“So it’s yours? Everything is good?”
“Yes, and it’s perfect. I love the house.”
There was an awkward silence, “I’m glad to hear that. How much longer will you be?”
“I don’t really know. The house needs a lot of cleaning. As an estate sale, their clothes and everything are still here.”
“I wish I could help you.”
“I know you do. But we’ll be home soon, I promise.”
“You sound tired,” Chevalier noticed.
“I’m sure I’ll sound more tired tonight… oh, there’s the door, I have to go.”
“Ok, I love you,” Chevalier said softly.
Emily smiled. He was being a good sport about all of this, “I love you, too.”
She threw Alexis up against her shoulder and pulled her shirt down, then answered the door. A tall, handsome man stood at the door with his application. He had a black Stetson that was slightly crooked on his head, and his jeans were worn and faded.
“Come in, please,” Emily said, and motioned for the couch.
“Sam!” she yelled, and heard him coming in from the bunkhouse.
“Beautiful baby, Ma’am,” he said, and took off his hat when he sat down.
Emily sat down across from him and looked through his application, waiting for Sam. Sam came in and looked at the man, and his eyes narrowed. Emily glared at him. He’d been overly picky about the candidates so far.
“Let’s get on with this then…” Emily started, but Sam interrupted.
“I’m Sam, the overseer, and this is Teresa,” Sam said. Emily looked at him strangely, and then back to the applicant.
“Nice to meet you,” he said, and looked toward Sam and smiled. That’s when Emily saw the elongated canines and felt her body tense.
“Excuse us for one moment,” Emily said, smiling, and then turned to Sam. “Did you empty the ashes out of the bin?”
“No,” he answered, watching the applicant.
“Ok,” Emily said, looking at the application again. She was trying hard not to let her hands shake, “I see you have 12 years experience.”
“Yes, in Colorado.”
“Why did you leave?” Emily asked, laying the application down.
“It was just time to move on. I decided to head up here to see if I could find more work,” he explained.
Emily saw him to the door after the interview and shut it behind him. She leaned against the door and looked at Sam with fearful eyes.
“Does he know?”
“No, I don’t think he does. I’m guessing he’s a wanderer… an un-factioned heku that sticks mainly with mortals,” Sam said, watching out the window as the man drove away.
“Damn, I knew I should have brought Ford,” Emily said, and jumped when she heard a knock on the door.
She spun, too quickly, and opened the door. Two young, Native American men stood on the doorstep. They were tall and muscular with hair that fell well below their shoulders.
“We’re here for the job interview,” one of them said, smiling brightly.
“Please, come in,” she said, still nervous from the heku.
Emily shut the door behind them and followed the two into the living room. She felt tiny beside them. They were both almost as tall as Chevalier, and their faces were warm and caring.
“Sit, please,” she said, and sat down.
One of the brothers pulled a small trinket from his pocket and handed it to Alexis, who immediately giggled it and swung it around.
Emily was still shaking from the heku encounter, so Sam took over, “I’m Sam, the overseer. This is the owner of the ranch, Emily.”
Emily finally got control of her voice, “Are you brothers?”
“Yes, I’m Todd and this is my twin brother, Peter,” the one closest to her said. Emily was fascinated by his dark eyes, they held wisdom beyond his young face, but the kindness was forefront.
Emily took their applications and looked through them, “No experience?”
“None work related. Our Dad owns a ranch and we’ve always worked for him,” Peter said.
Emily nodded, “Cows, Horses?”
“Yes, sometimes pigs and chickens, too,” Todd told her.
“I’m sorry, this is against the rules, but how old are you?” Emily asked curiously.
“We’ll be 32 this year,” he said, laughing.
“Oh, sorry, you look much younger,” Emily said, and blushed slightly, though she didn’t know why.
“We promise you we are hard workers and we work cheap,” Peter said. “We know the legends of the area, and are anxious to break out of the ranch work on the reservation.”
