Jimmy stopped in his tracks. Ramalda carefully wiped the soapy water from her hands with a dish towel. She walked to the pantry wearing a stern expression, disappeared for a moment and then reappeared holding his bucket of goat’s milk. “You have your own chores to do,” she said, handing him the bucket. “Este no es mi trabajo. This is not my job.”
Jimmy’s shoulders slumped. Clearly, he would rather go up to Piney Creek with the other boys and start the fire for the sweat lodge. He looked at the milk in the pail, then raised pleading eyes to Dani. “Can you show me how to make goat cheese?”
* * *
WHEN THE BOYS made their exit to light the lodge fire at Piney Creek, Joe pushed out of his chair and carried his dishes to the sink. Ramalda was talking to Jimmy in a stern tone of voice, a scramble of English and Spanish, something about making his own goat cheese. To his credit, Jimmy seemed to be accepting his responsibility.
Joe brushed up against Dani’s shoulder as he slid his plate into the hot soapy water and washed it. “You coming to my lecture tonight?” he asked, leaning closer and drawing the sweet scent of her hair, the warmth of her skin, the strength of her spirit into his soul. She was smart and beautiful and sexy, and being near her made him forget all about his five torturous years with Alison. But for some reason Dani always seemed peeved at him.
“You inviting me?” she said, concentrating on the plate she was drying.
“I think you might find it educational.”
“Really,” she commented with complete indifference, adding the dried plate to the stack on the counter and taking the washed and rinsed plate he handed her. “You must think very highly of yourself, Detective.”
“I do,” he said. Her scent was like the elixir of life. “And I also think very highly of you, Counselor.”
“Really,” she repeated in that same disinterested voice. She added another dried dessert plate to the stack.
“I do.”
“Enough to stick around for a while?”
“Maybe.”
She glanced up at him, eyebrows raised. “Really?”
“I’d also like to see Shep’s place and go to that cattlemen’s meeting with you.”
“Well, if that’s the case, maybe I’ll think about coming to your lecture, Detective.”
“Good. And by the way? I’m not a detective.”
“Really? What are you, then?”
“Maybe you’ll find out at my lecture,” he said. “Pony said to head to the school around seven. See you there?”
“Maybe,” Dani said, but he saw her lips curve in a smile before she turned away.
* * *
DANI BARELY HAD time to help Jimmy with the chèvre making before it was time to attend Joe’s lecture. “Making soft goat cheese is easy, Jimmy,” she said as they waited for the goat’s milk to heat up in the stainless-steel pot. “We get it to a temperature where bubbles form around the edges, and after it cools to about eighty-five degrees, we’ll add the curdling agent. In our case, it’s going to be lemon juice since we don’t have any rennet. That’s something we’ll need to order. But Ramalda’s lemon juice will work. After we heat the milk and add the lemon juice, we’ll let the mixture curdle, then strain it through a cheesecloth to separate the whey from the curds. Then we’ll salt the curds and refrigerate them. The chèvre can be seasoned to taste with herbs and will keep for about ten days in the refrigerator. Easy, huh?”
“Will it be ready tonight?”
“Nope. Making chèvre is a multistage process. We’ll let it cool and add the lemon juice, then leave it at room temperature overnight to curdle. We’ll strain it in the morning and refrigerate it in the afternoon. Tomorrow night you can serve it up with supper and I bet everyone will love it. See the bubbles forming around the edges of the pot? It’s hot enough now.” Dani turned off the gas burner and shifted the pot onto the countertop. She glanced at the clock. “It’s six thirty. At seven, add the lemon juice and then head over to the lecture. Think you can manage that?”
Jimmy nodded. “Good,” Dani said. “I have to feed my dogs and get cleaned up.”
