Chapter 18

Lunch had been a quiet affair, the silence broken only by an occasional sniffle from one of the wives and the rattle of fork against plate. Kelly had been on the verge of tears ever since Chief Robert White Feather had picked up Beth and Little John to take them out to the reservation for their yearlong stay.

Ling kept bursting out in angry tears since Ed had told her that she couldn’t stay on the reservation to be close to the kids. She knew he was right, but that didn’t make her feel any better. She kept hugging Betsy as if to keep her from suffering the same fate as Little John. The attention was at such a frequency that Betsy was beginning to get irritated by the constant interruption of her movements. Leroy sipped his iced tea wondering how he could rescue Betsy from her mother’s arms. The poor girl looked like she wanted to run away.

The food sat heavy in Ed’s stomach despite the fact that it was Marguerite’s cooking. She had prepared a great meal, but no one was in the frame of mind to enjoy it. He looked over at William and Dale as they toyed with their food. Every time Linda moved, William flinched afraid that she was going to grab him again. His clothes were messed up from dropping food off his fork as a result of his mother hugging him while he was eating. For the first time that Ed could remember, William actually looked his age.

Sitting back in his chair, he said, “Okay. Someone has to say it.”

Looking over at Ed, Kelly put into words what all three women were thinking when she said, “They’re gone. Our little babies are gone. They’ll be coming back all grown up.”

“Beth will be fifteen when she gets out of college. Little John will be fourteen. I don’t think that makes them all grown up,” commented Leroy. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he knew he had said the wrong thing. All three of the women broke out in tears. His shoulders slumped in frustration.

As tears flooded from her eyes, Linda hugged William to her chest as he was reaching for his glass of milk. Fortunately, he didn’t spill the milk. She cried, “William’s only five. He can’t go away for seven years.”

Dale sat beside William feeling very uncomfortable around the emotional women. Chief Robert White Feather had dropped him off at the house so that Ed could take them to the airport after lunch. They were leaving for the Native American College in two hours and it seemed to him that time had slowed to the point where two hours was going to last forever.

With his face pressed to her chest, it was difficult for William to breathe. He struggled out from his mother’s grasp and took a deep breath. Wearily, he said, “I’m going to suffocate if you keep doing that and you’ll lose me forever.”

Realizing that she was holding him too tightly, Linda relaxed her hold on him. In a tearful voice, she said, “I’m sorry. I just don’t want to lose you.”

“You are not losing me. I am going to the Native American College for two years. They hold classes according to the regular schedule, so I’ll be home for summers. I’ll only be gone for nine months,” said William.

“That’s forever,” cried Linda.

“No, it’s just long enough for me to return in time for Eddie to be born,” William replied with a grin finding that he liked the idea of having a baby brother.

“Eddie?” Ed asked surprised by the announcement. He turned to Linda and asked, “Are you pregnant?”

“No,” she replied.

“Yes,” William answered, dropping a bombshell at the table that effectively halted all conversation. He looked down at his clothes and then over at Dale. Shaking his head at the mess, he said, “I’m going to change my clothes and load our gear into the van. Dale, would you like to help me with our gear?”

Happy to have a reason to leave the table, Dale said, “Sure.”

William and Dale left the table. Betsy, seeing her chance to escape and move around without restriction, followed them out of the room. The room was silent after their exit. Marguerite came out of the kitchen and looked at the group around the dinner table. Most of the meal remained in the serving dishes or uneaten on the plates. Frowning, she knew better than to ask about the quality of the meal.

Stunned by William’s news, Ed said, “I guess I’m going to be a father.”

“He might be wrong,” said Linda, knowing she was wrong even as she said it. William was never wrong about things like that. She brightened and exclaimed, “I’m going to be a mother!”

Kelly and Ling turned their attention to Linda and her good news. As they excitedly exchanged words, Ed slipped away from the table. As he passed the office, Cathy called, “Ed. I’ve got the envelope that you wanted for William.”

