Authors: Jude Pittman
"No I saw her Tuesday morning. She snuck in to change her clothes and she asked me not to tell anyone."
"When was this?"
"Just before lunch time, maybe 11:30. I had a cold so I skipped my morning class. I was lying in bed when someone knocked on my window."
"Your window? Up here?"
"There's a ladder at the back. If you climb to the first floor roof you can come right around to our bedroom window. We use it sometimes. You won't tell Mrs. Lawrence?"
"That's not very safe Amy. You might want to think about telling her yourself."
"Okay. I guess I will," she muttered unconvincingly.
"So
Shannon
knocked on the window and you let her in. What did she say?"
"She said she needed to change clothes and she didn't want the Dragon—that's what she called Mrs. Lawrence—to catch her."
"I see," Jesse stifled a chuckle. "I take it
Shannon
didn't get along with your housemother."
"
Shannon
didn't like the way she stuck her nose into our business. I think she liked her okay, except for that."
"Now about this man you say she met on Monday. Did you see him?"
"Yes. I wasn't sure if she was really meeting someone or if she was making it up, so I followed her. She walked down Commercial to
Hastings
until a cab pulled up next to her and this Native guy got out. He opened the back door for
Shannon
and she jumped in. Shannon would kill me for telling this," she muttered and then stopped as if remembering that
Shannon
wouldn't be killing anyone.
"It's okay Amy.
Shannon
would understand. What did he look like?"
"Hot." She lifted her head and met Jesse's eyes. "Shoulder length black hair, tall, sexy butt. He looked like somebody important."
"How's that?"
"The way he was dressed. Not a suit, but slacks, nice sweater, the kind of stuff my dad wears. Not like most of the guys around here."
"Anything stand out about him?"
"Just that he was a hunk."
Jesse grinned. "Okay. Thanks Amy. You've been very helpful." He opened the door so she could precede him down the stairs. "Is it okay to call you if I have more questions?"
"Sure." Amy went to rejoin her friends with a secretive smile playing across her lips.
Chapter Three
Back in the Jeep, Jesse called Martine, got her voicemail and left a message that he was headed back to the Friendship Centre. Once there he left a note in Martine's inbox that he was planning to drive out to Hope and visit Spirit Water if she wanted to come along.
At his desk, Jesse started on the paperwork that had piled up and moved a couple of appointments to the next week.
An hour had passed when Martine poked her head in his doorway. "Sorry it took me so long. I'd love to go with you to Spirit Water's place."
"Sounds good. Give me five and I'll meet you out at the Jeep."
* * *
"Spirit Water is kind of a loner," Jesse said, breaking the silence they'd maintained while he manipulated
Vancouver
's urban congestion and crossed the bridge to Highway 1 headed toward Hope. "He lives in a log cabin built about forty years ago and he doesn't have a telephone. We'll have to take our chances on finding him home."
"Sounds intriguing."
"Oh he is that." Jesse's voice held a hint of laughter.
As they sped along the highway, Jesse pointed out local landmarks and Martine kept her eyes peeled to the window. Finally, Jesse took a sharp right off the highway. "Better hang on," he cautioned as he steered the Jeep onto what was little more than a trail meandering through the grasses. They bumped and jolted along a pair of ruts, hitting potholes that bounced them to the roof.
"The rest of us may be part of the twentieth century," Jesse said, after a solid jolt had them both rubbing the top of their heads, "but Spirit Water still heats his cabin with wood and fetches his water from a well."
"We have a few old timers like that around
Montreal
." Martine smiled. "Who's to say they aren't living better than the rest of us."
"That a fact?" Jesse agreed. "We're in luck, there's smoke coming from the chimney and that looks like Spirit Water sitting on the porch."
Jesse braked in front of an old weathered cabin. "Here we are."
He opened the door and stepped out of the Jeep. Martine jumped out of her side and met him in front. "These steps are a bit rough," he said, taking her hand and guiding her toward a stack of rough-hewn logs that served for a staircase.
"Thanks." She followed him up, then freed her hand and ran her fingers along the bark railing circling the porch. Fashioned from willow and twisted into a braid, the wood had been aged by decades in the elements. Oversized chairs weaved from the same willows circled a metal fire pit.
A tall, straight-backed Native man rose from one of the chairs. Silver streaked black hair flowed over his shoulders and coal black eyes measured the young couple as they approached.
"Jesse Dancer. You have brought a friend?"
"This is Martine. She's the Family Response Worker at the Friendship Centre."
"Welcome." Spirit Water took Martine's hands and studied her face for several moments. She flushed, and he let go of her hands and turned to Jesse.
"It's been several months. All is well with you?"
"Yes. Except for the problem that brings me here."
"Good. You'll sit." He motioned to the chairs.
"Thanks." Jesse and Martine settled in.
"Something very bad has happened." Spirit Water studied Jesse's face.
