Land of Bones and Tears

Chapter Six

“We cannot drive all the way to the reservation because there isn’t a truck made that’s big enough for the three of us and those two damn dogs and that’s the last I’m going to say on the topic.”

I went back to eating my breakfast, trying to ignore the stares of everyone in the diner – everyone other than the two people I had been trying to impress with the finality of my pronouncement. My grandfather and Colleen went on chattering – best of friends since meeting an hour ago – like I had not just shouted in full drill sergeant volume.

“There are some really incredible rock structures about ninety miles west of here that we can take a look at, this pamphlet has the directions, it’s not far out of our way.” Colleen passed it over to him. She was seated next to me, Grandfather insisting that he had to have one side of the booth to himself so the two of us had to squeeze in together. Which did not really make sense since I was still the biggest, but who argues with an eighty-nine year old man? Apparently not me, at least not me and win, since he was totally ignoring my views on how we were going to be taking the next leg of the trip to the reservation.

Grandfather was a great dog trainer – none better – but even the best dog trainer needs time and patience. And space. A road trip is not the best place to conduct dog training, as any idiot would know, I felt like saying, but having been trained many years ago myself by this man I would never say such a thing to him...though it came close. Anyway, while Vasha was well trained, Cheyenne was still in the learning stages, and even the best trained dog will rise to the challenge of an uppity youngster getting in her face...or his face. Which was something a certain little girl was going to learn if she didn’t stop flashing those dimples my way and cozying up to my grandfather, encouraging him to go against what was good for him.

A long truck ride would be exhausting for him. I was sure that Linton, that sensible doctor would agree with me. For fuck’s sake, the man was almost ninety years old, he shouldn’t undertake an exhausting road trip like they were planning.

'Even if it was what he wanted?' I could hear a traitorous voice in my head asking, and damn if it didn’t sound like Luke. Trouble with those O’Keefes was, none of them had any common sense.

“Steven, aren’t you done eating yet? We have a long trip ahead of us and we probably should be looking into buying a truck. You don’t want to keep the rental, do you?” Grandfather sounded amused.    

I rolled my eyes and bit back a curse. Then, inspired, said a Gaeltacht one that made the little O’Keefe girl’s eyes open wide. Bet she didn’t learn that one from her grandmother. Then again, remembering Mama Rose, she may have.

“Sure, Grandfather, let’s go look at trucks. I want to get a really good one. You’re buying, right?”

He smiled at me like an old snake oil peddler. “You know how you’re always after me to let you buy me something. Well, now you can get me some of those birthday and Christmas presents, boy. I’ve been reading up on some of the new trucks. Colleen and me are going to need a good truck at the reservation this winter.”

I grinned back at him – when he put it like that, I was totally okay with it. It was the first thing he’d said that sounded like he was looking forward, past his arrival. Hell, he could have six trucks.

And his own plane. Not to brag, but I was a pretty rich guy. No fault of mine. Not much time to spent it over the past twenty-five years, so Luke sent it to his brother Mark who he said was good with money and damn, was he right. I was a millionaire several times over, not counting land and what Mark referred to as non-liquid assets. My liquid assets were high enough, not that I ever paid much attention to it. Better that I didn’t. Gave me the heebie jeebies, thinking about that kind of money. But I had a platinum card to cover things like buying trucks.

Or planes.

Not that it stopped me from grumbling when we got to the Ford dealership and the two of them wandered around, brochures in hand, discussing what they wanted for half an hour. I was having fun, actually, seeing the two of them having fun. I watched from back at the rental truck, choosing to keep an eye on the two dogs instead of wandering around the lot. But I could tell that  Grandfather was getting that annoyed look in his eyes as salesman after salesman ignored them and I saw that Colleen was limping worse, her not being recovered from the aggravation she’d suffered to her leg up on the roof of her family house.

My jaw tightened. I’d forgotten what it could be like, being a “native American” back home in the good old U.S. of A. Not that it was really my home anymore. But then, part of me would always consider the United States home, which was why I would always fight in her uniform. Just wish I didn’t have to fight for the right to be treated equal.

