Black Stump Ridge (29 page)

Tonight the moon was full. If the dark moon made the creature strong, then the full moon should do the opposite. Tonight Red Bear would deliver justice to the creature.

These thoughts were dangerous. The thing might find them and his anger and turn them against him. He had to purge all thoughts save those of the task ahead. Red Bear focused on making his medicine wheel. As he worked and chanted the cruciform medicine wheel took shape: first the northern arm, then the west – south and then east. When he straightened and looked around he saw the sun was low on the horizon. It would be dark soon. He reached for his medicine bag and pulled it to him.

First he removed a clay bowl. Into the vessel he poured powdered silver to which he added earth of different colors as well as leaves and berries. He mixed them together. Satisfied, he raised the bowl towards the sky.

“
Ududu Unalasgi
! I beseech you! Come to me tonight. Help me bind the
atsvyai gago wadiyi nana ukadv
to his lair. Breathe on this silver that it may hold him and bind him.”

Red Bear lowered the bowl and placed it in the center of the wheel. He pulled an
aholi
and a small club from the bag and beat a steady rhythm on the tiny drum as he chanted and danced.

The sun dipped lower. Black clouds rose from the horizon and raced eastward. A cool wind raced ahead of the approaching storm. Thunder grumbled. Lightning backlit the ominous clouds. Red Bear barely noticed. The tempo of the drum increased. He danced faster. His chant grew deeper, harsher, and more insistent. The moon rose. As it reached its zenith the clouds arrived to blot out both moon and stars as they roiled and tumbled overhead.

The explosion of sound and light was like nothing Red Bear had ever experienced. The ground shook. The trees and rocks stood out in sharp detail, their leaves and small branches pushed backwards by the concussion. The smell of ozone filled the air. The force drove Red Bear to the ground.

Ududu Unalasgi
and his son,
Gildinehvyi
, had arrived. From somewhere nearby came the deep baying of a large hound – Horned Green Beetle, Grandfather Thunder’s dog.

“Send them away, Red Bear.”

He looked up. White Fawn stood before the cave, her face averted. Her arms and hands were raised toward the sky in a warding gesture.

“The storm frightens me, my love.”
She looked up at him.
“Come join me in the cave. Protect me from the storm.”

He shook his head. “Be gone! You are not my
Unegv Awiagina
. She sleeps dreamless in her father’s
galitsode.
You are illusion. You are a lie.” He rose and resumed his dance. Thunder grumbled overhead, deeper and more menacing than before. The lightning strikes drew closer.

“Why do you reject me, Gigage Yonv?”

Red Bear redoubled his efforts. Behind him the creature’s shape rippled like thick liquid as it changed. It grew until it towered over the human dancing and chanting before it. Foot-long talons sprouted from its forelimbs. Its face elongated into an ursine visage. Fangs sprouted and grew until they were six inches of pointed white death. The eyes were fiery orbs blazing from deep sockets.

“Look at me!”

The voice compelled, commanded. Red Bear struggled not to turn. His head slowly twisted.

Suddenly, a guttural snarl of rage broke the spell as Horned Green Beetle lunged at the gigantic dire bear. The dog was little more than an outline formed of crackling green energy yet it, too, was huge, far more massive than the dire wolves that prowled the edges of the receding ice sheets. Its jaws clamped on the creature’s throat as it forced it to the ground. Red Bear stepped back. Lightning hammered the ground between his circle and the writhing beasts.

One bolt slammed down upon the center of his medicine wheel. It danced and writhed inside of his clay bowl. Ozone stung Red Bear’s nose. Heat baked his skin. He raised his forearm to protect his eyes from the harsh violet light. Despite the tremendous heat and the awesome energy the small vessel remained intact. After a long moment, the lightning returned to the sky. Red Bear’s vision filled with bright, multi-colored afterimages. He rubbed his eyes with his fists and then blinked rapidly. His sight slowly cleared. He looked down at the medicine wheel in wonder. The small clay vessel remained intact although it was charred and smoking around the rim. Inside was a shiny liquid. The materials were blended. A smoking branch, one end reduced to fibers like a fox’s bushy tail, lay on the blanket. Red Bear stared at them while curious images filled his mind. He saw himself using the brush to paint the drawings around the opening of the cave. He understood.

Behind him the creatures continued to writhe on the ground. Ozone filled the air as blue-white bolts repeatedly struck the earth. Slowly, foot-by-foot, the creature slid backwards towards the cave. With a howl of rage and pain it broke free of the dog’s jaws and dove for the safety of its underground lair. Green Horned Beetle stopped at the opening. He pointed his muzzle to the sky and howled his victory. He took no notice as Red Bear slipped past him into the cave, the clay bowl in one hand and the branch in the other.

•

Stone – cold, coarse, and damp – pressed against his face as Red Bear awoke. At first, he was disoriented. This was not his bed, not his
galitsode
. It was dark, but enough light filtered in that he could see he was in a cave. He sniffed the air. He smelled damp earth.

He sat up and looked around. Morning light colored the stone. The cave’s roof sloped down above him until it formed a narrow arch. Faintly glowing symbols encircled the opening. His clay pot rested on the floor. A stick, its frayed end glistening with metallic residue, lay on the stone next to it. When he reached for the bowl, he noticed a tremor in his hand and arm. He frowned as he stood. His knees popped and his legs strained. He fought the stiffness of his limbs as he tottered to the mouth of the cave. He looked in awe at the torn and charred ground. Blackened holes dotted the area in front of the cave. The ground was torn and chewed up as if giant, clawed beasts had struggled there.

He saw his bag lying on the ground beside the medicine wheel. It was intact despite the evidence of the chaos that had raged around it. Memories of the night’s battle washed over him. He looked back at the cave. The huge tree beside the cave had fared the worst. All that remained of it was a blackened, blasted stump.

