by Garry Ryan
“We could be looking forever,” Lane said.
“Harper can bring his family if he likes. And you too. Small funerals are sad. Nothing else besides that for you to be worried about. Nobody’s gonna hurt you. People been talkin’ about you and how you brought coffee to the barricade. How you waited and listened. How you laid your gun down. Lot of the people around here have respect for you now,” Eva said.
Aidan nodded without smiling.
chapter 21
FRIDAY, JULY 19
Lane and Harper stood with their backs to the wall at the rear of the church. It was half the size of a double-wide mobile home. The building was surrounded by mature trees with trunks too wide to embrace. The inside of the church was tilted back to front. It seemed as if the building had been deposited there by a flood.
Two men rolled Norm’s coffin up to the front of the church. The width of the aisle wouldn’t have allowed for pallbearers. Eva and Aidan followed the coffin. They sat in two folding chairs across from Norm’s closed coffin.
Lane said, “The place is packed.”
Harper looked out the window at those peering inside.
Eva stood up and turned. She looked at the people outside. She pointed at the windows. “Open ‘em up so everybody can hear.”
Five minutes later, the minister gave a short sermon, then said, “Eva Starchild?”
Eva stood.
Complete silence fell over the inside and outside of the church.
“My best memory of Norm was him handing a log to Bruce.” Eva nodded at a man who nodded back at her. The man stood next to Lane. “Bruce and Norm were cutting some deadfall near the river. Norm handed the wood over a barbed-wire fence to Bruce. Bruce then piled the pieces in the back of his old Ford pickup. You know, the truck that finally died last year. Anyway, Norm was gently handing those logs over the fence. Bruce’s knees nearly buckled from the weight of each log.”
Lane looked at Bruce, who stood over six feet and crossed his thick arms across his chest. Bruce smiled at the memory.
“Norm was strong and gentle. He watched over Alex, Aidan, and me. He carried a weight that many of us would have found too heavy.” Eva looked around the church, at the faces watching her. She looked at Lane and Harper.
“There’s been some talk of revenge over the way Norm died.” Eva looked at a couple of young men near the window who developed a sudden interest in their shoes. “The time for revenge is over. Revenge would have put Norm in a cage. He would have gone crazy in a cage. Alex died. Four boys died.” She looked at the coffin. “Too many people have died for no good reason. Everyone here will keep an eye out so we can all be safe.”
Eva sat down.
“We’ll meet at the cemetery,” the minister said.
Norm’s coffin was rolled down the aisle.
Lane and Harper, waiting until everyone left, followed.
In the car, they trailed the procession of cars and the cloud of dust.
“How’s Erinn?” Lane asked.
“Better. She told me to come. Now she’s apologizing for her meltdown.” Harper frowned.
“Arthur went over to visit her this morning. He said he knows how she feels. Maybe she’ll feel better after they talk.” Lane watched the cars stop. Their doors opened.
A group of six men carried the coffin to the open grave.
Harper parked. When they opened their doors, they could hear chanting and the sound of a drum. Lane saw eight men around a drum singing for Norm. Harper and Lane walked up the slope. The mountain peaks gradually revealed their massive shoulders as the detectives reached the top of the hill.
Eva and Aidan walked toward Lane and Harper after Norm was buried beside his mother.
Eva asked, “Any idea where those other boys are?”
Aidan looked away at the mountains.
Lane turned to Harper.
“When can we come and visit your place?” Harper asked.
Aidan turned to them. “You think the bodies are there?”
“It’s a possibility,” Lane said.
“Wouldn’t we know about it, then?” Aidan’s voice was laced with sarcasm.
Lane watched as Eva touched Aidan’s arm. She lowered her eyes.
Eva looked at Harper. “What’s the matter?”
Harper looked back at her. “My wife is afraid. We just had a daughter, and she’s afraid of raising Jessica on her own.”
Eva smiled. “The only thing you have to worry about is my muffins. Come by tomorrow. Right now, we got people coming over to the house. You comin’?”
