Her Hero

by Aimée Thurlo

  Nydia was more worried about him than herself. He felt a rush of tenderness, then a flash of familiar heat. If he could have, he would have made her his here, in these woods, beneath him under the sun, as a man would have taken his woman in bygone days. He could have shown her then, in the most primitive way of all, that she had no reason to worry. He was not hurt. She was the only person who truly had the power to hurt him.

  Silence stretched out between them as they traveled to Tony Langdon’s property.

  “Tell me something about this farmer we’re about to see,” she said.

  “He’s reclusive, living at the edge of town. He stays pretty much on his own at the ranch, except for his two little boys and his wife.”

  “Will he answer our questions?”

  “I think so. He has no reason to be hostile to us. He doesn’t know my family very well, and he has no particular allegiance to anyone.”

  As they started down a long driveway that led to a ramshackle farmhouse, Joshua gestured to a man near a truck parked by the barn. “There he is, fixing that corral.”

  Nydia pulled to a stop beside Langdon’s truck, and Joshua got out. The farmer stopped hammering a wooden brace and came toward them. “What can I do for you?” he asked.

  Joshua started to introduce himself, but Langdon shook his head. “I know who you are, but I’ve got work to do. What do you need?”

  “You used explosives to clear away some old buildings several months ago. At any point, did you notice any of your detonators were missing, or any of the explosives themselves?”

  “I used dynamite, blasting caps and safety fuses. If one stick or cap had been missing, I’d have known. My budget’s always tight. If you want fancy explosives, then you’ve got to talk to the principal at the high school, and the contractor. They built that new gym right on the same spot the old one had been.”

  “Thanks for reminding me,” Joshua said.

  “I’ve told you what I know, so there won’t be a need

  for you to come back, hear? I’ve got a family to watch out for,” he said in a flat voice.

  “Do you think that by helping us, you’ll place your family in danger?” Nydia asked.

  Langdon shrugged. “Don’t know, but I don’t gamble where my family is concerned.”

  As they drove off of Langdon’s property, Joshua’s fists clenched and unclenched on his lap.

  “You can’t blame him,” Nydia said. “If he’s reclusive, as you say, then the fact that he helped you at all counts for something.”

  “I wonder how many others are being terrorized by the gossip and lies being told about me in town,” he said, his voice taut.

  “I don’t know, probably quite a few, but all we can do is continue to investigate.” As they reached the road, she looked around. “Where to now?”

  “The high school.”

  They’d only traveled a few miles when Nydia slowed the truck down almost imperceptibly. Joshua noticed it right away. “What’s wrong?”

  “Something’s up on that ridge.” She gestured to her

  right. “I saw a flash of light, nothing more, but-”

  “Don’t go to the high school, then. If there’s trouble following us, we don’t want to lead it in among the kids. We’ll take another route. When you get to the crossroads, turn north. I know that stretch of land like the back of my hand. We’ll have the advantage there.”

  “Unless whoever it is knows that area, too.”

  “Even then. A few miles ahead is a shrine. It is my family’s place, started by Flinthawk, our ancestor. Finding himself so far away from the reservation, he placed his prayer sticks there and invoked Changing Woman’s pro tection. Since then, it has been a place my family has gone to whenever we’re in trouble.”

  As they continued north, her eyes darted back to the high ground often. “I can’t find any sign of anyone up there now.”

  “We’ll leave the truck here,” he said as they reached the base of a low hill. “It won’t be easily seen, and we can hike up on foot. If someone is around here, we’ll see his tracks.”

  She did as he asked, but he could feel the tension within her as keenly as he could his own. Nydia stayed right behind him, though she had to struggle to keep up as he climbed. When they reached the tree-covered summit, he turned, taking in the area, then crouched to examine something on the ground. “Someone has been here.”

  He followed a trail of footprints until they disappeared into the scrub oak and hard-packed earth. “I can’t track him from this point, but he’s going in the direction of our shrine. I’m going over there to check things out.”

