Dance of the Bones

Curious, Gabe took the jar over to the kitchen counter, pulled out a tablespoon, and dug a heaping spoonful of peanut butter out of the jar. As he did so, something that was definitely not a piece of peanut caught the light. He put the spoon with the peanut butter inside a wire mesh strainer and used hot water and dishwashing detergent to clear away the peanut butter. What was left in the bottom of the strainer were four brightly glittering glasslike pieces of rock. They reminded him of Lani’s pieces of crystal, but he knew at once what they really were—-diamonds. Diamonds in a peanut butter jar!

He plucked one of the gems out of the strainer to study it. It seemed as though the diamond worked exactly the same way as Lani’s divining crystals. Focusing on the jewel, Gabe realized what was going on. Carlos José and maybe Max, too, had been caught up in some kind of smuggling operation. If that was the case, it meant Lani was right and the Josés were part of the Bad -People. It was even possible Tim himself was part of it.

Gabe understood that if his parents found out he was involved in any of this, they would kill him. That was especially true for his mother. The problem was, Tim was Gabe’s friend, and he had asked for help. Gabe couldn’t just turn his back on his friend. No, tomorrow Gabe would take the jar back to Tim and tell him he’d need to ask someone else for help. In the meantime, though, the jar, the bag, and the note all needed to be kept out of sight. He carried them into his bedroom.

He was standing in front of the dresser, about to put the bag in a drawer, when he realized that he’d stuck the four gems from the strainer into the pocket of his jeans. He had them in hand and was about to return them to the jar when he realized there was no way for Carlos or anyone else to tell how many gems had been concealed in the peanut butter. If Gabe kept them, did that mean he was one of the Bad -People, too?

The gems didn’t exactly speak to him. What he heard in his head was Lani’s long--ago voice telling him one of the I’itoi stories and explaining how four was a sacred number because all of nature goes in fours—-four seasons, four directions. Was this the same thing? Was that the reason there had been four diamonds in that single spoonful of peanut butter—-not three or five or six, but four? Maybe this was a message from I’itoi, or maybe even the trickster, Ban—-Coyote—-whispering in Gabe’s ear and telling him those four diamonds now belonged to him.

He returned them to his pocket. Then, stripping off his jeans and underwear, he turned to a far more pressing matter—-getting the last of those pesky cholla spines out of his bare behind. When he had most of them removed, he got into bed and turned out the light. He was still chilled, and Gabe was grateful to pull the covers up around him. There may have been the sharp end of a cholla spine or two still sticking him, but he had walked too far and was too tired to notice.

He fell asleep and dreamed of bats—-hundreds of bats, maybe even thousands. During the dream he noticed something odd. He was out in the desert somewhere all by himself, and although the bats were flapping all around him, for some strange reason, he wasn’t the least bit afraid.





CHAPTER 9




AFTER BUZZARD RETURNED WITHOUT FIRE, -people were still cold at night, and the stories of those who had tried to bring back fire only made them want it more. They held another council and decided that they should send something that flies at night, so they asked Bat—-Nanakumal—-to go to Tash’s house, slip in through a crack, and bring back Fire. Nanakumal said he would try. The next day Bat set off. When he left for Tash’s house, he was covered with soft gray feathers.

The -People were sure that Bat would succeed, so that night they stayed awake, waiting for him to return.

It was very dark. At last they saw a light coming, and it flashed from side to side and there was a great roar. When the light reached the earth, there was a loud bang. Some of the Indians were frightened and hid, but others said it is Tai—-Fire—-flashing like the sun. They ran as fast as they could to the spot and found a place where the grass was burning and so was a tree.

One of the men, an elder, ran to the burning tree, took one of the branches, and waved it in the four directions—-North, East, South, and West—-so the -People would know not to be afraid.