Emily nodded and smiled. She was ready to hire them on the spot. Sam was watching them wearily, though.
Emily decided to take charge, “How soon would you be able to start?”
Todd nodded to his pinto out front, “It has everything we own in it.”
Emily laughed, “Would you please go check out the ranch while I talk to Sam?”
The twins nodded and walked out of the house toward the barn. They were talking among themselves and laughing. Emily couldn’t hear what was said, but one of them ran with the other one in pursuit, and they disappeared into the barn.
“I like them,” Emily said.
“I don’t trust them,” Sam said skeptically.
“You haven’t liked any of them,” Emily reminded him.
“They will do,” Sam finally said.
“Good, because I’m tired of interviews. Call Velma back and tell her the position is filled,” Emily said. She took Alexis and went out to tell the twins.
They were ecstatic when Emily offered them the job, and as they ran to the car, they playfully fought about which bunkhouse they each got, “I’ll have Sam come show you around. Why don’t you come in for dinner around six o’clock.”
“Wohoo! Food!” Todd yelled, and ran into the first bunkhouse.
Emily shook her head, smiling, and went back inside. She started up the stove and put some potatoes in to bake. She watched as Sam and the twins set off across the pasture on horseback. They returned just before dark, and Emily was pulling the steaks from the oven when they came in for dinner.
“May I?” Todd asked, and motioned to Alexis. Todd’s face was broader than Peter’s, but Peter’s eyes were darker and set deeper. Although twins, there were subtle difference that made it easy for her to tell them apart.
“Sure,” Emily said, and watched as he picked Alexis up and bounced her until she laughed.
“Do you just have the baby?” Peter asked, sitting at the table.
Emily at first thought it a rude question, but remembered that they would be spending a lot of time together. It was only natural that they get acquainted.
“No, I have a son who is 5. He stays with his Dad a lot though,” Emily said as she moved the food to the table.
Sam came in last and sat down at the table.
Todd put Alexis down in the swing, and she watched them as they began to eat.
“Wow, this is great, Ma’am,” Peter said, taking a large bite of steak.
“Please, it’s Emily,” she told them. “I’m not that familiar with the area, which tribe are you from?”
“I’m Crow,” Todd explained. “He’s Dakota.”
Peter hit Todd in the arm and Todd yelled, and then laughed. Emily briefly wondered if the brothers ever fought, or if they were always this playful.
After dinner, Sam and the twins went back to their bunkhouses as Emily cleaned up. Once she was done, she pulled off her jeans and fell into bed wearing just a t-shirt. Alexis was already asleep in a small bassinet by the bed.
Emily woke up to the sound of footsteps above her. She glanced at the clock, it was just after 3am. Thinking she was hearing things, she laid her head back down, but heard it again. There were footsteps directly above her. She sat up and tiptoed into the hallway, shutting the door behind her, then turned on the lights in the hallway and went over
to the attic entrance. She used the stick to pull down the panel and the ladder slid down easily.
Emily could hear movement from above her as she crawled up the ladder and looked into the crowded attic. The noises stopped as soon as she stuck her head up past the floor. She couldn’t see past any of the boxes though, and the attic was menacingly dark and stuffy.
She screamed when she heard a fierce voice, and then dropped down to the floor and ran into the bedroom. Grabbing Alexis, she ran out of the house with bare feet to Sam’s bunkhouse and knocked frantically. Sam answered at the same time as the twins came to their doors.
“There’s someone in the attic,” Emily said, and glanced back at the dark house.
Sam frowned, turned around, and grabbed his rifle, then went into the house. Emily waited out on the bunkhouse porch with the twins. They stayed with her as she rocked nervously. She hadn’t realized how cool the night was until Todd handed her a jacket. She slipped it on and wrapped it around her and the baby. The jacket came down to her knees and smelled like horses.
Sam finally came back out of the house, “I don’t see anything up there but junk.”
“I heard footsteps, and when I went up there, there was a voice,” she said, still shaking.
