The Urn Carrier (11 page)

“Geography.”

“Yeah, that.”

“See what I mean?”
Cheryl mouths as Dean’s head rolls all around under her expert
massaging hands.
Wanna swap?”
She nods over at Murphy.

Tessa looks down, trying hard not to laugh, shaking her head no.

“Ask her what she does,” Dean says to Tessa. Suddenly he’s awake
and his eyes are open and he’s very animated.

“Dean. We’re not supposed to mention that.”

Dean leaps up and hands Tessa a lighter. “Go ahead. Read it.”

The lighter has a photo of a much more made up version of Cheryl
on it, thick black eyelashes, model’s make up and poofy hair, and a huge bust.

“Voluptuous Vanna eighty-eight inches of Double D’s!”

Cheryl shakes her head.

“He’s so not supposed to do that.”

“Wow. So they pay you to . . .”

“Dance. I charge them airplane flights and drive. Make bank. Tell
you I’m socking it away.”

“She’s my sugar mama,” Dean says proudly.

“Yes, well, Sugar Mama doesn’t like it when you do that.”

Dean frowns. “I’m just proud of you.”

“Ya wanna see ’em?” Cheryl asks, and before Tessa can release a
sound, Cheryl lifts up her loose-fitting sweatshirt, and there in God’s glory
are eighty-eight inches of Double D’s staring at her.

Tessa automatically closes her eyes.

Dean is laughing so hard he’s rolling on his side.

“Uhm, not that they’re not great. They’re . . .”

“Huge!” Dean laughs.

“Did you smoke some pot when you got the wood?” Cheryl asks him.

“Maybe a little.”

“Goof. They are huge. And as soon as I’m done with this kind of
thing, they’re getting downsized big time.”

“That’s gotta hurt your back.”

“It does and I’m tired of not being able to sleep on my stomach.
It’s the little things you miss the most. Yours are perfect, by the way.”
Cheryl smiles.

“I couldn’t do what you do.”

“I saw you painting at your camp site. Now that’s something I’d
love to be able to do. Would you show me some of your work tomorrow? We have to
shove off for Texas, but we’re not leaving till noon.”

Dean has fallen asleep on top of Cheryl’s feet. Murphy rests
against Tessa’s leg; the picture is not lost on either of them.

“Sure,” Tessa agrees, sharing a smile with Cheryl.

THE NEXT MORNING, she receives a text from
her mom.

Sorry about last night. We will try for tonight.

The tone of the whole message is off. The wording is unlike her
mother and Tessa begins worrying that Uncle Chuck might be switching gears.
Since Forsythe somehow got him to back off, maybe Uncle Chuck is harassing her
mother. He might even go after Dina. Josh, she is sure, can pretty much kick
Uncle Chuck’s butt.

She’s debating whether to call Dina, or maybe even Paul, when
Cheryl walks over.

“Hey, kiddo, we’re just about ready to blow this pop stand. I’ve
got Dean ironing my clothes and hanging them up.”

“I dunno, Cheryl. Seems like you have the whole package with Dean.
Be hard to give that up.”

“Yes, the houseboy aspect is sort of appealing, but it’s difficult
maintaining a stimulating conversation. The only thing geology and geography
have in common are the G and the Y, throw a U in there and you’ve got My Guy.”

“There’s the whole geo thing.”

They smile.

“Let’s see your art.”

Tessa’s not as timid to show her paintings as she is to share
details about herself. Somehow Cheryl sees Tessa through the pictures.

“Oh, wow. This one of the guy and his plane just jumps out. His
eyes and smile really pop. You captured his soul.”

“That’s my Uncle Mark.”

“Has he seen this yet?”

“No. I took a picture of him and then painted this in Texas.”

“It’s beautiful. Did you do the horse on the side of your truck
also?”

Tessa nods.

“You have talent, sweetie. The big rig guys would pay you good
money to paint emblems and decals on their trucks. You could do motorcycle
tanks. The sides of airplanes. Would you . . . would you take a picture of me?”

Cheryl looks at her so intently, Tessa agrees.

They set up in an empty campsite, Cheryl sitting on top of a
picnic table with Elephant Butte behind her. Tessa carefully focuses on what
Cheryl wants most: Her eyes.

They exchange numbers and just like that, Tessa has made another
road friend.

Chapter 14

TESSA MAKES CAMP at City of Rocks State Park, following Cheryl’s
advice. It’s about seventy miles to the south of the Cliff Dwellings so Tessa
plans on making a day of heading up the twisty road to Gila. Cheryl also warned
her dogs aren’t allowed, so Tessa grabs the service pack. It would be a long,
hot day for Murphy to stay at camp.

