“What the fuck?” Cici stammered, when she felt Clara taking off her diamond stud earrings.
“We’ll have to keep your hair over your ears. A free-born woman would not pierce them,” Clara answered.
“You can get your hands off my damn earrings, lady.” Cici stood up. “I’ve had enough of this crap. You tell your friends I’m pressing charges for kidnapping.” She glared at the diamond in Clara’s fingers, “And larceny, if they don’t get us the hell out of here.”
“Where’s your underwear?” Henry demanded. He was holding the clothes they had removed in his arms.
“She didn’t give us any,” Aubrey replied. The man just stared at her. Aubrey’s eyes widened. “For god’s sakes, you don’t expect us to walk around bare assed under these tents, do you?” The worn dresses were so thin that the lace of her bra was clearly outlined in the bodice. She could imagine her nipples poking proudly against the calico and sheer apron.
The man threw their clothes on the bed and kicked Kayla’s backpack when he stormed up to them. He gripped Aubrey’s jaw so hard that her teeth cut into her cheeks. Aubrey was terrified at his furious expression, and Cici slowly sank her bulk into her chair. Kayla and Cici were too stunned to move or speak.
“Listen to me, girl. The last traveler we tried to help cost me a week of being laid up before I could even help Clara with some of the chores. That was only one girl… and they got her anyway. If we had any sense, we’d drop your asses back in the wheat field and be done with it. Now, you’re either going to start listening to what we’re telling you, or you can walk your ass out the door right now.”
All three girls were crying, and Henry tossed Aubrey’s chin to the side when he released her. He glared at all three of them. “You aren’t in Kansas any more. Don’t you get it?” Henry turned to Kayla. “What did you do? Who was the Indian?”
“I… I… stopped going out with Bobby. I caught him doing drugs and stealing my ATM card, again.” Kayla glanced at Cici and Aubrey. She had not told them about Bobby taking her bank card.
“That’s why you cancelled on Vegas, isn’t it?” Cici murmured, finally understanding that Bobby had stolen Kayla’s money.
Kayla nodded, and turned back to Henry. Tears were rolling down her cheeks. “He was only half Indian, but his grandmother was full-blooded. She’s the one that drew the map to the mound. Her name is Hehewuti.”
Clara gasped. “Oh god, Henry. She’s a warrior spirit guide.”
Henry ran his fingers through his shaggy brown hair. “The Wehali shaman probably knows they’re here all ready, then.” He stopped pacing in front of Kayla and pointed. “You, have to leave. Your friends can stay if they want to listen, but the Indians will be tracking you.”
“No,” Aubrey exclaimed. “Look, I’m not saying we’re buying into this stuff, but we are not splitting up. We’ll all leave.” Aubrey stood and said, “Come on. Let’s get changed and grab our stuff. There’s still enough daylight to make it to a phone.”
Clara thought of Rebecca again, and something snapped. “There is no phone,” she shrieked. Her fingers were shaking while she untied the top of her apron and it fell onto the skirt. She unbuttoned the top of her dress and reached in and pulled her left breast out. Aubrey and Kayla gasped, and Cici whimpered. “Do you think I did this to myself? Do you think this is a part of some joke?”
Pierced through her areola was a claw of some animal. It was yellowed and large, and the pain must have been excruciating. “This is a mark from Tocho, the Mountain Lion. This,” she lifted her breast and held it closer, “this is what they do for protection. He can come back for me whenever he wants… and he has. Because of the claw, no other warriors can have me.”
“This can’t be happening,” Cici cried. “It… it just can’t be.”
“She said she was going to get things back into balance with the spirits,” Kayla whispered. “Out of everything we’ve come up with, this is the only explanation that makes any crazy sort of sense.”
Clara swiped at angry tears while she redressed. “Henry? We have to decide. I don’t think it’s going to make any difference if we send the one girl away. The woman who sent her is a warrior guide. They will know she wasn’t sent on alone after disrespecting that boy.”
“Disrespecting Bobby? He’s the one who stole from me.” Kayla began shaking. Oh god, what have I done?
