Wolf Dance

by Wolfdance(Lit)

  "Your woman telephoned, asking about the Sungmanitu."

  This brought Justin to further alertness.

  "Though she gave no indication, I believe something is wrong. I have sensed that the Baalam have gone to the desert to find her."

  "What would the Jaguar People want with her?" Justin tried to rise, but his aunt gently pushed him back.

  The Gate Keeper shrugged his shoulders. "That is what you must discover, but you have got to be aware that she's in grave danger."

  Again, Justin tried to rise, but Ida once again prevented him from success. "You can do nothing in your condition. You have to regain your strength and heal," his aunt scolded.

  Justin fought to overcome the peaceful slumber that beckoned him, but his strength ebbed and he succumbed to rest.

  * * * *

  The emerald bed of grass was softer than feather down, and the tinkling waters of Gold Springs were successful in easing some of his inner turmoil. Justin never tired of peering at the beauty of Gold Springs--given its name for the gold dust that lined its bottom, lending the appearance that the crystal clear water flowed on a bed of gold.

  Coyopa’! No place on earth could match its beauty or serenity. To the white man the name meant Valley of Light, and it was. It was a kingdom unmatched by any. A sacred place reserved for the Sungmanitu, the keepers of the Earth Mother.

  Justin felt the weight of not only his responsibilities to his people, but to the earth as well. These others, they had the power of the shape-shifter, but they used it for evil. He knew well that these creatures could walk a path of destruction that would devastate the balance.

  Laura! What did they want with her?

  Could it be they were using her for bait? As it always did, thoughts of her brought anew the agony of loss. The pain of not having her near tore at his heart, as his wounds had torn his flesh.

  The expertise of their doctors had been the only thing to save him from the stomach wound. In the outside world, he would have died. The days had passed excruciatingly slow, but he had regained enough of his strength to journey to her home, if for nothing else, to reassure himself that she was okay.

  The council was to meet soon, and would discuss the possibility of Justin traveling to New Mexico. Though he was their leader, primordial law dictated. For Sungmanitu to journey abroad, there must be a matter of grave importance.

  The Gate Keeper had promised to speak on Justin’s behalf, so there was no doubt that the council would agree. The Gate Keeper never involved himself in the governing of Coyopa’. The fact that he had in this instance was alarming. This was a matter of great importance to the spirits.

  * * * *

  Against the backdrop of a New Mexican sunset, the Harley negotiated the road at speeds that flaunted safety. Where in this vast desert land would he find her?

  The road sign up ahead announced the Glass Mountain Trading Post would appear in two miles. Kenny Begay would not have been his first choice of an information source, but so far he had not found a living soul at the trailer which her grandfather occupied.

  The sound of a bell jingling alerted Glass Mountain’s sole employee that someone had arrived.

  "I’ll be right out!" Kenny called from the storage room in back.

  Leaning against the counter, Justin studied the dusty contents of the store. Laura hadn't been exaggerating when she had explained her humble beginnings. The population of the reservation did indeed appear to be amongst the poorest of the nation, but that held true for most reservations.

  The astonishment on Kenny’s face when he came into the room was worth a thousand words. Justin had to struggle to keep his amusement at bay.

  "Relax Kenny ... you are not seeing a ghost." A smile played on Justin’s lips.

  "I thought you were dead." Kenny was still staring at him in wide-eyed amazement.

  Justin smiled and shook his head. "I was fortunate. The spirits smiled upon me and decided I was still useful."

  "You are looking for Laura?" Kenny assumed correctly.

  "I have been out to her grandfather’s several times. No one seems to be there, but her truck is there. I thought you might have some idea where I can find them?" Justin explained.

  "I haven’t seen either of them all week and I have no clue where they would have gone without the truck." Kenny maintained a safe distance from the other man.

  "Kenny ... you may not like me, but we both have Laura’s best interest in mind, and right now she’s in extreme danger from the Jaguar People. We need to find her," Justin explained.

  Kenny removed the dingy white apron and threw it on the counter. "Okay ... follow me."

  * * * *

  An atmosphere of abandonment hung in the air when the duo pulled up to the small silver trailer. The small structure lacked the essence of living souls. Justin could sense that no one had been here for some time.

  Kenny was confused. "They couldn’t have gone anywhere without the truck." He repeated his assessment of earlier.

  Laura’s Bronco occupied a space close to the trailer. The windows were all down and the seats were covered with dust. It had obviously not been driven for a while.

  "You check inside and I’ll see if I can find any kind of tracks," Justin told him.

  Justin had noticed some small, obscure tracks, which could have been Laura’s. He followed them to a barren hill to the north and then east until he reached the Kiva. Here, the tracks ended abruptly, covered over in some places with the tracks of large cats.

  Baalams! The Jaguar People had taken her!

  Justin returned to the trailer in time to see Kenny exit--he still wore a look of apprehension.

  "It looks as if they were preparing to leave. I found a half-packed suitcase."

  "The Jaguars have them! I found their tracks."

  "Who exactly are the Jaguars?" Kenny asked in agitation.

  "I don’t know where they came from, but what I can tell you is ... they are cold-blooded killers," Justin informed him.

