Red Mesa

by Aimée

  Ella looked at her daughter, who was still sleeping in the car seat without a care in the world. The thought that someone might come after her for real when Dawn was with her worried Ella. Maybe it would be better if she stopped taking Dawn on outings for a while. She hated the thought of making any concessions out of fear, but she wouldn’t risk Dawn.

  Ten minutes later, Ella put her daughter to bed, and sometime during Ella’s reading of The Little Lamb, Dawn fell asleep again.

  Rose met Ella out in the hallway. “Why do you make the child sleep when she doesn’t want to?”

  “I don’t think you can make a child go to sleep if she’s not sleepy. But if she takes a nap now, she won’t be as crabby later. Kids get tired, but they don’t always know it until they’re put to bed.”

  “Spoken like an Anglo.”

  Ella closed her eyes and opened them again. “Mom, if you don’t start agreeing with me on some rules, she’s going to be hopelessly spoiled.”

  “You and your brother seem to have turned out all right,” Rose shot back, annoyed.

  Ella smiled grudgingly. “But we’re not talking about me or Clifford. Mom, Short Stuff’s a very active kid. If you’d set regular hours for her, it would be easier for you, too.”

  “I know what she needs,” Rose said flatly. “That child needs to be raised like a Navajo.”

  “She is. But learning a few things from the Anglos wouldn’t hurt.”

  Rose sat down slowly, and grimaced as she settled against the chair cushion.

  “Mom, are you okay?”

  “Some days are better than others. My legs can still ache from time to time.” Rose reached around and removed a crocheted shawl from atop the back of her chair and draped it over her legs.

  Since the accident when a drunk driver had smashed into her mother’s old pickup, Rose often had difficulty getting around. She could go for several days without pain, but when the weather turned cool as it was doing now, her joints seemed to give her a lot of problems.

  “You really have to let me hire someone to come here to help you with my kid. She’s almost too much to handle some days, Mom.”

  “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of her when you’re at work. Don’t insult me.”

  Ella knew that to Rose, bringing someone else into her home to help with the work was tantamount to admitting she was growing old. Ella had no desire to hurt her mother’s feelings, but she had to find a way to get her to face facts.

  “Mom, we could hire a young woman from a traditionalist family.”

  Rose shook her head. “They would never come to work for us.”

  Ella took a deep breath, then let it out again. Rose was right. Their “legacy” had made them pariahs to many. “But not all the traditionalists feel that way. Many of the clans see our family as a force for good.”

  “Since the time of Mist Eagle, our family has been feared and shunned by others. But now that you and your brother have each had only one child, many are afraid that both children will turn to evil. It was always believed that two children in each family would keep the scales balanced. With only one, the balance is gone, and they’re afraid of what two evil forces will do if they combine. They’re watching all of us carefully to make sure we don’t attempt to hide anything that could endanger the tribe.”

  “I’m not evil and neither is my brother, so why do they think the kids will be?”

  “That’s just it, daughter. They believe one of you has already chosen evil, and the remaining one might be persuaded to follow. If that happens the children will be corrupted. They already know what gifts you and your brother have, but the children still represent an unknown, and that terrifies many. Just be careful what you do or say.”

  “Are you sure about this?”

  Rose nodded once. “It started when people saw you push your brother off the roof during the confrontation with those terrible people. Since no one could prove your actions saved your brother’s life, people are waiting and watching, looking for a clearer sign. They haven’t passed judgment yet, but that could come at any time.”

  Ella nodded slowly. “That will complicate things. Finding someone to come and help you won’t be as easy as I’d hoped.”

  “I’ll take care of my granddaughter. I don’t want a stranger in my house.”

  Ella said nothing, but decided to go ahead with her search anyway. Rose needed help, and not just with Dawn.

  Ella watched her mother stare at her cane. “It’s no shame to use that, you know,” Ella said.

  “It slows me down.”

