Billy Moon: A Navajo Nation Mystery by Chappell R. Allen

Author:Chappell, R. Allen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-10-22T00:00:00+00:00

11

The Grind

Harley Ponyboy and Thomas Begay were leaning on the rails of the Yazzie’s corral. The top rail was a stretch for Harley, but Thomas seemed to find it comfortable enough. After pitching a few forkfuls of hay over the fence, the two laughed as the mare turned her rear to Charlie’s gelding and kicked at him, pushing him off the feed. The two men talked back and forth, arguing the merits of the two horses while keeping an eye out for the investigator. Charlie was due home from work any time and the pair had it timed about right—they didn’t have long to wait. Spotting the man pull up to the mailboxes at the end of the lane, Harley nudged the tall Navajo in the ribs and pointed his chin in that direction. “There he is… Right on time.”

“Yep, dependable old’ Charlie, you can always count on the man to be where he’s supposed to be.” The two nodded at each other, agreeing for the first time that day. As the truck drew nearer Thomas peered more closely at the driver. “He doesn’t look all that happy, does he?”

Harley squinted slightly in the glare off the truck’s windshield and chuckled—for the second time that day he was obliged to agree. “He has his rear in the air over something, alright.” The old Diné expression alluded to a skunk whose ire had been raised and was on the fight.

As the truck swerved in beside them the men stood back a little to avoid having their toes run over. The passenger side window was down, and Charlie grimaced, saying, “Now what?

Thomas was grinning. “We already fed your horses just so you’d have a little extra time to chat.”

The investigator frowned at the men. “About what?”

“Oh, this and that…We haven’t seen much of you since that little dust-up down-country. We were just wondering how that big fella in the hospital was doing, that’s all.” Harley was smiling as he said this and didn’t bother to change expression as he waited for a reply.

“Well, your guess is as good as mine—he’s alive, if that’s what you mean—but other than that I don’t know a damn bit more than the two of you, and that’s a fact.”

It wasn’t often they heard the man talk in so loose a fashion and found it refreshing. Thomas smirked and looked away. Harley, undaunted, laughed outright and said, “I think Sue is looking to talk to you, too. I see her peeking out the kitchen curtains every now and then.”

Charlie glanced up at the house and drew his brows together in a tightknit scowl. “I’ll swear, I don’t know how women think. First Billy Moon won’t talk and now Sue has something to say and won’t say it.” He stepped down from the truck and moved alongside them, seeing for himself how much they had fed the two horses. Sue was particular about her mare. He nodded grudgingly and looked the two over. “Neither one of you working today?”

Thomas paused a moment, saying finally, “Not so anyone would notice, we’re not.

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