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Authors: Aimee & David Thurlo

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“We’re in luck,”
Gishii
said. “That’s Lydia Gonzales coming. She’s in my gardening class.”
Gishii
waved at her, then glanced at Rose. “Remember, here I’m just Reva.”
After introducing Rose,
Gishii
added, “I’m glad I ran into you. We’re looking for Mr. Gunn. Do you
know where we can find him?”
“At the welcome party, probably. We have a new resident, and nearly everyone is there,” Lydia said, glancing down at the cheese platter. “Just follow me. I’m on my way there now.”
They walked down to the patio door of a nearby cottage, a white stucco unit with a newly mowed lawn, and went inside. Lydia led the way through the mass of perfumed, silver-haired women,
and Rose was introduced to everyone, including Bruce Gunn, who insisted on firmly shaking her hand. The touch, from a stranger, made her uncomfortable, but she tried
not to let it show, focusing instead on why she was there.
Although his first and last name matched the man she was searching for, she couldn’t tell if he was the same person pictured in the photo or not. Too many years had passed.
The man before her had dark hair, dyed, obviously, to hide most of his gray, and he wore thick-framed glasses, but the age seemed right.
Coming up with a strategy to get the information she needed, Rose went over to the buffet table. She had a feeling that if she stayed where she was and didn’t press it, he’d come to her. In a room filled with older women, older men often had a tendency to seek
food and refuge. The obvious place was by the buffet table. The round dining table was filled with every kind of party snack available, all in heirloom serving dishes that looked like some she’d seen in antique stores. She took a small paper plate, filled it up, then waited.
It happened slowly. Gunn worked his way through the gathering and eventually, with a nod of greeting, joined her and began
to fill his plate with everything the buffet offered.
“The deviled eggs are particularly tasty,” Rose suggested.
“That’s good to know. I skipped breakfast, so I have to stock up now. I’m still a growing boy—though the growth generally takes place laterally.”
Gunn placed several carrot sticks on his plate, then looked at her and smiled. “I’m not fond of raw vegetables, but as long as they’re
on my plate, I can pretend I’m eating healthy.”
He sat down next to Rose in one of the unoccupied folding chairs against the wall. “What brings you here to our community, Rose?” he asked as he ate.
“I came to speak to you, actually. We have a mutual friend who passed away recently.”
He nodded. “I heard. Bad news always travels fast, especially that kind of news in this kind of community.” He
shrugged, then added, “Charlie always mentioned your name
to me whenever we met, though admittedly that hasn’t been very often lately—not since I moved here.”
Rose waited, but when Gunn offered no more information, she pressed him. “I came to find out who he really was.”
Understanding and a trace of sadness shone in his eyes. “He told me a long time ago that this day would come.” He paused,
picking at his food. “You must have found his brother’s body,” Gunn added, his voice whisper-thin.
“Yes, but only because he told us exactly where to dig.”
He nodded. “That secret was one that always ate at him, you know. The past followed him every day of his life.” He stood. “Let’s go for a walk and you can tell me how you tracked me down and why you want to know. I’ve kept this secret my
entire life, and talking about it goes against the grain even now.”
“I understand.” As they left the party, going back out through the patio door, Rose saw some of the women watching her curiously. She had no doubt that
Gishii
would be grilled for information about her. From what she could see, Mr. Gunn was one of the few bachelors present.
“Now tell me what led you to me and why you need to
know,” he said as they walked toward a covered picnic table beside the recreation center.
“My involvement in this started when my Plant Watcher friend—the person I always knew as Charlie—died,” Rose said. She left out her belief that he’d been murdered, but when she mentioned that he’d been working at the top of a cliff and fallen to his death, she saw the flash of surprise in Gunn’s eyes.
He led her to the bench, then remained standing, leaning against the massive support of the canopy which provided the overhead cover. “I have a feeling you’re trying to find out why a man with vertigo was up on a cliff,” he said. “Do you believe someone pushed him over the edge?”
“Yes, I do.” The candor in his gaze and his voice called for nothing less from her.
“Now you need to know why he
kept this secret from you, and who he was before he assumed Charlie Dodge’s identity. You need to see the whole picture to find answers.” Seeing her nod, he exhaled softly. “All right, I’ll tell you what I know. The man you knew as Charlie was really his younger brother, Gilbert.”
