Starry Nights & Apache Justice
Chapter 22
XXII
Max tapped lightly on Gray Hawk's front door with his right foot. A moment later, the door opened a crack, and Michael looked out. Seeing Max's face, he quickly opened the door wide enough for Max to come in.
"I hope you weren't seen, Max. What's that?" Michael pointed to the object in Max's arms. It was wrapped in an Indian blanket. Liz had had it over her shoulders while she sat by the river watching the stars. But it only took one good look for Michael to realize that what Max had in his arms was far more than just an "object." Michael's jaw dropped, and his eyes opened wide.
"Omigod, Max! You found her… She's alive," Michael stammered, in an excited whisper. "Where… How did you… Where did you… Don't move! Maria's got to…" Michael didn't finish his sentence, as he rushed toward Maria and Isabel's room and knocked quietly but excitedly on their bedroom door.
The door opened a crack, and Isabel looked out.
"Michael? We're trying to sleep in here. You may have just woke Maria back up, and it took me hours to get her to sleep. What's so important that it couldn't wait for tomorrow?"
Michael turned around and saw Max walking up behind him with Liz in his arms.
"Is this important enough," Michael asked, moving a portion of the blanket that had blocked Liz's face. Isabel let out a loud gasp, and Maria, behind her, rolled over in her bed.
"Is something wrong, Iz? Was that you?"
Isabel tried to say something, but at first, no words would come out.
"Isabel?" Maria asked again, the concern in her voice rising.
"No… Uh… No," Isabel stammered, finally finding her voice again. "Nothing's wrong, Maria."
"Okay."
"Uh… Maria?"
"Yeah?"
"I think… I think you should really come here a minute… You need to see something… NOW…"
"Are you sure you're alright," Maria asked, coming awake completely now and rolling off the bed. Something in the urgency in Isabel's voice alarmed her. It wasn't like Isabel. Even in the tunnels, when Isabel had been dying, she had never requested Maria's presence quite so urgently. Maria walked quickly to the door. Isabel opened it, and Max stepped forward with Liz in his arms.
"I would run and hug you," Liz said, tears rolling down her cheeks even as a huge smile covered her face, "but I'm afraid I can't walk anymore, Maria."
Maria gasped, her eyes shot open wider than saucers, and her mouth dropped. In fact, it's unlikely that her jaw could have fallen any further if she had had Rahn's amazing stretching talents. Before anyone could react, Maria had her arms around both Liz and Max together, and the tears were rolling down her cheeks again… for only the hundredth time tonight.
"Omigod, Liz! You're alive! You're really, really, really, really ALIVE! And here! How did you get here? Let me look at you!" Maria looked at Liz and moved a tress of hair off of her face, then a huge smile came over her own face, and she hugged Liz and Max again, almost crushing Max's ribs in her joy.
"Omigod, Liz! I don't believe this! Where did you come from? …Max?"
"I found her down by the river. I made a wish and… there she was."
Maria looked at Max for a moment silently but then turned her attention back to Liz.
"Liz… you've got to stay here with us. You've got to! I want to have you here where we can be together now… at least for a while! We've got to talk! The rest of us can't go back home until it's safe. The army thought we were all aliens or something, and they locked us in these dreadful rooms way down inside some huge tunnels where they were going to keep us until…" Maria waved her hands around in the air… "I don't know what… maybe forever, I think. Rahn helped us escape from them by going deeper into the tunnels then into a cave. Then we found Angie Lee in the cave, and she led us here…"
Liz smiled. "I think we really do need to talk, Maria. Sounds like you've got a lot to tell me."
"Me!? Oh… No! No! Not me… What about you, Liz? I want to hear about you since we were together. Since… Since…"
"Graduation, yeah," Liz said, holding onto Max, who was still holding her in his arms. "That would be when we saw each other last. I woke up a couple of months later… completely paralyzed. But I can move again now! All but my legs…"
Maria's eyes misted up, and she hugged Liz again.
"I'm so sorry, Liz. Hey, maybe Max can make you walk again! He healed Iz and me, and we were dead!"
"Yeah… he's gonna see if he can," Liz said. "It's alright, Maria… Really! Hey! Tell me what happened to you?"
