She pulled the vessel from the pouch and stared at it. “You’re going to take me to him,” she whispered, closing her eyes. Then she touched the red stone that would send her to another time.
Kendra coughed as she inhaled the sharp odor of wood smoke. She blinked and opened her eyes. Everything around her was dark. She raised herself to her knees, then stood. The vessel she held nearly fell from her hand, so she hastily stuffed it back into her pouch.
Nearby, a fire crackled, and men’s voices drifted through the night. Kendra widened her eyes to adjust to the darkness. There was just enough light from the flames to make out the silhouettes of trees and two men sitting around their camp. Kendra moved slowly to hide behind a tree.
These men spoke in English, and they were dressed in modern clothes. Her eyes fell to the rifles they held across their knees. They looked like they were game hunters. Was she somewhere in her own time again? One of the men raised a mug to his lips, then laughed.
“Killing those Indians is sure to get Osborne’s attention. Once it draws him away from his cabin, I’ll be able to take care of his wife and kids once and for all.”
“And you’re sure we’ll be able to time travel back to 2011 once this is over, Hastings?” The other man sounded rather apprehensive.
Hastings. Naatoyita had mentioned that name before.
“That’s what that old Indian told me after we woke up here in the past and met him. He said to touch the left eye, and it would take us right back home to Yellowstone, and then things will be different.”
The other man sipped from his own mug. “It sounds like a brilliant idea. Get rid of someone before their descendants can chart the course of history.” He smirked. “We should do more of that once we’re done here. Just think of all the things we could change to suit our needs?”
They both laughed.
“Let me get rid of the Osbornes in this time first, then we’ll see,” the guy named Hastings said. “That bleeding heart, Dan Osborne, won’t be around anymore to cause trouble when we get back to our time, that’s for sure.”
“But isn’t he somewhere in this time? Didn’t he time travel with his girlfriend when you managed to grab that snakehead device away from him?”
Kendra followed the conversation, trying to make sense of it. What they were discussing was sickening. It was already obvious that she wasn’t in the future, but somewhere in the past. The man named Hastings had been referring to Daniel and Aimee Osborne. Clearly, they were in danger. Dan Osborne . . . Hastings wasn’t referring to Daniel, but an Osborne from the future. Kendra’s heart pounded, along with Naatoyita’s words.
“One son will grow up among the Tukudeka in this time while his twin will grow up in the future where he is destined to carry on the work of the Sky People.”
According to Hastings, Daniel’s twin was here, in the past? He was supposed to remain in the future. It definitely wasn’t good that he was here. Nothing about this scenario was making sense, but one thing was obvious. Mukua had a hand in all of it.
Kendra eyed the guns these men carried. She only had a knife. She had no chance to apprehend them without a better weapon. At any other time, she might have risked trying to disarm them somehow, but she had a baby to consider. Her best option at the moment was to get to Daniel and Aimee’s cabin to warn them before these men got there.
“When do we head out?” Hastings’ accomplice asked.
“Let’s give it a little more time. Osborne will probably follow the Firehole south to where we got those Indians. We’ll follow the Gibbon River to the Madison Valley.”
Kendra backed up slowly. She’d heard enough. She needed to get to the valley to warn the Osbornes. The moon was just bright enough to give her some light by which to see. It didn’t take long before the sound of flowing water reached her ears. She followed it until she came upon a shallow river. Hopefully, this was the Gibbon River and not some other random river. The Gibbon would lead her to the valley where Daniel and Aimee made their home.
Keeping to a slow jog, she followed the water. Ahead of her, dark shapes moved through the meadow on either side of the river. Kendra cursed. A small group of bison had decided to graze and bed down for the night directly in her path. There was no safe way through them, so she detoured around. How much time would this cost her?
By the time she reached a wide bend in the river with a tall mountain looming before her, gray sky to the east announced that it would be dawn very soon. This had to be the Madison Valley.
