Tag: mystical
Agents of the Vault – Part 19
Part 19 of The Agents of the Vault is here! The showdown in Trinity begins!
If you want to subscribe to the Grantcast, you can do so with iTunes, or by using this feed in your favorite podcatcher. Enjoy! And let me know what you think of the story in the comments here, as we go along.
Also, if you prefer a PDF version of this part to read, CLICK HERE for that.
Finally, if you’d like to support my projects, visit www.patreon.com/saturdaymorningmedia
Agents of the Vault
Part 19
By Grant Baciocco
As Jane neared Trinity, she could see Grisom standing in the middle of the thoroughfare. She slowed up her horse. Brenner and the other Pinkertons rode up behind her. Their horses breathed heavy underneath them, tired from racing across the prairie. Gilmore was still wrestling with Pahaat, who thrashed harder now that they had slowed their pace.
“Ma’am.” Gilmore said, struggling to keep the wriggling prairie fire in his hands. “I’m having trouble holding onto this varmint.”
Jane spun on her horse to face Gilmore, whipping out her gun and aiming it directly at his head. “Do you want to die Gilmore?”
“No. I don’t want—“ he stammered.
“Then you hang onto the prairie fire.” She hissed. “If he touches the ground he will burrow and we will lose him. If we loose him, you’re dead. Understand?”
“Yes, ma’am. It’s just—“
Jane fired a bullet that, purposefully knocked Gilmore’s hat clean off his head. Pahaat stopped struggling at the sound of the shot. Jane holstered her gun.
“Listen.” She said to the three men, “Grisom’s going to meet me in the street. That’s plain to see. I assume the other two men are up in the taller building there. That’s where the trunk is and that’s where the other prairie fire is. I’ll ride direct towards Grisom. Brenner and Connors, you ride to the left of the buildings, Conners stop halfway, Brenner, go the full way around so you are behind Grisom. Gilmore, you stay here. Keep that prairie fire quiet. If things get rough, you ride in from here. No one shoots unless I signal. Understood?”
The three men nodded and without a further word, began moving into the positions that Jane had ordered.
In the center of town, Grisom saw the Pinkertons split up. “They’re circling the town,” Grisom said loud enough for Leland and Charlie to hear. “Keep your eyes open behind the hotel. And down this way.” Grisom said, pointing away from the hotel. The whole time, he kept his eyes on Jane out on the prairie.
Jane lowered the brim of her het and began riding directly towards where Grisom stood in the middle of the five buildings. Slowly, she moved her right hand towards her hip as the horse loped forward, feeling the weight of her pistol in her hand. Reassuring herself it was there, she slowly moved he hand back to the reigns. The sun was hanging low to the west. She figured they probably had about thirty minutes of pure daylight left before it began to set. “That’ll be long enough.” She thought to herself. “We get the trunk, the prairie fire and then ride south, leaving Grisom and the kid dead in this deserted town.”
She slowed the horse as she came within range of Grisom. She trusted that Brenner and the Conners were in their spots around the buildings. When she got close enough she glanced up to the top of the two story building. She didn’t see movement in the window, but she knew that one of the others had to be up there. She couldn’t tell where the third was. She refocused on Grisom.
Grisom stood, motionless in between the buildings, staring directly at Jane as she rode up. She pulled the reigns on her horse and it stopped about 15 feet from where Grisom stood.
“Grisom.” Jane said.
“Jane.” Grisom replied, respectfully tipping the brim of his hat towards her.
She smirked. “It doesn’t have to end like this Grisom.” Jane said. “You could just give me what I want and we could be gone. Leave you and the kid and whoever else is with you alive.”
“We both know that won’t happen, Jane.“ Grisom said. “You want the trunk, you want Doris and, most of all, you want me dead. I can’t let any of those three things happen. So there’s no way this doesn’t end in bloodshed.”
“What can I say Grisom?.” Jane said, smiling. “When you’re right, you are right. But at the very least, we could leave the kid alive.”
Grisom looked up at her. “You and I both know you wouldn’t let that happen.”
Jane smiled wider. “Dammit Grisom, again, when you are right, you are right.”
Grisom flinched when suddenly he felt the barrel of a gun pressed against the back of his head and he heard the pistol’s hammer click back. He’d been so focused on Jane, he hadn’t heard the footsteps slowly walking up behind him. He silently cussed himself out.
