No. She couldn’t possibly want him dead. He threw last night’s bloody vest in the garbage can, closed the lid and glanced around the shop. The concrete floor showed only the black scars of burned metal. The tools on the bench looked clean. No more blood. He could handle Madison. His wound felt much better already, and with the kind of reflexes he’d displayed lately, he could probably overcome her in a fight. The thought of grappling with her slender body made him ache. Great Coyote, help me cool my lust.
Felix’s head rubbed against his leg.
Kaletaka scratched the scruff of the cat’s neck. "What do you think little brother? Should we go say hi?"
The bobcat nudged him forward then walked nonchalantly at his side, out through the open door into the bright, mid-day sun. Kaletaka closed the upper buttons of his black shirt, not that the white bandage was visible, but to make sure. He hooked his left hand in his belt to immobilize the wounded arm as he walked.
He had no problem smiling at the sight of Madison’s slim but shapely body. She looked so good, even from the back, as she shaded her eyes to gaze at the neighboring ranch. "Hello, again. How did your hunt go last night?"
She spun around to face him, eyes full of wonder and a smile that quickly vanished. She glanced at Felix with obvious disapproval then shrugged. "I shot something, but it got away."
The wound in Kaletaka’s upper arm throbbed at the very mention of gunshot. A dark cloud covered his mind like a lid. Had Madison caused his injury? "What did you shoot?"
"It was dark. I couldn’t see it whole. It was a large animal, though, with a head like a coyote. And it ran on two hind legs, faster than a cheetah on four."
Cold dread flowed in Kaletaka’s veins at the confirmation of his deepest fear. Could he really be a bloodthirsty skinwalker? Although the fantastic explanation defied simple logic, it would explain his acute senses, quick reflexes, and the gunshot wound, as well as his memory lapses. Still... a skinwalker? What a repulsive thought.
"Did you find any tracks?" He knew she hadn’t, since he’d found them first and erased all traces, including the bloody trail leading to the house.
"Nothing." She shrugged again in disappointment. "It’s as if it never happened. Even the blood and tracks I saw last night have disappeared."
"Maybe you fell asleep and dreamed it?"
"No." She shook her head vehemently. "I fired that rifle."
Kaletaka shuddered at the thought.
"My boss closed the case. That beast is mortally wounded. The killings are over."
"Let’s hope so." If Kaletaka’s worst fear proved true, the next full moon might bring the beast back.
"At least, you are now cleared of any suspicion." She smiled as if to soften the words.
"You suspected me?" An icy trickle dripped down his spine.
"I suspected everyone. It’s my job." She looked down and shuffled one foot. "I’m leaving for a new assignment up north." She didn’t look happy about it. Would she miss him?
"I guess I’ll see you around." Too late to take back his words. Why did he say that? He was a killer, a skinwalker. He should let her go. Her proximity would endanger her life, and his. Yet Kaletaka needed to know they would meet again, soon.
"Let me know if you see or hear anything strange." She smiled, and he saw a spark in her eyes as she handed him a card. "Feel free to call me anytime."
Was that an invitation or just a business deal? Confused, torn between the desire to see her again and the fear of hurting her, Kaletaka only nodded as he took the card. He wanted to brush her fingers but didn’t trust himself to stop there. It would take all his willpower to stay away from Madison.
Her eyes gleamed as she smiled. "I guess I’ll see you when I come back, then."
By the Great Coyote, he wanted to see her again, but for both their sakes, they shouldn’t be together. "I may not be here."
"Oh. Well. Thanks for all your help, then." Her brave face did not cover her confusion. Or was it sadness in her eyes? "Good-bye."
When she turned and walked away slowly, he watched her go, feeling her pain, aching to call after her. But he didn’t, and she didn’t look back. Was she hiding tears? Why did he become a skinwalker now?
After the white pickup drove away, Kaletaka sighed heavily. He needed some answers, and he knew only one person who could help him find them, his father, White Eagle, the chief of the Hopi Tribe.
