Day was beginning to break and Jo wondered what had possessed her to believe for even one moment that this would be a holiday. When the Brigadier had informed the Doctor and her that they would be going to Arizona to assist the FBI - there had been a probable sighting of the Master - naturally enough she had packed some sun tan lotion and had raided her savings for some spending money.
Instead of the wonders of the Grand Canyon or Monument Valley she had spent the past few days either in the back of an observation van parked outside a fast food diner adjacent to a bus depot or in a local motel attending mission debriefings. Today, as usual, she was in the company of the Doctor, FBI Special Agent August Boorman and one other, a man she could not remember the name of. The previous mission debriefing had ended with the confident prediction that the suspect would finally show his face today. Since the previous meetings had all ended along similar lines Jo’s outlook was understandably less optimistic.
Conversations had been minimal, especially when the various agents had discussed various other cases, none of which were particularly exciting. Then again, Jo concluded, things did tend to seem dull after tangling with living plastic and an alien supercriminal. One thing had become clear during the conversations that had taken place - the FBI were seemingly unaware of the Master’s true nature. To all intents and purposes he was a particularly intelligent and highly dangerous international criminal. As yet, no one had been able to determine why he might be hiding out at a bus terminal, but the Doctor had mumbled something about the high incidence of alien abductions in this particular state.
‘I think this is the day,’ August Boorman announced, and Jo quickly looked out of the window. Although it was meant to be one-way glass she felt a chill run down her spine as the bearded man walked along the side of the building. Although he was not looking in her direction Jo could already feel the intensity of the Master’s gaze, those eyes staring long and deep into her very soul, reaching down and...
‘No, that’s not him,’ The Doctor concluded rather blandly.
‘Are you absolutely sure?’ Special Agent Boorman glanced at both the Doctor and Jo. The other agent continued clicking away with the camera, as yet no-one had specifically told him to stop taking photographs.
‘Yes,’ this time there was a resigned tone to the Doctor’s voice. Jo looked out of the van again and watched as the man drew closer. The kindly face that smiled to itself under the jutting beard was definitely not the Master. Unless he was wearing a disguise...no, the Doctor was right. It was not the Master.
Boorman tapped the photographer on the shoulder to indicate that he should stop.
‘I’m really sorry about this Doctor, Miss Grant. This is the man we brought you all the way out here to see.’
Nothing more was said as the agents returned to the motel. Upon their return Boorman immediately began to organise the dismantling of the temporary ops centre. He took a minute to inform the Doctor and Jo that he would contact the Brigadier personally.
‘I’ll also arrange for your flight home and for a driver to take you to the airport. In the meantime you should take the chance to do some sightseeing. I’d hate you to leave the good old US with memories of the back of a van and a motel room.’
Seizing her chance Jo tugged on the Doctor’s sleeve with a childlike eagerness, ‘That would be a good idea, Doctor - I’ve always wanted to see the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley.’
‘Which one? We only have a day and they are near enough at opposite ends of Arizona.’
Jo paused, disappointment threatened to darken her mood. As she had spent so much time indoors there had been little chance to experience the true scale of things in America. Although she had seen a sign stating that Los Angeles was a mere 350 miles away the full implications had not really occurred to her. Both the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley were national parks which, presumably, were open at certain times. Apart from which, it would be hard to see either one in its full glory at night - and they were hardly likely to be lit up!
As a girl she had watched John Wayne films so Jo knew that there was one place she had to see more than anything else. Once she had informed the Doctor of her decision the two of them bid farewell to Boorman and the other FBI agents and then set off to hire a car. From the outset, Jo should have suspected that the Doctor would track down a car with character. If the rental depot had had a Model T Ford she was sure that the Doctor would have headed straight for it. As it was he selected a 1959 car, the oldest one available.
The man had chuckled as he handed the keys over to the Doctor. Nothing underhand had transpired, if anything he had tried to dissuade the Doctor. The car was only really meant to be for display purposes. Sure, it could still guzzle gas and gave good mileage but any driver was just as likely to end up pushing the thing as driving it. His mind set the Doctor had charmed the man into letting him hire that particular car.
The Doctor tapped the mahogany dashboard, ‘I wonder if I could persuade the Brigadier...’
‘No,’ Jo stated matter-of-factly.
The Doctor opened his mouth, as if he was going to say something but then he changed his mind and settled down to just driving, heading east. Jo felt a thrill course through her body at the thought that she might finally be able to follow in John Wayne’s footsteps. She might not have his stature but she longed to ride tall in the saddle and gallop among those towering rock columns.
