by Joel Baker
“I thought the Choctaw were out east somewhere,” Willie said.
“They used to be,” Jonas said. “But they were one of first tribes to move west of the Mississippi. One of the Choctaw rules for San Luis was that the only weapons allowed to the residents, were shotguns. No rifles or revolvers were allowed. The people of San Luis had no problem following that rule.”
“What was the other rule?” Shannon asked.
“Every other year the town had to pick one girl between twelve and twenty to be married into the Choctaw tribe,” Jonas said. “That rule gave them some second thoughts. They finally decided that the fairest way to do it was to hold a lottery.”
“You’re serious?” Molly asked. “The whole town went along with this?”
“It seemed the fairest way to do it,” Jonas said. “San Luis was a peaceful little town, and the Choctaw were called the Civilized Tribe before they moved west. Anyway, every other June, all the folks would gather in the center of town. Those with eligible daughters, would send either the father or mother up to the mayor, and draw a ball out of a small sack. The one who drew the black ball knew their daughter would be leaving the next morning.”
“Did anyone refuse to go?” James asked.
“Not really,” Jonas said. “Sometimes, the prospects of having a warrior for a husband, wasn’t all bad. Anyway this went on for some years. Our family accepted the terms and settled in. We hid away our weapons and tried to be good citizens of San Luis.”
“Did you ever lose someone to the lottery?” Shannon asked.
“When my brother and I were five, we lost a cousin. Then when we were seven, we lost a sister,” Jonas said. “It worked out well for them, until the Cheyenne swept through. They burned San Luis to the ground, and killed everyone in the town. The Choctaw ran and hid until the Cheyenne withdrew. My family held them off for two day with our weapons stash.”
“When they killed the last of the men, they took my brother and me as captives. We were ten years old by then and big for our age. We had a tough couple of years. Then we grew taller and bigger than anyone in the tribe. We were adopted, and trained as Cheyenne warriors.”
“So, you’re saying it was your brother that led those war parties,” Dalton said.
“I’m afraid so,” Jonas said. “I guess I just didn’t have the nature for it. Then when I was twenty, my wife died in child birth. I was devastated and decided to leave the Cheyenne. I think my brother let me get away. Anyway, after a few years of wandering around, I headed down a river and ended up here in the town of Muskogee.”
“What happened to your brother?” Dalton asked.
“I’m not sure,” Jonas said. “I heard he ended up staked to the ground in some Ottawa camp and died a warrior’s death.”
***
Jezebel maintained a steady gait as she ran south. She’d decided to leave the young dogs behind. They just couldn’t keep up.
Occasionally she would reach out to Shannon, but heard no response. Neither she nor Shannon knew how far apart they could be, and still communicate. It seemed to vary, and neither knew why. She knew she had to reach Shannon soon, if they were to save the young dogs.
It was midmorning and Shannon sat listening, as Jonas finished telling his story. She looked around the room and watched as Matthew shook his head. Shannon knew Matthew needed to clear his mind when any of the dogs tried to communicate with him. She wondered if this time he would hear them.
The call came to both Shannon and Matthew at the same time. Both stood at the same time holding their hands in the air, calling for silence. All but Jonas knew what was happening.
Can you hear me? Jezebel called.
“We hear you,” Both Matthew and Shannon responded.
We need help, Jezebel said. We are being hunted to the north. Ride quickly, I will find you. You must follow me. We need your help!
Matthew ran for the door. Shannon turned to the others sitting around the table.
“The dogs are to the north, and are being hunted,” Shannon said. “They want us armed, and riding north as soon as we can. We have to leave now!”
Everyone ran for the lobby of the hotel. Matthew came down the stairs two at a time, carrying a four rifles and a bag of cartridges. All except Jonas grabbed a rifle and headed towards the stables and their horses. Jonas ran behind them, obviously confused.
“What is going on?” Jonas asked running behind James.
“We have friends to the north that are being attacked,” James said. “We have to help them.”
Matthew and Shannon were the first out of the stables and pounding down the center of main street headed north. Molly, Willie, and James were close behind.
Jonas stood watching as the Colters raced north out of town. He was confused over what Matthew had said, and what they were doing. Dogs to the north want help? Jonas thought. How crazy is that?
Chapter 9
The Colters, raced up the road. It was little more than a tree covered path through the woods. The morning air was heavy with humidity. Insects swarmed up from the grass in the middle of the road as they passed. It was hot, even for July and the horses were lathered with sweat before long.
Jezebel waited patiently in the middle of the road, for the Colters. As soon as they came into view, she turned and sprinted in front of the lead horse. Jezebel would look over her shoulder to make sure she didn’t out distance them. They rode hard for another hour before resting the horses, and letting them drink at a nearby creek.
Shannon stood staring at Jezebel sitting some distance up the road. After a few minutes Shannon turned back to the group.
“Here’s the story,” Shannon said, as she related the story Jezebel had told her.
Towards evening, day before yesterday, the adult dogs split up and went in different directions to hunt. They left the younger ones alone. They’d been on the move for a while and needed to bring down some large game. The younger dogs were told to stay near to a cave they’d found, until the adults returned.