"I don't remember everything before Max healed us… just some of it. Max said I was dead… me and Isabel… and Michael almost. The rest is just… a long story. I'll tell you everything I can remember later… after I've heard all about you!"
"Good! I want to hear it all," Liz said.
Max set Liz down on Maria's bed and gave her a kiss, which Liz returned with a passion that was still unfulfilled after having been apart for so long… and given the heartaches that both had endured while on the run. After a couple of minutes, they separated, somewhat reluctantly, and Max stood back up and breathed a deep, refreshing breath, one of the first he had taken in a long time.
"I'll have to tell Gray Hawk," Max said… "I'll see if I can get him to let you stay here, Liz."
"Uh, you may not have to," Michael said, pointing behind Max. Max turned around. The old Mesaliko Apache was standing right behind him, with a very stern look on his face. Max momentarily flushed and found that he had to moisten his lips and swallow before he could speak again, but then he steeled his resolve. He was determined that he was not going to be separated from Liz again… not now. Not after all that they had been through to find each other. It was Gray Hawk, however, who spoke first. He held up one hand, as though requesting their undivided attention… and he got it.
Gray Hawk looked at each person in the room, then he spoke slowly… deliberately. "I heard. It would seem that A'in ji Lii was correct. You do need my help. So I will allow it. There will be no more talk about the matter. But you…" He looked sternly into Liz's eyes. "You must sleep in this room… and you…" He looked at Max. "You must sleep with the bird-man."
Max just nodded and swallowed. "Thank you. That… that would be great…"
"UM! …Good! It is settled then. I will speak with my brother, River Dog, in the morning. He will understand. What is justice for one is justice for all. It is the way of our people."
"Thank you," Max managed to say again.
"Gray Hawk…" Liz whispered hesitantly.
The old Indian turned around and looked at Liz again but did not speak. Liz understood that he was waiting for her to say what was on her mind.
"Thank you… for me, too."
"Um."
Liz's uneasy gaze remained on Gray Hawk, and she bit her lip.
"Is there something else," Gray Hawk asked, seeing in Liz's face that there was.
Liz breathed deeply. "Well… somebody will have to tell Alex that I'm here… tonight. He's at River Dog's house, and he'll be really worried if I don't return tonight."
Gray Hawk looked at Liz, as he thought about what she had said, but this time, it was Max who spoke first.
"Liz had an idea that was pretty good earlier."
Gray Hawk looked at Max.
"Isabel could deliver the message to Alex that Liz is okay… then Isabel could stay there tonight… It would balance things out again… where everybody would sleep and all… There would still be two sleeping at River Dog's house… and Liz could sleep in Isabel's bed here."
Gray Hawk nodded silently. "I know my brother. He would make the same arrangements that I would make. It is acceptable. But it will be her decision."
Isabel looked at Max then quickly back to Gray Hawk, as the full force of what this all meant suddenly hit her.
"Alex is alive… and he's only three houses away! I want to see him! When can I go?"
Gray Hawk reached for a blanket from the chest at the foot of the bed.
"Take mine," Liz said. "It belongs to River Dog anyway… and Alex will be expecting to see it."
Max turned to Rahn, who had been listening silently.
"Rahn, Liz left her wheelchair down by the river. Could you bring it back here for her?"
"Yes, I can do that," Rahn answered, happy to finally have something to contribute to this conversation.
"Um! There are several wheelchairs on the reservation," Gray Hawk said, thinking. "No one would think much about it if they saw you in the chair… if you had the blanket over you."
Several minutes later, the front door of Gray Hawk's house opened just a bit, and a small brown bat flew out headed towards the river. Fifteen minutes later, an old Indian in a wheelchair rolled up to Gray Hawk's house, and Gray Hawk let him in. Once inside, the old Indian began to change into a young man again… though perhaps it would be more accurate to say that he assumed the "appearance" of a young man again, because Rahn was actually older than either Gray Hawk or River Dog even though he appeared to be in his twenties and had the physique of a twenty-year-old. Physically, he was a twenty year old, but Rahn had been born some 127 earth years before and was not long out of adolescence for his kind.
Isabel sat down in the chair, and Max put Liz's blanket over her shoulders and head, covering her hair and clothes. Then he nodded.
"You're all set. Whenever you're ready…"
"Third house?" Isabel asked. "The one with the spear in the ground beside the front door?"
