by Glover, Dan
"You can show me anything, Church. I don’t care if she's there or not."
"Well, if you say so, Billy... she might not like me telling you our family secrets though."
"What kind of secrets does your family have, Church?"
It weighed on his mind that his aunt might be taking advantage of his friendship with Billy Ford. He remembered how she'd asked him a lot of questions about Billy when they first became friends. At the time Church thought his aunt had something against the boy. Now, he wasn’t so sure.
"My mother and her sister came here from Mexico but before that they lived in Cuba. Remember those two men who were killed in that stampede years ago but no one could find any sign of tracks around their bodies?"
"Sure, Church... I remember that. What's that got to do with your family?"
"Those men were from Cuba too. I heard they were spreading rumors about my aunt the day before they died... about how she belonged to a cult."
"Are you saying Evalena had something to do with their deaths? Come on, Church... she's just a girl. How could she do something like that?"
"I don't know. You're probably right. Forget I said anything."
The way his eyes flashed angrily for just a moment along with his vigorous defense of her told Church that Billy was already too wrapped up in Evalena's charismatic nature to easily break free. She was setting up Billy Ford for something... but what? A woman like Evalena wouldn't interact with a boy like Billy unless she had a motive... a good reason for it... and one she'd carefully plotted out from beginning to end.
Everyone knew the Fords were wealthy... probably the richest family in north Texas. The Triple Six ranch was legendary for having been built piece by piece by Rancher Ford. The story went how the man started out with nothing, not even shoes on his feet, and yet he had made himself into a man to be reckoned with even by Presidential contenders like Senator Townsend.
By insinuating her way into Billy Ford's good graces did Evalena hope to partake in the riches of the father? If so, Church had a feeling she was in for a huge disappointment. Rancher Ford was not a man to be taken advantage of so easily.
"Do you believe in magic, Church?"
The question caught him off guard. They had stopped at the dry gulch marking the western boundary of the ranch to unfurl a roll of barb wire and stretch it over a section of fence that had either rusted away or more likely been cut by cowboys leading a herd over land that didn’t belong to them. Church loved working with Billy... they each seemed to feed off the other one's energy so that the job in front of them seemed to evaporate before it had begun.
Looking up while wiping his brow with a dusty bandana the sun was a green blowtorch in the middle of a hard blue sky... not even a simple breeze stirred over the hardpan that was cracked and dry as far as the eye could see while iron weed and sage brush eked out an existence along the old chalk-white waterline that marked either a wetter climate or one of the frequent flash floods that periodically ran roughshod over a land too dry to soak in the sudden rains that came too seldom and then too powerfully to do any good.
Between the two of them the work progressed quickly. Sometimes Church thought how he and his brother communicated in ways others didn't. Each time one was ready for a tool the other had it standing by. He'd worked with many of the migrant workers but none of them could compete with Billy's skill set and knowledge.
They were wrapping things up now and would be home for supper within the hour. Church noticed empurpled thunderheads rising high into the southern sky like a forest of gigantic treetops portending rain but he reckoned the moisture would spill itself out well before reaching the Triple Six. They were in the midst of another periodic drought but this one seemed as harsh as any he had known.
"What kind of magic, Billy? Why do you ask?"
"It's just what you were saying about your aunt... that you thought she might've had something to do with the deaths of those cowpokes. Do you believe there are witches in the world who can cast spells over people they hate?"
"I think there are people who believe they're witches but the only people they can hurt with their spells are those who believe in witches too."
"You're pretty smart for such a little guy, Church."
"I'm not so little anymore, Billy. I'm as big as you."
"Yeah... but you'll never be as handsome. Last one back to the Triple Six has to clean the stables."
It wasn’t a fair race... Billy Ford was already mounted and Church had yet to gather the rest of his tools they used to fix the broken fence. He told himself it didn’t matter... Billy would have beaten him anyway. His horse was known for its speed and endurance and Church didn’t much like to push his little pony more that necessary.
Riding back alone gave Church time to think. Billy Ford had changed over the last few months and not for the better. It seemed to Church that ever since Evalena has taken up with him, Billy had become more covetous than he was before.
Between the two of them they had managed to talk Lester Craven into trading his ranch for a dilapidated house in Mexico that supposedly belonged to Evalena. Church had never seen that property but he'd been by old man Craven's ranch many times. It wasn’t far from where he lived at the end of Cherry Creek Road.
Craven's land was fed by one of the few rivers still running through north Texas so the myriad trees growing on it were green year around even while most of the surrounding countryside turned brown and burned up under the hot summer sun. Church had heard Rancher Ford speak of the ranch many times... how he wanted to acquire it not only to bring together two giant swaths of land he owned on either side of it but to take advantage of the riparian rights of owning both sides of the river running through the property... plus there was a tunnel under the highway which meant cows and equipment could move back and forth easily.
