Coyote Blue Chapter 27

CHAPTER 27Food, Gas, Enlightenment, Next RightKings Lake, NevadaThe exit sign said, Kings Lake, yet when they pulled take and followed the ramp around the base of a mesa, t present was no lake, no life at all, just a dirt alley and a strip of gray wooden buildings with faded facades. A weathered wooden sign read, Emergency, Nevada. The population had been crossed out(a) and repainted a dozen times until, finally, somebody had painted a big zero at the bottom and the words We gived up. prairie wolf stop the railcar.What do you want to do here?I dont know, but we had to get off the highway before they caught up with us. surface-to-air missile got out of the car and peered down the empty dirt street, shielding his eyes against the sun with his grant. A prairie shack skimed across the road and under the wooden sidewalk. This road continues out of town. Maybe it joins up with some other major road somewhere else. We need a map.No map in the car, brush wolf said. We stack ask someone.surface-to-air missile looked around at the empty buildings. Right, lets just stop in at the augury of commerce and ask someone thats been dead for a hundred years.Can we do that? Coyote asked, with nab sincerity.No, we cant do that Its a ghost town. on that points no one here.I was sledding to ask that prairie dog. Coyote walked to where the prairie dog had disappeared under the walkway. Hey, illumetle one, come out.surface-to-air missile stood behind the trickster, shaking his head. He heard a squeak from under the walk.Coyote looked to surface-to-air missile. He doesnt blaspheme you. He wont come out unless you go away. promulgate him were in a hurry. surface-to-air missile couldnt believe he was being snubbed by a rodent.He knows that, but he says you have shifty eyes. Go oer there and wait. Coyote pointed down the sidewalk.surface-to-air missile walked past a hitching post and sat on a bench in front of the cast away saloon. He watched the road leading to the highway, delay for the dust cloud from pursuing police cars. The road remained empty. He watched the prairie dog scamper out from under the sidewalk and stand on his hind legs as Coyote talked to him. Maybe he had been a little hasty in thinking Calliope nuts for talking to her kitchen pals. They probably notion he had shifty eyes as well.After a few moments of talking and chattering Coyote threw his head back and laughed, then left the prairie dog in the street and came to where surface-to-air missile was sitting.Youve got to hear this one, Coyote said. This farmer has a pig with a wooden leg-Hey, Sam interrupted. Does he know where the road goes?Oh, yeah. however this is a really good joke. You see-Coyote Sam shouted.Coyote looked hurt. Youre nasty. No wonder he doesnt trust you. He says that he saw an orange sports car go by a eon ago. He says that theres a repair place down the road.Tell him thanks, Sam said. Coyote headed back toward the prairie dog. Sam remove into his wi ndbreaker for his cigarettes and found a chocolate mint he had taken from the hotel room pillow the night before. Wait, Sam called. He ran to Coyotes side. The prairie dog bolted under the sidewalk. Let me talk to him.Sam bent down and placed the mint in the dirt by the sidewalk. Look, we really appreciate your help.The prairie dog didnt answer. Im not a giving guy erstwhile you get to know me, Sam said. He waited, wondering what exactly he was waiting for. After a minute he started smell really stupid. Okay then, have a gracious day.He went back to where Coyote stood looking at a sign on the saloon door. No Indians or Dogs Allowed.Coyote said, What do they have against dogs?What about the Indians part?Coyote shrugged.It pisses me off. Sam yanked the sign off the door and threw it into the street.Good, youre still alive. Lets go. Coyote turned and headed for the car.Ill drive, Sam said.Coyote threw the keys over his shoulder. Sam snatched them out of the air. As they pulled aw ay the prairie dog dashed into the street and grabbed the mint thinking, That pig joke works every time.