I know, another update! There's only FOUR more chapters to this instalment so get those reviews in while you can. I hope you're all enjoying what I'm spitting out here.
Three Sisters, Grizzlies East, AM
23rd September, 1905
Near sat at the table, looking down at his leg; his knee was crooked and bent and still hurt when he put weight on it, but he wouldn't be seen with a cane. He saw some of the looks he got – he wasn't dead yet.
Christ, how old was Near? Seventy-two last month… He didn't have long left, he knew that. Maybe a year or two if he was lucky. He'd seen the bloodiest war in the history of the country. He'd seen gangs rise and fall… he'd already lived longer than any other who trod that path.
Young Charlotte sat down at the table next to Near, setting down a tin cup of coffee. Near raised an eyebrow, glancing over at her.
"You don't drink coffee."
Charlotte shrugged. "I'm trying it." She took a sip of the black drink and grimaced. "Okay, I'm done trying it."
"I know, it tastes like shit…" Near nodded. "Wait 'til Abuela makes some then try that."
"So, not all coffee tastes bad?"
Near thought for a moment. "At first, sure. But you learn to love it." Charlotte nodded, wrapping her hands around the hot metal. Near crossed his arms and turned to face her. "You've the look of a woman who wants something."
Charlotte twisted her mouth in thought. "Do you believe in God?"
Near raised both eyebrows and rubbed his heavily scarred chin, turning to look at the girl. "Ol' Eli been talking up a storm again?" Charlotte remained silent and Near thought on how to word it. "Me and faith've got a… complicated relationship."
"What's that mean?"
"Ah, I've found God as often as I've lost him in my life…"
"So, you think God made us?" Near shrugged in response. "Why?"
"What's brought this on, Charlie?"
"I was just…" Charlotte dropped her eyes to her hands as she picked at her nails. "Thinking about Matty and Parker… and Ava…" Near nodded. He could still recall Ava helping Charlotte powder her face. Near had never had any daughters, but seeing the two of them together… they were sisters, that was for sure. Despite all the shit that happened in the gang, they were the only family each of them had left.
"You sure miss her, huh?"
Charlotte shrugged. "I'm just trying to figure out why bad things happen to good people."
Near flicked his tongue across his teeth and finally removed his brown carrigan hat, stroking a hand over the eagle feather, gifted to him by Night's Hawk. "Who is the easy part…" He began slowly. "Whoever- whatever created us, it's same as created everything else." There was a pause as Charlotte's eyes met his. "Why… is harder. I think it's something you choose." He gestured to the rising sun. "Sunlight, trees, dirt… I don't think we're meant for more than any of it. But… things ain't just good or bad, Charlie. We decide what makes them bad." He leant forwards, sweeping her blonde hair back from her face and tucking it behind her ear. "We're the way that anything is good or bad."
Charlotte smiled, her brow stitched together. "I ain't sure I understand…"
"Yeah, me neither, sweetheart." Near straightened up and poured Charlotte's cup empty. "Now go- get Abuela to make us some coffee that don't taste like shit."
The Grizzlies were dangerous and Elvira Colt was wholly out of her element. As much as she loved sleeping out under the stars in a bad of her own, as opposed to sharing a bed with another girl in stained sheets while listening to the others moan with pleasure (or, at least, seem to). But she didn't enjoy this part – she didn't know shit about hunting. That's why she felt guilty about saying she was hunting with Night's Hawk.
Ellie had never met an Indian before. Night's Hawk was more on the skinny side, his hair shorn bare at the sides with a single braid going down the centre of his scalp. He wore a necklace with a bird's talon, a pale blue sash tied around his waist. He carried a bow in one hand, his other resting on the quiver of arrows by his waist, hanging right next to his tomahawk.
"So, your name…" She said, trailing after him. "Is it actually Night's Hawk, or is that the English for it?"
"I don't speak my language outside of my land."
"Ain't this your land?"
"Not anymore."
Ellie nodded. "So, Night's Hawk. How'd your folks come up with that one?"
"She liked how it sounded."
