April and Judy and Chief Dan

 

       “Lloyd, I’m going to get in out of the wind and make a phone call,” I called out. He waved his left hand at me and kept tidying up. Lloyd was a good man. I had to wonder as I walked back to my truck how he had heard about the desecration of Margaret’s grave. A question for another time. I sat in the cab looking through the lists of contacts on my phone for April’s number. I found it and then sat there wondering how to approach the subject with her.

        I looked at myself in the rearview mirror for a second. I saw no surprises. A brown-skinned man in dark glasses, a bit vain because they are special glasses, having a ponytail of almost black hair hanging past my shoulders. I looked pretty darn tribal. It helps with the job out here. They trust me, even the mothers.
        Lloyd walked by, carrying the detritus in the box to his trunk. He slapped the hood of my truck as he passed, saying, “later, Chief Dan, later..” That’s me. I’m Chief Dan alright, and I needed to hit that woman’s number. I did that.
        “Aunt April? Hi. This is Dan. I have some bad news. Not the worst news I could call with, but it’s not great. You better sit down if you’re not.” My Aunt April is a big heavy lady, and I didn’t want her passing out on me.
        “I’m sittin’ Dan, what is it?” in her low, breathy voice.
        “It’s your mom’s grave. I don’t understand it yet, but I can tell you that somebody tore it up. They threw her marker down on its face too. I don’t understand who could do that Aunt April, but they did it.”
        I could sense her thinking and becoming angry. “What I want you to do is listen. Just listen to the talk around the res. Maybe you’ll hear something I don’t hear. You know since I’m the law and all. If somebody says something, I want you to call me right away, night or day Auntie.”
        “Alright Dan. I will,” she said.
        “I’ll call the people who put it there when she died, to come put it up again and when it’s convenient you and your girls can pretty it up again, okay?”
        “Alright Dan, now you listen to me for a minute. I was just thinking about calling you anyhow about something else. We have a problem here, but we don't know yet how serious it is. Do you remember Judy Fowler, who had a baby right out of high school and never told anybody who the father was? Well, that baby is five years old now, and she didn’t come home from kindergarten today. Her name is Taylor. Yeah, I know. Aren’t they all? Anyhow, you better go see Judy. She lives on that little dogleg dirt road off 3rd in a green cabin with white trim. I don’t know the number but it’s the only one like that there.
        “We’ll fix mom’s grave. Obviously. Thanks Dan.”
        You see how it is. If it isn’t one thing, it’ll be something else. Now I had a problem that required speed. I got right over there, pronto.
        The cabin looked isolated, lonely even. There was nobody in sight. No weeping mother on the little patch of lawn. No car in the short driveway. I wondered how Judy got around. Then I saw a bike on the porch. Well, better than nothing. There was a small one too. The mailbox only said 324 Alder Lane. No name was painted there. A rental for sure. A cloud passed over the sun, dropping the scene into shadow for a moment.
        I knocked on the door.
        The door was opened by a frightened young woman, a member of the tribe, with a tear streaked face. “Come in, Dan,” she said. She knew me from around the res. She was a good ten years younger than me.
        “Tell me about it,” I said. “What happened?”
        She sighed. “She goes to school mornings out here at the elementary. She rides the bus. It’s too far for a five year old to walk alone. She gets off the bus up on 3rd and walks the block down to here. It’s only one block. The bus came. I could hear it. I was waiting for her to come home of course. But she never appeared. I ran outside when she didn’t come and looked up by the bus stop. I called and looked all around the area. I spent maybe half an hour looking up and down 3rd. I didn’t see any kids to ask. She is the only one who gets off there. I called April and asked her if anyone knew anything. That was stupid. I should have just called you first.”
        “That’s okay Judy. You acted normal. Most kids show up a little late after doing something a little out of character,” I told her. “But your Taylor is awful young to be out alone. What did she have on today?”
        “Her pullover hoody is red. Bright red. Her t-shirt is striped green and black. She had on jeans and navy blue tennies. Her hair is black, and her eyes are brown, she looks very native. She is small for a five year old,” said Judy. “And she is very shy. She knows not to get in anyone’s car. She knows to come right home. I really worked with her on it.”
        I tapped some notes into my phone and got Judy’s phone number. I found out that Taylor didn’t carry a phone. I got the name of her teacher too. My next stop would be to talk to the teacher, just to make sure that the child had been at school that morning.
        “Dan, there is one more thing I have to tell you. It might sound stupid, but you need to know this too,” Judy said looking down at the floor. “People have been talking again about one of those things. You know. Stick Indian. It’s so stupid, but they scared me. Then all of a sudden, I can’t find Taylor.”
        I was still standing there in her tidy spare little living room. I wasn’t sure what to say about that. I saw signs of almost poverty all through the room, but also a good eye and a love of beauty. She had flowers in a vase on her table. She had simple paintings done by her daughter carefully displayed on the walls. She was a good mother and I wanted to help her.
        “Judy, I pray to God that there is none of that going on here. I thought we all had gotten beyond Stick Indians and Sasquatch and all of that old stuff. But keep your phone in your pocket all the time. Stay here in case she comes home late. I’m going to go to the school and talk to her teacher. I’ll call the county and get them on it. Maybe I better get the fire department members out here while it’s still light. That’s ten people Judy. I’ll do that.
        “It’s important to have hope Judy. Don’t give up hope for a minute. I and we and the county will do everything humanly possible to find her,” I said. She nodded. I shook her hand and held it for a couple of seconds.
        When I got outside it was bright and sunny again. It’s like that in May around here. It’s like someone is flipping a light switch on and off in the sky sometimes. As I stepped off the porch a raven landed on the grass right in front of me. I stopped walking because this was odd behavior. It turned its head to the right side sharply and gave me an appraising look with its left eye. It stuck its neck out and uttered some knocking sounds then rose into the air. It flew off to the northeast making sure I saw it going because it was making so much noise. I should have paid more attention.

So Far....