harvey,” I said.

  “Any news yet?” Those were the first words out of his mouth the last time he had called.

  “We’re still just following the trail,” I admitted.

  That was what we had been doing all day. First we headed south out of Boulder, then west, all the way to Grand Junction. We thought we were on the right track when the bond suddenly flip-flopped and started yanking me in the opposite direction, back toward Denver. After an infuriating detour down to Castle Rock, we were heading north again. I had no idea how long that would last.

  Claire and I were both pretty sick of following the bond around like blind ducks, but until we had another plan there was no other choice. We had spent a whole day driving and had yet to leave Colorado or find anything useful. I hated knowing I was being toyed with. Not being able to do anything about it was even worse.

  “The bond is starting to pull me east somewhat. It looks like we may be heading up toward some place named Greeley for the time being. He could change at any time, though.”

  I hated admitting that I had no idea where we were going. Blindly into a trap most likely.

  “Well, I have a few more thoughts on the location,” Harvey said.

  Claire tapped on my arm and pointed at a sign for a rest stop coming up. I nodded and moved into the right lane.

  “What did you find?” I asked Harvey.

  “Well, I narrowed down the list I gave you this morning after looking into them a little more. What I call a forest and what other people call a forest are apparently not the same thing.”

  I heard some paper being moved around as Harvey paused.

  “Some of the supposed forests were barely anything more than a few scraggly juniper trees. I crossed those off the list. I’m down to twenty-five.”

  Twenty-five. That was still way too many. Even ten would be nearly impossible. I needed something closer to two or three possibilities.

  “I know twenty-five is still a lot,” Harvey said, “but I’ll keep working on it. I’ll get the list down as soon as I can. Have you talked to Melody again?”

  How did I know that question was coming? “No, Harvey, I haven’t. It only works when we’re both asleep unfortunately.”

  I was itching to know whether Melody had been able to find anything out that might help us. As glad as I was to have time to sit next to Claire, I was counting the hours until nightfall. Mostly I needed more information, but another part of me just wanted to see her again, to touch her, and feel that terrible connection one more time.

  Crushing the phone against my ear, I tried to pay attention to what Harvey was saying.

  “If you’re heading toward Greeley, there are areas in both Wyoming and Montana that he might be leading you to. If you keep heading in that direction, let me know. I can give you the GPS coordinates for each area. You can just punch them into the phone I gave you,” he said. “It might not help very much if you already know where you’re heading, but you may be able to find a quicker route if you know where he’s leading you.”

  “I’ll let you know if we change directions before we reach the Wyoming border.” I wanted to believe that the Matwau was considerate enough to take a nice direct route to his final destination, but I feared the path would jut off somewhere new when I least expected it.

  “Uriah,” Claire whispered, pointing at the off ramp leading to the rest stop.

  “Just a minute, Harvey, I need to pull over,” I said into the phone. I flipped on the blinker and made a not very smooth lane change.


  “Sorry,” I whispered to Claire. As soon as I pulled into a parking space, Claire leapt out of the car and dashed off to the bathroom. Suddenly alone, I felt Melody’s presence stronger than before. I could hear Harvey saying something, but all I could think about was how I was going to make it through another visit with Melody.

  At least I had Claire with me during the day. Her warmth gave me strength every time I felt a shift in the bond. Melody had nothing, no one to turn to when she was scared and alone. I was afraid of becoming her only support. The leather bracelet on my arm shifted suddenly, reminding me of how both Claire and I had used our memories to give us strength.

  The idea of hearing endearing stories about the woman I was trying hard not to think about sounded like torture, but I knew it would help Melody, which in the end would hopefully help us both. It was time once again to test the strength of love formed by choice and commitment over love formed by Fate.

  “Harvey,” I cut in, not bothering to pretend I had been listening, “I need you to do something else for me.”

  18: Catching Up

  I thought Harvey was trying to explain the differences in the forests around each spot to see if I could tell him which one sounded more familiar when I interrupted him. The fact that I hadn’t responded to him in a while might have been a clue that I wasn’t listening very well, but my sudden break in the conversation let him know for sure. Irritation seared through his voice when he spoke.

  “What?” he asked.

  I could almost hear the thoughts running through his mind. He was doing everything he could, everything I would let him do to help Melody, and I wasn’t even listening to him. Now I wanted something else from him. He was probably wondering if that help go unnoticed as well. I took a deep breath and started off my request with an apology.

  “Sorry, Harvey, I didn’t mean to interrupt you,” I said. “I know you’re working hard to help me find the meeting place, and I appreciate it, I do, but I need you to do something else for me. I need you to tell me about Melody.”

  He hesitated, probably wondering why on earth I would need specifics about his wife. It was hardly the time for casual conversation. “You want me to tell you more about Melody?” he asked. “Why? I think the descriptions of the forests I was trying to tell you about would be a lot more helpful.”

  “We can talk about the forests in a minute, but first I need you to tell me something about you and Melody, something that will give her strength,” I said. My voice strained to get everything out without letting my emotions slip through as well.

  Harvey seemed surprised by my faltering. I knew he worried about how Melody was being treated and cared for. He, like me, was sure she was scared being alone with her captor, but I knew I sounded so much more worried than I had before. Harvey probably knew I wasn’t being completely honest with him before. Claire and I had scared him enough to make him listen despite his fears. Apparently that fear had just been overruled. Harvey wanted real answers.

  “Uriah, what’s really going on? Is Melody in danger?” he demanded.

  That was the one thing about my story I knew Harvey found the hardest to believe, even though it was the one thing I wanted him to believe the most. Probably the one thing he wanted to believe most as well.

