Qaletaqa (28 page)

Uriah watched me. I had given in when he
would have expected me to fight him. Keeping my face calm was too
difficult to manage, so I tried to look defeated rather than
deceitful. It seemed to work. Sighing in quiet relief, he lowered
his gaze. I looked away again and hid my face.

“You don’t have to leave yet,” Uriah said.
His hands grasped my shoulders and ran down my arms. “The creatures
are coming back to watch us. We can’t split up until they leave us
alone again. I don’t want them figuring out what we’re doing.”

I took Uriah’s hands and pulled his arms
around me. I hoped the creatures never left us. Well, part of me
did. We had worked so hard to find out the Matwau’s secret. I
couldn’t let that advantage pass by, even if it meant letting Uriah
make part of his journey alone.

“We should get going,” Harvey said suddenly.
“Even if the creatures are watching us, we still shouldn’t waste
any time. We may not have much left.”

25: Second Chance to
Choose

For the first time ever, I wondered if Claire
was lying to me. She had given me the answer I wanted, but I didn’t
believe it. That terrified me. I shoved a stray pair of socks into
my backpack and watched her. Harvey had gone back to his room to
gather his own things, and Claire was suddenly extremely busy
rounding up her loose possessions.

I understood why Claire wanted to be with me
when I faced the Matwau. She believed that if she was there at the
end I would be less likely to run away with Melody. It was
impossible for either of us to stop thinking about the prophecy. I
couldn’t get those last few words out of my head no matter how hard
I tried.

Nothing of Bhawana’s vision had come to pass
yet, but everything was leading up to it. I could feel events
pulling me step by step toward my prophesied fate. I clung to the
hope Samantha and Kaya had given me about the Bhawana’s
misconception, but felt compelled to let the vision play out
exactly as it had been shown. Resisting Melody depended on my own
strength. Claire had done it, and so could I. Beating the Matwau,
however, depended on me following the exact steps I had been
given.

I would simply have to hope Claire would come
to see the importance of keeping her promise before she had the
chance to break it. Her stepping into the fight would lead to Talon
lying on the desert floor bleeding to death like I had seen when
Kaya looked into my future. I had no reason to make that particular
connection, but somehow I knew it to be true. There was no other
way for Talon to end up dead unless he joined the fight. Talon knew
how important Claire was to me. Although he would surely threaten
to gut me himself when I asked him to guard Claire instead of help
me, he would agree to it in the end. He didn’t know love the way
humans did, but he understood my enveloping need to protect Claire,
and would keep her from harm when I couldn’t.

If Claire breaks her promise and follows me,
so will Talon.

The harsh sound of the zipper on Claire’s
backpack being zipped up startled me. I realized I was holding a
wobbled up shirt in my hand, frozen right above my own pack.
Hurriedly stuffing it in, I pulled the zipper closed and swung the
bag onto my shoulder. Claire was already standing by the door with
her own bag. She was unusually quiet, especially for what lay
ahead.

“Ready?” I asked.

Claire nodded and pulled the door open to
find Harvey standing there with a hand poised to knock.

“Oh, good, you guys are ready,” Harvey said
as he lowered his hand. “Let’s get going then.”

Without waiting, Harvey turned and stalked
down the hallway. Claire was quick to follow him. I felt like I was
wading through hip deep water as I trailed behind them down
hall.

The not so fresh air of Greeley did little to
cheer the three of us as we stepped into the parking lot. The
gentle calming presence of Talon did help take away some of the
bile building in my throat. Not wanting to send Harvey into a fit
again, Talon stayed out of sight as he waited for me to come to
him.

I pushed through the thick bushes at the end
of the parking lot. Talon’s extended claws scratched at the ground.
His ears were laid back as well.

“The creatures have returned,” he said.

“Melody warned me they were on their way back
last night when I spoke to her,” I said.

A low growl made Talon’s upper lip curl up
over his sharp teeth. “Sometimes I regret teaching you how to
shield your thoughts from me,” he said, making a visible effort to
relax his irritation. “You could have warned me about them
returning. I very nearly stumbled upon one of them on my way back
to meet you.”

