by Rada, J. R.
Adam nodded. The doctor put the earpieces of his stethoscope in his ears. The cone end he put under Adam’s faded red shirt to listen to the old Indian’s heart. The doctor listened for a few seconds and then wrinkled his forehead.
“Your heart sounds strong and regular,” the doctor said as he pulled his hand out from under Adam’s shirt.
“But he’s in pain,” Sarah said as she stood behind the doctor. “He screamed in the truck when it began.”
The doctor stared at Adam and rubbed his chin. “I can admit him for observation and run some tests on him. Meanwhile, I can put an EKG on him to monitor his heart. I can’t really advise any medicine or other treatment for him until I know how severe his problem is.”
Sarah nodded frantically. “Yes, please do that. He’s the only family I have left. I don’t know what I’d do without him,” Sarah said. “I don’t want him to die.”
“Don’t worry, miss. We take good care of our patients.” Dr. Brady turned to the admitting nurse. “Call an orderly and admit this man,” the doctor told her.
The nurse picked up the phone and punched an extension. “I’m admitting a patient and I need an orderly to take him up to the cardiac wing.” When the nurse hung up, she told Sarah, “I’ll need you to fill the admission forms.”
Sarah nodded and sat down in front of the desk. The nurse opened a metal file drawer and took out some forms and passed them across the desk to Sarah. Sarah picked up a pen off the desk and began answering the questions on the forms. There weren’t too many she could answer, particularly the ones about insurance and family medical history. She and her grandfather had no medical insurance, and Sarah knew very little about her family medical history.
A minute later an orderly came into the waiting area pushing a wheelchair. The nurse snapped a plastic bracelet on Adam’s wrist. The young orderly helped Adam into the wheelchair and wheeled him into the hospital. Sarah watched her grandfather disappear and tried to keep from smiling.
Her grandfather was in.
CHAPTER 15
When Kel´hoya opened his eyes, he was immediately cautious. He was the Outlander in the Fourth World. Although he and To´chi lay in the shadows and darkness of the cave, it was still brighter than the brightest chamber in Kuskurza. He had only seen forbidden places this bright in his dreams, and when he looked through the sipapu into the Fourth World, he saw a land of brightness that was beyond his dreams.
Legend said there had been a time when the light in Kuskurza had been as bright as the sun in the Fourth World. It had been an ancient time when the dark kachinas had very little power. The light in the Third World had faded much since that time, and the places of light had become the places forbidden by the dark kachinas. Anyone from Kuskurza who tried to venture to the surface was killed by the Bow Clan.
Yet now, the dark kachinas had sent him, a member of the Bow Clan, to a place of light; a place he had been told by the dark kachinas did not exist. He had been sent here, and he would die here. He and To´chi had accepted the conditions of their mission to the Fourth World because they would be serving the dark kachinas. Without the dark kachinas to protect it, Kuskurza would have been destroyed by Taiowa, and all the Bow Clan would have perished in the great flood. It was only the power of the dark kachinas that kept the Third World functioning.
Now Kel´hoya knew that even if he did successfully complete his mission and return to the sipapu, the dark kachinas would kill him and To´chi. They could not be allowed to return to Kuskurza, where they might tell others of the beauty of the Fourth World. Such a discovery would inspire the Sun Clan even more to find the path to the sipapu, and the fact that the Fourth World had been seen by the Bow Clan would cause a destroying dissension among the guardians of the dark kachinas. The knowledge that Kel´hoya and To´chi possessed would totally destroy the way of life in Kuskurza.
But Kel´hoya wanted to return to Kuskurza. He did not like the cream-colored skin of the Outlanders or their stubby fingers. The bright sunlight hurt his eyes and burned his face. No wonder the Outlanders wore such elaborate body coverings. The only thing he liked about the Outlanders was their women. It aroused Kel´hoya to see such exotic-looking women. They had beautiful dark hair on their heads and their bodies were more rounded than those of the women of the Third World. The woman he had seen in his vision of David’s room was the type of woman seen in the Bow Clan’s collective dreams.
