“
Well, whatever the hell is
going on…we’re one step closer to finding out what it is.” I
gestured to the bar which had drunken cowboys spilling out of it
already.
We got out of the car and
walked up to the door. I figured I might look a bit out of place
thanks to my bandaged hands and cut-up appearance but apparently I
didn’t. As we walked up the stairs, three young cowboys (well, guys
in cowboy hats. I just call everyone in cowboy hats cowboys) broke
into wide grins at the sight of me and fired a range of
greetings.
“
My, aren’t you a pretty
young thing?”
“
How you doing good
looking?”
“
S’up?”
They didn’t even look twice
at my cuts. Nor did they notice Dex right behind me. I gave them
all a quick smile and kept walking. Dex pushed the door open for me
and we stepped into the bar.
It had done a 180 since we
were in there last. The jukebox was blaring “War Pigs,” the pool
tables had crowds around them, people were cheersing their beers
left, right and center. In fact, I think the clinking of glass
might have been louder than the music and that said a lot. People
were singing, laughing, yelling. A thick layer of smoke hung in the
rafters, the air smelled like sweat, beer and stale tobacco. The
bartender from earlier was still behind the bar, though with a
lower cut top, and the Old Prospector was still sitting across from
her at the bar.
It was drunken chaos.
Within five seconds of us standing in front of the door and
surveying the area, we had been bumped into three times, the last
bump spilling beer down my back.
“
Arg!” I yelled at the
perpetrator but couldn’t even see who it was through the smelly
throng of people around us. Dex grabbed my hand and pulled me
towards the bar, squeezing through the crowd. More men stared at me
with oogley eyes. Some of them were motorbike types, some were
portly ranchers, and some had to have been underage. All of them
creeped me out. It wasn’t that it was because it was a small town
setting and I was assuming they were hicks. It was that the gash on
my cheek didn’t disturb them at all. I guess beaten women were
commonplace here. Or maybe I was not the only one being attacked by
wild animals.
The line for booze was
about six people deep and six people wide but I assumed Dex was
going to just ask where we could find Rudy, though I wouldn’t have
minded several shots of tequila. The deer incident, getting lost,
this sticky, strange crowd – it was all so overwhelming.
I felt a tap on my shoulder
and was about to give my most defensive ‘I’m taken’ glare when I
found myself eye level with a familiar chest clad in pale red
plaid. Maximus. He looked happy to see me and I was more than happy
to see him. I let go of Dex’s hand and hugged him. He smelled like
the cologne I gave my ex-boyfriend wore.
He laughed and patted my
back. “Shucks. I’m just as glad to see you, Perry. You too, Dex.
Come on, they’re just over here.”
He pointed at a door near
the washrooms and we followed him through the crowd, his head like
a ginger beacon.
He knocked at the door
three times and it opened. It was Bird. He gave us a nod and
ushered us inside.
The room was small, your
typical in-house office. There was a ratty couch, a few posters of
the desert on the wood paneled walls, an overstuffed filing
cabinet, a bookshelf that had been someone’s carpentry project. In
the middle was a steel desk piled high with books. Behind it sat a
thin, wiry man with round glasses. He was expressionless, his face
was narrow and pointy, his skin the color of red bark. He was
dressed simply in grey jeans and a blue collared work shirt, his
neck, wrists and fingers were adorned with Shan-like
jewelry.
“
Have a seat,” he said
quickly, his voice clipped with the tiniest hint of an
accent
Maximus, Dex and I piled
onto the couch. It slumped under our weight and I was squished in
the middle. Felt like I was going to have a Dex/Maximus cave-in at
any moment.
Bird leaned against the
wall and nodded at the man. “This is Rudy. Rudy this is Dex and
Perry.”
Rudy gave us a curt nod.
“Welcome to my bar. Where do we begin?”
“
You certainly don’t waste
any time,” Dex said.
“
I’m afraid we don’t have
much time to waste,” Rudy said and got out of his chair. He walked
around the desk, a short little man, and stopped in front of us.