  “I’m home today, Mom. I’ll take care of things. Just relax.”

  She saw her mother trying to get up, then slipping back into the chair cushion. Ella handed her the cane, then held out her hand, but Rose pulled away. “I am not helpless.”

  “Mom, you were hurt in a really bad car accident, and for a while we didn’t know if you’d ever be able to walk again at all. This isn’t about being helpless. This is about being human. We’re family, and it’s okay if we help each other. How many times did you help me when I got the flu, or when I sprained my ankle one time trying to beat Clifford in a race?”

  Rose smiled. “You were only twelve, but even then you were the most stubborn child I’d ever seen—until now. My granddaughter is a lot like you in that way. When she decides that she wants to do something, that girl acts like nothing in the world can stop her.”

  Hearing Dawn moving around in the nursery, Ella left her mother and went to her daughter.

  Hoping to get Dawn to expend some of her excess energy, Ella took her out for a walk along a path leading to an old pasture, holding her tiny hand and letting Dawn set the pace. Two, the family mutt, ambled along beside them. As they reached the shelter made of cottonwood branches that had once served as a lean-to for sheep, Two suddenly stopped and bared his teeth.

  Ella picked Dawn up instantly. She’d expected Dawn to start crying or show fear, but as if she, too, had seen or sensed danger, Dawn became very still.

  Ella only had the backup .22 derringer in her boot. She made it a point not to wear a holster when she was with her daughter, afraid that the little girl would reach for the weapon.

  Now, as she watched the bushy terrain ahead, she couldn’t sense or see anything other than a few sparrows and a mourning dove. But another look at Two convinced her that something or someone was nearby. The animal’s hackles were raised and his deep-throated growl signaled he was ready to fight.

  Ella backed away, listening and visually searching the area around her, then turned and jogged back to the house. Leaving Dawn with Rose, she retrieved her service pistol and went back outside. Two hadn’t moved, nor had he sat down.

  Ella went on ahead, moving carefully and searching for tracks. The dog finally joined her and stayed at her side, sniffing the air.

  Ella was thorough, but she found nothing. As she glanced down at the dog, she saw that Two had relaxed and his hackles were back down.

  “I wish you could talk, Two. I’d love to know what it was you saw, or what your nose told you about who or what was here.”

  They returned to the house without incident, but Ella was still tense. As she looked at Dawn, she tried to make sense out of her child’s reaction. Dawn normally would have loudly protested being picked up quickly like that. Yet she’d remained quiet, her eyes glued straight ahead.

  Ella sat down on the floor with Dawn, who was sorting her plastic blocks by color. “Daughter, when we went for a walk, did you see anyone out there besides Two?”

  Dawn looked up, her dark brown eyes wide as she shook her head.

  Rose watched them for a moment. “What happened?” she asked as Ella sat back, lost in thought, idly handing Dawn one block at a time to place in the proper pile.

  Ella recounted the events. “It was really weird, Mom. But there were no tracks at all.”

  “At least not where you looked,” Rose said slowly. “Maybe you just didn’t search the right place. The only thi
ng that will set Two off like that is when he thinks one of us is in danger.”

  Ella nodded. “I agree, but I found nothing.” She regretted not having checked to see if the badger fetish around her neck had felt warm at the time. That was always a certain sign of trouble.

  Ella considered everything carefully. First there was the vehicle she’d suspected had been tailing her. Now this. She might have been able to discount one of those events as her imagination, but not both, particularly in light of Two’s reaction. Of course, it could have been a wild creature that Two wasn’t overly fond of, like a snake, but she’d certainly seen no evidence of one anywhere.

  The remainder of that afternoon, and throughout the evening, Ella remained restless. She went outside and looked around several times, and then one last time before going to bed.

  Alone in her room, with Dawn tucked away and asleep after having to read two stories tonight, Ella turned on her computer and checked for mail. It was a comforting ritual, but tonight there were no letters waiting, just ads for things that held no interest for her.

