The Watcher: A Tony Hunter Novel

by H. Leslie Simmons

  Chapter 40

  The Indian watched and listened with his eyes barely above the waters of the lake. It was hard for him to believe that they thought he would be stupid enough to walk into their trap. He was disturbed by the weapons they had but not the guns, flairs, or even the explosives. He knew that the only weapons they carried that could hurt him were the stone knife, tomahawk, and bolo.

  He watched as they walked away and went into Hunter’s house before retreating into the mine that was below water. He didn’t like having to use that mine although the water didn’t really bother him. What bothered him was being away from all his prizes. He had watched the police take all his prizes away and seal the mine they were in. He knew that he would have to open that mine again before he went back to sleep. The others were not deep enough and he ran the risk of being discovered when he was asleep and couldn’t defend himself. He might be safer in the underwater mine but it was very shallow and his body would not be protected there from fish that might eat his body. He had managed to close the face of his home mine and keep wild animals out that would damage his body while he was asleep but he couldn’t think of a way to do the same with the fishes.

  Sometimes he thought that perhaps he should let the animals destroy him. At times, he had felt weary of the responsibility of destroying evil as was had been bestowed on him at birth and was even included in his birth name. he deeply felt the responsibility but sometimes wished that there was one he could turn it over to. He knew that such was no longer possible. All those who knew what he knew and could do what he could do no longer existed. His era had vanished long years ago, but he could still wish for it to change, although he knew that the wish would never be granted and that he would have to continue with his quest throughout eternity.

  He did sorely want to destroy that Hunter man who had escaped him those many years ago during his last previous awakening. He would like to kill all three of them. He wondered how they had come to know the hateful name given to him by ones who buried and cursed him. He wanted to shout his birth name, Askuwheteu, to them and hold them down until they learned to say it, instead of the hated Matchitehew which he despised with all his heart.

  Askuwheteu was more appropriate anyway. He thought it was his responsibility to watch for evil and destroy it at every turn and he had done so whenever he was able including now in his latest awakening.

  He wondered what these modern people would try next.

  Chapter 41

  The next evening after dark Tony once again walked on the beach just as he had done the night before, while Maria and Thad watched from behind the big downed oak. When they had been in position watching Tony with care for about an hour Maia saw a figure walking along the beach toward Tony from the direction of the Barker house. They were instantly up and on alert, trying to decide whether to go toward Tony or to remain in hiding. She stood up, but Thad reached out and grabbed her arm pulling her back down. “Wait. Let’s see what this is all about.”

  Tony watching the figure approaching in the darkness removed the knife from his belt and waited. He wondered if this was it; if the Indian had finally come out of hiding. He was not certain that he could handle the Indian. When the figure was closer he could see that it was Clay Barker coming toward him.

  “Stop Clay. Don’t come closer.”

  “What’s the problem Mr. Hunter. What are you doing out here in the dark?”

  “I’m telling you to stop right there.”

  “It’s just me, Mr. Hunter.”

  “Clay, you know that this Indian can look like anything or anyone he wants to look like. I have to be sure that it is really you I’m looking at.”

  “Yea, I’ve heard those stories, But I had no idea they were true. Okay, I’ll wait, but how can I prove top you who I am?”

  Tony could not think of a way. Finally, he did. He called Maria on her cell phone. Hey, Baby. I want you to help me find out if this person in front of me is really Clay Barker. Call him on his phone.”

  “I don’t know his number.”

  Clay had the answer to that. He told Tony his number and Tony conveyed that to Maria. Fifteen seconds later Clay’s phone sounded with Dixie.

  It surprised Tony that a young fellow in this day would use Dixie as his call sound, but he was absolutely certain that Matchitehew would not. “You shouldn’t be out here, Clay. It’s dangerous.

  “How do, Mr. Hunter. What are you doing out here anyway?”

  “We are trying to entice Matchitehew to come out and fight. An Indian Medicine Woman told us how to fight him and gave us some weapons that would kill him. It seems that modern weapons are ineffective. He has been shot many times, including several times by me, with no effect. We are going to use weapons from his time. We are told that they will work.”

  “Awesome. Can I help.”

  “It’s too dangerous”

  “Maybe he can help.” Thad had come up behind Tony. “It’s pretty obvious that your walking up and down out here isn’t interesting to him. Perhaps he would be enticed by a younger potential victim.”

  “We can’t allow that. He is not of age. It would be criminal to endanger him that way.” Maria was showing her cop persona.

  “We could protect him.” Thad was not sure of it but could think of no better way to entice that Indian out of the water. “Well, it’s for sure that we can’t go in the water after him. If he won’t come out to attack Tony than we are stymied.”

  Clay spoke up. “Can I say something here? This thing has killed two of my friends and put another in the hospital with injuries he may never full recover from. If you can’t do this alone than why not let me help. I’ll be careful. And you can be right there in a jiffy if I get in to trouble. Anyway, if we don’t get rid of it he will kill more of my friends and maybe even me. Can’t just hide in the house twenty-four seven. You guys know how to eliminate it. Why can’t I help?”

  Maria was not convinced. “Because you are too young. You kids have no sense of mortality.”