Dani fed Remington and Winchester in the back of the Subaru, then left the hatch open so they could come and go as they pleased while she went inside to wash up. The room Pony had showed her was over the kitchen and had a dormer window that looked east, toward the mountains. There was a quilt-covered double bed tucked under the eaves, a small bureau with a mirror atop it and a desk and chair. A braided rug covered the pine plank floor. Cabbage rose wallpaper adorned the walls and plain muslin curtains hung at the open window and blew gently in the breeze. It was small, simple and very homey. Next door was a bathroom, and she carried her kit in to wash up.
It felt like ages since she’d looked in a mirror. She studied her reflection for a few moments, then pulled out her ponytail, shook her hair loose and sighed. It was hopeless. She was a mess. She needed a long hot shower but there was no time. No time to fancy herself up and no fancy clothes in her pack. She’d packed for a weekend camping trip, not a hot date, and Molly’s clothes just didn’t cut the mustard. Too bad her house in Helena was so far away. She wished she had some basic makeup in her kit instead of just a toothbrush and toothpaste, hairbrush and sunblock. She wanted to make herself look pretty for Joe.
He’d said he might be staying, and she was hoping he did. Even if he was an insensitive jerk.
CHAPTER TWELVE
BY THE TIME she entered the schoolhouse, it was ten past seven and Joe’s lecture was already in progress. The school building had an open classroom and bathroom on the first floor and upstairs there were three bedrooms, with two bunks in each, and a bathroom. The open-concept school had different sections. The classroom section had ten desks and chairs arranged toward a blackboard and looked quite conventional, with a desk for the teacher up front and a podium in one corner. There was a lab section, with microscopes and high worktables. There was another section with woven blankets on the floor and pillows, where the kids could lounge and talk, an area with computers set up like a small office and finally a small kitchen with a propane stove and refrigerator. Joe was in the standard classroom area, standing behind the podium, wearing his five o’clock shadow, flannel shirt and blue jeans like a genuine cowboy. He was handsome as hell and just looking at him caused her heart to dance that fluttering jig.
He stopped talking when she entered and waited until she sat at a desk in the very back and folded her hands. The boys sat in front of her, along with Pony and Caleb.
Joe grinned. “I’m glad to see Counselor Jardine has decided to join us.”
“I wouldn’t have missed it,” Dani said.
“The boys were telling me they enjoyed the lecture about your legal career very much. They said you volunteer your time helping out at the school, as well as the Wild Horse Foundation.”
“Molly and Steven got me involved in this school, and I fund-raise and write legal briefs for the Wild Horse Foundation,” Dani said. “I also help make goat cheese, which is why I’m late.”
There was a ripple of laughter and Jimmy caught her eye and grinned.
“I was just telling the boys how growing up in a big low-income family influenced my career choices. There wasn’t any money for college,” Joe continued. “If we kids wanted to continue our education, our parents encouraged us, but we were on our own as far as paying for it. My sister Molly’s the smart one—she got a full scholarship and did us all proud. She was the first Ferguson to graduate from college. My grades weren’t that great, so I opted to go to college via the armed forces, and here’s how that works. First you have to enlist in a branch of the armed forces. In my case it was the army. The post-9/11 GI Bill is fairly generous. You put in your time and you get your four-year degree paid for by the military, including living expenses and books. Sounds great, right?
“
Let me state right here and now, this is a tough way to get your education. You’re signing away eight years of your life to the military, to being a soldier who takes orders and has little freedom. But for me, it worked. I was a street kid growing up in Roxbury, on the outskirts of Boston, and I was in trouble a lot. I was a fighter, and I hated school. My father told me once that he was sure I was on the path to a full-time prison career. My dad’s a cop, like his father was. So’s my uncle, his brother. Law enforcement runs in the family. Anyhow, I enlisted to avoid a life in prison and I served my time, including multiple deployments in the Middle East. If this is the route you choose, be prepared for a tough road. And never forget, you can be killed in active duty. There’s a chance you might come back home in a body bag. Something to think about.
