Bad Medicine

by Aimée

  As they left Big Ed’s office, Justine remained quiet.

  “What’s on your mind?” Ella asked.

  “I’d like to do more background research on Raymond Nez,” Justine said.

  “All right, but stay focused and work fast. Big Ed will be on our backs in a hurry if we don’t crack these cases soon.”

  * * *

  Ella drove to the hospital. The chill spreading through her had nothing to do with the dry breeze that poured in through the window. She couldn’t shake the feeling that events were hurtling her toward an explosive confrontation, but against who or what? The Fierce Ones were no friends of hers, neither was The Brotherhood. Then there was the senator. Her enemies were numerous and powerful.

  Ella parked near the side of the hospital and walked in through the double doors. After asking directions, she found Dr. Natoni. To her surprise, two of the three medical teams assigned to the crisis had already left. Only one remained, having been organized at the last minute.

  “How can I help you, Doctor?” Ella asked.

  “I’m not sure you can,” Dr. Natoni said. “But if you could persuade your brother to encourage families to come to the Chapter Houses, that would help.”

  “I’ll tell him what’s going on, but it’s up to him to decide what kind of help, if any, he’s willing to give. Can the department help you somehow?”

  “You can have units go out and spread the word about how dangerous the disease is if left untreated. Encourage everyone to come and be screened for symptoms, and to get their shots. And have all your officers stop by here for immediate vaccinations.”

  “Consider it done.”

  “You might also want to catch Dr. Roanhorse before she leaves. She’ll be heading the last team. Share any insights you might have on the traditionalists with her. I’d be willing to bet it’s been a while since she dealt with any of them.”

  “I’ll do that, but if you know that about her why did you choose her to go out into the field?”

  He exhaled softly. “We’re short of doctors and we need to keep our trauma team and some GPs here. What I’m counting on is that people further away from Shiprock won’t know anything about her duties as M.E.”

  Ella went downstairs quickly. Carolyn placed the telephone receiver down and looked up as Ella came into her office.

  “I don’t have time to chat,” Carolyn said, “but I’ll vaccinate you now. Dr. Natoni told me to catch you before you leave. We’ve got the supplies already loaded into the medical van and we’ll be ready to roll in a few minutes.”

  Ella looked at her friend then began to roll up her sleeve. As the only pathologist the tribe had, Carolyn’s workload had always been more than sufficient to keep her at the hospital long hours. This extra duty was not going to make things easier for her. She only wished they’d heard something on the tissue samples that had gone to Santa Fe. Carolyn needed to be vindicated, and the sooner the better. “How on earth are you going to tackle this extra responsibility? There are only twenty-four hours in a day.”

  “It wasn’t my idea. I haven’t practiced field medicine in years. I was recruited.” She gave Ella a relatively painless injection, then lowered her voice. “If you want my opinion, I think the senator is behind this. There are other doctors who could have gone out into the outlying regions.”

  “Why would the senator be involved? That doesn’t make any sense. He wants to prove you’re a liar, not make you seem indispensable.” Ella took the plastic bandage Carolyn handed her and placed it over the puncture mark.

  “It’s a strategy designed to overwork me. I’ll soon be exhausted and start making mistakes. Then he’ll either push for my resignation, or have me fired.”

  Howard Lee came into the room. “We need more syringes, Doctor, but our supply is almost depleted.”

  “Borrow some from any department in this hospital that has them. This emergency takes priority.”

  Carolyn shifted her attention back to Ella. “I have another cross to bear. I’ve got to take Howard with me as part of my team, and that promises to be a real pain in the neck. I gave him a very poor grade on his lab work and he’s not at all happy. He’s getting his revenge by making me spell everything out when I give him a job to do.”

  “Howard you can handle. But have you considered how to handle the traditionalists you’re going to be dealing with? They don’t trust modern medicine.” Ella remembered to bring up Dr. Natoni’s concerns.