“Evening Ma’am.” A voice said behind him. It was Leland. “I have been held prisoner by this man here for several days days now. I want him gotten rid of just as much as you. I’d be quite obliged to join your team and help you get what you want. The trunk, that stupid creature upstairs and Grisom here.”
“What do you get out of it?” Jane asked, intrigued by this new wrinkle.
“There’s a trunk on that there cart,” Leland said, indicating with his head. “I’d be mighty happy if I could get up on that cart and ride off into the sunset. After you get what you want, of course.”
“Of course.” Jane replied. “It’s an interesting offer, Mr.—?”
“Leland.” He smiled. “Just call me Leland.
Up in the second floor of the hotel, Charlie’s pistol was moving back and forth between Jane and Leland now. Leland had ruined things and Charlie felt a little unsure what to do next.
Grisom wasn’t so worried. “Charlie!” Grisom yelled interrupting the banter between Jane and Leland, “You keep trained on Jane. Don’t worry about Leland.”
Grisom heard Leland shuffle behind him, “Don’t worry about me? Don’t worry about me? Are you plum crazy Grisom? I’m the guy with a gun against your head.” With those words, Leland shoved the gun further into the back of Grison’s skull, causing Grisom to take a step forward. “You feel that Grisom? You feel that cold steel driving into the base of your skull?” Grisom was calm as could be.
“Your gun ain’t loaded Leland.” Grisom said quietly. “You’re a criminal. You think I’d give you a loaded gun? I knew you’d turn on us the first moment you could. Thank you for not disappointing me.”
Leland held the gun steady. “You’re bluffing. I checked the cylinder. It’s got six shots.”
“They’re empty shell casings.” Grisom said.
“I don’t believe you.”
“Pull the trigger and we’ll all find out.” Grisom said quietly.
Leland’s hand began shaking on the trigger. Grisom could feel it through the barrel.
Bang! A shot rang out. There was silence. Grisom felt the barrel of the gun leave the base of his skull and he heard Leland’s body hitting the ground. Grisom looked straight ahead to see Jane’s pistol in her hand, smoking.
“I was growing tired of the drama.” Jane said. Her gun now trained on Grisom. “Call the boy out here and tell him to bring the prairie fire. Tell my men where they can retrieve the trunk and we will make this quick and painless.”
“You can’t have the trunk.” Grisom said. “And you can’t have he prairie fire.”
“You think I’m kidding about this Grisom?” Jane said, the annoyance dripping through her voice. “I thought you’d know by now that I mean what I say.
Meanwhile, up in the hotel room, Charlie could barely hear what Jane and Grisom were saying. He strained to hear them and not jut because they were far away, but also because Doris was making a whistling sound. A sound that Charlie hadn’t heard before.
“Doris,” Charlie pleaded, “I’m trying to hear Grisom. Would you be quiet?”
But Doris could not be calmed down. She continued to whistle and scramble back and forth along the back wall of the room. Charlie turned to see her climb up the wall into the window frame that looked out the back of the hotel.
“Doris!” Charlie said tersely, “Get out of the window! Your liable to be seen!”
Doris ignored Charlie’s warning and he watched in panic as she disappeared out the window. Looking back down to Grisom and Jane, he saw they were still locked in their war of words. He quickly crossed to the window Doris had just climbed out of. He looked down and saw Doris hit the ground and immediately start burrowing, disappearing completely. He had just enough time to wonder where she was off to when a bullet whizzed past his head. As he ducked back into the room, he caught view of one of Jane’s Pinkertons who had been guarding the backside of the hotel. Charlie scrambled back across the floor to the window that faced main street. That’s when he realized that there was now gunfire from out in the street.
Peering above the window ledge, he saw Grisom running toward the hotel in a zig zag fashion as Jane fired her pistol behind him. Grisom wildly fired shots behind him in Jane’s direction, making her duck, but his aim was wild as he ran for cover.
Thinking that, with Leland dead, they were grossly outnumbered. Charlie dashed back over to the window overlooking the back of the hotel and saw the Pinkerton that was there, slowly approaching the hotel with his rifle at the ready. Charlie quickly took aim and shot the Pinkerton dead.
Below him, he heard Grisom slam closed the flimsy door of the hotel and begin to mount the stairs.
Gilmore, still on his horse, still firmly holding the Prairie Fire in his hands, heard the gunfire exchanges and looked nervously toward Trinity. It was then he realized that the Prairie Fire in his hands had gone completely still. For the first time in the day since they had captured it, it wasn’t struggling and it wasn’t whistling. If it weren’t for the feeling of it’s tiny ribs rising and falling against his hands, Gilmore would have thought the creature had died.
