By Joanna
Chapter VI
A Shaman
"He's gone," Buck finally pointed out to break the silence as all of them stood side by side, gazing at the ridge Satan had stood on, "We should get some sleep."
Kid nodded and glanced at Lou, still white as a sheet, and he reached out to put his hand on her shoulder. She jumped as if she'd been burned and then put her forehead into her hand.
"Lou?" Noah called out softly.
Lou simply shook her head, held up her hand to signal she didn't want any more questions and walked away from all of them, back under the rock, her arms clasped about herself uncertainly.
"Jimmy?" Kid's voice was strained.
"What Kid?" Jimmy replied.
"What happened before we came out. What did you see?"
Jimmy sighed, put his hands on his hips and took a few steps, looking off toward the full moon. He turned his head slightly so they could hear him, "I don't know. When I woke up and saw she was gone, I went to make sure everything was alright. First thing I saw was her standing over near the horses, just staring off, she didn't hear me call her so I looked to see what she was looking at, and there was Satan, looking right back at her. So I screamed for her, but she just started walking right toward the horse, and he toward her, so I fired my gun. The stallion spooked and ran off, and Lou just kind of fell down. Then you all came out."
Kid nodded, "How much truth is there in your legend Jimmy? Did you just make it up to scare us, or did something happen to Lou?"
Jimmy held up his hands and shrugged.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Kid growled starting forward, "You'd damn well better know."
"Well, Kid I don't," Jimmy swung around, and spread his hands out. "Okay?"
"No," Kid took another determined step with his fists clenched, but Cody intercepted him and Noah put his hand in front of Jimmy if he should get the same idea.
"Fighting isn't going to help. If Satan stole her soul, which I don't buy, then according to the legend he would have carried her away on his back," Noah muttered, "We just got Lou scared with the ghost stories, then she sees this stallion that is another ghost story in himself. She just had a big scare. That's all. In the morning, everything will be fine."
Ike nodded and signed, "All the more reason to sleep now."
Kid took a deep breath and nodded, and they all filed into the shelter to find Lou curled into a tight ball, already fast asleep or doing a good job of faking it.
Lou opened her eyes, but it was so black she might not have. She couldn't tell where everyone was, and she listened for the sounds of the boys' snoring, but there was only oppressive silence. It was too still, too dark, Lou realized. Even if the fire had burned out, then the light of the moon or the morning should have shown itself inside the cave. She had the oddest feeling of being within the confines of four walls, although she knew that was impossible.
And then, in the blackness she saw a form. A form that was even darker than black, something dense and powerful and endless.
Lou tried to call out to the boys but the knot of fear at the base of her throat prevented sound from escaping.
She watched with tears rolling out the corners of both her eyes and mixing in her hair, which was damp with sweat. The dark figure stood at the far edge of the room, although she sensed there was no beginning or end to the space. Her fingers clutched onto the blanket as the figure started moving. It didn't walk, nor fly, nor crawl but simply got closer, and Lou had no real idea how it traveled.
Soon it was at her feet, hovering, floating, watching and Lou felt her heart stop beating and her mouth go dry. Suddenly the room heated, and the heavy weight of the blanket was too much. She kicked and tossed the covers off, but the room continued to heat to an unbearable temperature and sweat broke out on her skin and forehead as she tossed and tried to escape it. The heat seemed to wrap around her, engulfing her, burning her.
"Lou," the black figure whispered, reaching toward her and securing a hold on her arm with a touch that burned like fire.
Lou screamed and thrashed out, finally finding the motivation to fight back.
Kid ducked a blow from a strong arm and reached over to grab that arm, pinning it with the other that had already struck him in the face.
"Lou, wake up! Lou!"
Lou's eyes opened as she sat up with a gasp, heart thundering.
She glanced around to find herself still under the rock, with her blankets in knots around her legs and the boys looking worriedly at her.
"You were having a nightmare," Kid informed her gently when her eyes returned to his, "Just a dream."
Lou placed a hand on her chest and could feel her heart violently pounding there. The wind rushed under the rock, biting into her damp skin and causing her to tremble. Ike picked up his own blanket and handed it to Kid who wordlessly wrapped it around her shoulders.
"You okay, Lou?" Jimmy finally wondered, shifting restlessly and unable to stand the silence anymore.
Lou messaged her aching head between thumb and forefinger and sighed, "Yeah, I'm fine. It was just a dream."
Cody let his breath out and nodded, "I'm gonna go get the horses ready. Kid, you're riding your packhorse right?"
