by Vr McCoy
After eating we returned a little before 10:00 and waited outside the church. We observed the priests Wauneka and Roanhorse at the door, greeting the parishioners as they entered. After all congregation was inside and the doors closed, we exited the vehicle and entered the church. The mass was similar to the other peyote masses we'd observed in Chinle and Tuba. They presented a snake charmer who danced with several snakes on his arms and passed the peyote pipe. Towards the end things got interesting as Priest Roanhorse addressed the parishioners.
“As you know and can tell by now, Father Tsosie isn't present. I know you have brought your sick tribesmen with you today so Father Tsosie can heel them, but he couldn't make it today. It saddens me to tell you that Father Tsosie felt the doubters before they even arrived here. He is a great seer and knew that the evil ones, who don't believe, would be with us. He can't perform his healing with those who don't believe in attendance. It requires pure faith in order to work. You know who they are. I'm sorry you brought your sick clansmen all the way here, but until the evil ones are gone, Father Tsosie will not be healing any longer.”
Then we heard the rumbling of the entire church as they looked towards the back at us. The priests were igniting the flames of a mob. There was nothing Nina and I could do. The church was filled with an angry and upset congregations. This was our cue to depart. As we got up from our seats, so did several of the parishioners. This was becoming ugly quickly. There is nothing like the will of a zealot to incite rage. Once at the door we ran to our vehicle. The crowd ran after us and threw things at the vehicle as we drove off.
About a half a mile down the road we noticed several vehicles speeding up from behind us in pursuit. It was the parishioners, no doubt. Nina sped up as well. There was no way we would be caught in any type of conflict with a mob of Navajo who could possibly be armed. It was a no-win situation. Our only recourse was to flee.
We flew past a speed trap set up by two hidden Reservation Police cruisers. We were doing about 30-40 miles per hour over the speed limit in what would be classified as reckless endangerment. When the police cruisers became involved with sirens sounding and flashers illuminated, the parishioners ended their chase. With the mob dispersed, we pulled over and I was arrested on sight. There was an FBI BOLO out on me throughout the reservation. Nina attempted to use her BIA credentials to straighten out the matter, but to no avail. They didn't arrest Nina and let her follow us to the police station. I was detained at the Reservation Station until the FBI arrived. It only took about 40 minutes before they showed up. They sent Ortega and Burkhart.
“Well if it isn't the infamous Christian Sands. You are really making a name for yourself in Res. Territory. They say you are already a part of Hopi lore, Cheveyo. You do realize we are running out of time to find her,” Ortega stated, his sarcastic tone setting my teeth on edge. Just when I was beginning to like Ortega.
“I'm the one who gave you guys the moon schedule, remember?” I stated.
“Oh yeah, you did, didn't you. So, how are you going to find her from in here?” he asked.
“Look, Ortega, if you're here to gloat, save it!”
“No, I'm here to get you out. The Great Mother says you still have work to do. She asked me to keep a watchful eye out for you, so I monitored the Res radios. I'm here to help,” he stated to my surprise.
“So you're just going to waltz me out the door?” I asked.
“Well I would prefer it if you just walked out on your own, but if you need a dance partner, Agent Blackwater is in the lobby also,” Ortega quipped.
“Are there other agents coming to pick me up?” I inquired.
“No, I took care of all of that. I told the Residence Office it was a false report and that I had everything under control. I figured Steve knew what you were doing, so I notified him. Now let's get outta here and find Gracie,” Ortega said.
We drove out of Window Rock and off the Reservation as fast as we could. We checked into a hotel in Gallup, New Mexico to hide out until things died down a little. We needed to collect our thoughts and strategize. Nina couldn't believe what Ortega did for me and neither could I. Ortega reserved a hotel room for us, since I appeared to be as wanted as the Coyote these days.
“You guys should be alright here for a while. I'll leave Agent Burkhart here with you in the next room. I need to check back in with Residence Office. They're going to get suspicious if I don't. I'm going to drive back and meet up with you tomorrow morning. Call me if you need anything or feel the urge to leave while I'm gone,” Ortega stated and departed.
