Tainted Mountain (16 page)

Twenty-Five

Nora had to find
Heather. Okay, she didn't
have
to. Heather was now doing everything she could to push Nora away, and she excelled at it. But the girl needed help, and Nora felt responsible. Cole had said he suspected Alex camped at the springs that nestled at the base of a rock pile a fifteen-minute hike from the lodge. Nora hollered for Abbey.

True night settled in. Like fireflies, lights flickered here and there. These weren't awesome fireballs like the night of the lift explosion, but ordinary flashlights. Maybe the activity was nothing more than teenagers out for a party. Heather might just be drinking with a bunch of friends. Which was dangerous in its own way but not in the same league as Big Elk's campaign.

Heather tugged at Nora's heart in an unexpected way. She didn't owe the girl anything and yet she felt connected. It was probably some stupid transference of affection for the little sister she never had and always wanted. Or the baby she thought she'd have with Scott. Whatever. She'd confront all that wishy-washy malarkey later and figure out a more appropriate relationship with her employee. For now Nora just wanted to make sure Heather was safe.

Nora sucked in a deep breath and hurried deeper into the forest. Not far ahead, three people scurried along, their voices close to a whisper. Nora reached down and grasped Abbey's collar to keep him from joining the group.

The distant
boom, boom, boom
of drumming thumped in Nora's head.

“They've started. We're going to be late,” an older man in the group ahead of her said. Definitely not an underage-drinking party.

A thin woman with stringy gray hair breathed hard but managed to whine. “It wasn't my fault. The fuse wouldn't stay connected.”

The third person, a woman, jogged a few paces to keep up. “I think there are other sites, so even if it doesn't work it'll still be spectacular.”

What were Big Elk's Guilty White People so worked up about? Something with a fuse. The ski lift wasn't enough, they planned to blow up something else?

Nora followed as the three veered onto an uphill trail. A short but strenuous hike brought them to a clearing. The drumming beat loud enough now that Nora didn't worry about being heard. They were gathering at the site where a plane crashed into the mountain in the early 1970s. Some of its wreckage still rested in this spot next to an opening to the lava tubes. An easily identifiable landmark, it was a popular place to gather.

And gathering they were. A bonfire flared next to the bit of fuselage and Big Elk stood on a flat rock, facing a growing crowd of Natives and Guilty White People. With Abbey's collar firmly in her grasp, Nora crouched in the shadow of trees.

Big Elk raised his hands and brought the drumming to a halt. “People of the mountain. Holy people. It is time for us to gather in strength and do what the spirits of the mountain demand of us. The Hopi have a responsibility to care for the world, and that starts with this mountain. We are joining with our brothers and sisters to take a stand for our Mother when she can't defend herself.”

The drums pounded several times and people shouted.

“A powerful kachina came to me last night. He stood outside my shelter with his fire and told me to gather the people on the mountain. He wants to show us his displeasure with what is happening and make us understand that we need to stop the white rapists from destroying our Mother.”

Nothing but a summer repeat. Nora needed to find Heather and get the heck off the mountain.

Big Elk raised his arms. “Show us, great kachina. What would you have us do?”

Nora took a few steps into the forest. Vibration in the ground shocked her feet before her ears caught the roar. An astonished gasp rose from the forty or so people around Big Elk.

A ball of flames burst from the lava tube, making Big Elk's bonfire looked like a candle flame. The Wizard of Oz couldn't have created a better illusion.

“He is with us!” Big Elk shouted. “He's giving us a message.”

Another explosion erupted from the forest below. Flames leapt above the trees and escaped into the air. The flash had barely extinguished when another flare and rumble surged from several hundred yards to the left. Another exploded toward the top of the peak. The crowd gasped and applauded at each successive fire burst.

