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Authors: Steve Hayes
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him.
Ordering Gabriel to get down, Welters turned to Stadtlander. ‘What do you want me to do with him, boss?’
‘Beat him,’ Stadtlander said flatly.
Welters cocked a reproachful eyebrow at the irascible old rancher. ‘Sure that’s what you really want, Mr Stadtlander?’
‘You questionin’ me, John?’
‘No, sir. Just makin’ sure I heard right.’
‘You heard right. Now you’n the boys get to it. Beat the sonofabitch till he can’t even crawl and then lock him in the barn. Come daylight,’ he said speaking to Gabriel, ‘I’m personally going to put a noose around your neck an’ watch you kick an’ dance until you choke to death.’
Gabriel eyed the enraged, crippled old man as if he pitied him. ‘I’ll do my best to make sure you ain’t cheated,’ he said grimly.
They were the last words he would speak that night. Welters clenched both hands together in a single fist and clubbed Gabriel on the back of the neck. Stunned, Gabriel dropped to his knees. The foreman grudgingly signaled to the ranch hands and they closed in and began punching and kicking Gabriel until he lay senseless and bleeding in the dirt.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
It was almost dark when Raven reached the Mescalero reservation. She hadn’t been there in over a year; in fact not since the day she’d begged Almighty Sky to let the Sacred One, Lolotea – a beautiful young blind girl with premature white hair who possessed spiritual healing powers – leave the reservation and come to the Bjorkman farm to save Gabriel’s life.
Now, as Raven rode into the main village, she was appalled at the squalid conditions. The dome-shaped hogans all needed re-thatching , trash and discarded whiskey bottles lay scattered everywhere, and every man, woman and child she passed looked listless and half-starved.
She rode on, attracting little attention from the downtrodden Apaches gathered about their fires, and finally reined up outside Almighty Sky’s hogan. A small circle of blanket-shrouded elders sat silently in front of it. Motionless, they stared impassively into the flames. Raven smelled a pungent odor and knew they had been drinking fermented mescal.
There was no sign of Almighty Sky.
Wondering where the old shaman was, Raven dismounted. At once, two women in buckskin ceremonial dresses with red ribbons and sprigs of sage woven into their braids approached her. The younger of the two, a spindly girl no more than sixteen, carried an armful of blankets. The other woman, who was wrinkled enough to be a hundred, held a flaming torch in her withered left hand.
‘It is good you have come,’ she said, speaking Mescalero. ‘TheWise One has been waiting for you.’
Raven frowned, puzzled. ‘How could he be waiting for me when I had no idea I was coming here myself?’
‘It is written,’ the old woman said simply. ‘Now, hurry. You must cleanse yourself before you hear the Wise One’s message.’
Even more puzzled, Raven allowed herself to be led to a small pool. The clear water was encircled by smooth sandstone rocks on which were painted ceremonial symbols and strange-looking serpents, eagles, and an Inca-styled dragon identical to one she’d seen in a picture book. She and her folks had been friendly with the Mescaleros for years and Raven was no stranger to the reservation, but she’d never seen these rock paintings before and wondered why she was being permitted to see them now.
After they had undressed her, the women insisted she stand in the shallow pool while they bathed her and washed her hair with soap made from a yucca root. The water was numbingly cold and Raven couldn’t stop shivering. At last, the women led her ashore and dried her with blankets scented with mint. They then wrapped her in a large red blanket, fastened it about her throat with a woodpecker’s feather and led her back to Almighty Sky’s hogan. There, they draped her clothes on a bush near the Morgan and told her she was now ready to see the Wise
Ordering Gabriel to get down, Welters turned to Stadtlander. ‘What do you want me to do with him, boss?’
‘Beat him,’ Stadtlander said flatly.
Welters cocked a reproachful eyebrow at the irascible old rancher. ‘Sure that’s what you really want, Mr Stadtlander?’
‘You questionin’ me, John?’
‘No, sir. Just makin’ sure I heard right.’
‘You heard right. Now you’n the boys get to it. Beat the sonofabitch till he can’t even crawl and then lock him in the barn. Come daylight,’ he said speaking to Gabriel, ‘I’m personally going to put a noose around your neck an’ watch you kick an’ dance until you choke to death.’
Gabriel eyed the enraged, crippled old man as if he pitied him. ‘I’ll do my best to make sure you ain’t cheated,’ he said grimly.
They were the last words he would speak that night. Welters clenched both hands together in a single fist and clubbed Gabriel on the back of the neck. Stunned, Gabriel dropped to his knees. The foreman grudgingly signaled to the ranch hands and they closed in and began punching and kicking Gabriel until he lay senseless and bleeding in the dirt.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
It was almost dark when Raven reached the Mescalero reservation. She hadn’t been there in over a year; in fact not since the day she’d begged Almighty Sky to let the Sacred One, Lolotea – a beautiful young blind girl with premature white hair who possessed spiritual healing powers – leave the reservation and come to the Bjorkman farm to save Gabriel’s life.
Now, as Raven rode into the main village, she was appalled at the squalid conditions. The dome-shaped hogans all needed re-thatching , trash and discarded whiskey bottles lay scattered everywhere, and every man, woman and child she passed looked listless and half-starved.
She rode on, attracting little attention from the downtrodden Apaches gathered about their fires, and finally reined up outside Almighty Sky’s hogan. A small circle of blanket-shrouded elders sat silently in front of it. Motionless, they stared impassively into the flames. Raven smelled a pungent odor and knew they had been drinking fermented mescal.
There was no sign of Almighty Sky.
Wondering where the old shaman was, Raven dismounted. At once, two women in buckskin ceremonial dresses with red ribbons and sprigs of sage woven into their braids approached her. The younger of the two, a spindly girl no more than sixteen, carried an armful of blankets. The other woman, who was wrinkled enough to be a hundred, held a flaming torch in her withered left hand.
‘It is good you have come,’ she said, speaking Mescalero. ‘TheWise One has been waiting for you.’
Raven frowned, puzzled. ‘How could he be waiting for me when I had no idea I was coming here myself?’
‘It is written,’ the old woman said simply. ‘Now, hurry. You must cleanse yourself before you hear the Wise One’s message.’
Even more puzzled, Raven allowed herself to be led to a small pool. The clear water was encircled by smooth sandstone rocks on which were painted ceremonial symbols and strange-looking serpents, eagles, and an Inca-styled dragon identical to one she’d seen in a picture book. She and her folks had been friendly with the Mescaleros for years and Raven was no stranger to the reservation, but she’d never seen these rock paintings before and wondered why she was being permitted to see them now.
After they had undressed her, the women insisted she stand in the shallow pool while they bathed her and washed her hair with soap made from a yucca root. The water was numbingly cold and Raven couldn’t stop shivering. At last, the women led her ashore and dried her with blankets scented with mint. They then wrapped her in a large red blanket, fastened it about her throat with a woodpecker’s feather and led her back to Almighty Sky’s hogan. There, they draped her clothes on a bush near the Morgan and told her she was now ready to see the Wise
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