"When worlds collide, hearts and minds open." - Edwin and Wylie
The kiss, which I was uncomfortably aware had flipped an internal switch in me, lasted only a few seconds before Evan withdrew with a wince. “Ouch,” he said, holding a finger to his swollen lip, which had split and was oozing blood.
“Oh shit. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. You didn’t smack me in the face with a tree branch,” Evan said. “Besides, I’m not. That was kinda fun.” He gave me another quick hug. “But after what just happened neither one of us is in any shape for romance.”
“You’re probably right,” I agreed as I stepped back to put some space between us.
“Sorry to change the subject, but can you see what you can do about getting us some money?” Evan asked. “D’s been gone almost four months now and I’m almost out. I haven’t been paid and I’ve been using my own money to buy supplies.”
“That’s not good,” I said. “I have to call Hamilton anyway so I’ll see about reimbursing you and getting your back pay. Does he have your bank information?”
“Don’t have a bank account. I don’t trust banks. D always paid me cash.”
“Oh,” I said, a bit surprised. “Well one of us is going to have to get to a bank soon. I only have about $50 with me. Let me give you that and we’ll come up with a plan once I talk to Hamilton. Is there a bank in the town where you get supplies?”
“Yeah, it’s about a two-hour walk unless we take the horses.”
“Oh, I forgot about the horses,” I said.
“They’re pastured on the easement, which is on the way to town. I’ll put out a few flakes for them today. They’re okay on grass since it’s summer but still…”
“When you get back can you introduce me?”
“Sure,” he said, clearly amused.
“What’s so funny?”
“You do realize horses are big, sweaty animals that attract flies, right?”
“Oh please,” I said. “I grew up riding.”
“Let me guess - English saddles, neat and tidy arenas, and fences to jump.”
“Will you stop?” I said, punching him in the arm. “I used to muck out stalls and clean the tack to pay for my lessons. I know horses are work.”
“We’ll see,” Evan said. “I’ll be curious to see how Appalachia responds to you.”
“Appalachia?”
“Richard’s horse. She’s very picky about her people. Okay, I’m going to get dressed and take off. All of this,” he said gesturing towards the lake, “needs sorting.”
“No shit,” I agreed, suddenly anxious all over again. “Will you be okay going to town alone?”
“Will you be okay staying alone here you mean?” he said with a smile.
“That too,” I admitted. “I’m a bit freaked out by all this.”
“I don’t blame you,” Evan said. “You can come with me if you want.”
I thought about it for a moment. “You believe me, right?”
“I do.”
“So what’s your explanation? Who were those women?”
“My best guess is Nvnehi - a kind of spirit. But I can’t be sure, which is why I want to talk to Atsina.”
“Tell me about the Nvnehi,” I said, sitting back down and nodding for Evan to do the same.
“Are you sure you want to do this now?” Evan asked, looking both irritated and impatient. “I mean we’ve both got a lot to do.”
“I’m sure,” I said firmly. “I’m not asking for a PowerPoint presentation, but if I’m going to stay I need to understand.”
“Okay, okay I hear you,” Evan said, sitting down. “Let me think about how to explain things.” He sat quietly studying his hands for a few minutes then looked up at me. “So the Cherokee believe there are three worlds: Galvladi - the Sky World, Elohi Hawinadikdla - the Underworld, and Elohi - the middle world. All physical beings - plants, trees, water, soil, animals, humans, and Nvnehi - live in Elohi.”
I nodded that I understood. “Go on.”
“Everything in Elohi is made of spirit and form. Our spirits come from the Sky World and our bodies are made from the water and mud of the Underworld. We say that we stand in the middle - that our job is to keep the two worlds in balance.”
“That’s kind of cool,” I said.
“Yes,” Evan agreed.
“And the Nvnehi?”
“They’re part of Elohi too, but are invisible unless they choose to be seen.”
“Like fairies?”
“I guess, though I don’t know much about fairies,” Evan said. “But Maddy, I have to tell you that unless there’s a good reason, we don’t talk about meeting Nvnehi. It’s bad luck.”
“What could be a better reason to talk about them than what I saw today? How can that be unlucky?”
“That’s why I want to see Atsina. She’ll know what to do.”
“Evan, you’re beginning to piss me off. I’m tempted to say the hell with it and leave.”
“Oh no, Maddy,” Evan said looking alarmed. “You mustn’t. This is too important.”
I sat glowering at him and wrestling with my emotions. To give him credit, Evan didn’t try to touch or otherwise persuade me. He leaned back in his chair and patiently waited in silence, giving me the space and time I needed to collect myself.
“I won’t go,” I finally said, “but I need to stop feeling like things are just happening to me - like I have a handle on my life again.”
“I understand,” Evan said with a nod.
“So you really think this Atsina woman can help?”
“I do.”
“Okay, then go see her. I’ll make calls and try to sort out the money.”