“Stay...and behave,” I ordered the two dogs. Then I got out of the rental truck and went to fight another battle in the American Indian war that had never ended.

***********

I was getting angry. I’d tried several times to get a salesman to come over and help us but got the brush off – sometimes polite, sometimes less than polite – and I was nearing the end of my politeness. I was not used to being treated like this. I was well aware of the reasons – doctorate in sociology, hello! – but that did not make it any more palatable. I was looking like the poor recent grad student I was, and Grandfather – he was so sweet as to insist I call him Grandfather also – for all that he was clearly a former military man and due respect, was also a very old man and a Native American. Native Americans and the elderly did not rank high on the “people to toady to at a car dealership” scale.  Veterans probably didn’t either, now that I thought about it, though they really should if there were justice in the world.

Car dealerships might have Veteran’s Day Sales, and Memorial Day Sales, and hell, they probably even had Columbus Day Sales and for all I knew, Geronimo Day Sales, but they didn’t mean anything pertinent to the day, just another reason to ring up the sales.

We didn’t look like people who could buy a truck so they weren’t wasting time on us. And while I could, if I had taken the time, have dolled myself up to attract male attention, I had not taken that time. Besides, I was here to help Grandfather buy a truck, not look for a prom date.

I drew myself up to my full height, which was taller than any of these schmucks, and tossed my dark, no doubt “Indian squaw” looking hair back behind my shoulder, and got ready to give the manager of this place a piece of my PhD educated mind.

But another person beat me to it.

“Bring me the manager, son. Pronto! And the finance manager. And two chairs. One for the lady and one for the gentleman, and place them over there, in the shade. Now move!” 

That drill sergeant voice again, not quite as loud but not to be disobeyed. I glanced out the corner of my eye and saw that Red was just behind my shoulder, his thick arms crossed over his chest, his aviators flipped up so those guys could get the full benefit of his thousand yard stare.
 

“Is there a problem here?” A flashy looking man came over, accompanied by a portlier, bald headed man – the finance guy, I bet. I swear my Uncle Matt was the only good-looking accountant I’d ever seen, though Mom would chastise me for pre-judging people based on their looks. I was right though. The guy with the flashy good looks in the cheap suit sized up our trio and gave Grandfather and me a warm smile but his hand went out to Red.

“How can I help you, sir? My name is....”

Red jerked his head toward Grandfather, ignoring the man’s hand.

“They’re your customers. I’ve just had to come over and find out why your sales staff wasn’t doing its job. Now I suggest you show your manners and introduce yourself to my grandfather and this young lady and you start showing this sorry excuse for a sales staff how you expect them to treat customers – while they sit and watch, as by this point, they’ve worn themselves out waiting for some service.”

I’ll give the man one thing–he was quick on the pick up. It didn’t even take Red slipping what looked like a special kind of credit card–titanium I think–to the finance man whose eyes bugged out at the sight–for him to go super sales mode. There’s a scene in “Pretty Woman” where Richard Gere’s character says to Julia Robert’s character that people aren’t nice to people, they’re nice to credit cards. Colette and I used to love that movie, and especially the shopping scene, giggling especially when the salesgirls are called over, since they happen to have the names of the O’Keefe sisters.

Well, the scene at the car dealership went a lot like that. Whatever it was that the pudgy finance guy whispered in the sales manager’s ear, it must have confirmed what his instincts were already telling the manager – he was about to make the sale of the year. But first, he had a lot of sucking up to do.

And he gave his sales force a major lesson in sucking up. Which wasn’t easy to do when the object of your sucking up was a stone-faced Native American doing what Red whispered to me was “the original Indian in front of the tobacco store impression.”

I laughed so hard I snorted the cold soda I’d been given right out my nose. Good thing I had my own personal sales lackey handy to offer me a napkin.

