Coyote Blue Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22Sprinkling the Son of the Morning StarSanta Barbara subsequently almost twenty years as a salesman, wax-to-air missile name that when he was confused his caput fil lead with homilies that pertained to the profession. Win an argument, lose a sale. If you look hungry, you wholeow be. You cant sell if you dont pitch. in that respect were hundreds of them. Hed been running them through his caput for hours, trying to find several(prenominal) clue as to what he should do. The angiotensin-converting enzyme that kept returning was Never confuse motion with progress.To leave the planetary house in search of C tot solelyyiope withtaboo a clue as to where she energy be would be movement for the sake of movement. Progress would be in truth finding a clue to her where closelys. He had no idea where to drink d feature looking for clues, so he lay on his bed and smoked, and tested to convince himself that he didnt want her.Shes probably found any(prenominal) new(prenominal) guy, he thought. Losing the kid is just an excuse, a sensationalistic-bellied Dear bath letter. It was just a champion-night stand and I refuse to let it repute more to me than it cogitatet to her. Ive got my life underpin, intact, and at that places no room for a young missy and a child. Nope. Ill rest up today and sterilise back to cultivate tomorrow. After I close a couple of deals, this week will just seem similar a bad dream. It was a correct rationalization. Unfortunately, he didnt believe a word of it he was worried ab break through her.surface-to-air missile closed his eyes and tried to imagine the pages of his ap commitment book. It was a visualization he used to relax, a salesmans version of counting sheep. He saw the days and weeks spread out in front of him, and he filled in the blanks with lunches and prospects. By each of the names he make mental nonices on how he would approach the pitch. Before long he was lost in a world of presentations and objecti ons the image of the girl worn sight away.As he started to doze slay he perceive the start outlet of heavy leading. He rolled on his side and steamy spicy wienerwurst breath chalk up him in the face. He didnt open his eyes. at that place was no extremity to. He knew Coyote had re turn. Perhaps if he misrepresent sleep the deceiver would go away, so he lived there in the land of dog breath. A wet nose prodded his ear. At to the lowest degree he hoped it was a nose. With Coyotes sexual habits it could be. No, he still smelled the breath. It was the nose.Im asleep, go away. Im asleep, go away, he thought. Hed seen opossums try the same method to fool ons trickt semi trucks, and it was working about as well for him. He snarl the coyote climb onto the bed. and whence he felt a baseball glove on each of his shoulders. He groaned as he thought a truly sleeping guy might groan. Coyote whimpered and surface-to-air missile could quality the canine nose press against his o wn.Dog breath, surface-to-air missile mused, seems to encounter no distinction to it, yet it is distinctly dog breath. You could be at the cologne counter at Bloomingdales, and some i could mist your wrist with an atomizer, and a item-by-item whiff would reveal the elusive scent to be dog breath as surely as if it had been squozen straight from the dog. Yet, what a wide spectrum of cattiness dog breath can span, both in odor and humidity. This incident version of dog breath, he felt, is especially steamy, and carries a drop dead note of stale cigarettes and coffee, as well as the usual fetid fondness and al maventhole smells found in more common dog breath. This, he thought, is necromantic dog breath. Im not likely to be breathed upon by other dog in my life eon that has recently enjoyed a Marlboro over a cup of Java.Despite his effort to distract himself with dog breath aesthetics, Sams perimeter was wearing out and he thought he might sternutation or throw up any secon d. Coyote licked him on the mouth.Yuck Sam sat upright and wiped his mouth on his arm. Ack He shivered involuntarily and looked at the big coyote, who grinned at him from the end of the bed. There was no need for that, Sam verbalize.Coyote whimpered and rolled over on his back in submission.Sam got up from the bed and grabbed his cigarettes from the nightstand. why are you back? You express you were gone for good.Coyote began to change into his human form. No longer afraid, Sam watched the transformation with fascination. In a a few(prenominal) seconds Coyote sat on the bed in his bare buckskins wearing the coyote-skin headdress. Got a smoke? he asked.Sam shook one out of the pack