Free Plant Them Deep by Aimee & David Thurlo

“This looks like a good collection site to record, and none of the plants here have been tampered with.”
    Rose nodded, smiling for the first time that morning. “It’s good to find a place like this that’s stillundisturbed. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that place we found near the road where perfectly healthy ‘children’s food’—mariposa plants—were chopped into pieces. It’s almost as if the person was a little crazy.”
    “He was probably angry,” Herman said. “He broke off the bulbs while trying to dig them up, and lost his temper.”
    “Not exactly the attitude a person should have when collecting Life Waymedicines,” Rose said.
    “The thief’s lack of respect for our ways makes me wonder about something. Do you suppose this is the work of the evil ones?” Lena whispered the last few words.
    Rose knew Lena was referring to skinwalkers, Navajo witches who practiced evil. To say the word out loud was the same as calling them. “I doubt it. The evil ones surround themselves with secrecy and collect onlycertain kinds of plants—frenzy medicines, not Life Way medicines.”
    Lena nodded slowly. “You’re probably right. But whoever is doing this has no concern for the well-being of the Dineh, or our healers.”
    “I can think of a lot of Navajos who’ve been accused of that at one time or the other, including tribal council members, preachers, and lawyers. And there’s a whole herd of non-Navajos in theFour Corners,” Herman said with a shrug.
    “Doesn’t narrow down the suspect list much, as my daughter would say,” Rose said with a sigh. “I just wish whoever it was showed more care in digging up the plants. The waste and the blatant disregard for our traditions is hard for me to deal with.”
    Soon they moved on to a new site and came upon a steep ridge too difficult to climb easily. Hours passedas they worked their way along the slopes slowly and carefully.
    “Let’s take a break,” Lena finally said with a groan.
    It had been a long, trying afternoon. They’d brought hats and drinking water, but the temperature had risen to the midnineties and working in the sun was becoming increasingly difficult for all of them. Yet, despite that, none of them wanted to leave until the area had been thoroughlysearched.
    “At least it’s not July. It would be worse then,” Rose said.
    Herman, who’d come down to join them from his position farther uphill, took off his old straw hat and wiped his forehead with a red bandanna. Lastly, he took a long swallow of water from the old military-style canteen he’d clipped to his belt.
    “Even without the help of the man assigned to work with me—who I’ve yet to speakwith, by the way—the job is still getting done thanks to you two,” Rose said. “This morning, before we left home, I was sent an instruction sheet the council wants me to follow when I record the data from the plant survey.” She paused, then added, “My daughter’s VCR directions are easier to understand.”
    “You need more help—the kind we can’t give you. Why don’t you talk to your daughter’s professorfriend? He may be willing to lend you a hand,” Lena suggested.
    They all knew Wilson Joe, who taught ecology and other life sciences in Shiprock at the college. “That’s a good idea,” Rose said.
    “Let the two of us finish searching this area while you go
talk to him. I’ll give her a ride home when we’re done,” Herman said, gesturing toward Lena.
    Rose glanced at Lena, who nodded. “Then it’s settled,”Rose said.
    As Herman walked uphill toward his search area, his eyes on the ground ahead of him, Rose glanced at Lena. “Have I ever told you how much I depend on you?”
    Lena smiled. “It’s mutual. I know that you’ll be there for me always. It’s good to have something in life that’s as certain and sure as our friendship.”
    After saying good-bye, Rose walked to her truck and was under way a shorttime later, Lena’s words still ringing