  “There’s always someone who is suspicious of doctors and nurses, and our people are no different than them. I did my residency in Gallup, and got used to taking it slow with people. I found that a smile and a good simple explanation are your best allies in dealing with skeptics. I’ll manage,” Carolyn assured her.

  “So do you suppose going into the field will attract you to working in general practice again?” Ella asked.

  Carolyn considered it, then shook her head. “I doubt it. I used to love dealing with patients one-to-one. But that’s no longer my job, and it’s not where I’m needed the most. I can’t go back to it so I don’t relish the thought of reminding myself of things that might have been.” She picked up her medical bag. “Time for me to go.”

  Ella watched Carolyn leave, then walked back to the stairwell. They had both paid a high price for their choice to serve the tribe, a price reflected in the solitary lives they now led.

  As Ella walked to the Jeep bits and pieces of a conversation between two women on the hospital staff reached her. They were discussing their plans for the weekend. As she listened it became clear that they lived for their days off. Their work was simply something that had to be endured.

  Ella took a deep breath. No, she had made the right decision. To find little or no satisfaction in work, the activity that took most of an adult’s time, would weigh anyone down. Better to have a job that one loved than the kind that just marked time and an endless procession of days.

  As she approached the Jeep, she saw a piece of paper stuck beneath the wiper blade. Ella fought a feeling of suffocation, guessing what it was before reading it. She opened the folded note with trembling hands, holding it by the edges in hopes of obtaining a fingerprint later. As she’d sensed, it was from the person calling himself Randall Clah.

  “This sickness among our people is a demonstration. It’s proof that my reach extends beyond the grave. More will die so that you may see clearly that the power of a skinwalker is greater than anything you imagined. Our battle continues, but this time, neither you nor your family will escape.”

  Ella began to tremble violently. She slipped behind the wheel, needing to shield herself from any curious onlookers. She placed the note in an evidence pouch and willed herself to calm down. Her father-in-law was dead. The evidence had been incontrovertible. She would not allow this crude attempt to unnerve her to succeed.

  Ella drove back to the station. The wind had come up, stirring the dry sand and blasting it against her vehicle. The parched smell of the desert filled her nostrils. It was the smell of hopelessness. Without rain, more sorrow would visit the Navajo Nation.

  Ella tried to block out the heaviness that settled over her. It was like having a pillow pressed to her face. She was suddenly certain things were only going to get worse.

  She shook her head and pressed down harder on the accelerator. Speed gave the illusion of control, and as she hurtled down the highway, Ella found herself hoping that, for once, her instincts would be wrong.

  * * *

  After advising Big Ed of the plan to vaccinate all the police officers and hours of reading and writing reports, Ella suddenly remembered “Randall’s” note. Clearing her desk, Ella locked her office and went to her lab to find Justine. It was disturbing to think of her young assistant tackling a hard case like Raymond Nez. She hoped Justine would learn what was needed without getting hurt in the process.

  “How’s it going?” Ella inquired, as Justine glanced up from her desk.

  “Still trying to sort through the
background reports we have on the employees at the mine. I split them with Neskahi, but it’s going slow.”

  Ella handed her the pouch with the letter. “Check this for fingerprints. I would have brought it by earlier, but I got sidetracked.”

  Justine used two large forceps to open the note, spreading it out expertly on the desk. “It looks like the same kind of paper that he used before. That won’t help us much. It’s a cheap brand you can find anywhere. The writing in the other was done with a forty-nine-cent ballpoint. Not much help there either.”

  “Maybe this time he will have left us an inadvertent print.”

  “If it’s there, I’ll find it.”

  Ella leaned back against the wall and rubbed her eyes. “You know what? I’m going to call it a day. I’m just too tired to think straight.”

  “I’ll check out this note, then call you at home later?”

  “I’d appreciate it. Have you heard anything new from Sergeant Neskahi?”

  “No. I know he went out an hour or so ago to talk to his cousin. That’s the last time I saw him. He may be tracking some new lead by now. He’s not at home because I tried calling there awhile ago to ask him a question about a file.”

