Water and Stone (38 page)

They were all waiting for him.

Perhaps they'd always been. Drawn home to Angangueo at the end of each October like the myriad butterflies, Church rarely stayed more than a day in the village before setting out for the mountains where the cave was located.

He often considered bringing the piedra with him each spring when he ventured north to the Triple Six but the thought of losing it or having it stolen waylaid those plans. It was better to leave it tucked away in the safety of the mountains of central Mexico where the spirits of the valley and his family watched over it.

"We should live in Mexico year around, mother. The weather is so much better than here in Texas."

"You know that's impossible, Church... who would look after the ranch?"

He found it odd that his mother insisted upon having the chabola rebuilt rather than living in the hacienda. Perhaps she felt safer in the tiny cabin... or maybe she heard the whispers of ghosts.

He knew he did. As he walked through the massive mausoleum that he once called his home he sometimes caught glimpses of Rancher and Billy Ford idling over the chess board... often the odor of a succulent piece of meat being baked in the gourmet kitchen by mother Lorraine reached his nose but when he entered the room it was always empty.

They existed now only inside the piedra... in that interminable expanse that lay between waking and sleeping where he loved to linger as long as he may. Tree was there too waiting for the day he was ready to join her.

"What do you want, Hajdani? Why are you here?"

"You know that, Evalena. I've come for Yani."

He'd listened through the door as his mother confronted the boy she knew as Hajdani. He seemed to present no danger... he made no overt threats, and neither did he bluster his way through life like many strong and confident men in his place might well have done.

"What will happen to her? Will you harm her? She's just an old woman, Hajdani. Why not allow her to live out the rest of her life in peace?"

"Are these words really coming out of your mouth, Evalena? Don't tell me you've suddenly grown a heart where there was none."

"You know how I feel about Yani... you know how close we are."

"If I wanted to hurt Yani I could have done so a million times in the past. She must acquiesce to our desires, otherwise we're like children, helpless and adrift. That's why we have waited all this time despite knowing where she was. We could've taken her any time but not without her consent."

"You still haven’t told me what you'll do to her, Hajdani."

"Our plans for her are none of your concern, Evalena. Where is she?"

Church heard the old woman wheeze and moan somewhere in depths of the house behind him. Had she heard the conversation? Did she realize what was happening to her... that even now she was being led to the slaughter?

"Promise me that whatever happens to her is quick and painless, Hajdani. Otherwise, you're not passing this door."

Church brought the pistol out of the ankle holster where he kept it, checked the chamber that it was still loaded, and clicked off the safety with his thumb. It smelled faintly of oil, of gunpowder, and of death.

He had never shot a man but he had no doubts that he could put Hajdani down if the need arose. Should the man try to strong arm his mother, he'd die for it. Leaning into the door and ready to spring forward at a moment's notice, Church listened for the next words to exit from Hajdani's mouth.

"I promise you that Yani will not suffer any more than what she brings upon herself. Is that good enough, Evalena? May I come in now?"

"She's in the next room, Hajdani. You may have to carry her. She's extremely weak. Remember too that her mind is going... she keeps thinking she's someone else."

"I'll be gentle with her, Evalena. Thank you for finally seeing things my way."

"I'll never see things as you do, Hajdani. Now, go before I change my mind."

Hearing the spitting anger in his mother's voice, Church wondered for an instant if Hajdani did too and if so, did he realize who she really was? The man was obviously some sort of adept when it came to the piedra though without it in his possession Church doubted he had the audacity to challenge the woman who he thought was Evalena.

"He's gone, Church... you can come out now."

"Are you okay, mother? You look sick."

"I hate to think what they'll do to her, Church... but on the other hand, whatever it is won't be as terrible as what she's done to others over the years. I suppose it's true... we all draw back onto ourselves the hate and pain that we inflict onto others."

"Can we go home now, mother?"

Everyone seemed to be staring at them as they walked down to the dock. Church didn’t know if it was because his mother was such a striking woman or if they took her for being Evalena... either way, the walk only lasted fifteen minutes.

Waving American dollars in the ship captain's face worked wonders at getting them a ride back to Miami. The old pickup truck was still parked where he left it. Piling into it they were half way across Louisiana before they stopped for the night.

"Tree Patterson was with me on my way to Cuba, mother. I think she touched the piedra. When I woke up she'd vanished. Do you know what happened to her?"

"Not exactly, Church... but I've heard it said anyone who comes into contact with the stone becomes part of it... they're absorbed by it."

"But what about Adame? He grabbed it. But he's fine."

The big cat rode between them purring like a locomotive. At the sound of his name his ears perked up and he stretched and yawned and blinked his eyes like an owl.

"I think Adame knew that I was in danger... he helped me to trade places with Evalena... or perhaps the piedra guided him to do so. Either way, I simply don’t know enough about the stone to give you a solid answer about Tree, or Adame for that matter. I'm sorry, Church."

"If I touch it, will I go to her?"

"You might, or you might not, Church. From what I understand, we all perceive the piedra in a different fashion... our desires drive it... our deepest fears are magnified by it, and our most profound guilt takes us to the places we'd never dare go on our own."

"Maybe I should wait... is that what you're saying, mother?"

"You're a man now. You can choose for yourself... but since you're asking me for advice, I say have patience. Touch Tree Patterson in your dreams and see what she says. Remember, if I'm correct about the piedra, it exists outside of time and space as we know it. What we see of the stone—what we see of the world—is merely a semblance that our senses are capable of seeing."