“What’s going on little fella?” Gilmore asked quietly, giving the creature a gentle shake. Pahaat didn’t move, only cocking his, burlap bag covered head to the side, listening.
Suddenly, Gilmore’s horse let out a wild shriek, reared up and then, as if the horses legs just simply refused to stop working, crashed to the ground. Pahaat tumbled out of Gilmore’s hands. The Pinkerton desperately reached to secure the creature, but his inability to do so, along with the searing pain now shooting up his legs made him realize that the horse had his leg pinned under it’s weight.
Frantic at incurring Jane’s wrath for losing the prairie fire, Gilmore looked around to try and discover the cause of the horse’s ailment. Scrambling up the horse’s stomach came the fuzzy ears of Doris who had a mischievous smile on her face.
©2015 Grant Baciocco/Saturday Morning Media – www.SaturdayMorningMedia.com
Agents of the Vault – Part 17
Part 17 of The Agents of the Vault is here! Now in Trinity, Grisom, Charlie and Doris try to come up with a plan to deal with Jane and the Pinkertons. They also need to figure out what to do about Leland.
If you want to subscribe to the Grantcast, you can do so with iTunes, or by using this feed in your favorite podcatcher. Enjoy! And let me know what you think of the story in the comments here, as we go along.
Also, if you prefer a PDF version of this part to read, CLICK HERE for that.
Finally, if you’d like to support my projects, visit www.patreon.com/saturdaymorningmedia
Agents of the Vault
Part 17
By Grant Baciocco
The cart carrying Charlie, Grisom and Doris rumbled into the small settlement, down the road that had, at one time, hoped to the be the main thoroughfare of the bustling city of Trinity. Weeds grew wildly in all directions and large tumbleweeds piled into the streets having come to rest on the side of the buildings. The buildings were in various states of dilapidation. The blue sky could be seen through the walls and the rooftops. Grisom steered the horses towards the tallest of the buildings, the hotel. “When we stop, Charlie, you help me get the Vault trunk up to the top floor of the hotel.”
“Right.”
“And me?” yelled Leland over the roar of the wagon, “What about me, dammit?”
“We’ll come back down for you.” Grisom spat. “The desk is our main concern. We will untie you and arm you, but we need to make sure the desk is safe.”
Leland continued to grumble his displeasure at playing second fiddle to the crate, but neither Grisom nor Charlie payed him any attention as they unstrapped the trunk with the desk in it from the back of the wagon. Both men strained as they carried it up onto the rickety old porch of the hotel. Grisom kicked the door open with his foot. The dilapidated door, nearly coming off its hinges as it swung wide and slammed into the inside wall. Grisom pulled the crate towards the staircase that looked even worse for wear than the door.
“Those stairs gonna hold us and this crate?” Charlie asked, trying to disguise the waver in his voice.
“Here’s hoping.” Grisom grunted as he mounted the first step.
The stairs were shaky, but, luckily, they held as Charlie and Grisom climbed them. At the top of the stairs, Grisom made a left and then another left and headed for the hotel room that overlooked the street, or what there was of it.
“I want you up here kid,” Grisom said as they sat the trunk back up against the wall furthest away from the windows. He was out of breath and took a second to catch it. “With your aim, you’ll be better advantaged from up here.”
Charlie nodded. “Where will you be?”
Grisom looked out the window pane, out across the prairie where five specks grow bigger and bigger by the minute. He figured Jane to be 5 miles off or so. “I’ll meet them in the street.”
“What?” Charlie said, “That’s suicide. You know Jane will shoot you on the spot.”
“She won’t shoot me until she knows where the trunk is and it’s in her possession.” Grisom said, turning to Charlie. “That’s why you are the last line of defense.
Charlie lowered his head and then looked across the room at Grisom, “And Leland.”
“I’ll arm him. I’ll post him on the stairs.”
“You trust him?”
“What choice do we have?”
“And Doris?”
At the sound of her name, Doris popped a head up out of the saddle bag slung over Charlie’s shoulder. She looked at Charlie, then Grisom, clearly understanding the gravity of the situation.
Grisom looked at her. “Doris, if Jane takes the stairs, and gets into the room, you get out through the window, get to ground and burrow. You do not surface until you don’t hear any sound for three days. Understand.”
