Boy Made of Dawn

by R. Allen Chappell

  The old man shook his head. “That Thomas…” His voice trailed off as he looked to his daughter caught up in conversation with Sue. She cast an occasional sideways glance out the little window at the corrals. “She knows all about it.” He answered Charlie’s unasked question by saying, “Has for several years now. It happened way before they met, I guess…seems like it is just one thing after another with Thomas.” He frowned when he said this and stared hard at the door.

  Charlie nodded and looked away again. “There’s a girl too, you know…somewhere. At least I hope there still is.” He could see Sue and Lucy’s talk had turned serious, and he suspected Sue was telling how they had come to have the boy. He explained to Paul T’Sosi what had transpired up in the canyons, again leaving out the part about the shooting.

  “Well, it’s a hell of a thing to treat a little boy like that.” And that was all the old man said.

  When Thomas, carrying his cup and looking distracted, finally came in, everyone was seated around the table having coffee and discussing the Ye’i blanket.

  “The boy’s playing with the dog…That dog has never been around no kids, so I thought he might bite him, but he didn’t…at least not yet.” Thomas smiled and looked around the table. “His name is Caleb. He’s six years old. He’s never been to school so far. He knows a little English, but not much.”

  Lucy moved to fill his cup with the last of the breakfast coffee from the big enamelware pot. She did not look directly at him but touched his hand as she withdrew to her seat.

  Charlie cleared his throat. “Where’s his mother and sister…and what was he doing up in the canyons by himself?

  “I don’t know all the answers just yet. He doesn’t want to talk about it. I think whoever did this threatened him not to talk. I figure I’d best give him a little while. He’s worn out. He hasn’t had it easy, that’s for sure.” And then he said thoughtfully, “It’s been quite a long time since I last seen him.”

  Charlie again had to retell as much of the story for Thomas as he thought wise and wound up saying, “He seems pretty smart for only six. He ought to be in school.”

  “He’s six alright. His sister is seven, and he told me she don’t go to school, neither.” Thomas looked at Lucy when he said this.

  Sue spoke up then. “Kind of hard to keep kids out of school these days without people knowing about it, isn’t it.”

  “Not where they live it isn’t,” Thomas said quietly.

  Paul T’Sosi studied his cup. “Well, it was quite a coincidence, Charlie being the one to run across him and all.”

  “If it was a coincidence,” Thomas frowned.

  Charlie got the fleeting impression the boy might have let slip more than Thomas was letting on but let it pass. He knew Thomas would fill him in at some point when they could talk.

  “Do you want us to take him to Social Services until this is sorted out,” Charlie asked looking at Thomas.

  “No!” Lucy declared, suddenly standing and speaking in a clear, firm voice. “We will keep him right here till we see what’s going on, and where his sister is.”

  Charlie was not surprised at this but still felt relieved and nodded at Lucy, who looked away.

  “I expect school’s out for the summer now anyway,” the old man said looking at Thomas. “The boy can help me with the sheep ‘til we see what’s what. That boy seems to like the idea of herding sheep anyway.”

  Sue looked at Lucy. “I’m off for the next few days. Maybe we could meet up in town tomorrow and find him some more clothes before his ass starts hanging out of those he’s wearing Sue was a straight talker and cared little what people might think about it. That was one of the reasons people liked her—you always knew where you stood with Sue Hanagarni.

  The Uncle

  On the way back into town, Charlie, deep in thought, paid only slight attention to Sue’s running on about how proud she was of Lucy offering to care for Caleb and all. Sue thought it declared right up front, for everyone to see, that Lucy stood by Thomas in this thing.

  What was bothering Charlie was Thomas’s off-hand statement that Charlie’s involvement might not be “coincidence.” He was beginning to have some niggling little doubts about it himself. He figured he ought to file a report on the entire incident but decided Monday would be soon enough. He pulled up to the Dinè Bikeyah Café where they had left Sue’s Datsun. They sat in the Chevy talking until Sue said she had to go home and fix dinner for her parents. She asked if he’d like to join them, but he declined, saying he still needed to write up a case report on the domestic violence assignment.