"That is my brother's house, yes," Gray Hawk confirmed.
"Push me out, Max."
Gray Hawk opened the door, and Max pushed Isabel to the door. She took the wheels in her hands and rolled the chair the rest of the way to the street, then taking one quick look back, Isabel headed quickly to the third house, where Alex was waiting for Liz to return.
***********
The door opened slightly, and Alex peeked out at the girl in the chair. Her head and shoulders were draped in River Dog's Indian blanket.
"Come in… quick. God, Liz! I was getting worried! Do you know how long you've been gone? I was about to go look for you myself!" Alex pulled the chair into the house then turned around to make sure they were still alone.
"I'm not mad at you, Liz. I'm just concerned about you. You said you'd only be gone for a little while."
Alex turned back around to face Liz, and Isabel removed the blanket that had been covering her head and shoulders. It was probably a good thing that Alex was young. The surprise could have been too much for a weaker heart.
Alex stumbled backwards a step then looked at Isabel as though he were seeing a ghost. His voice somehow got lost in his throat.
"Well? Aren't you glad to see me, Alex?"
"Isabel?" Alex managed to whisper, finally finding his voice. "Omigod! Yeah! Yeah… sure, I'm… I'm ecstatic! Of course, I'm glad! Omigod, Isabel! What are you doing here? Where's Liz?"
"Liz? You mean the girl you've been living here with?"
"Yeah, that would be the one, Iz. Where is she? You didn't leave her down by the river did you?"
"Alex! No, of course not! Liz is fine. She's at Gray Hawk's house."
"Who's Gray Hawk?"
"River Dog's brother."
"River Dog's got a brother?"
"Several of them… sisters, too."
"I didn't know." Alex looked at Isabel again, and a huge smile came over his face.
"You came here… to be with me?"
"Well, I don't see any other handsome, zany guys around here anywhere, Alex… so… yeah! I guess I did." Isabel smiled. "Are you happy that I came?"
"Happy? I'm… I'm overjoyed!"
"Well, are you going to do something about it or are you just going to stand there and be overjoyed?"
Alex started to lift Isabel up out of the wheelchair, but then he hesitated.
"You're… uh… I mean… You're okay then? I won't hurt you?"
Isabel smiled and stood up. "The chair is Liz's, Alex. I'm fine. She just let me take it to come over here. Max is at Gray Hawk's house. Max is taking care of her now."
Finally realizing that Liz really was okay and that Isabel really was standing in front of him… in the flesh… alive… and not just another cruel dream… Alex grabbed Isabel, lifted her off her feet, and swung her around and around in circles. Then he kissed her. Then they both stopped spinning as they concentrated on each other and on all the time they had to make up for. If their bodies were no longer spinning, though, the same cannot truly be said of their heads or their hearts, which were certifiably higher, at this moment, than the stars on this starry, starry night.
**********
Jeff Parker was sitting in his apartment upstairs over the CrashDown, taking a much-needed break from the grill -at Nancy's insistence- when something attracted his attention at the window. It was the roadrunner. It could have been another roadrunner, of course, but Jeff knew that it was not. Roadrunners were common enough, but seeing one sitting in a window, especially upstairs, was not common. Seeing one racing along the street in the desert was common. Roadrunners can and do fly, but they prefer to run, and their flight is somewhat limited by the shortness of their wings. Rahn had made his wings slightly longer than the average roadrunner's in order to sustain his flight longer and more easily. This roadrunner was not common. It had a name, and Jeff knew it…
"Rahn!"
The bird hopped out of the window into Jeff's apartment over the CrashDown and quickly morphed into its human appearance.
"You looking for more information for Max," Jeff asked.
"No. This time I'm bringing information," Rahn said.
Jeff put his newspaper down. He didn't know why, but something told him that this was important. He guessed it was because Rahn had risked this trip to bring this information.
"I'm listening, Rahn. What do you have to tell me?"
"Your daughter is not dead," Rahn said straight out. "Liz is alive."
For a moment, Jeff wasn't sure that he had heard right, but deep inside he knew that he had, and his pulse began to race even as the blood drained from his face, leaving him paler than Rahn on Rahn's palest day.