“The fucking Indians don’t see it that way,” Henry said. “To them, anything a woman has, belongs to her man… sometimes to the whole tribe.”
“We weren’t even engaged, or anything,” Kayla argued.
“Hehewuti thought you were,” Aubrey murmured. “When I picked you up that time, she told me how I could come and see an Indian ceremony.” Somehow, she had known the old Indian woman was involved.
Cici had been silent since Clara had unbuttoned her dress. “You’re not kidding, are you?” she asked quietly. She looked up at Henry. “How do we get back?”
Henry laughed. “There is no going back. Those mounds are a one way trip.”
“We’ll be missed,” Aubrey answered. Her voice was flat, and not hopeful.
“So what? You’ll be missed about as much as I was,” Henry replied. “It won’t do any good. Nobody’s ever going to find you.”
The stunned women sat quietly at the table while Henry collected all of their belongings and buried them next to Rebecca’s old camping gear. He placed a stone to mark the spot, and stood up. Clara had only been with him since Rebecca showed up at the door. There were six other stones surrounding hers, marking the possessions of travelers he had taken in during the years before Clara had joined him.
As far as punishment, Henry had beaten the crap out of the Indian trying to date his sister. He knew he could have done much worse than he ended up. Thanks to his father, he knew about farming… and that was valuable to the Wehali. Henry spent ten years alone, except for the travelers, before he finally told Tocho he was not going to work unless they gave him a woman.
Tocho traded his own captive to keep Henry working the wheat field. Even though Henry traded him a damn good bay, the bastard still took it out on him whenever they came to collect travelers. Henry thought about Aubrey. Kayla was out; they would definitely want her… and the fat one was just as unappealing as Rebecca had been. He might be able to trade Clara back to Tocho for Aubrey, though.
Clara had never warmed up to him, and now she was in her thirties and things were beginning to get soft on her. She was even turning grey, from the hard farm work. Ya, that bastard Indian doesn’t like giving up his woman to me. I’ll talk him into another trade. Henry imagined Aubrey’s youthful body stretched under him and staring into her green eyes while he fucked her.
Clara kept the young women in the house while Henry hid their belongings. She would not risk the girls trying to find trinkets from their packs. She poured them some tea made from herbs in her garden and sat down with them. “You’re going to have to do chores so you look like you fit in. The Wehali have some kind of tribal law that says they won’t take a daughter born to us here. We haven’t seen them in a couple of years, so we can try saying that you’re free-born and visiting from the east.” Clara sipped some tea, and sighed.
“I don’t think it’s going to work. Rebecca was real good at trying to keep calm when I talked to her, but when they showed up she lost it. They’re tricky. The old woman would have given the shaman information through the chanting, and the Indians will use it.”
“Clara? How come you and Henry are free?” Aubrey asked.
“Henry knew about farming. That whole field is his, and it supports three Indian settlements. He was worth more here.” Clara took another sip of tea and looked at Kayla. “Like you, I dumped an Indian boy. He was only a quarter Indian from a minor tribe, so I was sent alone. Still, I spent almost eight years with the Wehali and Tocho before he traded me to Henry for one of his horses.”
Aubrey was still in shock, and every once in a while tears would spill dow
n her face. “It’s still so hard to believe, that…”
Clara put her hand on Aubrey’s. “I know. God, I thought someone had slipped me drugs, or something.” She looked up at the three of them. “Look, if they get you, and if you can make it with them, they might let you go, eventually. You can’t get back to the old world, but they trade captives to homesteaders and farmers, sometimes.”
Clara thought of her life with Henry. He was cold towards her, fucking her with no consideration for her needs. Nights with Tocho had been passionate, and he would torment her with pleasure until she was worn out. He changed when he decided to trade her to the farmer. She had begged him, and did not understand why she had to leave the tribe. Clara could see in his dark eyes how he wanted her, yet he treated her worse than a stranger, taking out his anger at Henry on both of them when the warriors came to the farm to collect the travelers.
“What are the chances of us going someplace to hide? Is there anyplace you’ve heard of?” Kayla asked.