Doris was clearly troubled, but nodded her understanding.
Grisom smiled at her. “You are more important than what’s in the trunk. You cannot get captured by Jane.”
Doris whistled in agreement.
Grisom looked back up at Charlie. “Look, kid, it’s going to be all right. There’s only five of them. You and I have faced steeper odds. We can take them.”
“And if we can’t?” Charlie asked.
“We will.” Grisom said, nodding his head. He crossed the room to the trunk and, with his finger, began tracing symbols on the padlock that kept the trunk sealed. “I’m also going to call for back up. I just hope they make it here in time.”
The padlock on the trunk popped open and Grisom slid it off the latch.
“Go down and get Leland untied and bring him up here.” Grisom said as he popped the latch on the trunk. Charlie nodded and headed downstairs. Doris at his heels.
©2015 Grant Baciocco/Saturday Morning Media – www.SaturdayMorningMedia.com
Agents of the Vault – Part 14
Part 14 of The Agents of the Vault is here! Jane and the Pinkertons are hot on the trail of our heroes when they encounter the Pawnee indians themselves.
If you want to subscribe to the Grantcast, you can do so with iTunes, or by using this feed in your favorite podcatcher. Enjoy! And let me know what you think of the story in the comments here, as we go along.
Also, if you prefer a PDF version of this part to read, CLICK HERE for that.
Finally, if you’d like to support my projects, visit www.patreon.com/saturdaymorningmedia
Agents of the Vault
Part 14
By Grant Baciocco
Jane and her men had trailed the cart tracks to the spot where Grisom, Charlie and Leland had camped out before. It didn’t take long after that to discover the field full of fired arrows and the buffalo hides. Most important of her discoveries was the pool of blood back where they had camped and the tracks that indicated they’d left in a hurry. Someone had been injured in the confrontation with the indians. That meant they would be more desperate to find medical attention. Being more desperate meant more apt to become careless. That meant it’d be easier to find them. Find them and get the trunk.
After discovering all this, Jane pushed her men hard. They rode south at a blistering pace. They were headed towards the Platte river. But why? What was at that river? What took Grisom and Charlie half a day took Jane and her men half of that time. Of course, they weren’t pulling a cart loaded down with stolen gold so their horses could move faster
They were a mile off from the Pawnee camp when there was a loud war cry from directly in front of them. Jane pulled hard on the reigns of her horse, causing her to rear up. Her men did the same. Once their forward progress had stopped, Jane scanned the horizon in front of them. Her horse panting hard under her. Suddenly one single figure stood in the tall grass before them. A Pawnee brave. He held his bow, loaded with an arrow at his waist in front of him.
Jane held up a hand to her men, who she knew were already reaching for their pistols. Jane calmly hopped off her horse and began walking towards the brave. When she was now only 3 yards from him, he raised his arrow as if to fire. Jane continued walking but raised her hands.
“We are looking for two men who came this way in a cart.” She said in perfect Pawnee.
The Pawnee, stone faced said nothing. He held his bow aimed directly at her heart.
“They are bandits. Thieves. We have come to take them back with us.”
Still the Pawnee brave said nothing. Only stared deep into Jane’s eyes. She continued to walk directly towards him. “We mean you no malice, but if you are hiding the thieves, it will mean severe punishment for you and your tribe. So I ask you, have you seen the men we are looking for?”
The Pawnee brave said nothing, but suddenly, from out of the tall grass, a group of twenty braves stood, bows ready to be fired. Jane and her men were completely surrounded. This made Jane stop.
She looked around. Her men, nervous, fidgeted anxiously on their horses. Jane never broke eye contact with the brave once she’d taken in her predicament. She nodded and slowly turned to go back towards her horse. As she did she gave a shrill whistle and in a flash turned, gun drawn and shot the brave dead. Before the rest of the braves knew what had happened, Jane had killed 5 more and was reloading. Her men took the cue and began firing as well and soon Jane and her men stood in a bloody ring of dead indians and not a single arrow had been shot in return.
Jane holstered her gun as she strode back to her horse. She climbed up into the saddle and looked at her men. “We take the whole village.” She said, adjusting her hat.
Brenner turned to her, “The whole village?”
Jane ignored the skepticism in his voice.
“Yes.” Jane shouted, turning her horse to face her men. “Is General MacCallister’s calvary unit still stationed in Independence?
“I believe so.” Brenner replied.