He had once overheard Lester Craven talking to some men at the café in Guthrie where he'd stopped to get a bite of lunch while in town to buy treats for the ponies. The only restaurant in town had high-backed seats so Lester Craven didn't realize Church was sitting in the booth right behind him and could hear every word he said.
The man seemed to be snickering over having thwarted Rancher Ford's latest attempt at prying his land away from him. Listening to the conversation it became clear to Church that the man would never sell the ranch to his father... he'd rather give it away to strangers than to see it become a part of the Triple Six.
It seemed as if some bad blood had formed between Craven and Ford decades before when Rancher first appeared in town. Hank Jordan, the man Rancher worked for when he arrived in Guthrie, had purchased an estate that belonged to Lester Craven's father... one that the son felt was his heritage. Apparently the old man sold the entire contents of his home upon going into a nursing home and having had no communication with his boy Lester for many years took it for granted he didn't want any of the old stuff.
The story went how Rancher had been at the house loading up the furniture in the back of Hank's truck when Lester and a pair of his thug friends showed up. They were all big men and Rancher was just a kid and so it went that when they attempted to put a licking on him the boy surprised them all by pulling out a .38 special from the ankle holster he wore threatening to shoot the first one who came close to him.
Lester Craven had been so frightened staring down the barrel of that pistol that he soiled himself and his two friends made sure to spread the word so that a day later the entire town of Guthrie had heard about it. Though Rancher Ford had nothing to do with Lester Craven losing his father's estate to Hank Jordan he blamed the boy from that day on and never missed an opportunity to stick it to him any way he could.
Evalena could be a temptress when she set her mind to it. She surprised not only him but Billy Ford on the day Church took her swimming at the hacienda by taking off her clothes and swimming in her underwear which when wet showed all her assets. Evalena seemed to revel under the boys' gaze, especially Billy's.
The woman
seemed to grow younger each year or perhaps it was he who grew older while she simply stood still. He couldn’t blame Billy Ford for taking up with her... Evalena was as stunning a beauty as there was in the entire county.
What had Billy been saying about witches just now? Something about whether he believed they were capable of casting spells on people... was that what happened with Lester Craven too?
Church decided to go into Guthrie the next day and visit the library to do some investigating.
Chapter 18
There were worse things in the world than no.
"Has your mother ever said anything about a special stone?"
He felt cheap asking Church about the stone but Evalena made him promise to do it if she helped him acquire the Craven place. Besides, what did it hurt to ask? He figured the most that could happen might be how Church would say no.
"I have no idea what you mean, Billy. Stone? What kind of stone? We have lots of stones around the chabola."
"She said you'd know what I'm talking about, Church. She said it's so special that anyone who sees it is instantly caught up in its beauty and power. Those who possess it could have wealth beyond imagination just for the asking."
"Why would my aunt think I'd know anything about that?"
"I'm not sure... she told me that you might know where it's hidden. If you help me get it, she said she would share its wealth with us. We'd be rich, Church."
"I'm sorry but I don’t know about any stone like that and if I did I don’t think I'd help my aunt... she's lying to you, Billy. I've been trying to tell you that she isn’t a person to be trusted... she'll turn on you in the end and keep everything for herself."
"She helped me get the Craven ranch though. I don’t think she's the kind of girl you think she is, Church. She's good to me... she never asks for anything in return... and she could, you know. I see how you live at that shack."
"We don’t have it so bad there, Billy."
"You don’t even have electricity or running water. If she asked I'd talk father into putting some money into that place... fix it up. Make it habitable. But she's like you... she doesn’t say a word about the hardships she faces."
"To tell you the truth, I never realized how poor we were until I came to your house for the first time, Billy."
"As pretty as she is Evalena could have any man in the world and they'd take care of her like she was a princess. Instead she stays with you. She's been there for years now. Do you have any idea why? I think it's because she loves you and your mother."
"That may well be... but I think the truth is she's looking for something that she thinks we have... isn't that more like it? And now she's recruited you to help her steal it from us. Billy... on the other hand if we had something like that stone she's talking about, do you think we would be living the way we do?"
"No... I guess not..."
"Evalena's always telling my mother how unlucky I am... that whoever comes around me will have terrible misfortunes. I never understood why until now."
"Why would she do that, Church? She's your aunt."
"She wants me to leave the chabola so she can make my mother give her what she doesn’t have. Evalena knows I'll stand up to her. She's afraid of me... she's always been afraid of me. Do you know what she told my mother to do the night I was born, Billy?"
"No... how'd I know that, Church."
"She told my mother to drown me. Evalena wanted me dead before I ever had a chance at life. I'm telling you, Billy... nothing good will come of you being with her. She'll make you do horrible things and in the end she'll turn against you anyway."
Though Church seemed sincere his words angered Billy. What did his brother have against Evalena that he'd make up lies about her? Turning away from him, Billy told himself how it was better not to have a brother than to listen to the insults Church was heaping upon Evalena and with no good reason.
