Dark Night of the Navajo

By Barbara Griffin Villemez

A tale of intrigue and murder in northern New Mexico. When Cate O'Connor attends a sweat lodge at a powwow, a native man is murdered. She witnesses the killer leave the lodge. The killer kidnaps Cate as the only one who can identify him, but does not intend to kill her. The trek across the Navajo Nation is fraught with danger as the brothers of the dead man track the killer and Cate. A confrontation ensues at their destination, which is Massacre Cave in the Canyon de Chelly. The killer is wounded and Cate shoots the remaining brother. The killer with Cate's help enters the cave and the unusual happens. The powerful ending changes Cate's life forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barbara Griffin Villemez
• Release date: Nov 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781310904189

Barbara Griffin Villemez

Barbara Griffin Villemez, Psychotherapist and Clinical Hypnotherapist, University Instructor. Published short stories in CC&D literary magazine and the online literary magazine Write From Wrong. Feng Shui practitioner and teacher. Native American background and Shaman training, author of romantic thrillers, paranormal thrillers, short stories, and self-help books. Barbara lives in New Mexico with her husband and two cats.

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Dark Night of the Navajo

Barbara Griffin Villemez

Smashwords Edition

Dark Night of the Navajo

Copyright © 2013 Barbara Griffin Villemez

All rights reserved

Cover Design by Laura Shinn

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Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.

Dark Night of the Navajo is a work of fiction.

Though actual locations may be mentioned, they are used in a fictitious manner and the events and occurrences were invented in the mind and imagination of the author except for the inclusion of actual historical facts. Similarities of characters or names used within to any person – past, present, or future – are coincidental except where actual historical characters are purposely interwoven.

Prologue

New Mexico 1805

The scout raced across the desert urging his horse to go faster. He entered the first settlement of hogans, spoke briefly with the men and went on to the next group. At each settlement, the men gathered the women, children and elderly and retreated deep into the canyons. They gathered the people in a secret cave that was several hundred feet up the sandstone wall. Women began to climb, some helping the children, some carrying the little ones on their backs. The men helped the elderly negotiate the treacherous ascent. When everyone was safe within the cave the men left, taking their horses and picking their way to an area they knew the Spanish soldiers could not find.

Canyon de Chelly, surrounded by Dineh Bike yah, the land of the People, the Navajo, was a place where the People could get lost among the wild canyons. This area of the land protected the Dineh from the Spanish. Within the walls they could hide from the Spanish soldiers and also ride out for raids against Spanish settlements. Now, there was a large force on the march against them.

The Spanish force was led by a Sonoran, Antonio Narbona. He was determined to roust the Navajo from these canyons and decimate the recalcitrant tribe. With him he had a large contingent of soldiers as well as a hundred New Mexican men. With him also were a small number of men from the pueblos and a few Navajo from the Canoncita Band. The major Dineh named these Navajo, Enemy Navajo (Dineh Anaa’i). These native men had been coerced into joining Narbona with threats to their families and their lives.

Narbona’s forces entered the canyons and penetrated deeply. They came to the area where the Navajo families were hidden. The women, children and elderly were huddled deep within the cave. They could hear the sounds of the horses and the jangling of metal on metal. An old woman, who could not contain her curiosity, crawled to the lip of the cave and peered over at the soldiers. Her rage at the abuse she had received as a slave, overcame her good judgment and thinking they were invulnerable, she called out, raining insults in Spanish at the soldiers below her.

The soldiers reined in their horses. Narbona pointed to the woman and commanded his soldiers to fire. They fired at the woman, dismounted and began climbing the walls, stopping and firing toward the cave. The climb was treacherous and the old woman, horrified at what she had done, fought the first soldier to reach the lip of the cave. They struggled and both fell to their death down the treacherous rocky incline. The soldiers breached the entrance and poured over the lip. They fired into the cave killing over a hundred unarmed women, children and elderly. The screams of the wounded and dying echoed from the canyon walls. The floor of the cave was slick with blood. The Spanish rounded up the survivors, women and children and dispatched with a shot, the dying and the elderly. They transported the thirty three survivors down the rocky incline and gathered them together on the canyon floor. Narbona ordered a group of soldiers and the natives to take the women and children to the Spanish settlement to be sold as slaves.