"Liz… is alive? Are you… Are you sure, Rahn? Sheriff Valenti said…"
"I saw her and spoke with her myself. She is well… She is with Max. He's taking care of her until they can return home and be safe again. The sheriff hid her and her friend, Alex. Unfortunately, it was necessary for everyone to believe that they were dead, even you, in order to make those who are trying to harm them believe that they were dead, too. That was the only way to give the sheriff time to plan what must be done to save them. Liz said to tell you that the sheriff is doing everything to try to help her, and that he saved her life. She said to tell you that you should not be angry with him."
"No… I'm not. Well… I am… kind of… I don't know. Why couldn't he tell me? Where are they, Rahn? I have to know where Liz is!"
"Would you want to put her in the same danger that she was in before all over again? Because if you know where she is, she will be in danger… and so will you… and your wife. There are people who will use every means to force you to talk. I know, Jeff Parker. I have seen their methods personally. I don't think a human could survive it for long. Some of my own people did not. I was fortunate to be young and healthy."
Jeff put his hand over his eyes, and his eyes misted up, but then he realized that the fact that he could not see Liz right now was only the bad news… and the least news. The real news was the good news… Liz was alive! A smile began to grow across Jeff's face, and the blood returned.
"Liz is alive? Liz is alive! Oh, geez! Liz is alive! NANCY!"
Nancy came running into the living room and found Jeff hugging Rahn. For a moment, she stood watching, not sure what was going on. Then Jeff turned to her with tears in his eyes.
"Liz is alive, Nancy… Our Lizzie's alive!"
Nancy gasped, and her hand went automatically to her mouth. Rahn guessed that this habit was one of practicality, as it kept anything from flying into one's mouth when it was wide open, as humans' mouths so often tended to be.
"Liz is still alive?" Nancy repeated. "Where is she? I want to see her!"
"We can't see her right now," Jeff said. "She's hiding, with the sheriff's help, and everybody's supposed to think she's dead… but just until Jim can fix things… right Rahn?"
"That is what he hopes. That is what we all hope," Rahn said. "Liz said that the sheriff is working very hard on it. I must go now and tell him that Max and the others are alive."
"Amy will want to know about Maria," Nancy said. "She really should know."
Rahn nodded. "Zan… I mean, Max… and Liz agree with you. They believe that you and Jeff will keep their secret, and Amy already has kept Liz and Alex's secret, so they believe it will be best to tell her and Sheriff Jim about Maria and the others, too. It might make it easier for him to coordinate a plan to help them all."
"That's good thinking, Rahn," Jeff said. "Jim will do everything he can to help all of them… but he can't if he doesn't even know they're all alive or where the rest of them are. I would tell him."
Rahn smiled. "At least this time I am delivering good news. I did not enjoy delivering bad news before, Jeff Parker."
"Most people don't, Rahn," Jeff said. "Most good people don't."
Nancy hugged Rahn, and Jeff put his hand on his shoulder. "Thank you, Rahn! Thank you so, so much! You don't know it, but you gave me my life back today." Jeff wiped the corner of his eye and handed Nancy a napkin to wipe her eyes with.
"Go tell Jim and Amy the good news, Rahn. They deserve some."
Moments later, a brownish bird with a long tail flew out of the upstairs window of Jeff's apartment in the direction of the Sheriff's office. Sitting in a car not far away, just out of sight, another figure watched the bird fly away.
"Now what is Jeff Parker up to?"
Judge Lewis scratched his head. "Has he gone into breeding roadrunners? Maybe he's serving them on the menu… as alien chicken or something." A brief smile flickered over the judge's face at this thought, but it was quickly gone again. "Or maybe… he's using them like carrier pigeons… to fly messages to those kids. I wonder if roadrunners could be trained to… Naw! …or can they? I wonder."
Judge Lewis cranked his car and drove off in the direction the bird had flown. He didn't see the bird again, but he did pass Sheriff Valenti's office, and he decided that that was reason enough to park for a while and see what the sheriff might be up to today. Finding a nice shady spot in the shadows of a nearby building, Judge Lewis parked his car and waited. He really didn't know if he would see anything unusual or not. Most days he saw nothing worthy of his interest. But it was the one day that he might see something that kept Judge Lewis coming back. Perseverance. It was the one thing the judge had in spades. He could be like a pit bull hanging on to the seat of someone's pants… and even more annoying… though he preferred to think of himself as a mighty super hero… or super villain, he really didn't care much which… who never gave up.