He didn’t believe the boy. Evalena wasn’t like that, not like he said. She was a good and a caring woman who loved her family and who'd made many personal sacrifices to be with them. If Church couldn’t understand that then it was better their friendship ended.
He didn’t want to admit to Church that he'd fallen in love with Evalena... he didn’t want anyone to know, not even his father. Somehow he knew his brother would object and what was more, so would his father. Still, Billy wanted to run and shout to the entire countryside how he felt for the beautiful girl who'd come into his life unlooked for and who taught him what it meant to be loved by a woman... a real woman.
"Do you have a girlfriend, Billy?"
He thought she might be teasing him the way she'd made a habit of doing and for just a moment he was tempted to lie to her... to tell her yes, he had many girlfriends. But something told him that Evalena would see through the deception even before he uttered the words.
"No, not really... why do you ask, Evalena?"
"I'm sort of thinking about applying for the job... if you wouldn’t mind, that is. Would you like me to be your girlfriend, Billy?"
Thoughts he never dreamed of having rushed through his head as she started to remove her blouse, unbuttoning it so slowly that it was all he could do to keep from ripping it from her body hearing the buttons bouncing off the thin walls as he forced her back onto the bed.
"Yes, I'd like you to be my girlfriend, Evalena."
"Good... because you have to choose me, Billy. I can't choose you. That's how it works."
"That's how what works? What are you talking about, Evalena?"
"Hush now, Billy."
He was twenty one years old and ashamed to admit he'd never slept with a woman before. Oh sure, he'd made out with a couple of the local girls after Saturday night dances and even managed to cup Becky Thompson's left breast—or was it her elbow... he could never be certain—before she jumped up and ran off into the night but Billy had never dreamed of actually having a woman like Evalena.
The fact that she kept an odd and somewhat bizarre altar in her bedroom at the chabola with what looked like a human skull in the middle of it with a red candle melted into the top of the head and wax running down between its dead eyes pooling around the base like puddles of blood made no difference to Billy... not when she pulled off her clothes to reveal all the mysteries of the world to him for the first time.
Sometimes when he looked at Evalena in the early light of day she seemed as old as time but the next moment she was a young girl again softly moaning as she rocked back and forth on top of him with a look on her face he never thought he'd see while calling out strange names in a language Billy had never heard before.
"Ahora... somos amante, Guillermo... we are lovers now, Billy. We are joined forever."
"I'll never leave you, Evalena. I love you."
As she lay soft and warm in his arms and Billy felt like a man for the first time Evalena whispered into his ear things that he couldn't quite understand in a visceral sense yet some deeper part of him was ready to act at her every suggestion. He didn't know if she spoke in English or in Spanish or a mixture of both or neither... that didn't matter. All that he desired was for her to never leave his side.
"Bring me something pretty next time you visit, mi amor. Prove how much I mean to you... be the one who catches all my tears."
"Do you love me too, Evalena?"
She didn't answer in words... rather she coiled her body around his once again like a serpent strangling its prey and gasping as he entered her and rolling over to ride him like something darkly wild until she collapsed and melted back into him.
Sleep pulled at him dragging him down into a deep and a dark pit where naked whispers echoed off unseen walls. A moment later he was flying across a forest so expansive he could see neither beginning nor end of it. About the time he marveled at his ability to fly he plummeted to earth.
He was dreaming and he knew it. Evalena was with him. They were standing naked together upon a precipice overlooking a volcano vomiting magma over the land and belching filth i
nto the air. When he drew a breath he choked upon the sulfur and ash burning his lungs and charring his throat.
"Unless you help me, my love, I'll fade into nothing."
As he stood watching, Evalena began to crumble away like dust... first her skin peeled back to reveal the white of bone beneath and then her skeleton began crumbling. He began to open his mouth to scream but he knew if he drew another acrid breath he would be dead before he could exhale it.
In the distance he saw a vast green tree throwing its limbs up to the sun, flourishing as if it was being fed the nectar of the gods. He recognized it as the enormous sycamore tree that grew in the middle of the long abandoned church not far from the chabola.
"This is called the Church of Five Angels... this is where you'll find what you seek."
The words seemed to be set to some sort of music that came up out of the ground from under the tree roots. Pain blossomed in his ears as if the melody was instead razor blades cutting into the tender flesh yet he was drawn to the spot anyway.
He had played at that place many times with Church. The building was but adobe brick walls now and above the main door frame was an ancient stone carving of Lucifer—or was it Jesus?—lying upon the ground with five angels dancing over him... their soft white wings fluttering and their dainty feet scarcely touching the stone.
"Help me, mi amor..."
Evalena's words sounded in his ears as he rose to break the surface of waking. What was under that tree that made it grow so splendidly while all the vegetation around it withered in the summer heat?
Easing out of Evalena's warm embrace Billy dressed quickly without waking her. Dawn was a long ways off yet when he started to set out from the chabola leading his horse to the road along with a spade he had found in the shed around back tied to his saddle.
And then someone stepped out of the shadows.
Chapter 19
