60

Dine Bikeyah

Will found himself back in the lone hogan in the spirit realm. Hasbaá was calling his name. “Husband, do you now understand the circumstances of your appointment?”

“I was sent out here to help hide Carleton’s crimes. But I will not cooperate. I’m going to expose him.”

“Let us get the evidence to stop the Hairy Face.” Still dressed as a warrior, Hasbaá stood and gestured to Will to follow her out of the hogan.

In a reflex to Hasbaá’s reference to Carleton, Will felt his face. To his surprise, he was clean-shaven, not a Hairy Face. But when did I shave?

Outside on the red plain, Segundo waited with three magnificent horses. Will thought it odd that Segundo was with them, but he had seen so much that was odd he’d become accustomed to it.

Segundo handed him the reins to one of the horses. Though, Indian style, there was a blanket but no saddle, Will somehow jumped up onto the horse and straddled its girth easily.

In a moment, the other two were also mounted, and the three began to ride fast across the plain. As they rode at a breakneck pace that reminded Will of galloping like this on Barboncito’s horse, he saw that the sky was filling with dark billowing thunderclouds. Lightning flashed all around them. Then to Will’s amazement, the ground seemed to drop away, and the horses hurdled forward, their hooves pounding into the very substance of the clouds. It was as if they had become the lightning itself and raced across the sky.

There was rain pouring down around them, but it created no discomfort. It seemed to Will to cleanse and purify him after the experience in the office in Washington. He felt so used, so dirtied. He was grateful to Harry Burnside for the assistance, but he thought Jesse McDonald had hardly fulfilled Harry’s wishes. He hadn’t given Will a hand. He had sent him out to be another victim of his own and Carleton’s greed. What about the different drummer?

Will imagined himself a cloud blown through the sky on the rush of wind. The storm carried the three riders far. Then it began to subside. The rain dwindled to a fine sprinkle. There were trees around them: aspens, pines, junipers and piñons. The horses slowed to a walk. Segundo held up his right hand in a signal to halt. The three descended from their mounts and began to climb a gentle slope.

The ground all around was a sandy yellow clay. In the rain, it had turned to sticky mud that clung to their feet as they padded through it.

Then there spread out before them a deep valley. Through the middle of it ran a clear blue stream. Will stood between Hasbaá and Segundo and looked out over the countryside. He recognized this as the canyon he’d seen in his vision the first day.

This was Diné Bikéyah, as the Navajo homelands were called in their native language. This was the labyrinthine Canyon de Chelly. All through these canyons and ravines, the Diné people had made their settlements. Here they’d raised their children for generations. Here they herded their sheep and goats and grew their food and gathered sacred herbs. Here they worshipped their gods, in the land Turquoise Boy had led them to through the reed ladder.

Will felt great joy. He looked at the other two and saw the same joy in their faces. Hasbaá and Segundo spoke to each other in their native language. And, to Will’s surprise, he understood. Then simultaneously, spontaneously, they began to laugh together. The laughter rang through the valley. Will realized they were rejoicing in their return to their homeland. They were rejoicing in Segundo’s return to life. He had, indeed, come back to Hasbaá as he had promised.

And as they laughed, the three men rejoiced in their manhood together. In the way of dreams, Will saw that they now stood naked. They were showing their bodies to one another, reveling in the love and admiration of the others. The sun was warm on their chests. Will saw how strong and beautiful was Segundo’s body. He marveled as Segundo presented his manhood for all to see. And he saw how lithe and beautiful was Hasbaá’s body. He marveled at Hasbaá’s manhood and at this Two-Spirit Person’s ability to comprise both manhood and womanhood.

Will felt how strong and lithe and beautiful his own body was. He marveled at how he had become a man and could now present himself to these other men for their respect and admiration.

A torrent of energy engulfed them. Like a fire shooting up from earth and rising high into the sky, life force coursed through them. Their laughter rang out like a lover’s cry at the moment of climax.

Again as in the way of dreams, Will realized he now wore the loincloth and beaded vest that Segundo had worn. And now Segundo was gone. It was only Will and Hasbaá. Hasbaá looked deep into his eyes with such love and respect. “Welcome home, my husband,” she said in Diné. “I love you,” she added in English.

Then Hasbaá directed him back to the horses. “Come, we have a mission to complete.” Hasbaá spurred her mount.

Will followed Hasbaá away from Diné Bikéyah. Soon the sun set, and the clouds closed behind them. Again they raced through the stormy night. Lightning struck at the horses’ hooves behind them, and spurred them to frenzied pace. The horses neighed jubilantly, exultant in their power.

Will hung onto the reins, sometimes clinging to the horse’s great neck. The mane smelled musky-rich and wild.

Then they left the storm behind them. Will thought he heard the toll of the Fort Sumner bell echoing across the desert. They rode through the night, down the wide rut of the Pecos River along the boundary of the Bosque Redondo. In the distance, he saw a few gleams of yellowish light—fires or lanterns at the fort.

Hasbaá reined in her horse near the Diné settlement. They jumped down from the great steeds and climbed up the rocky walls of the wash. Will looked back to see the horses, milky white and shadowy roan in the darkness, canter off proudly to the spirit realm whence they’d come.