Ellie grinned. "Did I just hear ya make a joke?" Night's Hawk slid an arrow out of his quiver as they climbed up to the rock-face of a hill. "C'mon, be serious."
Night's Hawk set the arrow on the bowstring and turned back to face her. "When I was born, I was taken to my elder," he explained. "My mother paid him in tobacco and he called me Night's Hawk. He said I was to be the last born before we moved to the reservation. Like the last Hawk that flies in the night…" He said, glancing up at the sky, empty of all hawks.
"So, someone said something and then… you're stuck with it?"
"I didn't call myself that until years later," Night's Hawk said to her, as his eyes scanned the trees, "I had to be worthy of it."
"How did you prove yourself worthy?"
"I killed the man who killed my father," Night's Hawk replied.
Ellie frowned. "But-"
"No."
Ellie's mouth hung open for a moment before she closed it. "Right." There was a tense pause as Night's Hawk went down on one knee, looking out into the distance. "What are you doing?"
"Waiting."
"Waiting for what?" Ellie knelt down next to him, seeing the antlers of a buck nearby. "There's a deer right there."
Night's Hawk shook his head. "Not her…"
The wind whistled by, rustling the leaves and trees. "So, why don't you choose your own name? Something a little more… normal?"
"Why should I?" Night's Hawk asked simply.
"Well… Night's Hawk… it's not easy to blend in."
"When have we ever tried to blend in?"
"Maybe you'll want to someday."
Night's Hawk paused. Ellie thought that, for a moment, he was thinking up a name for himself. Maybe he'd ask her opinion…
He drew back the arrow and fired. The arrow soared, cutting through the air, and Ellie heard an echo of a growl. Night's Hawk straightened up, pulling the bow across his chest as he made his way down the hill, with Elvira trailing after him.
By the time Elvira caught up, Night's Hawk was knelt above a wounded, dying stag, groaning and braying as its legs kicked out. Night's Hawk's hand wrapped around the jawbone hilt of his knife and he knelt down, bowing his head and closing his eyes. His lips moved, but no words came out. Finally, he thrust the blade into the stag's heart, watching it grow still.
"Did you just… pray for it?" Ellie asked.
Night's Hawk withdrew his knife from the carcass. "Thanking it." He straightened up. "It's important to-" His eyes grew wide and Night's Hawk froze as his eyes set on something behind Ellie. She turned around to see five wolves, padding across the dirt and approaching them. Ellie went to step behind Night's Hawk, but he grabbed her neck, holding her in place, forcing her head to look down.
"What're you-"
"Look. Down." Night's Hawk spoke loudly in a language Elvira did not understand. She couldn't tell if it was a handful of words or fifty. The wolves growled and began to encircle them. Night's Hawk continued talking loudly, his hand resting on the tomahawk. He widened his stance and continued speaking loudly. The wolves began howling, a sound that pierced Ellie's ears.
"If I tell you," Night's Hawk said loudly to Ellie, "shoot the one on your left first." He drew his tomahawk and his knife.
A howl echoed over the hills in the distance. The wolves glanced over to the howls and then back to Night's Hawk, growling and looking to the stag. They howled again. More distant howls.
Finally, they turned and left.
Night's Hawk sheathed his tomahawk and knife, turning to the stag carcass. Ellie, on the other hand, looked from Night's Hawk to where the wolves ran, completely dumbfounded. "Wha…" Ellie looked to Night's Hawk, who'd throw the stag over his shoulder. "What was that?"
"Wolves. Must've stolen their kill…"
"No, that! You… did you talk to them?"
"At them."
"Did they understand you?"
"In a way," Night's Hawk responded as he began to walk back up the hill. "Reckon this should be enough…"
A short chapter, I know, but I want to make sure every chapter has at least 2 POV's, so I'm moving one to the next chapter. Besides, I feel like there's some things to reflect on from this chapter, and I'd rather not overshadow them.
I'm writing the next chapter as we speak, so it should be up today or tomorrow. Don't forget to drop a review…
R.