Kel´hoya sat up and looked at To´chi to assure himself he was not alone. He needed to know this was not a dream from which he would wake. To´chi was still asleep curled into a tight ball. It was the shape that all those who lived in Kuskurza assumed when they slept. It kept the body warmer. His companion’s body reflected the small amount of light that made its way into the sipapu, and he glowed like a small sun.
Kel´hoya wondered if To´chi was as awed by the Fourth World and the Outlander women as he was. The women, perhaps, but never the land, Kel´hoya decided. He had never realized how different he was from To´chi until they came to the surface. Though they looked the same and were from the same clan, they were as different from each other as the Bow Clan was different from the Outlanders.
For the first time, Kel´hoya wondered if the dark kachinas controlled the thoughts of the Bow Clan. If the dark kachinas could direct the Bow Clan’s attacks against the Sun Clan, might they not control the thoughts of the Bow Clan to suppress any rebellious murmurings among the clansmen and minimize the personality differences between the individual members of the Bow Clan?
Was he nothing but a tool for the dark kachinas like a langher? Were the feelings he felt now his true feelings? Was Kel´hoya the individual a warrior or was the warrior aspect of his personality created by the dark kachinas? Did Kel´hoya the man want to return to Kuskurza or explore the Fourth World?
There was no end to the land. He could spend the rest of his life exploring it. The surface was varied in shape and there was no ceiling of stone above his head threatening to fall. The Fourth World was so different from Kuskurza. How could To´chi not wonder how such a land could contain the great evil they had been told it held?
Unless To´chi told him, Kel´hoya would not know. He could no longer read To´chi’s thoughts. Nor could he read any of the Bow Clan’s thoughts.
While he had slept, Kel´hoya had let his mind wander beyond the confines of the sipapu. He did not try to stop himself. He doubted he could have even if he had wanted to stop. He experienced too much pleasure when he was released from the confines of his body. He had been isolated from the minds of his brothers since leaving Kuskurza. He needed to hear their thoughts again and feel as if he were a part of the mighty Bow Clan, physical manifestation of the dark kachinas. So Kel´hoya’s mind had reached out for them, and he had let it. He thought that if he could once again feel the strength of the Bow Clan and speak with the dark kachinas, he might be able to ask for guidance as to how he would complete his mission. Their minds would strengthen his and chase the weakness from him.
But in reaching out for the dark kachinas, Kel´hoya had not found the guidance he sought. Either they had blocked his thoughts from reaching Kuskurza or perhaps the earth itself kept his thoughts from reaching below to the Third World as it kept the thoughts of the Outlanders reaching the Bow Clan.
What Kel´hoya had found was Pahana, or Pahana’s mind to be more precise. He had seen Pahana’s room in the white pueblo from behind Pahana’s eyes. What amazed Kel´hoya was that Pahana felt no fear of the Bow Clan although the Bow Clan had nearly killed him in Kuskurza. How could Pahana know the Bow Clan pursued him and wanted to kill him and not be afraid? Was his protection that powerful that it could protect him from death?
Kel´hoya wondered if he could reestablish his contact with Pahana. As long as he could enter Pahana’s mind, he would be able to find the enemy of the dark kachinas.
Kel´hoya laid his hand on To´chi’s shoulder and shook him awake. To´chi jumped to his feet as if expecting an attack. He would never have slept
so soundly in Kuskurza. The Fourth World air was like a drug on their ability to function. It made them sleepy and sluggish in their movements. If they weren’t careful, they might sleep and never wake.
“What is it? I heard nothing,” To´chi said.
“That’s because there was nothing to hear. The sun is retreating. It is time to find Pahana.”
To´chi wrinkled his nose at the sound of the name. “Pahana. Not only is he an enemy of the dark kachinas, but his name leaves a sour taste on my tongue. It is nearly as bad as Ma´saw. He would kill the dark kachinas and free the Sun Clan.”
“The Sun Clan reveres Pahana’s name almost as much as Ma´saw’s,” Kel´hoya said.
To´chi wrinkled his nose again. “I need something to eat to get this taste out of my mouth.”
He picked up the bag of provisions he and Kel´hoya had brought with them from Kuskurza. He reached in and pulled a piece of white fruit from the bag and bit into it.