“Sorry, Talon.” Ever since Talon had taught
me how to make the shield I had worked to make it a permanent part
of me. I valued Talon’s thoughts immensely, but I valued the peace
of having no one sifting through my mind whenever they pleased as
well. Still, I should have thought to pass the warning on to Talon
as soon as I woke up.

“They’ll probably be with us for a few hours
or so,” I said. “The Matwau sent them back to watch us for a while.
He doesn’t like the fact that I have companions with me.”

“Does the Matwau know who your companions
are?” Talon asked.

When Melody told me about what she had
overheard, she made a point of saying that the Matwau referred my
companions as “the others.” He had yet to actually use Harvey or
Claire’s names. As far as Melody knew, he didn’t know who I was
travelling with, but I wasn’t sure about that. The creatures had
been watching Harvey and Melody’s cottage. They would have seen
Harvey when he got home.

I doubted darkness would have obscured their
vision at all, or that they wouldn’t have been able to figure out
who Harvey was, even if they didn’t know his name. Claire could
very well still be a mystery to the Matwau. The creatures had never
seen her before we arrived at the cottage. She was just another
human woman to them.

“The Matwau may know who Harvey is, but I
don’t think he knows Claire is who’s with me,” I said.

Talon nodded. The emotion emanating from him
felt satisfied and relieved. “Most of the animals flee when they
feel the creatures presence, but only far enough to stay out of
their path. They will not go far enough that they cannot still
report of the creatures.”

“Just let me know when they leave.”

Now it was time to ask for Talon’s
promise.

“As soon as the creatures leave we’ll be
splitting up. We know where the Matwau’s leading us. Harvey and
Claire will head for Taos, New Mexico once we’re alone again. I
want you to go with them.”

Talon’s corded body tensed and his teeth were
showing once again. “We have already discussed this. I will not
leave you to fight the Matwau alone.”

“You will, Talon. I need you to protect
Claire. You know as well as I do that if the creatures find her
they’ll kill her. I have no choice. I have to face the Matwau. I
can’t protect Claire at the same time.” Talon didn’t relax even a
little.

“Claire will not be left behind any more than
I will,” Talon said.

“She’s already agreed.”

It was difficult to tell a cougar’s emotion
just by their furry faces, but the surprise floating into my mind
was unmistakable. Surprise quickly deepened, and although Talon hid
his thoughts from me, I could tell he was thinking carefully about
what I had said. I wondered whether he was having the same trouble
I was trying to figure out if Claire was lying when she agreed.
Suddenly his usual calm returned and Talon straightened.

“If Claire has agreed to stay behind, then I
will add my promise to hers,” he said diplomatically.

I wanted to feel relief at the second promise
I desperately wanted to have, but instead I felt the same sneaking
suspicion that Talon’s promise was as thin as Claire’s had been. I
could feel my jaw tightening. Strength of will was not enough to
unclench it. Nodding curtly, I turned away and pushed back through
the bushes. Talon wriggled after me and leaped into the back of the
truck with ease. He was scrunched under the motorcycle, nearly
invisible, two seconds later.

I glanced over at Harvey to see him tapping
the top of his steering wheel with an anxious glare. I had
explained on the way down that we had to stay together until the
creatures abandoned their watch. Even though he understood the
necessity of it, he still didn’t like it. Doing my best to ignore
his steely expression, I climbed into the cab of the truck and
drove out of the parking lot.

“South?” Claire asked.

I nodded. The bond had been waiting patiently
when I awoke, tugging me back toward my home. The waiting part
grated on me to the point of wanting to scream, but there was
little I could do about it. The Matwau was undoubtedly enjoying the
game he insisted we play.

“Do you think he’s leading you to Taos
already?” Claire shifted nervously at the thought. I hoped we
hadn’t figured everything out too late for it to be useful.

“He could still change his direction at any
moment,” I said wearily. Reaching the end brought mixed feelings,
but reaching it too quickly for Harvey and Claire to be safely out
of the way brought only dread. “I doubt he’ll head straight there
either way. I’ll probably have to go halfway to Texas before
getting to Taos.” I tried to keep my tone light, but Claire didn’t
seem to notice. Her grimace was her only response.