The priests had really outsmarted us. They had the reservation police, the FBI, a whole congregation of religious zealots and perhaps the entire reservation out to get us. We were exhausted from the near mob attack and the arrest. We just needed to rest for a few hours so we lay down on the bed together staring at the ceiling. Then we both began laughing at the same time. It started out as a chuckle then it grew into a full-blown gut-busting laugh. We were laughing at ourselves and the way we ran out of the church.
“Did you see the way they all turned around and looked at us?” Nina giggled.
“I thought the old lady was going to tackle us at the door,” I replied, laughing as well.
“I never thought I could run so fast,” Nina said.
“I couldn't believe it. When I saw you just flat out dash, I was like, what the hell? This girl can run!” We laughed so hard there were tears in our eyes.
“I've been thrown out of bars and nightclubs before, but that's the first time I was thrown out of church and run out of town! You really know how to show a lady a good time, Chris,” Nina said, just barely getting it out while laughing so hard. I was rolling in the bed at that point.
She really did know how to make light of a bad situation. She masterfully turned a frown into smile. That's when I realized how much I adored her. I stopped and wiped the tears from my eyes and just looked at her.
“What?” she inquired.
“Nothing,” I replied.
“No, what is it?” she asked.
“I was thinking about how incredible you are.”
“You're just now noticing that?” she said, smiling.
“No; I'm just noticing how modest you are,” I replied and we started laughing again. Then I held her in my arms. I dismissed the outside world and kissed her like there was no tomorrow.
“Wow, where did that come from?” she asked, but before she could continue I quieted her with an even more passionate kiss. She made up for all the bad in my life. She was the one constant, ethereal and beautiful light in my dark and dismal world. She was truly God's gift to me. She was my savior and companion. How very lucky I was to have her. We fell asleep while on the bed and I took the opportunity to do some dreamscaping. Agent Trace Burkhart was next door, so I felt safe while she slept and I went under. I needed to check on Gracie's status.
Early that morning, before sunrise, I was wakened by the sounds of Nina screaming. I jumped up, startled and bewildered by what I saw. There were dozens of rattlers in our room. I didn't hear or feel them while asleep. I'm most vulnerable while in dreamscape. I can't hear or feel anything in my external surroundings; luckily, once again Nina had been present to wake me! She held on to me tight as I assessed the situation. Her weapons were out of reach! I grabbed the bowie knife Asku had given me from its spot the nightstand.
“Listen to me, Nina; I want you to stay on the bed.”
She was frightened and still holding me tight. I grasped her face and directed her eyes towards mine. “It's alright; I'm going to get us out of here. Just look at me.”
The snakes were on the bed now. She curled up in a fetal position. I wrapped my arms with pillow cases, then grabbed the Deer Horned blade and went to work! With the speed and agility of the panther, I killed the snakes on the bed first. Then I carved my way through the ones in the rest of the room with lightning fast speed. I had never used a knife like this before. You would have thought I was an expert in Escrima
, the Filipino Martial Art of knife fighting. I was a killing machine, displaying grace and precision with the blade in my hand.
Nina continued to fix her sight on me. She had calmed down and now fixated on what she was witnessing. She was enamored by the speed and graceful show I was putting on. When it was over I looked around the room and surprised myself. I couldn't believe I had killed so many in so little time.
“Are you OK?” I asked Nina. She nodded, and then asked, “Did any bite you?” She was coming back around now as she took the pillows off my arms and began assessing me from head to toe. I hadn't been bitten. The snakes were fast, but I was faster. Then it hit me.
“We'd better check on Burkhart. We made a lot of noise for him not to hear it and come immediately over,” I stated. Nina looked at me and without saying a word we rushed to the door together. She was back, and fearless as ever.