and lit it for the trickster. Sam took a small plastic niche from his shirt take and held it out to Coyote. Breath mint?No.I insist, Sam express.Coyote took the box and shook out a mint, popped it in his mouth, and handed the box back to Sam. The girl is expiration to Las Vegas.I dont care. The lie tasted foul in his mouth.If she tries to channel her child from the biker she will be hurt.Its not my problem. Besides, shell probably find another(prenominal) guy to help her out. Sam felt both righteous and cowardly for expressing it. This role he was playing no longer fit. pronto he added, I dont need the trouble.In the buffalo days your masses used to say that a wife stolen and re moody was twice the wife she had been.They arent my multitude and shes not my wife.You can be afraid, just dont act like it.What does that mean? Youre worse than Pokey with your fucking riddles.You lost Pokey. You lost your family. You lost your name. on the whole you have leftfield is your devotion, etiolate man. Coyote flipped his cigarette at Sam. It earn him in the chest and hot ashes showered on the bed.Sam patted out the embers and fleecy himself off. I didnt ask for you to come here. I dont owe the girl any social occasion. merely he did owe her. He wasnt sure what for yet, except t hat she had cut some liaison issue in him. Why couldnt he cut loose the habit of fear?Coyote went to the bedroom window and stared out. Without turning he said, Do you roll in the hay about the Crows who scouted for General Custer?Sam didnt answer.When they told Custer that ten thousand Lakota and Cheyenne warriors were time lag for him at the Little Bighorn he called them liars and rode on. The Crow scouts didnt owe Custer anything, merely they painted their faces black and said, Today is a good day to die. The point? Sam bristled.The point is that you will never hunch over what they knew that courage is its own reward.Sam sat fell on the edge of the bed and stared at Coyotes back. The red feathers a home run the buckskin shirt seemed to move on the black surface of Coyotes shirt. Sam wondered if he might not be light-headed from elongated dog breath inhalation, alone thusly the feathers drew a scene, and in a whirl of images and feathers, Sam was back on the reservatio n again.There were three of them boys hiding in the sagebrush by the road that led into the Custer Battlefield National Monument. Two were Crow, one Cheyenne. They were there on a dare that had started in ninth-grade gym class. The largest boy, the Cheyenne, was from the Broken Tooth family descendants of a warrior who fought with fantastic Horse and Red Cloud on this very land.You going to do it? said Eli Broken Tooth. Or are you full of s cause like all Crows?I said Id do it, bruiser said. But Im not going to be stupid about it.What about you, breed? Eli asked nightstick Two Irons. You a chickens profit? Broken Tooth had been taunting wand about his confused blood for the whole school year and citing his own pure Indian lineage. The fact was that in buffalo days the mortality rate had been so high for young plains warriors that a woman might have three or four husbands in her lifetime, and have children by them all. Sometimes one of the husbands was a white man, yet since they all traced their kinship through their mothers line, the white ancestor could easily be forgotten. billy goat said, Ill bet you got a few whiteys in your wigwam you dont even know about, Broken Dick. dogshit laughed and the others shushed him. The security champion was making a pass by the monuments high wrought-iron gate. They ducked their heads. A woolly mullein beam passed over them, paused, and moved on as the guard turned to walk up the pitcher toward the Custer burial beate.You going to do it? Eli asked. at one time hes past the grave he has to go check on the Reno site. Hell concern the jeep for that. When we hear the jeep, well go.Sure you will, said Eli.You coming? shit asked. He was more than a little afraid. The monument was federal land, and this was a time when an Indian causing trouble on federal land was something the regimen was going to great lengths to discourage after the Alcatraz takeover and the killings at fade Ridge.I dont have to go, Broken Toot h said. My people put him there. Ill just sit here and twist up a doobie sequence you girls do your thing. He grinned.The gate will be the bitch, billystick said. They looked at the fifteen-foot iron spears hang up between two stone pillars. There were only two cross members they could use as footholds.They watched the guard amble the hundred yards start the hill to the visitor center. When they heard the jeep go over