Windigo is a terrible thing, which is why they are so angry. A Windigo wanders the woods alone, always hungry, always cold, his journey, never-ending. This Windigo will surely kill you if you don’t kill it first. Or, perhaps it will change you into a Windigo. How would you like those apples? You need to be strong.”
I shook my head. “I am sorry, Crooked Walker,” I said, wiping the last tears from my eyes. I was wrong and I never should have interrupted you.”
“I forgive you,” he replied.
“All right, I guess its time for me to start acting like a man,” I said. “Terry, brother, come over here so I can give you a hug.”
Terry did so and we quickly embraced. I saw Crooked Walker scrunch up his nose and shake his head, as if we were breaking some kind of rule. I found that I didn’t care. He came back up to the fire to join us, looking pleased that the discussion had ended.
“Grandson, what happened to your teeth?”
I chuckled, despite myself. Terry held a hand up to his mouth to stifle one of his own.
“What can I say?” Odd Whitefeather said. “If I knew I was going to live this long, I would’ve taken better care of my teeth. My new ones are in a glass, over there,” he said, pointing towards his ruined house. “Maybe someone could help me find them, later? They cost me eight hundred bucks. That dirty bastard.”
Crooked Walker looked to me and Terry and shook his head. “You should have been wearing them; you look like an old woman.”
“Thanks, Grandfather.”
“And what did you bring us to eat? I think some food would taste pretty good. It has been a long time.”
Odd Whitefeather winced and slowly reached into the pocket of his fancy jacket. What he came away with was a small bag of Tootsie Rolls.
“What the hell are those?”
“They are good. Here, you need to take the paper off of them.”
Crooked Walker snatched the bag from his grandson and gave him a stare that would melt steel. Now it was Odd Whitefeather’s turn to hang his head. The old man dug out a Tootsie Roll and handed the bag out to each of us. “Take one,” he ordered. “You too,” he said to Odd Whitefeather, who reluctantly took one from the bag.
We unwrapped the candies together and Crooked Walker held up a finger and began to speak in the old tongue. He continued for nearly five minutes. Finally, he popped the candy into his mouth and gestured for us to do the same. “Not bad,” he said, as he chewed with what looked to be a perfect set of white teeth. He waited for Terry and I to finish before we turned our attention to Odd Whitefeather, who was still working his mouth in a grotesque fashion. Brown dribble ran down his chin, but he didn’t seem to care.
Crooked Walker gave us that look again and he crossed his arms. “Tobacco, tell me, who has brought the tobacco? We need to smoke.”
“Last one,” Terry said, handing the cigarette to the old man before crumpling the pack and tossing it into the flames.
Crooked Walker held the cigarette as if it had fallen out of a dog’s butt.
“I had to give them up,” slurped Odd Whitefeather. “Doctor’s orders.”
“Do you actually expect me to ask the Great Spirit to accept this as a tobacco offering? I will be struck down where I stand.”
“Maybe not,” said Odd Whitefeather.
“Well, Grandson, maybe you could try it?”
“No can do. You know that the ceremony has to be done by the elder. You’ve got no choice in the matter.”
Crooked Walker scowled and the wind seemed to double in its intensity. He reached inside his robe and pulled out a long pipe made of a deer antler. He smashed the cigarette into the end of the pipe, put it into his mouth and stuck his head into the flames. By all rights his head should have caught fire; his eyebrows should’ve singed, his hair should’ve melted. He emerged unscathed, puffing away on the smoking pipe. He then passed it to Odd Whitefeather.
We passed the pipe as Crooked Walker began to speak the old words, except now he was speaking very fast. I couldn’t have understood what he was saying, even if I knew all of the words. He continued on like this until I drew on the pipe, only to find out that the tobacco had been cooked to ash.
“You are still here,” said Odd Whitefeather. “Good work.”
“Thank you.”
The wind began to die away and I caught the faintest glimpse of an orange glow in the sky. The cougars rose to their feet and stretched; the wolves began to howl. Sunshine burst through the darkness and it nearly knocked me over. Terry grinned as the temperature seemed to rise seventy degrees in the blink of an eye. He then quickly shed his coat and tossed it as far away from the fire as he could. I did the same.
