Read Online LC 02 - Questionable Remains by Beverly Connor - Free Book Online Page A

it by digging up our ancestors' bones."
    The woman as yet said nothing, but merely scrutinized
Lindsay. "You look familiar," she said finally.
    Lindsay raised her eyebrows. "Do I?"
    "Your picture has been on the TV," said John. "Something
about giving bogus evidence."
    "Oh. The Denny Ferguson trial. I didn't," she said simply.
    "We object to this," said George West again. "We would
like you to listen to our views."
    "This is getting us nowhere," Lindsay heard Gerri say.
    "We will listen, of course," said Lindsay. "We would like
you to listen to us, too."

    "We know what you will say," said John, and his father
raised a hand.
    "He is right, but we will listen anyway," said the elder.
    "She's just a visitor here," cried Gerri.
    They looked at Lindsay with suspicion. Emily West started to speak, but her father interrupted. "A visitor with influence, I would imagine."
    "Yes," said Brian. "The only seat we have to offer is the
ground beneath the tree."
    "That will be fine," said George.

     

Chapter 5
    PIAQUAY SAT UNDER the grove of live oaks. The man
Roberto Lacayo was teaching him the language of the devils who
had invaded his world and brought most of it, at least for him, to
an end. His gaze rested on the gentle mounds of dirt that covered
the people he loved, and he clenched his teeth in anger. As he listened to Roberto droning the names of the things around them, he
scooped up a handful of acorns and poured them from hand to
hand. He looked down at the nuts in his palm, and it reminded
him of the irritating way Roberto kept fingering his beads and
whispering in a language that was not even the one he spoke.
Piaquay threw the acorns in disgust. Roberto looked over at the
chief and fell silent, wondering what had angered him. Piaquay
motioned for him to continue. This time Piaquay listened closely
and repeated what he heard.
    A woman from the tribe approached them and motioned for
Roberto to leave. As the Spaniard rose and walked away, they
watched him until he was under the vigilant eye of Piaquay's
brother, Tesca.
    "What is this I hear?" she asked.
    Piaquay looked into her black eyes and softly lined face. "It's
not your concern."
    "I should say it is," she responded, sitting down in front of him.
    "It is not your concern until I say it there." He pointed to the
lodge on top of the large mound.

    "Tell me what's in your mind," she insisted. "Why are you
handing the title of chief to me?"
    "It's right."
    "How is it right? What are you going to do? Why do you learn
the language of the enemy?"
    "I'm going to kill the man who did this. The man who takes
young children and women from their homes, the man who takes
everything we have and when it is not enough, kills anyway.
What kind of heart kills women, kills children? I'm going to rid
this land of him and run out the other devils."
    Cacheci shook her head. "You cannot. They are too strong. "
    "They're not strong. They're cowards. They don't even know
how to keep the insects from biting them, they can't get food for
themselves, they lose heart in battle when they have to stand on
the ground and face us. It is the beasts that carry them that are
strong and brave. The beasts can do all those things for themselves
that the devils cannot do. Without the beasts, the devils are weak."
Piaquay looked around as though the Spaniards might be listening. "Take the beasts, and they can be defeated."
    "We all grieve. We all want the devils to be gone. But we must
live; we must take care of our children."
    "You know that. It's why it is right for you to be chief. I am too
filled with hatred and revenge."
    "You can't do this by yourself, and you can't take all the men."
    "I will take only my brother and two more."
    "I cannot dissuade you from this?"
    Piaquay looked at the gathering clouds in the blue sky. A storm
was coming. "No. I am changed. This is what I am now."

    Lindsay and the others sat facing each other under the oak
tree. A breeze gently