The Ways To Be Free
Chapter 18
XVIII
"Noooooo! No! I won't believe it! Don't tell me that! Nooooo…" Nancy's voice trailed off into heartbreaking sobs. Jeff buried his face in his hands, the tears running copiously through his fingers. Mr. And Mrs. Whitman sat pale and speechless, looking as though they had just lost their only reason to live.
Jim tried feebly to swallow a huge lump that had formed in his throat. His own eyes were red and sore, and Amy, sitting beside him, held his hand for emotional support. Amy had been impossible to deceive. Jim had tried to convince her that Liz and Alex had been killed. Deputy Cotter had even backed him up, but somehow Amy had seen through the deception. Despite this fact, Amy sat here now, knowing the full truth, yet crying very real tears in torrents. Having to see the reactions of the Parkers and the Whitman's and deceive them this way was tearing her apart inside. She remembered all too well how she had felt when she had been told that Maria was dead after graduation, and she didn't want anyone else to ever have to go through what she had gone through again. But these were extraordinary circumstances. As Jim had aptly told her, once he had realized that he was not going to be able to convince her of their deaths, if this didn't work, the likely result would be that this scene would play out again one day very soon… and this time, it would be for real… Liz and Alex would not be coming back. It was a hard pill for Amy to swallow, but she could see that Jim was suffering too.
"How could this happen," Mr. Whitman asked, his voice breaking. "How, Sheriff?"
Jim shook his head. "I don't have a good answer for that, Mr. Whitman. Hell, there is no good answer! I wish I had an answer… I really do."
"But you're the law here, Jim," Mrs. Whitman said, wiping her eyes and nose with a handkerchief. "You're supposed to protect us… you're supposed to protect these kids. Things like this aren't supposed to happen here."
"No… they're not," Jim agreed quietly.
"Well, in all fairness to Jim," Jeff Parker said, "he wasn't the sheriff when the graduation thing happened… and all of this seems to have come from that. Somebody in City Hall removed Jim from office right before graduation. I say we need to take care of the matter, starting with Judge Lewis."
"Don't take the law into your own hands, Jeff," Jim warned. "Leave it to me and my deputies. We will take care of it. I promise you."
"It's a little late for that now, isn't it, Sheriff," Mrs. Whitman asked sadly. "Can you bring Alex back?"
Jim cringed. With all his heart, he wanted to say yes, but this was not the time, no matter how much it hurt.
"Cynthia," Amy said gently, sitting down beside Mrs. Whitman and taking her hand in her own, "I know how it looks right now… but things will all work out. I've been there myself. We survive. Life goes on."
"What kind of life Amy? How did you go on after Maria died? I don't think I can do it. Alex was… was everything to me."
Tears began to run down Mrs. Whitman's cheeks, and Amy found her own tears starting up again.
"Jim, I can't do this," Amy said, standing up and leaving the room, the tears flowing unchecked now down her face.
"This has been hard on Amy, too," Jim said softly. "It's opening up old wounds for her… bringing back her memories of Maria."
Mrs. Whitman nodded. "I'm… I'm sorry, Jim. I don't mean to hurt Amy… or you. You've put your own life on the line for Alex and the others over and again since graduation… Don't think we don't all know that. I just don't understand why this is happening. It doesn't feel real. It's like we're living in some kind of… Dodge City… Hell… here."
Jim cringed again. "I know nothing could ever make things seem okay right now, Gloria… but Amy was right. Life does go on. Trust us. You'll see."
**********
Outside the Sheriff's office, Amy was leaning against the wall, shaking, the tears still running down her face, when she noticed Judge Lewis watching from the corner.
"What are you looking at? You not satisfied with what you've done? Do you have to see the destruction you've caused, too?"
"Things happen, Ms. DeLuca. Don't blame me. I had nothing to do with it. Maybe if they hadn't been dealing drugs and had to be put away for their own good…"
Amy's hands and whole body tightened, but somehow she managed to find enough control to not take Judge Lewis apart piece by piece where he stood. Closing her eyes, she swallowed and breathed deeply, using every method at her disposal to calm herself… which under the circumstances, was a miraculous feat.