One of the Navajo men had double backed when he heard the gunfire. Hidden among the rocks and boulders, he watched as the survivors were being led away, among them, his woman and one of his children. As he looked upon the scene, grief distorting his features, he saw among the soldiers, men from the Pueblos and a few Navajo he recognized from the Canoncita Band, the Enemy Navajo, Dineh Anaa’I. The rage he felt overcame his grief as he focused on one Navajo. The Canoncita Navajo felt uneasy as if he could feel someone watching him and looked up at the canyon walls where the other man crouched. The young Navajo focused his gaze and rage upon the man seated on a pony and whispered. I will remember. He faded back into the jumble of rocks and boulders hastening to tell his brothers the treachery he had seen.

Present time

The young man stood in front of the wizened old man. He wept as he said, I must do what I must do. It must stop and I will be the one to stop this madness. It no longer matters what happens to me. I must avenge Marianne so she will rest in peace.

The old man, wrapped in his blankets, rocked slowly back and forth in the camp chair. He spoke with a voice cracked with age through a mouthful of blackened teeth. Many long days before you were born there was this madness between our two clans. I thought that it was finished when Joseph killed the last of them seventy-five years ago, but it has not finished. There are new ones taking their place. That is how it has been and how it will be for eternity.

No, grandfather that is not how it will be. These three are the last of their kind. Their clan no longer practices this magic. They realized that it’s a bad thing for a Navajo to do. Their younger brother renounced them and joined the Police force several years ago. This hatred between our clans has caused deep feelings for many, many years and was supposed to have been finished over seventy-five years ago.

My son, you do what you must do. Help me up. We must pray to Changing Woman. She must see that what you do is fair and right.

The young man helped the old man out of his chair and led him from the hogan into the outside desert area. They stood in the open with hands upraised and chanted a prayer to Changing Woman for the young man’s mission to be successful. Afterwards back inside the hogan, the old man made a prediction.

My son, you have a mission to avenge your wife, but Changing Woman will exact a payment for her help. I’m afraid the payment may be your death.

The young man looked deeply into the old man’s eyes then turned abruptly and left the hogan.

Chapter One

Cate glanced around at the others in the sweat lodge. There were six people not including the Shaman and they were seated in a loose circle around the fire pit. She and Mitch had entered last and were closest to the entrance. It was difficult to see faces in the darkened interior, but knew that she, Mitch and another couple were the only nonnatives. She thought that some of the others were probably students and maybe Navajo, since this Gathering of the Tribes was being held close to the Navajo Nation. I’ll have to call Charley and thank him for telling me about this gathering and for introducing me to his brother.

Cate wiggled her butt making a depression in the dirt and crossed her legs into a half lotus position. She leaned over and whispered into Mitch’s ear. Do you think maybe we’ll have a hallucination and see spirits?

Mitch whispered back. I think we’re going to become dehydrated and drink a lot of water when we come out of here. Tonight, we’ll be up peeing out all the water we drank.

Cate reached over and boxed him lightly on the shoulder. She whispered. You’re taking all the fun and adventure out of our first sweat lodge experience together.

Mitch put his fingers to his lips. Shhhh.

As the shaman was about to begin the ceremony, a man entered and sat beside Cate. She wiggled over to give him room. Then a second man entered about a minute later and sat beside the first one. Again, everyone had to wiggle over to make room for this second man. The shaman seemed to be surprised by the entry of the two men. Welcome, I didn’t expect to have any more visitors.

The first shovel full of hot rocks had been placed in the depression in the middle of the sweat lodge. The heat was beginning to penetrate to all areas in the enclosure. The shaman began by chanting a short prayer in Navajo then in English. He picked up a bowl of herbs steeped in water. He held it up and said a few words in the Navajo language then dipped his hand in the bowl and shook water over the hot rocks in the center of the sweat lodge. As the steam rose he began his ceremony. He chanted as he sprinkled more water over the rocks then leaned back, and resumed the prayer.

The sweat lodge was situated a short distance from the main gathering. A pathway led through a wooded area to the small clearing. The lodge had been built a few days before by volunteer