The Shaman

by David Nees

  “I told you I am a Watcher, one of many. We have a gift to see the spirit world. You white people think there is nothing beyond what you can see. Yet you believe in atoms and things you can’t see. What you don’t accept is what is right in front of you if you had sight for it.”

  “What is that?”

  “The spirit world. There is the world of things you can touch and feel and there is the world of spirits. You can’t touch or feel this world but it is not less real. I will tell you it is more real than the world we sit in.”

  The shaman put the eating bowls aside and pulled the pot off the fire. He settled down to get more comfortable. “There is a battle between the forces of darkness and the forces of light. It is between good and evil. The spirits play out this battle here in our world. We are in the middle of a battle, we are part of it.”

  “There are enemies out there, bad men who want to hurt people, who want to destroy society. I know that.”

  Tlayolotl shook his head. “It is more than that. It is driven by the darkness. This darkness has grown in Mexico. It has infested Chihuahua City. You have come to fight the darkness.”

  Dan interrupted. “I came to assassinate a drug lord. And I did that. If you want to call it fighting darkness that is fine with me.”

  The shaman shook his head. “I hoped you could understand.”

  “I see you are trying to make some cosmic thing out of what I am doing…what I did. I’m an assassin, that’s all.” This last he said with some force.

  Tlayolotl just stared at him, his eyes burning deep in his face.

  “But you cannot dismiss how you came to be here.” His voice grew sharper, the words biting into Dan. “You were dead twice. Because of me you are not dead. In my world you owe me your life—two lives. You have a debt to pay to me.”

  “I’m grateful for you saving me. And I don’t understand how it happened, but I don’t have a debt to pay to you.”

  Tlayolotl stood up. His voice boomed in the hut. The coyote rose and started to growl. “You owe me your life, twice! If you can’t or won’t accept that, I can take it back, twice!”

  The coyote inched forward. Dan recoiled on the pad from the shaman’s intensity.

  “I should turn you out to die in the desert. I thought you were the one. Maybe I am old and don’t see so well.” He pointed a finger at Dan. “But you are the one who doesn’t see well. You are blind. You try to remain blind while I try to give you sight.”

  He stepped out of the hut into the night. The coyote followed after a last growl in Dan’s direction. The raven clung to its perch and looked down at Dan.

  I’ve done it now. Pissed him off. He rescued me and if he turns me out, I’ll probably die. The man was old but Dan had no doubts that, with the coyote, he could be driven away without much hope of survival. He made a decision and got up and walked out of the hut.

  Tlayolotl was standing near the pool of water looking up at the sky. The night sky was filled with stars, bright like diamonds. They alone lit the clear air enough to cast shadows. The coyote sat beside him.

  Dan approached slowly. The coyote turned to watch him carefully. “Tlayolotl, I am sorry to speak to you with no respect and no thankfulness. You have saved my life, given it back to me when it would have been lost. I am ready to listen.”

  The shaman stared upward without responding.

  Dan continued. “You have some reason for doing this and I need to hear it. Please tell me what you have to say.”

  Slowly the shaman turned. In the dark, Dan could still see his eyes glowing, like coals in a fire. “I am old. Ancient. Older than you can imagine. But my power is still great and I still see what a Watcher needs to see.” He pointed to the hut. “Go back in. Maybe it is not too late for you to learn.”

  Dan walked back into the hut and the shaman followed a few minutes later. He sat down on a stool.

  “A woman has called you to battle. I saw it in my dreams. I sense her heart is good but I do not see her clearly. I do not think she knows what she battles. You are important. More than you know. More than this woman knows, although she suspects there is more.” He pointed to Dan, “She wants you to be the warrior. Much will depend on you, but you must not fight blind. You must understand the battle.

  “I brought you here to show you the battle you fight. To help you to see. If you open your mind and accept my words, you will see and understand. It will make you a stronger warrior.”