"Judge, be thankful I'm too distressed right now to do what I'd like to do."
"Is that some kind of veiled threat, Ms. DeLuca? Oh, excuse me… Mrs. Valenti! Because if it is, you need to know who you're dealing with. Don't bring problems on yourself. I'm still the big dog in this town… in a manner of speaking. That's a warning you should heed. Maybe that worthless husband of yours doesn't care enough about you to warn you… but I will. Don't mess with me."
Amy gritted her teeth tightly to keep from screaming. She felt like she would burst if she didn't let something out, but she didn't want to do anything that might compromise Jim's plans to help Liz and Alex. She needed to remain in control… for now.
Amy turned and ran back into the sheriff's office, shaking, and Jim knew with one look that something was wrong…
"What happened, Amy?"
Amy shook her head, but her lips quivered. "Judge Lewis… He's watching what's going on in here."
"Did he say anything to you?"
Amy pursed her lips tightly together and bit her tongue. "Nothing really, Jim. Nothing you need to worry about."
"Why would the judge be watching the goings on in your office, Sheriff?" Mr. Whitman asked.
"He probably enjoys seeing other people suffering," Jeff Parker answered for Jim. "He put Liz and Alex in that place where they could get shot. He's to blame for their deaths. We all should keep that in mind."
"Now, Jeff, I know how you feel and what you're thinking, but it wouldn't do Liz or Alex any good for the two of you to get yourselves arrested… or worse… going after the judge. Let me handle the things that are my jurisdiction. That's what I'm paid to do. I'll have Judge Lewis investigated… I'll go all the way to Washington if I have to… but don't take matters into your own hands or do anything that might get you arrested yourself. That's what he would like you to do. Judge Lewis is a bully… but he's a bully who knows how to use the laws to his own advantage."
Jeff nodded.
**********
Deep inside the earth, Max, Michael, Maria, Isabel, and Rahn had no way of knowing it, but they had already left the army base behind some time ago. They were technically free now. All together, they had walked a total of fourteen miles through the various corridors and rooms of the cavern. But still, they had not found an exit.
Max sat down on a large rock inside another large, cathedral-like room, which they had just entered.
"Take a minute, guys. Let's make some plans here… We need some light. It seems to be getting darker and darker in here… I think the natural phosphorescence in the walls must be diminishing the further we go."
"Maybe we're just getting further from the base and that warm, friendly radiation glow in the soil," Michael said with a smirk.
Max smiled. "Could be. Isabel… could you find me some small stones?"
"What are you going to do with them, Max?"
Max held up a partially hollow section of stalagmite that he had picked up off the floor of the cavern a few minutes before.
"I'm going to make a lantern. Michael and I will heat the rocks till they glow then I'll put them in this stalagmite chunk… or stalactite, whichever one it was."
Michael smiled. "I'm glad you said you were going to put them in there, Max, 'cause those suckers are gonna be really hot after we heat them up!"
Max stopped and thought for a moment. "Give me your shirt."
"My shirt? Why does it have to be my shirt?"
"Just do it, Michael. Come on."
Michael grudgingly removed his shirt, lifting it over the top of his head. Maria tried to hide her smile, as she watched Michael's pecs and biceps flex and his chest expand and contract in the lantern light with every movement.
"What ya got in mind, Max?" Michael asked, handing Max the shirt.
Max reached his hand into a small stream running along behind them and scooped up some mud and sand, which he rubbed copiously all over the shirt.
"I want you to know that was a good shirt, Max. I can never wear it again now."
"You won't want to, Michael." Max ripped the shirt into several strips then tied one mud-caked strip into a sling, which he set their makeshift "lantern" into. Next he put an extra-thick layer of wet mud and sand on the second strip then laid the rocks on it.
