FAITH
FAITH (after an idea by Nesciri)
Yellow Crane watched with growing anger as she watched
Red Bear ride away. She knew where he was going. He was returning to the Kiowa.
The only question that lingered though was why. Her frustration mounted when
she realized that her plan had failed. That little bastard was still alive and
Red Bear had escaped her torture. She watched the people on the porch. They
were the cause of her failure. Just like Red Bear, they protected Running Buck.
He had been sheltered his entire life and no one had ever watched over her.
Yellow Crane slammed her fist into the rocky ground. She continued to pound
until the bones in her hand ached and her skin became raw.
The poison that had always served her had failed.
She had tried it too many times for her to count on it again. First, she had
tried it with Running Buck the night he tracked her to the burial ground. She
had snuck into the camp after they had fallen asleep and spread it around his
blanket. When he wrapped himself in it, she thought she had won. Then she had
tried it again with the eggs. While it certainly was fun too watch Running Buck's
friend vomit wretchedly, that was not her purpose. She needed to punish and
destroy.
Her arm moved in a rhythmic motion and a new plan developed. Yellow Crane stopped
pounding and a strange calm overcame her demented mind. She was finished playing
games. She would kill them all without remorse and without warning.
Ike, Jimmy, Kid and Lou sat around the table trying to eat a little. The events
of the day had left them stunned and anxious. Every time they thought they were
free of Yellow Crane, she came back with even more vengeance. Cody also sat
at the table sipping a little tea that Lou had brewed for him. He was feeling
rattled and weak. This last bout with Yellow Crane had almost done him in and
he privately wondered if he would survive the next. Cody glanced up and knew
that everyone else was lost in their own thoughts as well.
Buck was still in bed and wouldn't move since Red Bear left. Ike had tried to
talk to him but he ignored everyone and everything around him. Ike felt guilty
about the circumstances and wondered if he should tell Buck that he was the
one who had convinced Red Bear to leave him in Sweetwater. He knew Buck would
be angry with him but it was better that he knew the truth. Ike cared too much
about Buck to let him think that his brother had simply left him.
Ike was just getting up from his chair when a plate
rattled on the table. Lou automatically reached out a hand to steady it. For
a second, they weren't sure if they had actually seen that. It was quiet now
and everyone stared at each other. Jimmy reached to pick his knife up and was
stunned to see it skitter across the table.
"What the hell?" Jimmy stood up knocking
his chair to the floor.
"She's here." All eyes turned to look at Buck who was sitting up in bed. "Yellow Crane is here." Maybe before they would have ignored him. They may have even laughed at him. But now the horror was all too real for them not to believe. She was here and causing strange things to happen. It was true. She had some sort of power and she was unleashing all her anger on them right now.