up, horseshit and billy club took off. They hit the gate at the same time. The gate swung with the impact and clanged against the chains and padlock that held it closed. They scrambled up the bars, then hung over spearpoints and dropped to the asphalt. As they let go the chain sent a loud clang ringing down the valley. They both landed on their butts. bull looked to billy. You okay?Billy jumped to his feet and dusted off his jeans. How come the Indians in the movies can do this shit in commit stealth?Vocational training, shit said. He started running up the hill toward the monument. Billy followed.Snake ahead, Samson said as he ran.What?Snake, Sam repeated breathlessly. He leapt into the air over the big diamondback rattle ophidian that was lying in the road, warming itself on the asphalt. Billy saw the glide in time to pull up and slide on some loose gravel within striking distance.When he heard Billys position sliding he s slip byped and turned.Billy said, You were saying Snake, right? rump away and go around, Billy. Samson was so out of breath he could hardly talk. The rattler coiled.I thought you were saying Steak. I was wondering, Why is he yelling Steak at me?Back away and go around.Snake. Well, I guess this explains it. Billy backed slowly away, then once out of striking distance ran a wide arc around the snake and up the hill.Samson fell in beside him. The monument was still a hundred yards away. Pace yourself, he said.Did you say Snake again? Billy said between hefts.Rather than answer, Samson fell into a trot.The monumen t was a twenty-foot granite obelisk set on a ten-foot base at the pinch of a hill that overlooked the entire Little Bighorn basin.Lets do it, Samson said, heaving in breaths. The hill had been longer and steeper than hed thought.Billy un heartinessped his pants and stood beside Samson, who had already bared his weapon. You know, Billy said, it would have been easier to gang up on Eli and beat the shit out of him.I think I hear the jeep coming back, Samson said. A long yellow stream arced out of Billy and splashed the side of the monument. Then you better get going. Samson strained. I cant.Billy grunted, trying to mash his urine to run faster. Go, man. Thats headlights.I cant.Billy finished and zipped up, then turned to face Samson. Think rivers, think waterfalls.It wont come.Come on, Samson. Hes coming. Relax.Relax? How can-Okay, relax in a hurry.Samson pushed until his eyes bugged. He felt a trickle, then a stream coming. fight it, Samson. Hes coming. Billy began to back down the hill. Push it, man.The jeeps headlights broke over the hill and descended toward the monument. Duck Billy said.Samson squatted by the base of the monument and managed to stream urine down both pant legs before he got himself reaimed. Billy dove for cover next to Samson.Did you say Duck? Samson whispered.Shut up, Billy snapped.Despite his fear, the adrenaline had make Samson giddy. He grinned at Billy. I thought you were saying Truck, which would have made more sense, but-Would you shut up? Billy risked a peek at the road. The jeep was coming toward them, rather than returning to the visitor center where it had started. As the jeep approached the monument, they worked their way around its base, elapseing the obelisk between themselves and the guard. He wont stop, will he? Billy said.Samson could hear the jeep mental retardation as it passed the monument on the other side of them, not twenty feet away. They held their crouch until the jeep descended the hill and stopped halfway to the gate.He sees footprints, Billy said.On asphalt?He saw us. Im going to end up in jail like my brother.No, look, its the fucking snake. Hes waiting for it to get out of the road.Indeed, the guard was inching the jeep forward slowly enough for the rattler to travel off into the grass. When the snake was gone the jeep revved up and continued down the hill, by the iron gate, and back around to the back of the visitor center.Lets go, Billy said. They ran down the road, Samson almost falling while trying to zip his pants and run at the same time. As they reached the gate Samson grabbed Billys shoulder and pulled him back.What the fuck? Billy said. Samson pointed to the chain. Billy nodded in understanding. The clanging.Samson went to the center of the gate and grasped it. Go, he said. When you get over, hold it for me.Without hesitation Billy leapt to the gate and climbed over, sliding down the opposite side instead of drop as before. He held the gate and Samson started over.As Samso n reached the top of the gate and was working his feet between the spearpoints, he heard Elis laughing from down the road and he looked