Plant Them Deep Read online

  “Take a pill. I’m having trouble with my mom’s shovel. The handle is all loose.”

  “So why didn’t you take a better one?” the one in the ponytail said, scowling. “You’d probably do better digging with your hands.”

  When they stepped back, Rose saw that the boy was using an old long-handled garden spade instead of an entrenching tool. She wasn’t sure whether to feel relief or disappointment. To her, they were hardly more than children.

  As the boy stepped around to the side, she realized what he was trying to dig up. What they had wasn’t ‘hidden one.’ They’d found ‘bad talk,’ a highly poisonous plant. If the girl with the sore gums tried chewing the root, she could die.

  “Stop!” Rose came through the brush and marched right up to the kids. “You cannot take that plant. Don’t even touch it.”

  “Old woman, this isn’t just your Rez. We can take whatever we want,” the boy said, standing up and nearly matching her five-foot-nine height.

  “That’s not the plant called ‘hidden one.’ What you have there can kill you. It’s what we call ‘bad talk.’ It’s used in witchcraft.”

  The boy gave her a suspicious look. “Or you could be lying ’cause you want it for yourself.”

  Herman came up beside Rose, facing them, arms crossed. “As far as I’m concerned, you deserve what you get. Why don’t you boil it in water when you get home, then drink it? If you really think we’re lying, that’s one sure way to find out for yourself.”

  Rose looked at Herman, horrified. “No, don’t even think of doing that. It will kill you then.”

  The boy’s expression was one of defiance and skepticism. “We were taught about poisonous plants in biology class. I never heard of ‘bad talk.’”

  “But you should have heard about jimsonweed,” Rose said. “That’s the name the Anglos give it.”

  The boy took another look at the plant, his eyes wide. “Forget it! Let’s go to town instead!”

  The trio left, ignoring Rose’s efforts to find out who they were, and drove away quickly in an old Volkswagen that they’d driven down the arroyo. After they were gone, Rose sat on a rock and took a deep breath. “If the kids have taken it upon themselves to dig up things they neither know nor understand, we could have some fatal poisonings, or a least several really sick kids.”

  “Boys that age trying to impress girls will do almost anything. They don’t think—they just act.”

  “You really took a chance goading that boy,” Rose said. “I couldn’t believe you did that.”

  “Sometimes my sons would challenge me like that boy did you. More often than not, the only way for me to get their attention was to stand up to them and give them something to worry about.”

  “I’m glad my son was never like that,” she said, a touch of pride in her voice.

  Herman rolled his eyes. “Remember my melon patch?”

  Rose smiled, recalling the summer Clifford had swiped a few of Herman’s best melons. “Okay, he wasn’t perfect.” She paused, then added, “Actually, he experimented with some of the plants in my garden once—seeing what they’d do to him, you know? But he got really sick and it scared him. After that, he began listening to my lessons about the Plant People.”

  By the time Rose got home, Dawn was already asleep, and Ella was sitting alone on the living room couch with a mixing bowl heaped full of chocolate ice cream.

  “Daughter, how can you eat so much ice cream at once? Doesn’t it give you a headache?”

  “Mom, the least of my worries is a little brain freeze. I had an extremely bad day—close to a world record. So I stopped at the gourmet ice cream parlor—your favorite place in Farmington—and loaded up on quality ice cream. Now I’m going to sit here and indulge myself.” She held out her bowl. “There are two flavors of chocolate and even some raspberry vanilla about halfway down. Join me?”

  Rose looked at her daughter, then went to the kitchen for a spoon. She’d save sensible for another day.

  The following morning Rose called the hospital and checked on Lena’s condition. There was no change. She’d hoped that the gods would work more quickly, but it apparently wasn’t meant to be.

  Fear over Lena’s condition filled her, but she forced it back, focusing on the work before her. Rose called Sadie Black Shawl, who was housesitting at Lena’s. I need your help,” she said, and told Sadie about the kids she’d seen digging up the poisonous plant.