Although they had only covered one quarter the distance a full tank of gas should have taken them the car began to splutter. Typically they seemed to have found their way on to some very long and very deserted highway. Rocky desert that stretched into infinity bordered either side of the road. Jo’s alarm increased when the Doctor elected to examine the engine.
‘You might invalidate the warranty,’ she protested.
The Doctor peered at her over the hood, ‘Perhaps there’s a garage just down the road. Really, Jo, I’m not one of these cowboy mechanics...’
As the Doctor’s comment sank in they both paused and then laughed. Now that the mood was broken Jo decided to look around. As she headed towards the desert the Doctor called out to her, ‘By the way Jo. Watch out for rattlesnakes, black widow spiders and yellow scorpions. Plenty of them around this part of the country.’
‘Thanks,’ Jo mumbled to herself and returned to the car, her enthusiasm was dwindling very fast. An ominous, distant rumbling caused her to look around. The sky was darkening in a manner which surprised her. Not only because she expected sun shine in America, but also because of the rapidity of the change in the weather. Anvil clouds gathered with almost frightening speed and as she watched forks of lighting flickered around the darkening structures. Great!
The Doctor was not so engrossed in the engine that he had not noticed the thunder. Looking up concern crossed his face. He was more familiar with things like this than Jo and he was well aware of the violence of thunderstorms in arid zones such as this, not to mention the all too terrifying hazard of flash flooding. Shelter had to be the new priority and he scanned the horizon. His exceptional eyesight focused on a distant building and he told Jo to head for it.
At first Jo wondered what the Doctor was pointing at, even so she set off in that direction - she knew the Doctor well enough now to heed him. Running as quickly as she could she also scanned the area at her feet, wondering about all those bugs the Doctor had warned her about only moments before. Jo felt the thunder through the soles of her feet as well as hearing the almost ear-shattering crashing noise around her. Looking up she saw lightning flash across the massive cloud formations. A childhood memory arose and she counted to five before another rumble sounded. There was another flash and she had barely mumbled "four" before the thunder screamed across the sky. She hurried her pace, although the Doctor was hanging back slightly to make sure that neither lost sight of the other.
Droplets of rain began to descend upon her and she wished that she had worn her boots. Back in England she would have assumed the worst of the weather, here fashionable sandals had seemed perfectly reasonable - even in the back of a van or sitting in a motel room. Now, as the rain began to come down harder she found the dust around her beginning to take on a muddy consistency.
‘Here, Jo!’ the Doctor threw his cape over her head and shoulders and he took hold of her left hand. The Doctor guided them both towards the building he had seen. Jo realised that it was a low building, comprised of stones - if anything, it actually looked more like ruins. As they drew closer she realised that they were ruins.
The ruins sat atop a low hill, overlooking a range of other hills. Varying colours were just about visible as the rain obscured her vision. Under better circumstances the sight would have inspired awe in her. Racking her brains she recalled that there was a region to the east of Arizona referred to as the Painted Desert precisely because of the different coloured layers of rocks. This had to be it then. She also recalled that the Painted Desert was also on the Navajo Nation Reservation and a further image of John Wayne films sprang to mind.
Before she could express her concerns to the Doctor he had led her through a shattered doorway of the ruins. The room beyond was partly exposed to the elements, but another doorway beyond guided them into another, covered chamber. The fact that a light shone from inside that other room neither dissuaded the Doctor from going on through, nor did it reassure Jo.
A simple but welcome fire crackled at the centre of the room. Shadows danced around the walls, ceiling and faces of the two other people in the room. One was a young boy, the other an old man. Both looked at Jo and the Doctor. Jo was all ready to express their apologies but she was surprised when the Doctor nodded his head and spoke something. He reached into one of his pockets and shortly after withdrew something from its depths.
Extending the hand with the object in it the Doctor continued speaking in a language that meant nothing to Jo, but evidently was understood by the old man. The boy stared at the two new arrivals, although his face was neutral as if people were always dropping by. Naturally enough the boy’s face had the fresh-faced smooth features of youth - he could hardly be more than nine years of age.
In contrast the man looked ancient, his face wrought with deep wrinkles, its colouring an intense and deep tan which would have been the envy of any of Jo’s friends. She knew that the intensity of the sun would have caused the man’s skin to age and wrinkle so, but she could almost sense great age from him. Her time with the Doctor had started to alter her own perceptions of people and things all around her. Perhaps it was his eyes, perhaps it was the wrinkles themselves - formed as much from experience as from time. Like a record, perhaps great knowledge and wisdom were embedded along the troughs and grooves.
