by Danny Jewell
Billy took a deep breath and a long drink of coffee before he continued.
“Geronimo’s Chief, Mangas Coloradas, sent him to Cochise’s band for help in his revenge against the Mexican’s. It was during this incident that Geronimo got his name. The appellation stemmed from a battle in which, ignoring a deadly hail of bullets he repeatedly attacked Mexican soldiers with a knife. His name is surrounded in controversy but many say it stems from the appeals by the soldiers to Saint Jerome (Jeronimo) for help while others feel it was just a misinterpretation of his name”.
Patch interrupted by saying “What do you expect? The rest of the region sees the Apache as a ruthless/godless nation of savages”.
Billy smirked and shook his head. “Trouble is the Apache have always had a strong infrastructure of belief. Even when Geronimo was interviewed and is part of his autobiography in Nineteen-o-five he said “The teachings of our tribe were not specific. We had no idea of our relations and surroundings in the afterlife. We believed that there is a life after this one, but no one ever told me as to what part of man lived after death. We held that the discharge of one’s duty would make his future life more pleasant. We hoped that our family relations would be resumed”.
Patch said “Huh; this is Eighteen-hundred and Seventy-six”.
Billy realized the mistake that he had made and knew it was too late to walk it back. “I have future site” was all he could think of saying and it seemed to satisfy the old man.
“Later on Geronimo went on to say “Since my life as a prisoner has begun, I have heard the teachings of the White Man’s religion and in many respects believe it to be better than the religion of my fathers…. Believing that in a wise way it is good to go to church, and that associating with Christians would improve my character, I am not ashamed to be a Christian, and am glad to know the President of the United States is a Christian, for without the help of the Almighty I do not think he could rightly judge in ruling so many people. I have advised all my people who are not Christians, to study that religion, because it seems to the best religion in enabling one to live right”.
Billy took a moment to recollect what he knew then he chuckled and said “He joined a Dutch Reformed Church and was kicked out for gambling. The man always had mixed feelings about his faith and many times over told his fellow tribesmen that he held to the old Apache religion. Geronimo performed in Wild West Shows and in Nineteen-o-five he was out riding and was thrown from his horse where he was not discovered till the following day by a friend. He came down with pneumonia and died from it. He spoke his son on his deathbed and his last words were “I should not have surrendered; I should have fought till I was the last one alive”.
Billy exhaled; stood up and put his fist to his chest and proclaimed “I am proud to be Apache”.
Zeke was so caught up in the moment and stood up and shouted “I AM PROUD TO BE AN APACHE AND AM GLAD THAT THE GREAT SPIRIT HAS PUT KICKING BIRD IN MY LIFE”.
25
KARMA
Patch got up and said “That is some story” and went over to his wagon then he came back with a small bottle of whiskey and said “I said I don’t sell or trade it; that does not mean that I don’t keep a little on hand for medicinal purposes or celebrations. This is my way of saying thanks for the company and the story”.
He poured a little in each of their cups and due to the heightened level of excitement did not notice that when the old man went to pour some in his cup he held his finger over the end of the bottle.
They fell into a deep, drug induced sleep and were haunted by the nightmares of battles and a feeling of helplessness that gripped them to their core.
He saw Billy as a squaw. He was standing before an officer sitting behind a table. Patch was there with two other soldiers. Billy did not look as he did the night before. His clothes were torn and Zeke felt his hairs stand up on his neck when he uttered the word “raped”.
As his anger grew he heard the officer say “I am Lt. Bascom and I hear you have what the savages call “future site”. I want to know what you see! I want to end this!
At the sound of the officer’s name Billy’s demeanor changed, he broke into a screaming tirade directed solely at the man. “YOU ARE A KILLER OF WOMEN AND CHILDREn, YOU WILL HANG IN THE PITS OF HELL FOR ALL TO SEE”.
Lt Bascom laughed and said “I asked for a glimpse into the future and I guess you gave it to me. Take her into custody, I will ask more of her later”.
The guards started taking Billy from the tent when he broke loose and in three steps was nose to nose with the officer.
Everyone froze when Billy spoke in English “You call us “savages”. “You break treaties, your given word is of no value and you kill innocents all for greed and power, you call us savages and yet you are not half the man of an Apache Brave and less than that of a real leader like Cochise”.
The guards grabbed Billy and while he was being dragged out of the tent and the old man was asking for his fee for bringing the squaw in Zeke heard a voice calling his name and woke shouting “BILLY”!
Zeke found himself looking into the face of Sacagawea and she said “You were drugged and Billy was taken”.
“Can we stop what I saw happening in my dream from happening or is it too late?”
Zeke told her his dream while putting on his shoes and getting his gear.
She told him they would have to hurry.
As Mangas was as an Indian Chief he was no different in the way he performed his tasks as a horse. The landscape seemed to fly by in the pursuit of the wagon somewhere off in the distance.
