Chapter Sixteen: Back to Montana
Because their train wouldn’t leave until lunch time, Ellen, Sue, and Tanya invited Rich Falcon to join them in visiting the LaLaurie Museum after breakfast.
The exhibit began with Ellen’s painting of Delphine LaLaurie cradling the devil baby as she handed him over to Marie Laveau on the stoop of Lalaurie Mansion. In the painting, the two formidable women and enemies avoided eye contact with one another as they smiled lovingly at the disfigured child. The love that they felt for the misfortunate baby was the only thing they had in common aside from the city where they lived.
Beneath Ellen’s painting was a placard with the following message:
The stories you may have heard about Madame Delphine Lalaurie, her husband, Dr. Louis Lalaurie, and the catastrophic fire that burned the original house in 1834, may or may not hold up to the facts presented to you today in historical documents recently unearthed.
The sconces on the walls lit the displays of copies made from Dr. Louis LaLaurie’s medical journals, Jeanne Blanque’s letters, and Delphine’s diary. Translations to English were printed in a symmetrical display beside each copy. They were arranged to tell a story, beginning with Delphine’s first marriage to Don Ramon when she had just turned thirteen years of age.
“You did this?” Rich Falcon asked Ellen of the painting.
“She did,” Tanya said.
“But we all had a hand in discovering the truth about what has been called the Demon Baby of Bourbon Street,” Ellen said. “This museum is our tribute to that truth and to the other victims that suffered in the LaLaurie Mansion.”
“I think I finally understand the three of you,” Rich said. “I didn’t understand why you were sticking your noses in tribal affairs, but I get it now. You follow injustices and bring them to light.”
Ellen wanted to hug Rich Falcon, but she didn’t want to embarrass him. It seemed so infrequent that anyone understood her that it was refreshing when someone did.
They walked through the exhibit together. Ellen was reminded of how proud Paul had been of her and how happy they had been together in the wake of the museum’s grand opening. They had resolved to begin a new life together, a plan that had been cut short by Paul’s death.
Tears pooled in Ellen’s eyes and dripped down her cheeks as they left the museum to head for the train.
An hour into their train ride, Ellen received a phone call from Father Gonzales.
“Hello, Father,” she said after she’d put the phone on speaker, so her friends could hear what he had to say. “Our mission was an absolute failure. Please tell me you have better news.”
“The buffalo fur had no effect on Sidney Longfellow?” he asked.
“The only effect it had on him was to make him angry,” Sue said from across the aisle from Ellen.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” the priest said. “Fortunately, I do have some good news.”
Ellen and her friends exchanged looks of surprise.
“Don’t keep us waiting,” Sue said.
“I received a call from Officer Jackson this afternoon. It seems that, of his own volition, Chief Eric Old Person of the Blackfeet Nation provided the forensic team with a sample of his DNA, and they discovered a 25% match with the DNA found on the second of the two bodies, the one previously deemed a John Doe.”
“What does that mean?” Ellen asked. “Does that mean Eric Old Person is related to Rabbit?”
“It proves without a doubt that the remains belonged to a Blackfoot,” the priest explained. “A previous test had confirmed that the body was of Native American descent, but the match with the tribal chief of Blackfeet Nation means that the Blackfeet can claim the body and bury the remains as the tribe sees fit.”
“That is wonderful news!” Ellen cried.
“So, the ME still won’t say it’s Rabbit,” Rich Falcon said. “But he will at least say it’s a Blackfoot.”
“That’s correct,” Father Gonzales said.
“Thank you,” Rich Falcon said with tears in his eyes. “That’s good to hear. Rabbit Talks to Buffalo can finally come home, where he belongs. There are so many others, you know—so many other children who were taken from their families who died and were lost to us forever. It’s a beautiful thing anytime one who was lost can finally come home.”
“If the Blackfeet will allow it,” Father Gonzales began, “it’s my wish to have Alma Marcello buried in the same casket as Rabbit. They belong together. Don’t you agree?”
“I do,” Rich Falcon said. “The tribal council must discuss it, but I have a feeling every single one of them will embrace the idea. Thank you, Father Gonzales.”
Ellen hoped the burial would be enough. She hoped and prayed that her failure to get Sidney Longfellow to accept the white buffalo fur wouldn’t prevent Rabbit from moving on.
Later that night on the train, when Ellen had read as much on her kindle as she could without yawning, she noticed Tanya in the seat beside her wiping away tears.
“Tanya? Are you okay?”
“Yes. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. What’s wrong?”
“Oh, it’s Tina and Johnny’s mother. I text her every few days just to check up on the kids, and she rarely responds. I feel like I’m pestering her, but I’m trying to be there for her during a difficult time. I wish she’d let me help her—if not for her sake, for the sake of her kids.”