He turned and headed down the mountain, grabbing his bag as he passed. Halfway to the village the trail crossed a spring-fed stream. He stopped to get a drink. The water was cold, clear, and reflective. Red Bear stared at the face looking back at him. It was no longer that of a brave of twenty-five summers. This face was old, with deep lines and creases along the cheeks and across the forehead. The hair was white like winter snow. It was the face of a grandfather, an elder. He stood and continued toward the village.

There was one more opening to seal before his people would be free. It lay open to the sky like a well. His people drew water from it when the summer grew very hot and some of the streams ran low. The cave was cold and deep, but it, too, gave the creature a way to continue its forays among the
Tsalagi
. On the next full moon Red Bear must upon the grandfathers, again, to help him close this last door.

He thought about his reflection. This battle had cost him twenty winters or more. Would the next take another twenty? He thought about his lovely White Fawn. He thought of the children and women and young braves lost. He nodded. It was a small price to pay and worth it.

•

The ashes in the fire pit were cold when Diane woke from her vision. She looked about in the gray morning light. She slowly stretched her stiff limbs and started to rise. Something rolled against her right hand. She looked down at her fingers splayed just under the sand. A small totem – a little carved redwood grizzly bear – lay against the edge of her hand. She picked it up and looked at it closely. It was a sign from
Ududu Gigage Yonv.
She needed to put her affairs in order. Her task lay far to the east, in the ancestral home of the
Tsalagi,
not here in Oklahoma.

 CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

“We’ve been here eight days, ” Fred grumbled as he stabbed the buttons on the TV’s remote control.

“I know how long we’ve been here,” Amanda made no pretense at civility. “It’s my bank account that’s being drained.”

“Did you really think it would be easy? Did you think that all we had to do was come up here and ask, ‘Where can we find an authentic Cherokee Medicine Man to drive away an ancient monster?’ and that someone would go, ‘Oh, you must be looking for Charlie White Hawk’ or something like that?”

“No. Of course not.” She hadn’t expected it to be as difficult as it was either. This entire experience flew in the face of her expectations. She thought she was enlightened enough that she didn’t expect teepees or wigwams any more than she would expect to see ice dome igloos in Alaska. The truth was, she didn’t know
what
she expected to see. What she didn’t expect to see was suburbia. Tahlequah, Oklahoma, consisted of tract homes, shopping malls, schools, hospitals, car lots, a university, churches, and fast food restaurants. In short, it looked much the same as the St. Louis suburb where she lived with her brother. “I just didn’t expect them to be so stand-offish.”

“I don’t think they’re at all stand-offish,” he argued. “I find them to be very friendly, so long as you stay away from certain subjects.”

“Right. They’re very happy to direct us to the casinos or the bars or the shows. Any place where they can separate us from our money.”

“You’re not being very fair.”

“Tell me I’ m wrong.”

“That’s easy. You’re wrong.” He looked back at the TV for a moment, and then turned to her again. “Remember, I tried to talk you out of this expedition. Just how do you expect them to be?”

“How about cooperative?”

“How cooperative would you be if every time you tried to help in the last two centuries you ended up getting royally, anally screwed by the people you were trying to help?”

“I didn’t do it.”

“Not you, personally. But, it was always people with our faces, our skin color, who did it to them. After awhile you get the attitude that if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck…”

“That’s not…”

“…fair?” he finished for her. “Honey, in case you haven’t noticed by now, life ain’t fair. But, you can’t win if you don’t play. So, pick up your cards and make the best hand you can.”

She turned toward the window with its heavy, ugly orange and brown curtains and seethed. He didn’t understand. She was a good person. Anyone could see that.

Something landed hard on the bed next to her. It was the remote control. She looked up as Fred slipped his wallet into his hip pocket and the keys into his front one.

“Where are you going?”

“Out.”

“Wait! Let me get my shoes and my purse.”

“No.”

“What?”

“I said no.”

“I heard you, I’m just not sure what you mean by it.”

“What part of no didn’t you understand?” he snapped. “The N? The O? The space in between? I mean that I want you to stay here. I want to try something different. You might get in the way.” He paused and looked down at her. “You might even get hurt.”

“But…”

“No buts. I saw a couple of places that, well, let’s just say they’re not where tourists would normally go. At least, not tourists like us.”

“I can’t let you go alone. What if something happens to you?”

“It might. It might open a couple of doors for us, too. That can’t happen if you’re with me.”

“You’re going to do this even though you know you might get hurt.”

“Well, I’m hoping that won’t happen. I’m not fond of pain.”

“What if you get killed?”

“Then, it’ll be up to you to finish. I don’t plan on getting killed, though.”

“I can’t let you do this.”

“You can’t stop me. We’ve tried it your way. All we’ve got to show for it is eight days of motel bills. It’s time to try a more direct approach. I think I know the best way to do it.”

“How long will you be gone?”

“I don’t really know. However long it takes, I guess. This kind of thing is new to me. I’ve only seen it done on TV.”

She sighed. Without thinking about it she sprang upward, threw her arms around his neck, and kissed him firmly on the mouth.

“You be careful,” she whispered as she pulled away. “I want you back in one piece.”

He stared at her, stunned, as she sat back on the edge of the bed. At last he shook his head, turned, and went out the door into the hot Oklahoma night.

•

Fred stood in the parking lot. The bar was the right combination of sleazy, sexy come on and bravura he’d hoped to find. Motorcycles – some dressed, some chopped, some just big – formed a chromed, canted line as they all leaned on their kickstands. Orange, red, and yellow neon lights formed an Indian headdress with two feathers burned out.