The talk about suspensions, drive trains, and horsepower kind of washed over me. I was more interested in the Sirius satellite radio to tell you the truth, but I enjoyed the show. Along with the 150's, they drove up the Expeditions and Broncos and a lot of everything else. I liked the Expedition; I could see there being times when we might want to take along more people than haul a truck load of stuff, but since it wasn’t my money, I didn’t feel right voicing too strong an opinion.  I was a bit shocked then, when I found out that Red ended up buying two vehicles – a truck and an SUV!  Fully loaded, both of them, one to be delivered for us.

I found this out when I walked inside with the finance guy, as the only one with the proper paperwork to take care of the registration, while Red went back with Grandfather to the rental truck to get Vasha and Cheyenne. He had let them run around a bit during the auto show, of course, but now he was getting all our stuff and theirs. The dealer had promised to take the rental back to the airport.

“Here you go now, Miss O’Keefe, just sign the title right here and the vehicles will be yours.”

“Mine! That’s got to be a mistake,” I told him. “I’m sure that Colonel....”  I paused. I knew that Red used an alias sometimes but wasn’t sure if this was one of those times. I tried again. “The vehicles should be titled in the older gentleman’s name.”

“No, Col. Redraven was quite clear; I was to put them in your name. That was why I asked for your license and other information, Miss. Since his grandfather hasn’t lived in the States for some time he doesn’t have a valid driver’s license in this country, and given his age, what is he, seventy something, or thereabouts? Well, he might have to take another driving test. You’ll be getting a Montana license, I assume?”

I nodded, dazed.  Grandfather looked good for his age but Red was forty-six so I was assuming that his grandfather had to be a lot older than seventy something, which made me wonder, how old was he? He must be in his eighties. He mentioned serving in World War II, so he had to be in his eighties at least.  My own grandfather had been too young to serve in that war, though of course, I was a generation younger than Red. But then again, my family’s generations were all over the place.

Walking out of that office, the owner of the first vehicles I’d ever owned in my life, and now it was not just one, but two, and those two totaling almost six figures, I felt giddy. I dropped the keys into Red’s hands like they were the hot potatoes in a schoolyard game I was determined to win.

Or not to lose – a whole different thing.

“Here, quick, take these.”

He raised an eyebrow, one O’Keefe trick he’d definitely picked up over the years and made his own. “What? You don’t like them after all? Don’t tell me, now you’ve changed your mind and decided you want to fly after all. I gotta tell you, buying a plane is a little more involved, little girl.”

I giggled. Smack me if I didn’t. Actually, smack me that I did. Since Grandfather excused himself just then to go to the men’s room, I took the opportunity to regroup and hissed, “You can’t go buying expensive cars, trucks, whatever you call them, and putting them in my name! What would my parents say?”

Red laughed. “I can just imagine what Liam would say – he’d say bring it home and give it to me, girl! Your Mom is sensible and would say that I must want you to have a safe vehicle to drive when you’re keeping an eye on my grandfather for me, and since you will be doing me a favor and keeping an eye on him, that is a very nice way of thanking you. And the truck is obviously for Grandfather, but he can’t have it in his name so hopefully you don’t mind doing the added favor of putting it in your name. We’ll worry about any tax consequences later. I’m sure between Mark and John we can get it figured out if it knocks you into a new tax bracket, what with the huge salary they’ll be paying you on the reservation.”

I hadn’t thought of it like that. I felt about three feet tall. I looked up at him, the realization beginning to sink in that he really had just bought me a gorgeous Expedition – in blue too. Like I wanted. And all I could do was say....

“Thank you?”

Those black eyes could actually twinkle. Who would have thought?

“You’re welcome. Now can we finally get this damn show on the road? And dare I hope that since it’s your truck, or whatever you call that fancy thing, you can drive it and I can sleep in the back?”

Damn right I was driving. It was mine!!!

I wanted to squeal! And then the pang of wishing I could call Colette and tell her this amazing thing hit. I felt it like a kick in the stomach. An arm settled over my shoulders.

“Some time you might want to tell Grandfather about it, if you don’t want to talk to me. You’ll find he’s the smartest man in the world when it comes to stuff like that. Ain’t no one better.”

