Enemy Way
Page 32
“I have a lot of soul-searching before me, I can see that. What lies ahead for you now that this is all ended?” Wilson asked, acknowledging what she’d done without the need for words.
“I’ve thought a lot about my responsibilities to my family and to my job, and the guilt of knowing that I’ve been putting the job first for a long time,” she said. “Mom said that I was doing what was right for The People, and that I shouldn’t feel guilty about making the right choice. There’s not a selfish bone in her body. Sometimes I think she knows each of us better than we do ourselves.”
Wilson glanced over at her. “You’ve helped me, and stood by me. Let me offer you some advice now that I hope will help. What you really need to learn is how to balance things. You neglect yourself constantly because your duties demand so much of you. To take care of the needs of others, you first have to look after yourself. Guilt shouldn’t even be a consideration.”
She nodded. “I know. I have to try harder for that balance, or someday I’ll look back on my life with regret for all the things I haven’t done. I don’t think I could stand that. If there’s one thing I’ve learned lately, it’s that life is way too short.”
Ella pulled up by her home and walked inside with Wilson. Crutches or not, as Rose came to the door to greet them, it felt like old times. Happier memories gave Ella comfort now.
“You’re just in time. I’ve made breakfast,” Rose said.
Ella looked at her mother in surprise. “How on earth did you know when we were coming?”
“I knew,” Rose answered with a shrug.
Clifford drove up a short time later, and the three of them sat together in the kitchen. Rose, refusing their help, kept busy, as usual, setting plates filled with fry bread and eggs in front of them. The aroma of fresh green chile and the warmth of the kitchen filled Ella with a wonderful sense of peace.
Content, Ella looked aimlessly out the kitchen window watching the early morning sun dappling the Sacred Mountains in a beautiful reddish glow. To the naked eye the desert could seem stark and lifeless, but within that was a gift of unsurpassed splendor waiting for those who cared enough to see. This was a difficult time for the Dineh, but Ella knew that, somehow, the tribe would survive and continue, just as they’d always done.
“What are your plans now, old friend?” Clifford asked Wilson.
“I’m not going back to teaching at the college,” he said.
Ella looked at her friend in surprise. “You’re a born teacher. What are you going to do?”
“The Rez is changing. My teaching skills are needed, but they have to be focused differently in order to be useful to The People. All of us here have seen the effects of the gang problem, and the drinking as well. There’s just not enough for the kids to do, no constructive way for them to channel their energies. I’m going to do my best to change that. I intend to pull every string I can to raise funds for a youth center. I’m going to make alternatives for the kids while they’re still young, so they won’t be quite so tempted to join the gangs.”
“Let me see if I can get the department involved,” Ella suggested. “That should help things along for you.”
“That would be great,” Wilson said.
“I’ll take part, too. Instead of fees, I’ll have some of my patients donate time and skills to either building the center for you, or renovating an existing building to house it,” Clifford offered.
Rose smiled, pride etched on her features. “Despite all they’ve done, our enemies have not been able to destroy the ties that bind us together. Friendship is our greatest strength.”
Ella looked at Wilson and her brother, silently acknowledging the truth her mother had just spoken. Life was short. It was what one did with the time one was given that mattered most. “Let’s rough out some plans for that youth center,” she said. “The sooner we start on it the better.”
Also by Aimée and David Thurlo
ELLA CLAH NOVELS
Blackening Song
Death Walker
Bad Medicine
Enemy Way
Shooting Chant
Red Mesa
Changing Woman
Tracking Bear
LEE NEZ NOVELS
Second Sunrise
Blood Retribution (coming)
SISTER AGATHA NOVELS
Bad Faith
Thief in Retreat (coming)
Plant Them Deep
Set on the Navajo reservation and packed with Native American wisdom, Aimée and David Thurlos’ Ella Clah novels are written with a sharp eye for the conflict between the traditionalist and modernist ways of life.
“The Thurlos provide Tony Hillerman with good company on the sunburnt sands and hills of the Southwest.”
—Cape Coral Daily Breeze
Enemy Way
“The conflicts between the old ways and Ella’s job as an investigator on the Navajo police force are at the core of this readable novel.”
—Dallas Morning News
“A masterfully written, carefully plotted mystery featuring one of the genre’s most believable and empathetic protagonists.”
—Booklist
Bad Medicine
“This novel has it all: murder, sex, drugs, and racial tension on the Rez. The Thurlos know what keeps readers turning pages. Enough action to satisfy, dangling questions that have to be answered.”
—The New Mexican
Death Walker
“Ella Clah is a complex, well-crafted character with both strengths and flaws that make her appealing to readers. I never wanted to quit reading. The story is steeped in authenticity. If Hillerman ever retires, [the Thurlos] will be the obvious heirs apparent.”
—Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph
Blackening Song
“The action moves swiftly in this well-written mystery. Highly recommended.”
—Library Journal
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
ENEMY WAY
Copyright © 1998 by Aimée and David Thurlo
All rights reserved.
A Forge Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
www.tor.com
Forge® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
ISBN: 0-812-56459-6
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 98-21192
First edition: September 1998
First mass market edition: August 1999
eISBN 9781466847859
First eBook edition: May 2013