Kid reluctantly stood up and diverted his attention from Lou, "Yeah, I'll go help, I want to check Katy's leg. You'll be all right, Lou?"
Lou wordlessly nodded her head, untangling the covers around her legs and standing up. She placed her hand against the rock and shook her head.
"What a dream!"
"You want to talk about it?" Jimmy wondered, watching her closely.
Lou shook her head, "I'm not sure I could explain it. I'm okay now. Let's just get going."
"Atta girl," Noah smiled and reached out to raise her chin with his gloved hand.
Within minutes they were saddling the horses and dividing up the load Kid's packhorse carried so Katy could go without extra weight on her slightly swollen leg. Cody carried an arm full of food towards Lou's packhorse and called out, "Okay if I go ahead and put these on your horse?"
"Yeah, go on," Lou waved a hand and turned to go back under the rock to gather her bedroll. Having been up for a moment she was able to dismiss the dream, and the encounter the night before and felt more her old self.
"What is this doing here?" Cody's voice, cracking with amusement, reached inside the cave and Lou suddenly straightened up and started out from the rock at a run.
It was too late. As she feared, when Cody loaded her packhorse's saddlebags he'd found it. She'd honestly forgotten she packed it, or she never would have let him load the saddlebags himself. Now, he stood in front of the others, holding her pink and white dress up to his chest and twirling around.
"Cody!" Lou snapped, running to him and wrestling the fabric she'd worn the first time all the boys except Kid had seen her in a dress away from him.
She folded the garment carelessly and quickly stuffed it back out of sight. She knew the damage was done though.
"What is it?" Cody persisted, reaching over her shoulder and trying to drag the dress back out. Lou slapped his hand sharply.
"It's a dress, Cody, ladies wear them," Jimmy replied, hiding a smile and remembering a time when Lou growled those same words to Kid.
"Why in God's name did you bring a dress out into the Wilderness?" Cody snorted and the other boys were doing a poor job of hiding their smiles.
"Because I felt like it Cody," Lou growled back, her voice a warning that she had no doubt Cody would ignore.
"Did you think we'd be coming across some sort of ball or something while we're out here? Maybe a pow-wow in a Sioux camp?"
"Cody," Jimmy warned, although he hid a smile too.
"I just brought it, okay? I didn't have a reason. I wasn't aware I needed a reason. And I certainly wasn't aware I'd have to explain it to you if I did!"
"I wasn't aware you'd be needing a dress," Cody pushed.
"I wasn't aware you needed all your teeth," Lou snapped back, color flooding into her face.
"Cody, leave her alone," Kid advised and Cody, with a last smug smile at Lou, laughed, shook his head, and walked back to his horse.
Lou, her cheeks still bright red, went back into the sanctuary of the rock and finished gathering her blankets.
"Well, it looked to me like Satan was climbing last night, so I guess we should do the same," Buck advised, and looked for some non existent trace of the stallion.
In a few hours they found themselves on a high ridge, and Noah glanced over his shoulder and spotted the campsite they left that morning. "Look at that, it's where we started out."
Buck nodded, "This is where Satan stopped to watch us before running off."
Kid shook his head, "That's impossible. Satan was up here a few minutes after he left the site. It's taken us three hours."
"Maybe he knew a short cut," Cody yelled from the back of the line, "Cause this is the same ridge all right."
Jimmy glanced at Lou, but her mouth was pressed in a determined line of expressionless.
They took a slower pace that day because of the icy patches, and Katy's tender leg, but Buck led them with confidence. The ground wasn't quite as treacherous as it had been the previous day, so they covered more ground. Although there was no evidence of Satan, there were traces of other horses, and they felt good about the course they were on.
Cody, who was bringing up the rear, felt the hairs at the back of his neck prickle and a chill sweep along his arm. He spun quickly in his saddle and looked back through dense trees, wondering if someone or something looked back at him. He remembered Kid's comment from the day before about feeling like someone was watching him and suddenly decided he didn't want to be in the back anymore.
Nonchalantly, he urged his horse out and around the single file line and moved forward, forcing himself in just behind Lou who was third in line. Jimmy glanced back to find he was now the rear, and looked up to Cody distrustfully, finding Cody looking back and blinking innocently.
Hickok, his survival often depending on his instincts, instantly felt as if eyes were boring into his back as well. He stopped his palomino altogether and turned him on the trail. The others, unaware that he'd stopped, plodded along quietly. Jimmy, caught up in the anger of being followed, didn't think to warn the others, and throwing the reins of his packhorse over a tree limb, he urged his palomino toward the ground they'd just covered.