All I could do was nod – the lump in my throat ruled out talking – and put my sunglasses back in place to hide any stupid tears. Had to love big sunglasses. I smiled and jerked my head toward the ladies room. It was going to be a long drive – may as well take advantage of the restroom while it was there.

Red nodded and moved his arm. I was kind of sorry I’d decided to hide in the restroom. The arm was a better comfort than crying over things that couldn’t be helped.

And...a new ride, that was a cheering thought. So, being me, I washed my face, brushed my hair, and headed back out to begin again. Without my twin but with two new companions who were proving to be full of surprises. Oh, yeah, and two dogs. Couldn’t forget them.

***********

“Who the fuck ever heard of a carsick dog?”

I grumbled to Vasha as I scrubbed at the dog puke on the upholstery of the Expedition’s back area. Grandfather was comforting Cheyenne – the sick puppy. Red was off trying to find some kind of special plant in the woods near the rest area we’d stopped at. Lucky me, I got cleanup duty. Reminded me of baby-sitting. Uncle Matt’s grandkids were a pukey bunch but the all-time puke champion of the family was Briana O’Keefe, Uncle Danny’s kid. He had to pay double rates to get baby-sitters for her as that little darling invariable puked, and she always managed to puke on you, unless you were wise to her tricks.

“That Cheyenne wants to be a princess, I’m warning you, Vasha. I can tell the type. You’re going to have to nip that in the bud.  See how she has Red running and Grandfather coaxing her to sip water? You can’t tell me she didn’t do it on purpose because she senses how important you are to them. Stand up for yourself, old girl. Don’t let yourself be taken for granted just because you have more sense than to let Red feed you part of a Klondike bar.”

Vasha wagged her tail and looked as disgusted as I was at the stupidity of the male. We were close to the reservation and we were all more than a little cranky. Which was to be expected. Our quick trip had taken three days – which had been fun, for the most part. But that old adage about fish and company was holding true for road trips too, though I actually think it was the fact of the road trip coming to an end that had Red on edge. He wasn’t looking forward to returning to his old home town. Can’t say that I blame him. Stands to reason, if he had liked it, he would have come back before now. But a man doesn’t leave home at eighteen and join the service and never look back without there being something wrong with the hometown. It wasn’t Grandfather, that was obvious. So, this town must have been the problem.

Of course, no one ever said that a reservation was a great place and they weren’t any better a quarter century ago. Worse. I’d seen “Billy Jack.”

I grinned to myself. Well, to myself and Vasha. Seriously though, it was a strange thing how the country had gone through liberal years and conservative years, and Lord only knew where we’d end up from these strange Tea Party years, but the reservations – they stayed a national disgrace if you asked me.

Why would Grandfather willingly return to one of the poorest places you could ever be consigned to live if he had a grandson who could walk into a car dealership and buy trucks like they were Ipods, and who had the connections to fly him anywhere in the world his dreams could take him.

“I guess that tells us that his dreams are taking him back to the reservation, huh, Vash?”

“You want to fix up some sandwiches while Grandfather takes care of fixing up Chey?”

I jumped. Red was back, practically at my shoulder. Damn the man could sneak up on a person. I glared. “I’m kind of busy here, getting that new puke smell out, you know?”

He laughed. Or barked, more like. At least it sounded like it. I felt a grin tugging at my lips but forced it back. Vash, that traitor joined in, barking happily.

“Maybe I’d better make the sandwiches.” He reached over my shoulder and grabbed the bag of supplies from the middle seat. I ignored the feeling I always got when he brushed against me. He sees you like a niece, Colleen, I scolded myself. There was a word for that. I really should know it, with all my schooling, but I was always better at the practical part of school.

I was tired by the time we finally arrived in Whitecap, Montana and was dozing, Vasha curled up next to me on the seat, a solid, comforting presence. The soft murmur of Grandfather and Red talking in the front seat made me feel...good. It was homey, in a way I couldn’t remember my home ever being actually. Riding home from somewhere in the backseat, there would usually be fights. Arguments over drinking usually. Or about what someone said to Dad that he didn’t like and Mom explaining or apologizing and more often after she went back to school, defending herself and her family. Which was good but it still didn’t make for peaceful.

