Changing Woman

by Thurlo, David

  “Thanks for helping us when we needed you,” Ella said to Herman, then waved and smiled to the men in the pickup.

  “The marshal did all the hard work,” Herman said, climbing slowly out of the car. “He crept up behind Skinny Legs there,” he added, gesturing to Manyfarms, “and stepped on his buffalo gun. The bullet went wild and the marshal was all over him after that. He grabbed the rifle and whacked the damned idiot on the side of the head real good.”

  As Herman opened the door, Harry half dragged Manyfarms, who was just starting to get back enough energy to resist. “I’m sorry that the gun went off before I could get to him. Was anyone hurt?”

  “We’re fine,” Ella said. “How did you catch up to him?”

  “I’ve been one step behind him, checking out every report of stolen vehicles since he fled from the power plant the other day. When an officer in town spotted one of those vehicles, I was notified. Unfortunately, the officer lost sight of the stolen truck, but the last reported location was in the area around the station, and that sent off warning signals to me. I decided to hedge my bets, round up some volunteers to watch my back, and check out the neighborhood.

  “After driving up and down each street, we finally located the truck, which was on the hot sheet, all right. One of the guys decided to climb up a tree so he could see into the backyards without going door to door, and he spotted someone sitting on the garage roof right across from the station. We got close to the house, and I went up the ladder, not knowing if it was just somebody working on his TV antenna or snaking out a clogged drain.

  “When I saw that it was Manyfarms lining up on the station with that big rifle of his, I knew I had to act fast to neutralize him.”

  “I’m glad you succeeded,” Ella said with a shaky smile.

  “Yeah, thanks to us,” one of the old men who’d ridden in the pickup said, laughing and making a muscle with his skinny arm.

  Manyfarms eyes were now lit up with anger, but he still hadn’t said anything.

  “I better take him inside,” Harry said, cocking his head toward his prisoner. “He’s going to have a lot of years added to his prison time now, Ella. Count on it.”

  Hours later, the station was almost back to normal manpower levels. The FBI agents, Ella, and Justine met in the chief’s office. “I managed to get a match on traces of blood I found on Manuelito’s night stick,” Justine said. “They belong to the murdered councilman, and a security camera from a bar’s parking lot shows Manuelito’s vehicle was there briefly just before the councilman was beaten to death.”

  “We’ll offer Manuelito a deal, and see if he’ll testify against the others,” Big Ed said. “Who knows, maybe we can get him a private cell. Cops don’t do well in prison.”

  “I also got a clue concerning the selection of those particular Anglos hired to do the vandalism,” Big Ed added. “The one named James Little had his lawyer give me a list of the ’Indians’ he and Smith did legitimate carpentry work for during the past few months. It turns out they built a porch for Jefferson Blueeyes.”

  “And now that Officer Tache has found the bug in Kevin Tolino’s office phone, another answer is confirmed.” Ella smiled grimly.

  “We’ll have a tech from the Albuquerque Bureau sweep all the tribal offices for bugs. But right now, Payestewa and I have to get back to my office,” Blalock said. “Unfortunately, our job’s far from finished. Now that we have several of the syndicate players under arrest, we need to check out known associates and deepen the investigation on a federal and state level until we locate all the others linked to the conspiracy. Henry Estrada is out of danger now, and is going to be a key witness. He knows how the syndicate operates all across the West, and can identify a lot of the players by photographs though they never used their real names. Apparently, he’s even served as a personal bodyguard to several of the men who’ve been controlling some of the pueblo casinos from behind the scene.”

  “Henry is a tough man. I’m going to pay him a visit as soon as I can. But what about George Branch?” Ella asked hopefully. “Has anyone linked him to the conspiracy yet?”

  Blalock smiled. “We’ll never get that lucky. The serial numbers on that fifty-caliber rifle have been filed away. They can probably be restored in the laboratory, but even if the weapon turns out to be the one ’stolen’ from Branch, he’s already covered his tracks. That slippery worm oozes away every time.”