“I began to suspect that when I first learned that Charlie had a brother, but I need to know the rest of the details.”
She paused, then in a soft voice added, “It’s very important to me.”
Gunn took a deep breath. “I’m not particularly proud of my part in what I’m about to tell you, though heaven knows we didn’t have many other options at the time.”
He lapsed into a long silence before he finally continued. “Times were hard back then for nearly everyone in New Mexico, but life was especially cruel to boys like
Gilbert and Charlie Dodge, who had nothing but each other. Their father had died shortly after Gilbert was born, and their mother worked hard to provide for her two sons. Six months after Charlie enlisted, she died of tuberculosis. Gilbert, who’d quit school a year before to help his mother, had a job chopping and hauling wood for Jerry Hatcher at the trading post, making less than a dollar a day.
Most of their clan had been wiped out during the influenza epidemic following World War I, so he wouldn’t have been able to get by at all if it hadn’t been for Charlie, who always sent half his Marine paycheck home.”
“Were you also too young to enlist?”
He shook his head. “I was Charlie’s age, but the Army had already rejected me because I have flat feet. Gilbert and I were both stuck wanting
to enlist and not being able to do it, so that gave us common ground and we became really good friends. He and I spent most of our free time together back then.”
“What happened to Charlie?” she asked softly, getting him back on track.
“I’m getting to that,” he said, then continued in a strained voice. “Charlie came home on leave after basic training. He was a lot tougher-looking and more confident
in his new Marine uniform, but, deep down, he was the same old Charlie. He’d always had a reckless streak in him, and now it seemed even worse with all that gung-ho Marine attitude.
One afternoon, he got hold of one of Jerry Hatcher’s pistols, a big Colt .45, and insisted on showing us what a good shot he’d become. You see, Gilbert had always been the better shot, so Charlie had something to
prove. He started twirling the loaded pistol on his finger like a Hollywood cowboy.”
Rose felt her breath catch in her throat. She knew in her heart what was coming next.
“He lost control, the pistol started to fall, and he made a grab for it. The gun went off and the bullet struck him right in the heart. Even if it had happened in the finest hospital in the world, they’d have never been able
to save him. By the time I checked for his pulse, he was dead.”
“But it was an accident. Why didn’t you both just report it?”
“I started to, but Gilbert stopped me. He said that his brother was dead and nothing would bring him back, but if I kept my mouth shut, he might be able to do some good for our country and make both their lives count for something. He told me that he was going to try
and take Charlie’s place in the Marines.” Gunn paused, took a deep breath, then continued. “I told him he was crazy. Charlie had gone through basic and Gil had no training at all. But Gil’s mind was made up. He’d always been a better marksman than Charlie, and he was sure he could pick up whatever skills he needed along the way. Anything he didn’t know, he’d learn from the other Marines.”
“Boys
that age often overestimate their capabilities,” Rose said.
“Gilbert was a survivor, and I knew that if anyone could pull it off, it would be him. At that time, there was nothing on the Rez for him except poverty and hardship. By taking his brother’s place he would at least have a chance to make something of himself.”
“But without any training, you could have just as easily been condemning him
to death.”
“To me, back then, the issue was more black and white. He could take his chances and die honorably fighting for his country, or die slowly of starvation or maybe by freezing to death the following winter. Their woodstove was broken, and his chances of getting another without the money from Charlie’s paycheck were slim to none.”
“They looked a lot alike, certainly, but wasn’t he afraid
that someone would spot the switch?”
“Charlie had already been scheduled for additional training, which I found out years later was Code Talker school. It was a new program, nobody had seen his brother there, and Charlie’s uniform fit Gilbert perfectly.”
“So you buried one brother and gave the remaining one a chance to find his destiny,” Rose said at last.
“That’s exactly what we did,” he answered.
“We both felt Charlie deserved a coffin, so we made one for him out of scrap lumber and two packing boxes, then buried him that same night by the Hogback, not far from the trading post. From that day on, Gilbert ceased to be. Only Charlie existed.” He rubbed his eyes. “After we buried his brother, I made Gilbert a promise that I’d never tell anyone what had happened as long as he was alive.
Of course, we both knew that after his stint in the Marines was up, he’d have to stay away from Shiprock. Neither
of us could afford to have someone recognize who he really was and start asking questions.”
Rose nodded but didn’t comment.
