Unexpected Change Ch. 03

Pale Feather hooked my arm and turned us towards the door. She said, "I've had enough dancing for one night. How about you?"

Steve, Walt and Sue followed us outside. Don had taken someone outside for fresh air and missed the excitement. Thirty or forty other people followed us. A man in a three piece suit walked up to us in the parking lot. He stuck out his hand. I took it and he said, "I'm the DA in this county. James has been arrested a number of times. If I can have a DNA sample I think James could be looking at back child support payments and maybe criminal charges. How old are you?"

"Eighteen last August."

"The law says the charges need to be filed before you turn eighteen."

"Donna looked to be fifteen." Pale Feather said.

He shook our hands and said, "I'll be in touch."

At the truck Steve said, "I thought being linked was all about loving."

I asked, "Isn't stopping abuse a loving thing to do? James didn't stop having sex after he promised his wife he would. She knew he was a rapist and a whoremonger and she let him do it. The most loving thing we could do was stop him. Loving to everyone in the community."

We got into the truck and Walt said, "Oops! Nick is on his way here. We can't go home."

Kay said, "Call him. Tell him to go home." Walt smiled and Steve asked, "How's Don going to get home?" At that moment Don opened the door and got in. I saw three different colors of lipstick on his face.

Walt said, "Brother, a firestorm has started in our hometown. Go to the house, not the dance. See you there." He hung up and started the truck.

We pulled out and drove home. Walt said, "Did you know how that would go?"

"No. I just trusted that I would know what to do. I have no idea what the aftershocks will be like, but now I know how I came to be and who my biological... who my sperm donor was."

"The whole town and over half the county know!" Steve said.

I said, "It had to be public. It's been a secret for seventeen years, no, nineteen years. That's too long."

Don spoke up. "I missed the confrontation in the room but from what I heard I think you shouldn't go to town by yourself for months. Either of you."

Aunt Sue asked, "What did you hear?"

Jack Evans was talking to Al Johnson and Mark Sloan out the back of the dance and I heard him say, "Slander like that can get your ass whipped!"

Steve said, "I didn't know Jack knew a big word like slander."

I said, "We won't be going to town alone any time soon. My sense is that Jack is not a threat if he's alone. Unless they are together, none of them are a threat. As a group they are a mortal danger to any of us." Kay hooked my arm and put her head against my shoulder.

The headlights of the truck passed over the yard as we approached the house. A rental car was parked and Dad was sitting on the third step of the back porch. The trunk was open. Uncle Walt stopped the truck and got out, headed for my Dad. Sue beat him to Dad, threw her arms around him and kissed him. Uncle Walt wrapped his powerful arms around both of them and they laughed. The rest of the family followed them into the house. Don and Steve carried his bags inside.

We gathered in the kitchen. Sue and Kay made a meal for Dad and the rest of us got beverages and sat at the table.

Dad said, "Ok, catch me up. A lot has happened."

Walt said, "I'll start and the rest of you can add pieces as we go forward. I sent Kay to Pocatello to get Ben. They spent some time with their Aunt Buzz and had Ben back in time to get in a few hours of tractor time.

Sue added, "We needed to know what you had taught him, so we knew where to start."

Dad said, "Start at ground zero."

"That's what we discovered. I don't think he'd ever seen a breast in the sunshine before." Sue said.

Kay smiled and said, "He has now." Steve and Don nodded.

Walt said, "He learns quick and will be a good farmer. He learns quickly and innovates too."

"Do the Evan's know he's here?" Dad asked.

Aunt Sue said, "At the dance tonight Ben danced with Donna Evans. She's fifteen. Her Uncle James tried to cut in on them. It didn't happen. Ben talked to James and knew somehow that James was his biological father, and Donna's too. James broke off the confrontation and a minute later Nadine's Dad asked who the piss ant was that called his daughter a whore."

Walt added, "I was standing between old man Evans and Ben. He gently moved me out of the way and took the old bastard on, face to face. Challenged him to a bet."

"A bet?" Dad asked.

Steve said, "Half his farm that Ben could pick out the man who cuckolded you from the men in the room against a promise that if he was wrong, Ben would leave and never come back."

Kay said, "We almost had a farm until his wife whispered to him that Ben was right."

"Ben was masterful. He said something and James took the bait and admitted he was the sperm donor for Maureen and Ben." Shortly after that we left. Their whole family has been shamed in front of the whole county.

Dad asked, "Ben how did you know it was James? I've looked for years to find out who."

"Now, we need to back up. There's a big thing we need to tell you before we can answer your questions about anything that happened at the dance." I said. We backed the story up to Don's return from camp and his party. Kay and I went back to visit Aunt Buzz so none of Don's teammates would discover him here on the farm. We told Dad that while we were there and she was teaching me about being a man, we did a ceremony inviting each of us to kiss believing the person we were kissing was the Goddess or the God."