The conversation paused and the Doctor indicated to Jo that she could sit on a rock. She took the Doctor’s cape from around her head and shoulders and folded the dry side up to make the rock more comfortable. The Doctor sat on another rock and carefully explained to Jo the highlights of the conversation.
‘This is Nakai Tsosie, a local medicine man and this is Joshua Three Trees, his great grand son. We have been invited to witness a stone dance.’ Jo automatically looked around the room and concluded that it was rather narrow for any sort of dancing, although she fancied that at least the activity would warm her up, ‘I hope we don’t have to do any of that chanting,’ she commented, ‘I could maybe sing a little Showaddywaddy...’
She fell silent as the Doctor glared at her, ‘Jo - Nakai Tsosie has graciously granted us the privilege of watching this dance. Very few others, outside of the Dinéh are granted the opportunity to see this. Apparently he is teaching Joshua the Path of the Stones. He is the first member of his family who has asked to learn the way - and before you ask, the previous generations were not permitted to know.’
Jo recalled that a lot of the ways and even the language of many Indian tribes had been prohibited since the days of the Wild West. Only recently had there been an allowance by "palefaces" to the effect that the aboriginal Peoples of America pursue their old ways. Even then it was probably because of tourist demands. For a moment, Jo felt that she might even be intruding, but she trusted the Doctor enough to realise that if he felt for one moment that they should not be there then he would have moved them to some other shelter.
‘What did you say to him, Doctor? And what was that you gave him?’
‘I just told him that we were travellers and would he grant us shelter? I also told him that I was a good friend of Y’Acq’Tila.’
The young boy raised his eyebrows at this and the Doctor hastily explained to Jo that the name he had just given was for a chief who had lived and died during the early eighteenth century, ‘I can’t recall if that was before or after Powell went off on his little expedition,’ he added, casually.
‘Powell?’ Jo queried.
‘John Wesley Powell - he led an expedition along the Colorado and is credited with being the first to explore the Grand Canyon.’
Jo shook her head, sorry that she had asked.
‘Of course, nothing quite beats the fabulous Orithrak Rift on Soosta Five - about five miles deep, fifty miles wide and about two thousand miles long. I think there...,’
‘Doctor,’ Jo interrupted him before he could set off on some tall tale. Okay, so it was possible that he was speaking the truth, but sometimes Jo wondered. Perhaps if the Master was ever captured she could try and ask him if he had heard of any of these wonderful places the Doctor talked about. Of course, she would have to remember the names - now what had the Doctor called this other Grand Canyon?
Another thought occurred to Jo, she had nearly allowed the Doctor to disturb her own train of thought, ‘Nakai Tsosie here, does he believe that you knew this chief who died nearly two hundred years ago?’ She could barely believe it herself, although again the Doctor had once commented that apart from being able to travel in time he was around six hundred years old.
‘He accepts that I am telling the truth,’ was the Doctor’s only answer which sounded too evasive for Jo’s liking. It was best not to press the issue, and this was affirmed by the Doctor motioning her to be still and observe.
Now that her eyes had adapted to the dim interior and the flickering light given off by the fire Jo was able to make out patterns on the floor. The floor itself was made of earth, dry and packed hard. Different coloured sands had been poured to form circles within circles. Animal like shapes bounded between and outside the circles and although Jo wanted to ask the Doctor what was going on she sensed a powerful atmosphere and some instinct told her that silence was of the utmost importance.
The heat from the fire was comfortable and it seemed to encourage a lethargy which slowly sapped at her senses. To cap it all she heard a low humming sound. At the edge of her perception she knew that the old man was singing a song - the dance had begun. Although she felt drowsy from the warmth she still noticed him pause in his chant and each stanza was marked by the placing of a smooth, polished stone around the hub of the outer circle. How long she sat there, listening and watching Jo could not tell. There was no sense of time passing here and Jo felt that at any moment she would begin to nod off to sleep.
A sudden cry from the old man shot through her mind like water in the face. There was nothing wrong with him - the dance had now moved on to a more up tempo, more intense movement. Jo was slightly surprised as she barely expected such a loud and clear tone from such an old man. His voice did not waiver as he began to chant much more loudly. There was a rhythmic, cyclical nature to the sound. Jo surprised herself by discovering that it was like some chorus from a song. She could recognise the note which signalled the beginning and the pattern of the chant that formed the remainder of the chorus.
As the chorus repeated she found herself trying to imagine what it must have been like over a century ago whenever there were fewer white people and the frontier was still unexplored and unadulterated. A picture began to form in her mind and she was surprised at how vivid the image was. Then she realised that it was not some imagined vision - a haze had formed above the circle and in it she could see figures dancing about.