This was nice.

***********

The old town hadn’t changed much. Driving through, I was struck by how much I had loved being here – and how much I’d wanted to leave. We hadn’t lived here when I was in high school – that had been a different town, different state. Montana was the home of my young childhood, the home of my father and Grandfather. We left when I was thirteen in order to be closer to better schools – my since expunged juvenile record was a brief testament to how well that turned out. But this town had been a sad place for me, with its memories of....

No need to think about the memories. They were right there in front of me. I felt like I’d traveled back in time almost four decades. I glanced over at Grandfather. He was looking eagerly, almost hungrily, at the mountains. Whatever I might feel about this place, to Grandfather, it was home, a land of tears, but also the land of his people, and he was glad to be back. For him, I could be glad too.

“Charles and I used to go camping in those mountains when he wasn’t any bigger than, oh, four, five. Mary, your grandmother, worried that he was too young, but he was a tough young fellow. Couldn’t bear not to come along. Made his own fishing rod when he was four, I remember it as clearly as if it were yesterday. Cried when he dropped it in the stream and the current took it away.”

“Dad cried?” I was startled by the admission. Every story I’d ever heard about Charles Redraven was of the football star in high school, the Marine hero – not of a little boy who cried when he lost his fishing rod. “I kind of thought that if my Dad were to go fishing as a kid, he would have caught a whale. With his homemade harpoon.”

Grandfather gave me a sidelong look. “That was you, boy. I don’t think I ever spoke of Charles that way. He was a Redraven, same as you and me. Last time I checked, neither one of us was perfect.”

I grinned. “Now I know your memory is failing because that is definitely the first time you ever admitted to being less than perfect. In fact, I can remember several very loud discussions with Papa G when....”

Grandfather laughed. “He was a stubborn man, wasn’t he? You come by your bullheadedness honestly, that’s for sure. But your Dad had something you didn’t, son, which might have made it a little easier for him to let himself be a little boy and cry when he needed to.”

“What was that?” I was genuinely perplexed.

“A mother to temper my pushing him to be a man.”

The words were quiet but I heard the deep regret in them. That nonsense had to stop.

“Grandfather, no one could have done a better job of raising me than you,” I said firmly. “It certainly wasn’t your fault that my mother chose to leave.”

“Ah, boy, you still look at it that way, don’t you? Quick to forgive everyone but your own mother. Aimee was a beautiful, fragile girl and she loved you very much. You’re so good at understanding when someone gets broken inside, Raven, try to save a little of that understanding for your own mother. You couldn’t when you were a child and needed her, but you’re a grown man now. Let it go.”

I was very conscious of the other set of ears in the seat behind us, and pretty sure that, in the way of the O’Keefes I had known, she would be awake now that the conversation had turned to a topic I would prefer she not hear. It made me sharper and more flippant than I normally would be with my Grandfather.

“I healed my inner child years ago. Had Aimee wanted or needed anything from me, she didn’t wait around to take advantage of my compassionate soul so she, and we, will never know if it would have been enough for her. But my point had been that you were more than enough for me, and I doubt that I would have been better off with a suicidal, self-pitying drug addict of a mother around during my formative years. There being a world of difference between my mother and Grandmother, I’ll take my lack of crying – though I do regret not having had the chance to know Grandmother better.”

I offered the last bit as a peace offering. He took it with a nod and I regretted saying what I had. Before I could figure out how to recapture the easy-going mood we had been in, Colleen called out, “Stop!”

There was a commotion on the sidewalk ahead. I pulled over across the street. She was getting out before I had completely stopped. Grandfather and the two dogs on his heels. Swearing, I followed. Cops and kids, reservation kids from the looks of them. Not a good sign. But, getting out, I could see what made Colleen want us to pull over. Two of the cops were roughing up one of the kids pretty badly. Damn it all. Before I could get over there and start knocking heads, Grandfather stopped me.

