The last chapter for now until I finished chapter 13 of The Black Wolf. Then it's back to King of the Forest.
So, I meant for all of my RDR fics to be finished but due to a series of events, I had to travel all the way down to Houston, Texas to help someone close a door in their life and open another. And oh man, do I hate Houston, but that's a story for another day. lol
I thought I'd make this a chapter for Nila to show her stuff but it wasn't what I thought it would be. Let's just say, she's not having a good day. :P
In Our Bones
Chapter Two:
Teeth and Claws
His camp was near a place called Cotorra Springs, an area that Nila found to be beautiful. Close to the camp, Eyota and a black overo paint that belonged to the man munched on the grass together. They found the silver mustang deep in the forest, away from danger. It relieved her to have found her mare safe and sound, but she also wanted to scold the horse for throwing her off.
Sitting by the fire, she allowed him to tend to her injuries in silence while she held a cool rag to her head. She wanted to strike up a conversation, but the words were caught in her throat. In Muskogee, she was sociable and had a group of friends. All of that was taken away when she was forced to live in Blackwater and Michael's abuse worsened.
She flinched when he touched the inside the hole left by the cougar. He gave an apology as he continued to clean it.
"I'm Nila Tanner," she said. Saying her real name for the first time in years lifted a weight off her shoulders she didn't know she was carrying. It was as if she could truly be herself again.
"Charles Smith," he replied, not looking at her.
"I'm grateful for your help. I fell in that pit and I thought I could escape but… well, you saw what they did."
He placed a strange paste on her wound, making it sting. She winced as the pain increased.
"It's ginger root and buttermilk weed. The stinging means it's fighting off infection. It'll help it heal faster, too." He could clean and place the paste on it without needing to remove her shirt, but now he had to bandage it. Which meant… "You'll, uh, need to remove your shirt." Was he turning red too? She couldn't tell. "Only part of the way," he added quickly.
She did as asked, exposing flesh to the cold and thankful for the slip she wore under her shirt. Charles worked quickly, keeping focus on his task. He placed the gauze on the injury and wrapped it. Once he finished, she moved her arm around as to make sure it wasn't too tight and then slipped her arm back into the sleeve.
"Do your parents know where you are?" he asked, placing his first aid kit in his saddlebag.
She couldn't help but find that funny. "My parents are the reason I'm out here."
"I see. You want me to take you back a town or train station?"
"Not unless you're willing to travel all the way to New Adeline." She removed the cloth from her head, gave it a few shakes to cool it off, and then placed it back on her bruise. "The train would only take me as far as Valentine. I have to ride horseback the rest of the way. So since you asked me, I get to ask you, what are you doing out here?" Even if conversing with others didn't come easily to her anymore, once she talked, it was hard for her to shut up at times. She hoped that wouldn't be the case when talking with this man.
"Tracking a grizzly that's been causing problems in the area. Almost had him until I stumbled across those Murfrees."
"Sorry, I ruined your hunt."
"Oh, I didn't mean-"
"I know, I'm only teasing." She flashed him a smile before turning her attention to the fire. Nila, stop trying to flirt with the stranger! She scolded herself. I'm not flirting! "Listen, since you helped me, maybe I can help you."
He glanced at her as he fastened the saddle bag. "Can you hunt? What I'm going after isn't some young cougar. This bear is bigger than most and it's killed two people already."
Nila removed the cloth again, feeling better than earlier. Even the stinging in her shoulder was fading. "Of course I can hunt! I'm good at tracking, too. Look, I know it looked bad when you found me but… that was different. Animals are less scary than humans." When he still looked unassured, she continued. "I can use a rifle, I can skin an animal, and I can fish. I'm not completely helpless."
"Have you ever hunted a bear?"
"Me and my father once hunted a young black bear."
"If you come with me, then you must stick beside me."
"I told you, I can hunt. You don't have to worry about me." She stood, slipping on her jacket and slinging her rifle over her shoulder. "Come on, let's get us a bear."
As she walked south, he followed and stopped her. "The bear is that way," he said, pointing to the east.
"Oh… right."
They rode side by side through a charred and eerily quiet forest. Most of the trees were burned, making them look as if they were large black spikes sticking straight up out of the ground. They passed burned remains of woodland creatures, whose tiny legs didn't carry them fast enough out from the flames.
I could see the fire from Blackwater last week, but I didn't know it would be this bad.
