Once I finally got
to sleep, I really slept. I was
exhausted. I needed a good sleep and
didn’t get up until after 11:A.M.. Late
for me on any day. I wasn’t feeling
rushed for anything; but wanted to call Amanda just to see how she was
doing. I wondered if she would be up,
but then thought she might have to go somewhere so decided to call. When I called, her mom answered. She said Amanda was still sleeping.
“Please tell her I
love her.” That was kind of a surprise for me.
It just came out. Her mom thanked
me for calling and said she’d give Amanda the message.
I was still feeling
pretty down as I walked to the bathroom, getting a glass of orange juice on the
way. When I came out my dad was sitting
at the kitchen table, waiting for me with a thick manila envelope lying on the
table in front of him.
“This came in the
mail for you yesterday when you were at Amanda’s. I didn’t give it to you when you got home because
I thought you needed a good night’s sleep.
It’s from Charlie.”
I was stunned and
sat down slowly at the table while my dad handed me the envelope. It was about the width and length of a piece
of copy paper, but almost half an inch thick.
My dad handed me a butter knife to open it.
“Thanks dad, I’m
going to open it in my bedroom.” I
slowly got up again and started walking towards my room, utterly stunned by the
envelope. I could feel my body tremble
as I walked.
“That’s ok honey,
take your time.”
When I reached my
room, I closed the door and locked it, crawled onto my bed, and sat cross
legged with my back against the headboard.
Taking the knife, I slipped it into the fold and gradually cut the top
open and poured the contents out onto my bed.
As I was emptying the envelope I thought about Charlie, not just the day
I spent with him and Amanda; but all the stories I heard about him from Amanda
and the Teeples. Lots more than I’ve
written.
There was a hand-written
letter from Charlie with last Saturday’s date and my name at the top.
There was also one large picture of me and Amanda in front of his
fireplace. It made me smile and cry a
little. There were also four large
photographs of just me, except they weren’t me.
They all looked like me, but an older me. I wondered if Charlie had photo shopped them
or used another program for aging. For a
moment I was flattered at how good he made me look; but then thought it kind of
weird. I knew there were programs he
could have used to change the pictures he took of me and Amanda but some of the
poses were different and the background or setting was completely different and
I didn’t recognize it. This was all both
confusing and even a little upsetting.
After closely
studying the photographs I picked up the letter written on lined paper from a
small sized spiral notebook.
Page 1
“Anna, you will
find this very confusing, I’m sure. When
you were in my home, I said I had something interesting for you. The four photographs, behind the picture of
you and Amanda are part of what I was talking about. Please look at the date in the bottom right-hand
corner.”
I looked and was
even more astonished when I saw the date, from almost ten years ago. That’s impossible, I thought. But dates on pictures can be faked too… I continued to read.
“The date is the
real date. The pictures are not fake or
created by a computer program. I’m
telling you this because I know you and know that’s what you’re thinking right
now. The pictures are real, and they are
from your future. At least the future
that was supposed to be.”
‘How could that be possible?’ I asked myself. It made no sense.
‘I’m sure you remember the picture in my
bedroom. You asked me if it was the
Lings. It is but I took that picture ten
years ago. I know it doesn’t make sense,
but it’s true. I wasn’t going to explain
this to you. You were supposed to figure
it out for yourself, but things have kind of gotten out of hand since I saw
you. I think I need to explain everything
because of the danger you may be in. I’d
like to set up a time next week to visit with you and your parents about what I
know. Always keep the pepper spray with
you. No matter what!
One more thing, if you see Alan, and I hope you still do, please
tell him I found the stone he needed. It
should be right where I told him it would be.’
Page 2.
‘For a long time, I’ve believed Carl Stuki
killed Bobby Sekaquaptewa. I just didn’t
have the evidence. Carl is the one I
gave Bobby’s package to. The one that
was either lost or never made it to the Sheriff’s department. After
the package disappeared, I learned Bobby had been having problems with Carl
almost from the time Bobby moved to Logan.
I believe Bobby may have discovered something about Carl that could get
Carl into a lot of trouble. I now
believe the evidence was in the package Bobby gave me. That’s why Bobby specifically told me to give
it to the police. Usually you don‘t
think there‘s a difference and I guess I just didn‘t think. I wasn’t thinking clearly right after Bobby
and the Lings disappeared. So much
happened so fast.
I now think Bobby wanted to be out of town
when the police got the package because he was afraid of Carl. When you told me that Carl had Bobby’s whirlwind,
I knew I was right about Carl. There is
no way Bobby would have left it and there is no way he would have given it to
Carl. That gave me the push to find more
evidence.
I have an old friend from the Army. He’s Hopi.
We’ve been in touch ever since he left the Army, years ago. He had known Bobby’s father and a couple
days ago I was on the phone with him. While
we were talking, I mentioned Carl, and found out he knew who Carl was. Carl has been involved in some things that
have really hurt both the Hopi and the Navaho people economically. Carl’s
not even allowed on the reservation anymore.
He and the organization he works for have caused a lot of problems for
the Hopi.
I knew I didn’t have enough information to
go to the police; but I thought I might have enough to get the newspaper to
investigate. I didn’t mention the
whirlwind. I DID NOT want you involved
in this part everything. I’ve talked to
the newspaper a few times over the years, and again a couple days ago. They’ve never seemed interested; but, after
talking to my friend in Arizona, I knew where to look for more evidence and
made some calls. I will go back to the
paper on Monday with the extra evidence.