The faint smell of wood smoke drifted to her nose. She squinted and saw the distinct outline of a cabin. Not a moment later, several shots rang out, fired in rapid succession. Those were the sounds of a modern rifle, not something found in this time.
“No,” she called. She was too late. Hastings had been faster.
Kendra ran through the tall grass, then splashed through the water to cross the Gibbon River. She scrambled up the bank to see the dark figure of a man raise his knife as he entered the cabin. Even in the dim light, he looked vaguely familiar. Daniel Osborne.
From inside the cabin, the faint cries of a baby – two babies, or maybe even more – could be heard, then the scream and wailing of a woman. Kendra stopped and hid behind a tree to catch her breath. She leaned against the trunk, squeezing her eyes shut. She moved her head from side to side as images of what had occurred replayed in her mind.
Kendra was no stranger to crime scenes. She’d seen her share of homicides, but she’d never witnessed an actual murder. She was too late to stop a tragedy from happening, just as she’d been unable to prevent Matt Donovan’s death. Someone had died in that cabin, but thankfully it wasn’t Daniel Osborne. Had Hastings killed Aimee?
She shook her head. That couldn’t be possible. She’d met Aimee when she was an older woman. Aimee had saved Wo'itsa’s life. She couldn’t have died this day . . . unless Mukua had succeeded in changing the intended timeline.
Kendra sank to her knees. She rested her head against the trunk of a tree. She’d been too late to save someone’s life. She sat motionless as numbness washed over her. She clutched at the pouch around her neck and let the tears flow. She’d failed in protecting the people she was charged to keep safe. What did that mean for the future?
It meant that Mukua had won.
Kendra shook her head. This wasn’t an acceptable outcome. Why had her vessel brought her to this specific point in time? She’d willed it to bring her to Wo'itsa, yet it hadn’t. Worse, it had failed to bring her to a point in time where she could do some good. Slowly, rage built inside her. What good was the vessel if she couldn’t use it to prevent a tragedy?
Stunned, Kendra sat on the slight rise above the valley, concealed behind some trees, as the sun slowly made its way over the mountains. Slumped against the trunk of a tree, she cried freely for the first time in her life. Everything that had happened recently was taking its toll on her. She’d never been this emotionally drained before.
Her hand went to her stomach. She couldn’t be weak now. She had to remain strong for her and Wo'itsa’s child, and make sure they would give her a good future.
Kendra wiped her eyes once the tears stopped flowing. She gazed in the direction of the cabin along the Madison. When it was light enough, people emerged from the home.
Daniel dragged Hastings’ body outside and dropped him a short distance away. He dug through the man’s pockets and took something from him. Kendra straightened and squinted. Was that a time travel vessel?
Daniel returned to the cabin and re-emerged, carrying another man outside. Two women followed, wrapped in each other’s arms.
The short, petite blonde was easy to recognize as Aimee. She looked no older than the day she’d come to the past and had nearly died falling over a cliff. Kendra breathed a sigh of relief. Aimee was safe.
The other woman, dressed in modern clothes, was tall and thin, with shoulder-length dark hair. She was the same girl who had been with Aimee the night her parents had died. Only th
is time, it was Aimee who was consoling her for a loss that clearly tore her heart apart.
The man on the ground also wore modern clothes. Even from her vantage point, it was clear to see that he bore a striking resemblance to Daniel. Dan Osborne, his twin. Hastings had shot him. Had they known that they were brothers? How strange for them if they knew.
Kendra’s tears flowed freely. She couldn’t move or bring herself to leave. Her sorrow for having failed the Osbornes alternated with the rage and anger consuming her. It could not end like this. It was inconceivable that Mukua’s plan had been successful in destroying the Osborne line.
Kendra stood after watching the heart-wrenching scene of Daniel burying his brother on top of a ridge overlooking the valley. She set her mouth in a determined line. It wasn’t going to end this way.
“We must never try to control the vessel to change the future or the past when someone dies. To do so might have grave consequences.”
Naatoyita’s warning swirled through her mind.
