The Raven Faction by Sam Montana

Author:Sam Montana [Garrity, DJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sam Montana
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Fourteen

Black Hills

A covered, wooden walkway runs along the back of the administration building at Mount Rushmore. The walkway overlooks a grove of Ponderosa pine, which provides a hundred-yard buffer between the administration building and Highway 244 winding past the memorial. The pine grove is also Dan Walker’s favorite route into the Black Elk Wilderness.

The rear exit of his office leads onto the walkway, which allows Dan to leave his inner sanctum without running the gauntlet of staff and tourists waiting beyond the front door. His secretary, Elizabeth, knows when the office door closes each afternoon that Dan is wholly unavailable until it returns to an invitingly open position, signalling his willingness to once again entertain the various factions vying for his attention.

The public relations aspect of his position devours much of his daily schedule, but Dan is fortunately well suited to the task and seizes every opportunity to spread his message of inclusion and further his agenda of Native American advancement through education. Being both charismatic and articulate allows his passive aggressive stance to gain a wide audience within both regional and national news outlets. A circumstance that leads to an equal number of admirers and detractors, whom Dan holds in equal esteem. His ability to listen and absorb various points of view is one of his greatest assets and allows for an engaging conversationalist and distinctly formidable opponent.

The mid-afternoon outings began shortly after he arrived at Mount Rushmore and are essentially a stroll punctuated by extended periods of sitting with as little outside interference into his thought process, as can be achieved. His ability to be at peace within the landscape and to derive a sense of renewal by simply walking through the forest is something Dan considers a gift, which demands the same degree of respect, as any other element in his life.

The walkabouts often culminate upon a granite outcropping with his back to the stone, eyes shut listening to the sound of the wind coming off the plains or a mule deer moving nervously downwind, and at such moments there is neither past nor future and the present lay stilled within the company of one.

Moments such as these became increasingly difficult to attain following the intrusion of the FBI into every aspect of his life, and if there was one constant Dan had observed in his ongoing passage through the world according to the white man was that change never happened in a void, and that a sudden lack of interest in his daily excursion by the agents assigned to him was cause for concern.

‘Hey.’ Kris picked up on the first ring.

‘Can we speak freely?’

‘I believe so.’ She answered.

‘Is there a reason the security detail has lost interest in my whereabouts?’

‘Yeah. O’Malley mentioned the incident with the drone.’

‘It didn’t actually rise to the level of incident, although there is potential, if they insist on invading my privacy.’ Dan interjected.

‘O’Malley has instructed the security team to back off when you move about in the afternoons.’

‘I see.’

‘He says it’s the best he can do, and I believe him.

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