Chapter 1
A BRIGHT ORANGE JEEP zips by, heading toward Sedona. The wind from it swirls around me and finally hits me in the face. I don’t mind, it feels good. It jars a few forgotten memories: a parking lot at a toy store, a garage sale, a trip to the zoo, and the time I spent with Dad driving away from Mom in the middle of the night. I was a lump of a passenger for the last one, but nothing had ever been better than the wind of freedom blowing on my face.
I smile.
Not even the temple on the mountain, a hidden road, or the vortex city can worry me now. Instead, I’m just overwhelmed with the feeling of being … human.
Brake lights.
The Jeep pulls off the road way ahead of me. I try jogging up to it but the hole in my side’s telling me it’s not going to happen. Surprisingly, the vehicle backs up. As it gets closer, I read the writing on the side of the jeep, Maggie Mae’s Original Sedona Jeep Tours.
The woman in the driver’s seat turns around. “Need a ride, fella?” she asks.
“Yeah, I’m … going to town.” I’m halfway into the passenger seat.
“Whoa! Cool your jets there, Speedy,” she says with all the gravel of a smoker. There’s something in her voice that gets my attention. It’s loud and confident. She smiles and holds out her hand.
I hesitate. No one’s ever this formal with me. She has kind eyes. I put her in her sixties, maybe, with dark leathery skin. Salt and pepper hair tied into a long braid. Lots of beads and turquoise jewelry. She could be the poster grandmother for hippies.
“The name’s Maggie Mae and I’m gonna’ need your name before you jump in, Partner.” Is she kidding? What a character.
I pause a moment wondering if I look like a Rick or a Steve, but my gut decides she’s okay. “Keegan.”
“You got a last name?”
She’s definitely not getting that. Not if Mom’s looking for Dad and me. My lips press tightly together.
“Hey, no worries, I’m not going to turn you in, Speedy. I made my own escape once. You can tell me or not. Do me a favor, though. There’s a burlap bag in the back. Grab it and throw it on the seat before you go bleeding all over the place, okay?”
“I—
“Oh, come on now, it’s okay, it’s only blood. Don’t go thinking I stop for everybody, but you’re such a pathetic sight.”
I toss the burlap onto the seat. Maggie waves me in.
“Thanks,” I say, pulling the door shut.
The tires spin on the gravel until they catch the pavement. She settles in and checks me out. I pat down my hair, straighten my shirt, and try to look like I didn’t just jump off a cliff.
“What, did you do? Go messin’ with a coyote?” She grins. “Town’s just up the road but if you’re not a native you’ll get sucked into all the mystical main street bullshit,” Maggie says matter of fact. “I’m taking you to the clinic—
“No,” I break in. “I’m fine. I just need to get to a computer. A library, I guess.”
She slaps her leg and laughs, “That’s a good one! You must think I’m dumber than a road lizard. You came all this way to go to the library? Me too. Maggie Mae’s come all the way out to the middle of the desert just to grab a few books and head back home. You are a funny one, Speedy.” Her voice softens, “Look, I don’t know where you’re coming from or what you’re doing here, and I’m not going to pry, but nobody traipses all the way out to Sedona for a library book or a computer.”
