Katie was asleep between us. Sunny and I both had been dosing off and on during the flight home to San Antonio.
“I don’t think that woman is Angelina,” Sunny said out of the blue.
I had told Sunny about the incident at the Pape Ranch the night before and my theory that the black jaguar Tomás Martinez had seen was related to Angelina returning to Texas.
“She’s probably eleven now, if she’s alive. How would she get to the United States from Mexico?” Sunny said.
I was going to say that she probably flew in on her broomstick, but she had claimed she was a shaman and not a witch. I suspected that there was a distinction as far as Native Americans were concerned. According to the stories Angelina had told me, her mother had been a Mayan shaman. Or a shawoman, I thought to myself. Either way, her return did not bode well for me or my family.
I didn’t think Sunny had taken this as serious as she should have and she was still thinking in terms of the here and now instead of in the realm of impossibilities. To my way of thinking it should have been easier for her to accept the concept of an evil spirit than it was for me to accept, but she’d had a certain inherent skepticism from the first moment I had raised the issue of a malevolent Angelina. I was thinking like a typical white man she had told me.
“Tens of thousands of children without their parents fled to the US the last few years from Central America and Mexico trying to get in before the border was sealed. You don’t hear that on NPR,” I noted. “She could have come in with them.”
Sunny ignored my comment on her naiveté. “Baloney. Juan said she had died in Mexico.”
“No, what he said was, they were swept away in a swollen river down there and he had not recovered either Maria or Angelina. Maybe she survived like he did.”
“If it is her, she doesn’t have anyone, Max. We have to help her.”
“Stop, right now. Have you forgotten what she did before they left? You and Katie need to be very careful. If she is back, don’t let her near you. She had you wrapped around her little finger.”
“She did not. She was Juan and Maria’s child. She was part of our extended family. Did it ever occur to you that maybe they left because of your hostility to her? She was just a child, Max.”
“Sunny, she killed our dogs and might have harmed Katie if I hadn’t run her off.”
“Like you did Kevin,” she said.
Ah, there it was. I knew Sunny hadn’t really let it go or come to see my point of view. What really surprised me though was that she equated what happened with Kevin to the departure of Juan and his family.
“I wish you’d stop that. I told Kevin to grow up and I’ve given him the space to do it. That’s all this is. When he starts to act like a man and apologizes, I’ll shake his hand with no hard feelings, and then we can get on with our lives.”
“Suppose he doesn’t?”
“We’ll cross that creek when we get to it.”
Sunny turned away and stared out the window. If Angelina had indeed returned, I suspected it was not for a family reunion and Sunny, obviously, did not share in my concern.
A couple of hours later when we pulled up to the front gate to the ranch, Katie couldn’t wait to get down from the truck and open the gate. That had been her job since she had been old enough to crawl down from the truck and walk. She was home. She was her Momma’s girl, but she was a born Texan and glad to be back on the ranch.
Sunny couldn’t wait to see Emily, so I dropped her off at the Meeting Center and drove Katie over the horse pasture. Katie had to check on Apple. My ears were already burning by the time we found Apple grazing in the pasture and I knew the heat was coming from the direction of the Meeting Center.
. . .
The next morning, Sunny and Katie decided to sleep in. I was in the kitchen frying up some bacon and eggs when my cell phone rang. I knew it was James Lee by the ringtone.
“Hey, son, what’s up?”
“I’m at the airport going through pre-flight. Can you meet me at the Pape Ranch in three hours?”
“Sure. You want to see the cistern?”
“That’s the plan, Stan.”
“I’ll meet you out there,” I said.
“I’ve got George with me,” he added.
“Great. I look forward to meeting him. Can he ride a horse?”
There was some discussion in the background. What was there to discuss? Either you could or you couldn’t. I suspected George couldn’t.
“Not a problem” James Lee said. “ETA is eleven-hundred. Later.”
I had three hours. That was plenty of time. After I finished breakfast, I brought Sunny a cup of coffee and some toast to let her know I was glad she was home and to keep her busy while I shaved. Her disposition was still on the cranky side. She didn’t want to go with me to the Pape Ranch or to meet George. She, Katie, and Emily were going to see Kevin and Ariana later that morning.
“Have you made flight arrangements to go back, yet?” I asked from the bathroom.
“I’ll do that this afternoon after I talk to Kevin.”
“You might want to check in with Janice. She’s offered to help out with Katie if you decide to leave her here with me.”
She said something I couldn’t pick up with the water running so I let it go.
A few hours later, James Lee landed at the Pape Ranch. I had Shane and Hannah standing with me in the pasture in front of the Pape ranch house. We had spent the time waiting for James Lee talking about the cistern and the two deaths on the ranch. I wanted them to know what I was thinking. And, that was, I was going to sell the ranch with the stipulation the new owner would finish the land reclamation work using Shane and that Hannah would have unrestricted access to cistern until she finished her research and investigation.
After he landed, we watched James Lee through the cockpit bubble as he shut down the helicopter. It made my stomach queasy thinking about being behind that stick with open sky in front of me. I didn’t like flying in helicopters. Once the blades slowed, I watched George Landau step down. He walked bent over until he was out from beneath the blades and then James Lee climbed down.