Jane looked at Conners, “That’s about an hour’s ride east from here yes?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Conners, Ride there now and get him. Tell him to bring the whole calvary. Executive order.”
Conners was headed east before Jane said the word order. Brenner and the other Pinkerton watched him ride off, hell bent.
Brenner cleared his throat, “That’s a least two hours before they return.”
Jane nodded. “It is.”
“What do we do if the Pawnee come out looking for their braves?”
“We give them more of the same.” Said Jane as she climbed back up on her horse. “I want that trunk. If the Pawnee know where it is or have even seen it recently, I will know or I will burn their village to the ground and spill every last drop of blood under their red skin.”
©2015 Grant Baciocco/Saturday Morning Media – www.SaturdayMorningMedia.com
Agents of the Vault – Part 13
Part 13 of The Agents of the Vault is here! Grisom, Charlie and a reluctant Leland head out to find Doris!
If you want to subscribe to the Grantcast, you can do so with iTunes, or by using this feed in your favorite podcatcher. Enjoy! And let me know what you think of the story in the comments here, as we go along.
Also, if you prefer a PDF version of this part to read, CLICK HERE for that.
Finally, if you’d like to support my projects, visit www.patreon.com/saturdaymorningmedia
Agents of the Vault
Part 13
By Grant Baciocco
There was no real sleep for anyone in those remaining hours before the sun started to crawl across the prairie floor in the east. Leland had not been untied and being hogtied made it difficult to get any rest. His arms and legs ached. Charlie and Grisom were unsympathetic. Grisom kept watch as there was still the threat of the Pinkertons finding them. Charlie’s wound kept him awake, but even if he hadn’t been hit by that arrow, he would have been awake with worry about Doris. He’s wanted to set out immediately, but Grisom had been right. There would be no way to track the indians in the dark.
When it was finally light enough to leave, they had the cart packed. Leland was happy to be stretched out in the back of the wagon as they’d finally untied his hands from his feet, though he was now tied to the wagon. They rode out to where Doris had been taken. The indian’s buffalo hide disguises were scattered where they had lain in wait. Grisom hopped off the wagon and looked them over closely. Finally he stood.
“Pawnee.” Grisom said solemnly.
“Well that’s fantastic.” Leland piped up from the back. “Nothing more I like to do than start my day tracking down some Pawnee injuns.”
Grisom let the buffalo skin drop to the ground. He walked around where the skins were looking for tracks. After a few minutes of following tracks for a few yards from the circle, he pointed south east. “They went that way. Probably camped near the Platte river.”
Grisom turned back towards the wagon and climbed back in. “River’s about half a day’s ride from here, I’d figure.”
“We’re headed away from Yankton.” Charlie said quietly.
“We are.” Grisom replied.
“And since we’re headed back partially the way we came, we may run into the Pinkertons.” Charlie said, the realization dawning on him.
“We may.” Grissom said, matter of factly.
Charlie was silent for a minute as the cart rambled on. “We don’t have to go after her, if it’ risks the trunk.”
Grisom smiled, “Kid, there are some things more important than that trunk. You’re prairie fire is one of them.”
Charlie smiled at Grisom. Still he couldn’t help but feel slightly guilty for sidetracking their mission of getting the trunk to Yankton. He was pretty sure that a true Agent of the Vault would sacrifice anything to keep the historical artifacts safe and sound.
They rode most of the morning in silence. Leland had fallen asleep with the rocking of the wagon and Charlie found himself dozing as well. It wasn’t until the sun was high overhead and Charlie heard a loud whoop, that he roused awake. He looked around nervously.
“Easy.” Grisom said quietly. He pointed straight ahead where, about 20 yards ahead, two indians on horseback were approaching the wagon. “Scouts.”
Charlie shifted uneasily.
“Take it easy kid, they aren’t posturing hostile. They are just checking us out.” Grisom said as he slowed the wagon. He then reached behind them and slapped Leland on the shoulder.
Leland sputtered awake, “What? What’s happening?”
“Shut up Leland. We’ve got company.”
Leland craned his neck around and saw the riders approaching. He sighed, “This is where it all ends. Fantastic.”
Grisom back handed him. “Shut up, or we’ll leave you with them.”
When the scouts were close, Grisom brought the cart to a halt. He whispered out of the side of his mouth, “Hands up. Do NOT reach for you gun.”
Charlie nodded and raised his hands along with Grisom.