“What did it say?” Peter asked her.
“I don’t know. It was more like a growl than a voice, I guess,” she said. Emily sighed. She realized how insane she sounded, and was surprised that none of them called her on it.
“I looked all around and I didn’t see anything,” Sam said.
“I’m not hearing things, Sam, and I was awake,” Emily told him, holding the baby closer.
“It’s probably raccoons up in the attic. They hiss when they’re scared,” Todd said.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’m sorry to have woken you,” she said, and smiled slightly.
Once the twins went back to bed, Emily turned to Sam and whispered, “Could it be the heku?”
“I’m not finding anything, no scents, no footprints, nothing,” Sam said softly.
Emily nodded and reluctantly went back into the house. Sam followed her in, and both stopped at the doorway. The kitchen table had been moved across the floor, but the chairs were all where she left them. Every cupboard stood open, and the fridge door was ajar.
“That… that wasn’t like that when I came through,” Sam said, confused.
Emily swallowed hard and looked at him, “It’s the heku, isn’t it?”
Sam shook his head, “No, I don’t smell one around.”
“Come, please, stay in the room while I sleep?” Emily asked. She knew it sounded like the request of a small child, but she wasn’t comfortable sleeping alone.
Emily laid back down with Alexis, who was wide awake after being carried out into the cool night air. It was a few hours before the baby went to sleep and Emily soon followed, with Sam asleep on the bedroom floor.
She made extra strong coffee the next morning, and the twins came in and sat down, also looking tired. She poured them each a cup and started scrambling some eggs.
“What’s on the agenda for today?” Todd asked her, and then yawned.
“I say… do the least amount we can and get to bed early. I’m really sorry about last night, weird things kept happening,” Emily said, and set some eggs down for the twins.
“Like what?” Peter asked, starting to eat.
“The table was moved, cupboards open, that kind of thing,” Emily said, and sat down at the table. Coffee was all she was up for this morning.
“Maybe you have a ghost,” Todd said, and shrugged.
“Great,” Emily sighed. “I need to go into town to get a load of hay, any ideas?”
“Sure!” Todd said. “We can get some from ol’ Sham off of the reservation. He’ll give the best price.”
“Oh that would be great! Hopefully we can harvest soon and we’ll have a supply through the winter.” Emily poured everyone a second round of coffee.
“Are you staying long? Sam mentioned you’ll be gone a lot,” Peter asked.
“No, I’ll probably head out today if I can wake up.” Emily sat her head in her hands and shut her eyes.
Todd nodded, “We pulling the trailer with that old truck?”
“No, take the Durango, it’ll be more comfortable.”
“Sweet!” Peter said, grinning.
Emily helped them hook up the trailer while Sam kept Alexis inside. She wanted to spend as little time as possible in the house. Once the twins were out of sight, she hesitated and then went back inside.
The twins returned several hours later with a large load of hay. They quickly stacked it in the barn, and then unhitched the trailer and came into the house. Emily was just setting out a simple lunch and sat down to eat.
“Oh great! Lunch.” Todd sat down and grabbed a grilled cheese.
“Sorry, it’s nothing special,” Emily told them. She was still too tired to do much else.
“We aren’t picky,” Peter assured her, taking a sandwich for himself.
Emily picked up Alexis when she started to cry and went into the living room to nurse her in private. She tossed a blanket over her shoulder and flipped through the three TV channels to watch the news.
“Ma’am?” Todd asked from the door.
“Emily, please,” she said, and motioned him inside. Emily grinned when he looked at everything in the room to avoid looking at her, even though the baby was covered.
“Peter and I… well we were wondering… if we can have some friends come over. It’s… sort of… tradition with our friends… to break in a new place to live,” he said nervously.
“Oh, a Crow ritual?”
“No, just something our friends started.”
“I see… what exactly is this going to entail?” Emily asked, now amused.
“A small bonfire… some dancing maybe,” Todd seemed nervous.
