Bad Medicine Read Online Free Page B

hand and guiding her toward a stack of rough-hewn logs that served for a staircase.
    "Thanks." She followed him up, then freed her hand and ran her fingers along the bark railing circling the porch. Fashioned from willow and twisted into a braid, the wood had been aged by decades in the elements. Oversized chairs weaved from the same willows circled a metal fire pit.
    A tall, straight-backed Native man rose from one of the chairs. Silver streaked black hair flowed over his shoulders and coal black eyes measured the young couple as they approached.
    "Jesse Dancer. You have brought a friend?"
    "This is Martine. She's the Family Response Worker at the Friendship Centre."
    "Welcome." Spirit Water took Martine's hands and studied her face for several moments. She flushed, and he let go of her hands and turned to Jesse.
    "It's been several months. All is well with you?"
    "Yes. Except for the problem that brings me here."
    "Good. You'll sit." He motioned to the chairs.
    "Thanks." Jesse and Martine settled in.
    "Something very bad has happened." Spirit Water studied Jesse's face.
    "The cops found a Native girl raped and murdered in Stanley Park . They think she was killed by one of our brothers."
    "And you do not believe this?"
      "No. My gut tells me the killer is a white man posing as an Indian. I've convinced Mark Hanson to let me explore that theory. He doesn't agree, but he wants to catch the killer before there's another murder so he's willing to consider any possibility."
    "You think there will be more of these killings?"
    "Hanson thinks they're the work of a psychopath. If he's right, then we're dealing with a predator. Once he's tasted blood he won't stop until someone makes him."
    "Are you sure it isn't a brother? You know the drugs have turned a lot of our people into animals."
    "I know, but this girl wasn't just raped and murdered, she was defiled. The killer strangled her and then he spread eagled her and stabbed a medicine card to her breast."
    "Not a Brother then." Spirit Water's eyes flashed. "To rape and kill the girl, this I could believe, but to anger the spirits, no. Even an Indian turned jackal would fear the spirit world."
    Jesse nodded and reached in his pocket. "Here's a copy of the Medicine Card they found with the body."
    Spirit Water studied the picture. "The snake. Someone has angered a powerful spirit."
    "Can you help us?"
    "Wait while I get my case. We'll go up the mountain."
     
    * * *
     
    They climbed high, to an old burial ground where centuries ago Native men and women buried their dead. Abandoned by a new generation the grasses grew tall and brittle, gravestones crumbled into the earth. At the entrance Spirit Water motioned them to stop while he stepped up to the gate. Removing a pipe from his bag, he chanted an ancient language as he lifted the pipe stem to each of the four sacred directions. Then he motioned for Jesse and Martine to join him inside.
    "I have asked the ancestors to gather. We will light our smudge and wait."
    A white mist drifted up from the river below and clouds caught by gusts of wind danced in the clearing. Seated Indian style, facing Spirit Water, Jesse and Martine watched twigs catch fire and curl into smoke.
    Jesse bent to the fire, scooped a handful of smoke and washed it down his arms and legs. He spoke a warning to uninvited spirits. "Unclean ones, leave us now, you are not welcome inside this circle."
    Jesse sat back and Martine reached in to cleanse herself.
    "The Spirits are close." Spirit Water passed the stem of his pipe to Jesse. The medicine man stood and raised his hands. "Thank you Great Spirit. We come to ask for guidance from the spirit world."
    Time passed. They shared the pipe and took their turns offering prayers. The white mist filling the circle turned to grey and then to black. Darkness filled the graveyard.
    "What's happening?" Martine whispered.
    Light flooded the circle and a skittering sound broke the silence. A white rabbit hopped into the circle