The scouts approached stone faced. One stopped in front of the cart, the other made a long slow circle, inspecting everything about the cart. Glaring extra long at Leland, who refused to meet the indian’s gaze. The investigating scout then met back up with the other scout at the front of the wagon.
“Where are you going?”1 one scout asked.
Grisom cleared his throat and spoke back in the best Pawnee he could remember. “We come to see your chief. We believe your braves may have taken something from us in a raid last night.”
The two scouts looked at each other. “We do not know of this.”
Grisom nodded, “Perhaps not. But we would like to speak to your chief.”
The two scouts conferred with each other for a minute. “Why is the man in back there bound?”
Grisom turned and indicated to Leland. “He is a thief. We are taking him for trial in city.”
“You travel with a thief. Perhaps he is the one who took what you are missing.”
Grisom shook his head. “No. What was taken was a prairie fire.”
At those words were spoken, the scouts got nervous. This, to Grisom, was a clear indication they had the right group of Pawnee.
Grisom continued, “We only want to speak to your chief. We come bearing no harm.”
The scouts again spoke softly with each other for a moment. One of the scouts looked at Grisom.
“You will ride with us to camp. But first, all guns must be given to us.”
Leland spoke up from the back, “Don’t give them your guns! Don’t be fools.”
Grisom pulled out his pistol and reached back and clocked Leland in the head.
“Fine. We will turn over our weapons. We will want them back when we leave.”
The scout nodded as the other one rode up and began collecting the firearms. Two pistols and a shotgun from Grisom and Charlie’s pistols. The scout carefully looked over the contents of the back of the wagon and then returned to the other, dividing up the guns between them.
“Follow us.” Said the first scout and Grisom started the horses following them as they rode towards the river. After about 10 minutes Grisom and Charlie could see the village ahead. One of the scouts let out a whoop and a minute later, two braves rode up to meet them. They stopped for a moment as the scouts and the braves talked softly. The scouts handed the guns to the braves and then rode back past the cart.
“Where are they going?” Charlie asked.
“Back out to their post. We’re in their hand’s now.” Grisom replied, indicating the two braves. One of the braves motioned for them to continue and they did. After a few more minutes of riding, they were at the camp.
“Rest your horses here.” The brave said, a squaw came towards them with two water buckets. She placed them down for the horses to drink.
One brave dismounted. The other took his horse, and the guns and rode off. Grisom and Charlie climbed down off the wagon. Charlie gingerly favoring his leg.
One of the braves looked at him, “What’s wrong with his leg?”
“One of your arrows from last night.”
The brave nodded. He motioned to the squaw and barked out an order.
Charlie looked at Grisom, “What did he say?”
“You are to go with her to their medicine man. He will look you over.”
“I don’t think I want—“
Grisom cut him off, “Go. This backtracking will make it longer until we see a real doc. Their medicine man is better than nothing. I think they want to help us.”
“But what about what Leland said?” Charlie whispered tersely to Grisom. “Keeping us healthy just so they can torture us?”
“Don’t believe anything Leland tells you. Ever.” Grissom replied, putting a hand on Charlie’s shoulder. “Now go with her.”
Charlie nodded and started hopping in the direction of the squaw who walked to him and let him put his arm around her shoulder to help him walk.
The brave indicated that Grisom should follow him. At this moment, Leland came to and looked around.
“Grisom. Hey! Where are you going?” he whispered.
“To see the chief.”
“And you’re going to leave me here?” Leland replied, indignantly.
“Someone has to watch the gold and the trunk.”
“Untie me then.”
“Not going to happen. If they start messing with our gear, you holler and I’ll come running. Otherwise you stay here and shut up.” Grisom replied. Then with a smile added, “You cause any trouble, I’ll leave you here. You know what they do to white men don’t you?”
Leland slunk down in the back of the wagon as Grisom walked away after the brave. They came to a large tent in the center of the village. All around the Pawnee people were curious as to the three white men in the camp, but other than lingering stares they went about their business. The brave motioned for Grisom to stand outside and he ducked into the tent. A moment later he reappeared, holding the tent flap open for Grisom to enter.
Inside the tent it was dark and smoky from several small bowls of smoldering sage. At the far side of the tent sat the chief. A large imposing man, older than most of the men he’d seen so far wearing elaborate, ceremonial robes. The brave indicated a spot for Grisom to sit and he did, removing his hat and bowing reverently. The Chief returned the bow, but eyed Grisom wearily.
“Why are you here?” the Chief said after a moment.