  Hoping for another instant message, she hung around online visiting some of her favorite Internet places, like a site she’d recently found devoted to herbal medicines. After a while she began a search on-line and tried to locate “Coyote,” but a message on-screen said that there was no such member. Whoever Coyote was, he or she knew how to cover his tracks. She tried an Internet search using the key word Coyote, but only got listings for wildlife sites and a Web page for an actor.

  Thirty minutes later, frustrated and having nothing to show for her efforts, she turned off the computer and crawled into bed. The wind had come up outside. Gusts blasted sand and gravel against her window, and a mournful wail filled the room as cold air seeped through a crack in the casing. The almost human sound made her skin crawl. She hated dust storms, but it seemed a fitting end to a nerve-wracking day.

  With a muttered curse, she turned on her side, closed her eyes, and drifted off to a troubled sleep.

  SIX

  Ella came into the substation early the following morning hoping to talk to Justine before they got down to work. As she was walking down the hall toward the small forensics lab where her assistant spent much of her time, Big Ed appeared in a doorway and waved her toward him.

  Ella stepped inside the chief’s office, and was surprised to see Justine there, looking restless and uncomfortable in her best corduroy jacket and slacks. Both she and Ella were always dressed in civilian clothes except during special department ceremonies. Ella looked from one to the other, but it was impossible to guess what was going on.

  “Why don’t you fill Shorty in?” Big Ed asked Justine, waving Ella toward a chair and taking his place behind the desk.

  Justine looked at the floor, then finally up at Ella. “I received a letter from my aunt Lena yesterday afternoon. She lives right on the border between Navajo and Hopi land, west of the community of Steamboat. My aunt believes that the nearby Hopis are stealing her well water and vandalizing her pump. She wants us to put a stop to it.”

  “I’ve spoken on the telephone to the tribal officer that patrols the area,” Big Ed said. “He verified that the pump had been vandalized just recently. He’d found vehicle tracks and some footprints, but so far he hasn’t been able to catch the perp. His territory is so large, he’s having a problem keeping a close watch on the place.” He paused for a moment, as if trying to choose his words with care. “Do you know Lena Clani, Shorty?”

  Ella shook her head. “Not personally, but I know her by reputation. Justine’s aunt is said to be one of our most gifted stargazers. I understand she’s been able to find things people have considered hopelessly lost.”

  He nodded. “She’s an important member of our tribe. That’s why this could be a touchy situation.”

  “I want to help my aunt,” Justine said, looking at Ella. “But Aunt Lena wants me to go arrest the Hopis who are doing that, and as you know, I can’t arrest a Hopi unless I catch him inside our boundaries doing something illegal.”

  “I don’t want Justine down there on her own because she’s personally involved, so I want you to accompany her,” Big Ed said. “I’ll also have the officer in that district meet you. That way Lena Clani will see that we trust our uniformed cops as much as our plainclothes officers. Give this as much of your time as it requires.”

  “Chief, almost anyone can go with Justine,” Ella protested. “Can you assign someone else? That’s a long trip, and I’ve got work to do here.” That wasn’t quite the truth. The fact was she just didn’t want to be far from Dawn and Rose now that she suspected someone was sneaking around the outside of their house. If she told Big Ed, he’d probably let her off, but she didn’t want to raise a false alarm and she had no proof anything was going on.

  “Your work can wait a bit longer,” Big Ed said flatly.

  As they walked out of the chief’s office, Justine glared at Ella. “I’m sorry this is such an inconvenience, Ella. If you want, I’ll go by myself, and just omit that detail from my report. You can do the same and no one will be the wiser. Oh—I nearly forgot. You tend to go back on agreements like those.”

  “Believe what you want, but I never said a word to Big Ed until after he met with you. Since the only people at the convenience store were you, me, the perp, and the clerk, I have to assume that the clerk was the one who told the chief. Maybe he’s a friend or a relative.”