"Fire away, Michael."
"It's gonna burn that cloth up, Max."
"Maybe. We won't know until we try." Max held his hand up and blasted the small stones with energy from his hand, and Michael followed suit, blasting them with energy from his own hand until they glowed brightly in the darkness of the cavern. The mud and sand fused and hardened in the heat, turning into something like glassy brick. It was impossible to know for sure if the strip of shirt inside was still there or if it had been incinerated by the heat, leaving only a flat heat-hardened pole. Max raked the stones off the pole into the makeshift lantern, then he picked the lantern up by the sling.
"We have light, Michael."
Michael nodded his head. "Yeah… yeah, I guess we do. You owe me a shirt, Max."
Max grinned then turned to Rahn. "Rahn… you saw the geological maps that showed this cavern system. Do you remember where it comes out?"
"It didn't show any exits," Rahn said. "But that's not unusual. They don't always show them. There must be exits. We just have to find them. I could fly ahead and search while everyone else rests. I can cover more territory and maybe save everyone some walking."
Max nodded. "Okay, that sounds like a good idea… you can go whenever you're ready."
Rahn shape-shifted into a sea gull then into a bat as he disappeared into the darkness beyond.
"How far do you think we've walked, Michael?"
"I don't know, Max… I'd say at least eight or nine miles… maybe more. Do you think we're still under the base?"
"I doubt it… Maybe… but I doubt it."
"I doubt it, too.
"Hey, Max, look at this," Isabel said, reaching up a couple of feet over her head to get something that had been placed on top of a broken off stalagmite. "It looks like a book or something. What do you think?"
Isabel handed the object to Max, and he turned it over then opened it. The cover appeared to be some kind of thin leather. The pages were… well, he wasn't sure what they were, but they were definitely unusual… and so was the writing.
"I've seen this writing," Michael said.
"Where?"
"I don't know… in my mind… and in the Destiny Book! This is the same kind of writing… only different."
"Different how?"
"Just… different… not the same… not even the same letters… but similar. Probably the same language… or maybe a different language but from the same culture."
"Or… maybe from the same planet?" Max asked.
Michael nodded.
"If it's Antarian, maybe Rahn can tell us what it says when he comes back."
Max thumbed through the pages again. There were no pictures, just the strange writing… and the writing was much smaller than the writing in the Destiny Book. The pages felt waxy. Max closed the book.
"Let's move on. We've rested long enough. Rahn can find us on the way."
Michael, Maria, and Isabel followed Max into the corridor that Rahn had flown into only a few minutes before, but this time they found their path suddenly barred, not by boulders or a solid wall or a broken ledge… but by a very large gray wolf… an animal not native to this area. Coyotes were well-known here, but finding either one deep inside a cave would have to be considered odd in any case.
The wolf stood silently, defiantly, in the corridor, facing Max, staring into his eyes intently with that icy, menacing stare that only a wolf has. Max froze, and the others stopped where they stood behind him. For a moment, nothing happened. Then without a sound, the wolf leapt, its mouth open and its teeth bared, but instead of going for Max's throat as expected, it grabbed the book.
The moment the wolf leapt at Max, Michael went into protective mode, raising his hand toward the attacking animal. A flash of power from Michael's hand dropped the huge animal to the ground on its side, and the book fell from its mouth.
Still shaken, Max, Michael, Maria, and Isabel approached the fallen animal cautiously, but before they could determine if it was dead or alive, it began to shimmer, then change, finally settling into the form of a young woman with blonde hair. Max knelt beside the girl and turned her face toward him. Her eyes were fixed in a blank stare, but she was still breathing… barely. Max placed his hand over the wound on her side and held it there for several moments, as a greenish glow appeared over the wound. After a short time, the girl closed her eyes… then she opened them again and looked at Max…
"You weren't supposed to see me. It ruins everything."
"What does it ruin," Max asked. "Why shouldn't I see you?"
"I… I can't tell you."