Lane thought, I won’t know a soul. He looked at Harper, who looked as afraid as he felt. “Can we come by tomorrow morning?”
Eva smirked. “Up to you. What do you need?”
“A backhoe,” Harper said.
“I’ll call Judith. She’ll be there in the morning.” Eva walked away.
Lane watched as two men with shovels began to scoop earth into Norm’s grave. Somehow, Eva’s words at the church had eased his sense of guilt.
chapter 22
SATURDAY, JULY 20
Kuldeep asked, “The usual?”
Lane looked at Christine, who stood next to Kuldeep behind the counter. He smiled. “Yes, please.”
Christine and Kuldeep smiled back.
“Hi Christine.” Harper stood behind Lane.
“Good morning.” Christine stood a head taller than Kuldeep.
“You two know each other?” Kuldeep moved to the espresso machine.
“That’s my uncle and his friend.” Christine studied Kuldeep’s moves as she prepared the espresso machine.
“You want to make these two coffees, then?” Kuldeep asked.
“Sure.” Christine sounded like her confidence might evaporate with the steam.
Kuldeep put a hand on Christine’s shoulder. “No problem.”
Lane pulled out twenty dollars. Kuldeep took the bill, handed him his change. He dropped the change in the tip jar.
“We’ll bring those out to you,” Kuldeep said.
Lane and Harper sat down.
“Christine’s first day?” Harper asked.
“Started yesterday.” Lane watched the top of Chris-tine’s head. It was all that was visible behind the espresso machine.
“How’s Erinn doing?” Lane asked.
“She slept last night. Jessica slept though the night. Glenn’s home today, and he’ll keep an eye on things. He’s been amazing.” Harper looked out the window. “What time will Fibre be at Eva’s?”
“He said eleven.” Lane watched as Christine brought their coffees over. Her eyes went from one cup to the next intent on not spilling.
“Thanks,” Harper and Lane said in unison as she set the cups down.
“Hope they’re the way you like them.” She waited for them to take the first sip.
Lane picked up the cup and took a sip. Wow! I’m going to be awake for two days after this! he thought. “Tastes great!”
Harper nodded. “Mine too!”
Christine smiled and went back behind the counter.
“How come Christine is always expecting the worst?” Harper asked.
Lane’s phone rang. He flipped it open. “Hello?”
“Some woman named Eva is telling you to get out to her place. The backhoe is waiting and you’re late,” the officer said.
“Thanks.” Lane closed the phone. “We’ve got to go.” He stood up and went to get lids for their coffees. “See you later.” He lifted his cup to Kuldeep and Christine.
When they got outside, Harper asked, “What’s up?”
“The backhoe is waiting. We’re late.”
“Everybody knows Judith starts at seven in the morning.” Eva leaned on a shovel next to the yellow backhoe. Aidan stood closer to the honeysuckle in the shade of the evergreens.
Judith leaned out the window. She wore pink earrings and a white dirt-stained ball cap with a silver bow stuck on the top. Her tank top was white and sparkling. One breast hung lower
than the other. “Where do I start?” She held up a deerskin-gloved hand.
Lane looked at Harper.
“At the evergreens.” Harper pointed south.
“Nobody’s diggin’ up Alex’s trees.” Eva stood between them and the backhoe.
Aidan moved over next to Eva.
“I thought we might dig a trench behind those two.” Harper smiled and pointed at two trees. One had more new growth at the tips of the branches than its neighbours. Two trees over was an evergreen freshly planted and staked to the earth. “That way we could find out what’s underneath without harming the trees.”
Eva considered this for a minute. She turned to Judith.
Judith studied Eva’s expression. “I can do it. It won’t hurt the trees. Besides, this is your place. I listen to you, Eva.”
Eva nodded.
Aidan asked, “Why the trees?”
Harper said, “It looks like one has been fertilized. The others haven’t.”