Big Elk had cleverly staged his mystical pyrotechnic theater from the lava tubes. Maybe he'd rigged fuses through the tubes to connect with each other or maybe he used timers. That must be what the folks walking in front of her were talking about. The balls of flame would ignite the night, but since they originated in the rock openings, the risk of forest fires would be slight. The show exhibited drama and flare—literally. But who really believed mountain gods created fire to demonstrate their wrath?

“Are you going to allow Nora Abbott to desecrate the kachina's home?” Big Elk might be a thin, short man, but next to the fire, with the momentum of the supernatural display, he resembled a roaring lion.
The shouts and enthusiasm of his followers left no question: they hungered for blood. Or at least, more destruction of property.

“She ignored our pleas. She plunged the needle into our Mother's veins and will pump her blood to stain the scars she cut into our Mother's flesh. Brothers and Sisters of the Earth, I beg you. The spirit commands you—don't let this happen.”

She had to get out of here before the riled up crowd discovered their enemy was nearby and alone save for an aging canine companion. Nora raced down the path with Abbey in thankfully silent tow, hoping she could make it to the springs to get Heather; that is, if Heather was even at the springs. She crashed along the trail, stumbling over rocks and roots. Each step ignited more fear.

Finally she made out a weak light shining from the springs. Alex and Heather stood in a clearing, surrounded by the forest on three sides. A huge boulder pile created the fourth boundary. A flat granite rock looked almost like an altar at the base of the boulders and to the side of this, green ferns and yellow flowers ringed a small spring about the size of a child's backyard wading pool.

“I don't trust Big Elk,” Nora heard Heather say as she drew nearer. “Just don't do what he says without talking to the elders.”

Alex picked up a wad of bright turquoise-colored cloth. A dead animal lay next to a half empty bottle of Wild Turkey. She'd caught them in the middle of a ritual animal sacrifice.

Wait. The dead animal turned out to be some sort of costume with leather and feathers. It didn't take a genius to figure out where Scott's mystical kachina had really come from.

“Babe, the kachinas want us to act now.”

Heather put a hand on his arm. “I'm just asking you to wait and talk to the elders. Do it for me.”

He kissed her and smiled. “Only for you.”

Nora burst into the clearing with Abbey on her heels. Like a squirrel chased by a dog, Alex spun and fled without stopping to see who attacked. He dove for the rock pile … and disappeared.

Heather turned to the forest and scowled. You'd think a sixteen-year old would be skittish in that situation, but she acted more put-out than nervous.

“Heather, we need to get out of here!” Nora grabbed Heather's arm.

Heather pulled back and glared at her. Wherever Alex had gone, he might reappear with some of Big Elk's explosives or that knife of his. Nora didn't want to wait around for that.

Abbey climbed around the boulders and whined. The lantern only cast enough light to create shadows that danced with menace. Nora didn't want to go near there.

“Let's go.”

“You shouldn't be here. This is a sacred place, with the lava tubes,” Heather said.

Duh, Nora, the rock pile is an opening to the tubes. Stupid!
She grabbed Heather's arm and tried to jerk her away, now afraid of fire in addition to Alex's knife. “Please, you have to come with me.”

“Leave me alone!”

“The tubes. Big Elk. We've got … ”

A click and whoosh came from the direction of the rocks. Whatever high-tech device Big Elk commissioned must be engaging. It was going to blow.

Nora dove for the dirt just as Armageddon broke loose in the clearing. Flames engulfed the space then rose before igniting her skin. She felt as if her eardrums were bursting. Incredible light and heat flashed, and Nora knew she would soon be nothing but a sooty skeleton scattered on the forest floor.

Then it ended.

She couldn't hear anything. Acrid fumes burned her nostrils and her face felt scalded. Heather had been closer to the opening. Was she okay? In the blindness from the flash and smoke, Nora rose to her knees and searched for the girl.

Oh God, where was Heather? She should be close by, but there wasn't anyone there except Abbey, who, probably having heard the coming explosion before Nora, had sprinted to safety before the fire erupted.

Movement next to the springs drew Nora's eye. Through smoke, Nora watched Alex heft a motionless Heather to his shoulder and disappear into the trees.