  Sue was the one who allocated the daily work schedule in their office, and he was now reminded to ask how it had come about that he had been the one chosen to go to Blanding. She thought a minute and said, “It was Pete Fish got the original call. Said you should go. Thought it would give you a chance to get out of the office and get some fresh air.”

  “Hmm,” was all Charlie managed. Pete Fish, Sue’s old suitor, had been tenacious in his attentions towards her even after Charlie entered the picture. He was still office manager and continued to spend as much time with Sue as possible. Charlie didn’t like it.

  ~~~~~~

  When he pulled back up to his government duplex, he found the blue Dodge already waiting in his parking space; he pulled in behind it and got out. The wind was picking up, and the usual assorted parking-lot trash was scudding along before it. Charlie really didn’t even see it anymore. It was simply a by-product of reservation living. Thomas was out of the truck by the time he reached the Dodge. “I guess we better talk,” he said.

  Inside, Thomas seated himself at the kitchen table, and Charlie went to the fridge. “You want a bee…err, soda?” He caught himself. “I’ve got lemon-lime, grape, or cola”

  “Grape’s good.” Thomas was watching intently out the kitchen window at some boys playing baseball in the field behind the apartments. The field was on a broad, elevated bench behind the complex and could easily be seen from the window, even when sitting down. “You got a lot of kids in this neighborhood, huh?”

  “I guess so.” Charlie sat down but intended to let Thomas do the talking.

  Thomas took a long drink of his soda and fiddled with the pop-top tab until he managed to break it off, giving himself a small cut. He immediately stuck the finger in his mouth then examined the cut minutely before looking over at Charlie. “You remember that night up at Sally’s place when she told us she was leaving…going to live with her cousins?”

  “Yes, I just mentioned that to Sue this morning.”

  “Those cousins live up there around Cortez. Sally’s mother was raised up there. She was Ute.” Thomas pronounced the name “Yu’ta” like the old people of that tribe. “She was married to a Navajo. She died when Sally was still little, so her Ute aunts raised her along with her cousins. They never paid no attention to her Navajo blood.”

  Charlie was having a hard time keeping up with Sally Klee’s family tree but knew that Thomas himself was perched on one of those limbs as he was a cousin of Freddie Chee. “Uh…so that means you were related to Sally?”

  “I guess so. Distant cousin, maybe. She claimed her Ute family. Clan really never came up until years later. The thing I’m getting at is that Caleb says it was one of the cousins who took him out there and left him in the canyons.” He gazed out the window again. “They said someone would come back for him later…and would kill him and his sister if he ever talked about it.

  Charlie mulled this over. “Sally’s on the prosecution’s witness list for the Greyhorse trial…and for that matter, so are we!” He hesitated. “So Caleb doesn’t know where his sister and mother are?”

  “No, he hasn’t seen them in awhile. He was staying with another aunt because there wasn’t room enough for everyone where his mother was. It was all women and girls over there anyway, he said…other than an uncle…Said he was kind of mean. He didn’t like him.” He watched Charlie’s face. “That uncle is Hiram Buc
k.”

  Charlie let that sink in a moment and then shook his head. “I must be an idiot,” he murmured, brushing a crumb from the checkered plastic tablecloth.

  “Maybe, but there was no way you could have known.” He threw his hands in the air. “How did they know you would be up there? How did they know you would stop at that cafe. It seems to me there were several coincidences in a row—all of them long shots!” He stood and gazed out the window at the children playing baseball and murmured absentmindedly, “I wonder if Caleb knows how to play baseball.”

  “You weren’t around those kids much, huh?”

  “I don’t really know. I was drunk most of the time back then. He reexamined the tiny cut on his finger. “Sally didn’t want me around them like that. Freddie finally told me he was going to have to kill me if I didn’t stop coming around. I could see he meant what he said too. I don’t have to tell you what kind of person Freddie was. He was doing some “business” out there at Sally’s place and said he didn’t need a drunk hanging around seeing stuff he shouldn’t.” He sighed, watching the game. “I always liked baseball.”

  Charlie finally got around to telling him about the shooting that morning. “Did the boy say anything to you?”

  Thomas was taken aback. “No! He didn’t.”

  “That boy knows how to keep a secret. I asked him not to say anything about it. I told him it was probably just a hunter shooting at some game, and we shouldn’t worry everyone with it.” Charlie nodded his head at Thomas. “That’s quite a boy you’ve got there.”

  Thomas passed a hand over his face and nodded. “So, are you saying someone might try to kill everyone on that witness list? That’s a lot of killing.”

  “No, I don’t think so. Whoever it is will try for everyone. You and I are the primary witnesses…along with Sally Klee.” He finished his drink in one long gulp and looked at Thomas. “Just keep your eyes open—that’s all I’m saying!”

  “Sounds to me like we ought to go up there and talk to Sally’s cousins. I want to find my daughter before something happens to her…like happened to Caleb…or worse. Those people up there still live like it’s the olden times—eye for an eye. I don’t think they are smart enough to set up this thing that happened to you, though. They are more of the ‘ride-in and shoot’em-up type,’ if you know what I mean.”

  “No, someone else is behind this, manipulating and paying them to be a part of it. The question is who?” Charlie rubbed his chin and squinted at the clock over the refrigerator. “How about I pick you up about daylight in the morning, and we make a little circle up through that country and talk to a few people. Someone up there knows where Sally and the girl are.”

  “Better bring some camp gear and food; hospitality may be a little scarce up there.”

  Charlie thought that a good idea. “In the meantime I’ll poke around and see what I can find out. Sally was supposed to leave her forwarding address with the prosecutor’s office before she moved. I also want a list of those indicted people with the most to lose.”

  “Okay.” Thomas stood and stretched. “I’ll drive in to Farmington and talk to a few of the people Freddie used to run with. There’s a chance someone will know something we don’t. The Indian underground is a whole other world.”

  “One thing more.” Charlie paused, and cleared his throat. “Those people up there were just using Caleb for bait. I don’t get the impression they intended us to ever actually have him. They may try to get him back.”

  Thomas frowned and nodded, then, with a backward glance at the baseball game, left for Farmington.