-=*=- They hatch for twenty minutes, bouncing the big Lincoln over ruts and rocks, and pushing it through washed-out, wind-eroded terrain where the road was reduced to the genuine suggestion of tire tracks. The cellular phone rang twice more, but they did not answer it. Sam was suspecting that, once again, Coyote was playing some sort of trick when he spotted the corrugated steel building sticking up out of the waste. The building consisted of one tale, roughly the size of a two-car garage. The steel walls were striped with rust and pulling away from the frame in places. The area around the building was littered with abandoned vehicles, some dating back fifty years. Above the doorway, a ragged hole that had been cut with a torch, hung an elegantly hand-lettered sign that read, Satori Japanese Auto Repair. In the doorway stood a slightly built eastern s honest-to-godiery in s affron robes, grinning as they pulled up. Calliopes Z was parked in front.Sam stopped the car and got out. The Oriental opus folded his hands and bowed. Sam nodded in return and approached the mankind. Do you know where the young woman is that was driving that car?What is the sound of one hand clapping? the monastic said.Sam said, Excuse me?The monk ran to Sam and jumped up, screaming in Sams face, Dont think. ActThinking he was being attacked, Sam raised his coat of arms to cover his face and inadvertently hit the monk in the mouth with his elbow, knocking the little man to the ground.The monk looked up at Sam and smiled. That was the right answer. His teeth were red with blood.Im sorry, Sam said, offering his hand to help the monk up. I didnt know what you were doing.The monk waved Sam away, climbed to his feet, and began to dust himself off. The first step to intimacy is not knowing. The girl is inside with the Master.Thanks, Sam said. He motioned for Coyote to follow and w ent into the building. It was one room, dimly lit from the doorway and by sunlight filtering through the gaps in the walls. Around the edges, workbenches were stacked with greasy car part and tools. In the center of the room, on a grass mat, Calliope sat with another monk, this one ancient, inebriation tea from tiny cups. She looked up and saw Sam, then without a word ran into his arms.I lost him, Sam. The car started making this horrible noise and I had to pull off the highway. Lonnie took Grubb and hes gone.Sam held her and patted her head, telling her it would be okay, not really believing it, but knowing that was what you were supposed to say. She was soft and warm against him and a musky feeling of girl sweat and jasmine was coming off her hair. He felt himself getting aroused and hated himself for the incorrectness of the feeling, thinking, You sick bastard.Almost as in answer, Calliope said, You feel too good, and buried her face in his chest. She was crying.Behind them, still standing in the doorway, Coyote said, Lets go.Calliope looked around at him, then to Sam. Sam said, A friend. Calliope, this is Coyote. Coyote, Calliope.Howdy, Coyote said. Calliope smiled.The Master will now fix the car, the younger monk said. Sam looked to the tatami mat the old monk was gone. The young monk turned and went out into the sun.Outside, the Zs hood was open and the old monk was bent over the engine, running his hands over the hoses and wires, but staring off into the distance. Sam realized that he was blind, and noticed that there were fingers missing from each of his hands.Whats he doing? Coyote asked.Quiet, the young monk said. He is finding the problem.We really have to get going, Sam said. Can we leave the car here and pick it up later?The monk said, Does a dog have a Buddha nature?Does a fish have a watertight asshole? said Coyote.The young monk turned to the trickster and bowed. You are wise, he said.This is nuts, Sam said. Weve got another car. Lets go.We ve lost them, Calliope said.No, we havent. We know where theyre going, Cal.How do you know?Its a long story. Coyote helped.Not enough, Coyote said. He pointed to the police cruiser that was bouncing across the desert toward them. Sam looked to the limo and realized that they had run out of time, and, more important, places to run. The cruiser slid to a stop by the limo and they were all engulfed by a cloud of dust. When it cleared, a seven-foot black man stood beside the limo. A brassy man in a sport coat was leveling a riot shotgun over the hood at them.Id like the keys to the limousine, please, Minty said.Calliope looked at Sam. Are we in trouble?This is not good, Sam said.The monk said, Life is suffering.You need to get laid, Coyote said.Sam dug into his pocket for the keys. Careful, said the man with the gun.Minty Fresh approached Sam. Relax, Jake, he said. Then to Sam, Mr. Hunter, the police are not really involved in this. I just want two things. I want the keys to the car, a nd I want to know what the hell is going on here.Quiet the monk said. The Master is finished. They looked to the Z, where the old monk was staring blankly in their direction.disharmony in the cam chakra, he announced. The young monk bowed. Sam wondered about the Masters missing fingers.Well? Minty said.Sam said, Do you have a little time?