Chapter 3 - Worries

Baaóoshxíilisee wandered in a dream. He was on a lake. He had never been here before. He brushed his long raven-black hair behind his ears and tried to find out where he was.

Usually, he dreamed of places he knew. He was sure he had never been here before. Thick mists lay around the shoreline of a pond and he was on a kind of isle in the middle.

"Hello, Baaóoshxíilisee," a clear woman's voice startled him in the Absarokee's tongue, calling him by his name which meant 'Grey Feather'.

He spun around. Grey Feather had never before seen something like this. A woman in a blue dress stood in the middle of the pond, coming closer. Her hair had the color of gold and her skin was so white like the snow that covered their land in winter. Blue eyes studied him with curious interest.

"Who are you?" the Absarokee warrior asked.

She began to smile mysteriously. "Some call me the Lady of the Lake. I have the power over the waters. Your Brother needs your help, Child of the Earth."

"I don't have a brother," the man answered now, more confused with every word spoken by the Lady.

"Listen closely, young Absarokee. The Guardian is in danger. You are close. He needs you now, as well as his boys. A great friendship could grow out of this. Have trust in him. He will not disappoint you," she answered in a sing-song.

If she was a guardian spirit of the water, he was glad to offer his help. And what could it hurt to meet a new friend? "How should I find him?" Grey Feather asked, already willing to help.

"His spirit will guide you the way to his body. Wait for him." She came closer now already on the small island and reached for Grey Feather. She did only a slight tap to his forehead with her fingers and he jerked up from his dream at their little campfire.

The Absarokee glanced at Bahena, their Medicine Man, asleep next to him. The hunted deer meat was still hanging on its place to dry at the fire and the horses rested at a near distance. All was quiet. He would wait.

*** WWT - Prequel ***

Wade had trained astral traveling with Bastian back home in Connecticut. He had to concentrate and needed a calm, comforting surrounding. When this was given he had been able to travel over a huge distance. When he had a personal item he could even pinpoint a destination for his journey.

This time he needed only a few miles. But even this was hard to manage with nothing but a damn cold hole where he lay on the hard muddy ground with a broken leg. On top of that, he had no item of his boys with him, only his blood that was related to Daniel and Cole. It had to be enough. He had to try!

Wade tried breathing in and out to loosen his thoughts from this life-threatening situation. No one ever said it was an easy task. He was about to give up after the third try, already feeling endlessly tired he closed his eyes thinking about his boys. He should have listened to Mike. He had been absolutely right he would be responsible for the death of his boys - their future - their sons.

Suddenly he felt it. The dragging at his being. His astral body floated up the walls of the hole and he awaited the sucking of the maelstrom of the force as he was used to it but he felt only a slight tuck that pulled him further north. It couldn't be more than five miles until the dragging stopped and he found his astral body in some kind of make-shift camp. Two Natives sat around a small fire and talked in a foreign language. Deer meat hung over sticks to dry it at the fire. It appeared they had been hunting. Then the younger of them looked up directly at him as if he had waited for his arrival.

No surprised looks, no fear in the Indian's eyes. He just looked at him and nodded once, ready to follow Wade's astral projection.

Wade had not the luxury to think about the weirdness of the situation. For he didn't speak any native language, Wade had no other option than to make him follow with a gesture.

It was not far away. Wade was suddenly glad he hadn't been sucked somewhere but walked the way to the two men, only led by the tucking feeling of the force. So he was now able to guide the men to the hole he was caught in.

Wade saw his body lying in the pit unconscious. The Indians looked down at him and the younger began to fix a rope to the next tree to climb down to him.

Wade let go and felt his astral body get sucked back into its shell. Then everything went black.

*** WWT - prequel ***

When he woke, he was in the camp again. A small fire burned and the two men who had saved him sat around it, discussing, probably about what to do with him. It was already night but he couldn't tell how late exactly.

He felt for his vest pocket to find his watch. Then he remembered how he had spread out all his pocket content to the muddy pit ground and cursed innerly.

The younger one of his saviors had seen his movements and approached him. Wilmington tensed. He didn't know these men - didn't know what to expect, though they had pulled him out of that hole, he was not sure if they were friends or not.

The man with the raven black hair held a waterskin to him and spoke to him, pointing at his leg.

