Shadow of Time - Book 1: (Paranormal Romance) (18 page)

Josh nodded enthusiastically. Hannah listened to him talking about his plans to get a degree and start a school in Kayenta. He wanted to make sure more young people would rediscover their roots and say no to gangs and drug abuse.

“Are drugs such a problem on the rez?” Amber asked, sounding a bit shocked.

“
Yeah, especially meth,” Josh said grimly. “Methamphetamine. Cheap as dirt and just as widespread. One of my cousins from Chinle got addicted to the stuff a few years back. She’s cured now, but she was still psychotic for a full year after quitting meth.”

“How did she manage to stay
off drugs?”

“I helped her.”

“Really? I didn’t know,” Ben piped up in a surprised voice.

Everyone
was silent, looking at Josh expectantly. “Yeah, I organized a two-day ceremony for her,” he mumbled. “A
hataalii
eradicates the evil from someone’s body by using sandpaintings, sacred chanting, and a prayer circle of friends praying for the patient.”

“Did Sani help you?” Emily inquired.

“Yes, although he didn’t join me when I went to Chinle. He instructed me how to go about things, and he made me a
jish
to use during the ritual. That’s a
hataalii
medicine bundle,” he explained to the others.

The conversation buzzed on for a while, but Hannah couldn’t focus anymore. She’d shared a look of surprise with Ben when Josh told them about the r
itual he’d done for his cousin. The fact Ben had never even heard the story before, was telling enough – once again, it was clear there were big parts of his life Josh didn’t want to share with anyone except Sani. It all came back to the old man in Naabi’aani who obviously had such a big influence on Josh. She’d only seen him from a distance, that day at the rodeo, but she hadn’t forgotten that Sani had ruined her chance to dance with Josh that day because he’d suddenly needed his assistance. Of course, it was ridiculous to be jealous of some old medicine dude, but still – that old medicine dude knew more about Josh than she did.

“
I’m going home,” Josh announced when it turned dark. The moon graced the night sky, almost full.

“Y
ou want to take the tent and the ground sheet with you?” Ben asked.

“
Uhm – on my motorcycle? You’re full of good ideas.”

Ben laughed. “Oh yeah, I forgot.”

“I’ll take them with me in the Mustang. I’m dropping by tomorrow.”

“I bet you will. Can’t stay away from my sister, can you?”

Josh thumped Ben on the back with a huge grin, said goodbye to the others and then slid his hand into Hannah’s. She got up and followed him down the steps, beaming with a sort of pride because everybody saw them holding hands.

They sauntered
toward the motorbike, and Hannah leaned against the rear wheel. “Look, the moon is almost full,” she said, looking up.

Josh followed her gaze and smiled. His arms circled her waist and he pulled her against his body, stroking her back, trailing his fingers down along her spine.
Her heart raced as Josh gently rubbed his nose against hers.

“That
moon is beautiful, but you ... ” He watched her from up close, his eyes riveted on her face. “You’re even more radiant. You make the sunlight stick to your skin, caress your face, play with your hair, kiss your mouth.” His fingers acted out what his voice was telling her, and when his mouth landed on hers, Hannah groaned softly. Her heart was beating so fast she was sure it would spin out of control. Josh made her feel beautiful like never before. Only he could pull off telling her stuff like that without sounding sappy.

Josh let out a sigh, then let go with a look of regret on
his face. He gave her a last peck on the lips and started up his motorbike.

Hannah watched the red tail
lights recede in the distance when he drove away. For a split second, they reminded her of the glowing, red eyes of skinwalkers. It made her shiver. In that moment, the full moon looked ominous, associated as of old with people magically transforming into animals.

No, she had to stop thinking dark thoughts
. The nightmares had stopped bothering her, now that she was wearing the medicine bundle. The dreams and the curse were bound to stop altogether the minute she went back to Las Cruces at the end of summer break. She didn’t care anymore what had brought on the curse – she just wanted to be happy and enjoy the love running through her veins like liquid sunlight.

13.

“
I’m happy things worked out between you and Josh,” Nick said. They were sitting in his uncle’s garden enjoying a late breakfast and a pot of tea. “You should have seen him during our trek. Whenever Ben or I mentioned your name, his face lit up like a light bulb.”

Hannah smiled,
sitting back in her chair as she finished her cup of tea.

“So
, any more strange visions?” Nick then asked curiously. “You strike me as a lot calmer than last week. Is it because of Josh and his good influence on you?”

Hannah instinctively reached for her medicine
pouch. It was tied around her waist, hidden under her pants. It was a hot day today and she was only wearing a tank top, so she couldn’t hide the
jish
anywhere else. She hadn’t really talked to Nick since last week. Funny how her anxious feelings seemed more like a bad dream to her now.