He drew his gun and cocked the hammer back, laying it comfortingly across his thigh. His horse picked his way quietly through the snow, as if sensing the need to creep. Hell, Jimmy thought, I don't know why I'm being quiet. If we're being followed, they know I'm heading back for them.
He turned his head quickly when he heard low, melodic chanting from nearby, and without a second thought, steered his horse towards it.
Noah sighed and stretched, reaching for the sky. "I think if I got $100 as a reward I'd buy me a new set of guns. Maybe something like that rig you got Hickok."
The others smiled and began dreaming of what they would do with their reward money when Noah's voice repeated, but with an inflection at the end this time, "Hickok?"
Noah turned in his saddle to see Jimmy completely gone from sight.
"Jimmy?" Noah called out again, stopping his horse.
"What's going on back there?" Kid called from his position closer to the front of the line.
"Jimmy's not here!"
"What do you mean he's not here?" Lou asked, turning in her saddle as Kid and Buck rode by her, towards the back of the line.
"Well, Lou, I mean that he isn't behind me any longer!" Noah snapped back in irritation.
"Cody, is this some joke you two are playing?" Lou demanded as she glared at Cody, "Is that why you moved up here? Are you two planning on scaring us or something?"
Cody's eyes grew wide as he realized Jimmy really was missing and he urged his horse through everyone else and looked down the trail, "There's Jimmy's pack horse."
"Maybe he just is answering a call of nature," Noah said nervously, looking into the trees beyond where the packhorse was tied and seeing no signs of movement.
"I knew I shoulda said something!" Cody murmured softly, eyes downcast.
"What do you mean? Said something about what?" Kid wondered, narrowing his eyes at their friend.
"Well, you remember how you said you thought we were being followed yesterday?" Cody asked and when Kid nodded he continued, "Well, I felt the same thing, and I didn't really want to be in the back, so I moved up."
"Something must have got Jimmy!" Lou exclaimed.
"I'm sure everything's fine. But let's go look just in case," Buck decided quietly, and started following the tracks leading the opposite direction in the snow. The wind blew against them now, whipping tears in their eyes and cutting into their cheeks.
With guns drawn, they edged through the tracks.
"What's that?" Kid whispered suddenly, holding up his hand to signal the others to stop their horses.
The listened closely and heard an odd chanting from nearby. Wordlessly, they moved towards the sound. Soon, they came across an old Indian man sitting in front of a fire. Jimmy sat directly in front of him, watching him intently.
The Indian turned and Lou studied him closely. He had a face as old as time, weather beaten, yet at the same time, there was no hint of frailty, only immense strength and knowledge. His eyes were black and wise, startling in contrast to the snow white hair that hung free, nearly reaching his waist. He smiled, and Lou saw he didn't have a tooth in his head.
"I wait for you," the old man smiled, "Please, come."
Jimmy nodded, "Y'all better come on over and hear this."
Exchanging glances, they climbed down from their horses and tied them up in the surrounding trees before cautiously approaching the fire. The old Indian had several woven blankets placed around the fire. Obviously, he really had been waiting for them, or for someone.
Buck took the seat directly across the fire from the old Indian, recognizing by the pouches he wore that he was a spiritual leader, a shaman. Buck respectfully bowed and took the pipe the man offered, puffing on it before passing it to Ike on his left.
"You travel long way to be here," the medicine man informed them, his voice shaky with age, his English primitive but understandable, "You look for ghost horse, but he find you in dark." His eyes bore into Lou's, "He try to take you with him."
Lou gulped and her large eyes sought Kid's, then Buck's for assistance. A slight nod of Buck's head told her it was okay to acknowledge he was right.
"Yes," she finally said in a low voice, "He did."
"I know this. I see it."
"Were you following us?" Jimmy wondered as the pipe came to him. He took a long look, puffed on it and then tried not to let the others see him cough as the acrid smoke filled his nose and throat. With teary eyes he passed the pipe onto Kid.
"No. I do not move from here. I see it all in vision."
"Visions?" Noah asked skeptically, but a warning glare from Buck stopped any further comments.
"Visions. He try to take her away. This man," he waved a wrinkled, spotted hand towards Jimmy, "This man he scare the stallion break the spell."
"Did he..." Lou swallowed hard, "Did he steal my soul?"
The shaman shook his head, "No. Your soul still yours. All of you have your souls...for now."
"Well, that's real comforting," Cody muttered out of the side of his mouth to Ike.
"Can you tell us what else you saw in your vision?" Buck wondered.