“After the army, I got my bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, did a short stint with the Boston Police Department, then transferred to the Drug Enforcement Agency. The DEA’s a federal agency and my background growing up in a big, bad part of the city and my years in the military worked out well for me. I graduated from their program as a Narcotics Bureau special agent, and I’ve worked on the Providence Division’s organized crime drug enforcement task force for five years now. We like to think we’re making a difference, keeping drugs off the street, but sometimes it seems like nothing ever changes. And sometimes things can go wrong. You have a question, Jimmy?” he said when Jimmy’s hand shot up.
“Were you in a shootout with the Mafia?”
Joe hesitated. “I walked right into a bad situation without waiting for backup. By the way? Never do that. It’s a stupid thing to do. Always play it safe.”
“Did you kill any of them?”
Joe leaned his forearms on the podium and thought for a moment. “The court hearing’s coming right up and I’m not allowed to discuss the case, so I can’t answer specific questions. All I can tell you is, if I had it to do over again, I would have waited for backup, even if it meant letting the big cheese get away.”
“Did you catch the big cheese?” one of the other boys asked.
“Nope. He escaped, and the only good thing that came of that whole fiasco is that I got to take some vacation time, which is why I’m here.”
“What’s the biggest arrest you ever made?”
He pondered the question for a moment. “Last year there was a collaborative dragnet utilizing the state police, Providence police, the DEA and the FBI. We arrested thirty-five drug dealers and confiscated fifteen weapons. That was a good bust, but I was only one small part of the team. Every day isn’t all excitement and drama, but the job has its moments of glory. It’s never finished, though. Drugs are a huge problem and probably always will be.”
“Do you like being a special agent?” Roon asked this question.
“I was a regular cop for a while, wore the uniform and badge and drove a cruiser around. Arrested people for all sorts of things and broke up domestic arguments and street gang fights. That’s what a cop’s life is. A lot of the time we’re dealing with the worst side of humanity and tragedies like traffic fatalities and house fires. Cops get burned out. So, as far as careers go? If I had a kid, I don’t know if I’d suggest a career in law enforcement. I can’t stand up here and tell you, yeah, law enforcement is the way to go, or even that the military is a good choice. It might not be for you. You’re good with animals, Roon. I think you already know your path. Do any of you know what you might like to study in college?”
“Making goat cheese.” One of the boys snickered, and Jimmy leaned over and cuffed him.
“Basket weaving,” another said, and all the boys laughed.
“Do you have tribal police on the Crow reservation?” Joe asked.
“The Bureau of Indian Affairs oversees the police force on the reservation,” Pony responded. “There are about twelve officers employed, about half of them native Crow. The police chief is a white man. He is doing a good job, and he has brought in more officers to increase patrol areas as well as school resource officers for Lodge Grass High School. Things are getting better.”
“Have any of you boys had any experience with the tribal police?”
The boys shifted in their seats, so Pony spoke up. “They have all been in trouble, and were all kicked out of school, which is why they are here. People called them the Rez Dogs.”
Joe nodded. “Well, you Rez Dogs got real lucky. You’ve been given a second chance to get your high school diploma, and I can’t think of a better place to be doing that than on this ranch.”
“What’s it like, working undercover?”
“Lonely. You can’t live in your hometown because everybody knows you. It would be a really bad thing if you were in the middle of a big drug transaction under the fake name of Eddie Bender and your old girlfriend walks up to the bar and says, ‘Hi, Joe! Good to see you. It’s been quite a few years since high school, hasn’t it?’ So the DEA assigns you to a city where it’s unlikely anyone will recognize you. In my case I moved from Boston to Providence. Not a real long ways, but far enough to make me reasonably anonymous. You almost have to give up your old identity and start over, and that makes it tough, especially if you happen to be married. But that’s life. You make decisions, you live with them.”
“Are you going back?” Jimmy asked.
“I have to go back for the hearing at the end of the month, so yes, I’ll be heading back to Providence. I can’t stay on vacation forever, much as I like it here.”