  He wasn’t sure exactly who warned whom, but Nydia stopped in midstride just as he grabbed her hand and dived to one side.

  “That sounded like a pop. What was it?” Nydia asked.

  He raised a finger to his lips, listening. He could feel a trickle of warmth running down his arm, just below the cuff of his T-shirt. Glancing down, he saw pieces of a hard white material embedded in his skin.

  His enemy had found another way to fight. Revulsion filled him as he pulled the tiny fragments out of his arm, oblivious to the pain.

  “What is that?” Nydia asked, eyebrows furrowed. “Did .you pick up some splinters when we dove to the ground?” She reached for her handkerchief and gently dabbed at the shallow wound.

  He jerked away. “Don’t! It’s bone ammunition, a skinwalker’s weapon.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Nydia’s breath caught in her throat. She’d heard of skinwalker weapons, of course, but she’d never actually witnessed their use. “You can’t be sure that’s what it is.”

  “But I am. To shoot human-bone fragments into a person is to invite contamination with the chindi.”

  She exhaled softly. “And what better way to destroy a medicine man than through his own beliefs,” Nydia said, finishing the thought.

  “Spoken like an Anglo,” he said with a tight smile. “The danger is real, I assure you.”

  “Do you still want to try to reach your shrine?”

  “Yes. Now more than ever. There I can begin a prayer to Lightning and Snake.” He reached into his medicine pouch and handed her a tiny sliver of black flint. “Flint armor, the circle of protection created by the light and sound it produced, protected the Hero Twins when they battled the monsters that preyed on the land. The chindi fears flint. This will protect you, too, whether you believe it or not.”

  He reached inside his medicine bundle for another tiny sack and placed it on the outside of his belt. Then, taking a piece of charcoal from the pouch, he drew a line from his left ear to his right, along the front of his chin. “Evil can be brought under control and bent to the will of a hataalii. Let me go do what I was trained for.”

  She kept up at the pace he’d set, though it was often difficult for her since his strides were so much longer than hers.

  “Why did you do that with the charcoal? I know it’s part of a rite, but I can’t remember which, or its significance.”

  “The charcoal was taken from a lightning-struck tree and mixed with the fat of a certain animal. That transforms it into the essence of lightning and the bearer of all its powers. Evil fears it, so we will both be protected.”

  “You know that’s the greatest advantage of the Navajo Way.” She realized a second too late that she’d spoken the thought out loud.

  His expression darkened slightly. “Explain,” he said in a clipped tone.

  She hesitated, then measuring her words carefully, continued. “The Anglo world is filled with troubles of all kinds, but more often than not, there are no counters for their people to use as a weapon against fear. The dineh perform a rite and afterward they’re left with a feeling of safety and well-being that’s enviable. I’ve got to tell you, I wish I did believe, because I could use some of that confidence once in a while.”

  “I don’t understand you sometimes. It’s as if in your heart you’re a traditionalist, yet you’re still desperately trying t
o wear the trappings of the Anglo world you’ve adopted.”

  “That’s not true. I’m a product of the new more than I am of the old. I would never put my faith in anything that I don’t fully understand.”

  “Like love?” he asked softly.

  His question took her by surprise, and for several seconds she didn’t answer. Finally, she nodded. “Yes, even love. I hadn’t thought about it in that way until now, but it’s true enough.”

  “Your beliefs imprison you far more than you realize. Even the most ardent traditionalist has freedoms you won’t allow yourself.”

  Nydia felt the rift between them widen a little more. Sorrow filled the emptiness within her.

  Suddenly, he stopped and pointed ahead. “There. The shrine is just beyond that stand of pines.” He led the way forward and, as they drew near, he slowed down. “Even here, he challenges me.”

  Nydia watched him crouch down by ashes that had been piled before a three-foot cairn of rocks topped with a turquoise bead. “These ashes came from the hogan, and the piece of cloth trapped in it came from the medicine bundle I gave my father a long time ago. I recognize the material.”