  The shaman looked at Dan for some time. “You must learn to still the chatter in your mind. It is like the squirrel busying about, here and there.”

  “You can read my mind?”

  Tlayolotl shook his head. “No, but I can sense how busy your mind is. It keeps you from hearing and understanding.”

  “If this is a spiritual battle, like you say. And you say it has to be fought here, in the physical world. I don’t see how that changes things.”

  “It is better for you to know more than less. It will keep you safe in the future. A warrior’s mind can go bad from fighting if he doesn’t know his role—the part he plays and how he helps. It will all seem to be too much killing after some time.” Tlayolotl pointed to Dan. “What I will show you will keep you safe. You will see. Tomorrow night. Tonight you must rest and I must go looking, watching. Tomorrow I will prepare you to see. Are you willing to see?”

  His eyes bore into Dan as he asked the question. There was no turning away from him.

  “Yes.”

  Chapter 22

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  T hat night Tlayolotl took out some pieces of cactus from a jar; they looked like small buds or buttons taken from a larger section. He lit a small piece of brush and the smoke filled the hut. It was pungent, not unpleasant. Taking a large feather, Dan guessed it was from an eagle, Tlayolotl began to waft the aromatic smoke around as he chanted, softly, rhythmically. The coyote relaxed on the ground, his eyes fastened intently on the old shaman. The raven began to pace back and forth on his perch, always watching the man. Tlayolotl brushed his arms, torso and face with the feather.

  After what seemed like a half hour, Tlayolotl began to eat the cactus pieces, chewing them and swallowing the pieces. He kept chanting and singing in a language Dan didn’t understand, but what seemed to be prayers or enchantments, in between bites. After consuming eight pieces he stopped and sat still. Dan watched him closely as his breathing grew softer and slower. It looked like he was going into a trance.

  Then the raven squawked. It startled Dan. The bird jumped off its perch and flew through the opening of the hut. Tlayolotl didn’t stir. The coyote did not move except to glance at Dan now and then.

  After an hour or more, Dan wasn’t sure; he got up to check on Tlayolotl. When he stepped forward the coyote growled and moved forward, putting himself in between Dan and the shaman. Dan stopped. He rethought his idea of checking up on Tlayolotl. He had no desire to be attacked by the animal that showed an enormous loyalty to the shaman as well as an amazing awareness of what was going on between the two humans. He stepped back and turned to go outside of the hut. The coyote did not follow.

  The night air was clear and chilly. The stars were stunning in their brilliance. They hung in the sky, closer and sharper than he had ever seen them up north. The hills came into dim view as he looked up out of the depths of the ravine. It was a well-chosen place. You would not see this from above. You would have to climb into the nearly impassable rocks that overhung the spring behind where he was standing to be able to see the pool of water. You would still not see the hut. And the creek draining the pool sank underground before it went around the curve in the gulch. As a result, in crossing through the gulch farther down, where the slope let you descend into and climb out the other side, you would never know this oasis was just around the bend.

  How long had he lived here? Dan wondered. Did he sustain himself on rabbits and cactus plants? Did any other humans visit or even know he was here? The questions were flying around in his min
d. “Busy as a squirrel.” Dan remembered his words. These were not the important questions. It would not matter if he never got the answers to them. He was beginning to understand.

  But what are the important questions?

  Why am I here? And what do you want of me? These were the ones he needed to ask. Tlayolotl was in a trance. He could do nothing about that. Dan guessed the pieces of cactus were peyote and that Tlayolotl was on a hallucinogenic trip. The coyote would protect him during that time and Dan would have to wait. How long would that be?

  He turned back to the hut. He said to rest and tomorrow he would show me. Show me what? Dan didn’t know, but he was ready to rest. He went into the hut and lay down on his pallet.