James Lee was older and had aged much more than most men the same age because of his time in Iraq, but they looked like brothers; twins almost. I could see the obvious resemblance. The Howard genes seemed more dominant in the men of my family even down to my grandchildren. I walked over to greet them.
James Lee eyeballed me as I walked over. He had a smile on his face. I couldn’t help but also notice George watching me. I figured George was looking for some sign of recognition. I was a man that believed in first impressions. I could size someone up pretty quickly on first meeting. I liked what I saw in George.
“Hey, Dad. Sorry we’re late.”
“Not a problem, son. Glad you’re here,” I said as we embraced.
“This is George Landau,” James Lee said and stepped back.
We stood there a moment taking each other in, as men do. I knew he was my son. I offered my hand to George and we shook hands.
“Welcome, George…to the ranch and our family.”
“Thanks, Max,” he said. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“I wish I could say the same. I want to catch up with you if you’ll let me do that.”
“Sure. I thought I might stay a couple of days, if you don’t mind.”
“Hell, no, I don’t mind. That’s great. Come on, I want you to meet some people that work for us.”
I had been thinking about this moment for a long time and I was surprised at how smoothly our meeting one another had gone. I kind of expected to see a chip on George’s shoulder but there was none of that. I supposed that working with James Lee for the past several months had given him the time to think things through and feel more comfortable with the Howard family. I didn’t sense any deception in him or any latent resentment for me for not being part of his life.
“James Lee, George, this is Hannah McCoy. She is our archeologist a
nd in charge of the cistern and exploration of the cavern beneath the site. And, this is Shane Wagnor, supervisor of the land restoration work on the ranch.”
I let Shane and Hannah take James Lee to the site in the lead truck while George and I followed them in my truck. I wanted the chance to talk with George one on one.
“So how do you like working for James Lee?” I asked him.
“He’s incredible. I can’t believe I’m working for him.”
My chest swelled with fatherly pride, but I knew I couldn’t take credit for the man he was. I nodded that I understood what George was saying.
“I’m not looking for anything, Max. I want you to know that.”
“I didn’t think you were. As long as we’re being upfront, I want you to know that I didn’t know you were my son until a few months ago.”
“I know. Mother told me before she died. When I met Barbin at the funeral I decided to come meet the rest of the Howard family. I was an only child and was never close to my cousins or their parents.”
I hadn’t known that Barbin had gone to Laura’s funeral. She had never mentioned it to me, but that was par for the course.
“Well, families are strange entities, George. And life is even stranger. I think you’ll fit right in with us. We usually have a clan gathering on the ranch every other year at Thanksgiving. You’ll be the center of attention this year, believe me.”
“Let’s see how it goes, Max,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“The Landau’s thought my mother married into the family for his money. They didn’t want anything to do with us after Walter died.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s no big deal now. I thought it was at the time.”
“Then you let this unfold however you want, George.”
“Thanks.”
“You bet. Did James Lee bring you up to speed on what we’re doing here?”
“Not really. He just mentioned you were in business together to restore this ranch. He gave me a job working in the accounting department so we don’t interact too much during business hours. I wanted to work for a year before I start graduate school in international banking.”
“Where are you going for graduate school?”
“Rice University. They have a good business school.”
“Good choice,” I said and turned my attention to my driving as we headed down into the arroyo where the cistern was.
When we stopped, George followed everyone over to the cistern. I hung back to let James Lee and George interact with Hannah and Shane. I wanted them to catch the fever from Hannah’s and Shane’s enthusiasm for the find. Hannah waved me over.
“I’m almost through with the Journal translation, Max. I saw a couple of interesting passages that I don’t know what to make of. He mentioned the word ‘maskara’ and referred to it as a heathen object of idolatry. He didn’t like having responsibility for it. Later on, he called it a ‘heriotza maskara’, which is Basque for a death mask. What do you suppose that was? I didn’t see anything in the inventory for a death mask.”
“I have no idea,” I lied and my stomach did a back flip off the 10 meter board. There was no point in alarming Hannah or anyone else with what Tomás had told me. “Maybe it was something from one of the churches in Mexico. A local saint maybe?” I offered and felt a little weak in the knees. I didn’t like being deceptive, but who would believe me?
She shook her head no. “He called it a heathen object. I doubt that the object was a Christian death mask.”
“Then it had to be Indian,” I said and knew damn well it was. I felt bad about misleading her, but I hadn’t decided how much I should tell them yet. I still needed to get it straight in my own mind.
“Aztec,” Shane offered.
“I’m not sure if they used death masks; I didn’t study them. I know the rulers of the Maya city-states did, though,” Hannah said.
I put a hand on the cistern to steady myself. Angelina was indeed back in the form of some Mayan ghost in search of a death mask. “Sell the ranch and be done with it,” I said to myself.
“Max? Are you okay,” Shane asked.
I was annoyed that I was so obvious. “I’m fine, thanks. My old knees aren’t what they used to be. Look, let’s head up to the ranch house. George why don’t you ride with Shane and Hannah so they can bring you up to speed. I have some calls to make before we get to the ranch house. They can repeat what they told James Lee. James Lee come ride with me. You can drive.”
