Leoti (24 page)

“He won’t do it.” Josie answered.

“I think he will.” Rex nodded. “Or they’ll find what’s in those caves. Find out the truth about his noble tribe––noble grandfather.”

Josie frowned. “What truth?”

Rex kept driving. His eyes trained on the road but his grin was wicked. She could smell the evil permeating off his skin like the stench off hot garbage. She looked over to the other man and was equally repulsed. The man was stroking the barrel of the gun in an obscene manner. He leaned in and sniffed at her.

“Get off me!” she hissed, nudging him hard in the side. Jeffery howled as if in pain and then released a gust of laughter that scraped over her raw nerves.

“Where are these caves? In Blackfoot Mountain?” she asked.

Rex began to sing. “One little – two little – three little dead Indians…”

“Graves?” she cut in. “It’s a burial site?”

“You could say that.” Rex shrugged. “I know those strangers you want to bring to our town would. They come here they’d uncover more than they imagined. Crescent will be forced out of the deal. The government will find new fertile ground, probably the desert to break ground in.”

“Yeah! Ova there where the UFO’s are! Area-50 or something like that. Right Rex?”

“They’ll try to make it some historical shit.” Rex spat. “It’s in Elu’s best interest that he just go along like a good Indian and we let the dead stay dead.”

“Why would Elu keep this a secret?”

Rex sighed, as if she was testing his patience. “Cause it ain’t right that’s why! What happened to those Indians ain’t right and he knows it! Scares the shit out of him. Just like it scared the hell out of his father. Elu’s father told me the family secret. Elu ought to know better than to test me.”

Josie grabbed the steering wheel. The truck jerked over to the left lane then back.

“Get her the fuck off me!” Rex howled, fighting for control.

Jeffery snatched her roughly by her short locks. It unleashed the hell cat in her. She fought with all her might. Throwing her hands and fists everywhere, wanting to drive the truck off the road, wanting to fight back. The truck gave way to a swerve, straightened and then swerved back and forth again. She kept fighting him until she felt the cool steel of a gun pressed into the back of her skull.
It wasn’t the shotgun
. This one was much more personal.

“Crazy bitch!” Rex hissed shoving her into Jeffrey.

Jeffrey threw his mangy arm around her neck and held her to him, tapping the gun to her head. “You gone behave?” he asked sniffing her again, his hand covering her breast. She cringed but didn’t move in fear of the gun going off.

Rex turned off the road looking at her with hate. “I oughta throw you off the mountain.”

“Let me have her, Rex.” He gave a snaggletooth grin.

Josie sucked in deep breaths to remain calm, realizing these men were indeed dangerous. Rex drove over the rough terrain like a mad man, through a covered road in the forest. She was jostled in her seat and pressed against the sweaty animal wielding a gun. Finally they did stop and Rex was out of the truck in an instant. Jeffery let go of her, lowering the gun. Josie glared. He smiled to say something possibly crass and she spit in his face. The anger in his eyes made her draw back. Realizing she had crossed a line. “Out!” Rex said.

The man held the gun continuing to glare. The alcohol made him even more dangerous. In that exchange she understood the propensity of his evil. This man could take her life and be sorry about it later. Rex snatched on him and Jeffery went. He reached in for Josie, who fought him, kicking trying for the other door. But he caught her bare foot and dragged her to him. Dragged her out of the open car door. “You want to know about your Indian? Let me show you who he really is.”

When Elu stopped the truck Po leapt out barking. He ran up the front steps then stopped short of the door. The dog sniffed at the edge and his head lifted to the neighboring forest.

Elu ignored Po. He wasn’t led by instinct. If he was he would have seen or cared when Po raced off the porch and ran into the forest. No he was led by his love and mounting fear that Rex would be fool enough to harm his Leoti. He threw open the doors never breaking stride, eyes wide with alarm, searching for his beloved. He shouted her name, his voice bouncing off the cabin walls like thunder. Eddie must have followed him. He walked in behind him searching the cabin as well.