“He finally returned home fifteen years later. By then, no one recognized him—including me. He’d changed, physically and mentally, so it all worked out.” Gunn
fell silent for several long moments. “As you can see, his murder couldn’t have had anything to do with who he was or became.”
Rose knew now that Charlie had died because of his search for the endangered native plants—work that she’d brought to him.
“What do you plan to do with this information, Rose?”
“The police don’t believe it was murder. So it’s up to me to find the answers and restore
harmony. And, somehow, that’s exactly what I intend to do.”
On the way back to the reservation an hour later,
Gishii
was uncharacteristically quiet. Rose stared out the window, lost in thought.
“Old friend, I can’t stand the suspense. I know you’ve learned something that’s upsetting you. What is it?”
Gishii
asked.
Rose told her what Bruce Gunn had said, knowing Gilbert had wanted the truth
to come out. “So I inadvertently ended up causing his death by asking him to help me find the missing Plant People,” Rose said finally in a shaky voice. Pausing, she pulled herself together. “What scares me the most is that I may end up losing two friends, not just one, if I don’t manage to find one of the Plant People the
hataalii
needs for the ceremony. And I can’t ask anyone else to help me
look for the plant she needs—not until the killer is caught.”
“You won’t need to ask for help. We’ll give it to you whether you want it or not.”
Rose smiled. “Then warn the others for me. They need to know the risks.”
Soon they pulled up in front of Clara Henderson’s home. As
Gishii
parked, Clara hurried out, at the best speed the ancient woman could muster, to meet Rose.
“You have to go
over to Lena’s house right now. Her daughter just called and she needs your help. Lena is getting ready to leave.”
“Leave? You mean return to the hospital?”
“No, no, to their family’s hogan up in the mountains.”
The words sank in slowly. She knew precisely what was going through her friend’s mind. Lena was getting ready to die, and was worried that although her modernist daughter would never
give the
chindi
a second thought, her granddaughter, a traditionalist, would never willingly step into a place where a death had occurred. Rather than have her home become a source of contention between them, Lena was going up to the hogan to die.
A
s Rose drove up to Lena’s home, she saw Lena’s daughter, Ruthann, holding on to her mother’s arm in the open doorway. “You’re not going anywhere, Mother. I’m not taking you there, and you can’t drive yourself. You’re in no condition for anything like that.”
“I have to go,” Lena said, pulling to get loose.
Rose hurried over to the front porch, smiled at Ruthann, then touched
Lena’s arm. “Let’s go back to your room, old friend. You and I can speak in private there.”
Lena met her friend’s gaze, then nodded. As Rose led her back across the living room, Ruthann dropped down heavily onto the couch, exhausted.
Lena half staggered down the hall, with Rose trying to steady her, then sat down heavily on her bed. “I can’t stay here any longer. I had a dream last night where
I was told that ‘white at night’ is gone from the reservation forever. That was a sign for me. I know now that I’m going to die soon, but I don’t want it to happen in the hospital, where I’m a stranger, or here at home. I have good memories of the hogan. It’s where I grew up, and that’s where I choose to die. But I need to go now while I’m still strong enough to make the journey.”
“You’re not
going to die. I won’t let you. It’s not your time.
I know that in my heart. I’ll call my son so he can come and do a Sing that will keep the dream from coming true.” Rose noted how the exertion had bathed her friend’s forehead in perspiration, and Lena seemed ready to pass out. “You have to relax. Lay back on your pillow and think of all the things you’ve yet to do.”
“Your son can’t stop what
has already happened, old friend,” Lena said without emphasis, lying back as Rose had asked.
It was the flat, colorless tone of her voice that frightened Rose the most. She’d met others who had declared they were going to die, and those people usually did, even though they’d often seemed in perfect health.
“I’ll find the plant that’s needed. I know I will,” Rose said.
“You can’t, not this time.”
Lena smiled wearily. “I remember when my mother took to her bed—a woman who, like me, had never been sick a day in her life. The Anglo doctors couldn’t tell us what was wrong. A
hataalii
was supposed to come and do a Sing for her, but his horse went lame, and he had no other way to get there in time. Mother asked my father to take her outside the hogan because she wanted to sleep under the stars,
like she did when she was at the sheep camp during the summer. She was dead before morning.”
“That was your mother—not you. You still have time.”
“Yes, there’s time, but not much. That’s why I have to go up to the hogan
now
.” Lena struggled to sit back up again, but sagged back onto her pillow with a groan.