“Great,” Evan said, getting to his feet.
“But Evan,” I said, “I want to know how to get out of here if I have to without the boat. I don’t like feeling like a prisoner.”
“Okay, so let’s get that all sorted so I can leave. The sooner I go the sooner I’ll get back.”
Thirty minutes later, Evan was on his way. He’d changed into jeans, a t-shirt, and a pair of canvas boots he said were good for riding. In his pack he carried food, water, my $50 and numbers to call if he needed help. “It’s gonna be okay, Maddy,” Evan assured me as he folded and tucked the list into his shirt pocket. “You’ll see.”
Before leaving, Evan showed me the start of the main footpath that led to and from the Light House. It ran on both sides of the stream and was clearly marked with splotches of pale green paint that glowed in the dark on the trees. He also gave me a hand-drawn map made by D when he first came to the Light House. “Richard said D got lost all the time until he made this,” Evan said. He held the map up and pointed to a dotted line leading north from the Light House. The line cut through an area marked, “easement,” and wound its way along foothills to an X labeled Nikwas. “It means star in Cherokee,” Evan explained. “That’s where I’m headed. It takes about two hours by foot and an hour or a less on horseback. I’m thinking I should ride since I don’t know how long my meeting with Atsina will last. I want to be back by dark.”
“Makes sense,” I agreed. “Can you call if anything happens and you can’t get back?”
“Sure, there’s a public phone in town.”
“Thanks. Please be safe,” I said.
“You too,” he said as he adjusted the straps on his backpack. He made no attempt to touch me again, but lifted his hand in farewell. “I’ll see you soon.” I watched until he disappeared around a bend between the trees, then headed back upstairs.
My first call was to Nigel. The moment I heard his familiar, “Yo bro” at the other end of the line I burst into tears. “Maddy, is that you? What’s wrong?” he exclaimed.
“Oh my god, Nigel,” I sobbed. “You are not going to believe this.” I grabbed a tissue from the box on the dresser and blew my nose.
“Are you okay? Do you need me to drive up there?”
“No. Maybe. I don’t know. Something strange is going on and I don’t know what to do.”
“Tell me.”
In fits and starts, interspersed with more tears and hiccoughs I told him about the storm and finding Evan injured. Then I described the painful process of getting him bathed, bandaged, and into bed.
“Damn Maddy,” Nigel said. “I bet that was a sight for sore eyes,”
“Don’t start with me Nigel,” I warned. “He was banged up and bleeding.”
“Okay, okay just trying to interject a little levity,” he said. “Go on.”
I explained about it getting dark and having to light the lantern to get around the house. “When I went upstairs to check on him, Evan was sound asleep lying on his stomach surrounded by the cats. That’s when I saw the tattoo.”
“Pretty amazing isn’t it?” Nigel said. “He took off his shirt while he was rowing us back to the gate. He said the tattoos were of the seven Cherokee clans.”
“Yes, it’s stunning,” I agreed, “or it was until it moved.”
“It did what? What do you mean?”
I explained how the eyes of the faces seemed to come alive and the image of the blue panther turned into a bear. “And then it breathed, Nigel. Its nostrils flared and it blew warm air across my face. And it smelled nice, not like nasty dog breath. More like damp earth after it rains.”
Across the phone line Nigel was completely silent. I could hear him breathing but he clearly didn’t know what to say. “You don’t believe me,” I said.
“Well, it was late and you only had the lantern…” his voice trailed off.
“I saw what I saw, Nigel. Besides, that was nothing compared to this morning.”
“There’s more?!”
“Yes. This morning I got up early to see the sunrise. I went outside and to the deck that overlooks the lake.”
“I remember, it’s pretty,” Nigel said.
“And that’s when I saw them.” I took a deep breath and described everything.
“That’s crazy. How can that be, Maddy?” Nigel exclaimed, sounding at once horrified and intrigued.
“You tell me. Unless I had a psychotic break, I have no explanation.”
“No, you’re one of the sanest people I know. I believe you, but I wish I didn’t. It’s so bizarre. Almost supernatural.”
“Right?” I agreed. “Evan says it’s some kind of sign.”
“What does he think you should do?”
“Wait. Get help. He’s on his way to talk to a woman from his clan called Atsina.”
“So you’re alone?”
“Yeah, except for Bentley,”
“I don’t like that.”
“Me either,” I said. “I promised Evan I wouldn’t leave until he gets back this evening, but we’ve got practical problems too. Evan needs cash. He’s been using his own money to get supplies and hasn’t been paid.”
“Cash as in actual paper bills?”
“Yeah, he doesn’t have a bank account. I guess D paid him cash.”
“Okay, well I can always bring some money when I come,” Nigel said, “cuz there’s no way in hell I’m letting you stay alone up there. But based on what Manuel told me you’ve got bigger problems.”