We knocked on the door several times, taking turns calling out Burkhart's name. There was no answer at the door, so we displayed our credentials to the hotel management and had them open it. When the door was opened we discovered Agent Burkhart lying on the bed, dead. Nina checked his pulse and vitals, but there was nothing. After a careful inspection of the body we didn't find any offensive or defensive wounds. It was as if he had died of a heart attack in his sleep! There was no sign of struggle of any kind in the room. Nothing was out of order or disturbed, not even the bed. Burkhart had lain down on the bed fully clothed and died that way.
We informed the hotel's management staff that we would take care of everything and that this was an FBI matter. I telephoned Steve immediately and briefed him on the situation.
“Will you notify Ortega about Burkhart?” I urged. “Nina and I are going to go off the radar for a while. I think it's best that way.”
“Sure, I'll call him after we hang up,” Steve said.
“We've scrutinized the body, Steve, and as far as we could tell he died in his sleep from heart failure, but the forensic team you send can give us a better evaluation.”
“So, off the record now, what do you think happened? Because you and I know Burkhart was in excellent health,” Steve replied.
“It was the Coyote, Steve. He got to him in his sleep. Burkhart had the dying look of fear on his face. The Coyote is like me, but more powerful. He is a Shaman with the ability to manipulate dreams. That's why it's been so hard to track him!”
“But how was he able to establish a connection with Burkhart without some sort of previous physical contact or some items of his?” Steve inquired. Steve was on point as usual, and his question was rational and sound.
“I have a theory, but I'd rather not share it until I'm completely certain about the assumption. We're getting closer, Steve. That's why he tried to kill us. He knows who I am and that I'm on his trail,” I replied.
“Will this provoke him into killing her sooner, though?” Steve asked.
This is the reason why investigators are dismissed from cases they are emotionally invested in. Steve was no longer thinking like an investigator or profiler. He was thinking with his emotions. Under different circumstances he would have never posed such a question.
“No, Steve; he won't deviate from his regimen. It is a part of his signature; his MO. Following the lunar calendar is essential to his ritual and sacrifice. We still have until the 16th. Besides, it is his belief that we are inferior to him, physically and mentally. He doesn't fear us in the least, so there's no need to deviate in his plans.”
“OK, you guys need to get out of there. Make sure management leaves the door locked until we get there. Chris, I have faith in you; now go get that son of a bitch by any means necessary!”
We gathered our belongings and briefed the hotel management on the necessary details for both rooms before departing. There was no time to lament our fallen brother. We had to worry about the living right now, and her time was running out.
“He knows we're here, like Kayah prophesied. He can feel our combined spirits. You know what this means, Nina? We are there. We will find her,” I stated. Nina was rendered speechless by the carnage that had taken place. I was used to killings, but had forgotten that she doesn't witness this amount of homicides in her duties at the BIA.
We drove to another cheap hotel off the main road, just to gather our thoughts and clean up. Neither of us would be able to go back to sleep after a morning like that. Once we were resettled, I engaged the spirit world while Nina kept a watchful Eagle Eye over me. She was a fearless Federal Agent with outstanding fighting skills I'd witnessed on several occasions, but the snakes had gotten to her. I know she was used to snakes from her background, as I was, growing up in the mountains and hills of North Carolina. I think it was being taken by surprise while asleep is what had her shaken. The Coyote was very clever.
After several hours in dreamscape, I felt the coyote's spirit as he has felt ours. He couldn't hide for long, we were too close! Though I still couldn't breach his shroud it was comforting to know we were getting close. Gracie was still alive, but despair surrounded her. She had given up hope. There was nothing I could do to comfort her.
We finally took turns sleeping for about four hours. We slept together as couples do – in each other's arms. We couldn't afford to be caught off guard again because it would probably be the end of us. It was easy for Tsosie to pick up on our spirit energy. Yes, Roanhorse gave us his name. They do get sloppy when they run in packs. Now it was time to trick the trickster.