  I said nothing at first. I knew he wouldn’t accept any more lies from me, but I didn’t know how much, or what, to tell him. The whole truth was obviously out of the question.

  “She’s…fine,” I said.

  The hesitation sent Harvey’s breathing into an angry rhythm. I knew it hadn’t been enough, but I was struggling to come up with something to say to him. I had promised him I could bring Melody back to him, but I sounded like I had no idea about anything. Whatever trust he had talked himself into placing in me was gone. Trust only went so far when it was one sided.

  “Harvey, look…”

  I was going to say more, but a sudden screeching of horns on the interstate interrupted my thoughts. I look over my shoulder to see a small blue sedan swerve across three lanes of traffic, barely missing a green SUV and lurching onto the exit ramp. I stared at the sedan. Something about it seemed familiar. When the driver hit the ramp, he kept going, looking like he wasn’t even going to stop. The ramp speed limit was only fifteen miles per hour, but I didn’t think the driver came down to that speed until seconds before careening to a stop next to my truck.

  The furious face that stared out the window at me made me jump. Harvey! What on earth was he doing here? How had he even found me? I jumped out of the truck and stared at the little blue sedan Harvey was climbing out of. I glanced back behind me, and then back at his car. My hand came up and ran through my hair slowly.

  Stalking around the car, Harvey faced me. I was more than half a foot taller than him, but the fury Harvey barely held in check made me pull up and take a step back.

  “Tell me what’s going on, right now,” Harvey said. He couldn’t force his jaw open to utter the question, but each word came out clear enough to be heard.

  “Harvey, please calm down. Melody is fine, I promise,” I said.

  “Damn it, Uriah! Fine for how long? You need stories about me and Melody so she can stay strong! Why does she need stories? What is she facing that makes you so scared she won’t be able to face it alone?”

  Harvey’s hands balled into fists as he waited. He needed to hear that he was overreacting. I knew the next words he wanted to hear out of my mouth were that Melody was only missing him and needed her spirits lifted. Those words never came.

  My eyes fell and my shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry, Harvey. I lied to you about almost everything.”

  Harvey’s fist left his side before I fully processed what he was doing. Fire raced through my jaw, but Harvey seemed to get the worst of it. Cradling his hand, his knees buckled and dropped him to the pavement. A sharp scream was quickly stifled as he cradled his hand against his chest.

  He had probably never punched anyone before. If he had known how much it would have hurt, and if he’d had a split second more to even think about it, he may not have done it. But then again, maybe he would have judging by the look on his face right before he swung at me. I rubbed my jaw. It wasn’t the hardest I’d ever been hit, but for a smaller guy he had decent punch.

  Harvey glanced up at me, pain filling his eyes. I doubted, though, that the majority of his pain came from punching me. Fear that his wife was about to die was killing him. I reached my hand out to help him up. He looked at me with a strange expression, like he didn’t understand why I wasn’t angry with him. I didn’t blame him for hitting me. I would have done the same thing. The ache in my jaw was going to last for a while, but I felt sorrier for him. His hand was beet red. It was going to hurt longer than my face. What I really felt bad about was lying to him. Maybe Harvey saw that because he reached for my hand.

  “Harvey!” Claire called out as she raced over to me. Her hand reached up to touch my reddened cheek. I winced a bit at the pressure and her eyes hardened. She turned on Harvey, anger spilling off of her.

  “What are you doing here? And why are you fighting with Uriah?” The words came out much more like accusations and demands than actual questions.

  “I’ve been following you since you left my house, tracking the GPS device in Melody’s phone. I knew Uriah didn’t tell me the truth last night, at least not all of it, and for that he deserves what he got,” Harvey said bravely. Harvey looked angry, but I was putting my money on Claire. She had a lot more practice fighting with people thanks to her dad than Harvey probably had. Her eyes seared into Harvey, but he stood his ground.

  “Uriah is doing everything he can to save Melody. How dare you show up and hit him! You have no idea what Uriah has gone through, and will go through to get your wife back to you. How dare you!” she spat.

  Harvey looked like he had an equally heated answer ready for her, but my movement stopped him. I reached a hand up and gently pushed down the accusatory finger Claire had raised at Harvey. She opened h
er mouth to say something, but the slow shake of my head kept the words from forming. Her lips pressed together in irritation. Instead she only turned to glare at Harvey. My gaze fell on him as well.

  Eventually I asked, “Are you okay?”

  He looked so lost, like everything was slipping out of his control faster than he could even understand. “I need the truth, Uriah.”

  Harvey shook his injured hand. Satisfied that everything was in the right place, he seemed to put the pain out of his mind and refocused on getting answers. “I can’t do this without knowing what I’m facing, or what Melody is facing. I need to know what I’m up against.”

  I turned away from him and put my hands on the hot metal of the truck. I stared past the parked vehicles before letting my head sink down between my shoulders. I was defeated, which scared me more than I cared to admit. I had to tell Harvey the truth. How he would react, what this knowledge would push him to do, I had no idea. Harvey must have known his answer was coming, because he let me take my time.

  “Melody told me I should have trusted you with the truth,” I finally said. “She also said that you would never have let me tell you to stay at home. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that she was right.”

  “Melody’s pretty much always right,” Harvey said. “She can see the truth of any situation, and she’s the best judge of character I know.” Harvey smiled knowing she had stood up for him. I know I wasn’t the easiest person to stand up to, physically, or otherwise. They had both done it, though. It gave me hope that their love for each other really was strong enough.

  “Tell me what’s really happening,” Harvey asked. This time there was no anger, simply a desperate need to understand.

  “I lied about Melody being in danger, and about what her role is in this.”