Midnight Flight

  She grimaced, got up, and went in. When she came out, we were marched toward the gardens. I couldn't imagine working in this sun for two hours before we could get something to eat. Surely, this was cruel and these people would be held responsible for whatever happened to us. They would be sorry. I thought, and that thought of them all getting into big trouble gave me enough strength to walk on.

  As we approached a new field, we saw Gia and Mindy hard at work turning over the earth. Now that we were outside with them. I could see how tan their faces were. It amazed me that Mindy was able to do any work being as thin as she was, but she seemed unstoppable, turning, turning, turning, without looking up. Gia worked the same way.

  At first none of us saw the man we were told was called Natani. He seemed to rise up from the ground where he was squatting, emerging like an instantly growing, dark brown tree trunk. He looked our way, then he wiped his hands on the sides of his overalls and walked toward us. As he drew closer. I thought he was at least a hundred years old. Although his hair was black with barely a sign of gray, his face was a dried prune. He had a small build and was surely not more than five feet four inches tall.

  "Here are your three new squaws." M'Lady Three told him, and laughed, They are very delicate flowers so you will have your hands full keeping them alive."

  He said nothing, but looked at us and nodded not to agree with her, but more to acknowledge us. He wore a pair of white muslin trousers, a calico shirt, a pair of buckskin moccasins, and a bandanna twisted and tied around his head. On his right wrist was a leather band fastened with buckskin lacing and decorated with silver and turquoise.

  "I am Natani" he said to us. "I will show you how we grow what we eat, how we care for the animals that care for us and give of themselves to us, and how we must live side by side with what is wild and true."

  He looked at the buddies to see if they had any more to say or any other instructions.

  "If any of them give you any trouble, let us know." M'Lady One said in as threatening a tone as she could produce. Natani looked at her without expression, then turned and beckoned for us to follow him.

  I watched Gia and Mindy working. They still seemed to have little or no interest in the three of us. To me they were like people who had suffered a lobotomy or something. Were we doomed to become like them?

  "This is good ground," Natani explained, and waved his hand over the earth before us like a priest blessing it. "It can bring all our seeds and plants to blossom and feed them what they need. It has sun all day and there are no big rocks, just little ones to remove. Here we have little wind. We must turn the earth on its back and then again to soften it and make it welcome our seeds and the roots of the plants we introduce to it." He nodded at three wheelbarrows full of plants.

  "It is the same for us, for we want to be welcomed wherever we go to live and grow. There is much to learn from the earth and the wind, the sky, and even the rocks. Never turn your back on anything and never stop listening."

  "Oh, brother," Teal said. "We're in the hands of same crazy Tonto. Next we'll see the Lone Ranger."

  Natani did not look like he heard or understood, but something in his aged face told me he had.

  "Let's just get this over with." I muttered. "I'm starving and thirsty."

  "We will turn over the ground and then we will with trowels dig holes for our tomato plants."

  "Just what I always wanted to do," Rabin said. "Plant tomatoes. Like I didn't work hard enough on my grandparents' farm. They raised sheep, and talk about stinks," she said, holding her nose.

  "Here we have goats," Natani said. "And we make cheese with the milk."

  "Goats? I thought those were pigs," I said.

  "Pigs. too."

  He smiled wider and we could see he was missing some teeth. He spread us out and showed each of us how we should use the shovels and how to turn the earth. We started to do it. and Teal

  immediately cried about her hands.

  "This is hard. I'll get blisters!"

  Robin and I worked quietly, glancing every once in a while at Mindy and Gia, who stopped working and left the garden.

  "Where are they going?" Robin asked jealously. "I didn't hear any bells ringing."

  We worked on. Teal moaning the loudest, but soon all three of us were muttering to ourselves. I didn't think it was possible to get this tired and sore. Every once in a while. Natani would take the shovel from one of us and again demonstrate how to use it efficiently. He seemed to have magical hands, making it all look so easy.

  At one point he knelt by Robin and picked up a rock. It glistened.

  "She has waited a long time to see the sun again," he said. Robin looked at me and shook her head.