“Let’s see what she does,” he suggested.

What she was doing was pretty fucking effective, I had to admit. And quick too.

“Hey, officers! You two, the ones with your hands on that minor! Could you please turn this way a little, I’m not getting a clear picture of your faces with my video!” Colleen shouted over to them in a loud, clear tone – the kind of voice that would carry across a soccer field without a microphone. It was not an idle threat either, as she had her Iphone up and was videotaping away. Two other cops headed over toward her, which was my cue.

“Don’t lay a hand on the lady, boys,” I warned, in my best Alliance voice. I flashed one of my many badges at them, not quite sure which one to tell the truth, but every one of them was impressive looking. I then folded my arms over my chest, which the Pup and Linton assured me was more impressive looking than the badges. I heard Grandfather make a noise that sounded like a whistle but not quite, and both dogs went to flank Colleen.

One of the police looked scared and went for his gun.

I had mine out in a flash. “If you even think about shooting one of my dogs, you’ll find yourself a very sorry man.”

“Still getting yourself into trouble with the law, Steven? Not even in town five minutes and I see you breaking how many laws?”

I froze at the sound of that voice. How fucking small could the world be? Turning, I looked into laughing eyes I hadn’t thought I’d ever see again.

“Miss Grace?”

Laughing, Grace Johnson, now Parkins, or at least, as of the last I’d heard it was Parkins, came walking forward from the late model Mercedes that had pulled up behind our Ford.

“Steven, how wonderful to see you again! And Nathaniel, my goodness, you don’t look a day older than you did when this devil was my charge. Let me clear this trouble up and then we can talk. Could this young lady be our new social worker for the reservation? She certainly has jumped right into her work, hasn’t she! Reminds me of me, oh, a million years ago.”

With the same energy I remember from that million years ago, Miss Grace, or rather, Mrs. Parkins, read the two bullying police officers a riot act and promised that she’d be speaking to their superior officer, cleared up the trouble with the reservation kids, something about a missing bus, and checked out whether the boy who’d been roughed up needed medical care. Colleen had her arm around the boy the whole time Grace was talking to him, which was friendly of her but really a bit unnecessary, still, the thought was well-intentioned. I was surprised the boy put up with it. He looked like a bit of a sullen kid.

Grace rolled her eyes a bit as she came up to talk to us. Colleen stayed back to talk to the kids, telling us she’d be over in a minute. Grace raised an eyebrow.

“I was expecting someone a little older, to tell you the truth, Steven. I saw your name on the references, along with Dr. Silver, who is very well thought of in medical circles, and with the degrees the young lady has, as well as her experiences in Haiti and Southern Ecuador, well, of course we were impressed, but she seems rather...youthful.”

Grace was looking damn youthful herself, and it struck me that maybe she hadn’t been as much older than me as I’d always thought, back when she’d been my probation officer when I’d been a teenager. Maybe she was only five or six years older? Which would place her in her early fifties, a very well preserved early fifties, I decided.  Still petite, of course, with short blonde hair that came to her chin, and looks that were more perky than beautiful, she was giving me a quizzical look now that made me blush – I swear to God, if Luke could see me I’d have to shoot myself, he’d never let me live it down. As it was, my Grandfather was looking at me like he wanted to shoot me. When I took too long to come up with something to say, he finally gave me a disgusted look and said, “Colleen is blessed with beautifully youthful looks but is very mature for her age, as well as brilliant. But she is also a little bit older than you were when you were working with the students at Steven’s old school, Grace. I believe the reservation is very fortunate to have someone with her background and qualifications.”

Grace smiled. “Well, that is quite an accolade, especially coming from you, Nathaniel. I believe you always felt I was too young to do my job back then, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” was Grandfather’s blunt answer.

Well, that was a surprise. The two of them were looking at each other oddly – and here I’d always thought they were great friends. But then, I’d also always thought I’d kept it hidden from Grandfather that Grace had ripped my heart out when she left with her prosecutor. Funny, that I’d think something like that would escape the shrewd old guy.