“So he can find us whenever he needs to by the brilliance of our spirits. I think it's time we set a trap for him. Let him get overconfident and we flank him, like castling in chess. We allow him to invite himself into your dreams and while he is there, I'll enter into Roanhorse's dreams. I've got enough of a connection with that snake now,” I stated.
“How do you know he'll take the bait,” Nina inquired.
“He will. Like Kayah stated, it's almost impossible not to feel us together and be drawn into it. The Great Mother showed me a thing or two during vision quest which will allow me to leave my dream shadow behind with you and astrally project into another dream. It is what she did with us when we first dreamed of her. We were together, but shared different dreams with her instead of one.”
“How will Tsosie be able to reach me in dreamscape without any physical contact?” Nina inquired.
“It's my assumption that he will make contact with you the same way he was able to reach Burkhart. If he's able to reach you, it proves my theory as well,” I stated.
“Which is?” she asked.
“It will all illuminate itself, Nina. I don't want to speculate. Let's just let it play out for now. We have a sound plan and, with a little luck, we can pull it off.”
We grabbed something quick to eat and then settled in, as if to go to sleep, but this time we would be dreamscaping. If we sat down on the prayer rugs, Coyote would discover the ruse as soon as he entered her dreams. It didn't take long before our adversary took the bait. I wanted him to see me asleep and lying next to her, as I dreamed about her. Then I stepped into another door, like Kayah taught me, and visited Roanhorse. Roanhorse and Wauneka were Tsosie's apprentices. They weren't shamans, as they didn't have the gift, but he was teaching them the journeyman's way of the craft.
I proceeded through the shadows of Roanhorse's dreams. I didn't force any issues just in case Tsosie had a greater bond or connection with his apprentices as I had with Nina. I saw them at the Jemez Order being tortured by Monsignor Davis and the priests. They were brutalized by the Order, then they became administers of the torturing. They found delight and joy in it. Davis used their sadistic illness to his advantage, just as he used everyone else around him. When their appetites became too excessive, Davis expelled them from the Order! Davis also felt Tsosie was a threat to his power. Then I sensed Nina was in distress and had to cut my dreamscape visit short.
Tsosie was a treacherous trickster and caused Nina to have nightmares when he entered her dreams. He had her dreaming of sna
kes. He touched on the one thing that scared her recently and exploited it. I returned and broke the bond. It wasn't Nina who couldn't hang, it was me. I didn't want to see him hurt her in any way. I loathed him with every fiber in my body.
“Did you get the location?” Nina asked wearily as I woke her from the nightmare.
“No,” I replied.
“So why did you break the connection?” she retorted.
“I felt you in distress,” I replied.
“I was alright. You forgot I can prevent anyone from entering my dreams if I don't want them there,” she said in an upset and irritated voice.
“No, I didn't forget, Nina, I just couldn't take him being anywhere near you any longer.”
“That's sweet, but it's not going to help us save Gracie or catch Tsosie,” she said, and then kissed me.
“There has to be another way to get him; just like we just fooled him that time. We can do it again,” I stated.
“You do realize tomorrow is the full moon,” Nina stated.
“Yes. Ortega reminded me of it,” I said, then went over to Nina and held her in my arms. I thought of Gracie's plight, but refused to give up on her. I gave my word and I was going to save her, one way or another.
“You know I've always found that if I table a problem for a while and revisit it with a fresh mind, I have a better perspective on the matter at hand. Perhaps we're overthinking this,” I told Nina.
“What do you have in mind?”
“Nothing spectacular; let's just go for a drive and listen to some jazz to clear our heads,” I replied.
It was a gorgeous day in New Mexico. The sky was clear and the sun was shining. There wasn't a hint in this beautiful day of the horrors that tomorrow could bring. We drove down to the Bandera Volcanic Ice Caves. We listened to classic jazz on the MP3 player in the car. Coltrane was playing as we drove down the highway. We went through some Thelonious Monk, Dave Brubeck and Miles before turning our listening attention towards progressive jazz; Acoustic Alchemy and Return to Forever Band.