The Indian gave them a gapping smile that Kid thought was most unsettling. The old man lifted his hands to encompass the land all around them, "Evil in these woods. Evil spirits live here. Want souls. Not ghost horse. He take only those impure of heart. Other walking spirits want bad."
"So Satan doesn't really steal people?" Jimmy wondered.
"Ghost horse is dark warrior. Looks for those that would fight for darkness too. Only take them."
"How does he know?" Lou wondered, hugging herself.
"He look into eyes. He see soul. Man look back, see fire in ghost horse eye, he go with dark horse."
Lou nodded and sighed in relief. She hadn't seen fire, but rather some strange reflection of her own thoughts, her own self.
"These other spirits...are we in danger?" Cody suddenly wondered.
"One will be in great danger. Sky falling all around. Must remember to search for new way."
"Sky falling? What?" Jimmy persisted, "What are you talking about?"
"The dark spirits, they will show themselves. You must not let them have you." The shaman told them, ignoring Jimmy's question, "They are near. Will show soon."
Lou fought the chills rising on her arms and looked over to see similar bumps on Kid and Noah's arms. The old Indian got up in one fluid motion and walked into the woods. In a moment he had disappeared from sight.
"Where'd he go?" Cody finally whispered.
"Doesn't matter. He told us all he could," Buck answered and shook his head, "It doesn't make any sense. Sky falling? Searching for a new way?"
"The part that got me was the evil spirits being near. Is that what is following us?" Kid wondered, looking uneasily over one shoulder, then twisting the other way to look over the other.
"I think he's a crazy old coot," Jimmy muttered, although he sounded less confident than he would have liked.
"How could he have known about what happened last night?" Lou challenged him.
"Maybe he was following us. Or maybe he had a brave following us. Maybe any second we're about to be scalped by a war party!" Jimmy answered back.
Buck shook his head, "He lives alone. He spoke the truth. He saw everything in his vision."
"What the hell does that prove?" Jimmy snapped angrily, not liking to admit he was scared.
"It proves that there is something out there," Kid answered in a low voice as they all walked back to their horses, "And it is going to approach us soon."
"I say we stop here," Buck finally announced wearily as the last rays of sun disappeared through the thick network of trees. They'd been looking for a suitable place to stop for an hour, but it was the densest forest they'd seen yet.
And after the shaman's words about the dark spirits that were after them, they were uneasy about camping anywhere they couldn't watch from all directions.
"Maybe if we go just a little further," Jimmy suggested uneasily.
"If we go any further the horses' legs are going to drop off," Kid stated rationally, "We'll take shifts keeping watch, okay?"
Jimmy swung his head in irritation, but pressed his lips tightly together. Lou from where she pulled up beside him could hear his teeth grinding in agitation.
They found a clear spot in the trees just wide enough for them to circle their saddles and gear and build a campfire. Dinner was quiet for awhile, then Cody said, "What did he mean by the sky would be falling?"
Buck shrugged, "There's no telling. We'll find out soon enough."
"Well, ain't that special," Jimmy muttered, still spooked after the whole ordeal.
"I don't believe it," Noah finally ventured as he picked something undesirable out of his stew, "Dark spirits? Falling skies? That's the craziest, most mixed up old man I ever seen in my life."
"But he knew about us, about last night!" Lou protested, "Don't you think that's kind of strange?"
"Strange, yes. A sign that he's all knowing, no. If there were people out there that could tell the future, then what would be the point in the rest of us going on, making choices with day to day life? There's only one all knowing source of knowledge, and that's the Lord, and by my estimation, He's got more important things to do than come down here and try to scare us."
"Maybe not. I mean, if the stallion really is Satan, and that old man seemed to think he was something…then where else would He be more needed?" Kid wondered.
"This talk isn't gonna solve nothing one way or the other," Jimmy growled, "I'll take the first watch. Who's gonna watch with me?"
"I will," Kid responded, "The rest of you should try and sleep."
With looks that told of their uncertainty over the ability to sleep, the others crawled into their bedrolls and brought the blankets over their heads, of the mentality that if something was going to get them, they didn't want to see it.
When their breathing became slow and regular as they gave into the pull of exhaustion after a hard day's riding one by one, Jimmy stood up and paced back and forth. He walked to the tether line and tightened every horse's knot. Then walked back to the campfire, only to return to check the knots again.
"You alright, Jimmy?" Kid whispered with a smile, standing in the snow and walking over to stroke Katy's forehead and then check her leg. It was black as tar beyond the circle of the campfire, with the new moon, but still, he thought he'd seen something moving among the trees.