The City of Rocks campsites are primitive, but beautiful.

The day before, when she had pulled in, she drove the entire
circle, trying to find a flat site on the west side, so she could watch the
sunset. No one was around, or so it seemed. She found one north of the windmill
used to supply energy to the well providing fresh water for campers.

Just as she levels the trailer, she hears voices and laughter
above her.

A few heads stick up, and some kids her age wave.

“Don’t use the trash bin,” they call out as they laugh and take
off.

She’s forgotten about it till this morning.

There, in the bottom of the garbage bin, is a paper plate with the
remains of about twenty self-rolled, cigarette butts.

She removes the paper plate. She sticks her garbage bag in and
takes the plate back to her campsite.

She unrolls the golden tobacco and sniffs it. Bits of pot are
mixed in. Dina would love this. She smiles and cleans the tobacco. She sifts
the pot out of the twenty or so butts and comes up with enough for one nicely
rolled joint. She doesn’t smoke, but she saves it for her meeting with Dina in
California, before they are even close to crossing the US-Canadian border.

On the top of the rocks she leaves a big thank you note and a
sketch of the sunset the night before.

THE DRIVE TO the Gila Cliff dwellings goes up and up and up
through mountain pines and a long adventurous road. The truck seems to love
being free of the camper and roars up the road like an un-tethered horse.

Murphy’s pack actually has a dual purpose: it carries their water
and his treats. Tessa has her own pack for extra water and food. She leashes
Murphy in the shade as she begins exploring the caves. They’ve developed a
ritual on their hikes and he seems to know the difference between a run and an
exploring adventure. Where there’s a chance of crowds, they stay close. If it’s
just a few people, Tessa leashes him in a shady spot and is not gone for very
long or very far.

She leaves him with water and enters the area to the Gila Cliffs
dwellings.

Once she is above and can see through the arch openings, she looks
out over the vista and sees Murphy lying down and gazing up at her. She waves
and he wags his tail. The huge dome arches are magnificent, and the series of
kivas connected by walkways thrill her.

She walks up some wooden steps and places her hand on a large
smooth boulder and stops. The energy of generations of people putting their
hands on this same boulder and moving on into the kiva jumps up through her
palm and into her arm and shoulder. She looks down her arm and is instantly
connected to the people who lived here a very long time ago and mysteriously
vanished after taking the time to build these cathedral-like dwellings.

“It’s a long way to go for water,” says an older woman behind her.
She’s stocky and strongly built, her dark hair just beginning to grey, and her
dark eyes smile. She indicates the river far below.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hold up the line.”

A slimmer woman behind the stocky woman smiles and waves
good-naturedly. “No worries. Enjoy the moment. I will.”

The woman with the intense blue eyes and slightly auburn hair is
aware of Tessa’s hand on that rock. They’re both wearing “Life is good”
T-shirts, only the older woman’s T sleeves are cut off, so it’s more like a
tank. Her arms look strong, like they are used to physical labor.

“Awesome boulder, eh?” She pats it with affection.

“Are you from Michigan?”

“Yes I am. How could you tell?”

“The eh?”

The woman chuckles. “You too?”

Tessa nods.

“That your dog out there?”

“Yes.”

“Handsome and well behaved. Wish we could have brought ours, but
sometimes the parks are funny that way.”

“Yes, he’s a big help to me.”

Tessa climbs inside the kiva to make room for the women.

The older woman closes her eyes and replicates Tessa’s posture
with the rock. “Imagine all the generations who have ever touched this rock
both present and beyond. I’ve waited far too long to feel this again.”

The older woman opens her eyes and breathes a deep sigh, making
room for the younger woman behind her. The woman with the auburn hair takes her
time as Tessa and the older woman climb around and investigate further into the
caves.

“We just came from the Chiricahua Mountains. Before that, Sedona,
Grand Canyon, and Zion.”

“I’m supposed to go to the Grand Canyon and Zion.”

“Supposed to?”

“I’m spreading ashes,” Tessa whispers.

She’s unsure why she trusts this woman, but she does. It’s obvious
the two women are a couple, because when the other woman joins them, she grabs
her hand and kisses her.

“This is just the way you described it. Awesome.”

The dark woman breaks into a wide smile in response.

“I’m Alex and this is Ruth,” the older woman says.

“Tessa . . . and Murphy.”

“Nice to meet you. Which direction did you arrive from?”

“South. I’m camping at City of Rocks.”