"Let's leave our horses here. Carry on, on foot," Charles said.
Nila nodded and dismounted. After shooing their hoses away, she followed Charles, who was much quicker than he looked. Seeing the bow he carried made her wish for one of her own. If she made it out of this hunt alive, she would ask him to show her how to make one. Her father had a bow once, but her mother buried it with him.
She focused on her surrounding, searching for anything, such as a trail.
"See anything?" she asked.
"Nothing."
"I'm gonna check over there. Don't worry, I'll stay in earshot." She pointed to the southwest.
He only nodded in reply and kept following his own path.
The footprints were in a set of two but separated into two paths after thirty steps. Kneeling down for a closer look, Charles noted that one owner of said tracks walked on the side of their right foot and the shoes the individual wore were slender. This had to be a woman, he thought. He followed that one, knowing a predator would most likely go for the slowest runner. Eventually, he found the large paw prints as he followed the footprints. Judging by the large bear tracks that walked over them, the beast had been stalking them for a time before finally going in for the kill.
At a broken tree he found blood mixed in with the ash. This wasn't a good sign. It looked bad from the start, but now it felt hopeless he'd find whoever came out here alive. He followed the trail of blood, a mix of droplets and smears, hoping that maybe, just maybe it wasn't too late. Then he found the shoe, a woman's just as he thought. He picked it up, noting the weight. This told him that the foot was still inside.
Setting it down, he took his bolt-action rifle. He scanned the ground, found the tracks, and check to make sure the woman was in his sight. He could see Nila not far from him, following a trail of her own. He thought of going after her, in case she ran into the bear, but even from a distance, he'd see them both from the height he was at. Turning back, he followed the tracks quietly.
Blood soaked the forest floor and splattered on the leaves of ferns and bushes. He spied strands of blonde hair and pieces of dark blue fabric further down the path. He knelt down, touching the fabric. It was soft but unfamiliar to him. Six feet from the hair and torn cloth, he found her or what was left. Shit. Her blonde hair streaked with blood, over half of her face eaten away, and her stomach torn open and devoid of any internal organs except for a few feet of lower intestine. He shook his head in sorrow, wishing he'd found her sooner. This would be a hell of a thing to tell her family.
He stood and looked for the large tracks. After wandering the area for a minute, he picked them up again, heading southwest. He quickly looked in Nila's direction, seeing her follow the trail of footprints that most likely belonged to the man. He guessed she'd find the body soon, which she did. He noticed she froze in place, refusing to go near it. Did she notice the bear? Didn't look like it.
As he took a step forward, he noticed a bulk of brown and beige fur burst through the forest and run right for the native woman. With his gun gripped tightly in his hands, Charles charged forward, calling out to Nila.
Nila could see the body of a man dressed in overalls but didn't approach it. Her fear of the dead kicked in, freezing her place. The wind kicked up again, the scent of fresh blood wafting her way. The smell made her sick and regret agreeing to this, but she had to swallow her fears if she were to make it on her own. Her legs felt like heavy stumps as she slowly made her way to the mutilated man. She made it five paces before stopping.
I don't want to be here. I want to jump on my horse and run away.
Behind her, she heard branches snapping, heavy breathing and grunting. Later in life, she'd look back on that moment and wonder why she didn't realize sooner that something was coming for her, but at that moment, her mind was still recovering from the shock of that body.
"NILA, BEHIND YOU!"
She spun around, saw Charles running for her and the bear. The distance between her and the massive beast was just enough that she fire two rounds into it, but it was quickly closing in on her. She fired off her repeater twice, but it only pissed off the bear. Reaching to her side, she withdrew her knife just as its large paw came down on her injured shoulder. She cried out and hit the ground.
Charles called out to her again while firing off a few rounds from his rifle. It didn't stop the bear from biting down on Nila's arm. She screamed when she felt a pop in her shoulder and the numbness that traveled down her arm. She squeezed her eyes shut, fearing that she'd lost a limb.
She felt herself going airborne and hit the ground hard. She sputtered and coughed as she tried to regain the air in her lungs. More gunfire sounded from the left of her. Opening her eyes, she caught sight of Charles and the bear.
Somehow he was quick enough to dodge the bear's blows. She was in awe of his agility and envious that she herself was not as quick as he. Sitting up, she took out her revolver and fired off several rounds into the bear's flank. It spun around to face her and gave a roar. It stood on its hind legs, its paws clawing at the air. She fired again, hitting the beast in his gut despite her hands shaking from the pain that overwhelmed her.