Eva and Aidan looked at the trees. One was taller than the one planted a year before. They looked at each other, considering what this might mean.
“Norm said Alex looked for trees of a specific height before he planted them, and Norm was very careful to respect Alex’s wishes. We’d like to see what’s under those two trees and why one is growing faster than the others.” Harper waited for a response.
“I’ll stop Judith if it looks like the trees will be harmed,” Eva said.
“Your land,” Lane said.
With a nod from Eva, Judith engaged the tractor’s starter. Its diesel engine clattered to life. A gout of black smoke puffed from its exhaust. They followed the back-hoe as it bounced around to the far side of the trees.
As Judith braced the backhoe with its hydraulic wings, Eva held out her hand. “Give me your jackets and ties.”
Lane and Harper did as they were told. Eva handed Lane a shovel. “Do what Judith says. I’ll go make some coffee.”
Lane leaned with his hands and chin on the shovel handle.
Aidan smiled at him and climbed into the cab with Judith. Harper studied the placement of the machine.
Judith turned the seat around to face backwards. Her hands danced over the hydraulic levers. The backhoe reached out to shave away the top layer of earth. Under Judith’s guidance, the machine moved with confidence and grace.
Aidan jumped down and walked over to Harper. “How deep do you want her to go?”
Harper shrugged. “How deep would Norm make the hole before planting a tree?”
Aidan climbed back up into the cab and passed the message on to Judith. She nodded.
Eva arrived with coffee after Judith had dug a trench two metres deep and five metres long.
They sat down in the shade for coffee and muffins after Judith shut the backhoe down.
Judith said, “I’m gonna dig down a bit more and then start shaving dirt from the side nearest the trees. You guys keep your eyes open just in case I hit a root.”
“A forensics team should be here soon.” Harper took a muffin in one hand and sipped at the coffee in the other.
Aidan and Judith looked at Eva.
Eva sat cross-legged, looked at the trees, and said nothing.
After the break, Judith and Aidan climbed back into the cab.
Eva, Harper, and Lane watched as Judith shaved a layer of soil and clay from the side of the trench. She inched gradually, artfully closer to the trees. Aidan climbed down from the machine to watch from the far end of the trench.
A hummingbird hovered within a hand’s length of Lane’s nose. A translucent tongue slipped out. The tongue was nearly as long as the beak. Lane thought, It’s almost long enough to touch the tip of my nose. He could feel the gentle frenzy of its wings. Hear the whirring of its muscles. The hummingbird was there for nearly half a minute, studying him as he studied it. The bird flew off to Lane’s left. He memorized its image and the sensations it took with it. “Cool.”
Aidan moved up beside Lane.
Lane said, “You had Alex do a hummingbird dance.”
“Alex used to study them so he could imitate their moves at powwows. He did some research and found out the ones who travelled this far north are called Rufous hummingbirds. When a group of them fought over the honeysuckle, he’d laugh and say they were acting like people. Thought it was a huge joke. Hummingbirds fighting over one honeysuckle flower when there were plenty to go around. And then he thought it was even funnier because giving all hummingbirds one name was crazy. He thought of them more as individuals. He said when the Europeans got here they messed up everything. Decided they had the right to own land. Invented names for every little thing. He said the hummingbirds were just like the people who picked out a spot and then tried to push everyone else away from it.” She waited for a minute, deep in thought. “That hummer, it stopped to take a look at you. That hasn’t happened since Alex was alive. He thought they were trying to communicate somehow, but the gap between people and birds had become too wide. I always thought it was funny that the beauty of the hummingbirds could remind him of how badly humans treat one another.”
“You know, I’ve never seen a hummingbird up close before.” Lane glanced at Aidan, who stared at him.
“If you read what the experts write in books, hummingbirds are not even supposed to stay here all summer. They’re supposed to move on. Eva says that hummingbirds have been coming here for the summer as long as she has. And there’ve been more hummers the last few years. Even the birds around here don’t act the way they’re supposed to. Eva’s personality must be rubbing off on the birds too.” Aidan sipped at her coffee.