Kay took it. "Aunt Buzz had me face Ben she gave us the instructions. I'd heard them before. Ben had never heard them before. When we kissed the world changed for both of us."

Dad asked, "You're linked?" He came partway out of his seat. Kay and I nodded. He looked at Walt and Sue and they nodded too.

Aunt Sue said, "Look at them. Does he look like an eighteen year old kid from California?"

"No. I assumed it was a few months in the sun and good Idaho food."

I said, "Dad, I am Shoshone. We have Spirit Names. In our hearts we are married. I have a job, a place to live and as of next month we'll have a baby."

Walt added, "Over the last months Ben and Kay have gone with the Shoshone to learn their ways. He came back this morning. Darker, scarred and stronger in every way. He knows things. He went on a vision quest and a spirit dance, I believe. He will not speak of these things now. But, we have seen the scars and I have seen the man. The boy Ben you sent us has become Pale Eagle and his bride is Pale Feather. He is a man. That is who confronted the Evans family in front of the town."

"Nadine is on her way here. She's too late. She lost face for her entire family. It wouldn't surprise me if their farm was for sale within a week." Walt said.

"Perfect. I'll call Marvin in the morning. If she's here she can be served here. After she's served we'll have Marvin wait until their farm goes up for sale and I'll buy it as a wedding gift. That is if you want to stay here."

Walt said, "That farm is eight hundred acres. He'll ask over a million."

Don said, "When it goes on the market we'll pass the word that we want to give it to Pale Eagle and Pale Feather. No one else will bid on it. Maybe you'll get it for half price."

"How can you buy it?" Steve asked. "Nadine is about to tie up all your money."

Walt smiled. Sue smiled and Pale Feather smiled half a second before Ben did. Pale Feather said, "For years when I went to the post office there would be official looking letters from a bank in California. The letters came and the next trip to town a letter got dropped at the bank. Nick was skimming from himself and Daddy was depositing the money!"

Dad and Walt looked at me and said, "The money is in your name. As soon as you were eighteen you could walk into the bank and buy that farm or whatever with your own money. Imagine, owning an eight hundred acre farm without a mortgage!"

I sat stunned. Pale Feather put her hand on my shoulder and I calmed. She said, "We need to sleep. All of you should go to bed. Pale Eagle and I will stay up. The night isn't over for us." I knew she was right. I just didn't know why she was right.

I was pretty sure Walt, Sue and the rest were in the dark, too. Kisses were shared and they went to bed. It was about eleven. We stayed in the kitchen. We kissed a few more times. I held her with my hands inside her clothes and then she said, "Go out to the barn and make a bed for us in the equipment barn. Make it big enough for three. Donna has run away after Jack beat her and raped her. She's on her bike and she's headed here."

I'll make the bed. You call the doctor and tell him to bring a rape kit, no sirens, no flashing red lights." Pale Feather nodded and went into action. Twenty minutes later Walt and Sue were in the kitchen. Pale Feather told them what was happening. As I walked from the barn to the back porch the doctor pulled in and I motioned for him to park in the barn, next to a tractor.

We sat in the dark and he asked, "Where's my patient?"

"On a bicycle on her way here."

"Donna Evans?"

I nodded. Off in the distance we saw a wobbly light headed towards us. We knew it was Donna. He said, "Get a camera for me, please."

The screen door opened and Sue handed a digital camera to the doctor. The light turned and she rode right to us. Her right eye was swollen closed. Her face bruised and lip torn. We caught the bike and her. We helped her into the house and found the kitchen table covered with sheets. Water was hot on the stove and Sue was standing next to Kay. Walt took the bike into the barn.

The next thing the doctor said to Steve was, "Call the sheriff and tell him I said there's an emergency here. Tell him no light, no siren, and no radio. I know the Evans' listen to the police radio. The doctor shooed the men outside to stand guard. We armed ourselves and took up defensive positions in the dark. The sheriff came. He got out of his car cautiously. Walt stepped out of the shadows and told him the story. He went to the door.

Sue let him in. We went back into the shadows. The sheriff came out about half an hour later and said, to the darkness, "I'm on my way to arrest Jack for attempted murder and rape. Better stay on guard." He left in a hurry.

Donna stayed in the house with Kay and Sue. We slept in shifts. When it was light Walt and Dad went in and slept in beds for four hours. Don, Steve and I stayed hidden. I was up in the equipment loft and had binoculars. If someone came from the south we would know a mile before they arrived.

I saw two old Dodge pick-ups coming along the road from the south. I went to the door at the north end and used a shaft of sunlight reflected off a window on the house and reflected the light to alert Don and Steve.

Both trucks parked between the house and the barns. The three men got out carrying shotguns. They left the doors of the trucks open. My Grandpa yelled, "We've come for Donna. Give her back and there won't be any trouble."

