THURSDAY, JULY 18
“Christine got a job,” Arthur sat at the table on the deck. He wore his housecoat to cut the chill of the early morning air.
“Where?” Lane stretched his legs out and sipped from his coffee. He thought, What am I going to say to Eva when I get to her place?
“The coffee shop. You know, the one Kuldeep runs.” Arthur adjusted his housecoat.
“When was this?”
“Yesterday. She starts today,” Arthur said.
“She seems in a rush to get on with her life,” Lane said.
“And if she’s living here for a while, we’ve got to make plans.” Arthur leaned forward.
“Plans?”
“Christine will need to go to school in the fall,” Arthur said.
Lane parked to one side of the burn mark in Eva’s yard. Aidan’s pickup truck was parked close to the Quonset. The inside back door of the house was open. The glass on the screen door sparkled.
Alone, Lane, turned off the engine, got out of the Chev, and listened to his feet crunch over gravel as he walked to the back door and knocked. He studied the fuchsia plant hanging next to the door.
Aidan came to the door. She smiled at him.
“Who is it?” Eva asked.
“Lane.” Aidan crossed her arms.
Eva came to the door. Her hair was braided. She wore a sweatshirt and sweatpants. She looked at Lane. “Want a cup of coffee?”
“I’m coffeed out. How about a walk instead?” Lane asked.
“Okay.” Eva stuffed her feet into shoes and grabbed a ball cap. “Comin’?” She looked at Aidan.
Lane backed down the stairs and waited.
Aidan opened the door, sat down on the steps and put on a pair of boots. She stood to hold the door open for Eva.
A hummingbird swooped in, hovered, and stuck its beak into the nectar of one of the fuchsia’s blossoms. Lane, Aidan, and Eva watched until the bird zipped away.
Eva led the way past the car and along a path. They walked up a rise. At the crest, the downtown towers could be seen through the morning haze. “City’ll be here pretty soon.”
“I’m sorry,” Lane said.
Eva turned to him.
Lane felt a tightness in his chest making it difficult to form the words. “I saw the box of shells and the rifle bolt in your kitchen cupboard. I put it all together too late. Norm should never have been shot.”
Eva looked back toward the city. “You tried to stop it.”
Aidan stood beside her and put her arm through Eva’s.
“I was too late,” Lane said.
“Stood out in the open and tried to stop it,” Eva said.
Lane shook his head. He looked past the women to the silhouettes of city buildings in the distance. There was no denying the city was creeping this way.
“Like I said before. We’re here. You’re here. None of us have got anywhere else to go. Gotta learn to live with each other. It took a while, but the boys at the blockade are beginning to understand.” Eva turned to Lane. “And, you came to our sweat. Then you came to the blockade with coffee instead of soldiers. That’s a start.”
“You didn’t judge me,” Lane said.
“Look at how European religion treated some of us in the residential schools. Judgin’s the wrong way to go.” Eva almost maintained her impassive expression.
Lane thought, That’s always been the problem: judgement.
“Norm’s funeral is tomorrow at ten. You and Harper be there?” Eva asked.
“I’ll be there. Harper’s wife is …” How do I say this? Lane thought.
Eva waited.
Aidan watched him with curious expectation.
“She just had a baby. She’s afraid of what might happen to Harper,” Lane said.
“Oh.” Eva studied Lane’s face. “You still have to find those other two, don’t you?”
“Yes.” Lane looked at his feet.
“Those bastards killed Alex,” Aidan said.
Eva looked at Aidan, then spoke to Lane. “Hatred eats us up from the inside. Been tryin’ to figure out where Norm might have put those two boys. Could be anywhere.” Eva looked west to where the prairies rolled up to the foothills and the mountains.
“We could be looking forever,” Lane said.
“Harper can bring his family if he likes. And you too. Small funerals are sad. Nothing else besides that for you to be worried about. Nobody’s gonna hurt you. People been talkin’ about you and how you brought coffee to the barricade. How you waited and listened. How you laid your gun down. Lot of the people around here have respect for you now,” Eva said.
Aidan nodded without smiling.