"My grandfather was a young boy when the first mining company signed the original treaty. They promised that if the Beothuk allowed them to drill at the far end of the planet undisturbed they would trade food and blankets with us, and never venture any further from that location.
"The first treaty was broken within a month, when more machines landed and deeper veins of these so-called precious stones were found. Our leaders approached the Outsiders again, demanding the mining company return to their area. They were promised it would be the last time, and offered crates of alcohol and chewing weed in return for their agreement.
"Even as the Outsiders broke their word to us again and again, we did not rise up. Until one fateful night when a small group of young men were sent out to scout a new settlement made by the white man deep in the heart of our territory. They were so eager to go, they left with no weapons or food. We call these the Ayawisgi, and to this day, we celebrate their bravery by sending our own young men into the wilderness," Thasuka said, eyes shifting to Squawk.
"The Ayawisgi were captured by the white men, who tortured them for sport. Our people went to find their sons, and there was a great battle when we first showed our valor to your people. We have been at war ever since." Thasuka fell silent and he stared into the fire for a long time, before saying, "I grew up hating the white man and killed as many of them as I could. My thirst for revenge drove me to raise my first son, Goyathlay, to ride with me into battle as soon as he was old enough to hold a weapon.
"The boy was careless, but I was too proud to see it. On the night I led my warriors into Seneca 6, I lost track of him. Our mission was to raid the supply houses, but he ran off into the homesteads and attacked a young deputy. He must have been mad with bloodlust." Thasuka's eyes rose to Jem's and locked on him.
Jem froze in place, feeling the older man searching him for a reaction. Jem did his best to remain impassive and said, "So what happened to your son?"
"The deputy shot him through the chest as Goyathlay was trying to take his scalp. It does not matter. He died because of me. I failed to raise him to be anything other than a murderer." Tears filled Thasuka Witko's eyes as he spoke, but then he looked at Squawk and smiled. "Now, one of my other sons sits with the son of El-Aquila within the sacred circle. The Great Spirit is at work."
The rest of the tribe nodded and murmured, their voices like a low rumble. Jem leaned forward and said, "Wait a second. The son of El-Aquila?"
The Chief made shapes with his hands to show a man riding on a wagon, coming across the wasteland. He continued to make shapes and act out the story when he said, "El-Aquila came to us with a carriage full of our dead and the tribe thought it was a trap. Hoka-Psice ordered everyone to hide, thinking that the white man had filled his wagon with patient fire. El-Aquila left the wagon and came into our camp on foot, unarmed, to show his bravery.
"Hoka-Psice asked him why a white man would come such a long way to return our people. He said that he had a son named 'Jem' and could not bear the idea of keeping any other man's son from coming home."
Jem opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. The smoke from the fire must have stung his eyes too keenly, because when he touched his cheek, his fingers came away wet.
"What El-Aquila could not have known is that the Beothuk believe a spirit is doomed to wander the world until it is laid to rest. We call them the wanagi, and they travel the desert searching for their home." Thasuka Witko stopped speaking and looked away from Jem, giving him the chance to clean off his face and collect himself. All of the men seated around him did the same, keeping their eyes fixed on the ground until Jem was finished.
Thasuka Witko held out his hand and said, "Osceola, father of Lakhpia-sha, has asked to speak. I will translate for you."
The same warrior who had shoved Jem out of the way to get to Ichabod stood up at the far end of the circle. His body was lined with taut muscles and scarred with lines that created strange diagrams in his chest. He spoke, and Thasuka Witko said, "Thasuka-Witko has told the white man of the sacred Ayawisgi rite where we send our young warriors into the wilderness.
"One week ago my son was sent off on his own Ayawisgi." Osceola pointed at Squawk and said, "It was a great honor that he would join our Chief's eldest, Haienwa'tha. But many of us were surprised when Mahpiya had a vision that told them to also take Haienwa'tha's younger brother, Thathanka-Ska. I told the old man that Thathanka-Ska was too young, and would burden the older boys. He told me that it was the Great Spirit's will.