"You're a shape-shifter," Max said, half as a question, half as a statement.
The girl shook her head slowly.
"We saw you change from a wolf into what you are now," Maria said. "You have to be a shape-shifter."
"No… not a shape-shifter," the girl insisted. "Don't ask me any more. Please. I can't…"
You gave up the chance to keep secrets," Max said, "…when you attacked us. Now it's our turn to get some answers. First of all, why are you following us? Who are you? What do you want with us… and this book?"
"It's mine," the girl said. "and I didn't attack you. I saved you. Who do you think made those soldiers think the ledge had broken off so they wouldn't follow you? Who do you think has been guiding you so you wouldn't wind up so deep in the earth that you would never find your way out? If you had taken the largest corridor at the first junction you would be somewhere near the center of the earth right now, I think. I don't think it ever comes back up."
"Why would you help us," Max asked. "We don't even know you. And what are you doing way down here inside a cave by yourself?"
The girl looked to one side for a moment but then seemed to have questions of her own for Max.
"He hit me with some kind of blast," she said, pointing toward Michael. "What is he? How did he do that?"
"Tell me how you can make yourself look like a wolf and maybe I'll tell you about Michael."
The girl appeared reticent, but curiosity seemed to overcome her better judgment…
"I'm not a shape-shifter; I just create visions. You merely thought you saw a wolf. I was never anything but me."
"That would explain the stone wall where a corridor had just been and the falling ledge that never fell," Michael said.
Max nodded. "So you create visions… in our minds."
"Yes."
"Why are you helping us?"
"You need help."
"But you don't know us. How did you know we were the good guys?"
"Are you?"
"Okay… Do you make a habit of helping bad guys?"
The girl shrugged. "I can see things in your mind. I knew you needed help."
"You can read our minds?" Maria asked, alarmed. "Oh, that's great! Now I'm going to have to watch what I'm thinking." Maria turned slightly red as she glanced quickly at Michael standing beside her with his shirt off, his well-toned muscles glistening in the low light.
The girl seemed to smile slightly. "I can't exactly read your minds… I just feel… feelings. I know if your intentions are good or bad… and what you're feeling."
"Then why did you hide from us?"
"Do you reveal yourself to everybody who has good intentions? …Does your mother know what you are?"
Max recoiled sharply at this last comment. "I thought you said you couldn't read minds."
"I can't… but I'm pretty good at piecing clues together. I know you're not who you appear to be. You have things to hide. I can feel that."
"Alright. So I have things to hide. And so do you. Where are you from?"
The girl looked around the cavern and shrugged, motioning all around.
"You weren't born here… in this cave."
"I may have been… I don't know."
"Okay, let's try it a different way," Max said. "People on earth don't read minds. Excuse me, I mean they don't feel other people's feelings… not the way you do… or create visions in other people's minds. I don't know anyone who can appear to be a wolf, either."
"Not even your friend who flew out of here with the little bat wings?"
"You saw him?"
"Of course. I've been watching you."
"Okay… he's… different."
"Well, I know that. What is he? A shape-shifter?"
"I thought you were good at piecing the clues together."
"So he's a shape-shifter. What's your friend… Michael? And what are you?"
"That's a lot of questions. Like you said, I have things I prefer to keep private."
"Fair enough, but you promised to tell me what Michael is if I told you about me."
Max looked at Michael. Both of them felt uneasy about giving away information that they had always kept so closely guarded. They had always known that their lives depended on it.
"You know," the girl said, "if I hadn't helped you, you'd be toast right now. You owe me that."
"Well, we don't really know that we'd be toast right now as you say. We'd have found our way out eventually… and escaped from the soldiers, too."
"Maybe."
"Okay, I guess we do owe you… and you do seem to have it all figured out anyway. I'm sure you know that Michael and I aren't from around here."
"Well I know that. You're from another planet."
"Why'd you even bother to ask?"
The girl shrugged. "I feel things. It's not the same as knowing… exactly."
"You're not surprised by what we are," Max asked.