“The only way to get rid of a sour taste is with something sweet,” To´chi said.
Kel´hoya crept closer to the sipapu and looked out. Through the sipapu, Kel´hoya saw that the ledge fell away steeply a few feet beyond the sipapu. It was a good thing they had brought the pa´tuwvotas with them otherwise there would have been no way to climb down the side of the mountain and find Pahana before the sun rose again.
To´chi came up behind Kel´hoya and looked out at the darkened land outside the cave. “Why doesn’t the sun burn the land in the way a fire would? With such heat, you would think the land would be in flames.”
“I don’t know, and I don’t care,” Kel´hoya lied. Actually, he was wondering the same thing, but he was not sure he wanted To´chi to know his thoughts now that he could keep his thoughts to himself.
Kel´hoya looked to his side where To´chi still stared at the landscape. The dark kachinas had reclaimed the surface gradually and chased away the sun. Kel´hoya slipped through the entrance of the sipapu and stood on the narrow ledge above the canyon. He felt a cool breeze blow across his face and he lifted his chin high. He took a deep breath.
“Tonight, we will kill Pahana,” Kel´hoya said loudly. “We will watch a legend die.”
“What if Pahana has already gathered a force to attack Kuskurza?” To´chi said from inside the sipapu.
Kel´hoya shook his head. “He hasn’t. I have seen through his eyes. He still feels the pain we inflicted on him while he was in our land and continually lays down. He isn’t ready to attack us yet.”
Kel´hoya did not add that though Pahana felt the pain, he showed no fear of the Bow Clan. That fact disturbed Kel´hoya more than knowing he would die before seeing Kuskurza again. For a man to show no fear and yet know he was being hunted, the man was either a fool or a powerful man. Kel´hoya knew from the short time Pahana was in Kuskurza that the Outlander was no fool, which left only a choice Kel´hoya hoped was not true.
Kel´hoya reached inside the sipapu and pulled out his pa´tuwvota. It was a saucer, the size of a shield, made of the hide of the tangjar, a feathered serpent. He set it on the ledge and then sat cross-legged on top of it. He closed his eyes and concentrated. The pa´tuwvota rose from the ledge and moved away from the side of the mountain.
Kel´hoya opened his eyes. “Come, To´chi,” he ordered.
As he spoke, the pa´tuwvota dropped from beneath him. He panicked for only a moment before he closed his eyes and stabilized the saucer. He would have to be more careful. Controlling a pa´tuwvota in the Fourth World required more concentration than he was used to needing.
To´chi put a second pa´tuwvota on the ledge and sat on it. After a moment, he hovered next to Kel´hoya.
“Which way do we go to reach Pahana?” To´chi asked.
“Follow me,” Kel´hoya told him. He pictured the white pueblo in his mind and commanded the pa´tuwvota to follow the direction of his thoughts.
He could traverse Kuskurza from one end to the other in fifteen minutes. That was how quick the pa´tuwvota moved, but the trip to the white pueblo took half an hour. They travelled more than twice the length of Kuskurza and still there was still no end to Tu´waqachi in sight.
Kel´hoya commanded the pa´tuwvota to hover outside Pahana’s window. Through the window, he could see Pahana sleeping. This mission would be easy to complete. Maybe a successful mission would convince the dark kachinas of their worth. Perhaps the dark kachinas would even allow Kel´hoya and To´chi to return to Kuskurza.
The path seemed to be open to fly into Pahana’s room, but when Kel´hoya held out his hand, he touched an invisible wall. Part of Pahana’s protection undoubtedly. However, while part of the window was covered with a hard wall that would be difficult to penetrate, another part of the opening was covered with a mesh that was easily opened.
Kel´hoya smiled. The dark kachinas were with them.
Kel´hoya pressed on the screen with his long fingers until he had poked five holes in the screen. He pulled hard on the screen and ripped a large hole in it.
Kel´hoya motioned to To´chi. “Hold onto my pa´tuwvota. Don’t let it fall while I am in the room.”
To´chi nodded his understanding. He grabbed onto the edge of Kel´hoya’s pa´tuwvota with one hand. Kel´hoya stood up on the shield and stepped onto the ledge in front of the invisible wall. As his body lost contact with the pa´tuwvota, it fell, but To´chi held onto it and pulled it onto his lap.
