Dance of the Bones

“Does Tim have a phone? Have you tried calling him?”


Lorraine nodded. “We all have phones. Max bought them. When I dialed Tim’s number, he didn’t answer. I asked the FBI agents if they couldn’t trace his phone some way. Because I’m not a signer on the account, they couldn’t do it just on my say--so. The one agent, the man, said he’d need to go to town and get a warrant before they could do something like that. I don’t know how long that will take.”

“What’s Tim’s number?” Lani asked.

“There are so many, I can’t keep them all straight. They’re in my cell phone in the bedside table.”

“May I?” Lani asked.

“Sure.”

Lani retrieved the phone and scrolled through the recent calls list, jotting down numbers as she went—-numbers for Carlos, Paul, and Tim. “What about Max’s phone?”

Lorraine shrugged. “He probably took it with him when they locked him away up in Florence. He’s the one whose name is on the account.”

“Has anyone gotten in touch with him about what happened last night?”

“After the FBI agents stopped by, I called Father O’Reilly. He said he’d go to Florence and tell Max. He’s probably on his way there now.”

Lorraine’s sister and brother--in--law turned up just then. Lorraine turned to them hopefully. “Any sign of Timmy?”

“Not yet,” the sister said.

Lani pocketed her list of phone numbers and took her leave. Out in the hallway, she used her phone to call the number listed as Timmy’s. Not surprisingly, there was no answer. It went straight to voice mail, and Lani knew there was no point in leaving a message.





CHAPTER 19




ON THE WAY BACK TO the village, Turtle and the children met Horned Toad—-Mo’ochwig. Turtle asked Horned Toad to go tell the women that Shining Falls had been hurt and that he, Turtle, was bringing the children home. Horned Toad ran quickly to carry the message. As soon as the women in the village heard the news, they hurried up the mountain—-some to meet Turtle and the children and some to help Shining Falls. But when they reached Shining Falls, the Evil Giantess was already lifting her up.

Ho’ok O’oks told them, “There is no place in your village for someone who is sick. I will take this girl to my home in the mountains, the one that is made of saguaro sticks.”

Because they were afraid of the Evil Giantess, the women consented, but they brought a bed and some food to the shelter, and sometimes they sat with Shining Falls.

Ho’ok O’oks told the women it was foolish for them to waste their time looking after a sick girl. “I am a medicine woman,” she said. “I will sing the songs and bring the medicine that will make her well.”

Ho’ok O’oks went away and returned with a bag of feathers. Some of the feathers were gray, some were white, and some were red. Ho’ok O’oks put the gray feathers around the girl’s injured foot, then she waved the red and white feathers over Shining Falls’s face. Slowly the girl’s eyes closed.

When the women saw this, they decided it was time to return to their work, but the next day, when they returned, Shining Falls was still sleeping.

WHEN I MADE IT BACK to our condo at Belltown Terrace in the early afternoon, I was not a happy camper. I do not like to shop. I have never liked shopping. I hated it back in the old days when Karen and I were married and we didn’t have two nickels to rub together. My financial situation has changed remarkably since then, but my attitude toward shopping remains the same. So after spending most of the morning and part of the afternoon being dragged from one furniture emporium to another with Jim Hunt, our interior designer, I was beat and cranky.