Twenty-Six

Nora ran across the
slope, slipping on the wet grass and coughing up the smoky taste of fire. Abbey galloped behind her. Heather had looked like a Raggedy Ann doll draped on Alex's shoulder.
Please let her be okay.
But even if Heather survived the explosion at such close range, Alex might be the bigger danger.

Behind her, the mountain erupted with random bursts of flame. Far off, drums pounded and people cheered.

Nora raced by the lodge, noting the lack of lights. Abigail still hadn't made it home. Nora didn't like Abigail being with Barrett, but it beat getting caught in the middle of an incendiary riot. Whatever. Nora couldn't take care of Abigail tonight.

“Nora!” Cole's shout stopped her before she made it to her Jeep. “Thank God you're okay.” He sat in his pickup, the engine running. “I saw flames and was afraid … ”

She jumped into the pickup and Abbey scrambled in after her. Nora scooted over to share the bucket seat. “Go! Alex has Heather. We need to save her.”

He backed out of the parking lot. “He has Heather where?”

“The rez I'll bet. I don't know. Somewhere. The lava tube blew and he took Heather.”

Cole drove down the mountain. “You aren't making sense. Start from where I left you at the lodge.”

Nora told him about Big Elk and the explosions and the kachina costume. She explained everything.

He braked as he pulled into town. “We're going to go to the police station and tell them what you just told me.”

Nora shook her head. “No. We should go to the rez. I'm sure that's where he'll take Heather.”

“Which rez?”

“Hopi!”

“Do you know which mesa?”

Nora hadn't been to the tiny reservation completely surrounded by the Navajo Nation. She didn't know all the details, but the Hopi had been in this area for centuries before the Navajo made their way here. The Navajo tribe grew and little by little moved onto traditional Hopi lands. When the United States government, showing their usual even-handed, understanding ways, divided up the area for reservations, they reduced the amount of land the Hopi considered theirs and placed the reservation smack in the middle of the immense Navajo Nation.

Thus the Hopi lived on in a remote part of the desert on three mesas north of Winslow. About a two-hour drive from Flagstaff.

Cole pulled into a parking space in front of the police station. “If we don't get any help here, I'll get Benny to help us.”

Benny? Oh, Cole's Hopi friend. Okay. She'd give the cops a chance but if they didn't do something immediately, she and Cole would rush to the rez.

But after entering the station, it was clear they wouldn't get the action Nora was hoping for. Every spare hand was up patrolling the mountain to create order after the amazing fireworks show. Worse, the cops dragged their feet before even talking to them.

After what felt like an hour, they took Cole one way and escorted her the other way, to a room where they told her they'd take her statement as soon as someone was available. More hours passed. Twice Nora tried to leave, telling them her dog was outside, but uniformed officers led her back to the room. As a person of interest in two murders, the cops didn't feel magnanimous toward her.

Finally Gary showed up, took brief notes, told her not to worry, and let her go.

Not worry that Heather could be injured and in the clutches of a murderer? Fat chance.

A grumpy cop in the lobby relented and let her use the office phone to call Abigail. The apartment phone rang uselessly. Nora slammed the receiver down. Her mother wasn't home, and her cell didn't get reception in most places around here.

Either Abigail held a grudge against Nora for her demolition derby or she'd experienced a romantic encounter with Barrett that stretched all night. Staying at a low-rate hotel just to indulge a snit seemed far-fetched for Abigail. But Nora couldn't calculate the cost of therapy to cope with the image of Abigail in Barrett's bed. She blocked the thought.

So where else could she be? What about Heather? Nora stepped out of the police station into the inky predawn quiet, not sure what to do next.

Cole popped out of his pickup, followed by Abbey. “I'm sorry. I had no idea they'd keep you like that.”

She glared at him, patted Abbey, then marched toward his pickup. “Did you find Heather?”