  "She?"

  Teal groaned and cried. "I'm going crazy. How is this a school? I nearly froze to death out there last night."

  "What choice do we have at the moment?" Robin asked dryly. "It doesn't look like there's a bus station nearby."

  "I don't care. The whole thing, this idea of this being a school, all of it is someone's idea of a sick joke. My parents probably arranged for all this just to scare me to death. Well, I'm not ashamed to admit they have. I just want to go home."

  "Big deal what you want, what any of us want." Robin said.

  Teal looked at her with a mixture of disgust and anger. You might be willing to hang around and take all this crap. but I'm not."

  "Yeah?" Robin rested on her shovel, "And what are you going to do, call your daddy?"

  "I might just do that and wave good-bye to you when they take me home."

  Robin laughed.

  Teal looked like she would go at her, but for the fact that M'Lady Two appeared and announced we could go to breakfast. My mouth was so dry from the heat and the dust. I couldn't swallow. We laid our shovels down, and like truly obedient puppy dogs, we followed her back to the main house. Outside the door, we were told to take off our clodhopper shoes and wash our hands in the spring water corning out of a pipe in an outside wall. We were also permitted to take a drink. Water had never tasted as good or as refreshing,

  Suddenly. Dr. Foreman appeared in the doorway. She looked as elegant and composed as she had the first time we had met her. One thing was far sure-- she never did any chores on this farm. I thought, not with those fingernails.

  "Good morning, girls," she said. "I understand you've had a good beginning. There will be merit points waiting for you at the day's end if you continue to behave and follow our rules."

  Robin raised her hand and Dr. Foreman nodded at her. "Will they get us mattresses, pillows, and blankets?"

  "They could, Let's wait and see, but you're thinking on the right track. Robin. That's good. That's reality. Now come in, take from the food table, and sit at the dining room table. One of Natani's nephews is our cook and he's very good."

  We walked into the entryway and looked to our right where a table of fruits, juices, breads, cereals, and hardboiled eggs were displayed. At the long dining-room table. Mindy and Gia ate quietly, neither looking up at us nor at each other for that matter.

  M'Lady Two came up behind us. "Remember, when you meet each other, when you meet one of us, you say. 'Excuse me. I'm sorry,'" she instructed. "We'll be listening for it."

  We were herded to the food table,

  "Do not make a pig of yourself or you will sleep with the pigs," M'Lady Two warned.

  All of us timidly filled our plates and poured ourselves some juice. Then we approached the table and Mindy and Gia looked up.

  Robin said it first: "Excuse me. I'm sorry." Teal and I recited it as well and we sat.

  "After breakfast, you will return to the garden. There is no lunch. You will go from the garden and be oriented to your chores on the farm, and then you will be brought back here for your first therapy session. The initial one will be a group session. I like to think of them as get-well sessions." Dr. Foreman told us, wearing that friendly smile.

  "Following all that, we will have a reality check and yo
ur buddies will give me their evaluations of your behavior. We will assign merit points as they were earned and you will be rewarded accordingly. Eat slowly. girls. Waste not, want not." she sang, and walked away. The buddies followed her out of the dining room and we were all finally alone and together.

  "Why did you tell on me last night?" I demanded immediately of Gia.

  She didn't look up, but Mindy did and said. 'She received two plus points for that. She's close to being able to make a phone call or receiving one."

  "Golly gee, how lucky can a girl get." Teal muttered. "A phone call."

  "You'll see how lucky that is after a while." Mindy told her confidently.

  -How long have you two been here?" I asked.

  "I've been here four months. Gig's been here seven," Mindy said.

  "Seven!" Teal exclaimed, She looked at Gia. "How could you last here that long?"

  "We manage, Like Natani says, a branch that doesn't bend. breaks. You learn how to bend." Mindy said. "It's that simple."

  "Doesn't she talk, say anything except point out who has broken a rule?" Robin asked. nodding at Gia.

