Page 155 - Just Deserts

Playa de los Borregos

“And then Grover played his trump card: ‘Mr. Chairman, I have
here a notarized copy of a sworn affidavit by one Joseph Burning
Horse, who is in fact a member of the Chippaway Indians—very
much alive in Clearview today. And he further declares that Playa de
los Borregos was sacred ground to his people, and that under no
conditions may it be desecrated. I think you’ll find, Mr. Chairman, in
the Native Peoples Protection Act of 1986, that all such land is,
indeed, inviolable.’”
The young man nodded. “And that was the end of it?”
“Yep. Emory Lane went down in disgrace and the developers had
to eat a lot of expenses—some of which soon became of great
interest to the IRS. The last of the Chippaways has been dried out
and rehabilitated somewhat; you can find him living off his celebrity
in various gin mills downtown. You can bet that the government isn’t
going to reopen this can of worms in a hurry! And even if it does,
we’re going to be able to produce a much better study of the wildlife
here, thanks to an anonymous donation—I guess a bit of publicity
never hurts. Well, here we are: all present and accounted for? Now,
this is something you won’t see very often: a nest of the lesser
filigreed ecru. However, we mustn’t get too close; the bird gets very
excited if its nest is disturbed, and it may not lay any more eggs.”

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