Tanya began to sob.
Ellen put an arm around her. “You just let it out, girlfriend.”
Tanya wiped her tears with the backs of her hands. Her bright blue eyes were ringed with red. “I keep thinking about Crow Woman waiting all those years, just in case her son would need her someday. Sometimes I feel that way, too—for my own kids, and now for Tina and Johnny.”
“I wonder if all mothers feel that way at one time or another,” Ellen said, though it was hard for her to imagine her own mother feeling that way.
“Maybe. I’m sorry. Ignore me. I know you’re tired and want to go to sleep.”
“Please stop apologizing. You and Sue are my dearest friends. I hope you know how much I love you.”
Tanya nodded. “I do, Ellen. And I love you, too.”
Sue leaned over the aisle. “I knew you two were closet lesbians. Good for you for finally coming out.”
Ellen and Tanya laughed.
“Oh, Sue,” Tanya said.
On the second day of the train ride, they had just left Union Station in Chicago, when Ellen received a call from Brian. She hadn’t been awake for very long and was in desperate need of caffeine and was afraid her brain was mush, but she took the call.
“Hello,” she said.
“I just read your letter,” Brian said.
She got up from her seat and made her way to the sightseer lounge, where she wouldn’t be overheard by her friends. “I told you to rip it up.”
“You know I couldn’t do that. Why didn’t you tell me, there at the ball?”
“While you were with your date?” Ellen glanced around the lounge, glad there were only a few other passengers visiting with one another and not paying attention to her.
“While we were alone. You could have told me.”
“Did you sleep with her?” she asked. She held her breath.
“No, not after I saw you. I couldn’t.”
“But you slept with her before?”
“You broke things off with me.”
“You broke things off,” she reminded him.
“Only after you’d made it clear that you didn’t want me, that you didn’t love me as much as I love you,” he said.
“I haven’t slept with anyone else but you since the day we met,” she said.
“Look, Ellen. You distract yourself by renovating historical properties, solving mysteries, and saving ghosts. I distract myself by renovating historical properties and having meaningless sex with women I don’t care about. I’m sorry. Okay? But if you’re ready to commit to me, if you let me into your heart, even just a little, I’d never sleep with another woman for as long as I lived.”
The thought of him loving on that young, beautiful girl sent a shiver of jealousy down her spine.
“I don’t know, Brian. I’m scared.”
“You’re scared? I’m the one who’s scared. You know that I’m a sure thing. You’ve got me wrapped around your finger. But I…damn, Ellen. You held back on me. And when you held back, I felt lonely and vulnerable. Can’t you understand that?”
She wiped the tears from her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“Tell me why you’re sorry. Are you sorry because it’s not going to work for us? Or are you sorry that you held back on me when you didn’t want to?”
“The second, I think.”
She heard Brian heave a heavy sigh. “That’s a relief.”
Ellen wasn’t sure what to say next.
“Can I come and see you?” he asked. “Where are you?”
“I’m on a train headed back to Montana.”
“Can I come to Montana?”
The thought of seeing him did lift her spirits, but the timing was off. “I want to see you. Really I do.”
“But?”
“I came here with Sue and Tanya, to spend time with them. And there’s so much going on, so much craziness. You wouldn’t believe it.”
“Will you tell me about it?” he asked. “I’m especially curious to know why you were in New Orleans and why you were dancing with Sidney Longfellow.”
“You know him?”
“He’s an acquaintance of mine. I’ve known him for years.”
Ellen sat back in the chair and told Brian the story of Crow Woman and Talks to Buffalo, of her dream with the white buffalo after the hide shocked her, of Rabbit and Sister Alma, of falling into the river, of discovering the bodies, and of the DNA match with Sidney Longfellow.
“Sidney thinks it’s a gimmick, but it’s all true, Brian.”
“Let me give him a call and see what I can do,” Brian said.
“He’s pretty angry about it and closed-minded, but I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to try.”
“I’ll call you tomorrow and let you know how I make out.”
“Thank you, Brian.”
“My pleasure, Ellen. Goodbye.”
“Goodbye.”
Ellen and her friends arrived at Glacier Park Lodge on Sunday night. They got Rich Falcon a cab ride home and walked across the parking lot and headed to their room—to the one room they’d kept for the week. They had chosen Sue’s room because it was a suite with a king-size bed and a pull-out sofa. Sue insisted that Ellen and Tanya take the bed, saying that she didn’t want her snoring to keep them up all night. Ellen and Tanya were too tired to argue. Everyone changed into their night clothes, brushed their teeth, and crashed.