Actually, he stopped in front of me. He put his hands on his knees
and stooped over to look me in the eye. I could see my reflection
in his glasses. I didn’t dare move. He smelled like sage or some
kind of earthy herb. It was quite pleasant but made my head spin
with its headiness.
He stared at me for what
seemed like an eternity. Finally he straightened up and said to
Bird, “You were right about her.”
“
What?” I asked, despite not
really wanting to know. “What about me?”
Rudy looked at Bird who
raised his eyebrows in response. Rudy turned back to us. “It’s all
of you, actually.”
“
All of us what?” asked
Maximus.
“
I’m not sure,” Rudy
admitted. “I have my theories though but I don’t think you’re ready
for them.”
“
God damn it!” Dex yelled
suddenly and sprang to his feet. He got in Rudy’s face and started
pointing at him. “I’m sick of you people lying to us!”
“
Dex!” I barked at him. “Sit
down.”
Bird chuckled and laid his
hand on Dex’s shoulder, pushing him back from Rudy.
“
Easy there boy,” Bird said
gently. “I know you’re frustrated and so are we. You have to
understand that we don’t…we aren’t trying to be difficult. It’s
just some things are hard to explain, even to the people who would
take any explanation.”
“
Well, try us then,”
Maximus sighed. I could hear the exhaustion in his voice. He may
have not gotten lost on the road like we had, but the situation was
wearing him down just as much.
Dex shook his head and
started pacing around the room. “I just don’t see what the big deal
is. You obviously have an idea of what we are dealing with
here.”
“
And it’s just an idea. But
you have a right to hear it. That’s why I agreed to meet with you.
I might be able to help. I just needed to know how open your mind
was,” Rudy said. At that, Dex stopped pacing and folded his arms,
legs rigid in a stance.
Rudy took off his glasses
and quickly rubbed the bridge of his nose. “And I’m afraid time is
of the essence. I won’t have time for too many questions tonight,
so just let me talk.”
“
We’re all ears,” I
encouraged, sitting on the edge of the couch in anticipation.
Maximus was alert beside me. Dex kept his sniper eyes on Rudy,
waiting.
“
I’m a medicine man,” Rudy
said briskly. “I used to do it as a full-time job but the thing is,
it doesn’t pay. It’s a gift. We don’t take payment for the things
we do. Sometimes we do but most of the time if someone needs help,
we have to help them. And out here on the reservations, people
aren’t very well off. So I have this bar. I like to think of it as
a doctor’s office. People still come into see me with their
problems, usually curses and the like, and I can help them and they
can buy a beer at the same time. Sometimes I just listen. That’s
the way of life when you own a bar. But for the most part, I am
just Rudy. So I can only offer you my opinion, take it with a grain
of salt. I am just a man.”
He walked over to the couch
and sat down on the armrest beside me.
“
Bird had first told me
about what was happening with the Lancasters two months ago. Way
before you came into the picture, Maximus. It’s more than just what
Will has been telling you. A lot more. There had been a lot of, uh,
unusual circumstances at the ranch. And right away, we knew what it
was. Yee naaldlooshii. I don’t even like to say that name but all
signs pointed to it. But Will would never admit that. He’s turned
his back on his beliefs, even though, deep inside his heart, he
knows the truth. You can put lipstick on a pig but it’s still a
pig. And until he sees what we see, and welcomes it, it’s not going
to stop.”
“
But the yee…the
skinwalkers. What do they want with him?” I asked.
“
I don’t know for sure. I
don’t even know if there is more than one of them. Skinwalkers are
people like me, medicine men, or witches who indulge in the Frenzy
Way…wicked spiritual practices, whose only intent is to scare, harm
or kill. With Will, because it’s been going on for so long, I would
say they just want to torture him. That’s what Bird and I thought.