“Now you can get out of that silly costume,” said Crooked Walker, who was removing the buffalo robe.
“Hey, at least it’s warm,” replied Odd Whitefeather. “I like to go fast on my machine.”
Terry and I exchanged a smile. I didn’t understand everything, but I understood enough for the moment. I studied his face for a moment and nearly lost my breath. I too, could see a little of myself in his sharp features. I was suddenly very proud of that. “What’s next?” I asked. “What are we supposed to do?”
“The two of you must decide which one of you will die,” said Crooked Walker. “I thought you knew that.”
“Take your time,” said Odd Whitefeather, who was still working on his Tootsie Roll. “It is good to see my grandfather.”
“They don’t have time!”
Terry and I looked at each other and I spoke first. “I’ll go,” I said. “I have nothing in this world and I should be the one to rescue Doug. I abandoned him when he needed me. I will go now.”
“Wait a minute,” said Terry, actually grabbing me by the arm. “I’ll be the one to go. I stole from my brother; I need to repay him for breaking his trust.”
“No, I won’t allow it,” I said.
“You’ve got no choice, little brother. I’ll kick your ass if you try to stop me.”
“You want to go a few rounds?”
Terry gave me a cold stare. “Right now?”
“Anytime you’re ready,” I said, pulling free of his grip and turning to face him.
“Stop,” ordered Crooked Walker. “That is good. You both passed the test. We will fight this Windigo.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“There is a test of bravery,” explained Odd Whitefeather. “You need a pure heart to be able to defeat a Windigo. A pure heart and some good friends,” he said, motioning to the animals.
“What would have happened if Terry would have let me go?”
“You would be dead, or you may have become a Windigo, yourself. It is not for me to say.”
“Nice test,” I said. “Make sure to give a quiz before the next one.”
“You betcha,” replied Odd Whitefeather. “Now, it is time for you and Blackbird to go. The animals will lead you on your search.”
Terry nodded, wandering away from the fire that had kept us warm during those many cold hours.
“How do we find him?” I asked.
“That shouldn’t be very hard,” called Terry from beyond the fire. “Come here and take a look at these.”
I didn’t need to move, for what he was pointing at was as plain as the nose on my face. Huge footprints were imprinted on the snow and they ringed the barrel. They looked as if they had been made by a pair of moccasins. I then nodded to the two old men. “What about you guys?” I asked. “Aren’t you going to come along with us?”
Crooked Walker shook his head. “No, we’ve got some praying to do,” he said. “Besides, I want my grandson to show me around my home. It has been a long time and I have missed it. I want to hear how he’s going to rebuild this place.”
Odd Whitefeather scratched his chin and surveyed the wreckage. “Who knows?” he said. “I could live to be one hundred and thirty, it has been done.”
Crooked Walker waved his hand in disgust. “Go now,” he said to Te
rry and I. “You won’t need to follow the trail; the animals will guide you there and will help you try to defeat the Windigo. Remember, it is very clever and it is a shape-shifter. You will need to be strong if you expect to return with your brother.”
And that was how we left them. I turned to give them one last look as we entered the woods and was shocked to see that they were already standing next to the ruined house. I shook my head in wonder, for it hadn’t taken us five seconds to reach the woods. I waved anyway.
With Bear leading the way, followed by the cougars, Terry and I followed the moose into the woods. The wolves trotted to each side of our party, like drill sergeants on a march. I was surprised at how full I felt after eating the little piece of candy. Terry and I talked a little, not about anything special and certainly not about my recent revelation.
The woods were thick here and even with the moose clearing much of the brush, the going was difficult in places. My bare arms were bleeding by the time we’d traveled ten minutes. Again, I wished I wasn’t wearing my stupid work uniform. I longed for a pair of good moccasins and an outfit made of buckskin, like the ones worn by Crooked Walker. I wanted to wear a head-dress decorated with the
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