Chapter 16

As the roof of the back part of the prison room began to fall Jason ran toward the main tunnel. He grabbed Hawk by the back of his shirt, dragging him along the floor until they were completely out of the room. The air was filled with dust, and without their surgical masks it would’ve been hard to breathe. A stunned Hawk said, “Whew! That was close.”

Helping Hawk stand, Jason asked, “Are you OK?”

“Other than a sore and bruised butt, I think I’m fine. Thanks for dragging my ass out of there. I’m sorry I tripped.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. Remember, those timbers are probably more than two hundred years old. It’s unbelievable they’ve held together this long, especially that one in particular.”

They looked back into the prison room. It was still filled with dust, but the electric lantern was sufficient to show the entire back end of the tunnel was now under tons of rock. Realizing he still had the key in the same hand as the lantern Jason stepped back into the room and hung it back on the spike.

As he did so he said, “Just in case we need it for one of the other cells.”

As Jason stepped back into the main tunnel they heard more rumblings. This time it came from the direction of the entrance. They both ran toward the rear of the mine. A cloud of dust followed them, but was stopped at the turn by the directional change and the gentle breeze that could be felt coming from the back of the tunnel. At this point, the two exhausted men dropped to the floor. A frightened Hawk asked, “Do you think we’re trapped by another cave in?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised. Let’s sit here and allow this dust to settle some. Then we’ll see how bad it is.”

As Jason sat with his back to the wall, his eyes were drawn to the small kegs of powder along the opposite wall. Pointing to them, he asked, “Any idea what those were?”

“They’re part of a booby trap to blow up anyone who came blindly around the corner. It was designed to cause the tunnel to collapse over them. There was a trip wire running to the brace beside you and some sort of flintlock mechanism to set it off.”

“And you found and disarmed it. I’m impressed.”

“Before you get too impressed, I discovered it because my shoe became untied, and I stopped to tie it. As for disarming it, all I did was keep the hammer from falling while I broke the wire.”

“Hawk, don’t sell yourself short. I once saved an entire platoon from a booby trap because I fell over a root. On the battlefield even those with skill need luck. The key was you immediately recognized it and took the necessary steps to neutralize it. That’s all any of us could have done.”

“Thanks, Jason. That helps me deal with this ‘hero stuff’ I keep hearing from Brenda and Maria. I guess my image of a hero has been molded too much by the entertainment industry.”

“Hawk, what you did for my Little Ground Squirrel would make you a hero in most anyone’s book. From what I understand what you did for Brenda was similar. Had you been in the Army during wartime you’d probably have received the Medal of Honor. What’s more telling is most MH’s are awarded posthumously. Usually what happened was nothing more than the soldier getting caught up in the heat of the battle and going berserk for a few seconds. Twice, you consciously went to the defense of a woman you hardly knew, and neither time were you prepared to actually take on the enemy.”

“Well, I did have the rifle and pistol, when I tried to save Maria.”

“Right. The rifle had one shell in it because you didn’t know how to load it, and you had no idea if that pistol would fire, or even how to do so. Maria told me what happened. You’ve never handled a single action pistol before, have you?”

“Jason, I’ve never handled any pistol before. I’ve fired my father’s twenty-two a few times, but I never could hit anything with it.”

“See what I mean. You had no idea you had to cock the pistol in order for it to fire. You just got lucky at the end, or Robert would’ve killed you, and probably Maria, before he died of his own wounds. You didn’t go berserk, and you weren’t caught up in the rush of battle. You thought it out, planned it, and then put yourself in harm’s way for another. Son, no matter how you cut it, that spells hero.”

A surprised Hawk smiled, and said, “So, I done good?”

Jason leaned over and slapped him on the back, saying, “Yes! You done good.” A cloud of dust arose from Hawk’s back when Jason slapped it. This caused both of them to laugh for a moment, as the cloud began to drift toward the front of the cave. Pointing to it Jason said, “Well, it looks like we’ve at least got some ventilation.”

“I’m glad, because I like to breathe.”

Jason chuckled and answered, “Me, too.”

They both sat back against the wall, trying to wait patiently to learn if they were trapped in the mine. Suddenly, Hawk started laughing.

In response, Jason said, “Now, don’t go losing it at this point.”

“I’m not losing it. I just had a funny thought. I’ve heard Maria’s Apache name mentioned several times, but it never really sank in, as she was always Maria to me. I just remembered the first time I saw her trying to run across the canyon floor and I thought she reminded me of a chipmunk scurrying from rock to rock, tree to tree. Where I’m from a ‘little ground squirrel’ is called a chipmunk.”

“I can see that, but I still think Little Ground Squirrel sounds better.”

“Oh, I agree, other than it’s too many words. The funny part is to think of our marriage - we’ll be the Hawk and the Chipmunk.”

Jason caught the link, and also started laughing. “It doesn’t sound like a good basis for a marriage, does it?”

“I guess you could say that instead of fighting like cats and dogs we will fight like hawks and chipmunks.” Jason just shook his head and groaned.

It was past 3:00 p.m. when Maria reentered the apartment. She was surprised to find no one there. She dialed her grandfather’s cell phone, but only got his voice mail. When she tried Hawk she got the same thing. She’d no idea where they were, and she didn’t have Andy’s cell phone number. Just wanting to talk to someone she called Brenda. “Hello?”

“Brenda, it’s Maria. Are you busy?”

“For my new sister, never.”

“Sister?”

“Yep. I’ve done some reading on the Internet this afternoon. Did you know that traditionally, there have been a lot of plural marriages among the Apache?”