  Justine hesitated, but wasn’t quite ready to capitulate. “Maybe so. But if you still think my aunt and I are just wasting your time, perhaps I can get the new Hopi FBI agent to come with me.”

  “You’ve heard about him?”

  “Of course. Everyone’s talking about Paycheck.”

  “You can’t take Payestewa, Justine, without going through Blalock. And this isn’t a federal matter. The reason I don’t want to go is not because I think it’s a waste of time. It’s because I’m worried about Dawn and Mom right now.”

  “Is there a problem at home? You know I’ll do whatever I can to help you,” Justine said quickly, although her voice was still taut.

  “I’m not sure what’s going on yet. It’s complicated,” Ella said, shaking her head. “I’m not quite ready to talk about it.”

  “Is it because after what happened the other night, you don’t quite trust me?”

  “Justine, that’s bull. You’re blowing this whole thing way out of proportion.” Ella recognized the expression on her young cousin’s face. Justine had made up her mind to assume the worst. It seemed like the incident had affected her a lot more than Ella had imagined. Combined with the growing tension several officers had also observed Justine was exhibiting, it made things unpleasant nowadays.

  “I just don’t know why Big Ed was so insistent that you come. He could have easily assigned Sergeant Neskahi to this, or even Ralph Tache,” Justine said.

  Ella shrugged. She’d wondered the same thing, and the only answer she had was that maybe the chief was aware of the tension between Justine and her, and had decided the long drive would give them time to hash things out.

  They got under way a short time later, taking Justine’s unit. It was going to be a long trip, and for over an hour neither spoke. Justine kept her eyes on the road, occasionally fiddling with the volume on the radio. As time went by, she seemed to grow even more agitated. Chuska Peak was already fading in the distance to the northwest when Justine finally glanced over at her.

  “I heard talk around the station that Mrs. Yellowhair is using you as an example of a role model for our tribe on some radio ads. Since when did you two become such good friends?”

  “We’re not, though I do respect the woman for the way she’s handled herself through all the difficult times she’s had to face.”

  “I was really surprised that she chose you instead of me,” Justine said pointedly.

  Ella looked at her in surprise. “I hope you don’t think I had anything to do with that. I don’t like being in the public eye.”


  “Even if it might help counter some of that stupid gossip going around about you turning to evil?”

  “So you’ve heard it, too?” She saw Justine nod. “The only way that’s going to die is if people get bored and go on to other things. But if I’m being held up as a public role model, it’s just going to fuel a lot more talk, not stop it. I really wish Mrs. Yellowhair hadn’t mentioned me.”

  “I wonder why she didn’t pick me. My mother would have been so proud! You know how she values everything Abigail Yellowhair says. But no, she had to go with the star of our team.”

  Ella noted how Justine’s hands were gripping the wheel so tightly her knuckles were white. “You’re not the type to be envious of anyone, let alone jealous. What’s really bugging you?”

  Justine shook her head. “I admit I’ve been in a really bad mood, but I’ve got some legitimate gripes.”

  “If they’re work related, take them to the chief, or talk to me about them at the station. When we’re in the field, it’s dangerous to let our minds wander.”

  “I know my job.” She glared at Ella.

  “One more thing, Justine. Don’t ever let me hear that you’re discussing police business with anyone outside the PD. Is that very clear?”

  Justine gave her a puzzled look. “Who said I was?”

  “I spoke to Jeremiah Manyfarms and he knew about the shooting incident and the misunderstanding that followed, including us not getting along.”

  “That’s not going to jeopardize any investigation,” Justine snapped. “Jeremiah happens to be a friend of mine, and I needed someone to talk to. I couldn’t exactly discuss this with the chief. Or you.”

  Ella was getting really annoyed with Justine, but she forced herself not to overreact. “Do not discuss anything that pertains to the police department and especially our morale problems with any outsiders. It undermines us with the public.”