"I miss Tree."

"Wait until you master your thoughts, Church. It may take ten years or it might be twenty... but one day you'll know you're ready. You won't have to ask anyone. But if you attempt to tame the piedra before the time is ripe it may trick you into going places you'd rather not."

"What are we going to do with it, mother?"

"The piedra belongs in your keeping now, Church. You decide what happens to it. Keep it safe. "

He lived in his dreams now. Tree appeared each night soft and full of love and even during the day he would hear her singing to him... or was it the piedra? Did it matter? As the years passed by like hushed early spring mornings he chided himself on his cowardice... on his hesitance to take the stone in his hand and go to her in all his corporeality.

Only his mother's warning stayed him, but for how long?

That whorehouse odor was back.

Had her whole life been but a dream? Was she still asleep at the bordello in Mexico? Or had all that been in her imagination too? If so, life was a splendid adventure best lived in gentle slumbers.

Hands were picking her up, lifting her like she was a child again. She wanted to shout to all that she was flying. Perhaps that was it... she had dreamed it all and she was still but a monkey living inside a grand green savannah surrounded by great open lands and towering mountains that reached so high they sometimes blotted out the sun and the moon and even at midday she could see the stars whirling overhead.

"Don't worry, Yani... we'll make sure it's done quickly."

She seemed to recognize the boy's voice from somewhere but her memory was so hazy that she'd rather fall back to sleep than to wrestle with understanding him.

The one thing that stood out was how she knew her name was Evalena. Yani was her sister, a creation of sand and blood, breath and mud. Still, the misunderstanding seemed hardly worth the trouble it would take to speak.

What did he mean? What were they going to do quickly? Should she be afraid? Perhaps if she had the strength she might struggle against the inevitable but it seemed far better to simply give in to the night that was slowly and softly descending all around her.

She had gotten her wish. Maybe part of her wanted to atone for the cruelty that was elemental to her nature or perhaps in the end the piedra would always exact its due... either way, she was glad it was finally over.

They were going to carve the skin from her bones while she yet lived. She didn’t know how she knew that, but it was a certainty. It seemed a harsh way to die, one she'd rather not partake in, yet she didn’t seem to have a choice.

That was the answer. She had to play on Hajdani's emotions, to allow him to make the only choice ahead of him... to lead him to it the way only she could do The boy who carried her like an old burlap sack full of potatoes was a master at deception but he didn’t realize who or what was in his arms... he thought she was Yani. Instead he held hell in his grip.

The piedra was waiting. Even with the shadows falling around her and a body old and frail the thing that was Evalena still burned brightly within the flesh. She hadn’t lived so long to go as quietly as the man expected.

"Kiss me, father... I've missed you so."

Voicing the words required superhuman strength as she vaguely wondered why she bothered. It would be far easier simply to let go, to embrace the darkness folding over her like a warm blanket on a cold Texas winter night.

"I've missed you too, Yani."

"Do you still love me, father? I'm frightened."

"You know I do, Yani... and don't be scared... believe me when I tell you I would gladly take your place if it was possible... I love you that much."

As he bent close to her face their breaths mingled for but a moment yet that was all the time she needed. Suddenly she was the one carrying a sad old woman in her fine strong arms as a flicker of fear ran across the face that an instant ago belonged to her.

"Thank you... and don't worry, father... we'll make sure it's over as quickly as possible."

"How... how did this happen?"

The fright in her voice and the lament written upon the old woman's brow nearly brought a tear to Evalena's eyes until she remembered that a few seconds ago she was the one being carried to her demise... a slow and a painful death.

"It was your choice, father. It's always been your choice."

She'd nearly resigned herself to her fate. It was only when she remembered Yani's body had once been touched by the piedra that she realized a way out. It was as unlikely to work as well as dreaming herself out of the chabola on the night it was dynamited but a little hope was better than none.

Though the stone delighted in playing tricks upon her she knew it would grant her any boon and would do so without judgment. The piedra was as much a part of her as she was of it. To be touched by the stone was to know god.

Not the god of any religion but rather the god that had been formed before anything else and the god that would remain once the universe had gone back to the primordial soup from which it sprang.

They all thought of the stone as a possession... as an object that could be owned. Even those like Hajdani—who'd carefully cultivated the stone's powers so as to claim it as their own—were but mere paupers in the face of limitless life.

The piedra didn't demand anything yet Evalena had discovered a modicum of respect could steer the fickle fates that lived within its heart far better than any boisterous and fanatical beliefs in its veracity.

She'd always been nothing, a little monkey, a nobody, a woman without recourse, forever lost in the maelstrom of a world far beyond her comprehension. She had no right to any such claims of ownership upon the stone. Even through all the years of yearning after the piedra she knew viscerally that if it wanted to come back to her, it would find a way.

"You thought I was someone that I'm not, father. Did you really think I would let you have Yani? You're going to skin her alive."

A flickering of recognition ran across the old woman's face. It was good that she knew though of course in the end that mattered not at all. Life mattered... limitless life.

"Evalena... how?"

"That doesn’t matter, father. Just think... now you get to personally experience firsthand the torment that you've longed for years to inflict upon an innocent girl. You should have listened when I warned you to leave her alone. Now... come with me. We have an appointment to keep."