He came over a rise to see a long valley and at the other end there was an army camp. He could barely make out the soldiers in the distance.
His eyes scanned the pathway and he spotted the wagon between himself and the camp. It had pulled off to the side.
Just as Zeke approached the wagon there was a flash of light that lit up the canvas that was accompanied by a scream and was followed up by several colorful metaphors directed at Billy. He jumped up on seat and as he looked through the opening saw Billy on his back with Patch on top of him with his left hand holding his forehead and his right drawn back as if to strike Billy.
Zeke startled the old man and with a quick shove sent him to the back of the wagon.
He looked down at Billy and was relieved to see he was okay. “Looks like I made it just in time”. And Billy replied “You ain’t just a kiddin”.
Under protest Zeke shoved the old man out the back of the wagon where he landed on his face and as he started to roll over and come to his feet, found two horses with their hoofs holding him in place.
Looking at the two horses and then seeing Black Buffalo and Kicking Bird beside them made the old man scared beyond anything he had ever known.
“What did she do to me? How did you come out of that sleep? I wasn’t going to do anything that those Blue Belly’s would not have done. I was going to sell her; after all that is how I make my living”.
Billy was mad as he could be. He had almost been sent to a brothel in California and now some old man had tried to take advantage of him in an old wagon. He looked at Zeke and then at the old man and said “A true Apache would take what he could and burn the rest to the ground”.
Zeke said “Sounds good to me”.
Patch was horrified “Not my wagon; it is all I have”.
Horror turned to a point of fear that reaches the very depth of ones being when one of the horses said “You should have thought of that when you took the female Indian. You are like most; you are a perfunctory being that never figures in what will happen if you make a wrong choice in life”.
Billy unhitched the horses and as he did he hears Zeke yell his name.
The horses were freed and Billy went back to the end of the wagon to see Zeke holding up a floor board. Billy said “Wheeew and he is a liar to boot”. Both me
n leaned down and looked under the wagon.
They came back to where Patch was and Zeke said “Seems our friend here has more brass than a room full of spittoons. He, along with everything else was wanting to march into an army encampment with a load of stolen rifles hidden under the bed of his wagon.
“I said I was a trader” Patch retorted.
It was at that point that the whole situation changed.
Sacagawea and Mangas Coloradas appeared and then Cochise came from out of nowhere.
Cochise was in no mood for niceties and it showed. He pushed everyone aside and when Patch saw him he tried to scramble to get away.
If what was shown from the old man to be fear before, what was being shown on the old man’s face was as real as real could be.
Cochise had the look of triumph on his face. “We are at Apache Pass and in the year Eighteen Sixty-One. Don’t each of you find it odd that we went from Eighteen Seventy-six to this time and our friend here did not even say a word”.
“Maybe he did not even not even notice”, Billy said, “after all we are in this place where time does not seem to be relevant” Cochise spoke with bitter reverence to the place he was in “We are in Apache Pass and it is the one place I do not wish to be. Too much pain and sorrow has taken place here and it is not only due to the twenty-five years of bloodshed between the Pindah and the Apache but it is also the place where I was lied to and lied about when it came to dealings with the white man. The plan to take my adopted son Merejildo Grijalva was conceived here. It was here that my brother-in-law was viciously murdered for trying to steal some sugar. After that the murderer felt it best to head out for silver country”. Out of nowhere Cochise’s lance appeared and he placed the tip of it in the chest of the old man and said “I once challenged a white man to a duel here; my lance against his pistol and he was too scared to take my challenge and now the spirits have seen it fit that I get my chance to avenge to pain and sorrow caused by one James Henry Tavis”.
The old black man broke into hysterical laughter and changed into a white man with narrow features and eyes that seemed to not stop twitching.
“I have always bested you. You are a loser and a poor excuse of an Indian” he told Cochise.
“What can we do with him” asked Sacagawea.
“He is here and most likely he has unwittingly helping our two achieve their goals and as far as, what to do with him, if I am correct, his life has already been judged”. Cochise took the tip of his lance and made a cut down the chest of the man. Darkness flowed from the wound with moans and shrieks and as suddenly as the cut appeared, it closed. The noise made from the wound was deafening and made Billy and Zeke place their hands over their ears.
Billy was in awe; “What was that”?
Cochise laughed “The sounds of someone who spent their lives telling everyone how great they were at the expense of others. It is, Judgement of the Damned”.
Cochise was a man that did not like to waste his words and in this matter he was no different. “You have been sent here to show me that after all the pain you caused, you have at this moment helped me achieve one of my greatest desires in this after life and for that I thank the Great Spirit”.
Tavis got up, dusted himself off and started to walk away while saying “You are a loser and once again I walk away knowing……… His words were cut short. The big Ash Tree he was walking past reached out and with its long limbs, curled themselves around him like a vine. As everyone watched in amazement, the center of the tree split open the reveal a dark abyss. Slowly, James Tavis was being shoved into the gaping hole from which the sounds of souls screaming and begging for help could be heard. He looked back at Cochise and yelled “HELP ME”.