The reminder was timely since Ed had completely forgotten about it. He stopped and accepted the envelope from her and put it into the pocket of his robe. He passed the envelope on to William at the airport two hours later. He was very sad to watch the plane take off and carry William to his destiny.

Six months after William had left for college; Ed stood on the roof of the house watching as a caravan of beat up trucks and older cars headed into town. He recognized the truck belonging to Awa Tsireh and, without turning to look at Nathan, said, “They are coming. Make sure that everything is set up in the tent.”

“Who are they?” Nathan asked. In the past, Ed would give him some information on which to work. This time Ed had told him nothing except that he expected over twenty visitors that day and he was to set up a hospitality tent with food catered by Maria’s Cantina.

“You don’t have a need to know,” answered Ed while watching the caravan turn onto the street leading to the house. Abruptly, he turned and headed towards the stairs to be in place to greet his visitors. His black robe flowed around him as he moved.

Confused by the answer, Nathan followed Ed down the stairs before heading to the tent that had been set up in the back yard. Ed went out to stand in the driveway for the caravan while Nathan went out the back door.

When the caravan came to a halt in the driveway, Ed fought his natural tendency to approach them. He waited for everyone to get out of their vehicles and approach him. Raising his right hand, he said, “Welcome friends to the house of Clan Carter.”

“Greetings, Ed Biggers,” replied the men as they approached in a disorganized ramble. No one rushed or dawdled, but made their way to him at their own speed. Each man carried a carton of cigarettes as a gift for Ed.

Nathan came out the front of the house to stand beside Ed. He watched as each man handed Ed a carton of cigarettes; introduced themselves along with the tribe to which they were a member to Ed; and then stood off to the side. The men represented tribes from all over the western portion of the country.

When Ed had too many cartons of cigarettes to carry, he handed them to Nathan and said, “Take them in the house and then go next door. Tell Dan to come over to the tent and then I want you to leave.”

“Leave? You’ve sent everyone away. Someone has to handle security,” countered Nathan feeling uneasy about getting sent away. He had no idea what was going on, but it appeared to be very important.

Irritated that Nathan was interrupting the greetings, Awa Tsireh said, “Go away. Our business here does not concern you.”

“Leave, Nathan. The men with Chief Robert White Feather are members of the tribal police. They will handle security,” said Ed in a tone of voice that suggested Nathan would have better luck arguing with a wall.

Nathan looked at the group of six young men with Chief Robert White Feather and nodded his acceptance of Ed’s orders. Turning, he went into the house. Ed returned to greeting the other men. When the last one had introduced himself, Ed said, “I have a tent in the back where we may eat and talk.”

“That is good to hear,” said one of the men.

Chief Robert White Feather gestured to the men with him as he said, “You three will guard the front of the house. You two will guard the far side of the house. You three will come with me to guard the near side and the tent.”

Gesturing for them to follow him, Ed led the way around the house to the tent in the back. The canvas tent was twenty feet by twenty feet and ten feet tall along the centerline. Nathan had rented it from a rental place, trying to match what Ed had requested with what they stocked.

Ed opened the door to the tent and watched as his guests entered the tent. There were blankets arranged in a circle along the floor for the men to sit upon. The men entered and then took seats on the floor. Awa Tsireh, just before entering the tent, handed Ed a long package wrapped in a small quilt. Realizing what he had been handed, Ed said, “You have honored me.”

“You do not know what you have discovered,” replied Awa Tsireh as he entered and took a seat in the circle.

Ed waited the few minutes that it took for Dan to arrive. The engineer was confused by the invitation and became even more surprised when he glanced inside the tent. Nervous, he asked, “Are you sure that you want me here?”

“Yes. You were specifically requested,” answered Ed. In a low voice that wouldn’t carry, he added, “Take the seat to my left and don’t say anything until you are called upon.”

Once Dan entered, Ed gestured to Chief Robert White Feather to stand guard at the door of the tent. Seeing the man approach the tent, Ed went inside and took his seat. Sitting down tailor fashion, Ed looked around and said, “We are all here.”

Awa Tsireh said, “Ed Biggers, we thank you for your kind invitation to meet with you on this matter.”