  “It’s a good thing you were there. Jimsonweed is extremely toxic.”

  “Summer school is in session right now, so I’m going to stop by the high school today and try to find out who those kids were,” Rose said. “Then I’m going to ask the principal to warn the students in school now, and the rest of them this fall, about the dangers of acting without knowledge of the Plant People. If we can make the kids understand, we might be able to keep this from happening again.”

  “And you want me to go with you?”

  “Yes. You have book knowledge. Mine comes from experience. Together, we have something useful and valuable to offer them.”

  “Agreed.”

  “Wonderful! I’ll meet you at my friend’s house a bit after nine.”

  Rose glanced through the open curtains of the kitchen. She knew just by looking that it was still early, and she had some time left. Everyone relied on watches and clocks these days, but she still operated on Indian time as often as she could.

  Rose greeted Dawn as she ran into the kitchen with Two already at her side. “Good morning,” she said, giving her granddaughter a hug. “Are you ready for breakfast yet?”

  She nodded. “Juice, please.”

  “Apple or orange juice?”

  “Orange juice, please.”

  Rose brought Dawn her cup. As she turned to make her granddaughter some oatmeal, Jennifer came in.

  Jennifer went to the stove and took over preparations for Dawn’s breakfast. “Please, may I? I like doing this, and it’ll help me keep my mind off things with my grandmother.”

  “I know you must be worried about her, Boots. But she’ll get well,” Rose said softly. She has to, she added to herself.

  Jennifer sighed, but said nothing more.

  Respecting her housekeeper’s wish not to discuss it, Rose headed out of the kitchen. “I’ll leave you with Dawn, then. I have to get ready to go.”

  Rose went to her room to brush her hair and finish getting dressed. As she stood by the mirror and pulled her hair back into a bun, Ella walked into the room.

  “After I get off work today, I’m going to take my daughter to Albuquerque with me for the weekend,” Ella announced.

  “Albuquerque? Why?”

  “I’d like to take her shopping, to the zoo, that new children’s museum near Old Town, and things like that.”

  Rose turned around to talk to her daughter. “I wish you wouldn’t. It makes me nervous to see her leave the reservation.”

  “She’ll be with me, Mom. You know she’ll be safe.”

  “Yes, I suppose so,” Rose said quietly. “But it’s hard when she’s not here. I miss her.”

  “Then come with us,” Ella said. “It’ll be fun, and it would do you a world of good to get away for a few days.”

  “I can’t. Not now,” Rose said. “There’s too much happening here that requires my attention.” She took a deep breath and let it out. “But go ahead and take her. You two don’t get the chance to do things like this very often.”

  “We’ll be back Sunday afternoon,” Ella said, giving Rose a hug. “And if you change your mind about coming, we’d love to have you.”

  “I won’t change my mind,” Rose said firmly.

  Rose returned to the kitchen, where Dawn was eating breakfast. “You’re going to have such a wonderful time with your mother this weekend! Remember everything you do, so you can come home and tell me all about it on Sunday.”

  “You come too!” Dawn said.

  “I can’t, sawe,” she said, using the Navajo work for my d
arling. “But think of the fun you’ll have with your mother and all the interesting things you’ll see.”

  Dawn smiled. “It’s a big-girl trip.”

  Rose hugged her tightly. “Take care of your mother for me.”

  “Okay.”

  Rose headed out the door quickly, hoping no one would notice the moisture in her eyes. She loved her granddaughter more than she’d ever thought possible. In Dawn she could see the future—of their family and of the Dineh.

  ELEVEN

  Once she was under way in her pickup heading toward the main highway, Rose’s thoughts drifted to Sadie, and she found herself wondering if the young Sioux woman would find staying at Lena’s home by herself too lonely.

  When she arrived at the small wood-frame house, Rose saw Sadie outside watering the garden, one plant at a time.