  “Unless someone needs the paperwork right away, I’m going to head home,” Ella said, standing up. “I’d like to be with my family right now. I can come back first thing tomorrow and work on the necessary reports.” Ella looked at Big Ed, knowing it was up to him. “Is that all right with you?”

  “Sure. In fact take a few days off, Ella—after you fill out the reports tomorrow,” Big Ed said. “You’ve earned it.”

  After washing away most of the blood, dirt, and grime of the last two days in the women’s rest room, Ella drove back home, still riding the adrenaline high that came from the events of the past several hours. Experience told her that she’d have to find a way to work off some steam before she went to bed or she’d lie awake for hours.

  As she parked in the driveway by her mother’s pickup, she saw headlights in her rearview mirror. A moment later, Harry pulled up and came out to meet her.

  “I know it’s late and you’ve had a long day, but can you give me a few minutes?”

  “Sure. In fact, I’m still way too jazzed to take it easy. Can you stay a bit?”

  Harry nodded, then smiled. “Maybe even longer than you want. I just got word and I’m accepting a post out here. I won’t be around the corner, not exactly, but Albuquerque is only three or four hours away.”

  “I’ve always liked car drives,” she answered with a happy smile.

  She’d been wanting some time alone with Harry, and knowing Dawn would be asleep already she asked him inside and into the den, where a warm fire was going in the woodstove. Rose was probably tired and would leave them alone. She was certain of that.

  Harry sat beside her on the couch and, as he draped his arm around her and pulled her closer, someone knocked at the door.

  Ella suppressed a groan. “Don’t go anywhere. I’ve got to answer that before they wake Dawn up.”

  As she opened the door, she saw Herman Cloud on the porch, a large paper bag in his arms.

  “Your mother said for me to just come in, but I saw the marshal’s truck and thought I’d better knock. I didn’t want to surprise you.” He was holding a bucket of chicken from Shiprock’s busiest fast-food place. “Here, you can take this. I’ve got a lot more in the car.”

  Ella looked at the size of the bucket, then back at Herman. Her mother couldn’t eat this much chicken in a month. “Which army are you planning to feed?” Then she saw another set of headlights in the driveway, and more coming up the road.

  “We’ll need it all, daughter. I’ve invited some friends to the house,” Rose said, coming from down the hall. She was dressed in a long blue velvet skirt, and her salt-and-pepper hair was fastened back and then twisted in a bun. She had her best burgundy velvet blouse on, and a silver-and-turquoise squash blossom Ella hadn’t seen her wear in years.

  “Am I the only one who didn’t know we were having a party?” Ella asked, bewildered, as the same men who’d helped Herman and Harry capture Manyfarms came in with a cooler full of soda pop and ice.

  “Our friends are always welcome,” Rose said, giving Ella a stern look. “But don’t worry. We’ll all keep our voices down so we don’t wake my granddaughter.”

  Everyone complied instantly, dropping their voices to barely more than a whisper as they walked into the kitchen.

  Ella closed the front door then, looking back toward the den, saw Harry coming out to join her in the living room.

  Maybe they could sneak out the front door. Ella was about to suggest it to Harry when another knock sounded at the door. Harry smiled, and shrugged. Ella sighed and went to answer it. It was Kevin, cleane
d up and wearing a warm-looking sweater and gray slacks.

  “What on earth are you doing here? I expected you’d go straight home and crash early tonight.”

  “I came to bring you some news,” he answered, stepping into the living room and nodding to Harry, who nodded back.

  Hearing his voice, Rose came in from the kitchen.

  Seeing her, Kevin cleared his throat. “When the tribal president learned that I’d returned, he called for an emergency council meeting this afternoon instead of waiting until Monday. We met in Window Rock about two hours ago, and finally took a vote on tribal gaming. A proposal for casino and video gaming came out a tie, forty-four to forty-four, including the vote of the new appointee. The tribal president abstained, so the proposal failed. Then the president called for a gaming referendum to take place in June, assuming funds can be scraped up. If a majority of the People choose gaming, the council will reconsider the issue in July.”