Clara shook her head. “The Indians know every part of this land, and I doubt you girls have the skills to survive out there. There aren’t any stores or anyplace to get supplies. They’ve never let us get organized enough to build a town. I’ve heard of a couple of homesteads like this one, from my time with the tribe. The biggest group of whites run a ranch twenty miles south of here. I’ve never seen it, but Henry told me the Indians guided some of the men up here to get hay when they had a bad winter.”
“From what I can figure out… at least, it’s the way I think of it… this is sort of an alternative reality. The Indians’ spirits jumped here and they never let the white man take over. I don’t know if we’re stuck in the 1800’s, or if something like this has happened other places in the world. Maybe this is a payback place, where the more primitive people were ready and squashed the wars and other people conquering them.”
“You think we’re going to get caught, don’t you?” Aubrey asked.
“Yes, Aubrey, I think you’ll be caught. And then Henry and I will be punished… and we’ll still open our door to travelers. It’s the only free decision we have. Once we don’t accept the travelers, our spirits will have died.” Clara sighed. “I guess that’s the only way to get back.”
Henry walked back into the cabin, and Clara asked, “Do you need help with the livestock?”
“Nah, I took care of it while I was out there. I figured you ladies might do better talking without me around.” He turned to Aubrey. “I’m sorry if I hurt you.”
“I’m fine, Henry. Thank you so much for trying to help us. I feel awful about how much trouble you’ll be in if they catch us here. Would it be better if we tried to reach the ranch? Clara says that there are more people there,” Aubrey suggested.
“No,” Henry answered. He leaned against a pole beam support by the stove. “They’ll kill the men if they catch you hiding there. Indians can run the herd and horses until enough whites show up to train. They’ll bust me up, but they won’t kill me. They need me for the wheat.”
“How long before they show up?” Cici quivered.
Henry shrugged. “A week, maybe. They’ll already be down from the mountains, hunting and gathering vegetables for the winter, so they aren’t far off.” Henry hated seeing the hopeful nervousness in Clara’s eyes. She was thinking about the damn Indian again.
“Don’t they check on you?” Kayla asked.
“Why? Where the hell are we going to go? They’ll send captive harvesters to the field in a month or so, but they never come near the house. Besides, I’ve got a home, a good woman,” he squeezed Clara’s hand, “and they pretty much don’t bother me.”
“Except when travelers come,” Aubrey whispered.
“Yep… except when travelers come.” Henry turned to Kayla. “Which mound was it?”
“It was in Kentucky,” she answered.
“Same one as Rebecca. Me, I got tripped in Illinois and woke up in a Nebraska cornfield. Clara, she was in New Mexico. Found herself waking up in a field of clover, but we’ve never figured out what state it would have been.”
“This is all so surreal,” Kayla murmured.
“It would have made a great final thesis.” Something about Cici mentioning college made all three girls cry again.
They were silent through dinner, and Clara made a bed on the floor for them. She put one quilt on the wood planks, rolled another for a pillow, and left one to cover themselves with.
“These are beautiful.” Cici ran her fingertips over the intricate, even stitches. “My grandmother used to quilt. I never had the patience.”
“Yes, well, I have plenty of time out here. No television,” Clara smiled. “Worst thing is the light. Even after all these years, the kerosene stinks, and the candles, besides not really giving off enough light, are a pain to make. We learn to adjust our days to the sun. Get some sleep. You’ll have a busy day tomorrow.”
Clara closed the curtain, and the girls could hear the rustling of clothes being removed. The bed squeaked when they climbed into it, but then there was silence.
A while later, Kayla got up. Aubrey saw her shadow by the window. She’s looking for lights. Aubrey knew some of the initial shock and disbelief was wearing off, and now Kayla was feeling guilty for getting them involved. When she climbed back under the covers, Aubrey found her hand and held it. “It’s okay, Kayla. It’s not your fault.”
“Oh god, Aubrey. Of course it is.”
Aubrey could tell that she was crying again. “Hey, you did tell us the Indian mound was mystical. Go to sleep, Kayla. We have a lot to adjust to.”