"The Ayawisgi go with no food, no weapons, no means to make shelter. They must endure until the tribe comes to find them. Who among us does not remember their own trial? The suffering is forgotten and all you remember is the embrace of your fellow warriors upon your return.
"I have other suffering that cannot be forgotten. My father and brothers were murdered by the white man, and all of my life I have vowed to kill them wherever I find them. It has been this way since my great-grandfather was a little boy, and the great birds called the El-Aquila were so thick in the skies people thought they were storm clouds. Smoke from the white man's machines destroyed their nests, and no one has seen an El-Aquila for many years.
"I thought it was Hoka-Psice's joke to name the legendary white man El-Aquila. A white man who is peaceful and honorable to the Beothuk is like that great bird. Something many wish to exist, but will never see. When I heard the thunder of this white man's guns and told you our sons were being attacked by the Outsiders and raced toward them, expecting a great battle where many would die. I could not believe my own eyes at what I saw instead."
Osceola stopped speaking and unraveled a cord with his hands to display the fang of the werja that Jem had killed that dangled from it. He passed the necklace through the crowd to Thasuka-Witko, who inspected it and nodded, then passed it to the man next to him. The necklace was handed around that way until it reached Jem.
Osceola pointed at Jem and said, "On this day I, Osceola, tell you that this white man is my brother and under my protection. They say in the south there is a new bird faster and stronger than El-Aquila, and our medicine men tell us it is a great sign for the Beothuk. Tonight, I believe. They call this bird El-Halcon, and that is the name I give my new brother."
All of the men sitting next to Jem clapped him on the back and spoke words that he did not understand, but sounded encouraging regardless. Thasuka-Witko lit his pipe and passed it to the man next to him, each of them putting their lips on the stem and sucking in the fragrant smoke that they then lifted their head and blew toward the heavens.
The pipe came to Jem and he put the stem in his mouth, tasting bitter sweetweed juice and he inhaled, filling his lungs with what felt like fiery embers of coal. He held it in as long as he could, then lifted his head and breathed it all out at once, watching the smoke change shapes in the air and conform to the pattern of the stars.
Thasuka Witko lifted his head to see Mahpiya emerge from the medicine tent. The old man wrapped both withered hands around his walking stick and waited. The Chief nodded and waved for Jem to come sit by his side.
"So where did you learn our language?" Jem said.
"Many of the Beothuk can speak like Whites, but it is not something we reveal often. We never want them to know that we can understand what they are saying if we are captured. Very few choose to actually make the words. They consider it to be a great disgrace."
Mahpiya eyed Jem with lizard-like eyes that bulged under half-lids and did not appear to ever blink. His skin appeared made from saddle leather, so smooth and brown and hairless that Jem had no idea if he were sixty, eighty, or two hundred years old. Thasuka Witko patted Jem on the back and said, "You must go with him. He says there is much at stake, for both our people."
"Right now?" Jem said. "Where are we going?"
Thasuka Witko shrugged. "He would not tell me."
It was so dark at the bottom of the hill that Jem could not see his hands unless he held them in front of his face. The sky w
as empty, devoid of star or moon. There was a brief flicker of flame as Mahpiya lit a handful of desert sage and held it out like a torch. The sage's smoke was sweet like incense, as Mahpiya fanned smoke onto Jem, he sang in low, rhythmic tones.
Jem's guns rattled in their holsters as he walked. Heavy winds rolled across the plains, louder than mining drills, lifting like waves that gathered dirt and debris in their procession and crashed into Jem's face.
He lifted his hands to hold down the brim of his hat and protect his eyes, and followed the old man's song. It carried on the wind, but he lost its direction, and he stopped. There was dirt in his nose and mouth. He pulled his black bandit's scarf from his pocket and tied it around the back of his neck. He called out for Mahpiya, but there was nothing but wind.