A hunting party of five Cheyenne discovered the young dogs, killed several of the older pups, and took five of the pups they could catch, back to their camp. Several of the pups were able to escape.
Luther, Jake, and Jezebel, who were hunting together, heard the young dogs call for help, but were too far away to stop the Cheyenne. When the adults returned, Luther and two other went after the Cheyenne hunting party. Jake and Jezebel stayed behind with those young dogs that escaped being captured. Jezebel said that staying behind was probably a mistake.
The next morning Luther and the others came back to where Jezebel and Jake waited with the surviving pups. They were covered in blood. That’s when they found out that Luther and the others had killed the entire hunting party. They’d massacred all of Cheyenne.
“They killed all five of the hunters?” James asked.
“No,” Shannon said. “They killed all five of the hunters, and their horses too.”
“We’d better get back on the road,” Matthew said. “The reason they called for help, is a large group of Cheyenne found the massacred hunting party. They’re still following the dogs and won’t give up. Luther and Jake are going to ambush the Cheyenne that are chasing them, and try to slow them down.”
Jezebel looked at Shannon and then turned and ran north.
“Jezebel is going to join Jake and Luther for the final fight,” Shannon said. “We need to hurry and follow. Everybody mount up and ride. Make sure your rifles are loaded. They’re not far away.”
***
Jake crept close to where the Cheyenne were resting the horses. There were too many for them to take on by themselves, so they waited.
Luther approached quietly from a different direction. They both crept forward through the underbrush, their bellies dragging on the ground. Still, there were too many Cheyenne. The Cheyenne would die, but so might Jake or Luther.
Matthew, are you there? Jake asked.
“Yes,” Matthew said. “We’re close,
hiding on the road coming from the south.”
Our pursuers are in a gully with a creek, resting, Jake said. There are many.
“We can hear them,” Matthew said.
We will lead them to you, Jake said.
Matthew told the others, and they disbursed in a line, along the east side of the road. The Colters hid in the underbrush with their rifles cocked and loaded. In the distance they could hear snarling and shouts from around the curve in the road. Then they heard the cries of the pursing Cheyenne and the thunder of hooves as they continued their pursuit.
Jake and Luther appeared around the curve, followed closely by the Cheyenne. The Colters waited before opening fire. James was the last in line, and the first to fire when the Cheyenne reached a point in the road. The rifle fire from the Colters was smothering.
The riders lay dead in the road. The mounts, their saddles empty, continued to thunder down the road. The other dogs appeared out of the underbrush, and surrounded Jonas and the Colters. The noon day sun beat down on the carnage below. The sweet stench of blood permeated the air.
***
On the way back, Jezebel trotted next to Shannon. The dog kept glancing up at her. Shannon looked down and smiled.
“Okay,” Shannon said. “What happened to you down by the river?”
Jezebel didn’t respond at first.
“Did the fight with the wolves trigger it?” Shannon asked.
It’s just something that happens to us, Jezebel said, finally. We call it the change. We can’t make it happen. Sometimes when we are in danger, it happens and sometimes, not.
“Why did you run away?” Shannon asked.
“Because when we change, we’re hideous,” Jezebel said. “We can be dangerous too. We can’t always control the killing.”
“Is this new?” Shannon asked.
“Not really,” Jezebel said. “My mother was a changer. We weren’t sure if it was passed on or not. Most of us change now. We can’t control it.
“I wish you would have warned me,” Shannon said. “You scared the heck out of me.”
The dogs disappeared into the underbrush as the Colters arrived back in Muskogee. The men left Shannon and Molly at the hotel, and took the horses to the stable to feed and water them.
Dalton grabbed all the weapons and started cleaning them. The others took care of the horses. Jonas came into the stable to see what happened.
“Where did you get those repeating rifles?” Jonas asked as he helped brushed one of the big sorrels.
“Our family use to make them,” James said. “Our original home was a place called Haven. They could make all kinds of things there.”
“Why did you leave?” Jonas asked.
“Because they could make all kinds of things there,” James said, smiling as he walked away.
***
After supper, the Colters all gathered in Molly and James room. It had a nice sitting room with a fireplace at one end. A cheery little fire warmed the room. James wanted to make sure no one would walk in on them, so he locked the door. When everyone was settled, James stood and looked at his family.
“Is everyone comfortable?” James asked.
He looked around the room and everyone nodded.
“Okay,” James said. “There are number of questions we need to answer. Do we trust Jonas? Is he who he says he is? Do any of us know what he wants?”
“Let me take that last one,” Dalton said. “I asked him straight out, what he was after. He wants to ride west with us, until we turn north. He’s determined on going back to the bunker his family was forced to leave. He says there are unbelievable devices and valuables there. He thinks they will make all our lives better. He’d like for us to go south with him to the cave, but if not, that’s okay.”
“I’m not sure I trust him all that much,” Shannon said. “Why does he want us to go to the cave with him? Why doesn’t he just go by himself?”
“I’m with Shannon on this,” Molly said. “This seems a little sketchy to me. Why does he need us for?”
“He has some documents,” Dalton said. “There are three maps. One shows how to find the cave. There’s another map with specific directions on how to get into the cave. A third document shows where everything in the cave is hidden.”