The haze seemed to wash over her and Jo realised that the whole image was actually expanding. The small figures were already increasing in size until she finally realised that the four of them were seated within a circle of dancing figures. The dancers themselves were basically human, although they all wore masks. They were more shadow than substance, flickering figures lurking among the flame patterns dancing across the walls around her. As she watched the figures stopped dancing and stood where they were. In spite of the warmth in the room Jo felt a chill run down her spine. She nearly started when a hand touched her own, but she looked down and saw that the Doctor was squeezing her hand in reassurance. She returned his smile, grateful that he had somehow sensed her discomfort. Buoyed with a new strength Jo relaxed and watched as the proceedings continued.
For the first time, Nakai Tsosie spoke in English, ‘The circle represents everything - life, death and time. This is the Path of the Stones, to walk it is to journey through life. There is no death, it is at the same end of the circle as birth. Through this dance we can walk around chosen circles and we can see the path others have taken.
‘From this day onwards Joshua Three Trees will Dance with the Stones, he will Walk through time and life.’
The dark figures vanished and the haze reformed at the centre of the dwelling. This time the image was of a small community. Women could be seen, tending to their tasks of the day. Jo observed one woman working away at something that reminded her of an embroiderer at work. She resolved to find some local embroidery - large or small - as a reminder of this.
Again, there was no sense of time and after they had sat and viewed a number of images the haze finally faded. The boy was evidently tired and the old man leaned forward and began to lift up the stones. Jo was surprised to see that the intricate sand patterns had all vanished. Had she missed the old man sweeping them away earlier or had they been consumed by the energies required to create those visions? There were a lot of questions that she would be asking the Doctor.
The Doctor spoke to the old man and then he turned to Jo, ‘Just nod your head, Jo - its preferred over a handshake - as a "thank you".’
Nodding her head Jo also smiled. The old man smiled back and he reached out a hand towards her. Surprised, Jo held out her own hand but he dropped a smooth stone into her outstretched palm. She nodded again, and found herself stuck for words. After he had put out the fire and covered the embers the old man picked up his, by now, sleeping great grandson and began to carry him out of the ruins. He seemed surprisingly strong, for his apparent age. Before he left the man turned around and spoke, ‘You are welcome to come again. You may continue your journey.’
The Doctor replied, but using the language he had spoken before.
Daylight was visible outside, obviously the storm had passed. Jo then remembered what had brought them there in the first place and she nudged the Doctor, ‘What about the car - do you think that Nakai Tsosie can help us? There might be a garage nearby...’
‘There shouldn’t be any problem,’ the Doctor remarked cryptically. Jo was puzzled by this remark but she said nothing further until they had left the ruins themselves and headed back towards the car.
The moment to talk came when the Doctor calmly sat behind the wheel and put the key in the ignition. Jo reminded him that the engine wasn’t working and also pointed out that all that damp was bound to have made matters worse. The Doctor said nothing, allowing the sound of an engine in perfect working order turning over tell its own story.
‘Don’t tell me you had fixed it before we took shelter?’
‘No - but that’s what Nakai Tsosie meant when he said that we could continue our journey.’
‘Hang on, aren’t you always telling me that there is no such thing as magic? Are you going to tell me that some ancient Navajo magic brought us here? In time for the Stone Dance?’
As they set off along the highway the Doctor did his best to give Jo an answer, ‘Look at it this way, Jo. What you saw here today - I would call that psionic projection. Take haunted houses for example - there are no such things as ghosts. Certain stones can act as event recorders. Certain signals emitted by the brain cause psionic resonances which cause the stones to playback the events.
‘This is the same thing. Nakai Tsosie and some of his people have trained their minds to focus those signals, to emit them deliberately and therefore unlock the memory of stones.’
Jo reached into her pocket and held up the stone Nakai Tsosie had given her, ‘So are you trying to tell me that this is like a record? Instead of playing back The Beatles it will show me things that happened near this stone?’
‘Yes.’
If there was one thing Jo was sure of it was that she would not be putting any of this down in her report to the Brigadier. Instead, she settled back, put all her worries behind her and began to think about John Wayne and Monument Valley. Not forgetting her hope of buying some work of embroidery. As she rubbed her thumb over the surface of the stone she concluded that she had a souvenir of Arizona beyond all her expectations.
Jay Vincent had originally intended this to be a stand-alone story but, after another contributor expressed an interest, it was decided that it would form the first part of a trilogy. Part 2, is entitled Glass.
Although a 3rd Part, entitled Memorial, was written it was withdrawn for various reasons. The hope is that a revised and improved 3rd part will appear soon.
Story © Jay Vincent 1997
Background and ruins image © Jesse 1998