Prophet handed the Winchester to the old man. “What will you say, Henry?”
“That although my eyes are not as keen as they used to be, I still have a warrior’s instinct.” Meloux looked at the others and asked, “Who was it that sent the intruder on the Path of Souls?”
“You, Mishomis,” Waaboo said.
“You,” Jenny said.
Annie didn’t answer immediately, and Meloux offered, “If the truth is what you need to hold to, you can always say that your eyes were closed and you did not see who fired the bullet. That will not be a lie.”
Annie shook her head. “It’s not that. I’m just thinking that I’ve been lying to myself and others for too long. It’s time I told a few truths. This won’t be one of them, however. You fired the shot, Henry.” She turned to her sister and said, “But there’s a truth I need to tell you.”
CHAPTER 45
Daniel had called Cork and let him know that something had gone down on Crow Point but he wasn’t sure what, only that everyone was safe. Liam Boyle, apparently, was no longer a threat. Cork was already near Aurora, so he cruised on through town. Instead of heading to the double-trunk birch and walking to Crow Point, he drove to the Iron Lake Reservation and followed the rough track from Allouette directly to Meloux’s cabin, the same route the tribal police had undoubtedly followed. Sheriff Marsha Dross had insisted on staying with him. Margot Lachance was still in the backseat.
Cork parked behind the vehicle Officer LuJean Desjardins had driven. He saw Desjardins standing far out in the meadow, near the edge of the woods. Henry Meloux was with her.
Jenny came from Meloux’s cabin to greet her father and Dross, and let them know that Daniel was on his way with Monte Bonhomme and the BIA agent.
“What’s happened?” Cork asked.
“The man who tried to kill Waaboo is dead.”
“Liam Boyle?” Dross was clearly surprised.
“Officer Desjardins said that was the name on the driver’s license she found in his wallet.”
“How did he die?” Dross pressed.
“He was going to kill Annie, then Waaboo. Probably the rest of us, too. Henry shot him before that could happen.”
“Henry?” Dross seemed incredulous.
“He may be old,” Jenny said, “but he still has the instincts of a warrior.”
It was a phrase Cork would hear often thereafter.
“The body’s out there.” Jenny waved toward Meloux and Desjardins.
“I need to see about this.” Dross headed immediately in that direction.
“Waaboo?” Cork asked.
“In Henry’s cabin with Annie.”
“Prophet?”
Jenny raised her eyebrows and said, “In the woods.”
Cork nodded, catching all her hidden meaning.
“Annie told me, Dad.”
Her face melted into sadness, and Cork saw tears gathering along the rims of her eyes. He took her into his arms. “I know.” He felt her press against him as if trying to draw some of his strength into her own body. “We can’t change what will happen, Jenny, but we can surround her with our love and our comfort and our prayers. We’ll be beside her all the way in this.”
“She’s been gone so long. And now…”
“I know,” Cork said again. Because he understood exactly how Jenny felt.
The rear door of the Expedition opened, and Margot Lachance stepped out. “Okay if I stretch my legs?”
Jenny drew away from her father’s arms and wiped at the tears that rolled down her cheeks. She eyed the girl, then glanced at her father.
“I’ll explain later,” he said.
“I haven’t eaten all day,” Margot said. “You got any food around here?”
Jenny looked at Cork again, and he said, “See what you can rustle up, okay?”
She wiped once more at her tears. “This way,” she said to the girl and headed toward the cabin she’d been sharing with Waaboo.
Cork went to Meloux’s cabin. Inside, his grandson and Annie sat together at the table. Cork had the sense that he was interrupting an important conversation.
“Everybody okay here?” he asked.
“I wouldn’t say that,” his daughter replied. “But we’re all alive.”
“He was going to kill Annie,” Waaboo said. “But Prophet shot him.”
“Henry shot him,” Annie corrected.
“The truth is safe with me, Annie,” Cork said. “I’m just grateful no one was hurt.” He studied them again. “I have a sense I’ve interrupted something.”
“I told them, Dad,” Annie said.
“She’s dying, Baa-baa.”
That was what Waaboo had called him ever since the boy was old enough to talk. But he seldom used that name for Cork anymore. Usually only when he was in need of comfort.
“I know,” Cork said. He sat down with them and took Annie’s hand. “But she didn’t die today. And every day we have left, I intend to celebrate her life.” He looked deeply into his beloved daughter’s eyes. “We will all celebrate your life.”
Annie squeezed his hand and smiled. Cork felt the calm that came from her now. It was something he often felt in the presence of Henry Meloux, the open embrace of the Great Mystery. And he was not afraid of what lay ahead. What lay ahead for them all.
EPILOGUE
Stephen and Belle were married on a Saturday afternoon in late August. The wedding was supposed to be held outdoors, on the grounds of a lovely old lodge called Burntside on the shore of Iron Lake, where the view from beneath the pines was postcard perfect. But an hour before the ceremony, it began to rain, a heavy downpour. So the guests found themselves inside a big ancient barn that had been reconfigured into a space for just such an emergency. It wasn’t a large gathering, only the closest of Belle’s and Stephen’s families, forty guests in all. It was presided over by Anton Morriseau, Belle’s brother, who was duly licensed by the state of Minnesota and was a pipe carrier. The two young people each put tobacco into the pipe, and the smoke went upward to the manidoog to be blessed by those spirits. With the drum of rain on the barn roof and the occasional crack of thunder in the distance, Belle and Stephen exchanged the vows they’d written, and Anton Morriseau gave his blessing. Belle’s mother and Jenny draped a colorful blanket around the shoulders of the couple in the traditional way. And last of all, Henry Meloux was asked to give his own blessing.
He spoke first in Ojibwemowin, the language of the Anishinaabeg. Then he spoke again in English for those who didn’t understand.