“She’s not here. She’s not here.” Elu panted.

“Who?” Eddie asked.

“Leoti. She’s gone, and her car is out front.” Elu stopped and saw her shoes by the door of the bedroom. She was barefoot?

“Elu, over here, I think you need to see this.”

Eddie had picked up a letter that was left on the counter. Elu snatched it and read it. It was the contract and at the top it said: sign it. “I know where he took her.”

Eddie shouted more questions to his back and Elu ignored them all. He had to get to the caves.

“Should we show her? Bet she won’t think so good of Elu then.” Jeffery taunted.

“Shut the hell up!” Rex barked. “How the hell can we show her? You bring a shovel to dig them out of that cave?”

Josie stood at the foot of what could be an opening but there was a wood platform sealing it. She feared it was unstable. Each step she took it creaked noisily under her bare feet. The weathered surface was splintered and cracked. Even from where she stood she sensed the depths that lay beneath her and the danger of her predicament. She was too close to Rex and Jeffery to flee and not close enough to grab either of their weapons.

“What is this place?”

“Chicatee Caves. This land belongs to Elu. His grandfather lorded over it. Until his drunken son, my friend, sold it for next to nothing to Kingsley Mining Corporation.”

Josie hugged herself against the cooling wind that pushed at her from all angles. She shivered in her bare feet. “Kingsley started mining here? That’s why they bought the land?”

“Good girl.” Rex said as if he were the instructor and she the student. He walked over to the boarded up excavation entrance. “We started to set up the tracks to run through the cave to mine for coal deposits. Hit this patch of earth here and found the bottom to hell.” He kicked at the wood.

“I don’t understand.”

“Because you ain’t listening!” Jeffery sneered. “They found Indian bones and got scared.” Jeffery nodded, taking joy in telling his story. “They laid off the men in this town and eventually closed up construction altogether. Elu’s grandfather convinced this town to keep the strangers away. Kingsley wanted nothing to do with it and most folks around here are natives. So it wasn’t hard to keep their secret. No one, not even the government, cares what happened to those people. And Elu walks around here like he’s some kind of protector. Chased his father away, he did. He’s a fraud. He bought this land to keep the secret for the Blackfoot tribes. Savages!”

Rex nodded. “He can have this land. We don’t care about his dirty secrets. He just needs to get the hell out of the way. Or we go to the media and tell them to start digging.”

“Elu would never cover up a sacred place. You’re lying.”

“Sacred?” Rex laughed. “This ain’t no holy ground. This here is a conspiracy that goes back over a hundred years. It was his people that killed those Indians and buried them here. The tribe even sold off the land to distance themselves from it. Elu’s family and a few others bought land near Blackfoot. All of them agreed to keep their dirty legacy a secret.”

Josie shook her head in disbelief. She had too much faith in Elu. Too much belief in the man he was to believe their twist on this tale. There was something more to this, a reason why Elu would keep this secret. Why he wouldn’t share this part of him with her. There had to be.

“So you’re going to use me and this to get him off his land? That’s your plan?”

Rex clapped his hands. “Give the lady a gold star. She finally got it.”

Suddenly the roar of approaching trucks echoed in the distance. The men immediately swung their guns in the direction of the arriving vehicles. Josie exhaled a deep sigh of relief to see Elu behind the wheel of one of the cars. “Right on time.” Rex chuckled.

Elu got out of the truck. He had his shotgun with him. He had a mean hungry look in his eye and it was aimed directly at Rex.

“That’ll be far enough. Drop the weapon!” Rex ordered. Elu nodded and lowered it to the ground, but he kept marching toward them. His gaze connected with hers. She thought she saw a hint of a smile on his lips. It was brief, and helpful.

“I said stop.” Rex ordered and Jeffery nervously lifted his gun.

“It’s okay, Leoti, I’m here. Rex let her go.” Elu kept approaching.

“Don’t make me hurt her.” Rex warned, he then turned the gun on Josie. Elu, only a few feet from the both of them, stopped on the platform and froze.