After we backed out of the arroyo and were headed back to the ranch house, I called Sunny.
“Hey, how was it?” she asked.
“He seems like a nice kid. Do you mind if he stays with us for a few days?”
“Oh, Good Lord! You could have at least cleaned the house while I was gone.”
“It’s fine. George is family,” I said. “He has to take the bad with the good.”
I could see James Lee grin. He had overheard her.
“Stall. Take him to lunch. Give me two hours.”
“You got it. Love ya,” I said and closed the call.
“It was his idea,” James Lee said.
“No, it’s fine. I’m glad he wants to stay with us. Sunny is just peculiar about having a clean house for company.”
“Ashti is the same way. Are you going to tell me why you need security out here,” he said.
“I’m not sure I want to tell you, son. You’ll think I’m crazy.”
“Does it have to do with that woman that died out here?”
“Could be. This was her ranch at one time and I think she was smart enough not to get bitten by a rattlesnake. Now this other body… I just don’t know, son. I’d feel a lot better with someone out her while Shane and Hannah are on the ranch. Then there’s the vandalism at the cistern.”
“You mean the capstone?”
“Yes. It was deliberately destroyed. Someone didn’t want us to have that map on the back of it. And that in itself is enough to warrant protection for the cistern site, as well as Shane and Hannah.”
I left out the other part. A ghost had arrived on the ranch looking for a death mask.
Chapter 16
The next morning, I stopped in at the Meeting Center when I saw Clete’s truck in the parking lot. I had George with me and we were on the way back out to the Pape Ranch. I wanted to do a walk-thru in the Pape ranch house and make a list of the final things to do to get it ready for whoever bought the property. Afterwards, I was going to take George for a ride to the top of the mesa to show him the ranch.
Clete was staring at the coffee maker when we walked in the Meeting Center’s offices. “Where’s Emily,” I asked after I told him hello.
“She’s running late. She asked me to open up this morning.”
“Clete, this is my son, George Landau. He’s visiting with us for a few days.”
Clete walked over to George to greet him. He raised his hand high and swung it in a wide arc to collide with George’s hand. “I heard all about you, George. Welcome to the Howard Ranch,” Clete said and smiled. “He looks just like you, Max.”
I nodded that he did indeed and started making us some coffee. If Clete knew about George, then it was only a matter of time before the whole of Solms County knew I had a long lost son. Clete sat down in one of the chairs in Emily’s office to wait on the coffee. I motioned for George to find a seat.
“We’re going out to the Pape Ranch this morning. I just want to remind you to be vigilant about that big cat from now on. Don’t let it walk up on you. Shoot it and don’t give it a second thought.”
“Yes, sir. I’ve got my rifle in the truck with me.”
“What cat?” George asked.
“A black jaguar. It was spotted on the Pape Ranch and I suspect it might be headed here.”
“A jaguar? You’re going to shoot a jaguar? I don’t understand.”
“Me neither,” Clete said.
“I think it might have some unfinishe
d business with me. I’ll deal with that when the time comes. You just protect the people here on the ranch if I’m not around.”
“How’re you gonna deal with it, if I shoot it.” Clete asked with his subtle wisdom.
“If it’s like that spotted jaguar, you can’t kill it, Clete. Best you can do is wound it and make it lay up somewhere until it’s healed. That’s when I’ll deal with it. Just keep it away from our families.”
“Are you serious?” George asked.
“Afraid, so,” I said.
“Tell him the story, Max. He’s family. He should know about Buster.”
“Buster?”
“That’s what Miss Emily named the spotted jaguar when she took care of it. Go ahead, Max, tell him. Heck, it’s part of the Howard Legend.”
I wasn’t sure I wanted my new-found son to hear about any legends, such that they were. I had a clean slate with George and there wasn’t any reason to fill his head with stories that seemed to become more exaggerated with each passing year. My last foreman, before Clete, was bad about telling tall tales in town and Clete seemed to be following in his footsteps.
“I guess I’d rather you hear the truth from me than some exaggeration of the truth from someone else,” I said and eyed Clete. “Is that coffee ready?”
Clete eyed the pot. “Not yet.”
“Several years ago, I found a young girl wandering on the ranch. She was near death. I figured she got separated from a group of illegals heading north to Austin. They used to cross through the ranch because my foreman back then, Juan Fuentes, used to water and feed them. Thanks to Clete, that’s stopped now. We got her to the hospital and the State’s Child Protective Services eventually found her father up in Dallas. One day out of the blue, the father and the young girl showed up again on the ranch. She had told him to bring her back and she stayed on with Juan and his wife. Juan and Maria couldn’t have children of their own so it worked out well for them; for a while, at least.”
The coffee drip stopped. “Let’s get some,” Clete said, “and you can finish the story.” Clete poured everyone a cup. “Her name was Angelina,” he said to George.
It was obvious to me that Clete wanted to hear the story more than George did so he could entertain the old men at the feed store with any new details.
The Turbulence of Butterflies (Max Howard Series Book 6) Page 20