“They don’t both
er me anymore,” she quickly replied. “Ever since Josh helped me make a dreamcatcher, they’re gone.”

The dreamcatcher had been above her bed since Friday night. She hadn’t seen the skinwalkers in her dreams
anymore, nor had she experienced any more flashes from the past – unfortunately. By now, she was dying to know what was true of Amber’s theory about past-life experiences. She’d spent a lot of time together with Ben and Josh in the past few days, and she’d caught herself staring at Josh trying to recall his older face from her dream. Would he really look like that when he grew older? It wasn’t entirely implausible.

“Great
!” Nick said. “Go, old traditions. Dreamcatchers should be standard fare for therapists and psychologists.”

Hannah smiled and got up. “I’m
going to hang out at the lakeside. Want to join me?”

Nick shook his head and pointed at the piles of notes and books
gathered on the table with a grimace. “It’s not a question of wanting. Duty calls.”

“I’ll catch you later then.” She hugged him
as they said goodbye at the front door. “If you have any questions, you know where to find the Diné experts.”

Whistling to herself, Hannah got into the Datsun and drove down to the lake. She decided to sit at the exact same patch of beach she’d sat before. It was a scary idea to
go back to the place where she had her first encounter with the skinwalkers, but that was exactly why she wanted to do it. Facing her fears was the best way to overcome them.

Hannah parked her car and grabbed her bag
from the passenger’s seat, clutching the pile of magazines she’d bought in Page this morning in her other hand. After climbing the hill that separated the lakeside from the road, she made her way to the same rock that had been her picnic spot last week.

Contrary to last time, there were other tourists
on the beach. She could make out a family with a picnic cooler and a brightly-colored beach umbrella in the distance. Hannah let out a relieved sigh. Facing her fears was all very well and good, but the presence of other people definitely made her feel safer.

She’d
just finished reading the first article in her New Scientist magazine when a blue, plastic ball came out of nowhere and flopped down onto the sand in front of her feet. Looking up, Hannah saw a girl of about eight years old running toward her from the other side of the beach. Smiling, she picked up the ball and waited for the little girl to reach her. Two other girls, slightly younger, were running after their sister. At least she assumed they were sisters, because the three girls looked very much alike.

Hannah cast a glance aside to the family with the picnic cooler – two boys were playing beachball with their dad. They sure had a lot of kids.

The oldest girl now stopped in front of her. “Hello, miss,” she said politely. “I’m sorry we almost hit you. Can we have our ball back?”

Hannah held it up to her. “Of course you
... ” she started out, and then stopped breathing as the hair on her arms stood straight up. She stared at the child in front of her incredulously. The girl had a strange eye color – yellow-brown. Her sisters, appearing on either side of her, gazed back at her with the same disconcertingly wolfish eyes.

What
was happening? Who
were
these kids?

The girl aged about six standing on the left giggled
, and her sisters did the same, their eyes all watching Hannah’s face with unsettling intensity, staring straight past her outstretched hand holding the ball.

A cold hand closed around her heart. They were
not
children. She could sense it – she could tell, from every move they made, from the mocking smile present on each of their faces.

“Thank you,” the oldest girl in the middle said,
her hand touching Hannah’s fingers as she took the ball from her. Hannah closed her eyes, breaking into a sweat. The light touch sent a horrible shiver through her body. That kid better stay away from her. If the girl
dared
touch her again...

She balled one hand into a fist, then stopped, her heart lodged in her throat. What the
hell was she about to do?

“Come on, let’s go,”
one of the younger girls said, turning around. She darted away, laughing at the top of her voice, and her sisters followed suit. Their laughter sounded challenging, ominous, provoking, as they ran in the direction of the family with the picnic cooler.

Hannah’s
stomach churned as she got up, her legs trembling. She wasn’t going to stick around to find out whether those girls belonged to the Happy Beach Parasol family or not. She had to get off this beach, right
now
.

With shaking hands, she stuffed the magazines into her bag and ran up the hill to get to her car.
Still shivering, she crawled behind the wheel and slammed the door shut with an angry thud, blindly staring at her hands clasped together in her lap.

S
omething had been wrong with the three girls. The looks they’d given her, the way they’d talked to her and mockingly laughed at her – it couldn’t be a coincidence. Or could it? Oh my God. She’d almost hit one of them. Used violence to scare away kids. Little girls. What would the parents have done if they’d seen that? If those people with the umbrella had even
been
their mom and dad.

Defeatedly, Hannah rested her head on the steering wheel and started to cry. When would this nightmare end? Emily’s medicine bag
may not be enough after all. Or maybe she was just really going nuts, seeing things and being spooked for no reason.

When
Hannah got home, she found the log cabin empty. No one was there for a bit of mindless chit-chat to take her mind off things. Hannah read Ben’s sticky note on the fridge, telling her he’d decided to drive to Page for some shopping.