Kel´hoya crawled into the room through the hole. It was bright inside the room, brighter than the night outside. Pahana was using light to protect himself from the dark kachinas. Though Kel´hoya would have preferred to work in the darkness, he was not a dark kachina. He could function in the light. He squinted and started toward the bed where David lay sleeping.
It was time to complete his mission.
CHAPTER 16
The nurse took Adam’s dinner tray off the bed tray. The young woman had dark skin and black hair, and Adam wondered if she were a Navajo girl trying to become a doctor.
“Well, it looks like you ate everything but the plastic plates,” the nurse said. “If you weren’t sick before, you probably will be now.”
The nurse laughed at her own joke. Adam wondered what the young woman found so humorous. He thought the food tasted quite good. Not as good as Connie’s, of course, but it was certainly better than Sarah’s meals. Unfortunately, Sarah had not inherited her grandmother’s ability to cook delicious foods. Hers usually wound up tasting dry or bland.
“I’m feeling tired. May I go to sleep now?” Adam asked.
The young woman turned from her cart full of dirty, plastic dinner dishes. Adam got a good look at her face. Definitely a Navajo. She seemed nice enough though. Adam wouldn’t hold her heritage against her.
“If you can go to sleep, sure.”
“No, I mean if I go to sleep, another nurse isn’t going to come in and wake me up to give me medication or take my temperature, is she?”
The nurse walked to the foot of the bed and looked at the chart that hung there. She flipped through the sheets on the clipboard and read the notations written on the sheets.
When she finished, she hung the board back on the bed, and said, “It doesn’t look like you’re scheduled for any medication, just observation. So I don’t think anyone will be coming in tonight. You can get a good night’s sleep.”
Adam smiled. “Thank you.” That was just what he wanted to hear.
He laid back and fell asleep. It was only a short nap. That seemed to be all he could take nowadays. Even when he was exhausted from a full day of working hard in the fields at harvest time, he could sleep only three hours at most. This nap had been even shorter than that.
When he awoke, it was dark outside. He figured it was late enough that there wouldn’t be many people in the halls. The fewer people who saw him, the fewer there were who might stop him.
He climbed out of bed holding his gown closed behind him. He hadn’t wanted to put it on, but the nurse had told him it was hospital polic
y. Adam had given in because he didn’t want to attract too much attention to himself. Talking to David Purcell was more important than his modesty. He wished he had something to cover himself with so his butt wasn’t exposed to the wind, though.
Adam opened his door so that a small gap of light showed in the room. Because his line of sight was not the best, he could only see a short distance down the hallway and nothing in the opposite direction. He didn’t see anyone so he would have to take the chance.
Opening the door wider, Adam stepped into the hallway. David Purcell was on the same floor, but Adam would have to walk to the other end of the hallway to get to David’s room. A pair of nurses was talking at the nurses’ station to his left, but he was going to the right and wouldn’t have to pass them. If they didn’t look in his direction, he would be able to go by unnoticed.
He found room 203 easily enough. Adam considered knocking on the door, but it would only attract undo attention. Better to walk right in and start talking quickly and hope David Purcell would listen to him and not call for the nurse, at least not before Adam finished speaking.
Adam pushed open the door and froze. A pale, white-skinned man was standing next to David’s bed choking him. David struggled, but the Bow Clansman had his hands wrapped tightly around David’s neck. The insight Adam’s vision had given him came back: If the Bow Clan killed David Purcell, the Fourth World would be destroyed.
Adam reacted quickly. Grabbing the chair next to the door, he pushed it across the tiled floor. It slid easily enough and struck the Bow Clansman in the legs, behind the knees. The man staggered, but didn’t fall. However, his grip faltered and David rolled to the side. Before the Bow Clansman could regain his grip, David punched him in the mouth. The man stumbled backward holding a split lip.
“Taiowa, rid us of this evil,” Adam prayed loudly.
At the sound of the name, the Bow Clansman stopped. He bared his teeth at Adam, and then turned to look at David again. Instead of charging, he crawled through the window onto the ledge.