Rose fought the panic that swelled inside her. One of them had to stay calm. “Why don’t
you and I make a deal? You’re safe and comfortable here, so let’s take advantage of that for now. If you let me know when the time draws near, I’ll see to it myself that you die near the hogan, and under the stars, like your mother. Will you trust me to carry out that promise?” Rose reached over and placed her hand on Lena’s and gave it a squeeze.
“All right.”
Rose sighed with relief. Only
one thing would cure Lena now—she needed the right Sing. “I have a present for you from our oldest Plant Watcher.” Rose reached into her purse and brought out the sprigs of ‘gray sunflower,’ then hung them upside down near the window according to tradition. “She wanted me to remind you of the story about Horned Toad.”
Lena smiled. “I know it well. Thank her for me,” she said in a thin voice.
“I’m going over to see my son right now. He’ll take care of things for you.” Rose swallowed, making sure her voice remained steady when she continued. “You’re my closest friend, Lena, and I can’t lose you. Trust me to find the plant you need. I won’t fail you,” she said confidently.
Rose left the house feeling far less confident than she’d allowed anyone to see. The truth was she didn’t know where
else to search. But to tell Lena the truth would have robbed her of all hope and there was no way she could have done that. Lena needed her now, just like Rose had needed her countless of times in the past. They were there for each other—always. That was the bedrock of their friendship. She’d find “white at night” no matter what it took.
She arrived at her son’s hogan a half hour later. She’d
surprised herself by making the thirty-minute drive in less than twenty-five. Clifford came out of his hogan to greet her and Rose quickly climbed out of her pickup.
“Have you found the plant you need yet?” she asked.
“No. All the
hataaliis
have joined the search, but we’ve had no luck so far. One of the others needs ‘baby newborn’ for a Blessing Way, and none of us have found that plant either.”
“It’s a little early for it to be covered in blooms, and without the flowers, it’s easy to overlook. It’s never more than ten inches high.”
“Our new traditionalist medicine man had one plant in his garden, and it wasn’t in good shape, but it did have one small flower. He sold the pollen to the other
hataalii
.”
“And now there’s no more?” Seeing Clifford nod, she quickly added, “Won’t you need
some too?”
“I still have some I collected last year. If the
hataalii
had come to me first, I would have given him what he needed, of course.”
Rose nodded. “I’ve been giving this a lot of thought, son, and I think we need to get a large group of people involved in our search. My friend is running out of time. Tell everyone who might be able to help that there’ll be a meeting this evening after
sundown in my home. We’ll get maps, and coordinate areas, and send out parties of two or more working together to search in a wide pattern first thing tomorrow morning. Whoever is responsible for taking the plants and killing my friend will not attack a group of people, and he can’t possibly follow more than one group.”
“I’ll get the word out.”
After Rose got home, she called Willie. He, in
turn, promised to phone Maria. “In the meantime,” Rose said, “I know that you have your own database on plants. Will you see if any ‘white at night’ or ‘baby newborn’ is known to grow anywhere near our borders? We may have to take Plant People from outside the Sacred Mountains if there’s absolutely no other choice.”
“I see from the master list you gave me that they’re what we call evening primrose
and Parry bellflower. I’ll be happy to check it out for you, but I don’t think I’ve ever kept track of either variety,” he said.
“But remember, the closer to our borders, the better.”
“I’ll see if any of my colleagues have kept track of them and bring whatever information I can find to you tonight.”
Rose hung up and got hold of
Gishii
next, who then promised to call all the Plant Watchers and
their friends.
“Will a few of the
hataaliis
come to the meeting at your house?”
Gishii
asked. “Their presence would boost the spirits of those of us who are losing hope.”
“All I can tell you for sure is that my son will be there.”
Rose called Sadie next. “I’d love to take part,” Sadie said immediately. “I have some wonderfully detailed maps we can use too.”
“Bring them, then.”
“You might
ask your daughter if her police officer friends will help. They are trained to observe and search.”
“Good idea.”
Rose checked all her notes and her plant survey reports for any comments she might have written in about the two plants, but she found nothing that could help her. Knowing that her plan was well under way, Rose went to the kitchen to fix snacks for the people who’d drop in tonight.
She fixed chile fingers—little bits of chile and cheese and onions wrapped in bread dough, then fried in butter. She had enough for an army by the time she finished, but she knew people loved these snacks and they’d go quickly.
