Death's Horse Throws A Shoe

Part 11

Jeb awoke. The weight of everything that he had seen in the vision crushed him. He lay there and wept until there were no more tears left. It was not until Red Bear spoke that Jeb even realized he was not alone.

"Your mind has been opened and your memories returned to you," Edward translated. "Your healing will soon be done and your life just begun."

"My life? What kind of life would it be, knowing what I've done? What am I?"

"You are the descendent of a great shaman. Inside your veins runs the blood of a long line of powerful men. In that blood runs the beast. Without the proper teaching the beast is hard to control. When you have control, it's your greatest ally. Red Bear says that the walls in your mind helped to control it."

"But you've broken those walls," Jeb cried.

"Red Bear will teach you all that you need to know. He says that you could be a great shaman." Jeb shook his head skeptically as Edward continued to translate. "He says that he was at the ceremony when your mother died."

Red Bear had Jeb's complete attention and he sat up to listen.

"She was sick before you left for the camp and she felt the pull. The land of her people called to her and she wanted to leave something for you before she died. She had to convince her father to do the ceremony."

"What did she leave me? All I have is this medicine bag." Jeb shook the bag out from the front of his shirt.

"You saw the ceremony. You remember it from your vision."

Red Bear reached out and pulled Jeb's gun from its resting place. "Here is the gift that she left you." Edward said as Red Bear handed the weapon back to Jeb, hilt first so that he could see the stone embedded in the wood. Red Bear pointed at the pearlescent gem. "This stone is your mother's essence, her power, her life force. It was an old ceremony and hardly ever practiced anymore. Your grandfather is the last man to have done it. When she died and her spirit left her body, he caught it and pressed it into the stone you see there. You see? She has never left your side even after all of these years."

"I don't understand. Why would she do that?"

"To protect you. She knew that you would be alone and she knew what you carried in your blood."

"But I didn't get this gun until..."

"You were ready for it," Edward finished. "It would have found its way to you where ever you were."

"I still don't understand. Why me? Why not Nehemiah?"

"Red Bear says that he ran away after the ceremony--scared of the power he had witnessed. Your grandfather sent men to find him, but they could not. Your mother chose you because you were stronger, because you were not frightened by what was going on. Nehemiah was meant to stay in the camp where your grandfather could protect him. You were meant for something greater. What it is, even the Great Spirits cannot say."

Jeb wrestled with the revelations from Red Bear. He stared at the stone on the hilt of his pistol. He had the distinct feeling that he was a tiny wheel in a greater machine that rolled on and on-unstoppable. Fate was calling the shots. There was no weaker position in life than when someone, or something, else was pulling the strings. Am I just a puppet?

Red Bear stirred. He lay down his pipe and handed Jeb a leather bag. The bag had his bullets in it.

"He says to load your gun and prepare yourself," Edward said with urgency.

Jeb looked at the old man. There was something in his eyes he had not seen before. It was a kind of intensity where there was always mirth before. It was eerie. Jeb loaded his pistol and pocketed the rest of the ammo. As he dropped his gun into the holster at his side, he heard the baying of some animal in the distance.

All sounds in the camp seemed to go completely quiet. It was deathly still. Red Bear closed his eyes as if to focus all concentration to his hearing, when a massive black claw ripped through the hide of the tepee. In rushed a hairy beast and it made straight for the old Indian. It was on top of him before Jeb could react. Edward flung himself to the ground and shrieked. The beast tore at Red Bear, bright crimson gashes showed across his chest and face. The monster raised up with claw held aloft, ready for the kill, when Jeb drew his gun and fired. The blast from the pistol was bright blue and the bullet shone like the sun as it struck the beast in its exposed ribs. It roared in pain and started to burn, flames shooting out of its eyes and mouth. Jeb rushed up and kicked the creature off of the old man. It thrashed on the floor of the tent and then crumbled into a smoking pile that barely resembled the creature that it had been and continued to smolder.

Jeb and Edward rushed up to Red Bear to try and help. The wounds were bad and he was coughing up a lot blood. He spoke, but his voice was weak and quiet.

"He says that he's sorry that he will not be here to teach you, but we have to leave. There are others like that one coming. They will be here soon."

Red Bear motioned for Jeb to come close.

"You will leave," Red Bear whispered. "Take the boy with you."

"I will."

With the strength that was surprising for a dying man, Red Bear grabbed Jeb around and the neck and pulled him down until they were face to face.

"I am going with you," the Indian said and he exhaled his last breath.

Caught within Red Bear's death grip, Jeb struggled and the old man's spirit forced its way into him. His eyes rolled back into his head as the essence was absorbed. All of the old man's strength and knowledge flowed into him, there was so much that Jeb thought his head would explode under the pressure of it all.

Finally, the dead man's grip went slack and Jeb scooted away. His head hurt bad. In the distance there was another roar. Jeb snapped out of his stupor, grabbed Edward and his pack and ran out of the tepee. Out in the cold night air, he saddled his horse and put Edward onto its back. He mounted behind him and kicked his horse into a run. They rode up, higher into the hills.

Jeb stopped to take a look back at the camp he had almost grown to call home. It was the longest he had ever stayed in one place. From high above, he saw two more aberrations tearing everything apart. From the light of the flames, Jeb saw a man on a horse clad all in black. The rider watched the mayhem. The rider then looked up in Jeb's direction. Jeb felt, rather than actually saw, the man's eyes snap up and right at him. Jeb turned the horse and ran it as hard as he could.