Free Plant Them Deep by Aimee & David Thurlo Page B

considered going to Kevin, but he’d already warned her that there’d be trouble. He’d done his part. Now the fightwas hers.
    Rose went to the receptionist and asked to see Councilman Begay. The young woman went to the adjacent office, then returned and sat down again. “Councilman Begay is in a meeting.”
    “I’ll wait.”
    Rose walked over to one of the chairs, sat down, and folded her hands on her lap.
    “It could be a very long time before he’s finished.”
    “That’s fine. I can wait as long as it takes.”
    Rosewas willing to bet that John Begay wouldn’t want her to sit in his outer office indefinitely. It wouldn’t make him look
good to anyone who passed by. After all, he’d hired her on behalf of the tribe.
    Her instincts proved right, and within a half hour almost exactly, she was shown into Begay’s office.
    “This is still a very busy day for me, so let’s try to make this quick. What do you need fromme, Mrs. Destea?”
    “I have a complaint to file, and if I don’t get the situation resolved, I’ll put it in writing and send a copy to every council member. My assistant was taken away from me after two days, and the Navajo man assigned to replace her hasn’t been available. I’ve tried calling him, but he doesn’t even return my phone calls. I see no reason for the tribe to pay him for a job he seemstoo busy to do. I think in these financially strapped times, the rest of the council would agree with me.”
    The councilman stared at his desk for several long moments, as if trying to gather his thoughts. At long last, he looked up. “I think it’s time you heard a few hard facts,” he said slowly. “Your knowledge of plants is well known, but your lack of formal education puts us at a disadvantage.To apply for grants, federal aid, and such—which we may have to do to remedy the situation we’re facing—we need to attach people who have serious credentials to the paperwork we’ll be submitting. Curtis Largo was hired to replace the young Oglala woman because he has two degrees—one in business management and one in agriculture. Curtis adds legitimacy—the kind the outside world understands. Weneed him on this, so you’re going to have to work things out with him. I’m certain you’ll find a way.”
    As his telephone rang, Begay picked it up and half turned away from her.
    Rose stood up. For all intents and purposes, she had her answer. It hadn’t been what she wanted, but she now knew what she had to do.
    The next morning, Rose parked in front of a large pitched-roof house in northwestFarmington. It was a lovely home halfway up a small canyon, large and filled with fruit trees in the front and side of the house. It looked peaceful and very well tended.
    Yesterday after she’d returned home, she’d called Wilson to see if he’d contacted the professor. He had, and the professor had been very agreeable, passing along his address and inviting her to stop by his home. Rose had calledthe professor herself immediately, and they’d set up an appointment for this morning. From everything Wilson had told her, the professor was already very interested in her project.
    Rose knocked, then waited. No one answered, though she knew someone was home. There was a large SUV parked in the driveway, and she could hear radio music, jazz, coming from somewhere inside the house.
    The doorbellhad been taped over. She supposed that meant it wasn’t working, so she knocked again, more firmly this time.
    Rose heard slow, shuffling footsteps approaching, but then the sound stopped. She listened carefully and heard the sound of heavy breathing, but no one opened the door.
    Worried, she knocked again. That’s when she heard a set of fast footsteps approaching, and the door was quickly opened.
    A tall, thin man with wire-rimmed glasses stood before her. He wore baggy jeans, leather sandals, and a red T-shirt that had the words FREE TIBET printed on them. A button pinned to the shirt in the vicinity of