Then you showed up, Maximus, and gave Will a reason to think it was
something more…acceptable. I don’t know why a ghost or “white”
spirits are so much more acceptable to Will than a yee naaldlooshii
but that’s the way it is. And this ignorance made it angry. More
determined. Then Will took it further and invited two young, and
white, journalists to be ghost busters. Not only that, but to get
it on tape. That is bad form. If Will was still following the way
he would have had this dealt with, by me, maybe, and it would have
been done undercover. But to broadcast this to the world is such a
slap in the face. So the skinwalker is angry. It wants more than
ever to prove its existence to him. And it’ll use you people to do
this. Ghosts don’t harm or maim people. They just scare.
Skinwalkers…they kill. I think you are all in real danger. Even at
this moment. I feel like there are people in this bar who could
hurt you.”
I was hanging on to every
word with icy stillness but that sent a full throttle shiver
through my body. Maximus put his arm around me and started rubbing
me lightly, his face focused intently on Rudy.
“
I won’t let that happen if
I can, but that’s why I had to rush, to let you know before you go
back out there.”
“
But you said there was
something about us…,” I said.
“
Yes.
Normally it wouldn’t be a concern because white people are not easy
to witch. You don’t believe. But, unfortunately I suppose, you
three do believe. And you
want
to believe, which is worse. And…there are certain
energies coming from you, especially you Perry, that will work
against you in this situation. Skinwalkers deal on the principle of
power. The more powerful you are, the more powerful you can become.
It sounds redundant. But if a skinwalker cuts the piece of the body
of a dead medicine man, then they become stronger. If they
encounter someone with a similar life force, they will want to…plug
in, I guess that’s the appropriate term. Or not. You’re like an
outlet and they are a device, always looking for more power. Even a
few strands of hair would help them. Imagine what they could do if
they got a hold of your finger.”
I felt sick. Bird pointed
at my face. “Or your eyeballs.”
I felt sicker. Maximus
pressed me closer to him. It helped.
“
Sorry,” Bird said gently.
“We know that crow wasn’t just a crow.”
Dex was staring at me
strangely before he said to Rudy, “So do we know who these
skinwalkers are? You say they are people?”
He nodded and got up. “Yes.
They are people. As I said, most likely medicine men, or
witches.”
“
Shan,” I whispered.
Everyone looked startled to hear me say that but I knew they had
been thinking it too.
Bird shook his head. “And
this is where it gets tricky. No one wants to play the blame game
here. There are many, many medicine men around these parts. I don’t
think it’s Shan. I know it’s not.”
“
How do you know that?” Dex
countered.
“
Because I work with the
man. I know him. I know he wouldn’t ever do anything to hurt the
Lancasters. And besides, he’s been around during a lot of the
activity. A skinwalker cannot be in two places at once.”
“
Miguel,” Maximus said
suddenly.
“
Miguel is Mexican,” I
hissed at him.
“
So?” He looked up at Rudy.
“Does it have to be Navajo? Couldn’t Miguel learn?”
“
Listen, I don’t think it’s
anyone at the ranch. It wouldn’t make any sense.”
“
Maybe it’s you. You’re a
medicine man,” Dex said boldly. Too boldly.
But Rudy shrugged it off.
“You’re right. It could be me. It’s not, but I’m glad you’re
thinking that way because you can’t be too careful. You must
understand how serious this is.”
“
So what do we do then?” I
said feeling so small and so hopeless.
“
You can leave,” Rudy said.
“Leave tonight.”
“
No way,” Dex objected. “No
fucking way, Dr. Spooks.”
He looked at me to see how
I felt. I agreed. Sorta. I did not want to be in any danger,
especially danger that kind of involved actual people…er, slash
animals. But I couldn’t go back with nothing. I couldn’t. And Dex
couldn’t either. We didn’t have a choice. We had to
stay.
“
Yeah,” I put in. “I don’t
think leaving is an option for us. We’ve barely got anything. We
aren’t going back empty-handed.”
“
Then you’re walking
straight into the fire,” Rudy warned. “They will make you leave and
if that doesn’t work, they will kill you. You understand? Kill
you.”