  Rage filled him. “He desecrates what I value, and insults me at every turn. Yet I’m expected to control my emotions, to be in harmony.”

  “You don’t have a choice.” She wanted to touch him, to soothe away his hurts, but nothing but the truth could do that now.

  Joshua said nothing for a long time as he stared at the remnants of the medicine bundle. “He won’t win. Black flint and Lightning will give me strength and protect me. Through them, I will win.” He stood up and faced her squarely. “But to you, it’s nonsense, all a false trust?”

  “I don’t share your beliefs, but I do have one belief that is stronger than even your own.” She held his gaze. “I believe in you, and nothing can shake the power of that.”

  Her words sparked a flash of vulnerability in the eyes of the man who stood before her, and she saw that the power to comfort his wounded spirit was in her hands.

  “I am with you in this,” she said softly. “Whatever happens, we are a team.”

  “That we are.” He brushed her face with his palm. “Maybe we were always meant to be, and we’re just too stubborn to see it.”

  As the cry of a coyote rose in the air, he glanced around. “We have to go. But before we head back to find my eldest brother, I need to make one more stop and confirm something.”

  IT WAS MIDAFTERNOON by the time they reached the cemetery outside town. “This is where you wanted to go?” she asked, surprised. “Why?”

  “It’s not the type of place I’d normally go near, but we have our protection and I need to know how far my enemy is willing to go. If one of these graves has been disturbed, then we know that he used human bones to make bone ammunition. We’ll also know just how motivated he is if he’s willing to risk desecrating a site just about everyone around here considers sacred.”

  As they entered the graveyard, a burning sensation filled Nydia’s mind. Disturbed by her own reaction and blaming it on superstition, she tried to brush it aside.

  She glanced at Joshua, figuring that because of his beliefs, it had to be even worse for him. Yet, instead of fear or hesitancy, he walked around confidently, bolstered by the rituals and the power of the magic that was at the root of his beliefs.

  As they approached the low wall that bordered the back of the graveyard, she spotted a mound of freshly dug earth next to a large spruce. Her breath caught in her throat as she drew close and saw the unearthed coffin next to it. Its simple lid had been pried open to reveal the skeletal remains inside.

  She tore her gaze from the coffin, swallowing back her disgust, and saw the large footprints that had been left in the soft earth.

  Joshua approached and stood beside her. “If someone else had found this, the story would have spread, and soon people would have been even more convinced that I’d become a skinwalker.”

  “We’ll go find the sheriff and bring him here. He’s got to be told about this as soon as possible.”

  As Nydia drove back to town, she was afraid, more so than she’d ever been. Whoever was behind this was working hard to create the kind of panic that led to lynch mobs. If enough incidents kept happening, sooner or later the people of Four Winds would take matters into their own hands.

  As they parked behind the sheriffs office, she kept an eye out for anyone approaching, but the side street remained deserted. “Let’s get inside quickly.”

  They were reaching for the back door when Gabriel opened it, meeting them halfway. “What’s happened?” he asked, looking from one to the other, and ushering them inside.

  Joshua explained quickly. “We thought you should know right away.”

  “I’ll get over there and make sure that the coffin is interred again. Walt Meyers takes care of that cemetery for the county and he lives in the caretaker’s cottage out there. Did you talk to him?”

  Joshua shook his head. “No, I wasn’t sure who I could trust.”

  “I’ll talk to Walt, and make sure he keeps his mouth shut. If this gets around town, then I’m going to have a panic here, and that’s the last thing I need.”

  “Whoever’s behind this knows quite a bit about our people,” Nydia mused. “Who are the experts here?”

  Gabriel shook his head. “Jake, the librarian, has access to any books he wishes, both through our own collections and through interlibrary loans statewide. He’d also know

  who in town has requested books on the subject. But other than that, I don’t think there’s anyone I’ve heard about or spoken to.” Gabriel looked at his brother’s arm. “Do you want Shadow to take a look at that?”

  Joshua shook his head. “It’s not necessary. I’ve done what needs to be done.”

