Elatsoe

Ellie recalls the last time she had to meet with the Lipan Apache elder, Dan. Ellie was 12 years old and giving a presentation in front of her homeroom class. When a classmate argued that Kirby couldn’t be a real ghost dog because “animals don’t make ghosts” (325), Ellie decided to prove him wrong by commanding Kirby to howl. The ghost dog howled, and the otherworldly noise destroyed the classroom and gave her terrified classmates nosebleeds. Ellie realized that she had lost control of Kirby at that moment, and she was suspended from school. Back then, Dan called Kirby “a conscious grenade” (328) and warned Ellie about treating him like a plaything.

In the present day, Ellie tells Dan about her visit to the underworld and how right before it happened, she felt a “fond familiarity” (330) and was reflecting on how “despite the eons that separate humans and prehistoric critters, we are all earthlings” (330). Dan warns her not to “lean over the wall that separates the living from the dead” because “to dwell on death [...] burdens the soul” (331) and might cause her to topple into the underworld. She can still wake ghosts, but she must be “mindful of the difference between the dead and the living” (332). Dan instructs Vivian to “tell [Ellie] the last story of [her] heroic ancestor” (334). After Dan leaves, Jay texts Ellie the news of what he has found: an article about how “a farmer outside Willowbee found [a] corpse in [a] field” with a “mangled leg” from a supposed “bear attack” (336). Ellie’s suspicions are confirmed, and she tells Lenore that Dr. Allerton has “the power [...] to move injuries from one body to another” (337).

Ellie presents her theory to her mother and Lenore: “On the evening of the murder,” Ellie believes that “Dr. Allerton was in a serious car accident” (338). He was drinking and driving and smashed his car into a tree. Based on what Aunt Bell said at the crash site, Ellie thinks that “[Trevor] pulled over and tried to help,” but instead, Allerton used “the terrible secret of Nathaniel Grace” (340) to transfer his injuries over to Trevor and steal his health.

Then, Allerton and his cronies put Trevor back into his car, took it to a different road, and left him to die. Ellie believes that the entirety of Dr. Allerton’s fame and prestige is because of this evil spell that moves injuries from one person to a new victim. They start to wonder if there is a reason why Allerton seems so determined to find Trevor’s body, and Ellie remembers the tattoo that “Allerton got publicly for charity” might be on Trevor if the spell “consider[s] inked skin to be an injury” (345). Vivian says they can set up an exhumation of Trevor’s body, but Lenore admits that she “think[s] [she] was followed” (346) by one of Allerton’s vampires on the night that she went to Trevor’s grave, which chills Ellie and her mother. Vivian says that she needs to speak to Ellie privately because “it’s time for [Ellie] to learn how [her] six-great-grandmother died” (348).

Vivian tells her that “this story cannot be repeated” (349), so Ellie must listen carefully. She first tells Ellie the story of Archimedes, an ancient Greek tasked with finding out if a king’s crown was made with pure or impure gold. Ellie says that she remembers the story, and her mother points out that “some stories are particularly important” because they are “more than entertainment. They’re knowledge” (353). Vivian explains that Six-Great also went to the underworld but never returned. One night, Six-Great’s husband was shot and killed by thieves who stole several of his horses. When Ellie asks if the shooting was an act of revenge from monsters, her mother reminds her that “only one kind of monster uses guns” (355). Six-Great’s husband was killed by colonizers, and although it is possible that they did it to send a message to the legendary Six-Great, no one knows why the docile man was targeted.

Six-Great left for a long time, and when she returned, “she brought all of the stolen horses home,” and Vivian “suspect[s] that the murderers faced justice” (358). Still, Six-Great was tortured with grief over the loss of her husband, and his ghost spoke to her at night and begged her to avenge him. Finally, Six-Great decided to journey to the underworld in hopes of calming his ghost. Six-Great “walked to the west, surrounded by her hounds,” and “vanished” (362). Vivian explains that Six-Great was an elder and a monster slayer, while Ellie is just a 17-year-old girl who shouldn’t have been able to escape from the underworld at all when it claimed the life of such a strong woman.

That night, Ellie dreams about her entire family holding hands, facing away from a mesquite tree. Vivian warns her to “not look at him” and “not listen to him” or “take his hand” (365). Trevor is still buried in the ground next to the mesquite tree, and he cries out that “it isn’t fair” that “the living disown the dead” (365). Trevor warns that their family tree will die because people like Abe keep killing them, and “each generation will wither until there is nobody left” (365). Ellie promises Trevor that Allerton won’t get away with murder, and Trevor retorts that there are millions of men like Allerton who will take advantage of their family and their land. Trevor begs Ellie to set him free, declaring his love for his wife and son and reminding her that he died alone. Suddenly, Trevor calls out for Gregory, who appears in the dream and touches his father’s hand. Ellie realizes that “Trevor’s final connection to the underworld severed” (368), and he climbs out of the ground. Trevor triumphantly announces that he is “wide awake” and will see Ellie at the party.