Two destriers charged past him, their hooves shaking the ground like locomotives, and Jem leapt aside to avoid the wheels of the wagon they were hauling. The wagon bounced as the animals raced, and a gun went off in the distance. Two masked riders flew after the wagon, their pistols raised and firing until it slid to a halt.
One of the riders leapt from his destrier and walked up to the rear of the wagon and knocked on the door. Screams came from the passengers inside, high-pitched and feminine, high-pitched and adolescent. The bandit said, "Gentleman Jesse Alcott has come for your money, boys and girls."
Jesse opened the door, put his gun inside of it, and fired until the screaming stopped.
Jem's own screams were drowned out by the rising winds. He drew his gun and ran forward blindly, never finding the bandits and never finding the wagon. He lowered his head into the storm and kept walking until the wind died down enough that he could look ahead. There was a campfire with a man sitting in front of it, tending the fire, his face hidden beneath the brim of a battered hat. He poked the fire with a stick but no smoke rose out of the pit, and he did not look up when Jem walked up to him and said, "Hey, partner. Did you see any of that? A couple bandits shot up a wagon."
The man turned a log over with his stick but did not respond. Jem held his hands over the flames, but felt no warmth coming from them. "How about an old man? You seen him?" Jem said.
The man continued stirring the flames, and finally muttered, "I ain't talking to you, because you ain't real. So just get along."
"I'm real enough, friend," Jem said. "I'm lost in this storm just like you are."
"This storm? This storm is a joke compared to what's coming."
Jem looked around but saw no tent or even a bedroll. There was a wagon on the other side of the fire and Jem said, "You got any other shelter?"
"You ever been out in the wilderness so long that it felt like everything you ever were was an illusion. Like your whole life was just some story you dreamed up. You couldn't go home if you tried, because nobody there would remember you anyway." The man bent forward and spat a mouthful of sweetweed juice into the dirt between his knees.
"I think you've definitely been out here too long, friend." Jem wiped the dirt off his pants and said, "That man I'm looking for is a Beothuk. He would have stood out if you saw him come past. Did you see any Beothuk?"
The man lifted a finger toward his wagon and said, "Only the ones in the back of that carriage, and I brought them with me."
Jem got up to inspect the wagon and saw the words WILLOW FUNERAL HOME written across the side. There were dead bodies of Beothuk warriors laid out in the back, their injuries painted over and their bodies carefully arranged in positions of respect. Jem spun around to face the man, and saw Sam Clayton look up at him from under the brim of his hat.
Sam leaned back from the fire into the shadows and an enormous bird with wings wider than Jem's arms and curved talons that flashed in the firelight sprang into the air, flapping only once and it was enough to send the bird high into the sky and out of Jem's sight. Jem stumbled backwards, losing his footing, and falling toward the ground but never hit it. He fell and fell, end over end, through space and time and everything else until finally, he reached nothingness.
Jem awoke in the dirt, smelling smoke from the remains of a smoldering fire set outside the entrance of a tent standing over him. Harsh light streamed through the tent's flaps and Jem had to cover his eyes and squeezed his skull between his palms to ease the pounding inside his head. He saw a jug of water and a bundle of salted beef inside the tent and grabbed the jug and swallowed water until it threatened to come back up.
He stepped out of the tent and tore off a piece of beef with his teeth. He shook out the cramps in his leg and stretched, looking around the flatland outside of the tent. He was standing in a long, tall shadow. He turned around and saw the radio tower. Jem scratched the top of his head and said, "I'll be damned."
13. And Then I See A Darkness
Hank Raddiger begged and whined until Little Willy Harpe finally lifted one of his fingers and said, "Fine, as long as you shut up already. Euphoria." Hank's head snapped back like he'd been shot in the forehead and he convulsed all the way to the ground where he squealed and kicked over a whole row of books on one of the shelves in Bill Sutherland's office. Papers and pamphlets scattered into the air and Sutherland took cover behind his chair.
"That's enough," Little Willy said after a few moments. "We have things to do."
The connection broke and Hank pounded his fist against the floor. "You said I could have a full ride, Willy! Goddamn it, you promised."