Wade glanced down and saw it was well steadied with two sticks and bandaged. A dark mass of herbs, he assumed, was attached to it. He tried to shift to another position and a sharp pain rushed through his body.

"You have to find my boys," he said but received only a questioning look.

The Indian walked to the fire and came back with a small leather bag, offering it to Wade. He took it from him and looked at its content. His belongings were all inside - everything he had taken out of his pockets.

"Thank you," he said, placing his hand on his heart with a nod at the man. Then he pointed at his chest. "I'm Wade." The Indian looked at him. He repeated, "Wade" and kept pointing at himself. Then he pointed at the man with a raised eyebrow.

"Baaóoshxíilisee," he answered with a nod.

They tried a few times the others' names until Wade began to hand sign he had to go to his kids and that there were three of them. Baaóoshxíilisee seemed not to understand fully, so he grabbed a stick from nearby and evened the ground next to him, beginning to draw the small creek near their campground, a house, and three kids. The Native nodded and signed him to stay put. Then left to talk to his friend.

*** WWT prequel ***

When Grey Feather came back he had Bahena with him. The man they had found with the weird name 'Wade' tried to get up. They had to talk into him to stay. He could not walk with this leg. Grey Feather had understood that he was concerned for his three kids. He would search for them as soon as daylight rose. But for now, Wade had to calm down. He knew the man wouldn't understand him but he hoped the sound of his voice would show him that he had nothing to fear from them and they only meant good.

He signed the White to drink what Bahena had brought from the fire. It would help him with the pain and to fall asleep. Reluctantly Wade drank the root brew and seemed to understand at least that they cared for his well-being. He watched the man looking desperately into the night, holding his shiny metal instrument in his hand. The lid was open and a fine drawing of a woman was attached to it. He had inspected the thing earlier.

He watched him staring at the picture of the woman. He had two kids himself and understood way too good the concerns of a father. Grey Feather watched him dozing off soon into an unsteady slumber. Bahena and he would take turns on the night watch.

In the early morning hours, a shot was heard in the distance. They looked both up into the southeastern direction and looked at each other. Grey Feather was already preparing his horse to search for Wade's boys. Wade jerked up from sleep shouting the word 'Daniel' again. Grey Feather assumed it was one of his kids' names.

Bahena was with him right away and tried to explain to him that Grey Feather would search for them. Then Grey Feather rushed out of their little camp into the direction from where the shot had come from.

*** WWT - prequel ***

The boys waited until there was only little light left to see. They ate in silence outside, sitting around the campfire. Daniel still searched the horizon for Wade.

"Tomorrow morning we will go and search for him," Cole said.

"We will keep the fire burning in case he has to find his way to us at night. Don't worry, Daniel, we'll find him," Sam reassured Daniel too.

Cole shot his friend a stern, frightened glance. They both knew there was only a small chance Wade would show up tomorrow. Cole didn't even want to start to think about how they would find his uncle - if they even would find him.

Daniel had fallen asleep resting his head against Sam's shoulder an hour before. Cole had Wade's rifle next to him, ready to use it, should any threat show up. They had cleaned Bonnie's injuries as best as possible and had attached a honey pack to it to help with the infection. The horse seemed to have a chance to survive this. Cole was not sure if he would be able to shoot her if necessary. His heart won't be able to take it.

The night passed without any encounter. Cole wasn't able to sleep. Instead, he watched the horizon though there was nothing to see until slowly behind the mountain range a purple sky began to show on the horizon. Soon there would be enough light to start the search. They had to find Wade - there was no other possibility for him.

Bonnie nickered and began to whine. There was a strange noise like heavy breathing. Cole looked up, alarmed. Beama rose from his spot at the campfire with a growl and began barking. Then a huge black shape became visible next to the nearby bush tracking his way towards Bonnie. The bear's roar let Cole's blood freeze.

"Sam! Daniel! Get inside!" Cole screamed orders. He grabbed the rifle with shaky hands. The beast looked him straight into the eyes now. It huffed and sniffed. Cole could see the saliva dripping from his mouth and swallowed hard. The beast let out a second roar and revealed his razor-sharp teeth. Bonnie whined and neighed bound to the pole, while the bear approached her further.

Cole saw the others retreating carefully to the house when the bear got to his hind legs and towered to full height, throwing a punch against the rising horse. Bonnie crashed to the ground. Blood splashed out of a fresh wound the bear had brought to her other side.