  A glance at the interior of Laura’s car told them that she must have left in a hurry. Her purse lay on the floorboard. It, too, was covered in dust.

  Justin reached in to pick it up and scratched his finger on something sharp that lay hidden beneath the seat. Reaching under the confined space, he pulled out a small green box. On closer examination he realized that Laura must have acquired the box at the old fort in Wyoming.

  "What’s that?" Kenny asked.

  Justin turned the box over in his hands. It was evident that Laura had never gotten around to opening it. "It’s an old cavalry storage box. I guess she must have forgotten about it."

  Kenny seemed lost. "Okay, but what do we do about Laura and her grandfather? These are your kind of people. Can’t you track them down or something?"

  Justin smiled. "I don’t know where they have come from, or even what they want. It would appear that we will have to do things the human way, and look for clues." Justin held up the box. "I’m going to start with this."

  Pulling a tire iron from the back of Laura’s truck, Justin positioned it to snap the box open. The rusty, ancient lock fell apart with little effort. Inside were various metals and uniform buttons, tarnished and corroded with age.

  Justin’s eyes fell on a small, leather-bound journal--its pages were yellowed and falling apart in many places. The ink was surprisingly crisp, considering the condition of the rest of the journal.

  For the most part, many of the pages consisted of mundane information which may have been of importance then, but now meant nothing.

  The pages spoke of a campaign against the marauding Cheyenne. Captain William Neil spoke of his involvement in the capture of several renegades.

  But as the summer of 1879 came to a close and the tone of his words changed to that of someone who is no longer sure of which reality they belong in. Justin read aloud.

  September 1879

  Again, while on patrol, I met the beautiful senorita walking the loop road. We talked for quite som
e time. She tells me that she is here with her family and they are struggling to regain their ancestral home. I am unsure of her meaning, for I have seen nothing but mining shacks outside of the small towns here about.

  The young Captain’s words told of his flowering romance with the young Mexican girl, and soon he was convinced that he should ask this girl to become his betrothed.

  October 1879

  I spoke with Anita today of my intentions. She looked to me with tears in her eyes and spoke of a love she could never let happen. She claims we are of two different worlds. She comes from an ancient city in Mexico, known as Coba’. She told me of the Temple of Prophecy whose walls tell of a prophecy. The prophecy of a child who would rule both the Kingdoms of Coba’ and Coyopa’. Her father the King is determined that it should be one of his own that rules. Anita was here to seduce the King of Coyopa’ and produce the prophesied child--one that her father would control. None of this makes any sense to me, but how can I believe that my beautiful senorita would lie to me?

  November, 1879

  My senorita is terrified that our frequent jaunts into the woods has resulted in a child. She has said they will kill her when they discover that her child is Anglo. Her father, Dark Claw, is evil and will go to any length to destroy us both. Our only chance is to leave here as soon as possible.

  The journal answered the question of where the others had come from, but it left many more questions to be answered. And what he wanted to know most of all was--what did all this have to do with Laura?

  After closing the book, Justin looked to Kenny for more information. "What do you know of Laura’s family?"

  "Not much about her grandmother. I think she was Mexican-Navajo, with some Anglo blood way back. Grandpa Busby never spoke of her," Kenny told him.

  "I have a feeling that Laura’s grandmother is her connection. She may be a descendant of these runaway lovers."

  "So, how does this help us find them?" Kenny was disturbed.

  "It would seem Coba’ is where our answers lie. If I'm assuming correctly, they will not hurt her. The Jaguar People have another purpose." Justin’s forehead wrinkled with concern.

  The thought of his beautiful Laura in the hands of those killers tore at his insides. He felt the beast fighting to surface, but fought it back. He might need Kenny’s help and right now Kenny was looking at him in the light of normality. At the present time it would not do to remind him differently.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The room systematically came into focus as the layers of haze lifted from her drugged consciousness. Her first thoughts were of death. She must be in some kind of afterlife. The comfort of her cloud-soft bed tempted her--seducing her into oblivion.

  The murmur of voices crawled past the haze to bring her back to awareness. Opening her eyes, she strained to see past the netting that surrounded her bed.

  Where was she?

  How did she get here?

  Laura struggled to piece together her fogged memory. She had been searching for her grandfather, and then the creatures. One of them had covered her face with a cloth and then the stench of chloroform. The rest was a blank.

  She appeared to be in a large room constructed of stone. The floor was covered with plush red-velvet carpeting, and the bed she lay in was covered in red and pink silks. The coolness of the material was soothing against her nakedness.

  "You have returned to us, senorita." A young woman with large brown eyes smiled down at her. She spoke with in heavily accented English.

  Laura attempted to form the parade of questions that marched through her thoughts, but the dryness of her throat cut off her voice.

  The young woman helped Laura to a sitting position and held a cup of cold water to her lips.

  "My name is Carlotta," she told Laura.

  Laura tried to smile, but could not find the strength. Taking a few more swallows of the life-preserving water, Laura collapsed back in her pillows, hoping that her strength would return quickly.

  "You must get up soon, senorita. There are many things for you to do today."

  "Where’s my grandfather? Where am I?" Laura’s forced words were no more that whispers.