“What do you mean?”
“You haven’t talked to Hamilton yet?”
“No, he’s next on my list to call. Can’t you just tell me?”
“Better let him explain it,” Nigel said. “In the meantime, why don’t you tell me what else you need besides the money and I’ll head back early tomorrow morning. Unless you want me to come today.”
“Tomorrow should be fine,” I said. “If I need you sooner, I’ll call.”
“Maddy, promise me you’ll be careful.”
“I promise,” I assured him. “Call me when you know when you’re leaving so I can be there to meet you.
“Will do.”
Hamilton got straight to the point when he got on the phone. “There you are,” he said.
“Yes, here I am,” I replied. “I hear we have a problem.”
“Problems actually. D’s sister, Faith, is contesting both the will and the trust.”
“What?! Why?”
“She claims her brother was not of sound mind due to AIDS and lacked the mental capacity to execute a will.”
“But that’s absurd.”
“It gets worse. She also contends that Richard, and through him the Cherokee nation, exerted undue influence on D in an effort to acquire the property.”
“But he left the Light House to me,” I said. “I’m not Cherokee.”
“That’s certainly in your favor, but as you know D stipulated that trust funds be set aside for both a Cherokee cultural center and ongoing research into and preservation of Native American artifacts found on the property.”
“Yes, I saw that,” I said, glad that I’d taken the time to read the legal documents. “But he also requested that funds be used to set up a school where people could come to study the plants, animals, ecosystems, and geology here. He wasn’t restricting the use of the land to Cherokee history or culture.”
“I’m just telling you what I know so far, based on the documents she filed with the court,” Hamilton said. “She filed a caveat at the clerk of court's office and a lawsuit contesting the title to the land. She also filed a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to try to freeze all assets in the trust. She’s not playing around, Madison. She has good lawyers who know what they’re doing and the money to pay them.”
“I can’t believe she’s doing this,” I said. My head was swimming with all the unfamiliar legal jargon. “It’s not like D didn’t provide for her in his will.”
“Believe it and start to prepare your own case, Madison. I can recommend a good trial lawyer. She will have to provide proof of her claims of course - medical and psychological experts, witnesses who can testify that D was too ill to make legal decisions, people who knew them both and will state that Richard influenced him.”
“Of course he influenced him!” I protested. “They were married for heaven’s sake.”
“Not in the eyes of the court,” Hamilton said gently. “This state does not recognize same sex marriages.”
I groaned. “So what do I do?”
“Get ready. Contact a trial lawyer and go through what Faith’s submitted to the court. Find your own expert witnesses, and above all take precautions.”
“Precautions? What do you mean?”
“I know the Light House is isolated, but it’s not inaccessible. Supplies like propane, animal feed, and dry goods are delivered regularly by the merchants D contracted with. Therefore you must assume that other, uninvited people are visiting and monitoring your actions. Faith has both the money and motivation to pay a surveillance company. I suggest you do the same.”
“But I thought you said she had the assets of the Trust frozen.”
“She tried, but the court ruled that it will not grant either the restraining order or the injunction without proof that the funds are being mismanaged. Since I administer the Trust’s funds and can provide detailed records proving those funds are being used to run and maintain the property, she doesn’t have a leg to stand on.”
“You’re so good, Hamilton,” I said appreciatively.
“I try,” he said. “But to continue, as the Successor Trustee, you have both the right and obligation to use its funds to maintain the property and keep things running smoothly.”
“So you’re authorized to give me money?”
“Yes. A monthly amount was already set by D that should more than cover your expenses. I can and will start paying that money to your account, though I suggest you open a separate account for Light House business.”
“Will do,” I said, adding that to my to-do list.
“And if I may make one more suggestion?”
“Of course.”
“Have a security system installed. Get cameras set up at the house, gate, and any other buildings on the property. Also hire a surveillance company to keep track of any unauthorized visitors to the property. Make sure they have a system for documenting everyone and everything they see.”
“Are you serious? Isn’t that a kind of extreme?” I was beginning to feel a little sick to my stomach imagining what Hamilton was describing. D’s beloved Light House was beginning to sound like a fortress under siege.
“I wouldn’t suggest it unless I felt it was necessary, Madison.”
“Okay, I’ll think about it,” I said.
“Good. I will mail you the names of the trial lawyer, copies of the court documents that have been filed, and a list of security and surveillance companies I’d recommend.”
“Okay.”
“And please let me know the instant you have your new account opened so I can begin depositing money.”
“Will do. Thank you again, Hamilton. I’ll be in touch.”
Copyright 2024 by Jena Ball. All Rights Reserved.
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Lovely story. Good writing. Wonderful imagining.
Why doesn't this surprise me that Faith is being vengeful? Sounds like she has an issue with Native Americans and the fact her brother was in love with a man.
Suspense on multiple levels. 👍