"No. I know I'm different, too. I always knew that I wasn't from here. I just don't know where I'm from."
"You don't know where your people came from?" Isabel asked.
The girl shook her head. "Do you know? Where you're from, I mean?"
"Well… yeah… maybe… kind of…" Max stammered.
"So we're not so different after all, the girl said with a knowing smile."
"I guess not. What's your name? You have one, don't you?"
"Of course I do. It's A'in ji-Lii. I usually spell it 'A-n-g-i-e L-e-e,' though."
As they spoke, Rahn suddenly returned, landing near Max and the girl, who was by now sitting up again. Rahn walked around on the ground for a few moments acting like a very misplaced and lost sea gull, then he hopped on top of Max's head and stood there shifting from one foot to the other nervously.
Max rolled his eyes upward… "Alright, you've got my attention, Rahn."
"That's Max's pet," Michael said with a snicker. "It thinks he's its daddy."
"It's going to be our next meal if it poops while it's up there," Max said sullenly. "Rahn, get down here! She knows already."
Rahn hopped off onto the ground and shifted back into his human form. "Well, I didn't know if you wanted me to change in front of her."
"What's the matter, Rahn," Michael asked, grinning, "You shy about changing in front of girls?"
"Shy?" Rahn asked, appearing confused.
"Never mind him," Max said. "He's just making a joke. Rahn, check this out." Max handed Rahn the book. Immediately, Angie Lee leapt for it, but Max blocked her.
"You can't! You can't read that… It's mine!"
"What's in this book that's so important?" Max asked. "Does it have to do with us? Is this something else from our planet that we were supposed to get but never knew about?"
"It's nothing. It's not important to you."
Rahn looked at the pages and raised his eyebrows, in a perfect imitation of a human reaction.
"What does it say," Max asked.
"Well… do you really want to know?"
"Yes!"
Rahn began to read…
"Jeyyal pressed his lips to Mi'chya's waiting mouth, as she panted with anticipation. To Mi'chya, Jeyyal's body felt like a warm spring day after a long winter as it rubbed against her nipples, which like three perfect red roses rising from the cool white snow, awakened to soak up the warmth of the sun. It had been too long. Mi'chya moaned as Jeyyal kissed her neck then her shoulders, working his way slowly, passionately…"
"What is this?" Max asked, interrupting Rahn in mid-sentence… "some kind of alien porn?"
"I think it's what you would call here… a romance novel," Rahn said, silently reading the rest of the passage to himself before closing the book up and handing it to Angie Lee.
"A romance novel!?" Max repeated, turning to Angie Lee in disbelief. "That's what you've been protecting? A romance novel!"
"Three?" Michael muttered, more to himself than to anyone else in particular, his eyes still fixed on the book in Angie Lee's hand. "How does that work?"
"It's all I have from my world," Angie Lee said, her face reddening noticeably, even in the glow of the lantern. "My father disappeared when I was six. I only have Grandfather now… and nothing from my world but this book… and one other one."
"Another romance novel?"
"No. Something I can't read. It's a different writing… but it's from my world, too."
"Then you do know where you're from," Michael said.
Angie Lee shook her head. "I remember so little. I can read this… but I don't even know where it comes from, only that it's another world… somewhere."
"What about your grandfather?" Maria asked. "You said you have a grandfather. Can't he tell you where you're from?"
"He's not my real grandfather. I just call him that. He's more like… my protector. He took care of me after my father died… and he sent me to school… and college."
"You went to college?" Isabel asked, surprised.
Angie Lee nodded. "I started this year. Grandfather is paying for it… with his own money… and… special grants."
"I didn't know they had grants for aliens," Michael said. "They never told me this. What are you doing in this cave?"
"I grew up here. When I'm home from college, I often come here. This is where my father lived with me… before he died."
"In a cave?"
Angie Lee nodded.
"Where's your protector? Does he live in this cave, too," Maria asked.