-=*=- Minty Fresh sat on the tatami mat with Sam while the young monk, who they had found out was named Steve, served them tea. Hed sent Jake back to town and the others were outside fiddling with the broken sports car. Minty wanted some answers.Mr. Hunter, he began. There is something very strange about your friend.Really? He seems fine to me. Tell me, though. Do you think I have shifty eyes? Sam affected his best liberal look.Oh, no, two of them, Minty thought. They look normal to me. They didnt look normal at all they were golden. Minty hadnt noticed before.Sam said, I mean, do I look untrustworthy to you?Mr. Hunter, you stole my employers c ar.Im really sorry about that. Besides that, though. Do I look shifty?Minty sighed. No, not particularly.How about if you were shorter, say, eight inches tall.Mr. Hunter, what is this all about?We really postulate the car. It doesnt justify taking it, but we would have brought it back.Look, Im not going to involve the police in this. on the button tell me.Sam took Minty through the story of Lonnie taking Grubb and the chase, leaving out as many lucubrate about Coyote as he could, making their destination in South Dakota seem close, easy. The story was slanted, however Sam told it with a purpose in mind, thinking as he spoke, You cant sell if you dont pitch.Sam closed, If we dont have the limo we wont be able to find Lonnie and get Calliopes baby back. You have a mother, dont you? Sam waited.Im sorry, Mr. Hunter, I cant let you have it. Its not mine. Id lose my job.Well bring it back after we get Grubb.Im sorry, Minty said. He climbed to his feet and walked to the door, then turne d. Im really sorry. He pushed his sunglasses up on his face and ducked through the hole in the steel. Sam followed him out.Mr. F., Sam called.Minty looked up as he reached the car. Yes?Thanks for not going to the cops. I bring in your position.Minty nodded and got in the Lincoln.Calliope came up beside Sam and stood with him watching Minty drive away. She said, Grubb is all I have.Sam reached out and took her hand, not knowing what to say, having failed at the only thing he was really good at, talking plenty into doing things they didnt want to do.The young monk came out of the door behind them. The Master is fixing your car, he said. He was stirring some green tea into an earthenware bowl with a bamboo whisk. More tea?-=*=- They stood together in the sun, watching the old man work. He fingered each bolt carefully before readjustment a wrench to it, then removed the bolt so quickly that his hands blurred with the movement.Sam said, How longDont talk to him when he works, Steve ca utioned. He will finish when he finishes. But dont talk to him. When you work, work. When you talk, talk.Do you get many customers? I mean, you are pretty far out here.Three, Steve said. He was wearing a straw hat to protect his shaved head.Three today?No, just three.Then what do you do in the meantime?We wait.Thats all?Steve said, Is that all the patriarch Daruma did at the wall for nine years? There was no anger in his voice. We wait.But how do you pay your rent, buy food?There is no rent. The owner of Kings Lake, Augustus Brine, brings us food. He is a fisherman.Kings Lake is up the road, right? What is it, a resort?A house of pleasure.A whorehouse that supports Buddhist monks?How sweet, Calliope said.Hes got it, Coyote said, pointing to the Master, who was holding up a rod of spruced up metal.A bent push rod, Steve said. The master carried the push rod into the shop. They all followed and watched as the old man tightened the rod into a vise. He picked up a hammer and stood over the vise, his free hand feeling the rod. Without warning the old man screamed and delivered a clanging blow to the push rod, then bowed and focalise the hammer on the bench.Fixed, Steve said, bowing.Is that how he lost his fingers?To achieve enlightenment, one must give up the things of this world. alike piano lessons, Coyote said.