Looking at her now, smiling up at me sweetly, it was tough to remember my own name, much less think about anything else. There’s something about your first love that just grabs you by the balls and never quite lets you go. You can travel around the world, make love to a hundred women, hell, a couple hundred, love several of them more than a little, and yet, that first woman who made your knees weak and your palms sweaty and made you cry your heart out when you realized she’d never be yours....

That love always owns a part of you.

I felt like I was sixteen again and sitting in a probation office, too proud to admit that maybe I had fucked up seriously this time and was afraid that I really had put myself beyond redemption when this blue-eyed blonde angel sitting across from me told me that she believed in my ability to set things right again.

“Do you have time for a cup of coffee, Steven, and some catching up on the last hundred years?”

I smiled. “I was thinking it’s been million?”

She laughed. “Well, we don’t want to drink that much coffee, now do we?”

Colleen came over then. Finally. She looked down at Grace, and it was such a Luke look, I frowned. She was just a kid, after all, and Grace deserved some respect. I wasn’t sure what she was in this town now, but it sounded like she had some role in hiring Colleen.

“Grace, this is Colleen O’Keefe, Colleen, this is Grace...Grace, it is still Parkins, I assume.”

That warm laugh again as she took Colleen’s outstretched hand. “My, you are a tall girl, aren’t you? Yes, it’s Parkins. My husband is with the Governor’s office, but I work for the County, administering the funds for the reservation, which is why I was on the committee to select the new social worker. I was telling Steven how impressed we were with your qualifications, Colleen.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Parkins. I’m looking forward to getting right to work,” Colleen told her. “Can you explain to me why those officers were permitted to leave after assaulting those minors? No one took their statements or asked if they wished to press charges?”

Grace raised her eyebrows. “Assault? Is that what the boys claimed? I can assure you, those boys are known for prevaricating. They have a history of coming into town and causing trouble. The officers were being a bit over zealous in restraining them and I intend to talk to them about it but assault is a bit strong. I do hope you don’t intend to jump to conclusions and....”

Colleen pulled out her phone. “Would you like to see the video? I’m not exaggerating at all.”

I felt uncomfortable. On the one hand, we’d just arrived and I really wanted the chance to sit and catch up with Grace. On the other, I’d been those boys, the ones who only had to show up in town to be considered trouble. I looked at Grace and she must have seen the surprise in my eyes because she shook her head and laughed ruefully.

“I know what you must be thinking, Steven. But it isn’t like that, not at all. These boys aren’t you. But Colleen, you are quite right also, of course, I didn’t see what happened. Even if the boys usually cause trouble when they come into town, that is no excuse for them to be treated roughly by the police. They are just children, after all. And their side should be heard. I was distracted by seeing Steven. Perhaps, since the boy who was most affected says he is okay, we could have someone take a ride out to the reservation tomorrow and take his statement? Let things settle down for today? Nathaniel, you’re an expert on boys, what do you think?”

“I think we should get on to our place, and let you talk to Steve,” was Grandfather’s surprising answer. “We can give those boys a lift to the reservation, can’t we, Colleen?”

She looked from me to Grace, and just nodded.

“You sure?” I asked him. “How am I to get there?”

“Oh, I’m sure Grace will give you a ride once she’s done chatting over old times,” he said, strolling back to the Ford.

“That’s a wonderful idea!” Grace said, smiling brightly.

Feeling like I’d gotten what I wanted but not sure I still wanted it, I let Grace lead me over to her Mercedes while I watched the group of teens pile into the Expedition, all of them talking a mile a minute.         

Vasha was the only other person to seem as bewildered by this turn of events. She barked a couple of times as the Ford drove off without me - as though to ask, what the hell was going on.

Wish I knew, girl. But when Grandfather got an idea in his head, I usually found it was best to let him have his way. I turned my attention back to Miss Grace and asked, “So, what have you been up to since I last saw you, those million years ago?”

She really did have a nice laugh.

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