*****
Through high-powered binoculars, Madison surveyed the golden eagle’s nest across Dry Creek canyon, high on the cliff of a small mesa. Her strategic position afforded her an unobstructed view, and she was too far up for the tribesmen to see her from the riverbed. According to the assignment sheet, the race to capture the eaglets would take place here, this morning.
It seemed the information had panned out. A small crowd in vivid colors, some with feathered wings attached to their arms, like eagles, gathered at the foot of the cliff. Madison heard the drums and the chanting on the warm breeze, then the costumed dancers spread their wings and stomped the ground to the rhythm of the drums, moving counterclockwise in a circle.
The dizzying height of the cliff would scare the toughest climbers. Still, several young men, faces streaked with red paint, wearing only a breechcloth and moccasins, prepared to scale the wall.
With a length of rope hanging from their waists, they started up the nearly vertical slope, hand over hand, in a race to the top. Madison had to admire their courage. She would never try the ascent without a harness, serious hardware, and secure lifelines.
Climbing with great agility, the young braves didn’t use their rope, as if saving it for a special purpose. Madison adjusted her high-power lens and focused on their slow ascent. But something pulled her attention down below. What was it?
Among the watchers at the bottom of the cliff, she identified Chief White Eagle, recognizable in his full regalia and colorful headdress. Then her heart skipped a beat. The tall man standing next to the chief looked like...
Kal? She’d recognize his stance and muscular shoulders anywhere. She focused the lens on his face. It was really him, wearing black leather, in deep conversation with White Eagle. Madison felt suddenly light and bubbly inside, happy to see his face. But what was Kal doing here?
Chapter Four
Moving his arm tentatively, Kaletaka noticed with satisfaction that the pain had gone. He’d never had a wound heal so fast. Standing apart with his father, White Eagle, he gazed up the rock face at the climbers, already one third of the way to the top. The drummers slowed the beat.
"It seems like yesterday when I raced up such a cliff to another eagle’s nest." The happy memory made him smile inside. Times had changed.
White Eagle’s wise face relaxed. "It feels good to see you, son, as always. But I sense a serious purpose to your visit."
Kaletaka cleared his throat. What he had to ask didn’t make sense, yet White Eagle might understand. "Something strange is happening to me, Father. I feel... different lately."
"Ah!" The older man raised one eyebrow under the yellow and red feather headdress and turned to Kaletaka with candid curiosity. "You felt it, too?"
"Felt what?" Knowing he wasn’t the only one experiencing supernatural forces at work reassured him somewhat.
White Eagle nodded gravely, the headdress bobbing with the movement. "Evil is tugging on the threads of Spiderwoman’s web. We are all brothers and sisters, people and animals alike, all linked by her invisible thread and I felt the tremors of ensnared evil struggling to get free."
The carnage of his neighbors’ pets and his own blank memories made Kaletaka hang his head in shame. "I fear I might have brought that evil upon us."
White Eagle pressed his lips together and shook his head slowly. "You cannot have."
"Why not?" How could his father be so sure? Kaletaka dared to hope.
"Because you are Kaletaka," White Eagle said with finality. "Guardian of the People."
"It’s only a name." Kaletaka had never
understood all the fuss.
"For some." White Eagle looked suddenly wizened. "But Hopi names have great meaning. And your mother, Little Star, was very special."
"Why?" Kaletaka scarcely remembered her, only a fleeting feeling. She died so young, and White Eagle never talked about her. According to the few pictures, she was pretty. "What was so special about my mother?"
"She was a starchild."
"Starchild?" Disbelief colored his voice, but could this legend be true? Kaletaka himself had felt the pull of strange forces. In order to find answers, he must keep an open mind. "You mean to say she wasn’t human?"
"Only half human." A rare tear rolled down White Eagle’s cheek. "She was the joy of my youth. Quite a prize, even for the son of a Chief." His gaze returned to the climbers then traveled up the cliff to the pure blue sky. "The Great Coyote himself, Creator of the Universe, was Little Star’s father."
