Free A Certain Kind of Hero by Kathleen Eagle Page B

letter under her nose. “You know what to do with this, Rosie?”
    â€œSure. Slam-dunk it into file thirteen.”
    â€œNo, you send out the standard reply. The Pine Lake Band has no intention of depleting the lake of all the fish, which were here before the Chippewa, who were here long before the North Woods Anglers Club started its annual fishing derby, which we wouldn’t dream of interfering with, et cetera, et cetera.” Half of him was guiding Raina toward the outside door, the other half reaching back, still pointing to the letter. “Those guys spend a lot of money at the casino.”
    â€œThey say they’re going to boycott the casino,” Rosiepointed out. “Maybe you ought to call this guy, or else maybe—”
    â€œTell them we hope they’ll reconsider. Just say—”
    â€œExcuse me, Gideon.” Raina tugged on his arm. “Peter doesn’t understand what’s going on any more than I do, and he’s probably scared.”
    â€œThanks, Rosie. Gotta see what the hell’s goin’ on across the way here.”
    Gideon opened the front door and ushered Raina into the late morning sunlight. “The Indian Child Welfare Act,” he explained as they walked. “That’s the law they’re probably talking about. It’s a federal law, and in Minnesota there’s also a state law. The idea is to keep the children from being taken away from the tribe.”
    â€œWhat are you talking about, Gideon? We adopted Peter when he was a baby. Jared and I—”
    â€œHe’s Chippewa. Somebody must have taken a notion to file a complaint of some kind.”
    â€œA complaint? ”
    They waited at the curb, both of them watching a car cruise by. The driver gave a nod, and Gideon returned the greeting. Then he turned to Raina. “I’m not sure why anyone would in this case, but you might need an attorney. We’ll have to—”
    â€œThere’s nothing to complain about. That judge has no right to take my son. Gideon, did you say something, or did someone approach you about—”
    He shook his head. “I didn’t know anything about this. As long as Jared was alive, there was no problem. Now, maybe there could be.” He sighed as he stepped off the curb, thoughtfully eyeing the sign across the street that said LAW AND ORDER: Pine Lake Band of Chippewa. “Let’s go see what kind of a problem. And how big.”
    They found Peter and Arlen Skinner occupying two chairsin the judge’s chambers, exchanging sidelong glances as though neither was quite sure what to make of the other. Raina didn’t know what to make of any of it, but she was relieved to find that Peter hardly looked scared, although he did still look confused. At Gideon’s request, the judge admitted her into the office. He introduced the old man, Arlen Skinner, as Peter’s grandfather.
    â€œGrandfather?” Raina echoed softly, trying the word out on her own tongue. She knew she was supposed to approach an elder with a respectful handshake, but her feet wouldn’t move. She knew she wasn’t supposed to stare, but she couldn’t help it.
    Peter’s biological grandfather?
    â€œHere’s the paperwork on this so far.” The judge handed Gideon a file folder.
    â€œWhy didn’t you talk to me about this before you served any papers, Judge?” Gideon looked the documents over, but he had a good idea what they would say. “This was some pretty fast work.”
    â€œSince the boy was in the neighborhood, seemed like the sensible thing to do was serve the papers first, ask questions later.” The judge exchanged nods of previously determined agreement with the old man sitting quietly in the corner chair. “Peter here is a member of the Pine Lake Chippewa. He was enrolled by Tomasina Skinner, his birth mother. She didn’t name his father. She’s got him down as half Chippewa,