  Ella nodded, and had just started down the corridor when Justine hobbled out and called her back. “Just a thought,” she said. “This note threatens your family. Do you want to assign someone to guard them? There are half a dozen officers who’d volunteer their time.”

  Ella considered the possibility then shook her head. “Not yet. I’ll warn them myself. The danger the writer of that note refers to is more esoteric, not the type of thing that a cop can guard them against. If things change, though, I’ll get Big Ed’s okay and have a guard posted near my home, and my brother’s.”

  “What about Wilson Joe? He’s almost like family to you and helped you fight the skinwalkers before.”

  “I’ll talk to him, you’re right. He should be told about this.”

  Ella left the station, the uneasiness plaguing her increasing. Something was urging her to get home quickly and it wasn’t just her weariness. The feeling grew so strong that she called home. Her mother picked up the phone.

  “Is everything all right?” she asked.

  “It’s quiet here. Are you expecting trouble?”

  “No, not really. It’s just this feeling.… Are you alone?”

  “Your brother will be stopping by shortly, and Wilson Joe, too.”

  “Why is my friend visiting so unexpectedly? He’s welcome, of course, but he hasn’t done that in a long time.”

  “His aunt is not feeling well. He wants to pick up some herbs from your brother, and our home was the middle ground for both of them.”

  “Not feeling well?” Ella’s skin crawled and prickled as if she were being attacked by wasps. Wilson’s aunt lived in the section of the Rez where the meningitis outbreak had taken place. “What’s wrong?”

  “Female trouble.”

  “Are they sure?” Ella’s hand gripped the steering wheel hard.

  “‘They’?” Rose asked, surprised. “Our friend’s aunt is a traditionalist. There is no ‘they.’ But your brother has helped her before. Menopause is difficult for some women, Daughter. She has periods of sadness, and aches and pains she needs help with. But why are you so worried?”

  “There’s been an outbreak of meningitis between here and Gallup.” Silence was her only answer. “Did you hear me?”

  “I have to go. Two is barking at something, and he’s not the kind of dog who barks without a reason.”

  “Don’t go outside! Lock yourself in the house and wait for me.” Two wouldn’t have barked at Clifford or Wilson Joe. Ella switched on her sirens and called for backup. She’d been wrong not to assign her mother a bodyguard. Now all she could do was hope it wouldn’t become a mistake she’d regret for the rest of her life.

  ELEVEN

  Ella pulled up in front of her house, her heart drumming against her sides as she saw the kitchen light on and the front door leading into the darkened living room ajar. Ella cursed the blackness, and looked around quickly for signs of her mother. Finding none, she took a flashlight from the glove compartment, left the vehicle, and began to search the area.

  Ella heard a soft whimper and felt her blood turn to ice. “Mom?” Pistol in hand, she walked in the direction of the sound.

  “I’m here, with Two,” Rose answered, her voice trembling.

  Ella rushed forward. Seeing her mother unhurt, relief spilled over her. “Why did you leave the house? I told you to stay inside!”

  “I saw an intruder standing by the twin pines. Two went after him and ran whoever it was off. But when the dog came back he was injured. I’ve given him something for the pain, but we need to move him inside.”

  Ella knelt next to the big, scruffy-looking mutt. Whatever herb her mother had used seemed to be slowly easing the animal’s discomfort. His breathing was becoming less labored. “I’ll get something to slide him onto then we’ll carry him inside. He’s just too big to carry and, besides, it might further injure him if he’s broken a rib.”

  Ella returned quickly with a piece of three-quarter-inch plywood leftover from the time they’d added a pantry.

  Ella looked down at the dog and saw he was sound asleep. Working together, they scooted him gently onto the flat surface, then maneuvered him inside.

  They’d just set him down on the kitchen floor when Clifford walked in.

  Rose looked at her eldest child. “The animal needs your medicine. I’ve done what I can for the pain.”

  Ella forced herself not to suggest that what the dog needed was a vet. She’d once seen her brother heal his own nearly fatal bullet wound almost overnight.