Angie Lee started to answer Maria's question, but a shadow suddenly appeared on the wall in the light of the lantern. Everyone seemed to notice it at the same time and turned to look at the wall. The shadow, which appeared to be human for the most part, grew quickly larger and larger until it stood over twelve feet high… and on it's head, there was a horn.
"Grandfather is here," Angie Lee said. "He's looking for me."
"A'in ji Lii ! Hayu? Ha'and'ah !"
Everyone turned around quickly to look at the source of the voice. It wasn't a monster after all. It was merely an old man… an Indian by the looks of him. He had a headband and a single feather –the "horn" they had thought they saw in the huge reflection he had cast in the lantern's light- Now he stood in the corridor, holding his own lantern in one hand and a spear in the other. The spear was pointed at Max, who was the person closest to Angie Lee.
"Shiitsooyee! Dohohda!" Angie Lee replied to the old man. "Do'o ansi."
(Grandfather, no! I'm okay.)
"Nnee… Magaa'nnee! Hat'ugha?"
(People… White people! Why?)
"They needed my help, Grandfather. The soldiers were chasing them."
The old Indian looked fearful. "You will bring the soldiers to us, A'in ji Lii."
"No, Grandfather. I made sure of that."
"You are too naïve, little one."
"We will be safe on the reservation, Grandfather. The soldiers won't bother us there."
"Hmmm. You have much to learn of history, little yellow coyote. Let's go now… before they know where you went. Why do you insist on coming to this cave, A'in ji Lii? It is cursed by the ancestors."
"Yes… Because of my father… I know. But that's just a superstition, Grandfather."
"No, child! It is not. You have much to learn.
"You allowed my father to stay… when I was a child. My father… his spirit… is here… in this cave. I come here to remember. Don't you like to be near your ancestors, Grandfather?"
"Ni'i nahi'imaa at'e, ya naheeka'ee at'e, A'in ji Lii."
"What did he say," Max asked.
"He said, 'Earth is our mother, sky is our father.'"
"These people with you cannot stay on the Reservation, A'in ji Lii… the warning of the elders… The ancestors' vengeance will be upon anyone who allows nasedo to stay."
"Nasedo?" Michael repeated questioningly.
"Nasedo is the Mesaliko word for 'visitor,'" Angie Lee replied.
"Your grandfather is Mesaliko… Apache? He… you… live on the Mesaliko Reservation?"
The girl nodded.
"That's where River Dog lives," Michael said.
"You know River Dog?" Angie Lee asked, surprised.
Max nodded. "Yeah, he helped us out once."
"River Dog is Grandfather's brother."
"River Dog has a brother?" Max asked, surprised.
Angie Lee laughed. "Actually, he has four brothers… and three sisters."
"Did you know that, Michael?" Max asked.
"What?"
"That River dog had four brothers and three sisters."
"Oh… No, I still haven't gotten over that alien nipple thing."
Maria whacked Michael lightly on the back of the head.
"Hey!" Michael said to Angie Lee, paying no attention to the whack he had just received, "If your grandfather is River Dog's brother, that makes you, like, family or something, I guess. River Dog helped save my life once."
"And now I have helped save it," Angie Lee said, smiling. "I guess it runs in our family."
"I've always wondered something," Isabel said. "How are the Mesalikos related to the Mescalero Apaches?"
Angie lowered her voice, not wishing to offend her "grandfather" by being too loose with information about his people.
"In eastern New Mexico, there were the Chiricahua Apaches and the Mescalero Apaches. East of the Rio Grande was home to the Mescaleros; west of the river was home to the Chiricahua. But the two groups were very closely related. The Chiricahuas were the tribe that Geronimo belonged to. Because of his raids, all of the Chiricahuas were taken away and relocated in Florida, then in Oklahoma. The Mescaleros, though, were placed on a reservation here. When the relocations started, a few of the Chiricahuas escaped and came here, asking for help from their brothers, the Mescalero Apaches. They hid by living together with the Mescaleros and so avoided being sent to the east with the rest of the Chiricahuas, but they distinguished themselves from their brothers by calling themselves Mesalikos instead of Mescaleros. The names were similar, and apparently, the white man never noticed."