"It makes me disgusted the way you beg, Hank."
Hank's expression softened and he pressed his hands together and got down on his knees. "Master? Please. I'm begging you. Just a little more."
Little Willy stroked the long black oily streak around his neck and said, "Tell you what. I'll make you a deal. Go find me a rat, there should be one scurrying around in the lot, and when you come back take that rat and stick its head in your mouth. If you can bite the rat's head off before it bites your tongue off, I'll give you a ride like you ain't never had."
Sweat beaded like grease bubbling inside a skillet on Hank's forehead as he weighed the challenge. Finally, he nodded and raced out of the office, ducking between ships to search for his prey. Bill Sutherland stood up from behind the chair, clutched his stomach for fear that the sickness boiling in his gut was about to spill out.
Little Willy sighed sadly and said, "I know my associate can be a little bit pathetic. It's a shame, really, but that boy would do damn near anything for some of that Euphoria. And I mean, anything. I could make him do anything I wanted, of course. Same as I could make you, Bill. But it's the desperation that makes it exciting, if you see what I mean?"
"No. Not really." Sutherland pressed his back against his office wall and steeled himself.
Little Willy frowned and said, "You know what? Me either. I think when he gets back I'm gonna tell him the trash furnace is a swimming pool and we can watch him dive into it. Better yet, I'll tell him there are bugs crawling under his skin and that he has to peel it off to get rid of them! Should make for a fun evening's entertainment, what do you say, Bill?"
Sutherland struggled to find words to respond with when the center console on his desk beeped twice. Sutherland dove for desk and pressed the button eagerly, "Yes? What is it?"
A uniformed Customs officer appeared on the screen. "We intercepted a PNDA distress signal coming from a planet that matches the trajectory of the Marshal's ship."
Harpe spun the console around to face him, "Where did it originate from?"
"A small mining planet called Seneca."
Sutherland turned the console away from Little Willy, in his own direction. "Did the signal make it any further?"
"We killed it immediately, sir."
"Good work." Sutherland shut the screen off and sat down at his desk. He resisted the urge to sigh with relief and instead used his most professional tone to say, "I can have a ship outfitted and ready to take you and your friend within the hour, Mr. Harpe. I am sure you want to be on your way as soon as possible."
Little Willy presented his ha
nd to the Chief and Sutherland grabbed it enthusiastically. "Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Harpe," he said. As soon as your ship is clear of my station, I am going to blow you into cosmic dust.
Harpe stopped smiling and looked down at Sutherland's hand. He cocked his head sideways, admiring it. "You have nice hands, Chief." He stroked the skin on Sutherland's hand with the tips of his fingers. "But you're a nail biter, I see. You do that when you're nervous?"
"Not really. Just out of habit, mainly," Sutherland said. He tugged, trying to free his hand from Harpe's grip, but Harpe held him fast.
"Not because you're hungry? Speaking of that, it's gonna be a long day for me. You think I should eat before I go?"
"That sounds like it's a good idea. Can I have my hand back?"
"It does sound like a good idea, doesn't it?" Harpe said. "In fact, you're hungry now too."
"Yes, I am," Sutherland said suddenly. He smiled with embarrassment that he'd needed Little Willy to remind him. "I could damn near eat anything."
"You don't say," Little Willy said. He looked down at Sutherland's hand and stroked it gently.
Ten minutes later, Hank Raddiger hurried back to the Chief's office, holding a long-tailed rodent by its throat. He was careful not to kill it, but wanted it to be stunned a little before he had to put it in his mouth. He thought about slamming its head against the wall a few times, but was in too much of a rush to get back. "Willy!" he called out. "Willy, I've got it-"
Little Willy stepped in front of him at the doorway to block his entrance. "Stop yelling, you damn fool."
Hank lifted up the rat. "I've got it," he said. His hand was dripping with blood from where its claws tore him when he snatched it. It squirmed in his hand and squealed. "I'm ready," he said, opening his mouth wide around the creature's head.
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