"The cops found a Native girl raped and murdered in
Stanley
Park
. They think she was killed by one of our brothers."
"And you do not believe this?"
"No. My gut tells me the killer is a white man posing as an Indian. I've convinced Mark Hanson to let me explore that theory. He doesn't agree, but he wants to catch the killer before there's another murder so he's willing to consider any possibility."
"You think there will be more of these killings?"
"Hanson thinks they're the work of a psychopath. If he's right, then we're dealing with a predator. Once he's tasted blood he won't stop until someone makes him."
"Are you sure it isn't a brother? You know the drugs have turned a lot of our people into animals."
"I know, but this girl wasn't just raped and murdered, she was defiled. The killer strangled her and then he spread eagled her and stabbed a medicine card to her breast."
"Not a Brother then." Spirit Water's eyes flashed. "To rape and kill the girl, this I could believe, but to anger the spirits, no. Even an Indian turned jackal would fear the spirit world."
Jesse nodded and reached in his pocket. "Here's a copy of the Medicine Card they found with the body."
Spirit Water studied the picture. "The snake. Someone has angered a powerful spirit."
"Can you help us?"
"Wait while I get my case. We'll go up the mountain."
* * *
They climbed high, to an old burial ground where centuries ago Native men and women buried their dead. Abandoned by a new generation the grasses grew tall and brittle, gravestones crumbled into the earth. At the entrance Spirit Water motioned them to stop while he stepped up to the gate. Removing a pipe from his bag, he chanted an ancient language as he lifted the pipe stem to each of the four sacred directions. Then he motioned for Jesse and Martine to join him inside.
"I have asked the ancestors to gather. We will light our smudge and wait."
A white mist drifted up from the river below and clouds caught by gusts of wind danced in the clearing. Seated Indian style, facing Spirit Water, Jesse and Martine watched twigs catch fire and curl into smoke.
Jesse bent to the fire, scooped a handful of smoke and washed it down his arms and legs. He spoke a warning to uninvited spirits. "Unclean ones, leave us now, you are not welcome inside this circle."
Jesse sat back and Martine reached in to cleanse herself.
"The Spirits are close." Spirit Water passed the stem of his pipe to Jesse. The medicine man stood and raised his hands. "Thank you Great Spirit. We come to ask for guidance from the spirit world."
Time passed. They shared the pipe and took their turns offering prayers. The white mist filling the circle turned to grey and then to black. Darkness filled the graveyard.
"What's happening?" Martine whispered.
Light flooded the circle and a skittering sound broke the silence. A white rabbit hopped into the circle and Spirit Water started a chant. The rabbit froze as if mesmerized. The light changed to green and spilled over the rabbit fur, turning its white fur green. The animal continued to quiver, and then, as quickly as it had appeared the rabbit darted out of the clearing.
Spirit Water continued his chant.
An owl swooped down into the circle and snatched a mouse. Rodent blood dripped from its beak. The bird flew away. Jesse nudged Martine and pointed to where a coyote with blood red eyes crouched behind a gravestone
The light that had covered them faded and plunged the circle into darkness.
Spirit Water ceased his chant.
"Did you see the same thing I did?" Martine asked Jesse.
"I think so." He turned to Spirit Water. "Do you know what all that meant?"
Spirit Water paused in the act of packing his case. "It is to you that the Spirits have spoken. It is you who must seek their meaning."
* * *
"I've never experienced anything like that," Martine said when they were back in the truck. “What did you make of that scene with the rabbit?"
"I've been thinking back to the lessons the grandfathers teach about spirit talk. I think I've figured out the meaning of the owl and the coyote."
"You have!"
"Well, I'm pretty sure the owl with the bloody mouse in its beak is a warning that there's going to be another killing."
"Much as I hate to think about another girl being killed, it does make a kind of sick sense, especially if the killer's a psychopath."
"So far there doesn't seem to be any motive.
Shannon
might just have been in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"What about the coyote?"
"Coyote is known as the trickster—the dual sided one, so following that analogy, the killer could be someone who is not at all what he seems."
"That would fit too. A psychopath is seldom what he seems. Remember Ted Bundy?"
"Who doesn't? He's one of
Seattle
's most infamous sons."
"And yet, everyone who knew him swore they'd never met a nicer guy. What about the rabbit with the green fur?"
"I haven't a clue what that means. Maybe later after I've had time to think about it, something will come to mind. What about you, any thoughts?"
"Well, Alex said
Shannon
liked to hang around with New Age kids."
"That's right. Her boyfriend's supposed to be one of them."
"It's not such a jump from rabbit fur to hair. Kids like to dye their hair shocking shades. Emerald green would fit."
"You might have something there. I need to take a trip over to that coffee house."
"Why don't you let me handle that? It's been awhile, but with some makeup magic and the right wardrobe I think I could pass for a teenager."