  “Yea, tell that to Carla, and Bobby, and your niece Ana. I am well aware of the fact that I can die. I have seen my friends do it at the hands of this monster. We have to get rid of it before more of us are killed.”

  “Having been in the same boat, I have to agree with him,” Tony was convinced that the only way to entice Matchitehew out was to use the kind of bait he would fall for.

  They argued for a while longer but finally decided that they would have Clay act as bait, but they would wait at least three days to hope to throw the Indian off the track and dissuade him from linking the last two nights with the appearance of Clay on the beach.

  Chapter 42

  On the third night after they decided to allow Clay to act as bait, Clay and two of his friends built a small fire and had a marshmallow roast of the beach starting before dark and going on until after dark. As they prearranged, at about eight o’clock the other two boys left, leaving Clay by the fire alone. He was there about ten minutes when the Indian came up out of the water and started walking toward him.

  Clay saw him right away and stood taking a burning stick from the fire and waving it toward the Indian.

  Matchitehew ignored the fire and grabbed for Clay who darted away down the beach toward his home.

  Matchitehew chased and stopped just short of Tony who had come down from his hiding place in the brush and undergrowth next to the beach. “Here Matchitehew, try me instead.”

  Seeing that Tony was there, Clay pulled out his phone and began recording what was happening.

  “Askuwheteu” the Indian shouted in his native tongue. “My name is Askuwheteu. Stop calling me that vile name given to me by my tormentors, or I will skin you alive slowly instead of just killing you.”

  Tony had no idea what the Indian was saying and continued toward him, brandishing the knife. “Maybe you would like a piece of this.”

  The Indian hesitated. He was wary of the knife for some reason he did not understand. Nothing these people had don
e to him with their weapons had had any effect except to make him stagger a little when they shot him. What could this man do with his stone knife. But it was a weapon from his own time. Perhaps it could harm him. After a few moments of hesitation, he charged Tony.

  Tony was able to step aside, trip the Indian, and slash his arm as he fell. Once again his karate black belt training had come in handy, but he knew that he might not be able to hurt the Indian with it, at least not enough, and would need to be very careful.

  Askuwheteu was amazed. The knife had opened a gash on his left arm just below his elbow. The pain was considerable. He had felt nothing like it since he was a boy those many years ago when he fell from a tree and broke his leg. Evidently the stone knife could do him harm, but now that he knew this he would fight the man as he learned to do as a Powhatan warrior all those many years ago. He knew that his prowess would overcome this puny modern man with no knowledge of the warrior training. It did worry him a little that the man had could catch him so off guard with his tripping maneuver. Nevertheless, it would not happen again. He got to his feet and started toward the man. Something struck him in his side sending a sharp pain through his rib cage. The projectile had come from some distance up the beach. He turned to look in that direction and saw the police woman swinging what looked like a stone in a sling of some sort. He recognized it as another weapon from his time, a leather strap used to throw stones at an enemy, just in time to duck the stone she threw at him as it sailed too closely over his head. Then he saw the old man coming toward him brandishing a stone tomahawk, another weapon that might be able to harm him. He was surprised. Where did these modern people get such weapons? He decided to ponder that question somewhere else and ran toward the water with the three people chasing him. They did not follow him into the water and he retreated to the mine cave to see if he could treat his cut arm. His rib ached from where the stone had hit him but the water helped to ease that pain some. He would have to leave the water as soon as he could to find some leaves and the like to bind his cut arm and perhaps some herbs to ease the pain from the cut.

  Upset that the Indian had escaped them, Tony sat by the fire and the others joined him.

  Clay stood by the edge of the beach where the underbrush started. “So, what do we do now?”

  Tony stirred the fire. “Nothing else we can do. I don’t think he will come back tonight.

  Thad stood. “I think I’m going home now. Helen knows what we are doing and will be worried. It was all I could do to convince her to not come out here with us.” He turned to leave.

  Maria stood and started after him. “Thad, please leave us the tomahawk.”

  He hesitated. He knew that is was the only defense he had against the Indian, but they were more likely to run into the Indian than he was. He turned back and handed her the tomahawk.

  Clay came back to Tony. “If it’s alright with you, Mr. Hunter, I think I’ll go on home too.”

  “Sure Clay and thanks for your help. Before you do, please send me the video you made here. And you be careful you hear. Don’t try to confront this thing, and if you have any contact, make yourself scare and cell me immediately.”

  Clay sent the video to Tony’s phone immediately. “Yes Sir. After what I just saw, you don’t have to tell me that twice.”

  “Please be extra careful Clay. What you did tonight may make you a target for revenge.”

  “I understand. I’ll be extra careful until you get rid of this thing.”

  Tony caught up with Maria and Thad heading up the beach to his house. “I hope we haven’t put Clay in a spot with this.”

  Maria put her arm beneath his and her had around his back as they walked. “I’ll have a unit around the Barker house 24/7 until we have destroyed the Indian.”

  Chapter 43

  Back home, Tony decided to call the medicine woman even though it was after office hours. She answered on the first ring. “I had a feeling you might be calling me tonight. Did you get him.”