“This death was not supposed to happen,” she argued out loud. “I don’t care what the consequences are. I only needed a few more minutes, then the outcome would have been different.”
Kendra made her way to the gravesite after Daniel, Aimee, and her friend had left. She touched the stone that had been carved with everyone’s names in it. The stone would remain as a reminder, but the man buried beneath it would not. She clutched her medicine pouch.
Kendra sat down hard and closed her eyes. She inhaled several deep breaths, then stared up at the sky. She was Natukendra’eh weda - daughter of the shaman of the Wolf Clan of the Sky People, niece to the shaman of the Bear Clan, and wife of the leader of the united clans - and today she would call on the spirit power of all her ancestors to set a new course in time.
With a determined nod, Kendra set the vessel on top of the stone and stared into the gleaming red eyes of the snake. It caught the light from the sun and seemed to stare right back at her, the red stones glistening as if it was ready to answer her request.
“Dan Osborne was never supposed to come to the past. Change the timeline and take him back to a time before the events that brought him here.”
Kendra touched both red stones of the vessel and closed her eyes, willing the lifeblood within to do her bidding. When she opened her eyes again, she lay on her back, staring up at a stained ceiling above her. Dogs barked somewhere outside and several children yelled. She sat up and looked around. She was in her old bedroom . . . in Kunu’s house on the Rez.
Chapter 32
Kendra rubbed her throbbing temples and sat up. The mattress underneath her creaked and dipped. The bed was old, just as it had been years ago when she’d last lain on it as a teenager and decided to run away from home. She frowned. Why was she here?
She swung her legs over the mattress and waited for the dizziness to go away. It seemed to linger longer than usual this time. Her hand went to the pouch around her neck. It seemed unusually light. When her fingers made contact with the empty pouch, her heart jolted, sending a heavy dose of adrenaline shooting through her system.
Kendra turned, glancing over her shoulder first one way and then the other, her eyes searching the rumpled bed. She stood and leaned over, lifting the covers, checking under each layer, under the pillow, between the mattress and the wall, and finally under the bed. Nothing. The vessel wasn’t there.
She stuck her hands in her pockets. She hadn’t put it there, either. A growing lump formed in her throat.
“No, this can’t be happening,” she whispered frantically.
She swallowed, then inhaled slowly several times to try to calm the ever-increasing panic that grabbed hold of her. She’d obviously been transported to another time, but the vessel had stayed behind. Why was she on the Rez? Why had she time-traveled in the first place? All she’d tried to do was reset the timeline so Dan Osborne wouldn’t be sent to the past or be killed by Hastings.
Kendra ripped open the door to her room. She ran down the narrow corridor to the kitchen. If she was on the Rez, then the vessel must have sent her to a time before she’d run away. That meant she’d be a teenager. A quick glance in the cracked mirror hanging on the wall confirmed she wasn’t any younger than she’d been before she’d time traveled.
“Kunu?” She called repeatedly for her grandfather. She ran from room to room, ripping open doors as she went. The house was empty.
“What happened,” she whispered, breathing hard when she finally conceded that she was alone.
“We must never try to control the vessel to change the future or the past when someone dies. To do so might have grave consequences.”
What had she done? Her hand went to her flat stomach. Was she no longer pregnant with Wo'itsa’s child? Was that one of the consequences of what she’d done?
She only had Naatoyita’s word that she was pregnant. It was still too soon to know for sure. Kendra raised her shirt to glance at the area on the side of her abdomen where Mukua’s knife had grazed her. She breathed a sigh of relief. There was still a visible wound that she’d been injured. Physically, at least, nothing seemed to be different.
Kendra opened the front door and stared into the dusty yard. Several small children ran and played at one of the houses up the road. They were yelling and laughing, while a dog happily chased after them.
“What’s the matter, Kendra? I heard you yelling.”
Kendra whipped around. Randy Gray Owl came strolling from the garage. He tossed a cigarette on the ground and stomped it out.
“Where’s Kunu?”