“Some of your men have taken something that belongs to my friend.” Grisom answered.
“The one with the hurt leg?”
“Yes.”
“Your friend, the boy, was in possession of a sacred thing. A thing belonging to the land. A prairie fire.”
“Yes. That is correct.”
“My scouts saw the prairie fire running along side your wagon as you crossed the land. I sent them to retrieve it.” The Chief said. He stared at Grisom. “How did he come into possession of such a thing?”
“His father’s father was given the egg of the prairie fire, by the mother who was dying during the great drought many years ago.”
The Chief nodded solemnly.
“It is not right for man to keep what belongs to the earth, especially one so sacred as a prairie fire.”
Grisom nodded. “Yes. I agree with you, Chief. But this prairie fire was not born in the wild. She was born with man, so man is all she knows.”
The Chief’s eyes narrowed, “What is the boy’s purpose with it?”
“Purpose? To protect it. Keep it from men who’d take it away. Men who would use her for bad purposes. Harness it’s fire for war. Attempt to make more and use them in battle.”
The Chief shook his head and looked to the dirt floor of the tent. “These things must not happen.”
Grisom nodded in agreement. “Yes. You are correct. That is why the boy is protecting him.”
The Chief nodded. “You have two large trunks in the back of your cart.”
Grisom nodded. “Yes. One is filled with gold. Gold stolen by the man who is bound in the back of the cart. The other trunk must get to Yankton. The big city north of here. Inside of that trunk is an item of great importance.”
The Chief looked at Grisom, “You seem not like the other white men we have encountered. You seem not bent on greed. Taking the land, making it yours.”
Grisom smiled, “That is true. My life is preserving history.”
The Chief nodded. He called out to the brave who had been standing outside the tent. The brave entered and crossed to the Chief. The Chief spoke quietly to the brave. He nodded and then crossed and exited the tent.
“You must know, the reason I sent braves to capture the prairie fire is because I believed it was traveling with men because it had been captured. My braves thought the boy had been sleeping and the prairie fire was escaping. We meant only to capture to release onto the prairie later tonight when you had ridden on.” The Chief was quiet. “The prairie fire has been missing from the plains for many years. My braves were surprised to see another one.”
“Another one?” Grisom asked, raising his eyebrows. “You mean you have seen another one?”
Grisom’s question was answered when the brave returned to the tent and held open the flap and in came Doris and another prairie fire behind her. Doris saw Grisom and leapt into his arms, kissing his face repeatedly.
Grisom held her away from his face, “Okay, okay. I’m glad to see you.” He began petting Doris who whistled happily and snuggled down into his lap, but he was staring at the other prairie fire.
The other prairie fire stared back. Sniffing wildly in the direction of the newcomer that his fellow prairie fire was whistling over. Grisom held out a hand but the prairie fire took a step back. Doris looked quizzically at him and whistled three low whistles. The other prairie fire took a tentative step toward Grisom. Grisom, again, held out a hand. The prairie fire sniffed at it.
“Pahaat has lived near our tribe for decades. He is free to come and go, we do not hold him, yet he prefers to stay amongst our people. He has been our great secret.” The Chief said.
Grisom nodded, scratching behind Doris’ ears, “Much like Doris here has been the boy’s great secret.”
The Chief continued, “We believed him the last one. When we saw yours we wanted to get them together. Perhaps they are the last two prairie fires alive.” The Chief was quiet for a moment then added, “We would like to release them into the prairie where hopefully they can bring the population back.”
Grisom nodded, “That is not up to me. Or up to you. I think this will be a question for Charlie, the boy. And for Doris.”
At the sound of her name, Doris perked up and looked at Grisom, stopping her pawing game with Pahaat.
The Chief stood, Grisom rose as well, Doris tumbling to the ground and tackling Pahatt. The Chief looked at Grisom, “We shall ask the boy.”
“Yes.” Grisom nodded. “But remember, he is a boy.”
The Chief laughed. “As we all were until life opened our eyes to it’s grand design.”
Grisom nodded and stepped aside so that the Chief could exit the tent first. The brave motioned for Grisom to follow. Doris and Pahaat scampered around Grisom’s feet.
The Chief, Grisom and the brave walked across the village. Doris and Pahaat tumbling and roughhousing as they walked behind them. The Chief led them to where the medicine man was. The brave stepped inside the medicine man’s tent and a moment later reappeared.
“He will be out soon.” The brave said.