He shook his shaggy head. “I checked the hospital and she's not there. I talked to Benny. There's a public dance out there today at Second Mesa. Alex is supposed to dance, so there's a good chance
she'll be there.”

Nora opened the passenger door and let Abbey in. What if Heather was seriously hurt in the explosion? Would Alex be selfless enough to take her to a “white man's” doctor? “Let's go to the rez.”

“You can't just go out there. There are certain rules.”

“Like what?”

“It's sort of like a church service, and you're supposed to dress nice.”

“You're taking me to church?”

He opened the door and settled in. “No, I'm taking you home. Benny will help Heather.”

She jumped into the passenger's seat. “We've got to go out there now. Heather probably needs us.”

He started the pickup and maneuvered through the silent town. “Benny has a better chance of getting her home than you or I.”

Nora argued and reasoned during the ride and still Cole held firm. He might be right. Nora wasn't exactly Heather's best friend and she'd fight coming home with her.

But somehow, it didn't matter. The stubborn girl needed someone to help her. The cops certainly didn't care, and if Barrett found out, he would crush Heather's spirit. She might not want the responsibility of Heather, but Nora couldn't turn away.

They pulled into Kachina's parking lot. Cole said, “There is something else.”

She hated those words and the serious way Cole dropped them.

“I found out the cops were about to extradite Big Elk to South Dakota when he disappeared.”

“Only to reappear on my mountain. What did he do in South Dakota?”

“Well, his real name is Ernie Finklestein. He's wanted for a scam that stole the investments of a bunch of retirement home residents. They lost his trail several years ago. Turns out Ernie got a sunburn and changed his name and now he's into something here.”

“Aside from destroying my property and threatening my life?”

Cole nodded. “Looks like he's importing cheap crap from China to sell as authentic Navajo crafts.”

“A real hero.” She stared out the window. “Maybe he knows the cops are on to him and after last night's Bonfire of the Kachinas, he'll go underground.”

“He doesn't strike me as the underground type.” Cole pulled up in Kachina's parking lot.

“Don't worry about us.” Abbey scrambled from the cab and Nora followed. She was a few paces up the path when the truck's other door slammed. She whirled around. “I can handle it from here.”

“I'm not leaving you out here alone.”

Punching him might feel good. Not that he'd blown up the mountain or caused Heather to run away, but because of him, she'd lost precious time. Had he not been here, she would have been out at the rez hours ago. “Just leave me alone.”

He paused. “Have you found out anything new about Scott?”

Why would he ask that? Was there something he thought she was close to finding, something that implicated him? Except he'd have no possible reason to kill Scott. Unless he felt far more strongly about no snow making than he let on. Despite all his claims to want to help her, Nora couldn't trust her judgment after being so wrong about Scott. Her suspicion must have scrolled across her face.

His face hardened. “I'm only trying to help. The key to everything lies with figuring out who killed Scott. Once I know that, this nightmare will be over for you.”

Which nightmare did he mean? Alex's hands crushing her larynx? Big Elk blowing up her property? Barrett ruining the mountain? Abigail taking up residence in her home? She stomped up the path while Abbey went off to conduct his own business.

After a few moments she heard his pickup door open and close more gently. But he didn't start the engine.

Nora slid her hand into her pocket for her key but when she held the knob to insert it, she realized the door was unlocked. She'd locked it last night. She knew it.

Indecision froze her. What to do? Something caught her eye. The screen on the window next to the front door was bent. It looked as though someone peeled it back. The sliding window was open just a crack—someone had broken into her house. She should run.

And wouldn't you know, Cole sat in the lot waiting to “rescue” her once more.

A slight shuffling sounded behind the drawn blinds. Someone was inside.

Damn it. No more being a victim
. She would fight back this time. Casting about wildly for a weapon, Nora grabbed an old ski pole she used to shoo raccoons that occasionally climbed the stairs.

Nora held the pole like a bayonet and reached for the knob. One, two, three …

With a mighty leap she opened the door, lunged inside, and stabbed into the kitchen where she heard the shuffling.