  Gia looked up at us. Her eyes looked more ebony than mine perhaps because they were shining with such anger. However, it didn't look like anger directed just at us. She looked as though she was in a habitual rage, hated everyone and everything. A tiny, cold smile flowed into her small mouth that seemed to have forgotten how to smile.

  "Oh, you're so smug and so smart now." she said. You still think you're stranger than they are, or someone will come charging in here and save you and tell you it's all a big mistake. They can't do these things to you. You don't have to be here. You have rights. How dare they take away your rights? You'll get so you pray for it, but all you will hear in return are the yelping coyotes or Natani's drums when he is talking to the wind and the stars.

  "You see this piece of bread?" she said, holding it up. "It's more important to me than your friendship. Think you'll never get that way yourself?"

  She laughed a maddening, shrill laugh that put icicles under my breasts. Then she lost her energy again, and like a weakening lightbulb paled and lowered her head to continue eating.

  None of us spoke. I saw that Mindy was staring at me curiously, waiting to see my reaction.

  "I hope I never get like that," I said.

  Gia nodded her head but kept it down and kept eating. "You're eating on our plates and out of our bowls." she muttered,

  "What?" Teal asked.

  Mindy turned to her "Later today, they will take you to the pottery room in the cow barn and Natani will show you how to make dishes and bowls. They will be what you'll eat upon, and if you don't make it right, you'll eat off the table until you do. Remember, reality checks. Everything you have, you have because you've earned it, made it, provided for yourself."

  "Oh. I hated doing that in school." Teal said. "Arts and crafts class. I never did any of it right. It's disgusting and so messy."

  Mindy smiled at her. "Wait until you clean a pigpen or shovel cow manure and then tell me pottery work is disgusting."

  Teal's lips began to tremble again. She looked as if she were going to go catatonic.

  "Just eat. We don't eat again until dinner. You heard her." I advised her.

  Rabin nodded, "Phoebe's right, Teal. Stop worrying about it all. You'll make it bigger and bigger in your mind and only bring pain to yourself." Robin ate faster.

  Teal did the same and we were all quiet again. "Where you from?" Robin asked Mindy.

  I thought she wasn't going to answer, but she finally lifted her head as if it were made of stone and gazed at Robin across the table. "Nowhere. I'm from nowhere."

  Before Robin or I could respond. M'Lady Two entered.

  "Time to go back to work. girls. Take your dirty dishes to the sink. Mindy. vou and Gia remain behind and wash them today. Tonight. Robin. Teal. and Phoebe will do the dinner dishes and silverware. Make sure the table is clean before vou return to your farm chores.

  "You three will return to the garden now and work until Natani says it's time to go to clean out the pigpen."

  Mindy smiled at Teal, who glared back at her. "Get up now!" M'Lady Two commanded.

  We did so and Gia and Mindy began to clear the table.

  "It's proper to thank each other for the food." M'Lady Two declared. "Do so."

  Everyone mumbled a thank-you to everyone else.

  And don't forget to add. 'God bless Dr. Foreman,"' we were told.

  We did so. Then we were marched out to put on our shoes and return to the garden.

  Natani wheeled over the tomato plants, handling them as if they were babies.

  Teal mumbled just that and he stopped and looked at her. "They are babies." he said. "Everything is born, begins, matures, and grows old in the world. I'm sure you have heard, 'As ye sow, so shall ye reap.' have you not?"

  "I have." Robin said. "My grandparents practically told that to my mother every day, and my grandfather told my grandmother the same thing every time my mother did something he didn't like, which was about always."

  "Well. I haven't," Teal said. "I haven't heard anything that has to do with plants."

  "Oh, it has more to do with people," Natani said. Teal smirked at him.

  "I know you are not happy," he said. "But you must remember that life's sorrows often bring great joys."

  "Here?" I said "What joys could we possibly find here?"

  Natani looked out toward the sprawling desert. "Many years ago the Great Spirit made the sky and the earth and he put the animals on the earth. One day he decided to move the vulture bird to the desert to live. The vulture took one look about and said. 'What a forsaken, miserable place is this. It is hot and dry and full of poisonous creatures. What joy could I possibly find here? Why did the Great Spirit move me here?' And then he saw a dead desert rat and swooped down to gobble it up. After that he saw a coyote that had died when it had disturbed a rattlesnake, and he feasted on that. Then, he smiled as well as vultures could smile. He was full of joy because what better place is there for a vulture than the desert?"