“So?” Molly asked. “What’s the problem?”
“He can’t read,” James said. “Jonas needs us to help him figure out how to get into the cave and find whatever is hidden there.”
The room was silent for a while. The only sound was the crackle of the fire.
“I’m not sure why we should bother,” Molly said. “Do we even know what’s in the cave?”
“No,” James said. “Not for sure. Jonas remembers his grandfather talking about all the wonders of what is in the cave. But he can’t remember what any of it was specifically.”
“How far are we from the cave?” Matthew asked. “Don’t we have to reach shelter before first snow?”
“It’s about seven hundred miles,” Dalton said. “It’s about the same distance as to the Crow summer camp. If we go to the cave, we’d have another three hundred miles to reach shelter. It would add ten days or so onto the trip.”
“Ten days isn’t that long,” Shannon said.
“I am curious about the cave,” Matthew said.
“Dalton?” James asked. “What do you think? Do you think it would be worth our time?”
Dalton stood next to the fireplace, thinking. He was fairly certain Jonas wasn’t the one who murdered his parents. But he still didn’t trust Jonas, entirely. There was something about Jonas that was off center, not quite right. Dalton did remember one thing Jonas had mentioned, that piqued his interest.
“Going to the bunker, could be time well spent,” Dalton said. “Jonas told me about a conversation he had with his grandfather. One day, he and his grandfather were fishing on a river bank. Jonas said his grandfather was very old by this time, and talked to himself a lot. Most of the time, no one understood what the old man mumbled. This day, he spoke clearly to Jonas, for the first time in quite a while.”
Dalton looked around the room at everyone, and then back at the fire.
“The old man smiled at Jonas,” Dalton continued. “Then he told Jonas he remembered that when they were living in the cave, they had portable heaters that took no fuel. Not wood, or coal, or any other fuel. The heaters ran all by themselves. You didn’t have to cut wood or nothing. You just turned a little knobby thing, and the heat came out of the front grill.”
Dalton again hesitated as he looked around the room. Everyone had a look of curiosity on their faces.
“None of you have spent a winter in the Rockies,” Dalton said. “But I got to tell you, the idea of having heat, without chopping wood all winter, appeals to me a great deal. I say it would be worth a few days out of our way.”
Chapter 10
It was late when the Colters decided to call it a night. The two women left the room and went for a brief walk around town. The stars were especially bright. A light breeze felt good after the overcrowded room.
“Dalton and James seem keen on going to this bunker thing with Jonas,” Molly said. “I still say it’s out of our way. Have you or Matthew asked the dogs about what they think of Jonas?”
“We haven’t been with the dogs since they came back,” Shannon said. “We’ll try to talk with them tomorrow.”
“What about you?” Molly asked, giving Shannon a knowing look. “Are you going to be up to this side trip?”
“You know, then, don’t you?” Shannon asked.
“I don’t need a dog to tell me when my own daughter is going to have a baby,” Molly said. “Does anyone else know?”
“Matthew does,” Shannon said. “That Jake is such a blabber mouth. I’m sure he told Matthew right away.”
“I didn’t know the dogs kept secrets,” Molly said.
“They don’t usually,” Shannon said. “They just don’t volunteer information. If they think we may be i
n danger, they tell us.”
“I think we should head back to the hotel,” Molly said, looking around. “I just got the weird feeling we’re being watched.”
Both women instinctively looked around. Not seeing anything, they started back toward the rooming house. A shadow followed them, hiding behind rain barrels and corners of buildings. Once the women entered through the front doors, the figure disappeared down an alley and then across the street.
***
The next morning Shannon pulled Matthew off to the side, to discuss the dogs and Jonas. They decided to ride north out of town, and ask Jezebel and Jake to meet with them. Dalton invited himself along, once he found out where they were going. The grass was dew covered, but cleared quickly, once the sun was up. It was going to be a hot muggy day, even for July. The three rode to a small clearing and waited.
Shannon told the dogs they were waiting in a small grove north of town. She wasn’t sure if they would come or not. There was silence for several minutes, before Shannon turned and told Dalton the dogs were on their way. Matthew found a log he could drag into the clearing, and all three sat waiting for the dogs.
A half hour went by before the dogs entered the clearing. Shannon was surprised to see Luther was with them. Jezebel and Jake ran up to where Shannon and Matthew sat and looked up at them. Luther faced away from the group, on the edge of the clearing. He stared into the woods.
“Dalton, were going to talk with the dogs now, so it may get a little weird. Okay?” Shannon asked.
“I expected that,” Dalton said. “Go ahead. I’ll just stand over here.”
Dalton walked off to one side, as Shannon and Matthew turned back to the dogs.
“What’s wrong with Luther?” Shannon asked Jezebel.
Nothing, Jezebel said. It’s just Luther being Luther. He thinks the dogs are too close to your family. Just ignore him.
Shannon looked over to where Luther sat. This was something different, and she wasn’t sure what it meant. She turned back to Jezebel and Jake.
“You and Jezebel have been around the man Jonas,” Matthew said. “Have you been able to get any impression of him?”