“For heaven's sake, Nora! What are you doing?”

Nora stopped mid-attack, confused. “Mother?”

“Whom did you expect at this hour?”

Abbey trotted inside, his tail wagging.

A silent figure stepped from the hallway. Nora raised the ski pole again, sure this was the intruder who used Abigail as a hostage.

“Hey, Nora,” Charlie said. He walked from the bathroom.

Nora lowered the ski pole.

Abigail tied an apron behind her waist then opened the re-
frigerator.

What the … ?

Charlie fumbled for a chair at the table and her mother banged a fry pan onto the stove.

Abigail glanced up. “If you're going to join us for breakfast, at least comb your hair.”

Nora turned questioning eyes toward Charlie but his head rested on his hands, gazing adoringly at Abigail.

“What is going on?” Nora managed to ask.

Abigail didn't look up from beating the hell out of the eggs. “I refuse to talk to you until you make yourself presentable.”

“Oh for the love of Pete.” Perplexed and without a target for her adrenaline, Nora went off to change clothes and brush her teeth.

Bacon sizzled and coffee dripped when she returned, which seemed fairly normal. What made Nora wonder if one of the Hopi warriors had let go of a serpent head and thrown the world off its axis was the way Abigail sat at the table across from Charlie and spoke in a soft voice.

Keeping an eye on them, Nora snagged a cup of coffee.

Abigail turned to her. “Please pick up your feet. Shuffling is low class.”

The mug warmed Nora's hands. “Where have you been? Why did you break into my house? What are you doing with Charlie?”

Abigail raised her eyebrows. “The tables are turned and she's giving me twenty questions.”

Charlie looked up at Nora and grinned. “I've been taking good care of her.”

Nora ran a hand through her hair. “Excuse me, Charlie, but you can barely take care of yourself. Why would you overwhelm yourself with Queen Abigail?”

Her mother giggled. “See?” she said to Charlie. “That's why I like to be around her. She's always so witty.”

“Not witty, Mother. Tired. Worried. Confused. And pretty freaked out.”

Abigail and Charlie exchanged a look that said “isn't she cute?” Abigail patted Charlie's hand and got up to fiddle with the bacon and start the eggs.

Nora sipped her coffee, trying to clear her head. “I thought maybe you were staying in a motel or something.”

“Now why would I do that?” Abigail poked a strip of bacon with a fork and transferred it to a paper towel–lined plate.

Her mother was practicing her typical form of punishment. She'd force Nora to detail the offense, then she'd demand an apology.

Frustrated, Nora took a breath and recalled their last conversation, before the fire on the mountain. “I'm sorry I called you a kept woman. I didn't mean it.”

Abigail nodded and continued with the sputtering and popping bacon.

“I'm sorry I ran into Barrett's bumper and probably ruined your lunch date.”

Abigail grabbed the eggs and whisk and let them have it again. “You didn't ruin our date. We had a lovely time.”

Nora couldn't fathom what a lovely time with Barrett looked like. Her imagination balked at anything romantic with that man, and thinking of her mother that way was just plain wrong.

“You're not mad at me?”

Abigail poured the eggs into the warm pan. “I'm not pleased with your performance, no. But you are grieving. Perhaps you should see a therapist.”

Nora looked at Charlie, hoping for some help.

He dozed, head resting on his hand.

Nora fortified herself with coffee. “Where were you last night, and how did you end up with Charlie?”

Abigail folded the omelet in a move that impressed Nora. “I was understandably upset when I got back to Mountain Village. Honestly, Nora, you wear me out sometimes.”

“So what about Charlie?”

“When Barrett dropped me off, I went for a stroll instead of going directly home. I ran into Charlie and he took me for a cocktail at the Tavern.”

Nora choked on coffee. “You went to the Tavern. With Charlie.”

Abigail shot her a withering look. “Really, Nora. I'm not an ice queen.”

Nora tried to keep from laughing.