  “We encountered him tonight, but we got away. He ran away and dove into the lake after Maria hit him with a rock thrown with the bolo and I cut his arm with the knife. While we were fighting, him he shouted something we did not understand. We were wondering if you might understand it. We got pictures of the encounter, with sound.”

  “Please send them and I’ll see what I can do.”

  Twenty minutes later she called him back. “Interesting. His picture looks exactly like the drawings we have from his time. We think he may have run away because he realized that he could be hurt by weapons from his own time. You called him Matchitehew and he shouted ‘Askuwheteu. My name is Askuwheteu. Stop calling me that vile name given to me by my tormentors, or I will skin you alive slowly instead of just killing you.’ I have shown this to two members of my tribe who are familiar with the language and meaning of the words. Askuwheteu is an Algonquin name that translates to ‘he keeps watch’ in modern language and ‘the watcher’ in the ancient language. We think it might have been either his birth name or his nickname from when he was a teen. Matchitehew is apparently the name given him by the people who buried him alive. It’s understandable that he would dislike that name. I hope this helps.”

  “We appreciate your help.”

  “Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.”

  Tony and Maria went to bed early that night. They were both exhausted, not from the exertion but rather from the anxiety. They cuddled but that was it.

  Tony dreamed about the Indian. In it, the Indian came upon Tony on the beach and attacked him with a gun. He was surprised that the Indian would take to using a modern weapon. The Indian fired at him but didn’t seem to understand how the weapon worked and missed him badly. Tony charged him and they struggled. The Indian dragged him into the lake and pulled him out into the water to where he could not keep his head above water.

  “Tony, wake up. You’re dreaming.”

  Startled, he sat up in bed.

  “What were you dreaming?”

  The dream faded almost immediately. “Something about the Indian. Nothing serious.”

  He lay awake for some time after that before he dozed off.

  Maria shook him again. “Tony, wake up. I think somebody’s in the house.”

  He was awake instantly. “What did you hear?”

  “Sounded like somebody moving around downstairs. Maybe more than one person. I heard voices too.”

  “I’ll check. You stay here.”

  “Fat chance.”

  He took the Glock from the drawer in the night stand next to the bed started toward the door.

  She grabbed his arm and handed him the stone knife. “Better take this too. It might be Matchitehew.”

  He took the knife, stuck it into the top of his pajama bottoms and went out into the hall. At the top of the steps he hesitated. He could hear multiple voices but could not understand what they were saying. Slowly he crept down the stairs in the dark. At the bottom, he switched on the lights in the foyer and then in the great room. There was a great deal of moving down there. It took him a second to realize that it was the pack of Indians the cops had seen on the beach. They were milling around in the great room. They were all bare chested, wore headbands with feathers, and wore leather moccasins. There were no weapons that he could see. Remembering what the cops had said they did, he swung the knife at one of them. The knife passed cleanly through the Indian’s body and the Indian evaporated in a cloud of smoke. He swung at another with the same results. The third one he swung at did not just stand there and take the blow but rather jumped away. It took an instant to recognize that this Indian was Matchitehew. As soon as he did he charged the man but wasn’t quick enough. The Indian jumped to the side avoiding the charge and attacked Tony from the side wrapping his arms around Tony with unimaginable strength. Tony struggled but could not escape. In the melee, he dropped the knife. As soon as it hit the floor, the Indian released Tony and picked up the knife. Now the shoe was on the other foot.
Tony tried to defend himself against the attack but wasn’t quick enough. The Indian grabbed him around the waist and tried to stab him with the knife. Tony twisted away while the Indian tried to hold him with only one arm. He pulled the Clock from his waist band and emptied it into the Indian. As had been the case before the shots staggered the Indian back a few steps but did not knock him down.

  Tony staggered back and bumped into the fireplace hearth almost falling. As he did, his hand came to rest on the stand holding fireplace utensils from the days before he had installed the gas logs. He grabbed at the first utensil he touched, a poker. He swung the poker at Matchitehew striking the Indian in his left rib cage. The Indian staggered back but did not fall. He swung again, this time striking the Indian in the head. The Indian grabbed the poker, wrested it out of Tony’s hand and threw it across the room into the glass sliding door which burst into a thousand fragments as it hit.

  The Indian pushed Tony who then tripped over the hearth and fell against the fireplace wall. The Indian charged him and plunged the knife into his side where it stuck, despite the Indian’s attempts to pull it out. Tony felt himself collapsing on the hearth. The pain in his torso was almost unbearable, He grabbed the knife and tried to pull it out, upon which the Indian decided to shove it further in and began twisting it. Tony fought the Indian as best he could while the light seemed to dim and finally went out completely.

  Chapter 44

  As soon as Tony started downstairs, Maria grabbed her robe and shoved her feet into her slippers. She grabbed her Glock from the drawer in the bedside table, then, realizing that it probably would do no good, looked for the tomahawk. Realizing that they had left it on the kitchen counter, she went as fast as she could down the stairs. She could hear Tony struggling with the Indian. When she had retrieved the tomahawk, and turned the corner into the great room she saw that the Indian had Tony pinned against the fireplace and was twisting the stone knife into him.