  Clifford knelt beside the animal, placing his hand gently on Two’s ribcage. “Leave us.”

  Ella heard her brother begin a song as she walked with her mother back to the living room. Ella went to close the door before turning on the room lights. “You scared me half to death, Mom. Don’t ever go outside when you see an intruder.”

  Just then, red and blue lights from an arriving patrol unit flashed through the window, making a pattern on the wall. Ella went outside and saw Phillip Cloud, the son of a longtime friend of her family’s, stepping out of his unit, shotgun in hand. “What’s the situation?”

  “Everything seems to be clear now, but I’m going to need to you to keep watch in this area tonight. I’ve received a threat against my family, and my mother discovered an intruder over by those pines about thirty minutes ago. I’ll be here until morning, but I can use an extra pair of eyes.”

  “You’ve got it. I’m patrolling this sector on my shift anyway so I’ll make sure it’s covered. I can also call my brother, Michael. He’s got the graveyard shift. He won’t mind driving by your mother’s place and checking on the hataalii from time to time.”

  Ella nodded. “Thanks, I’d appreciate that.”

  When Ella walked back inside the house, Two had already stood up and walked over to his water dish. His middle had been bandaged and he was moving stiffly, but he was moving.

  “His ribs are bruised but nothing’s broken. He’ll need a few days to recover but he’ll be fine. What happened?” Clifford asked.

  Ella looked at the dog and felt a twinge of jealousy for her brother’s knowledge and power. Quickly focusing on what she did best, she told him about the notes from Randall she’d received. Her brother’s eyes narrowed and his expression became guarded.

  “I’m going for a walk over by the pines to take a look around,” she said.

  “Be careful,” he warned. “If our old enemies are back again, this is just the beginning.”

  The words were quiet and spoken without a trace of emotion, but they struck a chord that vibrated down to her bones. “We’ll see it through. What other choice do we have?”

  “None,” he said, and went back to the living room.

  Ella went outside, flashlight in hand, and walked carefully to the spot
her mother had indicated. She kept the beam of the flashlight firmly in front of her. If there were tracks, she didn’t want to cover them up with her own.

  When she reached the area around the twin pines, she stopped and surveyed the entire area with her flashlight. Besides Two’s tracks there were faint imprints on the ground, like the soft moccasinlike tracks at the site near where she and Justine had encountered the van.

  Ella moved farther uphill and saw the same quarter-sized indentations on the ground. She followed the marks to a place where the ground leveled off, and they disappeared. After studying them for a long time, and unable to come up with anything except speculation, she made her way back to the house.

  By the time she reached the door, Wilson Joe had arrived and Ella couldn’t help but smile at him. There were few things rarer and more valuable in life than a friend who seldom asked for more than she could give.

  “Your brother filled me in.” Wilson’s eyes narrowed. “Will someone be around to keep an eye on your mother?”

  “Tonight, I’ll be here, and Philip Cloud will be patrolling in the area. Later, his brother Michael will be coming by from time to time.”

  “Rose won’t like all the attention.”

  “I know, but there’s nothing I can do about that.”

  He didn’t argue the point. “Could the threatening note be coming from another skinwalker, a friend of your father-in-law’s that we failed to identify?”

  “Maybe.”

  As Ella entered the living room she saw her brother sprinkle the corners of the room, then their mom, with corn pollen. Finally, he turned and bestowed a similar blessing on her.

  “That was for strength,” Clifford said when finished. “Being prepared spiritually is half the battle.” He gave his sister a long look. “Don’t repeat past mistakes. Don’t discount the power of what you don’t understand.”

  “I won’t,” she answered, reaching down to touch the badger fetish at her neck. There was one thing she was certain about. Belief could make a weak man strong, and a strong man weak. In it lay the survival and destruction of many civilizations. Adhering to a philosophy or not adhering to it did not lessen the power it gave to the ones she was fighting. They would use fear and, in fact, were already using it against her and anyone else who stood in their way.