“What about the wild horses?” Roon asked. “Are you going to help find out who shot them before you go?”
“I’ll do my best,” Joe said.
“Badger and Charlie said some mobsters might come looking for you here,” Jimmy said. “What do you want us to do if we see anybody suspicious?”
Dani met Joe’s eyes while Caleb flinched under Pony’s gaze. “My fault,” he said, contrite. “I told Badger and Charlie to keep their eyes open because someone had made a death threat against you,” he said to Joe. “I guess probably the entire county knows about it by now.”
“This is not a bad thing,” Pony said. “We are a close-knit community. Outsiders cannot hide. That is why you are safer here than anywhere. The boys have eyes like the eagles, very sharp—they see all things. And they will not talk about this to their friends, will they?” Pony turned to look pointedly at the boys. They all shook their heads.
“Badger and Charlie already told us not to,” Jimmy said. “They made us swear.”
“You don’t have anything to worry about. Nobody’s going to come after me here,” Joe said. “I’m not worth the effort.”
“But in case they do,” Caleb said, “if you boys see or hear anything out of the ordinary, let one of us know right away, and don’t take any chances with folks you don’t know.”
“Yeah, don’t take rides with strangers and don’t eat the candy,” Jimmy jeered. “Don’t worry, nobody’s gonna take us by surprise.”
“Good,” Pony said. “Now you boys go up to Piney Creek and put more wood on the fire. Make sure those stones are good and hot. Roon, you are doing the ceremony?”
Roon nodded. “Steven taught me, and Luther Makes Elk taught Steven. Jimmy and Martin said they would join us, so there’ll be four in the sweat lodge.”
“Good,” Pony repeated. “I will bring Joe up after I explain the ceremony to him. And, Roon? This will not be a ceremony like Luther Makes Elk does. This will be a healing sweat.”
Roon nodded. The boys rose and filed out of the schoolhouse as Joe sat down in the desk next to Dani. “How’d I do?” he said.
“You did very well, Special Agent Ferguson,” Dani replied. “Thank you for not showing them your bullet holes.”
“That’s what they really wanted to see,” Joe said with a grin. “Blood and guts.”
“Typical boys,” Caleb said. “Blood and guts wer
e huge with me at that age.”
“Thank you for sharing your world with them,” Pony said. “The more they hear of other lives, the more they will think about their own. There is not much of a future for reservation kids. They have lost their culture, their connection to the past. Many drop out of school and end up living off government money, spending it on alcohol and drugs. They must discover other paths, and one of the best ways is to learn a skill or to go to college and get a degree. But that is expensive. Your words will give them something to think about.”
“I have a feeling the talk is just beginning,” Caleb said. “That’s what part of the sweat lodge ceremony is, as I recall. Sweating is only a part of it. Talking is the other.”
“Is this sweat lodge ceremony something that women can do?” Dani asked.
“Yes, although traditionally, women and men have separate sweat lodges,” Pony said. “It would be all right if you wanted to attend tonight. This is a medicinal sweat to strengthen Joe’s blood.”
“I have to admit, a sauna would feel pretty good right now,” Joe said.
“A sweat lodge is nothing like a sauna,” Caleb cautioned. “I didn’t have a vision like some people do, but when I was in that lodge I was worried about permanent brain damage. It gets really hot.”
“Caleb. It does no good to say such things,” Pony admonished.
“How about it, Dani?” Joe asked. “You in?”
“Well, it’s like Badger said tonight,” Dani replied, “‘You can just about always stand more’n you think you can.’ So yes, count me in. I could use a good vision right about now. Maybe I’ll find out who shot those horses.”
* * *
MOLLY POKED AT her untouched supper until Steven pushed out of his chair, picked up her plate and carried it into the kitchen. He returned with a banana and laid it in front of her, along with a knife and a cereal bowl. “You must eat something,” he said. “You like bananas in milk.”
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