The distraction was long enough for Charles to put a round into the bear's neck. Blood gushed from the wound as it slammed its paws down and cried out in pain. Seeing the look of agony on the creature's face, she almost pitied it. Almost.
It stumbled, gave another cry before falling on its side. She thought it would instantly die, but instead, it laid there, thrashing about and moaning in pain. Pushing herself up with her good arm, she limped her way to the bear. Its head banged the ground as it slowly died. Taking out her hunting knife, she plunged it deep into the bear's chest, striking it in the heart. It stretched out and then went limp. She breathed a sigh of relief and sheathed her knife.
"That was intense," she said.
When she didn't get a response, she turned to Charles who was staring at her arm. Looking down at it, she saw it dangling awkwardly.
"Your arm is dislocated. Can you not feel it?"
She could now. That numbing feeling quickly faded, replacing it with a tingling sensation that was slowly starting to hurt.
"We're going to have to pop it back into place," he said giving her a sympathetic glance.
She swallowed, then nodded. "Go ahead and do it."
"This is going to hurt."
And it did. The pain she felt hurt more than the bite of an animal. She gritted her teeth, trying her best to bite back a scream caught in her throat. Feeling the joint roll back into the socket was also painful, but within seconds she felt relief, though it still throbbed. It hurt to move, making it almost impossible helping Charles with the process of skinning and field dressing the beast.
They placed the pelt on Eyota's rump, while Charles took large cuts of meat and stored them a burlap sack. She followed him to a town called Annesburg, a coal mining town that was poisoning their water supply.
All eyes were on them as they trotted through town. Nila kept her focus on the back of her horse's neck to avoid the harsh stares some of the folks gave her. They hitched their horses in front of the sheriff's office where Charles informed him of the two young adults were lost their lives because of the bear. After two deputies took the pelt off the mustang's back, Nila followed Charles to the doctor's office. The man was reluctant to treat her, but once a deputy informed him of what she and her companion did for the town, he obliged, though reminded them of his hatred for Indians. She felt it too when he tended to her wounds.
She left the office with her arm in a sling and a bottle of pain pills in her hand. Doctor's orders were to keep it in a sling for the next few days, which would make riding difficult.
"The train station is that way," Charles said once they were away from prying ears. "I suggest you get on and head back home."
She was slightly offended by this. "Why would I?"
"You've almost died twice in a short amount of time. Whatever you're doing, you're not cut out for it."
She glared at him. "You don't know me or what I'm capable of at all and even if I wanted to go home -which I don't-, I can't. I have something to handle and then I can finally be free." She could feel a knot tightening in her throat. Don't let me show weakness in front of this man. "I have to do this. I'm the only one that can." Before he could reply to her, she turned away and mounted her horse. Which was not easy with one arm. "Thank you for your help earlier today, Charles, but I need to be going. I'm already running late. Goodbye."
He reached out and grabbed her saddle horn. "Wait, I… I'm sorry. What is it you need to do?"
The wind blew her long hair in her face, stinging her eyes. She swept the hair away and said, "I'm going to New Adeline to retrieve my step-father's body. My mother's too distraught to do it herself so now it's up to me."
"I'm sorry for your loss," he replied.
She rolled her eyes. "You're the only one between us who feels that way. The man was a bastard." It was the first time she said it out loud and it felt as if another weight was taken off her shoulders.
"I understand."
She studied him, trying to figure out what he was thinking but he was a hard man to read. What she could see, however, was the kindness that reflected in his eyes. His words had been harsh, yes, but she knew that he didn't say to be malicious. That same strange tingling feeling came over her again. It wasn't bad but it wasn't good either, at least as far as she could tell.
"Well, I need to be going."
"Would like for me to join you? It's a long and dangerous path to New Adeline. If we leave now, we can make it out of Murfree country by sundown."
She thought about it, then agreed. He was good in a fight and a better outdoorsman than she. Maybe with his help, she'd make it to her destination in one piece.
"Come on then, let's get out of here. The smell of this town is getting to me," she said.
They rode together as fast as their steeds would take them. By sundown, they'd passed the Grizzlies and continued on towards open plains. Nila Tanner felt the wind in her hair and her heart giddy as she and her new traveling companion raced across the valley.