Suddenly from across the camp there cam a whoop. A brave came riding through the village of tents towards the chief. Others in the Pawnee tribe scattered as the brave thundered up to the Chief. The brave hopped down from his horse and crossed to the Chief. He whispered in his ear.
The Chief looked at Grisom, “You have those that follow you. Brave say that they found your camp. Found buffalo hides my braves left. Headed this way just now.”
Grisom scoweled. “Pinkertons. The greedy, evil men I spoke of.”
“Brave say woman rides with them.”
Grisom smiled, “This women is their Chief but she is greedier and more evil than the other white men you have met.”
The Chief smiled for the first time.
“We must go quickly. They are after the trunk. We must get away from you, your people before she finds this village. She will bring nothing but trouble to you. Blood.”
The medicine man’s tent opened and Charlie came out. He was limping, but not as much as before.
“Good as new.” Charlie said to Grisom. “Almost.”
At the sound of Charlie’s voice, Doris let our a screech that had all covering their ears. She barreled over to him, crawled up his leg and clung to his neck.
“Hey there girl!” Charlie said, hugging her tight. “I was worried about you.”
Doris replied with repeated licks on the face.
Grisom turned to Charlie, “Glad to see you’re okay kid, but we have to get a move on.”
“Why?” Charlie replied in between being slobbered on by Doris.
“Jane is on her way.”
Charlie nodded, “Well, I got Doris, so I am ready go.”
“Kid, I want you to meet Pahaat.” Grisom stepped aside and revealed Pahaat who’d been sitting on the ground next to Grisom’s feet.
Charlie’s eyes grew as wide as saucers. Doris stopped her outpouring of affection and turned to see what Charlie was looking at. When she saw Pahaat, she shimmied down Charlie and tackled the other prairie fire.
“There’s another one?” Charlie asked.
Grisom nodded, “Yes. And the indians think maybe they should stay together.”
“Stay together? How am I going to handle two of them?” Charlie replied with a laugh. He looked from the tumbling prairie fires up to Grisom’s face. The moment he locked eyes with the older man, he realized what was being suggested. Charlie’s heart sank.
“You didn’t promise that did you?” Charlie demanded.
“No,” Grisom replied, “Of course not. I told them that it’d be your decision and you’d decide what’s best for Doris.”
Charlie looked down at his friend, playing roughly with Pahaat. They batted at each other’s tails and tumbled wildly around in a ball.
He looked back up at Grisom.
Grisom smiled, “It’s up to you kid, but we gotta hurry. Jane and her men are en route now. We need need to get going or there’ll be no way we can escape without her seeing us.”
Charlie looked again at Doris. He clicked his tongue and she immediately stopped roughhousing and trotted over to him.
“Hey girl,” he said, patting her between the ears. “Listen, Do you want to stay here with Pahaat or do you want to come with us?”
The Chief chuckled. He looked at Grisom, “He talks to it?”
Grisom nodded. “Yes. And she understands him. Does Pahaat understand Pawnee?”
The Chief shook his head, “No one has ever thought to talk to it. Just an animal.”
Grisom shook his head and pointed to his temple, “Very smart.”
They both looked back down at Doris. First she took a few steps towards Pahaat, who got into a defensive position, assuming a tackle was incoming. But then Doris turned and looked back at Charlie. She looked him in the eye.
She then slowly walked towards Pahaat and embraced him. Their tails entwined for a moment. Then Doris whistled to him. He nodded and whistled back. Then in a heartbeat, Doris ran back to Charlie and scampered up his leg and arm to take her spot on his shoulder.
Charlie looked at Grisom, “She’s made up her mind.”
Grisom shook his head with a smile, “It would appear so.”
“Grisom,” Charlie said, “Tell the Chief I will bring her back. But she is not ready to stay just yet.”
Grisom nodded and relayed Charlie’s message to the Chief. The Chief nodded and said to Grisom, “I understand. He seems to have a good heart. We look forward to the return of the other prairie fire.”
Grisom nodded to the Chief and then turned and helped Charlie limp back to the cart.
The Chief sent a brave after them. “Chief say we take you west around big rock. Best to avoid those who chase you.”
Grisom nodded, “We’ll be happy for the escort.”
Moments later Charlie, Doris and Grisom were on the cart. Leland, was thankful they were on their way, and they headed out of the Pawnee village.
1 Translated from Pawnee.
©2015 Grant Baciocco/Saturday Morning Media – www.SaturdayMorningMedia.com