reserved for women, married or not. Justine sat next to her. Mr. Pete sat on the south, which signified that he was unmarried. Heads of family usuallysat to the west, facing the entrance.
Ella waited for him to begin.
“Some nights I hear wild animals roaming around outside near the house. We don’t have bears and wolves this far from the mountains, so that means the evil ones have claimed this area.”
He lapsed into a long silence, but Ella didn’t interrupt. Long silences were commonplace among older Navajos.
“The police … they’re mostlyyoung Modernists, like that sergeant who came by earlier. They think I’m a crazy old man. But evil is out there,” he said.
“I agree, and it’s our job to deal with that. Tell me exactly what you’ve heard,” Ella asked.
He shuddered. “It started about a year ago. I saw a figure all hunched over and making animal sounds—grunts and groans, mostly. It was digging up something, I think, because I couldhear the regular thump of dirt hitting the ground. But I didn’t stick around. I slipped away as fast as I could, then ran the rest of the way home. Since then, I haven’t seen anything, but I hear them out there at night all the time. The police come, but they never find anything.”
Ella glanced at Justine, then back at Mr. Pete. “Uncle, can you show me where you saw that figure you spoke about?”
He left the hogan, led them halfway to his home, then pointed down toward the generator-powered lights that now illuminated the crime scene. “There, down where those police cars are, next to the fence and under the lights. That’s why I asked what was going on.”
“Tell me again what you saw,” Ella said, noting that the angle and elevation had given him a better view of the grave sites than she’dexpected. “Try to remember everything, even little details that don’t seem to matter much.”
“I don’t normally wander about after dark, but it was different that night,” he answered. “We’d been having some bad lightning storms so I’d made myself a couple of cattail leaf mats to keep my home and hogan safe from lightning. My friends had seen them and asked that I make one for them. I’d just finishedtheirs that evening, and since it looked like we’d be in for another storm before morning, I decided to take it to them. On the way I saw … too much.”
“We need to know exactly what you saw, sir,” Ella insisted gently.
With a sigh of resignation, he answered. “My friends live on the east side, closer to the river where I gather the cattails. There’s a dirt pathway along the reservation boundary,but the bushes along the trail are as tall as a man. That’s why I didn’t see it right away and got too close before I knew it.” He shuddered, remembering. “It was big and hunched over, low to the ground, with arms and legs. All the stories I’d ever heard about skinwalkers came rushing back to me. I’ve never been more scared in my life.”
“Was he wearing an animal skin?” Justine asked, trying torule out coyotes or runaway livestock.
“I couldn’t see clearly enough. The moon wasn’t out and it was cloudy, but I heard the noises it made. What else could it have been? So I went back home. I didn’t give my friends their mat until the next morning. Since then, I only go out during the day and I’ve kept a close eye on everything around here. No skinwalker’s gonna catch me by surprise again.”He gestured with his chin to the rifle propped against the hogan wall.
“You say you only saw one figure?” Ella asked.
He took an unsteady breath. “There might have been another one around there. I’m not sure,” he said. “My eyes don’t work so good these days. I saw shadows and I felt … evil.”
“Have you ever heard gunshots around here before, like the one a while ago?”
He shook his head. “No,and I listen carefully. My eyes may not work so good, but my ears are fine. And I know guns. I used to hunt a lot when
Ella waited for him to begin.
“Some nights I hear wild animals roaming around outside near the house. We don’t have bears and wolves this far from the mountains, so that means the evil ones have claimed this area.”
He lapsed into a long silence, but Ella didn’t interrupt. Long silences were commonplace among older Navajos.
“The police … they’re mostlyyoung Modernists, like that sergeant who came by earlier. They think I’m a crazy old man. But evil is out there,” he said.
“I agree, and it’s our job to deal with that. Tell me exactly what you’ve heard,” Ella asked.
He shuddered. “It started about a year ago. I saw a figure all hunched over and making animal sounds—grunts and groans, mostly. It was digging up something, I think, because I couldhear the regular thump of dirt hitting the ground. But I didn’t stick around. I slipped away as fast as I could, then ran the rest of the way home. Since then, I haven’t seen anything, but I hear them out there at night all the time. The police come, but they never find anything.”
Ella glanced at Justine, then back at Mr. Pete. “Uncle, can you show me where you saw that figure you spoke about?”
He left the hogan, led them halfway to his home, then pointed down toward the generator-powered lights that now illuminated the crime scene. “There, down where those police cars are, next to the fence and under the lights. That’s why I asked what was going on.”
“Tell me again what you saw,” Ella said, noting that the angle and elevation had given him a better view of the grave sites than she’dexpected. “Try to remember everything, even little details that don’t seem to matter much.”
“I don’t normally wander about after dark, but it was different that night,” he answered. “We’d been having some bad lightning storms so I’d made myself a couple of cattail leaf mats to keep my home and hogan safe from lightning. My friends had seen them and asked that I make one for them. I’d just finishedtheirs that evening, and since it looked like we’d be in for another storm before morning, I decided to take it to them. On the way I saw … too much.”
“We need to know exactly what you saw, sir,” Ella insisted gently.
With a sigh of resignation, he answered. “My friends live on the east side, closer to the river where I gather the cattails. There’s a dirt pathway along the reservation boundary,but the bushes along the trail are as tall as a man. That’s why I didn’t see it right away and got too close before I knew it.” He shuddered, remembering. “It was big and hunched over, low to the ground, with arms and legs. All the stories I’d ever heard about skinwalkers came rushing back to me. I’ve never been more scared in my life.”
“Was he wearing an animal skin?” Justine asked, trying torule out coyotes or runaway livestock.
“I couldn’t see clearly enough. The moon wasn’t out and it was cloudy, but I heard the noises it made. What else could it have been? So I went back home. I didn’t give my friends their mat until the next morning. Since then, I only go out during the day and I’ve kept a close eye on everything around here. No skinwalker’s gonna catch me by surprise again.”He gestured with his chin to the rifle propped against the hogan wall.
“You say you only saw one figure?” Ella asked.
He took an unsteady breath. “There might have been another one around there. I’m not sure,” he said. “My eyes don’t work so good these days. I saw shadows and I felt … evil.”
“Have you ever heard gunshots around here before, like the one a while ago?”
He shook his head. “No,and I listen carefully. My eyes may not work so good, but my ears are fine. And I know guns. I used to hunt a lot when
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