"Oh! I always wondered," Isabel said. "You never really see anything about the Mesalikos, but there's a lot about the Mescaleros and the Chiricahuas."
"That's why," Angie Lee said. "The Mesalikos were part of the Chiricahua band, but they joined secretly with the Mescaleros. They weren't even known to exist until after the relocations had stopped."
"So your grandfather and River Dog would be, like, Mesaliko Mescalero Chiricahua Apache," Michael said.
"Don't tell THEM that," Angie Lee said with a smile. "They're Mesaliko Apache. The word 'Apache,' by the way, just means 'people' in the 'Apache' language, so they're 'Mesaliko' people. You see, when the Spaniards asked them what they were, they said, 'We're people.' Like duh! Then the Spaniards went around asking all the Indians they found, 'are you apachii?' and if they understood the word, they said, 'Of course. What else would we be?' So everyone who understood that language or a close dialect of it became Apaches, but there are all these different bands, like the Chiricahuas and the Mescaleros and the Mesalikos."
"Got ya," Michael nodded. "You know a lot about Indians."
"Grandfather taught me," Angie Lee said. "I just wish I knew anything at all about my own people."
Michael nodded understandingly. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I've been known to say that myself a few times, I think."
"We're almost to the exit," Angie Lee said, as they walked along, following the old Indian. "It's just a few more minutes."
"Where does it come out," Isabel asked, straining to see up ahead of the old man who was guiding them.
"On the Mesaliko Reservation. It's not far from our house. But it will probably be best if you can find some place else to go as soon as possible. Grandfather will believe that he's being cursed by the ancestors if you stay very long."
"We don't intend to stay," Max said. "Maybe one day… two at the most. We have to make some plans. We have things to do. I have people I want to see… need to see… again."
"A girlfriend?" Angie Lee asked.
Max nodded. "Yeah. I guess you could say that."
"Future wife," Rahn said for him.
Max shifted nervously on his feet. "Well, we don't know that… I mean… it's just that… well, I haven't asked yet. I don't know if she'll want me… forever… you know. It wouldn't be easy being married to… you know, one of us… well, me."
"No, really?" Angie Lee asked with a tone of sarcasm in her voice. "Is she pretty?"
"Yeah."
"Do you have a boyfriend, Angie Lee," Isabel asked.
The girl smiled. "No. Well, there's this boy at college who's helping me translate the other book I have… with the computers they have there. He's real nice. His name is Alex Whitman."
Isabel suddenly lost her footing, stumbled, and would have fallen had it not been for the quick reflexes of Michael, who grabbed her.
"Are you okay," Angie Lee asked, coming back to help.
"Yeah… yeah, I'm fine! I'm okay. I just… Alex Whitman? Is he your… boyfriend?"
Angie Lee started to laugh then shook her head. "No. Alex is a very nice boy… a little shy maybe… but like Max said, people like us… like me… need someone different. I like Alex, but he's just a friend."
"Good," Isabel said.
"What?"
"Nothing. I just said, 'Oh.'"
"Ah." Angie Lee sighed. "I don't guess I'll ever find anyone from my world. I don't even know where my world is."
"What about this other book," Max asked, "…the one Alex was helping you translate. Have you translated any of it yet?"
"Alex put the symbols into the computer and wrote a program that would search for grammatical clues and similarities… based on usage and all. We didn't get the results back before break started, so none of it is translated yet."
"Can I see the book?" Max asked. "Do you have it here… at the house or somewhere?"
"You're just really interested in my books, aren't you," Angie Lee asked with a grin. "Didn't you get enough after the other one?"
"Look!" Maria yelled out suddenly. "There's the exit right up there! We're really going to get out of here! Woo hoo!"
