Broken Trust Read Free

of the world. But today was her test. And i f the kachina hadn’t swept in, she would have passed.
    Petal walked Nora to her Jeep. She waited while Nora dug into her jeans pocket for a key. “Your first fourteener?”
    Nora unlocked the door and Abbey, her aging golden retriever opened his eyes. He sat up from napping on the driver’s seat. “No. I’ve lived in Boulder most of my life , b ut I haven’t been climbing recently. What about you? Did you hike the whole mountain?”
    Petal shook her head. Her voice sounded frail, as if she’d rather not speak at all. “No. I caught a ride up.”
    Abbey eased from the Jeep and nosed the tire. He lifted his leg. Abbey finished and walked back to sit by Nora. “Thanks again for helping me down.”
    Petal nodded and stood still.
    “Where is your ride?” Nora asked, mainly because Petal seemed to expect the conversation to continue. Nora motioned for Abbey to get in the Jeep.
    Petal shrugged.
    That’s what Nora suspected. “You hitched?”
    Petal nodded again, solemn.
    Nora leaned into the Jeep. She pulled a backpack and a couple of paperback books from the bench seat in back to the floor. She picked up an extra ski cap and gloves from the passenger side floor and tossed them on top of the books and waved Abbey into the backseat. “ Go on, Abbey.” She turned. “ If you don’t mind riding in a muddy old Jeep, climb in.”
    Petal shook her head, her dreads bouncing. “Oh no. You don’t have to do that. I’ll get a ride.”
    “I know I don’t have to. Where are you going?”
    Petal studied her Chaco sandals and thick wool socks. “Boulder.”
    “Me too. Let’s go.” Nora felt almost cheerful at being able to help someone.
    Petal seemed to argue with herself for a moment , then her thin lips turned up in a tiny smile. “Okay. Thanks.”
    She clambered into the Jeep and Nora backed out, already feeling better. Nora cranked on the heater in the rumbling Jeep, the smell of dog hair mingling with Petal’s organic odor.
    Petal turned in the seat and scratched Abbey’s ears. “Your dog is nice. Her name is Abbey?”
    “His. Named after Edward Abbey , o ne of the earliest conservationists.” Nora braked and eased to the inside of the narrow road as they met an SUV. She’d rather hike than drive this strip of pavement carved along the mountainside.
    Petal nodded. “I know.”
    That surprised Nora. So many people had no idea about Edward Abbey. “ So w hat do you do for a living?” Oops. From Petal’s a ppearance, she might not be making a living. Nora cursed her rusty social skills.
    Petal didn’t seem offended. “I work at Loving Earth Trust.”
    Nora knew the name. “That’s great. They — you — have done some good work, especially with open space in Boulder.”
    Petal turned from Abbey and pulled her feet under her. “What do you do?”
    Nora maneuvered the Jeep around a tight corner, holding her breath and avoiding glancing at the edge of the road that slid into oblivion. “I’d love to work for an environmental group.”
    “Really? Why?”
    Why . The answer involved so much history, so many regrets. “Redemption.”
    Petal’s soft voice sounded shocked. “You’re such a nice person, I can’t believe you’ve done something you need to atone for.”
    “I’m not that nice, believe me.”
    Petal shook her head, sending the dreads waving again. “I can read auras. They don’t lie , and yours tells me how good you are.”
    Nora smiled at her. Clouds scuttled across the sun and the Jeep felt chilly even with the heater blasting.
    “No , I mean it,” Petal said. “Yours is deep red. That means you’re grounded and realistic and a survivor.”
    Not too long ago Petal’s words would have made Nora scoff — not to someone’s face, but inside, at least. Now dead Hopi leaders visited her on mountaintops and spoke to her in dreams. Who was she to judge?
    Petal regarded her. “What is a kachina?”
    Nora’s hands tightened on the wheel.