As Cochise and the others watch what was once a man with all there was to look forward to disappear into the darkness and the hole closed back up and the tree return to the way it was before the air seemed to grow much lighter as if something evil had passed through.
Zeke was the first to speak “I am not sure as to what just happened but I know one thing; I hope I can remember it all when I sit down and write about it this night at the campfire”.
Cochise walked away singing an old Apache chant thanking the spirits for what he had just witnessed.
26
ECHOES OF HATE
The two of them did as they said they would and set the wagon ablaze then mounted the horses and rode to safety. The day was getting long and they needed a place to stop and recollect all that had happened.
The evening was uneventful as the two stopped to take rest for the night.
As Billy was making a fire, Zeke asked him what happened to Bascom, after all no man should be honored for being dishonorable.
Billy put the beans and meat into a pot over the flames and stood up in thought. “Funny you should mention it after what we saw today”.
He walked over and handed Zeke a cup of coffee and sat cross-legged while telling what he knew of one Lt. George N. Bascom.
“He was the catalyst for the “Apache War” and accused Cochise of taking the boy “Felix Ward” who later was known to be called “Mickey Free”. He was one poor example of leadership and even at that he was transferred after the Civil War to the 7th Regiment and promoted to Captain”.
Billy had to think for a moment when he said “It is to my understanding that he was involved in the Battle of Val Verde in New Mexico and was killed during the fight. To show how messed up history can be, they named a place called Fort Bascom in his honor. Honor is one thing the man never could display and they name a place after a butcherer of women and children.
Zeke said “I want to go and see this place in Apache Pass”.
Billy said “Sorry, all out of time machines and flying carpets”.
“One thing I will tell you though, at the beginning of it all, Cochise was asked to come to the army encampment to speak of the taking of the boy. Cochise did so in honor of the peace between the White Man and the Apache.
Bascom did not believe a word of what was said and wanted to imprison Cochise and before he could do so, Cochise took out a knife and cut his way out of the tent. We still refer this as “The Cutting of the Tent”. I know it is not dramatic but we are a people set on straight forward and simple truths. Anyway that sorry excuse of an officer held Cochise’s Brother and Nephews as captive. Cochise felt the best solution would be to take hostages from a nearby ranch and trade them for his family. Bascom was so set on getting the man that he would not do it. Both sides ended up executing their hostages and this drove Cochise into a hate for all White Men. It was later found that the boy was kidnapped by the Coyotero Apaches”.
Both men were just about ready for the night to end and get some rest when the dying fire came to life in a blaze that blinded their sight for a moment. Out of the flames came a figure bathed in white and although it had no real discernable features the two of them understood it to be the one thing they never felt they would encounter “an angel”.
As the figure took on a shape that resembled that of a man, it reached back into the flames and next thing the two of them heard was someone complaining “I won’t do it, you can’t make me, I am an officer of the United States Government” and then out of the fire came a man dressed in the uniform of a Calvary Officer.
Zeke said “Bascom”.
Billy said “Murderer”.
Before he could speak anymore the Angel spoke to them in their heads. The voice seemed to be soft and had a sound that was ethereal like the wind talking to them.
“I am “Kushiel” the angel of “punishment” and I have been sent to grant you your request. I also figured it would be good to have a guide. Let me introduce you to Lt. George Bascom. He was pulled from “The Valley of Lost Souls” to see if he can demonstrate a form of atonement for his actions”.
“I have nothing to regret or atone
for I am…. Aiiiieeeeeee was the next thing from his lips as the flames from the fire formed tentacles that reached out and pierced the form that once was a man.
Kushiel said “You were saying”.
Bascom could only say “Alright, alright, I will do it”.
Instantly they were at the encampment watching Billy’s story unfold.
They watched as the officer railed against the Apache Nation and how they were an unclean and savage people that needed to be exterminated.
Billy could not contain his anger and tried to get at their guide only to find a force he could not see or touch hold him back. “You could not even carry out your own orders, you are truly gutless. Furthermore, you stated in your letter to your superiors that Cochise was accompanied by Francisco, a leader of the Coyotero Apache Indians and this is impossible considering that you killed all those you held hostage and Cochise was the only one that escaped. You covered your butt to save your career. The Coyotero Apache Indians are the ones that took the Felix Ward kid who was found later and given the position of scout and interpreter. If you had a leader of the Coyotero there with you, the matter would have been resolved. You had the brother of Cochise and his nephews hanged. Their bodies remained there for two years because of their beliefs that it is wrong to disturb the dead. You could not even give them a decent burial”.
Bascom said “I had to do what I was ordered to do. As for hanging them, they got what they deserved”.
The Angel (Kushiel) interrupted “You see, when evil takes control over one’s spirit, there is no going back for some, even when given the opportunity to atone for their indiscretions”.