Fortunately, she’
d meet up with Josh today. He was picking her up this afternoon to visit Antelope Canyon.

The sound of his Ford Mustang surprised her
as she was busy making toast with jam in the kitchen. A wide smile appeared on her face. He was early. Apparently, he couldn’t wait to see her either.

With butterflies flitting around in her stomach, Hannah walked out the door to welcome him. Josh
was just strolling up the lawn in dark blue jeans and a slim-fit brown shirt, wearing the same sunglasses he’d worn on the day they had bumped into each other at the gas station. He had a black Stetson on his head and brown cowboy boots on his feet. He looked absolutely stunning. She hoped she wasn’t drooling by the time he walked up the steps to the porch to lock her in a warm embrace. Hannah put her head on his shoulder. This was just what she needed after that strange morning on the beach.

“Hey, honey,” she whispered.

“Hi,
she’at’eed
.” He called her his girlfriend in his own language now. It still made her blush.

Josh smiled when he caught her red cheeks, running his hands lightly
down her back, caressing the exposed skin just above her tailbone. Hannah snaked her arms around his waist and snuggled up against him. His fingers were warm on her skin, his lips even warmer on her mouth when he kissed her. She responded and kissed him back eagerly, feeling all warm inside when he carefully touched her cheek, almost seeming afraid to disturb the crackling tension between them. She kissed him, and kissed him, and had lost all track of time when Josh finally released her and took a step back. His eyes were close, love and desire evident in his dark irises.

“I feel so safe when
I’m with you,” she whispered.

“When I’m with you, I forget everything around me,” he spoke softly. “It’s l
ike time stands still, and I can step out of its shadow.”

Hannah fell silent, lost for words.
The way Josh opened up to her touched her heart in so many ways, even though his remarks were cryptic at best. “I’m uh – going to change into something more suitable, okay?” she stuttered, trying to regain her composure. “So I won’t burn alive during our trip.”

Josh blew out a breath. “You do that,” he replied, his eyes sweeping over her bare shoulders and plunging neckline. “Make sure you cover your shoulders or you’ll look like a lobster.”

Hannah quickly disappeared into her bedroom and pulled a generic white T-shirt from her closet. It would reflect the sunlight and it was big enough to hide her medicine pouch under when she wore it around her neck. She preferred feeling it close to her heart. Maybe that’s why she’d gotten scared again at the beach – the medicine bundle hadn’t been at its usual spot between her breasts. And the last thing she needed this afternoon was being plagued by irrational fears or visions when she would venture out with Josh alone for the first time. Just the two of them.

Her stomach clenched. She hadn’t been truly alone with him since their first kiss. All the time, she
’d hung around with him and Ben. Or him, Ben and everyone else. The thought of going out with just
him
actually made her sort of nervous. Which was stupid – Antelope Canyon wasn’t exactly deserted at this time of day. They’d probably trip over tourists wherever they went.

Josh took her hand when she stepped outside. “So, shall we?” he mumbled.

She nodded and swallowed down the lump in her throat.

Hannah
tried to relax in the Mustang’s passenger seat, turning her face to the bright skies above. It looked like it was going to be a fantastic day with lots of sun. Which was good, because Antelope Canyon would look stunning with the bright sunlight slanting into the famous, narrow slot canyon, lighting up its red sandstone walls. A river used to run through it, gradually paving a way into the rocks until it had turned into the canyon it was today, but the water had dried up a long time ago. The Diné saw Antelope Canyon as a sacred place, although much of its sanctity had disappeared with the advent of hordes of tourists eager to see the natural wonder.

“I
bet it’ll be busy today,” Hannah said.

Josh sighed. “Yeah. I still don’t get why my people decided to open the canyon for everyone to see. We kept the location a secret for years.”

“The root of all evil?” she ventured.

He twisted his face. “Yeah. Money makes the world go round, right?”

She chuckled. “Speaking of which, don’t I need to pay you? You know, for being my tour guide today?”

“I’ll think about it.” Josh gave her a mischievous wink.

Hannah bit back a nervous giggle. She couldn’t help letting her imagination get the better of her. By the time Josh parked the Mustang on the sands close to the slot canyon, she wished the droves of tourists would magically disappear from the famous gorge so she could stroll – or fool – around with Josh without any inquisitive eyes around.

“We’ll have to walk the last bit,” he said, sticking a reservation permit in the
left corner of his windshield and stuffing the tickets he’d bought in LeChee in his back pocket.

“Is someone
going to check those tickets?” Hannah thought aloud.

Josh sniggered, slinging
an arm around her shoulder. “Hey, don’t be a cheapskate! We’re not going to sneak our way in. It’s bad enough we’re not hiring a professional, official guide for this visit.”