* * * * *
The shaman threw the bones, and he was rewarded with the same configuration again. The U shaped claws of the eagle were at the top and bottom of his toss. They would belong to the Wehali tribe. Three were grouped close together in the center. One was a piece of a dog’s rib with a raven claw touching it; one was the tip of a cow horn that had split on his first toss, and one was the wolf tooth. Surrounding these were other bones to express position in the tribe.
The old man picked up his long pipe and inhaled the herbal smoke. Holding his breath, he laid the pipe down. His frail hands gathered the bones, and he blew the smoke on them while he placed them back into the leather pouch. The spirits had given a very good gift to the tribe.
The whole tribe had seen the blue smoke from the center fire, and they waited for his words. “It is Hehewuti who has sent three spirits. One has the shadow of the raven and she has gravely dishonored a warrior. The other two are friends that are close to her.”
This had special meaning to the tribe and there were agreeable murmurs. To just send the one who was to be punished would be acceptable. To send friends close to her was an honor. Hehewuti was known to be ambitious, though these were the first she had sent to them in many years. The last had been Ganali, Tokala’s white ox.
The disrespectful one would be interesting to work with. Initially, the shaman thought that she would belong to the tribe. She could be used as they decided, as long as she was not killed or made unfit… unless the tribe agreed she should be. There was a strange symbol next to the raven claw, touching the piece of dog rib. He would watch for the signs closely.
“Are the others women or men?” Chief Paytah asked.
“Women, both of them,” the old man replied.
“And you have seen their future with the tribe? Who will own them?” the chief asked.
“One has been shown with the sign of the cow,” the shaman informed him. The tribe murmured again, this time with great enthusiasm.
“And the other?” the chief asked. He was very pleased with the offering, though she would also belong to the whole tribe.
The shaman lifted a bony finger and pointed to the fierce warrior sitting to the chief’s right side. It was Chief Paytah’s eldest son. “Her sign is the wolf claw. She will belong to you, Nashoba.”
Nashoba narrowed his eyes. There were so few travelers, and to be honored with a white w
oman of his own was a statement to his fierceness and virility. “They are in the wheat field?”
The shaman nodded. “Hehewuti’s magic was very strong. I felt several spirit guides were with her.” The shaman would discuss the rest of the vision with the chief in private. “The raven must have wronged the tribe badly to have created such energy. I have seen much, Nashoba. The women will go to the farmer.”
“He will not hide them,” Tocho argued. “Not after the last one. The woman will not allow it.”
“Perhaps your influence on Sahkyo has weakened,” Tokala suggested. Tocho glared at his insult, and Tokala melted into the crowd behind his brother.
“It doesn’t matter,” Nashoba shrugged. “It will be easier to gather them, and they will not risk getting hurt if they are hiding with them.”
The shaman raised his hand for silence. “You have three days, and then the women will leave. The bones trailed towards the south.”
“The ranch,” Nashoba said. He smiled, and his white teeth gleamed against his tan face. “They already seek the protection of a man.”
Nashoba gathered a small group of warriors to collect the spirit guide’s offering. They rode east towards the wheat field, just at daybreak.
Chapter III
Clara had spent the week teaching the girls simple chores and adjusting food supplies. She had no extra cloth to make them more than the one dress they each wore. Clara, herself, was down to two, and by the time they got supplies in the fall from the harvest, it would probably be unnecessary. The young women splashed in the stream to wash off, and walked in the warm summer sun until their dresses dried. Clara tried to be optimistic, but she could not push away the foreboding sense that they would be leaving… just like Rebecca had three years ago.
It was Aubrey’s turn to knead the bread dough. Her arms ached, and she looked at Clara who was peeling vegetables. “You do this every day?”
“No, with just Henry and me I can stretch a loaf for three.” Clara looked across the table to Kayla. The pretty young woman was concentrating on her task, and a few wisps of her dark hair had escaped her bonnet. Her sapphire eyes were narrowed on her work. “Careful, Kayla, always away from you.”
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