“I guess that’s why you belong at Eva’s.” Lane smiled.
Aidan’s eyes narrowed, then widened as she smiled at Lane’s joke.
Lane spotted a pair of white-covered boots standing at the edge of the hole. He looked up into the face of Dr. Fibre in his bunny suit.
Judith stopped digging and the engine idled.
“Dr. Colin Weaver,” Fibre introduced himself to Eva. He bowed.
Judith said, “For Christ’s sake, she’s First Nations, not Asian!”
“Lookin’ for rabbits?” Eva asked.
Aidan began to laugh. Pretty soon, Fibre was the only one not laughing.
Judith got back to work.
Five minutes later, she was still skimming the wall of the trench. At the depth of about a metre-and-a-half, the heel and sole of a cowboy boot stuck out of the earth.
Harper waved his arms in the air. Judith lifted the bucket out of the way. Fibre climbed into the hole. He used a trowel to scoop earth away from above and below the boot.
The stink of decomposing flesh caught at the back of Lane’s throat. He looked at the others, who had gathered around the edge of the trench.
Eva shook her head.
Fibre stopped and looked up at them. “I’m going to need my team.” He looked at Aidan, who had her hand over her mouth and nose. “I’ll get some masks.”
“How long’s Uncle Lane been in the shower?” Matt asked.
Arthur wiped sweat from his forehead. At this time of the day, the sun baked the deck. He opened the lid of the barbecue.
“Smells good.” Christine sat in a lawn chair in a tiny corner of shade, sipping a pop.
“Lane doesn’t …” Arthur turned the chicken breasts over and basted them with a mixture of ginger, sesame oil, honey, and soy sauce.
“Doesn’t what?” Matt leaned back and closed his eyes.
“… smell good. They found two bodies today. Every time this happens he throws his clothes in the wash and heads for the shower. He can’t seem to get the stench off of his skin or out of his mind.” Arthur closed the lid of the barbecue.
“This is nothing like I expected,” Christine said.
Arthur sat down next to Christine. He saw that her skin was getting darker from time spent in the sun. He reached down and petted Roz who lay on her side under his chair. “What’s nothing like you expected?”
“The way other people in the family talked about you I thought …” Christine hesitated.
Arthur looked at her. “Well?”
Matt said, “I didn’t know what to expect, either. What I was told and what it is like, well, they’re two different things.”
“That’s right. It’s not at all like I was told it would be.” Christine smiled at Matt.
Arthur looked puzzled.
“We like it here, is all we’re trying to say.” Matt shifted his weight.
Arthur smiled and rubbed Roz’s belly.
chapter 23
SUNDAY, JULY 21
“Ryan Dudley’s identity is confirmed. They found his ID. The body has already been removed. It was the first one we found. Fibre just wants to be absolutely sure, so the dental records are being checked.” Harper looked down into the hole behind the evergreens. Fibre’s crew was working steadily with another set of remains.
Lane asked, “Tyler McNally?”
“Probably, but it will take a while to confirm. This one will definitely require dental records.” Harper stepped away from the hole. “A hole was found in Dudley’s skull. It was near the ear. The autopsy will reveal whether or not it’s a bullet wound. By the size and shape, it’s likely to be a twenty-two round.”
Eva walked up and stood beside them. “The other guy?”
“Yes.” Lane spotted the dark circles under Eva’s eyes. “No sleep?”
“Nope.” Eva looked from the hole to the trees. “Norm thought he had to protect us.”
“Makes you wonder,” Lane said.
Eva waited for Lane to explain.
Harper asked, “What?”
“Norm was eight or nine up here.” Lane tapped the side of his skull. “He had more than enough smarts to fool us all for more than a year.”
“I wondered why he wouldn’t let us help plant the trees.” Eva looked west toward Norm’s house.
“When I first met him, he chatted about hunting. I didn’t realize he was also hunting the guys who killed Alex,” Harper said.