  ~~~~~~

  Lucy Tallwoman and Sue Hanagarni laughed and talked as they watched six-year-old Caleb climbing through the tunnel maze at McDonalds.

  “Looks like this is the first time he’s ever been to one of these,” Sue ventured. “He sure didn’t want to take his shoes off.” The boy stayed by himself, not interacting with the other children, but appeared to be enjoying himself nonetheless. There were several shopping bags of new clothes on the seats beside the women, and Sue exclaimed happily over the bargains they had found. “I wish I could find clothes to fit me this cheap!”

  Lucy agreed. “It looks like he will at least have enough here to start school with this fall.” She saw the look in Sue’s eyes and went on, “Thomas and I had a talk. He asked me if I would go along with keeping the boy for good. That is if he can get legal custody of him.” She toyed with the straw in her soda and looked up at Caleb, waving now from the top level of the play equipment. “I told him it would be good by me. I can’t have any more kids. There’s been something missing lately. Maybe this is it.”

  Sue looked away for a moment, waving at Caleb. “What about the girl?”

  “Thomas said we would cross that bridge when we came to it. I think he has a bad feeling about the girl. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

  “I’ve been thinking a lot about kids myself lately,” Sue said, blushing slightly. “Charlie likes kids. He said he just hadn’t realized it until he was around Caleb.” She took a sip of her drink. “We’ve been talking too. I think he’s about ready to make a…uh, you know, ‘life change.’ I found some real estate brochures on his desk the other day, and he keeps talking about getting a little place where he can have a horse or two.” She smiled at Lucy. “Why would he need two horses?”

  “It sounds to me like he’s got a plan.” Lucy was happy for Sue and hoped these indications meant what she thought they did.