“This is between me and you. We’ve already called the Sheriff on the CB radio. He’ll be here soon.”

Rex smirked. “He won’t be here soon enough. We’ll have this resolved shortly. Now tell her, tell her about these caves. Tell her your dirty little secret.”

Josie’s gaze volleyed between the men, resting on Elu. As much danger as they were in at the moment the need to know his truth burned hotter than fear in her gut.

“Tell her. Your people killed those Chicatee Indians.”

“Did they, Elu?” she stammered.

“No.” Elu said softly. “Chicatee are my people too. My grandfather married a descendant, one of the last. They were a noble people and my blood. Just as Siksikáwa is my blood.”

“Tell her the truth!” Rex shouted, he swung the gun in Elu’s direction. “Tell her why you are protecting this place.”

Elu spoke directly to Josie, ignoring Rex. “We were all displaced once. Even Rex has family who had to cross-shores to this land from Ireland. No one is where they belong. But the Chicatee did belong here. They were here first. And neither the government nor the other tribes placed here respected that natural law.”

“So it’s the white man’s fault?” Jeffery spat at Elu.

Elu shook his head. “The blame is a human failing in all of us. Not just yours, Jeffery Henry. I believe when the Confederation of tribes were founded, the natives had intentions of living in harmony. But they failed. There was infighting and bickering and the Chicatee weren’t willing to give up what their ancestors had bled and protected for centuries to share these mountains. These caves were sacred to them once. Unfortunately they were forced here. It was an unstable place to live, the climate is harsher, the farmland is dry, and the caves were the only viable shelter in winter. One winter they suffered the greatest loss, a cave in happened, sealing families inside. Hundreds. The few survivors froze to death in these forests trying to make it out, and even fewer made it to safety. Now they are all gone, except for the blood in my veins. It’s an awful history and a great sorrow to the tribes.”

Josie nodded, her eyes misting over. She could see the pain on his face and hear it in his voice. She didn’t need to hear anymore but Elu continued. “The land was sour but my grandfather loved my grandmother, and vowed to heal her and the past. He came here to release their spirits. After my grandmother’s death, and during my grandfather’s grief, his only son sold the caves. It broke my grandfather’s spirit. That is the truth. I carry that shame. That is why no one will help in this fight. We were dishonored.”

“That’s a fucking lie! You killed your own people. You covered up what happened here and Mission Creek pretends to not know your secret.”

“It’s the truth, Leoti. I’m sorry you had to hear it this way. I didn’t want you to know. The Chicatee, my people, are lost because of fear, pride, and greed. Their souls need to remain at peace. They died wrong. This land is all they had left. I’m here to make sure it remains theirs. If strangers come and disturb them…it’s hard to explain. Rex wants you to know this to justify his greed. He thinks my shame is his weapon, but he doesn’t know me well enough to understand his mistake.” Elu narrowed his gaze on Rex. “Po and I have a purpose, I’m the protector and Po the guardian. My shame is my conviction, and I won’t let him or Jeffery here do anything to take what is not theirs. I bought this land back and kept it preserved along with the help of my wife. People respect our wishes. Rex you should have done the same.”

“Go to hell. You will sign that contract and move your ass back here if you want. If not I will destroy Mission Creek and tell them all what you got here. The media will come, strangers, Elu. They will trample these forests and dig up those dead bones. They’ll put them in a museum on display. The Confederacy will be blamed and mocked. You will be homeless, left with nothing. Look at her, Elu. Look at your girlfriend! Even she doubts you!”

Elu opened his mouth to reply when barking came from the left. Josie almost expected to see Po charge from the trees it sounded so close.

“What the fuck is that?” Jeffery looked around, aiming the gun left then right. The temporary distraction was all Elu needed. He charged forward. Rex swung his gun to fire but Josie reacted just as Elu did. She shoved him hard and Rex fired in the air instead. Po charged out from the trees and took Jeffery by surprise. The animal drove him to the ground as Rex and Elu struggled for the gun that Rex held on to.