I’m sure I’ve got enough for them to look into it. Maybe get him
arrested. Monday morning I’ll e-mail the information down to the News and
Tribune.
After you left, I thought about all this for a long
time. If Carl puts the pieces together,
you could be in danger. I will call you
Monday night and then I want to talk with either your mom or dad. I don’t want your future to change because of
my mistakes.
Charlie”
My mind was
whirling. Did Carl find out about
Charlie’s investigation? Did someone
from the newspaper talk to him? Did he
learn about some of the phone calls Charlie was making? Was the fire an accident? Would Carl want to kill me? Should I talk to my parents? I was both angry and scared. I wanted to throw up and almost did right
then. It took a while before I could
continue. I completely forgot about the
photos for the moment and decided to take the second page, the part about Carl
and Bobby to my dad. The creaks in the
walls and floor, the sound of the wind outside, and through this old house were
suddenly more noticeable and unnerving.
I knew they were the same sounds I’d been hearing since we moved here; but
it didn’t matter. Suddenly I felt very
vulnerable. Then, a huge wave of guilt
covered me like a heavy blanket.
I used Amanda. How could I face her? I used the Teeples and Charlie. As soon as I told Charlie about the whirlwind,
I knew I should have kept my mouth shut.
My “GAME” had caused Charlie’s death!
I tried to be a Super Sleuth without thinking about the consequences to
anyone. It was more than I could
bare. I grabbed the second page of the
letter to talk to my dad and then my stomach started churning again. I started running for the bathroom; but
didn’t make it. There wasn’t much in my
stomach so there wasn’t much to throw up.
I threw up what there was and then had the dry heaves. It hurt so bad. It was the worst I had ever felt in my life. My father came as soon as he heard me and
gently put his hand over my back as I was heaving, then sobbing.
After I stopped
heaving my dad walked me into the kitchen and just sat down with me as I
continued to sob. He just left the vomit
on the floor and waited for me to stop crying hysterically. After, I don’t know how long… I was able to
talk between some continuing sobs.
“Dad, I think
Charlie’s death… might be my fault. …
When the Lings disappeared… they had a friend… his name was Bobby
Sekaquaptewa… he disappeared too. …
Charlie and the Teeples… believe something bad happened to him… it was never really investigated… and he was
never found. … I saw something that belonged to him at Bekah’s house. … Something… he wouldn’t have given to
anyone. Something Charlie knew… Bobby
had right before he disappeared.” I was
starting to gain a little more control and had stopped sobbing quite so
much. “This part of the letter explains
it a little more.” I handed my dad the
second page of the letter. “I took a
picture of a whirlwind Charlie made for Bobby.
It was in Carl’s bedroom on the dresser.
Lots of people knew that Charlie made it. I think Carl might have killed Charlie and he
might be after me.” I started sobbing again;
“and I think it might be my fault.”
My dad took the
page from Charlie’s letter and read it slowly and then read it over slowly
again.
“Anna, thank you
for coming to me. I’m so glad you felt
you could. This looks like it could be REALLY serious.” My dad spoke very deliberately, seriously,
and ever so kindly. “Let me ask you a few
questions. Whether Bobby was killed or
not, did you have anything to do with it?”
“No, of course
not!”
“Did you set Carl’s
house on fire?”
“Of course not,
dad; but if I hadn’t told Charlie about the whirlwind, he would have just left
it alone. I’m the one who got this all
stirred up again.”
“Maybe and maybe
not Anna. You just don’t know. It sounds like this is something Charlie has
had on his mind for a long time. Let’s
say Carl did set the house on fire. Do
you think Charlie would blame you?”
After a very, very,
long pause and thinking, I finally responded, shaking my head; “No.”
“I’m sure he
wouldn’t either.”
“But dad, I still
feel so bad and UGLY inside.”
“You know Anna, I
can understand that. I’ve made lots of
mistakes and sometimes I’ve felt pretty ugly inside.”
“Did anybody die?”
“No, I don’t think
so Anna; but let me ask you another question.
If Charlie had a choice to know or not know what you told him, even
knowing what might happen, do you think he would have wanted to know?”
I paused again for
a very long time, wiped some tears and said, “Yes.”
“Then allow him the
freedom to make that choice. … Did you
intend for this to happen?”
“No.”
“Were you really
reckless or careless when you told him?
Were you trying to manipulate anything?”
“No.”
“Then let’s hand
this over to the police and see if we can help Charlie and Bobbie get the
justice they may deserve. How about you
go get cleaned up. I’ll clean up the
floor, and let’s go talk to the police.
Bring this page of the letter, print the picture of the whirlwind and
bring it and let’s go hand it over to the police.”
“Ok, dad.”
I got cleaned up, dressed,
and got the picture. My dad cleaned the
floor. He had a glass of milk for me
when I came out of my room and I was able to drink about half of it. We went down to the police station and spoke
with a sergeant McKay. I told him
everything I told my dad. Sergeant McKay
seemed very interested, took the page of the letter and the picture of the
whirlwind and said he’d have it looked into.
I got the impression he might know more than he was telling us; but he
seemed sincere. As we were getting ready
to leave, he asked my dad to keep a close eye on me for the week and said he’d
be in touch by Friday.
I felt some relief. Carl would have nothing to gain from killing
me. The police now knew everything I
knew about Bobby’s disappearance. I
wondered if I could ever be an investigator.
Right at that moment I just wanted to be a kid and my thoughts turned
again to Amanda and tomorrow’s funeral.
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