  She joined Sadie. “Are you ready to go to the high school?”

  “Give me a minute to change. I guess time got away from me.”

  “No, I’m really a bit early,” Rose assured her.

  Sadie went inside, and emerged a few minutes later changed out of a T-shirt and cutoff jeans into full-length slacks and a cotton blouse. “I’m glad you invited me to go with you today. It’s really quiet in the house with only the cat for company, particularly because he only understands Navajo. When I first came, I thought the quiet would be great for studying, but it can get a little spooky. I guess that I’ve become used to a certain amount of chaos around me.”

  “I understand perfectly, believe me,” Rose said as they got under way. “I always thought I’d love having the house to myself after my kids were grown, but when my husband died I discovered that there is such a thing as too much quiet. didn’t like it at all.” She recalled that dark time. She’d lie in bed some mornings desperately trying to find a reason to get up and get dressed—and some days she hadn’t found one.

  “But now with your daughter and granddaughter both there, aren’t things totally crazy?”

  Rose laughed. “At times.”

  Once they arrived at the high school, not far from Lena’s home, a student escorted her to the main office. Before long, they were shown into Principal Duran’s office. Rose introduced herself and Sadie, then recounted what she’d seen and described the teens and the Volkswagen beetle as closely as possible.

  “I should have expected something like this. We have a few real enterprising kids that are always angling for a way to make some quick money regardless of the risks.”

  “Some of the Plant People are so scarce they shouldn’t be picked at all—but to pick without knowing … that can be extremely hazardous.”

  “I’ll go through our student vehicle files first, then ask around if it proves necessary, until I find out who they were. Then I’ll speak to their parents.” He paused, then added, “You’re a member of the Plant Watchers, aren’t you?”

  Rose nodded. “I am. I’ve been part of that group almost all my adult life.” She looked at Sadie, then back at Principal Duran as she detailed her own credentials.

  “I wonder if I can impose on you and the others to hold an informal meeting here for our summer-session teachers. You can teach them all you can about the dangerous native plants and what they can do to people. We, in turn, will see that the kids get that information through their classes. When the new school year starts this fall, perhaps we can do it again.”

  “I was going to suggest something like that myself,” Rose said, explaining how Sadie’s expertise complemented her own.

  “Then we have a deal?”

  “Absolutely.” Rose turned to Sadie, who nodded.

  “Do you think you could persuade some of our hataaliis to join you? Maybe they can tell us about the ritual uses for the plants. I think most of us modernists and our Anglo teachers would find that fascinating.”

  Rose hesitated. One Navajo never spoke for another. “I’ll ask and see what they say.”

  “Good. Call me whenever you have a chance, and let me know when you’d like to schedule the first information session. We still have a month of school to go.” Principal Duran handed her his card, and gave one to Sadie as well.

  Thanking him, Rose and Sadie left his office and walked down the outside stairs to the north parking lot where her pickup was parked.

  “That seemed to go pretty well,” Sadie said as they climbed into Rose’s pickup.

  “Yes. Now I’d like you to come with me so I can introduce you to the other Plant Watchers.”

  “I’d be honored.”

  They arrived at Gishii’s place east of Shiprock a short time later. The group of women were gathered underneath the shade of an old cottonwood tree, some seated on folding chairs and others on an old log that had been fashioned into a crude bench. As she looked at her other friends, Rose found herself missing Lena more than ever.

  Although theirs was normally a lively, animated group, today Rose could see sorrow and concern reflected on their faces. Those that were talking were speaking much more softly than usual, and it was easy to guess what was on their minds.

  “We heard that she’s not getting any better,” Clara Henderson said in her ancient voice.

  “She will. She just needs time,” Rose said firmly. Words had power, and talk of this kind was dangerous.

  Rose quickly introduced Sadie to the group, giving them some of her background and telling them about her contribution to the plant survey work until she’d been replaced for political reasons. “And now she’s taking care of our dear friend’s garden while she’s in the hospital, and helping me organize talks at the high school.”