  Rose smiled widely, then quickly went into the kitchen to tell the others.

  Ella chuckled. “You’ve just made her day.”

  “There’s more,” he said, lowering his voice to a whisper. “Everything that’s happened—how they bugged my office, tried to coerce my vote, and how I came under attack during a time when I had my child with me—will come to light soon. I expect the news will help my career and that’s a plus, but there’s a downside, too.” He paused. “I received this note when I went back to my office. I still don’t know how they got in because my door was locked.”

  He handed it to her, and Ella noticed two jagged holes in the paper. “How was it delivered?” she asked warily.

  “With their usual flair,” he answered. “They used my own letter opener to pin it to the back of my door.”

  Ella opened the sheet that had been folded in half and read the message.

  You won a battle, but not the war. Don’t plan to be around next election. You’re worth more dead than alive to a lot of people.

  “So now there’s a price on your head,” Ella said softly. That meant that there was probably one on Manuelito’s head, too, not that she was sorry about that. “You’ll have to hire a bodyguard, Kevin, someone who really knows the ropes.”

  He nodded. “About Dawn . . . ”

  Ella paused. It was Kevin’s right to see his daughter. He’d certainly earned it. But with a price on his head, new rules would have to be set up. “You can see her anytime, but I don’t want you to take her away from here unless I can come with you.”

  He nodded somberly. “I’ve been thinking that I should come over and visit both of you more often.”

  Ella looked at the man who was the father of her child. To say she had no feelings for him would have been to lie to herself. But there was another...

  At that moment, Harry came up from behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Everything still okay?”

  Ella looked back at him and nodded. All she’d wanted was some time alone with Harry. Now, as always, her life was suddenly complicated again.

  “Come in, Kevin. Join Harry and me and have something to eat,” Ella suggested, conceding that tonight was going to be for the whole family.

  As she led both men into the kitchen, she saw her mother standing beside Herman Cloud. Had life always been simpler for Rose? Why was it that Rose never failed to know what was right for her?

  Harry took Ella’s hand and pulled her back into the living room. “Kevin’s your child’s father. But that’s the past. Don’t confuse it with the present. Or the future.”

  She was still trying to figure out how to answer when he pulled her against him and kissed her tenderly. Then, before she had time to answer, he smiled and walked out of the house.

  Ella stared at the door as it closed, then slowly matched Harry’s smile.

  Rose stood in the doorway watching Ella looking out the window as Harry drove away. New alliances and relationships were becoming a reality now for both of them. To be sure, it was an uncertain time, filled with second thoughts and doubts. But life and change were as one.

  Changing Woman, who was at the center of Navajo beliefs, stood for creative feminine power—life restoring itself in an endless array of new cycles. Her daughter would follow her own destiny, as would Dawn, whose life had yet to be defined. As for herself, she’d found that life brought a different kind of peace to those her age—one that would give her the confidence and courage to walk a new life path for herself and for her tribe.

  TRACKING

  BEAR

  THE NEW ELLA CLAH NOVEL

  Available from Forge Books

  April 2003

  The college was a modern facility with core classrooms and offices constructed in an architect’s interpretation of giant eight sided hogans.

  Wilson Joe, a popular, good-looking professor about Ella’s height and a year older, sat alone in his office grading papers. Seeing Ella, he beamed a smile. “Hey, stranger. I haven’t seen you around much lately.”

  “Work and family. That’s my whole life in a nutshell.”

  “How’s Dawn? I heard that she’s going to day school.”

  Ella smiled. Everyone tended to know everyone else’s business in this community. “Yeah, and she loves it. I think it’s good for her. She needed to be around kids her own age. She’s learning Navajo and English and seems pretty comfortable with both—though I have to admit she makes up her own words with alarming frequency. Shush is bear in Navajo, but she calls her teddy bear Shooey.” Ella paused. “I sound like one of those mothers who’s convinced everything her child does is adorable.”

