William shakes his head and rolls his eyes. Then he puts his hand on my arm. We stop walking. He looks around and lowers his voice.

“Nipishish, listen. You’ve seen the police and the agents. They’re not here to fool around. They are doing a complete inventory of all the files in the office. When they finish, they’re moving the files to the main office in Ottawa where the security is better.”

He looks at me.

“So?”

“I checked the files on you — yours and your father’s. Sooner or later they’re going to find out those files are empty. Sergeant Macdonald already has it in for you…”

I don’t say anything, but my heart is beating hard.

“It would be best if you cleared out of here fast,” William insists. “You’re a Métis, Nipishish, don’t forget. No one is going to lift a finger to come to your defence. No one! You’re on your own. If I were you, I’d go back and live in town.”

“No! My place is here and you know it. I don’t want to leave Pinamen. I will never go back to the city. I’d be like a groundhog hiding in its hole.”

“If you would just think about it…”

I look him straight in the eye.

“I swear on the head of my father, they won’t get me. Do you hear me? I will do anything to stay out of prison. Once is enough!”

“Okay, okay. Don’t get mad.”

William is perspiring, and his hair is sticking to his forehead. He pulls an old plaid handkerchief out of his back pocket and wipes his face. I can smell his hot breath.

“How about a deal between friends?” he says then. “You give me the files under the table. I’ll take them back to the office. I’ll tell them I found them in the garbage and ask them to forget the whole thing.”

I don’t know what bloody game he’s playing at.

“Why have all these people come all the way from Ottawa about these files? Files that are just about me, about my family? Why?”

“Hey, I don’t know. They’re official papers, Nipishish. They’re government documents, police documents. They’re valuable. It’s serious business.”

“I’m beginning to think those documents are more important to them than they are to me. Why else would they send you to bargain with me like this?” I turn my back on William and head down the path to the pine forest.

I need to think, and I need to see Tom.

“Okay!” William shouts. “You’re the boss! All I want is a little peace. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!”

2

TOM IS LYING on a thick mattress of fresh fir boughs. Manie, Charlotte, Sam, Pinamen and I are at his side. He’s wearing his best cloth trousers, his plaid flannel shirt and his moosehide moccasins embroidered with flowers. His bear-tooth necklace hangs around his neck.