"Of course we are," Michael said confidently. "Would I ever have let you down?"
Maria shook her head and kissed Michael on the cheek. "It wasn't so bad in there… once we found you, Michael."
Angie Lee smiled at Maria but said nothing. As they walked out of the cave, the old Indian said something to Angie Lee in Mesaliko. Angie Lee nodded.
"Guys, Grandfather would like for you to wait here until he prepares for you at the house. I think he wants to do a charm or something to keep the ancestors from seeing you while you're there."
"Alright," Max said. "We'll wait here."
Angie Lee and her "Grandfather" walked along the path toward a group of small houses that could be seen in the near distance.
"What do you think, Max?" Michael asked. "Do you believe her… I mean, everything she said?"
"Yeah," Max said after a few moments reflection. "I do… to a point. I think she has a few secrets she hasn't told us. But more importantly, I think 'Grandfather' has some secrets of his own… I think he knows more than he has ever told Angie Lee… maybe a lot more."
"Why wouldn't he tell her about her world and her people if he knew, Max?"
"That's a good question," Max replied. "That's a very good question."
**********
In Roswell, Judge Lewis had just sat down at his desk and begun to shuffle through some old papers when his door opened and three men let themselves in.
"You not locking your door now, Judge?"
"Would it keep you guys out?"
The agents just smiled.
"I didn't think so."
"Well, Judge, this is just a social visit," the first agent said, stuffing a wad of hundred dollar bills into the inside pocket of Judge Lewis' coat and patting him on the chest. "Let's just say it's for a job well done."
"Yeah… okay… thanks. Are you finished?"
"For now," The first agent said, nodding. "If we need you again, we can call on you, right? By the way, how did that… 'reference' I gave you work out? I take it you went to see him… or did you just stick a cork in it? I see the floor's still dry."
"I'm a nervous man, and you guys give me the heeby-jeebys. I can't help it."
"Maybe you shouldn't have got involved with us then, Judge. When you jump in water over your head and you can't swim, you risk 'drowning,' you know what I mean?" The other two agents chuckled.
"Laugh all you want. It's fixed now. He gave me some pills… and stuff. You don't see me 'drowning' now do you? You'll just have to find someone else to be the butt of your jokes."
"Well, I guess I can call the wharf and tell them I won't be needing to charter that boat next time I come here then." There was more chuckling. "Take care, Judge. Keep the plug in. It's a 'good' thing, believe me."
Judge Lewis scowled, but as soon as they left, he remembered the money that had been put in his pocket and sat down to count it. Soon, he was smiling again. He put the money away and sat down, but instead of being able to get back to his work, he found himself tapping his fingers on the desktop.
"Something's not right. I don't know what it is, but something's not right." He closed his drawer and leaned back, folding his hands in front of himself and moving his thumbs around each other idly. "I've got to watch Jim closely. He's hiding something… and I need to find out what it is."
tbc
Coming up: Jim Valenti finds a place to hide Liz and Alex temporarily… and Judge Lewis realizes what it is that's bothering him.
Disclaimer: The information about the Mesalikos being Chiricahuas who went to live among the Mescaleros was made up (by me) for this story. The Mesalikos may be a real tribe, but as far as I can determine, they only exist in the Roswell stories, and the name was probably meant to sound like Mescaleros, which are a real band of the Apaches in that area. The part about how the Spaniards asked everyone if they were apachii or not then called them all Apaches is supposition. It could have happened that way. The word "apachii" does mean "people." So does "nnee." I'm not sure what the difference is. I'm not Apache. (Oh, wait a minute! I am, aren't I? I'm "people," that is!) LOL. In any case, the rest of the information about Chiricahuas and Mescaleros is historically accurate and factual to the best of my knowledge, and the conversation is a close approximation of the Apache spoken by the Chiricahuas and Mescaleros in that part of New Mexico (as butchered by me! :lol). Wouldn't want the ancestors to haunt me for factual misrepresentation! Some of my ancestors are Cherokee. :)