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.”
“That’s a risk we are willing to take,” Dex said straightening up, looking as determined as ever.
“Oh come on Dex,” Maximus said. “Seriously, if it’s going to be like this, it’s not worth it.”
Dex ignored him and fished Nicorette out of his pocket.
Maximus looked at me and squeezed my arm tighter. It stung. “Perry. I know Dex isn’t all there, but you’re a smart lady. I would do as Rudy suggests. In fact, I may do as he suggests.”
“Right,” Dex laughed to himself. “Then where would you get your fifteen seconds of fame from?”
“Excuse me?” Maximus got up, his hulking height towering over Dex. Dex grinned and took a step backwards.