  Tlayolotl flew with Raven across the desert. They winged south towards Chihuahua City. As they approached he saw the dark. It was not a cloud so much as the absence of light. There was no substance to it; it was nothingness, nothing emanated from it…and nothing penetrated it. Raven flew around it, not getting too close. Tlayolotl was old and experienced. He would not risk an encounter. The darkness could engulf and snare him. He was a Watcher and it was best to just watch.

  Raven alighted on a roof. When Tlayolotl had noted the source of the darkness, the bird took wing and they headed back north, out over the desert. Tlayolotl needed to find someone. A gang member lost in the desert. He would help Dan. The pieces were falling in place.

  Tariq looked up as Raven flew off. But he only saw a flash of dark wings. Tariq thought it odd for a bird—it looked like a crow or raven to him—to be out at night.

  As they flew closer to Tlayolotl’s hut the bird began to fly a crisscross pattern across the desert. Hour after hour they flew, searching. Finally Tlayolotl spotted a figure staggering along. The man was close to collapse. The shaman could see he had been going in circles for most of the night. He hoped the man had one or two days in him. He would be needed for Tlayolotl’s plans. They watched him for a while and started back to the hut.

  Hector was concerned. The men he had sent into the desert to chase down the shooter had not reported back to him. He was blind to what might have happened. He sensed there was trouble; that the plan had not gone well. After the men departed, he gave orders that no one was to leave the warehouse while the police were all over Chihuahua City. He was assured by the high level officers of the local police that none of his senior men would be arrested, but they would lie low and wait for the Federals to go. It was strongly suggested that Hector needed to get control over the gang war that threatened to explode since the shooting. There were many outbreaks of violence and he was struggling to contain the fighting. The press was still in sensational mode with lurid headlines and pictures. Inter-cartel violence would only keep them engaged and fuel the killing.

  Tariq had not liked the delay nor the orders that no one was to leave the compound, which included himself. Hector didn’t care. He would have liked to just kill them all, but it was not possible in the city now with all the activity. He didn’t care about killing Jorge’s plan for diversification, but the loss of the heroin source gave him some pause. Still, if Tariq irritated him too much…he would enjoy killing him. Hector had no interest in Tariq’s hatred of the U.S. The U.S. was simply a market to him.

  Now with nothing more to do for the moment, Hector had flown back to Mexico City. He needed to place himself in the center of action, the center of power of the Sinaloa cartel. That place was Jorge Mendoza’s compound. María would have to understand his need to dispense direction and orders from this location. She needed to understand that he was the one who could keep her safe and allow her to keep her lifestyle intact.

  The cartel lawyer also had to acknowledge Hector. He would do so because it was in his interests. Any other man trying to assume leadership would be challenged. Now was the time to establish Hector as the leader. María’s family lawyer had to be brought on board as well. Some quiet words from the cartel lawyer and some veiled threats from Hector about how the man needed to protect his own family as well as María’s would do the trick. He arranged for the two men to be at the Mendoza compound.

  “You want to stay here, in the house?” María asked. She was talking with Hector in the front living room after he had landed in his helicopter at the compound.

  “It is necessary,” Hector replied. “I am the only one who can keep the cartel together and who can avoid war with other cartels. Two other leaders were killed along with Jorge and many blame us. They want revenge.”

  María’s face fell at the mention of Jorge’s killing. “I would like to be alone.”

  Hector smiled at her. “It is not possible. Not now. I have to be here and so do you. Your presence will give approval to my position.” Hector wanted all the signs to point to him as the leader. He reached out to touch her arm. “I am the only one who can keep you safe. You are a beautiful woman, María. Jorge, may God have mercy on him, did not fully appreciate you or what you could be. If you stay by my side, I can assure you no harm will come to you or your children. You must talk with your lawyer. He will agree. I will have him talk to you later.”

  “Hector, what is it you want?”

  “To keep the cartel intact and to keep us dominant.”

  “What is it you want…of me?”

  Hector took her arm and walked her back towards the study. “Just your support, nothing more. We can talk of more, later when you are ready.”