“Just where we are headed. I was there long ago. Is it still
primitive? No electricity?”

“Just water.”

“Is it over run with folks?”

“No, surprisingly not.”

“Maybe we’ll see you later.”

“That would be great.”

AT THE GILA River, just after she’s snapped a picture of the ashes
for Dan Forsythe, Tessa stumbles over a pinyon pine cone. She picks it up and
peruses its shape. The seeds inside. The heft of it.

She smiles and puts the pine cone in her pack. And then looks
around again.

This is the picture. This is the place in the journal, Tessa is
sure of it. A forked pinyon pine, looking exactly like the one in the picture.
The flat rock just to the right of it. This is where Percy and Sadie made love,
under a pine tree, along this river. Anyone could have stumbled upon them. The
park literature clearly states the Gila Cliff dwellings became a national
monument in 1907. Sadie and Percy arrived in 1954.

“Wow. You two are much more daring than I’d ever be.”

She smells her hands with the scent of the pine cone still on
them. Murphy laps from the river, waiting for her. Tessa crouches, and he comes
over to her.

“If there really is no such thing as time, maybe Aunt Sadie and
Uncle Percy are here. Maybe the Pueblans are still here. Whaddya think,
Murphy?”

Tessa refuses to refer to the inhabitants of this region by the
Spanish name the park uses, Mogollan. The Pueblans were here before any Spanish
Governor arrived.

Murphy wags his long black, flag-like tail, grinning.

“Yeah. I know. I can’t quite wrap my head around the whole quantum
physics thing either. If our lives are just little worm lines in a bigger
reality that we can’t see, then everybody is supposed to be existing at once.”

Tessa closes her eyes. Everything seems still. For the briefest
moment she sees Aunt Sadie and Uncle Percy in their young bodies, full of love
and sweetness.

She sighs deeply.

Her phone rings and it’s her Mom FaceTiming her.

Even though her mom’s eyes are dark, she is grinning from ear to
ear.

“Tessa! Fantastic news. Eli is going to be home by the time you
return. Mr. Forsythe’s friend successfully argued for early release. I’m sorry
I wasn’t available, but I went to the hearings and I didn’t want to call before
I knew for sure.”

“I’m just relieved everything is okay. Uncle Chuck is being okay?”

“Oh, he’s not happy at all, but Mr. Forsythe has something over on
him, that’s for sure.”

“Mom, you won’t believe this.”

Tessa flips the optics on the phone.

“Aunt Sadie and Uncle Percy were at this exact same spot. I have
an old black-and-white photo of them here.”

She spares her mom the other details.

“Isn’t that awesome?”

“I’m so proud of you, darling. Are you sure you’re safe?”

“It’s been so cool meeting new people. Everyone has been really
kind. I think I’ve made some new friends.”

“That’s beautiful, darling.” Her mom yawns. “I’m sorry, it’s been
a complicated and chaotic couple of days, but I promise to speak with you again
soon, okay, sweetie?”

“You bet, Mom. I love you.”

“Love you. Love you, Murphy.”

Murphy, sitting right next to Tessa, wags his tail. Tessa takes
his paw and waves bye to her mom.

She drives into the City of Rocks campground and sees Ruth and
Alex strolling hand in hand. A black dog with white on his chest and a funny
shade of a smile on his face is walking next to them. They wave to her, and she
stops.

“Hungry?” Alex asks.

“Famished.”

“Judging from the color of your truck, I believe we camped two
sites south of you. How ’bout coming over in a half hour? We’ll catch the
sunset together.”

“Thanks. What can I bring?”

“Do you have any fruit?”

“Yes.”

“Awesome, it’s a date.”

Before walking to dinner, Tessa pulls out the journal with the
pinyon pine in the background. She hadn’t seen the edge of the water, but there
it is
.
Her aunt had written:

Some years the
Gila will dry up completely, like when the German Prisoners of War tried to
escape in 1944. Their plan was perfect. They even had made and tested a
collapsible kayak right under their captor’s noses, but the Gila River in
Arizona, when they arrived, was just a dried up rut that year. They were all
eventually caught.

This year the
river is resounding and beautiful as Percy and I nap.

Tessa’s imprint of the picture in her mind’s eye had been spot on,
save for the river. If she hadn’t stumbled on the pine cone she never would
have known. She never would have looked back and seen that specific sight. For
a moment, she’s slipped into Sadie’s heart and soul as easily as slipping
someone else’s shirt over her head and fitting it against the skin of her body.

Does she dare hope this is the kind of love she shares with Dina?
Do they?