Page 56 of Close Behind
Kari nodded reluctantly, remembering the unnatural way the flames had moved, the peculiar density that had seemed to gather in the space before her shots had ended Silver's ceremony.
"I cannot tell you whether the Shadow Walker exists as David Silver imagined it," Ruth said."But boundaries exist—between life and death, between health and sickness, between this world and others.Traditional knowledge recognizes these boundaries and teaches respect for them, not exploitation."
"Do you believe what the doctors say?"Kari asked."That it was all mental illness?"
David Silver was now in a psychiatric hospital, suffering from what doctors called 'paranoid schizophrenia with delusional features,' possibly inherited from his father.
"Perhaps," Ruth said, though her tone suggested she wasn't entirely convinced.Kari waited for Ruth to continue, but she didn't.They sat in thoughtful silence for a moment, watching the last light fade from the western sky.Stars appeared overhead, ancient constellations that had witnessed countless human dramas played out beneath their distant light.
"There's something else you should know," Ruth said finally."Something about our family—the Chee women."
Kari waited, sensing the importance of what would follow.
"The knowledge I carry—the medicines I prepare, the ceremonies I perform—these aren't about power as Silver understood it.True healing comes not from taking but from protection, from preservation of life."Ruth's eyes held Kari's with unusual intensity."This understanding runs through our bloodline.Your mother had it.You have it too, though you've only begun to recognize it."
Kari listened, unsure what to think.
"You see what others overlook," Ruth continued."It's why you were drawn back to the reservation when your mother died.Why you were meant to solve these cases, even one your grandfather couldn't complete."
This suggestion, that some larger purpose had guided her return, was a direct challenge to Kari's practical nature.Yet after everything she'd witnessed, she couldn't dismiss it entirely.
"You think all this—my coming back, solving these murders—was somehow predetermined?"
"I think we're rarely shown the whole path," Ruth said."Only enough to take the next step."
Kari looked out across the darkening landscape, considering the implication."Do you think this connection might help me finally discover the truth about Mom's death?"
Ruth was silent for a long moment, her expression unreadable in the gathering twilight.Finally, she nodded slowly.
"Some doors are opening that have long been closed," she said.
"You think someone killed Mom because of what she was investigating?"
"I think Anna found something others wanted kept hidden," Ruth said carefully.She picked up her tea, steam rising between them."The Shadow Walker case is closed, but Anna's story remains unfinished."
"Then we'll finish it," Kari said with quiet determination."Together."
Ruth smiled—a rare, full smile that transformed her weathered face."Together," she agreed."But not tonight."She gestured toward the horizon, where the last purple light was fading."Tonight we honor the completion of one journey before beginning another."
They sat in companionable silence as darkness settled fully across the reservation.The desert night vibrated with ancient rhythms—distant coyote calls, the whisper of wind through juniper, the occasional flutter of nighthawks hunting in the starlight.
For the first time since returning to the reservation, Kari felt truly at home—not caught between worlds but belonging to both, carrying forward a legacy that stretched backward through her mother and Ruth to ancestors whose names had been lost to time but whose knowledge remained alive in their descendants.
Whatever truths awaited discovery about her mother's death, whatever doors remained to be opened, Kari would face them—but not alone.
Some journeys ended.Others began.The path continued, winding like an ancient petroglyph across the landscape of memory and mystery, illuminated by stars that had witnessed it all.