Images from cliff paintings flashed in Kaletaka’s mind. Alien craft from the stars, and ancient gods mating with human females. Great Coyote, have mercy. "You mean to say my mother was half alien?"
"Do not reject your ancestry, my son. Deep inside, you know the truth."
The truth sounded so strange. Kaletaka would have to make a leap of faith. "Here, with the drums and the flute, your words make sense. But out in the real world..."
"This is the real world, son." White Eagle flashed a stern, accusing stare. "Clever is Man, he did not see his actions set nature in motion toward disastrous consequences."
Kaletaka smiled, recognizing a quote from an ancient chief of the Bear Clan. "Even if what you say is true, how can I protect anyone?"
"You just can." White Eagle stared at the cliff as if reading it. "A feather fell from the sky. The eagle saw it. The deer heard it. The bear smelled it. The coyote did all three."
The realization suddenly dawned on Kaletaka. His newfound strength, acute senses, quick reflexes, healing ability, power of transformation. Could it all be part of the Great Coyote’s plan? "But why would my abilities only manifest now?"
White Eagle stared into nothingness, as if pulling answers from another dimension. "A great evil has awakened where you live, and when this happens, the Guardian of the People comes into his powers as well. Your time has come. Only you can extinguish that evil."
"Only me?" Kaletaka found the responsibility overwhelming. "Why me? What about my brothers?"
"They had a different mother. Only you were born of a starchild."
"That would make me what exactly? Three quarters human and one quarter coyote?"
"You are what you are."
Visions of his sculptures exploded through Kaletaka’s mind. The Great Coyote. The gods and goddesses of various mythologies. Could his fascination spring from the unconscious knowledge of his own otherworldly origins?
Father and son remained silent for a while. Kaletaka watched the climbers progressing up the cliff. The drums beat at the rhythm of a living heart, and the chant resumed in the rising heat as the sun arched toward its zenith.
"Does this mean I have inherited the traits of the Great Coyote, good and bad?" This would take some getting used to.
"I hope not. For your sake. Great Coyote is a trickster."
"Maybe it won’t be so bad. My enhanced sensory abilities make life more exciting." After all, they had led Madison to him. But in the process, he’d also become a monster, and a target for her rifle.
"It won’t be easy to fight evil." White Eagle looked suddenly sad. "You will face horrible dangers, and you may have to sacrifice much."
Would Kaletaka have to sacrifice his art? Madison? His own life? He shuddered at the thought. He fully enjoyed life, art, music. And he’d even fantasized about a future with a woman of his own... Madison.
He flinched at the thought that Madison might become involved. Her insatiable curiosity could place her in grave danger. Kaletaka would have to keep her away. He could not stand it if any harm came to her because of him.
Then another realization struck him. "What if evil wins?"
White Eagle closed his eyes, and his shoulders slumped. "You cannot fail, my son. The consequences would be disastrous."
"But I’m not ready!" How did one prepare to battle evil? He knew so little about his abilities, had no clue how to transform at will.
"You must be ready. Trust the truth, and the powers you inherited."
"Right. Easy for you to say." Kaletaka took a deep, calming breath and released it slowly. Could he let his spirit float upon the hypnotic chant of the drummers? Extending his senses, he found reassurance in the abundance of life force around him. If he could tap into the strength of Mother Earth and Grandfather Sky, maybe he could overcome that evil. And if he succeeded, Madison could be his reward.
As his mind soared high above the mesa, he felt someone watching intently. The watcher stood on the ridge across Dry Creek canyon. Friend or foe? Getting shot had left him paranoid, and evil could lurk anywhere.
Then the scent of gardenia after the rain reached his nostrils and Kaletaka knew. Madison.
*****
Through her lens, Madison watched as Kal left White Eagle at the bottom of the mesa and disappeared behind a boulder. So, this was the business he had to attend. Not that Madison minded. She’d rather see him here than imagine him in town with another woman. She winced as her foot sent a rock cascading over the edge of the canyon. She chuckled nervously. When did she get so jumpy? And when did she stake a claim on Kal? He was just an assignment. At least, he should be.