  The women left Lucy’s father at the other end of the mall near the western-wear store, and Sue, looking at her watch, thought maybe they should head back that way. Lucy agreed and called to Caleb to come put his shoes on. As she gathered her purchases and adjusted her sunglasses, she noticed, out of the corner of her eye, a tall, dark man in a suit and tie. He was wearing mirrored sunglasses and watched intently as Caleb put his shoes on. The man had his long hair put up on the back of his neck in a bun, something you didn’t see very often anymore. Occasionally, he would glance at the women’s table. A chill fell across Lucy, and she still hadn’t shaken it off as they left the restaurant.

  They found Paul T’Sosi sitting on a bench by a little fountain with a pool and some goldfish. He had spent some time studying the fish and concluded there must be a good reason his people, traditionally, did not eat these creatures.

  When the women walked up behind the bench, Paul jumped when his daughter touched his shoulder. He could feel her hand trembling and looked around to see a shadow cross her face. She had Caleb by the hand, and the old man noticed her knuckles turning white. The boy was looking up at her with an odd expression but made no comment. The old man rose from the bench. He had wanted to take the boy into the western store to try on some boots but could see it would have to be another time.

  “Time to go,” Lucy urged, pulling at the boy and heading for the mall exit with a sharp backward glance.

  Sue looked a little perplexed but fell in behind Lucy and the boy. The old man brought up the rear, furtively checking over his shoulder—for what, he did not know.

  When they reached the truck, they said good-bye to Sue, and after loading up, Lucy Tallwoman stood a moment by the door, looking back at the mall exit. She saw nothing out of the ordinary, but again something cold passed over her, causing her to shiver. On the drive home she kept an eye on the rearview mirror and watched the side roads for strange vehicles. The old man, too, was watching from his place in the back seat of the truck. He leaned to the front to check the boy’s seat belt. It was nice having this back seat in a truck, and he was beginning to see why most of their neighbors on the reservation had opted for this newer style. The clatter of the diesel engine did put him on edge at first, and he had told Thomas, “I believe there’s something wrong with this damn thing! It sounds like it’s ready to throw a rod all the time.”

  “No, Paul, that is just the way these engines are. They are very high compression and that makes them a little noisy.” Thomas had become
quite solicitous of the old man’s feelings of late and tried to stay on his good side as much as possible.

  Once home, the old man and the boy went down to the corrals to check on the sheep. Paul had thrown them some feed before they went to town but felt guilty they had not been taken out to pasture that day. He should have stayed home and done chores, but he had wanted to get the boy some proper boots. He wanted to see how the boy would do riding his old black mare.

  ~~~~~~

  Hiram Buck was a very unhappy man. He had been paid for only two of the cows he had sold that morning at the sale. Payment had been withheld on a third due to some discrepancy the brand inspector found in the paperwork. He needed that money. He could explain the paperwork—he had done it before. He had even fixed brands before, but it would take time, and he was as short of time as he was money. The long and short of it was he was going to have to come up with another eight or nine hundred dollars pronto, and that was just for starters. He had finally come to the conclusion that he would have to sell his horse—the one he lent Charlie Yazzie the day before; the only horse he had left worth enough money to help. This put him in an evil mood. That horse was worth twice what it would bring at the sale barn. Today was the first of the month, and there would be a special horse auction following the livestock sale. It would not start until late afternoon, giving him time to go pick up the horse at his nephews and check him into the sale.

  This entire plan was becoming complicated. There were only two people in the whole family smart enough to pull this thing off—and one of them was dead.

  What really grated on him was that his idiot nephew George Jim had botched a critical part of that plan. The money he’d counted on would not be forthcoming. Worse, it could lead to the loss of a much bigger amount of money further on. More money than he or anyone else in the family had ever seen at one time. Now, too, there was the matter of Sally’s boy Caleb. He had high hopes for that boy. He was smart, and God knew there were few smart boys left in his bunch. In fact there were few boys at all. He was awash in girls… sullen, bad tempered, girls.