Dance of the Bones

“I’m not sure,” Lani said. “Let’s wait and see. I want to follow the tracks.”


Lani had picked up some skill as a tracker from her husband, who had learned that ancient art from his grandfather Micah. Using what Dan had taught her, Lani walked along the road until she saw a place where a single set of tire tracks led off into the brush. A few feet beyond that, she saw evidence of what looked like a struggle and signs of several -people walking off into the brush.

“We’ll go this way,” she said, “but stay to the side of the tire tracks and of the footprints, too.”

Just then a shadow passed overhead. Lani looked skyward and saw a single buzzard circling high above them. The morning sun may have been warm, but a chill passed through her body. Having Nuwiopa show up at a time like this was always a bad sign. Buzzards meant death, and the bodies weren’t hard to find.

They lay just beyond a parked blue Jeep Cherokee, one Lani suspected might belong to one of the José brothers. The two victims were clearly male. Both bodies had been shredded by bullets. Their hands were bound in front of them with tie wraps, and their heads were covered by paper grocery bags. Both were secured to the base of a nearby cottonwood tree by lengths of cable that looked like those used to lock down bicycles.

Once Lani spotted the bodies, there was no reason to go any closer. It was clear from the cloud of swarming flies that both victims were dead. She stopped in her tracks so abruptly that Leo literally plowed into her from behind. He grabbed her with both arms to keep her from pitching forward and then was startled when she turned in his arms, buried her head in his ample chest, and wept. They stood like that for several moments, with Leo awkwardly patting her shoulder and trying to comfort her.

Leo probably thought Lani was horrified at being confronted by those two bloodied and mangled bodies, but that wasn’t it at all. She was weeping in gratitude because neither of the dead victims was Gabe. He was home and safe. Right then, that was all that mattered.

At last she straightened up, wiping her nose and eyes on her shirtsleeve. “I’m okay now,” she said.

Letting go of her, Leo started toward the bodies.

“No,” she said, grasping his arm. “Leave them.”

“But shouldn’t we at least check on them?”

Lani shook her head. “This is a crime scene,” she said. “I can see from here that they’re both dead. There’s nothing we can do for them, except call the cops.”





CHAPTER 14




BIG MAN AND HIS FRIENDS came to the house. They called out to the brother, and he came out. Everybody aimed their arrows at him, but as the arrows flew, Brother jumped in the air. None of the arrows hit him. The -people laughed at him and asked him where his feathers were. They told him he should have wings.

But when Brother came back to earth, the -people noticed that the earth trembled under his feet. Three times the -people shot their arrows at Brother, and three times, when he came down, the ground shook.

The fourth time the -people shot their arrows, Brother jumped into the sky, but this time he did not come down.

And so, nawoj, my friend, when you are in the land of the Desert -People and look toward the Eastern Sky early in the morning, you will see Beautiful Girl, smiling at you from the sky. The Tohono O’odham call her Mahsig Hu’u—-Morning Star.

And sometimes—-not often—-when you feel the earth tremble, the Milgahn—-the Anglos—-may call it an earthquake, but you and I will know that it is only Beautiful Girl’s brother who has come back to visit.

WHEN BRANDON WALKER OPENED HIS eyes, Diana was standing in the doorway of the bedroom with a cup of coffee in hand. “Up and at ’em, lazybones,” she said. “You said you’d be driving Miss Daisy today, and if we want to get to the Second Street garage in time to find a parking place, you’d better get a move on.”

Brandon turned over and stared blearily at the clock. It said 8:30.

“What time’s your first panel?”