Plant Them Deep
Page 31
Rose stood. “Unless the police are pressing charges now, I have a Song of Blessing to attend.”
Big Ed shrugged, then shook his head, turning to look at Ella.
“Go see Lena at the hospital. If we have any questions, I know where you live,” Ella said.
Ten days later, Rose, Maria, Willie, and Sadie gathered on Lena’s porch for a visit. Although Lena tired easily, she was obviously well on the road to recovery, and had prepared dessert for all of them.
“I thought I was going to lose you, old friend. Don’t you ever scare me like that again,” Rose said.
“I wouldn’t have made it if it hadn’t been for all of you.” Lena smiled at Rose and the others. “You kept searching and finally found the plants the hataalii needed. That’s why I’m here right now.”
Maria poured herself another glass of iced tea from the pitcher. “I heard this morning that the tribal council has asked the Navajo nursery to separate a section of land and dedicate it to cultivating the endangered Plant People. There, they’ll increase in numbers until they can be reintroduced into the areas of the Rez where their kind have diminished or disappeared.”
Lena smiled, approving.
“After you get better,” Rose said, “you and I will go to the schools and teach both teachers and kids about the Plant People. They’ve become very curious about medicinal plants ever since they heard that a huge pharmaceutical company was interested in our herbs.”
Lena chuckled. “Isn’t that the way it always is? No one appreciates what they’ve got until someone else wants it.”
“I’ve also suggested that the tribe work hand in hand with the mining companies’ reclamation efforts, and the tribe has agreed that this should be done. All the Plant Watchers will be monitoring and reporting what the Anglo companies do from now on,” Rose said.
Lena laughed. “Oh, I bet they just loved you for that.”
Rose smiled. The afternoon with friends was just what Lena—and she—needed.
They passed the time pleasantly. Then, after the others had all left and only Rose remained, Lena stood up. “I want to go to my family’s shrine. It’s not far from here, just behind the house and up that canyon. Will you help me walk up there?”
“Are you sure you’re ready for it?”
“Yes, if you’re willing to help me.”
“Of course I will.”
Ten minutes later, Rose and Lena were a hundred yards up the narrow canyon. Rose’s gaze swept the area automatically, always alert for the Plant People.
“Look over to your right,” Rose told Lena, pointing to a plant with gray flowers.
“‘Mind medicine,’” Lena whispered.
“And growing beside it is ‘cone toward water.’” Both plants were used to work spells—“frenzy medicine,” they were called. “What if the kids get hold of those!” Rose reached down, intending on pulling them up, but Lena stepped in the way.
“No. Even these plants have a part in the path of harmony. Everything is interconnected. The absence of one plant can lead to the loss of others and we’ve all learned the hard way how one tiny plant can make all the difference in the world.”
Rose nodded slowly. “You’re right. Everything in nature has two sides, and accepting both is the only way to walk in beauty.”
With the sun high over the Chuska Mountains far to the west, Rose and Lena continued their walk to the shrine.
By Aimée & David Thurlo
ELLA CLAH NOVELS
Blackening Song
Death Walker
Bad Medicine
Enemy Way
Shooting Chant
Red Mesa
Changing Woman
Tracking Bear
Wind Spirit
White Thunder
LEE NEZ NOVELS
Second Sunrise
Blood Retribution
Pale Death (forthcoming)
SISTER AGATHA NOVELS
Bad Faith
Thief in Retreat
Plant Them Deep
The Spirit Line
PRAISE FOR AIMÉE & DAVID THURLO
“A hair-raising opening. The Thurlos hit all the right notes: they have an intriguing, growing character at the center of a series that combines fast-moving plots and a wealth of fascinating cultural information.”
—Booklist on Wind Spirit
“Cultural differences between the traditional and modern Navajo way of life show up in every description. With almost nonstop action and plenty of complications, this eighth Ella Clah title offers yet another skillfully mixed and expertly designed story.”
—School Library Journal on Tracking Bear
“The Thurlos’ insights into the sociology of the reservation are authentic and persuasive.”
—Kirkus Reviews on Changing Woman
“The authors deliver an intense, spellbinding family drama in which the battle between good and evil affects both modernist and traditionalist Navajo. Prime reading for fans of Tony Hillerman and other Southwestern mysteries.”
—Library Journal on Red Mesa
“If it’s just too long between Tony Hillerman novels, the mysteries of Aimée and David Thurlo will help you bridge the canyons. If you prefer your mysteries with a little green chile and New Mexico grit, you’ll want to add the Thurlos to your reading list.”
—Rocky Mountain News on Shooting Chant
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this novel are either fictitious or are used fictitiously.
PLANT THEM DEEP
Copyright © 2003 by Aimée and David Thurlo
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.
A Forge Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
www.tor-forge.com
Forge® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
eISBN 9781429914932
First eBook Edition : March 2011
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Thurlo, Aimée.
Plant them deep/ Aimée Thurlo and David Thurlo. p. cm.
“A Forge book”—T.p. verso.
ISBN 0-765-31413-4
EAN 978-0-765-31413-0
1. Clah, Ella (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Mothers and daughters—Fiction. 3. Police—New Mexico—Fiction. 4. Navajo Indians—Fiction. 5. Navajo women—Fiction. 6. Policewomen—Fiction. 7. New Mexico—Fiction. I. Thurlo, David. II. Title.
PS3570.H82P57 2003
813'.54—dc21
2003009216