Blue Jeans and a Badge by Nina Bruhns Read Free Book Online Page A

sitting with them.”
    â€œOne was telling about the old days, back when the children of the tribe had to go to the Indian boarding school down in Santa Fe. About how they were often mistreated and how they didn’t like being away from their Apache families, forced to live with Navajo and Pueblo children. The Navajo and Pueblo were considered the enemy back then.”
    â€œAlong with the U.S. Government, I expect,” he said wryly.
    â€œAnyway, she told this story about a Jicarilla boy and girl who escaped from the school on foot. They walked for a couple of months trying to get back to their people. Up along the Rio Chama around Abiquiu they discovered a secret hidden box canyon with some old ruins, and they decided to stay for the winter. They ended up living there for almost a year before they were caught by authorities stealing chickens at a local ranch and sent back to the school.”
    He could tell by her intonation there was more. “So what’s the punch line?” he asked.
    â€œThe girl was Clyde Tafota’s grandmother.”
    Philip digested that. “Okay. That’s good. She still alive?”
    â€œUnfortunately not. And no one else seems to know exactly where the canyon was.”
    â€œOr they aren’t telling.”
    â€œA definite possibility. But the school might have records. Or the police who found them.”
    â€œHopefully we can come up with an exact location with a few phone calls.”
    They talked about the possibilities most of the way back to Piñon Lake, about how they could go about getting the information they needed, and who would take care of what. By the time they were approaching the village, Philip felt fairly confident that Luce had completely forgotten she was mad at him. So he decided to take a chance.
    Just before town, he swung the Jeep onto a well-used track that took them up the mountain.
    Luce looked around. “Where are we going?”
    â€œI want to show you something.”
    The sun was just setting. Because they were on the western slope of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, there was a wide, unimpeded view of the vivid streaks of color being painted in bold strokes across the sky, as if by a giant with a huge paintbrush.
    â€œOh, my Lord,” she said in a hushed tone as he steered onto a cleared area at the edge of a shallow drop. “That is amazing.”
    He shut off the engine. “Just wait. It gets better.”
    The sun went down quickly in the desert, so they sat there for ten or fifteen minutes soaking in the incredible cosmic show as it spun its magic upon the earth. First the sky turned bright yellow and lilac, then lavender and orange, melting into deep reds and violets, and finally fading to a stark black with slivers of purplish yellow.
    â€œIncredible,” she murmured. “I have never seen a sunset like that before.”
    â€œWelcome to the wilderness, city girl.”
    She rolled her head on the neck rest and looked at him with a smile. “Okay, I guess it does have a few good points.”
    â€œOne or two.”
    She glanced around. “Where are we?” she asked.
    He got out of the Jeep and grabbed their things from the back bench. Then he came around and opened her door.
    â€œMy place.” He gave a little bow and gestured for her to hop out. “Welcome to my humble abode, Miz Montgomery.”
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    â€œWhat?” Luce balked. “Your place? This?”
    She squinted into the darkness that had settled all around them, and was just able to make out a stone path leading away from the parking area to a low, silhouetted structure that nestled a hundred yards or so from the edge of the panoramic cliff drop.
    â€œHouse, barn and fifteen acres,” Philip said.
    She really shouldn’t have been surprised by his choice of abode, but for some reason she was. She’d expected…she wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but this wasn’t it.
    â€œGosh, I