Daniel and Sam were already at the entrance when Beama ripped free from Daniel's grip and ran towards the fight. Everything happened so fast. Daniel ran after the dog towards Bonnie, screaming at the old dog, "No, Beama, come back!"

"Daniel!" Sam screamed trying to grab the younger boy but missed him.

Daniel ran behind the dog and was nearly at the horse when it was struck down by the bear. Beama barked at the beast without any fear ready to protect his family.

Cole saw his cousin slow down at the closer sight of the bear but he slipped and fell on his butt, frozen to the spot. The bear let his heavy body slump back to his four paws and started fighting with Beama. The dog got a bite at the bear's leg which let it roar in agony.

Cole watched the scene that lasted only seconds like in slow motion. He saw the blow towards Beama coming but wasn't able to do anything. The dog was smashed against their Schooner with a heavy crashing noise and lay still. "Daniel, come back!" Cole shouted at his cousin. But Daniel didn't move an inch, staring at the beast with wide eyes.

Finally Daniel moved. Turning his back to the bear, he started running. But the bear was faster. Cole aimed, the light was still not good, but he had to kill the beast. Daniel was in the way so he had no chance to shoot that way. Desperately he tried to find an angle to shoot the bear with a single bullet without hitting his cousin. He started rounding the beast a bit to get him broadside.

In total horror, he witnessed how the bear did a swipe with its huge paws at Daniel's back like pushing the annoying human out of the way. Screaming, his cousin hit the ground, rolling somewhat to the side.

Cole's heart pounded up to his throat, adrenalin pushed his body to inhuman precision and for a few seconds, he was able to separate his brain from the threat to his cousin.

This one shot had to fit. He wouldn't have time to reload the rifle. Seeing only his target and along the barrel of the rifle, his hands stopped shaking. He aimed at the beast's side slightly behind its shoulder. With a short 'please' to the Lord, he pulled the trigger.

The noise ripped the air apart and Cole watched the animal get hit by the bullet. It swayed, did a few more steps, whined, and slumped down with a heavy crash not far away from Daniel, who tried to bring more space between him and the bear.

Cole wasn't able to take his eyes off his struck-down enemy. From the angle of his eye, he saw Sam already running to Daniel.

"Daniel? Daniel!" Sam called out for the youngest. Sam was at Daniel's side, lifting his head at Cole, and screamed, "Cole! Help me!"

This ripped him out of his stun, though the words hardly reached his mind. Suspiciously eying the shape of the bear, he came closer. A glance at Beama left no doubt that the dog was dead too. Only Bonnie was still whining now on the ground.

He had to be sure the beast was dead. Tanner drew his knife from his belt holster ‐ a ten-inch-long, straight, shiny blade with a walnut handle. Of course, it was a gift from The Knight and today it would drink its first blood. No one harmed his family without paying for it with blood.

He kicked with his boot at the bear's side. A weak huff let him jump a step back. He held the handle of his weapon in a white-knuckled death grip. Gathering all his bravery he neared the bear from the side and shoved his blade deep into his neck with a heavy blow. The bear moved a few inches and let out a final breath. Blood oozed out of the spot when he pulled it out and some force of rage let him strike the knife over and over into the dead body of the bear. His hands were already slippery and covered in blood when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Sam's pleading voice managed to get through to the rational thinking part of his brain. "Cole, he is dead. I need your help with Daniel, please."

Shaking he stumbled away from the animal, cleaning his blade at his pant thigh. He shoved it back and stroked his hair out of his forehead, smearing blood across his face.

*** WWT - prequel ***

They brought Daniel inside. The four long scratches to his back looked bad and bled profusely. They did their best to clean them but had problems stopping the bleeding.

Cole had lost track of time. Daniel had stopped crying and wasn't responding to them anymore. He just whimpered in pain with half-closed eyes. They had finally been able to slow down the bleeding and had done their best to attach some bandages. But his cousin needed help - urgently.

Cole heard a horse and told Sam to stay with Daniel. Grabbing the rifle, he remembered that he had forgotten to reload it.

Warily he went outside ready to defend his family with all he had, though he hoped it would be Wade. Then his brain started working. It could hardly be his uncle because his horse lay fatally injured in the yard. So his hopes weren't up for any friendly encounter.

TBC