Jack was with them. All three carried shotguns. I knew Don had a 30.06 and Steve had a .223 and a Colt 1911. I had a .270 deer rifle, clip fed. I had three extra clips.

Walt opened the back door and said, "You can't have her. Doc's here and the sheriff has seen and talked to her. Best thing for you to do is go home."

Grandpa raised his shotgun and aimed at the back door. I drew a bead on his leg and yelled, "No!" He spun around and pulled the trigger. His shot went wide and peppered the door near me. I took out his knee. He screamed and fell, dropping the shotgun. The other two shot at the barn door as well. I caught three or four shot in my leg and fired a round at each. One was hit in the shoulder and the other in the knee. They both screamed and fell. Steve and Don moved their weapons far enough away that they couldn't get to them.

Doc came out and bandaged their wounds and left them in the dirt. Sue called the sheriff and told him to take his time, the three were not going anywhere.

An hour passed, slower for the three men in the dirt of our yard than for the five of us watching them. Aunt Sue brought out our breakfast and we ate at the table. We left one of us sitting near the three, making sure they didn't wander off.

Just before the sheriff arrived doc got another call. Orville Kaller had been kicked by one of his cows and his wife was worried his leg was broken. He checked the three before he left and said, "These wounds are nothing. Attempted murder is something. Maybe, if you're nice the sheriff will let you stay in a cell with James."

They glared at him. He smiled and a minute later he drove away.

The youngest looked at me and asked, "I'm really thirsty. Could we have some water?"

I said, "You come to our home uninvited. You shoot at me and threaten my Uncle. Now you want water. Give me one good reason why I should? Just one good reason."

A full minute went by and Grandpa spoke, "Cause we're kin."

"We are kin. You're right! It's not Donna's fault she was born into a family that believes rape and incest are Ok. It's not her fault or mine that she's my half sister. It's yours Grandpa. You taught your children the values and morals they live by. You taught the whole clan that lying and not protecting children was the Evan's way. Donna will need lots of healing. Justice might be beating the hell out of you and raping your backside. Don't worry. None of us would touch you. What happens when the four of you get to prison... I won't even guess."

I went to the back door and asked for a glass. Kay opened the door and gave me a glass. It was a big glass. I filled it with water and took it to the youngest cousin. I said, "One glass for all three of you. You can drink it all or however much you want, but this is all you all get until you get to jail. All three of you."

He held the glass and sat half-way up. He drank half the glass. Grandpa yelled, "Leave some for us!"

He handed the glass back to me and I took it to my other cousin. He held the glass up towards his Grandfather and drank every drop!

He gave the glass back to me. I asked, "Why not give him some?"

"I'm here in the dirt with a bullet in my leg because he made us come. I'm not mad at you! I'm ashamed of the family I'm in. I hope to Christ Donna never has to go back to our farm!"

"She won't." Uncle Walt said.

The sheriff pulled into the yard and got out of his car. He looked over the three. "Can they travel?"

"Sure. We can load them in, if you want." I said.

He asked, "Walt, can we load them in the back of your truck and take them in that way."

"Yup." Uncle Walt said. We helped load all three into the back of the truck. He asked what he should do with their trucks. I said we'd get them back to the Evan's farm. We loaded all three shotguns into Walt's pick up. My Dad drove Walt's truck. Steve and I drove the Evan's pick-ups. We dropped the prisoners at the jail then took the old Dodges back to Jack's house.

We parked the trucks between their house and their barns. I knocked on their back door. Grandma came to the door and I handed her the keys. She asked, "Why did you bring the trucks back?"

"Because the tree men who came to our farm went to jail, arrested for attempted murder. All three were shot."

"Shot! Who shot them?

"The men protecting Donna. She's safe now. So are the rest of you."

"We weren't in danger!"

"Donna needed stitches in her face, in her breast and she was raped. She was in danger. If you want to visit her you can come to our farm. I don't think she wants to come back here. She's not safe." I turned and walked to the truck. As Dad put it in Reverse he waved at his mother-in-law. She didn't wave back.

At home I found Pale Feather in bed with Donna beside her. I went to the barn and climbed to the loft. As I settled in I thought about how focused we had been on joining in the loft out first time. We didn't. Our first time was in a teepee with a hundred or more people with us.

It was after noon when I got up. Don and Steve were in the fields. There was work to be done. Dad and Walt were on the porch, talking. They were in jackets and there were still snow patches in the yard. I brought both of them coffee

Dad told me what had been done. While I had been hiding in plain sight Dad sold me almost all his company. As of April first Dad no longer had a company. He had been forced out of his own company. It was all done legally and done in such a way that he had been "forced" to mortgage his home to the hilt and liquidate all his stocks, bonds and other investments. He had left enough money in a personal account for Nadine that she had fifteen thousand dollars, on the first, then she was broke. He had paid Maureen's tuition, books, room and board until the end of June.