  "You will be told all, but not unless we get you dressed." The woman was making an effort to smile brightly, no doubt in order to quell Laura’s fears.

  Laura let herself be led from the bed to a small connecting chamber which looked to be a place to bathe. The circular room was filled with greenery and tropical flowers--large windows were inlaid in the exterior walls. Crystal-clear spring water flowed into a round marble tub.

  Lowering herself into the water, Laura expected a jolt, but the bath was surprisingly warm. Peering out the windows, it dawned on her that she was in a tropical terrain, definitely far from New Mexico.

  The woman named Carlotta set to the task of bathing Laura with some exotic scented soap. Laura protested but the woman pushed her complaints aside and continued. With no alternative but to cooperate, Laura tried to relax. The brisk scrubbing she received left her feeling refreshed, if not completely alert.

  Stepping from the tub, she found her skin being rubbed with a soft towel until it took on a flushed glow. The woman then dressed her in a peach-colored gown of light silk before setting about the job of brushing Laura’s long hair until it shone.

  Laura judged it to be late afternoon from the position of the sun beyond the plate-glass windows. Carlotta led her back to the room from which they had come telling her that someone would come for her soon. Laura was left there alone to try and piece together the puzzle of where she was.

  In awe, Laura examined the room’s furnishings. Many of them seemed to be carved of gold and jade.

  She instinctively knew that the answers to her questions wouldn't be long in coming when she heard the door open. The Mexican-Indian that stood before her was a sight to behold. He wore a breechcloth made of burgundy velvet and adorned gold bands on his neck and arms as well as a gold headband to hold his long-black hair in place.

  Laura was still unsure if all this was real or if she had awakened to find herself in some kind of weird dimension. The man’s iron clasp on her arm sent sharp pains into her shoulder.

  "Where are you taking me?" she demanded.

  He either didn't understand English or chose to ignore her as he led her out of the room and down a huge stone hall. The passage was illuminated with candles that managed to push the shadows back into the dark corners. Laura all of a sudden had the notion that she was in a Mayan Palace.

  But that was not possible!

  Carvings of Jaguars decorated almost every inch of the long walkway. Terror began to clamp its jaws around her heart.

  The Jaguars were killers!

  But why go through so much trouble just to kill her, unless ... unless she was to be some kind of ritual sacrifice?

  The hall ended abruptly, opening up to a large, brightly lit receiving chamber. Tropical foliage threatened to overtake this room as well. The greenery lent a false sense of serenity to the atmosphere.

  On the far side of the room, a man stood gazing out of one of the many large windows that looked onto a lush courtyard. Despite the beauty before her, Laura was overwhelmed with dread--feeling the evil that oozed not just from the man, but from the very pores of the stones that made up the chamber.

  The man smiled to reveal rows of white teeth, but they could just as well have been fangs, for Laura knew the truth of these people.

  He was lighter of skin tone that the others she had seen, with hair that was almost a golden blond. His green eyes turned her blood to ice.

  Were these the eyes of the Jaguar in her nightmare?

  He took her clammy, damp hands in his and she caught her breath at the sight of them. At the tips of his fingers were long, claw-like black nails.

  "Hello, Princess. I take it you have had a long rest." He smiled, but his green eyes glittered with malice.

  Laura pulled her hand away too quickly as if his touch would rot her skin. "W
ho are you and where is my grandfather?"

  "Ah ... you would like to get directly to the point." He spoke with only a slight Spanish accent.

  Laura nodded, waiting for him to answer her questions.

  "My name is Qeq-isceq. I am Dark Claw. And as for your grandfather ... you will see him in good time--if you cooperate with me," he added.

  Laura glared at him, "What do you want with me?"

  "Very good," he graced her with another smile. "You like to waste no time on small talk."

  She remained silent, but continued to slice at him with her eyes.

  "The Kingdom of Coba’ has been waiting for you for a very long time, Laura." He paused as he poured two glasses of red liquid, offering her one.

  She refused the glass and he shrugged his shoulders and set it on a marble table adorned with golden jaguars.

  "I am the leader here in Coba’, the King as you would have it, and you my sweet princess are to be my bride."

  "You must be confused ... your Majesty." Laura’s own smile was hard and unyielding.

  "On the contrary, senorita, I know exactly what I'm doing. It's you who are confused, and a little too spirited if I might add. But that is of no consequence, we will tame you." Dark Claw’s words were soft, but carried a harsh edge.

  "Long ago, our own princess disappeared with her white lover ... and you sweet flower, are one of her descendants. It's your duty to bear the heir to this kingdom and in doing so, you will also give birth to the conqueror of Coyopa’."

  Her confused stare assured him of her innocence of the Kingdom of Light. "I see that your wolf-lover didn't take you into his confidence like I thought he might have," he smirked. "That is very good. You will learn what you need to know from me."

  "And what is that?"

  "Did you take the Sungmanitu as a lover?" He ignored her question in favor of his own.

  Warning bells went off in her head, telling her that she had walked into a danger zone. A mask of confusion dropped over her features.

  Gasping, she feigned surprise. "I have no idea of what you are talking about."