  She looked sideways at him as they walked. Hector could see her trying to discern just what price she would have to pay. He didn’t say more. She would do what was necessary. She had not been deeply in love with Jorge and he had not asked for more; just children, a glamorous partner, and one who quietly let him do his whoring as he wished. With her children, she now had more motivation to work the current situation to her advantage. Hector smiled inside. That calculation would lead to him taking not only the reins of the cartel, but also the beautiful wife of the cartel’s now dead leader.

  “I have followed Jorge all through his rise in the cartel. I am the one behind his power. Now I can inherit that power and use it to protect you.”

  María slipped her free hand over Hector’s hand that still gripped her arm. It was as if she had made a decision. She squeezed his hand gently, and then slid her fingers off sending a chill down Hector’s spine. “Thank you.” She smiled at him and then disengaged herself and turned towards her own rooms.

  Dan awoke with a start as the raven swooped into the hut with a flurry of wings. It hooked onto the perch and looked around, ruffling and flapping its wings as it got itself comfortable. Suddenly Tlayolotl stirred and looked up. He saw Dan looking at him from his pallet.

  “You stay awake? You need to rest. There is much to do tomorrow.”

  “The bird woke me. It flew off when you went into a trance. That is what you did, isn’t it?”

  “Raven and me went to see. To prepare for tomorrow.” He held up his hand in anticipation of a question from Dan. “No foolish questions now. No time for that. There are still hours left in the night. You sleep. Raven sleeps. Raven has much work to do tomorrow.”

  The raven had already tucked its head to one side and was fast asleep. Dan looked over at the coyote; it was now asleep. Tlayolotl drank some water and he too lay down on his pallet to sleep.

  Dan yawned and lay back. Tomorrow would bring the answers, as Tlayolotl said.

  Chapter 23

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  J ane sat in Henry’s office. It was not much larger then her own. Henry’s tie was loose and his hair ruffled. He had a scowl on his face rather than the usual easy going professorial look. Something’s bothering him.

  Henry sat at his desk; there was a manila folder in front of him. “Have you heard from Dan?”

  “Not since he checked in five days ago. His phone battery may have died.”

  Henry pointed for Jane to sit in the chair in front of the desk. “He had a sat phone?”

  “Yes but he hasn’t used it si
nce checking in.”

  “So you don’t know what has happened?”

  “Only that Dan said we got a bonus on the job. I’m not quite sure I know what he means by that. What’s up? Did you hear anything?”

  Henry tapped the folder. “We got a cable from the embassy in Mexico City. The place is in an uproar.”

  “The city or the embassy?”

  “Both, actually. It seems he not only killed Mendoza but two other cartel leaders along with some lieutenants. It was quite a shootout. On top of that, the men sent to pull Dan out may have been ambushed. They’re missing as is the vehicle they used. We have to presume they’re dead. The embassy is raising hell and asking what this was all about. They want to know if their pickup instructions had anything to do with these shootings.”

  That’s what he meant about an added bonus. Jane looked over at Henry. “We’ve got to maintain the cover that we sent a man in to do some reconnaissance and they were to pull him out.”

  Henry shook his head. “That’s going to be hard to do. The connection will be made. The police have found the shooting site. It’s just where we would send a man to do recon but it’s also where we would send a sniper.”

  “Did they find anything?”

  “No, Dan cleaned it up.”

  “Then they still can’t prove any connection—”

  “Unless they catch Dan. And you haven’t heard from him. How are we to get in touch and get him out of there?”

  Jane shook her head. “I don’t know. If he doesn’t turn on the sat phone...we can only wait until we hear from him.”

  “Meanwhile we’re in some deep shit.”

  Jane looked at Henry quizzically.

  “Roger Abrams, my boss, wants to talk with us. This morning.”

  “But he’s your friend. He’ll work with us, won’t he?”

  “He wants the full story and then I may have to talk to the DDO, Garrett Easton.”