  "I'll remember that next time I came upon a dead desert rat," Teal muttered.

  "Yes," Natani said. "I'm sure you will."

  He began to show us how to plant the tomato plants and we worked at it until all were in the ground.

  "When you eat your first tomato from the plant you have put in the ground, you will understand what joy is here," Natani declared. "Now we go to clean the pigpen."

  "What difference does it make to a pig if his pen is clean or not?" Teal asked,

  "Maybe nothing to the pig, but much to us." he said. "First, we will use what they drop as fertilizer. Second, we will keep them clean so they don't get diseases and smell bad."

  "I can't believe I'm doing this," Teal moaned. "We had maids. I never cleaned my room. I never ironed or washed clothes in my life, and now I'm cleaning a pigpen." She looked around. "How far is the nearest city?"

  "A lifetime." Natani replied.

  "What's that mean?"

  "It probably means if you ran off in any direction, you'd die," I said. "Is that what it means, Natani?"

  He smiled. "One must learn to live within a small circle before he or she tries to cross the world."

  "I just want to get home." Teal moaned. "Not cross the world."

  "To go home is to cross the world," Natani told her.

  We paused at the pen. Natani opened the gate and shooed the pigs away. Then he stood back.

  "I'm going to vomit on the spot. I mean it." Teal warned.

  "If you do, you'll clean it up." we heard, and saw M'Lady Three standing nearby. "Start shoveling. You have to go to the pottery barn before therapy today."

  "Therapy? We'll need more than therapy at the end of this day," I muttered.

  The three of us began to shovel the pig manure into a wheelbarrow. Natani would then take it around to the side of the garden and dump it in a pile while we filled another wheelbarrow. The stench
made me dry heave so hard I thought my stomach would crack open, but we didn't stop because every time we tried to back away, we heard one of the m'ladies warning us about the Ice Room.

  Where were Gia and Mindy? How come they didn't have to do this? I wondered.

  A good hour or so later we found out. They were in with Dr. Foreman. We saw them leave the house and head toward the barn, both walking with heads down,

  "What's with Tweedledum and Tweedledee?" Robin asked.

  I shook my head. "Maybe they're finished with their chores and have free time."

  "Free time? What good is it? What could you do here but twiddle your thumbs?" Teal asked.

  "Don't worry about it Free time is something you won't see for a long time," M'Lady Two replied, coming around the corner of the pigpen. "Pottery time," she declared, and led us to another barn where we passed cows in stalls and entered a room where there was a kiln, tables, and clay.

  Natani was already at work at a table. We were told to sit around and listen to his instructions. He showed us how to mix the clay, how to keep it from being too wet, then how to shape our bowls and dishes. M'Lady Two stood back near the doorway watching us work. She wore a wry smile and seemed to enjoy Teal's discomfort. Natani was patient and focused. Once again. I thought he had magical hands. Everything seemed to come so easily to him.

  "You must see the bowl and the dish here first," he said, pointing to his temple. "Then it will travel dawn into your fingers and it will be born through them."

  Teal swung her eyes toward the ceiling, but said nothing. Every once in a while she moaned over the clay that was getting under her fingernails. Finally, we had each fanned our bawl and our dish well enough to please Natani and he put them into the kiln,

  "Let's go," M'Lady Two said. "Dr. Foreman is waiting for you." Robin asked for permission to speak.

  "What do you want now?"

  "Can't we clean up, rest a moment?"

  "Why? You're not going to a party, stupid. Follow me."

  None of us moved with any energy. We dragged ourselves through the afternoon's hot sun and, once again, took off our shoes and washed our hands in the springwater. We gulped water until our buddy told us to move and we entered the hacienda. MLady One led us into the house and brought us to an office with a long, brown leather sofa, an oversize leather chair, and a coffee table between them.