Randy’s eyes widened. He laughed nervously. “Kunu? You need to lay off the bottle, Kendra. Your grandfather’s been dead for months now.
“Months?”
So, Kunu really was dead. The vessel must have reset her own timeline to before she’d met Aimee Donovan. The girl had given her the vessel that had started her journey to fulfill her role as a child of the Sky People. Her hand once again went to her belly.
Randy Gray Owl walked up to her. He smiled and wrapped his grease-stained arm around her. He smelled of motor oil. “How about we go inside and start the day fresh? You can make me some breakfast.”
Kendra pulled out of his embrace, staring at him. “Don’t touch me,” she hissed. “I don’t know why you think I’d make you breakfast, but if you lay another hand on me, I’ll lay you so flat on your back, you’d think a truck ran over you.”
Randy raised his brows. He chuckled. ““Hey, calm down, Kendra. I know things have been stressful since your grandfather’s death, but I thought we decided to work out our differences. That’s why I moved in, remember?”
Moved in? What was going on here? It would make sense that Randy would have taken over the house after Kunu’s death.
“Living in Kunu’s house doesn’t mean you and I need to get that friendly. I don’t even know what I’m doing here. I have to get back to New York.”
Randy laughed again. “What do you want to do in New York?”
“It’s where I live, if you recall.” He knew as well as anyone that she’d always hated this place. If she returned to New York, she could find Aimee, get the vessel from her, and return to the past to find Wo'itsa. A twinge of sadness engulfed her. Why couldn’t she have come back a bit sooner, to the time before Kunu had died. If her grandfather was dead, then Matt Donovan was probably not alive anymore, either.
She turned to head back toward the house. She needed to make a phone call. Behind her, Randy laughed.
“Are you dreaming about leaving the Rez again, Kendra. Haven’t you given up on that crazy idea? You’ve been spouting nonsense like that since we were kids, but you’re still here.”
Kendra stopped in her tracks. She turned to face Randy. “What do you mean? I left the Rez when I was eighteen. I’m a detective in New York, and the only reason for me to be here is to get my grandfather’s affairs in order, and then I’m going back home.”
Back home. First, she had to go to New York to
get the vessel that would take her to her real home in the past with Wo'itsa.
Randy let out a hearty laugh. “You really do need to lay off the booze, Kendra. Better go back to bed and keep dreaming.”
Kendra rushed into the house and slammed the door in Randy’s face. Her hands trembled. Something was seriously wrong. She reached for the phone hanging on the wall in the kitchen and dialed her office in New York.
“This is Detective Kendra Weda. I need you to give me Detective Donovan’s home phone number.”
“I’m sorry, who are you?” the woman who’d answered the phone sounded suspicious of her. “What precinct did you say you are with?”
“I’m new to the precinct. Maybe my name’s not on the list, yet.”
The woman on the other end hesitated. “I’m pretty sure I know the names of all the detectives here.”
Kendra paused for a moment. Dread slammed her in the gut. “Is Detective Donovan there?” Her voice was shaky as she asked the question. There was a slight pause on the other end.
“Detective Donovan hasn’t been with us for several months. He passed away in an accident. Perhaps I can put you in touch with someone else?”
Kendra hung up the phone. She fell against the kitchen wall and ran a trembling hand through her hair. This couldn’t be happening. Whatever she’d done to change the timeline had also changed her own timeline. This was like being in some old Twilight Zone episode.
“You warned me, Naatoyita, and I didn’t listen.”
She had all her old memories, but apparently none of the ones from the new timeline she was on. There was no telling what events had occurred in her past that she wasn’t aware of. Apparently, she’d never left the Rez. A mounting feeling of dread engulfed her. How was she going to get back to where her heart truly belonged? It wasn’t this current timeline, and it wasn’t as a detective in New York.
“I belong with you, Wo'itsa,” she whispered as a tear threatened to spill down her face. She held her hand to her stomach. If she had all her memories from her time in the past, did that mean she was still pregnant, or did she no longer carry Wo'itsa’s child because she was on a new timeline?
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