But this assignment quickly turned into an intriguing puzzle. She wished she could join the tribe and be with Kal, but her orders forbade it. Madison refocused her attention on the young men scaling the cliff. Each near-missed foothold, each loss of balance, each dangerous leaning or overextended reach made her heart jump. Why in heaven would any young man risk his life in such a manner?
When the climbers finally reached the top, Madison understood the function of the ropes hanging from their belts. In the nest, half a dozen eaglets, not yet capable of flight, screamed in distress, and the parents circling in the sky responded with cries of outrage. Madison could feel their pain. How heartless.
Ignoring the eagles’ protests, the young men chose the two largest eaglets in the nest. They took great care as they harnessed their legs and tied their bodies with ropes. Then they lowered the birds, upside down, like sacks of grain, slowly down the cliff.
At the bottom of the mesa, the rest of the tribe watched, dancing and chanting, waiting for the eaglets to reach the canyon floor.
Sacrificial birds. How many crimes were committed in the name of religion each day on this planet? The wildlife scientist in Madison balked at such barbarism. She loved animals, and her mission was to protect wildlife, not watch them being pillaged, driven to extinction.
"What are you doing here?" The familiar baritone enveloped her from behind.
Startled, Madison lowered her binoculars and spun. Her heart leapt at the sight of Kal. He had appeared out of nowhere, without a sound, like a cat in the night. Yet, she was happy to see him. She wondered at his agility for climbing her cliff so fast. "How did you know I was here?"
Kal laughed and shook his head. "If I told you, you wouldn’t believe it." He sobered. "But no white man should witness our secret ceremonies."
"I’m a woman, not a man. And this is not the Reservation but government land." Madison wished she could stop grinning like an idiot.
"Good point." He looked suddenly grave, as if scolding a child. "Why are you spying on the tribe?"
"Just following orders." Madison kept her tone light but resented his accusation. She had nothing to feel guilty about. "Making sure White Eagle doesn’t abuse his privileges. These birds are protected here."
"Enforcing the white man’s law." Kal’s gaze fell on her sidearm, and his eyes hooded in disapproval. "With guns."
He’d mentioned disliking guns before. "Why don’t you like law enforcement? Bad experience?"
"How so?" Was it a compliment or an insult? Madison’s brother thought she wasn’t good enough to be a real cop.
"Well, you are the wildest and most beautiful officer I ever met." He dropped and sat cross-legged on a patch of grass, picked a long stem weed and played with it.
Smiling at his obvious flirtation, Madison sat next to him, facing the abyss. Why was he running hot and cold all the time? He confused her and she never knew what to expect. Better stay on track, focus on the job. "What’s going to happen to the eaglets?"
He sighed, as if answering constituted a burden. "At first, the birds will be treated like children, given toys, well fed, entertained. They will stand watch, tethered to the roof of the pueblo, until the harvest ritual in July."
"Then what?" Madison enjoyed the music of his voice.
Kal crushed the plant between his palms. "They will be smothered in maize. A necessary sacrifice. They won’t suffer at all."
"But why? It seems so cruel."
He blew the wilted plant off the canyon’s edge. A rising current picked it up and the grass rose on the breeze. "So, the innocent eaglets can join the Great Spirit as messengers of the tribe, and testify that the Hopi live in harmony with nature, and still follow the ancient laws they received from the gods."
"I don’t call that harmony if you have to kill. And I’m sure the eaglets, given a choice, wouldn’t agree either." She couldn’t help the disapproval in her tone.
"Maybe not." Kal straightened a black-leather-clad leg. "But now more than ever it’s important to respect the traditions."
"Why?" Madison found it rather strange that a peaceful people perpetrated such cruel traditions.
Kal glanced up at her and hesitated. "There is evil among us. The world is off balance."
Madison chuckled. "Tell me something I don’t know."
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