  “We can help you gather material as well for your talks at the school, like maybe collecting some plant cuttings for you to show the teachers. But I wish they’d allow our new friend to speak directly to the kids,” Clara said, gesturing toward Sadie. “I’m not sure that teenagers will listen to their teachers. They’d be far more likely to pay attention to someone who’s young.”

  “I suspect they’ll listen to their teachers on this matter,” Sadie said. “Even the most stubborn and rebellious don’t want to die.”

  As the meeting progressed and they began to discuss the plant survey work, Rose took extensive notes based upon the recent observations of the others. “Oak under a tree” had been found in several places, for example, and Rose documented the location in her notes, making sure not to be too specific.

  After two hours of reports and observations, the meeting’s focus turned to refreshments.

  As they ate small fried pies made from canned peaches and dried apples from last year’s scant harvest, Gishii stood and looked at the others, getting everyone’s attention again. “I hope all of you who live in our area are planning to go to the chapter house meeting tonight. We need to present a united front.”

  “What meeting? And a united front against what?” Rose asked.

  Gishii looked at her, surprised. “I assumed you, of all people, would know. The man who was assigned to work with you,” she said, referring to Curtis Largo, “will be there. He’ll be talking about the reclamation efforts that have been made by the power and mining companies.”

  “I wasn’t told a thing, but that shouldn’t surprise me,” Rose said, shaking her head. “He has done everything in his power to avoid working or meeting with me. Believe me when I tell all of you, he is not our ally.”

  “Then that’s all the more reason for us to be there,” Jane Jim said firmly.

  “Absolutely,” Clara said. “If nothing else, we have to make sure he doesn’t misrepresent anything and mislead others.”

  After everyone had finished their refreshments and the meeting ended, Rose and Sadie left to continue working on the plant survey. With Sadie’s help, Rose knew that she’d be able to catalog each species under the proper genus name, and, at least today, there would be no need to take photos for Willie or even make sketches. So that she wouldn’t even be tempted, Rose had left the camera at home. To ease the concerns of the hataalis she’d dec
ided to rely on sketches from now on anyway. She’d be returning the camera to Willie as soon as she could. Although she was sure that a real close-up wouldn’t have revealed much of anything except the condition of the plant, she was hoping that this would persuade some of the hataaliis to cooperate with her. Getting the opportunity to visit their various collection sites would have really helped her determine the extent of the problem the Plant People were facing.

  As they arrived on a dirt road near Monument Rocks, a tall formation northeast of Shiprock, Rose glanced at Sadie. “I’m searching for a plant called ‘salt thin.’ Mixed with mutton fat, we use it as an ointment on burns. Although the first time the ointment is applied the pain is said to be excruciating, it soon soothes, and I’m told it works even better than any of the Anglo medicines.”

  “It doesn’t sound familiar. Can you describe the plant for me?”

  “It has very thin leaves and a salty taste,” Rose said, “and is seldom over two feet tall. It’s a very compact shrub.”

  Sadie shook her head. “All I can think of is spiny saltbrush. Does it have thorns?”

  “No, though it looks a bit like saltbrush. It could be related, I suppose. It has tiny flowers, like saltbrush, but not this time of year.”

  “Sorry. It doesn’t ring any bells. Try to find it, and if I still don’t know what it is, I’ll research it.”

  Rose spent most of the day trying to find the plant, searching along Salt Creek and south toward Chimney Rock. In one area near the dry creek bed Rose found the familiar marks left on the earth by the entrenching tool. “These digging marks are fresh, and if you look close you can see where the person wiped out his tracks. That shows that whoever is doing this knows very well he shouldn’t be taking the plants. He’s harvesting everything,” she said, picking up several dead plants left around the holes and then setting them back down. “He’ll decimate the Plant People if he continues.”