Twenty-five minutes passed uneventfully, and Judge Lewis stretched and looked at his watch. Just then the upstairs window of the Sheriff's office opened and something flew out.
"Another roadrunner? What is Jim up to? Something that involves Jeff Parker obviously."
Judge Lewis cranked his car quickly and spun it around, determined to follow this bird and see where it was going. He knew that he would probably lose it, but he hoped to follow it long enough to see where it might be going. The bird headed in the direction of the desert, and Judge Lewis followed as fast as he could. The roadrunner had a fair lead, but he could still just see it far up ahead… and he saw something else, too… something circling high in the sky, well above the furiously flapping little roadrunner… a much larger redtail hawk.
"Well, Valenti, if you're sending messages by roadrunner courier, this is one that's not going to get there," Judge Lewis gloated.
Like one predator judging another, Judge Lewis was not off the mark about the hawk's intent. Almost as soon as he thought it, the hawk went into a dive. Judge Lewis wasn't sure if he should be happy that the message would not arrive or disappointed that he would not get to see where the bird was going now. He wasn't sure if the smaller bird ever saw it coming or not. The hawk hit the roadrunner with all its fury, its claws extended, knocking the smaller bird into an uncontrolled death spiral toward the ground; then, as the roadrunner dropped, the hawk swooped in for the kill. Judge Lewis couldn't see either bird now, because his line of vision was blocked by nearby trees, but that was about to end. He was coming up on open desert. Maybe the hawk would leave a leg or something for him… If he was lucky, he might find the message Jim had been sending. Then he would have him!
A couple of minutes later, the judge arrived at the area where he had seen the hawk kill Jim's roadrunner, but he didn't immediately see either bird, so he drove around the area several times, tightening his loops each time. If anything was there… if the hawk left him anything…
Then he saw it. Feathers… lots of them… all over the ground.
"Jim, Jim, Jim…" Judge Lewis sneered, smiling in spite of his probable loss of any message. "Big ole' bad hawk made a mess of your little roadrunner. I'm afraid there's not much left!"
Judge Lewis put his car in park and got out. Maybe the message might still be here among the feathers and carnage. He leaned over and picked up some of the feathers.
"These are mighty large feathers for a roadrunner." Judge Lewis picked up some more feathers… then some more. All of them appeared to have come from the hawk. Judge Lewis scratched his head and looked further, still intent on finding the message he was sure Jim had sent. Then he saw a different kind of feather and picked it up.
"Aha! So you did not escape after all, did you, little roadrunner?"
As he held the feather in his hand, it suddenly seemed to melt and fuse together. Surprised, Judge Lewis dropped it. Then he squatted down and looked at the small, still-writhing oddity on the ground. It no longer looked like a feather at all. It looked more like… skin. Hesitantly, Judge Lewis picked it up again, but then he dropped it again as something red oozed out onto his hand.
"Blood! What the hell is going on here!?"
Judge Lewis took a small rag out of his car and picked the piece of skin up with it then wrapped it several times in the rag.
"I don't know what happened to the message or the hawk… but I'll bet this will turn some heads when those asshole agents see it! They'll be groveling at my feet and apologizing to me now for not believing me before."
Judge Lewis got back into his car, put the rag on the seat beside him, and turned the key. Nothing happened. He turned it again, and again, nothing. Huffing, he got out of his car. Then he reached back in and popped the hood. Working up a bad mood now, he walked to the front and lifted the hood. His eyes grew suddenly wide, and he tried to shut the hood back quickly, but it was already too late.
The huge snake uncoiled like a sling shot, wrapping itself around the judge numerous times before he could react. Soon, Judge Lewis found his ribs aching and his diaphragm unable to move enough air into his lungs to keep him conscious. He cursed his luck and the snake, even as he gasped his last conscious breath and reluctantly watched the daylight fade into darkness… and inescapable unconsciousness.
tbc
Coming up: Rahn returns to the reservation. Amy and Jim celebrate the news Rahn brought them and plan a way for themselves and the Parkers to see their children on the reservation. A disheveled and half-hallucinating Judge Lewis walks out of the desert with a story that no one will believe… until he shows them something that can't be explained.