Maria was puzzled at this, and replied, “Then you know more about my people than I do. I wasn’t aware of it. On the other hand, with the matriarchic foundation of our society I’d find it hard to imagine how a man would deal with multiple mothers-in-law.”

“They did it most often by either taking a woman who’d lost her mother, or by marrying the wife’s sister. Since neither of us have a mother, or any siblings, I thought I’d adopt you as my sister. What do you think?”

“Brenda, I’ve never had a sister before. I think it might be wonderful. There are so many times I’ve needed to talk girl-to-girl with someone. Don’t get me wrong, I love my grandfather, and he’s always tried to be there for me. But jeeez, you can’t talk to your grandfather about cramps, or a first kiss, or especially about feeling the need for sexual fulfillment.”

“Then, you like the idea?”

“Yes, I do. I don’t know about a plural marriage, but we’ll settle that later. What are you doing now?”

“Actually, I’m not that far from you. I was doing some shopping.”

An excited Maria asked, “I’m here by myself. Would you like to come over for some sister-to-sister time?”

“I’d love it. I’ll see you shortly.”

Maria looked around the apartment, straightening a few things that were out of place. She ran into the bedroom and changed into some comfortable shorts and a loose top. Wanting to be comfortable she left off her bra. Just as she returned there was a knock at the door. Looking through the peephole she saw it was Brenda. Opening the door Brenda entered the apartment and gave Maria a big hug. Maria just hugged her back.

Somewhat surprised at Maria’s response, Brenda remarked, “You’re not uncomfortable about this at all are you?”

“About what?”

“Being hugged by another woman?”

“Brenda, I didn’t see myself being hugged by another woman. I saw myself being hugged by my big sister. I’ve never had someone wrap me in love like you just did.”

“But your parents, your grandfather, boyfriends, or girlfriends in high school?”

“My parents never really wanted me, or if they did it was to make them look like a happy Christian family when they visited churches to try to raise financial support. They shipped me off to my grandfather when I was ten, and I never saw them again until after I was sixteen. That was when they forced me to marry Robert.”

A compassionate Brenda hugged her again and said, “Oh! That had to be painful, emotionally.”

“It was. As for my grandfather, he loves me dearly, but he has never been real affectionate. We spent time in the woods learning the ways of the Apache, or we sat and talked about whatever I was interested in. That part was great, but he never held me in his lap and just cuddled me. In school the boys were afraid of angering the legendary Longbow. They were friendly, but they seldom asked me out on a date, which was probably good. I was so starved for affection I’m likely to have spread my legs far too easily.”

“Didn’t you have any close girlfriends?”

“To the girls I was pretty much an outcast with no close girlfriends. I wanted to go to college while most of them just wanted to be someone’s squaw.”

Brenda giggled, and said, “That doesn’t sound too different from the girls in my high school, except they wouldn’t use the word squaw. As for my parents, they divorced when I was about two. My mother had to work two, and sometimes three jobs to support us. He disappeared shortly after the divorce, never paying her a dime of child support. I’ve had Aunt Beth, but only for the past few years, as she was back east somewhere. She moved back here when my mother died.”

While they continued getting to know one another Andy came in the door using the spare key she’d found on a key rack in the kitchen. She was trying to bring a large and a small suitcase into the apartment. Brenda and Maria rushed to help her. “What’s going on?” Maria asked.

“While everyone was gone, I ran home to get more clothes. Have you heard anything from Jason or Hawk?”

“No, we haven’t, and I’m starting to get concerned, especially since I can’t get either one on their cell phones. Do you know where they went?”

“I overheard Jason say something about taking care of a body.”

“Then they’ve gone to where Robert was holding me. It’s on the Navajo Reservation, but I’ve no idea where.”

“What should we do then?” asked Andy.

Maria replied, “Make ourselves comfortable until we hear something. I don’t know anything else we could do. Brenda and I were just having a sister-to-sister talk. Want to make it a mother-sister-sister talk?”

Andy laughed and visibly relaxed when she asked, “Do you think Jason would ever ask me to marry him?”

“Probably a lot sooner than either of you expect. I think us becoming more of a family with Hawk, Brenda, and the others will cause him to reevaluate his needs and priorities. Just loving him and letting him know you support him will make a difference.”

“Maria, I think sometimes he is scared for me. Like he was afraid I could get hurt because of him. Is that possible?”

“I know he has many enemies from the past, and probably some from the present. That’s why he lives like he does. Think of his life as being like an iceberg.”

“I’m not sure I understand.”

“Normally, only about ten percent of an iceberg is above the surface of the ocean.”

“So his life is not just that little cabin.”

“I think you’re catching on.”

“But why does a sweet man like that have enemies?” Brenda asked.

“He used to lead most of the Black Operations carried out by the Special Forces. Especially bringing down corrupt, repressive dictators, as well as some major drug dealers. I do know when our jets took out a biological weapons plant in Libya a few years ago he was on the ground with a laser directing our bombs to the target.”

“That makes him a hero,” replied Andy.

“Yes, but it also makes him a target. That fact makes him try to keep those he cares about outside of the target area. I think it’s getting better, as it’s been many years since he retired. The problem is some of those people have very long memories.” Andy went into the kitchen to begin preparations for dinner as well as mull over what she’d learned. Maria and Brenda just continued their sister-to-sister time, as they both seemed to realize that it was good for both of them.

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The Hawk and the Chipmunk

Mike Lowe aka The Scot

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