Pulling the worn old book from Quaile out of
her backpack, Claire held it in her lap for a few seconds before
looking at me sideways. I knew she had been reading it to herself,
trying to get through it as quickly as possible in hopes of finding
something useful. She hadn’t bothered to share anything she’d read,
so I assumed there was little in it that was useful to our looming
problem.

Shaman didn’t always have the same notion of
what was important in a situation as the people actually in
trouble. The book was probably filled with origination stories and
anecdotes about the gods or Coyote or some such nonsense meant to
give me wisdom before I met the Matwau. A clear cut “how-to” guide
was what I really needed.

At this point I had little hope there would
be anything in the journal that I hadn’t already learned from
either Kaya and Samantha or Ahiga anyway, but Claire’s hesitation
to resume her quiet reading made me wonder what was really in the
book. She had been acting strangely since we found each other
again. At first I thought it was simply everything we had been
through and still faced, but the more I thought on it the more I
started to worry Claire’s promise wasn’t the only thing I should
doubt. Did she know more than she was telling me?

“Would you mind reading aloud?” I asked. “It
gets really boring just watching the road, and I like hearing your
voice while we drive.”

Claire looked up, surprised by my request.
The emotion only lasted a short time. She smiled and squeezed my
hand. “Sure, Uriah. I’m sure we’ll find something useful in here.”
Snuggling next to me Claire opened the book and began to read.

“Sitting at the window, I watch the snow
fall. Snow is such a rare treat in San Juan. I came out of Anise
Yazzie’s house this afternoon just in time to see Uriah and Claire
walking home from school.

“Neither of them noticed me. They were too
absorbed in simply being near each other. Every time I see them
anymore they have the same look of complete devotion about them. On
any other couple I would be filled with joy and hope for their
future, but not on Uriah and Claire. When I see those two, my heart
breaks. I want to tell them, warn them, but what good would that
do? Why not let them have a little happiness before they are forced
to part?

“If there were any real chance of them
staying together, I would do everything in my power to make it
happen. Uriah and Claire were both good children to begin with, but
each had their troubles. Uriah was far too passive and shy. He was
always letting people push past him and ignore him. He was a very
bright young man, but few ever knew it because he constantly
downplayed his intelligence.

“Claire on the other hand had no problem
finding the spotlight. Beautiful and energetic, she often sought
after attention to take the focus off the strained relationship
between her and her father. Thomas is a poor excuse for a father, I
will admit, but Claire was no help to the situation with her
constant tantrums.”

Claire grunted and lowered the book for a
second. “This is a real self-esteem boosting section, isn’t it? I
had no idea Quaile thought so highly of us.”

“That was a long time ago, and Quaile is an
idiot. I thought we already decided that one a while ago,” I said
with a laugh. My arm slipped around her shoulders. “Besides,
neither of us were that bad. I wasn’t shy or passive. I just didn’t
need to pick fights or have a million friends. We’re not those same
people anymore, anyway.”

Claire’s sour expression softened. “No, I
guess we’re not. Do you really think I was an attention seeking
tantrum thrower?”

“I think you were more of an attention
magnet,” I said. I was only half teasing. Claire drew people to her
without trying. Even Quaile should have been able to see the
difference. “You were always so fun and energetic that people just
wanted to be around you. And if you did throw any tantrums, I’m
sure your dad deserved it.”

“Do you want me to keep going?” Claire asked.
“It may be too cheerful to handle.”

“Go ahead. I could use the distraction,” I
said.

Claire nodded reluctantly and continued to
read.

“I was surprised when Uriah and Claire seemed
to fall for each other so deeply. On the surface, they had so
little in common. I have never believed the adage about opposites
attracting. It honestly never made any sense to me, but as I have
watched Uriah and Claire grow closer, I see exactly why they are so
determined to be together. Where Uriah lacks, Claire can bring him
up, and where Claire falls short, Uriah inspires her to do
better.