“Yeah, that’d be fine.”
“You’re free to join us, it might be fun,” Todd said, smiling.
“We’ll see.”
Just after Alexis fell asleep for her nap, Emily laid down on the bed to also take one. During the daylight hours, the odd noises from the attic seemed unimportant and dim. She fell asleep quickly and didn’t wake up until late in the afternoon when her phone rang.
“Hmm?” she said, still half asleep.
“Em?” Chevalier asked.
“Yeah, I’m here,” she said, and yawned.
Chevalier chuckled, “Were you asleep?”
“Yeah, rough night,” Emily said, and looked over to check on Alexis.
“Any idea when you’re coming home?”
“Heading back tomorrow. I may try to drive straight through.”
“Just promise you’ll pull over if you get tired.”
“I will, see you when I get back.”
Chevalier sighed and hung up. She wondered what was wrong. He seemed short-tempered, and like he was keeping something from her.
Emily dialed the local pizza place and ordered dinner. There was no time to make anything, and she didn’t feel like cooking anyway. She fed Alexis while waiting for the delivery, and ran downstairs when she heard a knock on the door. The twins followed the pizza into the house and sat at the table.
“I’m assuming you two can cook and won’t starve to death after I go?” Emily asked, taking a piece of pizza.
“Todd cooks, I just eat,” Peter said, grabbing a slice.
“Doesn’t Sam ever eat?” Todd asked.
Emily shrugged, “He’s the quiet type. I think he mostly eats alone in his bunkhouse.”
Emily started to get up when she heard a knock at the door, but Todd beat her to it and was followed into the kitchen by eight other Crow, all dressed in fringed leather tribal outfits. They also had their hair in tight braids and blue paint on their faces.
Emily grinned, “Time to start the party?”
“Hey, you’re right. She is cute,” one of the men said, and Peter hit him on the arm a
nd glared at him.
Emily blushed and picked Alexis up.
“You’re joining us, right?” one of the Crow asked.
“That would all depend on what exactly you’re doing,” she said, and watched as Alexis shied away from one of the men and smiled.
“Dancing, drinking, that sort of thing,” Todd said, and Emily noticed he genuinely wanted her to come.
“Ok, ok, I’ll come out in a bit after the baby’s asleep,” Emily said, smiling.
Emily watched from her window as the bonfire grew and the alcohol was passed among them. She laughed as their dancing became more erratic and they started to trip over one another.
“Are you sure about this?” Sam asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.
Emily nodded and whispered, “Yeah, why not? Alex is asleep. Come get me if you need me.”
Sam nodded, and Emily slipped out of the house. She walked timidly toward the bonfire.
“She’s here!” Todd yelled, and grabbed her hands to swing her around. One of the Crow brought a drum, and that was the sole sound used for their dance around the fire. Emily laughed and watched them, unsure exactly what to do.
“You are the ultimate of pale faces,” Peter said, and looked at her.
Emily shrugged, “I’m an Irish girl.”
“Here…” Peter said, and grabbed a little cup sitting by the fire. He dipped a finger in it, and Emily winced as she felt him paint her face.
“That’s great!” Todd yelled when he saw Emily.
“Yeah, great,” she said, looking at them skeptically.
“Iáxuhke!” Todd yelled, and the others looked at Emily and then began to dance again.
Emily frowned, “What was that?”
“We gave you a Crow name.”
“How did you say that?”
“It’s ia-ch-oo-hk-ay,” he said slowly, but his words were still slurred. Emily wasn’t sure if she could even pronounce it with the guttural sound in the middle, something similar to the Germans in her Dad’s old movies.
“I’ll just take your word for it,” she said, and turned when she felt a hand on her shoulder. One of the men handed her a large clay cup.
“Drink some,” he told her, and she smelled the contents of the cup before handing it back.
“No seriously,” he said, and handed it back to her.
Equites : Book 4 of the Heku Series Page 26