  Suddenly, the front door of the sheriff’s office flew open. Gabriel brought his hand down to the butt of his pistol, but then relaxed when he saw the newcomer was Ralph.

  Gabriel gave him a steely glare. “Don’t ever come in here like that again, not unless you want to find yourself staring at the business end of my handgun. Things are kind of tense around town, in case you haven’t noticed.”

  “Tense? That doesn’t even begin to describe it! I just got a real interesting but anonymous phone call. Before I run this story, though, I want to talk to you. I was just told that Joshua was seen robbing a grave for skinwalker weapons.”

  Nydia felt her stomach sink. As she saw the look on Gabriel’s face, she realized that he, too, hadn’t expected someone to use the news against them quite so soon.

  “I was told to check out the graveyard,” Ralph added.

  “That’s because this anonymous person wants you to see the footprints that he left there to implicate me,” Joshua said. “You’ve known me for a long time. You know that I’m not a liar. Trust me now when I tell you that if you print that story, you’re playing right into his hands.”

  “Can you make any guess on the caller’s identity?” Gabriel pressed.

  “No, except that it was a male voice. He was talking through something, maybe a handkerchief. I could barely make out his words,” Ralph answered, then looked at Joshua. “If you’re being systematically framed, then you must have an idea of who’s behind it. Nobody makes an enemy like this without being aware of it, my friend.”

  “I honestly don’t know who it is. If I did, I’d be at their doorstep right now.”

  Ralph rubbed his chin pensively, then glanced up at the sheriff. “What do you want me to do? If I hold on to this story and word gets out anyway, it’s going to be even worse. They’ll just say I was in cahoots with you.”

  “If you print it, considering the mood in this town, it’s going to lead to more violence,” Gabriel answered.

  “I know, but if I print it, I may be able to downplay it.”

  “I would ask one favor of you,” Joshua said. “Don’t print it yet, but if word gets out, then go after the whole story. Print the discrepancies i
n the footprints, as well as the impossibility of my shooting myself in the upper arm like this.” He raised the sleeve of his T-shirt. “I was attacked with bone ammunition, a skinwalker’s weapon.”

  “They’ll just say that Mrs. Jim did it for you.” Ralph shrugged. “But I’ll go along with it, if that’s what you really want. For the record, though, I think this is going to blow up in all our faces.”

  “We’ll have to risk it. We need to buy ourselves some time,” Gabriel said.

  As Ralph left, Gabriel turned to Joshua. “I have to go over to the cemetery to record the evidence and make sure that coffin is reinterred before people start going over there on their own to check out the rumors.”

  “If you need backup for crowd control,” Nydia asked, “could you get it?”

  “Yes, but I’m not sure how fast,” he said. “That’s the biggest—”

  The front door suddenly crashed open, and Gabriel spun around. “Damn it, Ralph, I told you not to do that!”

  “I was halfway down the street when I heard Mrs. Wilson, Darren’s wife, talking to Rosa. The story’s already out. Apparently, the caller made several calls, not just to me.”

  Gabriel walked to the front window and, standing to one side, looked outside. “They’re starting to gather in small groups. I don’t like this. This is how mobs get started.” He turned to Joshua. “Get out of town now. Use the back roads. I’ll make sure you’re not followed. Then stay put up at the cabin until I come.”

  Joshua nodded once. “But don’t wait too long.”

  “I’ll be there no later than daybreak.”

  As Nydia looked from Joshua to Gabriel, she heard the inner voice speaking to her.

  The loyalty and love that binds the brothers will become their greatest strength…and the tool used to bring about their downfall.

  As NIGHTFALL ENCOMPASSED the cabin, Joshua stood guard outside beside a small campfire he’d concealed among some boulders. The warning given by the rug, which Nydia had told him about, preyed on his thoughts. Harmony required balance, and eventually he would have to do something to repay the spirit of the weaver for the guidance they’d received. Of course, it was entirely possible that the rug would become just another instrument working against them. The peddler’s gifts always had many facets.