  “And you’re not?” Wilson laughed as he walked over to a small coffee port on the counter, carrying his cup. “You’ve got your life organized the way you want it,” he said, pouring her a cup of coffee without asking, then topping off his own mug. “I envy you that. I wish I could get my life more on track. Justine and I . . . well, we have things to work out.” Ella nodded and said nothing. Wilson continued, “But you didn’t come to talk about this, Ella. What’s up?”

  “How well do you know Professor Kee Franklin? I understand that he guest lectures here.”

  “Dr. Franklin conducts demonstrations and lectures often. He’s a very gifted professor, and an inspiration to my students.”

  “Do you know him on a personal level?”

  Wilson shook his head. “We’ve made small talk and discussed the Dineh’s relationship to science and technology, but that’s about it. Why do you ask? Is he in some kind of trouble?”

  “Not the kind you think. Have you heard that a tribal officer was shot and killed?” Seeing him nod, she added, “It was his son.”

  Wilson took a deep breath. “That’s going to devastate Dr. Franklin. His son was the world to him. They hadn’t been close while the boy was growing up, but their relationship improved since Kee moved back to this area.”

  “When I gave him the news he took it really hard,” Ella said. Hearing someone approaching, she turned her head and was surprised to see her mother standing there. “Mom!” What on earth are you doing here?”

  “You’re not the only one with business to attend to, daughter,” Rose said, taking the chair Wilson offered, then glancing up at him and folding her hands in her lap. “I came to get your opinion on the proposed ’nuclear casino.’ You explain things to people every day in words they can understand, I figured you could speak plainly to me about it.”

  “Would you like some coffee?” Wilson offered, waving toward the pot.

  “No thank you,” Rose replied, then got right to the point. “What do you think are good reasons for building this nuclear power plant, Professor?”

  “You have to hand it to the New Traditionalists,” Wilson said. “They’ve come with something original that could add a whole new dimension to the energy industry in Four Corners. If it passes and a nuclear facility is constructed, the electricity produced could bring our tribe a great deal of revenue. Right now the many out outsiders operating the coal-fueled pow
er plants, the mines, and so on, have a lot of control over what happens to our land. But with a nuclear power plant here, owned and operated by the tribe, those days would be over. We’d be calling our own shots at last,”

  “What I’m most concerned about is the safety issue,” Rose said. “It’s only clean energy when everything goes as planned. The Holy People warned us that certain rocks should stay in the earth. When the bilagáanas, the white people, came to our land during the Cold War and council elders allowed them to take the uranium out, the mining ended up causing disease and misery. We can’t afford another mistake like that. Polluting our scarce water supplies is unforgivable.”

  Wilson spoke. “It should be different now—with scientific knowledge that simply wasn’t around before. And the public is a lot better educated. Do you realize that at current prices, we can make an estimated one billion dollars mining our own uranium and running the power plant—that is, if the plant is allowed to operate for twenty-five years.”

  “Even if we make more money, that still won’t guarantee that we’ll find harmony and walk in beauty,” Rose said. “Even a small mistake could be a disaster.”

  They talked for a few more minutes, then Rose took her leave. “Thank you for your time and your thoughts, nephew,” she said, using the term as a sign of affection, not kinship.

  “Mom, wait, and I’ll walk back to the parking area with you,” Ella said.

  As Rose went out to the hall, Ella glanced back at Wilson. “I need a lead that will point me to Officer Franklin’s killer. If you hear anything, from your students or elsewhere, give me a call.”

  “You’ve got it. I’ll start by finding out if the professor’s son ever attended classes here.”

  Ella joined her mother as they walked back to their cars. They were nearing the parking area when a young woman in her early twenties, wearing jeans and a sweat shirt, saw them and came over. Four other young women followed her.