Releasing the safety on his gun he rapidly backed from between horses, stumbling over Jimmy and falling into the snow. Jimmy nearly tumbled over him, but regained his balance and quickly reached down to drag Kid up by his arm. When Kid had a firm foothold in the snow, Jimmy released him and gave him a slight shove that almost resulted in him falling down again.
"What, are you trying to scare me or something?"
"Jimmy, I thought I saw something. Back there, in the trees," Kid panted, his eyes searching desperately, "Just a glimpse, but something."
"You better not be pulling my leg, Kid," Jimmy growled in a low voice as they both edged closer to the campfire, eyes fixed on the darkness.
Then the sounds started, an eerie, low growl that could have been the wind through the trees, if they hadn't spotted the source of it.
"There Jimmy, look!" Kid cried out, his voice cracking in fear, pointing.
Jimmy squinted, and finally, sure enough spotted it. A shapeless gray form coming closer to them, moving easily among the trees, with no sound of rustling leaves, crunching snow, or breaking limbs.
"There's another!" Jimmy suddenly cried out as a movement to the right of the first figure caught his eyes. The whispering snarl grew louder, humming in their ears as Jimmy and Kid reached the fire.
"Get up!" Kid cried out, reaching down and dragging Lou's blanket off her in one sweep, "Get up now, We got to run!"
At the frantic edge to his voice, all the riders bolted out of their bedrolls and stood up uncertainly, reaching for their saddles.
"There's no time for that!" Jimmy yelled, seeing the gray forms were growing closer and closer, the hum of their terrible song louder and more deafening, "We need to get out of here, and now!"
"What is it?" Cody mumbled sleepily, standing unsteadily and starting to tuck his shirt in.
"Just get your bags and go!" Jimmy grabbed a long branch intended for kindling, and lit it as a torch. He grabbed his saddlebags as the others did the same. They ran for the horses, but were met with the roaring of the gray forms weaving ever closer, growing ever louder. Seven of them, side by side, drew closer and closer to the riders.
"What are they?" Noah whispered in a low voice.
"My God, there's one for each of us!" Lou choked out as she pulled on Lightning's reins, fingers trembling with cold and fright.
"There's no time to get the horses!" Kid screamed, running to Lou and seizing her hand, "Run!"
With a last glance at the animals that were now pulling back on their tethers and rolling their eyes in fright, and a look at the gray figures almost ready to burst upon the campsite, Lou turned and followed Kid.
Jimmy led the way with the single torch, weaving rapidly through the trees on the other side of the camp and making crazy shadows dance on the snow as he zigged and zagged. The riders forms flew to the left and right of her, and Lou fought the dizziness that claimed her as she wove in and out of the trees, clutching Kid's hand for dear life. He was in too much of a panic to slow his stride to fit hers, and so Lou consequently ran harder, fitting herself close behind him and letting the branches tear at him instead of her. Kid's clammy hand was her life line, and she knew it was the only thing keeping her from hysterical fear.
She could hear the heavy breathing of another rider behind her, although she wasn't sure which one, and could hear the foliage snapping all around her as they crashed through it in a blind flight.
The trees grew closer together and passed by Lou at a frantic rate as Kid dragged her along. She shrieked when the branches closed in more and started pulling at her hair, and several times she nearly plowed into one, throwing her weight to the side at the last possible moment.
Suddenly the torch went out, and the little light they had was gone. Kid stopped quickly to avoid injuring himself, and Lou, still in the frame of mind to keep going, slammed into him abruptly, tripping over a root and letting loose her death grasp on Kid's hand to catch herself. However, where there should have been ground there was none, and she found herself tumbling head over heels down an embankment. She had no concept of how far she fell, but it seemed to be forever before she came to a halt.
There was eerie silence all around as Lou lay against the tree that stopped her, trembling with fright. She could see nothing in the darkness, not even her own hand when she brought it to wipe at the cut on her forehead.
She listened for sounds from above from the others, but there were none.
Suddenly, a hand wound around her own and another reached gently under her arm to pull her up. Sensing the heat and solidity of the figure in front of her, she sighed in relief.
"Thank God. I thought you'd never find me in this dark."
There was no answer.
"Kid?" She murmured, her skin suddenly growing clammy at the unfamiliar feel of the hand clasped around hers, "Jimmy? Buck?"
"Kid?" She asked again, louder, her voice more frantic.
She was met with only silence as the figure started to lead her away.
To be continued...Chapter 7
Copyright 1999-This work is not to be reproduced without the permission of the author