up. A second after he heard a metal fire door slam at the visitor center. The quick turn took his balance and he tried to jump, but one of the spearpoints caught his jeans leg and he was slammed upside down into the gate. Billy held the chain, but there was a dull clank as Samsons forehead hit the bars.It took Samson a second to realize that he was still hanging from the gate, his head still eight feet off the ground. Unhook your leg, Billy said. Ill catch you.In this position Samson was facing the visitor center. He could see some lights going on inside. He struggled to push himself up on the bar, but the spearpoint was barbed. I cant get it.Shit, Billy said. He held the gate with one hand and drew a flick knife from his back pocket with the other. Ill come up and cut you down.No, dont let go of the gate, Samson said. prison guard it, Billy said. H e let go of the gate and it clanged with Samsons swinging weight. Billy jumped on the bars and as he climbed Samson could hear the fire door open and slam again, then footsteps. Billy stood at the top of the stone pillar and put the knife to Samsons pant leg. When I cut, keep hold of the bars.Billy pulled the knife blade through the denim and Samson flipped over and slammed the bars again, this time right side up. The gate clanged again. Samson heard the jeep starting and saw the beams of the headlights come out from easy the visitor center. He looked to Billy. JumpBilly leapt from the fifteen-foot pillar. As he hit the pavement he yowled and crumpled. My ankle.Samson looked to the visitor center, where the jeep was pulling out. He grabbed Billy under the armpits and dragged him down into the ditch. They waited, breathlessly, as the jeep stopped and the guard, electric ray drawn, checked the lock and chain once again.After the guard left they crawled down the ditch toward Eli. Whe n he came into view, Samson helped Billy to his feet and supported him while he limped up to the big Cheyenne, who was taking a deep hit on a joint.Want a hit? he croaked, property the joint out to Billy.Billy took the joint, sat down in the grass, and took a hit.Eli let out a cloud of smoke and laughed. That was the funniest fucking thing Ive ever seen in my life. Then he spotted the wet streaks on Samsons pants. What happened, Hunts Alone? I thought you were going to piss on Custers grave. You get so scared you wet yourself? He threw back his head to laugh and Samson wound up and tagged him on the jaw with a vicious roundhouse punch. Eli dropped to the ground and didnt move. Samson looked at his damaged fist, then at Eli, then at Billy Two Irons. He grinned.Billy said, You couldnt have done that twenty minutes ago and saved us all this trouble, could you?Youre right, Samson said. I couldnt have done that twenty minutes ago. Lets get out of here before he comes to.Samson helped Bil ly to his feet, then out of the ditch onto the road. As they headed toward Crow Agency it seemed to get darker as they walked, then darker still, until there was no light at all and Sam was in his bedroom staring at the back of a black buckskin shirt trimmed with red woodpecker feathers.It was a stupid thing to do, Sam said.It was brave, Coyote said. It would have been stupid if you had failed.We found out later that Custer wasnt even buried there. His body was taken to West Point, so it was all for nothing.And what about the night on the dam? Was that all for nothing?How do you know about that?Coyote turned and stared at Sam with his harness crossed, his golden eyes shining with delight.That was nothing but trouble, Sam said finally.Would you do it again?Yes, Sam said without thinking.And the girl is nothing but trouble? Coyote said.Sam heard the words echoing in his mind. Going after the girl was the right thing to do. After all the years of doing the safe thing, it was time to d o the right thing. He said, You actually piss me off sometimes, you know that?Anger is the gods way of letting you know you are alive.Sam got up and stood face-to-face with the trickster, trying to read something in his eyes. He moved forward until their noses almost touched. All you know is that shes going to Las Vegas? No address or anything?Not so far. But if she misses them there, the biker is going on to South Dakota. Shell follow. Ill tell you the rest on the way.I dont deem you could change into a Learjet or something practical.Coyote shook his head. Just lively things animals, bugs, rocks.Sam reached into his shirt pocket, pulled out the box of breath mints, and handed them to Coyote. The trickster raised his eyebrows in query.Sam said, Eat those. I cant handle dog breath through an eight-hour drive.