Around five, Ella came in, Dawn with her. “We’ve been shopping!” Dawn said, showing her some new blue jeans and a blouse that had wonderful cartoon animals painted all
over it.
“She picked those herself,” Ella said. “She didn’t like anything I picked for her.”
“You see? Life is fair. You drove me crazy just like that when you were a child,” Rose said.
As Dawn left to go play with Two, Ella went to the refrigerator and brought out a can of cola. “I gave our babysitter the afternoon off to be with her family. I know the Clanis are devastated by all that’s happened.”
“They’re very frightened,” Rose said. “I am too,” she added softly.
Ella gave her mother a hug. “Lena will be fine. She’s as strong as you are.”
“Yes, but even the strong can have their spirit broken. Her son doesn’t live on our land and that breaks her heart every day. She’s always loved to spend time gathering and collecting plants, and now the Plant People are moving away. Sometimes it’s
just the
ch’ééná
that kills us—that sadness for what can no longer be. Our heart breaks first, then the body follows.”
“Can’t my brother help?”
“Not without the Plant People the gods gave us. If the Sing is not exactly right, it will most certainly fail.”
An hour later, people began to arrive, some bringing their friends as well. Those in the greatest numbers were the Plant Watchers and
their families. Word had spread. By the time the meeting started, over one hundred people were crowded shoulder to shoulder in Rose’s small living room.
Maria gave out copies of topographical maps that she’d sectioned off into quadrants. Although no one knew exactly where the two plants could be found, except in generalities, Willie had used what information he had to assign search areas. He
explained the geographical sectors and divided them, assigning sections that made sense logically to the groups of people, who had divided themselves into more than twenty teams.
Everyone, it seemed, was eager to help in this emergency. Several people from the Christian church her husband had founded and even a group of young people from the high school’s science club came to help. Rose was happy
to see all them—from traditionalist to modernist—working together. The search would begin tomorrow, a Saturday.
By the end of the evening, Rose had reason to hope—both for her friend Lena, and for the reservation. If they could come
together like this in a time of crisis, there was no doubt in her mind that they would remain strong as a tribe.
Once the people began to leave, Maria came up to
Rose and took her aside. “I just wanted to tell you that the tribe has guaranteed me a small amount of money for my research. The state will match it and I’ll now be able to continue my work. It’s not much, but I’ll get by.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“I know I wouldn’t have gotten this without your help,” she added.
“I’m not your enemy. I never was.”
Maria nodded slowly. “I tried to make things
difficult for you. I really thought that it was you or me, and I honestly felt my way was better for the tribe.” She paused, hesitant to continue. “I did some things I regret …
”
she said slowly, and never looking directly at her.
It took Rose a moment to understand. “That explains why Two growled when you got out of your car this afternoon. Did you come into my house while I was in the shower
and try to scare me?”
Maria averted her gaze. “That was me, but I wouldn’t have harmed you. I just thought that if I could get you to give up the work you were doing, the tribe would have the money to pay me. I know it sounds selfish, but it wasn’t, not really. I honestly felt that I could offer the tribe more.” She took a deep breath. “I’m taking a chance telling you this now, but when I confided
this to Willie, he felt I should, and I agreed with him. There are things happening now that demand all your attention. You don’t need to be distracted or worried about who broke into your house. But I hope you will forgive me. The tribe needs both of us—what we have to offer is different, but necessary.”
“What you’ve told me will remain between you and me,” Rose said quietly and without recriminations.
“But tell me this.
Did you come back a second time and take my photos?”
“Photos?” Maria shook her head. “No, and I never took anything, I swear it. Your dog scared me half to death. He looks like such a placid animal, but he’s very protective.”
Rose smiled. “Yes, he is.”
“I may still disagree with you about some of the native plants, but I’ll make up what I did to you somehow. Then there’ll
be balance and harmony between us,” Maria said quietly. “At least more than before,” she added.
Rose smiled. “Just help us find the plant my friend needs. That’ll be enough.”
Rose said good-bye to everyone, including her son and the other
hataaliis
. All had come except John Joe, who’d said that he had “other commitments.” Herman, who’d been one of the first to arrive, stayed behind and helped
her clean up. Ella made herself scarce, giving them a chance to talk privately by taking Dawn outside to tend the pony.

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