Page 16 of Roughstock
For the next hour or so, she and I sat in the kitchen, catching up and making general girl-talk. Jackie yawned, and I knew it was getting late.
“I’m going to crawl into bed,” she said and stood from her seat.
I watched as she walked out of the room, throwing her hand up as her goodbye before hearing her footsteps up the stairs. She and I always shared a bed, so I would have to getchanged in the bathroom before going to sleep. I wasn’t used to going to bed so early, so I let myself out the back door and took a seat on the steps so I could call Trent.
The phone rang three times before he answered. The sounds of the clubhouse came through the phone, and I pulled it away from my ear as I heard Trent say, “Hang on, darlin’. I’m going to my office.”
The sound of music, beer bottles, laughter, and the normal raucousness of the clubhouse was clear as I heard him move through the crowd. A few times, I heard someone say something to him, and he replied he’d be back in a minute. Whenever I traveled up here, he was always available to talk when I called.
It was just another thing I loved about him.
The loud noises in the background faded when I heard him close the door to his office. “Hey, beautiful. Are you having a good visit?”
“It’s been good. Jackie is spending the night, so we had dinner and visited for a few hours.”
“When’s your crazy cousin coming for a visit?”
I chuckled, knowing Trent loved Jackie like a sister. “Probably closer to the first of the year. She mentioned wanting to ring in the New Year with the Bastards.”
“We’ll have to have another talk with the brothers before she comes. Between New Years, alcohol, and her attraction to a few of them, I worry she’s gonna get her heart broken,” Trent admitted, and I smiled.
“I think it’s the brothers you should worry about. Jackie can take care of herself,” I reminded him, and it was his turn to chuckle.
“I’m going to stop by Quincey’s on my way home tomorrow and speak with the owner. Granny spoke to him, and he said to come by so we could talk.”
“I wish you would leave this to me,” Trent started before rushing to add, “but I also know how things are up there and I appreciate you being willing to try. Just . . . don’t get into something that causes trouble.”
I knew what he meant without him saying. There was enough animosity toward me from members of the tribe, so if they thought I was trying to get information that could cause problems for one of them on behalf of someone they considered an outsider, it could cause issues not only for me but possibly my family as well.
The past pain the tribe experienced had made them untrusting of outsiders, and I would have to tread carefully.
“I’ll be delicate when I speak with him,” I offered.
We spoke for another few minutes until one of the brothers knocked on his office door. He covered the phone while he spoke with whoever it was, and when he returned, he said, “I’ve got to go. Call me before you get on the road.”
It wasn’t a request but a demand, and the only time I’d let him dictate anything to me. Roughstock may have been the President of the Royal Bastards in Rapid City, but nowhere besides the bedroom was he my boss.
“I will. Love you,” I replied.
“Love you, my beautiful wildcat.”
The phone went silent, and I pressed the power button, casting myself in darkness. This part of the country wasn’t like the rest. The isolation and distance between homes, farms, andcities meant when it got dark, it got really dark. And at that moment, I wanted the darkness.
Sitting on the steps, listening to the wind blow as the weather got closer, I allowed the sheer blackness of the night to envelop me.
When I started to feel the chill in my bones, I stood and walked back inside. I secured the downstairs and quietly climbed the stairs, not wanting to wake anyone. The light in Granny’s room was off as I slipped into the bathroom to put on my pajamas. I turned the light off in the bathroom and opened the connecting door to the room Jackie and I always shared.
She was curled away from the door, facing the wall, so I placed my bag onto the chair in the corner and carefully climbed into bed behind her. Jackie snorted in her sleep as she shifted to get more comfortable.
I lay staring at the ceiling for longer than I wanted to. There was so much running through my brain, and I wished for a moment of clarity.
It didn’t happen, so I tried to level out my breathing, hoping to lull myself into slumber. Before I knew it, the sandman guided me into his nighttime world of rest. But it wasn’t restful or refreshing as image after image bombarded me. None of them made sense, and when I woke the next morning, I felt like I was still floating in the dream that had plagued me all night.
Legend said that our spirit animal would guide us through dreams, helping us to understand the world, what it needed from us, and how we could connect with the pulse of Mother Nature.
I never thought I believed it, but when I went downstairs and made myself a cup of coffee, I felt like someone orsomething was watching me. When I stepped to the back door, I dropped my cup, sending the hot liquid onto the floor.
Outside, perched on the railing of the porch, was a black eagle. It was looking right at me, and for the first time, I truly felt like my ancestors were trying to guide me. Like maybe the beautiful bird was my mother’s spirit, leading me to the answers we needed.