“I thank you for coming,” replied Ed. He unwrapped the quilt with great care and removed the ancient pipe from within its folds. Opening a small pouch of pipe tobacco, he filled the bowl. Using a cheap lighter, he lit the pipe sucking through the stem without inhaling. Once the pipe was lit, he took a single draw and blew the smoke up towards the center of the circle. He handed the pipe to the Awa Tsireh who was seated to his right.

It took a few minutes for the pipe to make its way around the circle of men. When it was handed to Dan, he was tempted to pass it on, but seeing the look being given him he inhaled through the stem. Coughing and with tears coming out the corners of his eyes, he handed the pipe to Ed. Ed accepted the pipe and set it gently on the ground where it rested on the quilt. Although he knew the answer to his question, Ed asked, “What matter is it that you wish to discuss with me?”

Eskieah, an Apache Medicine Man, said, “You sent a note to us through your son. We have come to discuss what you wrote in that note.”

“I thought that might be the case.”

Dan wondered what note Ed had sent. It seemed odd to him that he was invited to a meeting because Ed sent a note to Eskieah. He was about to ask, but a look from Ed kept him quiet.

“It’s an interesting note. You describe something that should not exist, but there is no way you should know about it,” said Eskieah with a frown. The note about the hole in the desert had sent shock waves through the Medicine Men of many tribes. The description of the hole had immediately suggested that it was an ancient kiva, a ceremonial structure used by the Pueblos. The remainder of the text suggested something far more significant.

Gi Ma To, a Sioux Medicine Man, asked, “Have you ever heard of the Ghost Dance?”

Shaking his head, Ed answered, “No.”

“When Sitting Bull was a Chief of our people, a Paiute Medicine Man named Wovoka created the Ghost Dance. Dancers wore brightly colored shirts emblazoned with images of eagles and buffaloes. By dancing and wearing the shirts, the young braves believed that they would become invulnerable to bullets fired by white men,” explained Gi Ma To shaking his head. The end result had been the death of a large number of Sioux in a massacre. Shrugging his shoulders, he said, “It didn’t work and many braves died.”

“That was the last of the great dances intended to rid the world of the white men,” commented one of the other men, “but it was not the first.”

Eskieah said, “Before the Ghost Dance, there was the dance created by Nochedelklinne. His teachings were a call to leave revenge to the almighty giver of life, Usen. He prophesied that whites would soon vanish and there would be a return of the great chiefs. It united our tribe at a time when there were many different factions. When he was killed, Juh, Geronimo and a group of Chiricahuas escaped from the reservation and fought the whites.”

Recalling one of the few facts about Geronimo that he knew, Ed said, “Geronimo wasn’t a Chief. He was a Medicine Man.”

“Yes, he was. I admit I’m surprised that you knew he wasn’t a Chief. Few whites even know he was an Apache rather than something you scream when you jump out of a plane,” said Eskieah while chuckling.

“So, Geronimo came up with a new dance?” asked Ed.

A look of real surprise came over Eskieah as he considered the question. It was a question he had never considered, but he was sure that wasn’t an explanation. Shaking his head, he answered, “I don’t think so. I think the explanation points to an even earlier dance.”

A Pueblo Medicine Man by the name of Kotyit said, “Early in the invasion of the white man into the land of our tribe, there was a revolt that drove the Spanish from our territory. No other tribe in the southwest succeeded in doing this, and we were not reconquered for many years. Although we were under the Spanish, then Mexicans, and finally the USA, we preserved our traditional culture far better than many other tribes.”

Curious as to when that occurred, Ed asked, “When was that?”

“1680. They resisted the Spanish for twelve years until they were reconquered in 1692.”

“What has this to do with dances?” asked Ed not seeing the connection.

Kotyit answered, “We believe that a Medicine Man found a dance.”

Puzzled, Ed tried to put all of the pieces together and was coming up several pieces short. Giving in, he guessed, “Are you telling me that the dance worked for twelve years?”

“No. We believe the dance has worked for over four hundred years and is still working,” said Kotyit.