Roger took the atlatl and placed it on a rock. Then he picked up another rock and lifted it over his head. Myra yelled as Roger slammed the rock onto the thrower. He struck again and again. Pieces and powder flew. Sergei shifted, as if preparing to charge, but William held his arm. Raymond was looking their way, almost begging them to try. Roger took the shattered pieces of the thrower and threw them into the fire. The bone flared as it landed in the hot coals. Myra was weeping.
Pete had been watching, shocked. Now he roared and leapt for Roger. Raymond fired the gun. Pete grabbed his knee and fell.
William heard the fire crackling. Bernie stared in shock at Pete. Raymond, now giggling, swung the gun. Roger’s eyes were eager, watching Raymond.
He and Raymond were standing shoulder to shoulder on the root knees of the broken tree. They were standing somewhat higher than the forest floor. Raymond held the gun. Roger dusted his hands, picked up the remaining shards of the destroyed atlatl, and threw them into the fire. Raymond was swinging the gun toward them. Roger said nothing as Raymond took aim. William was certain Raymond was about to shoot.
William heard a fluttering whisper. A dart shaft suddenly pierced the bicep of Raymond’s right arm, which held the pistol, and struck the large tree behind, quivering. Raymond recoiled from his arm as the gun fell from his hand. Sergei lunged forward and grabbed the pistol before Roger, beside Raymond, could move.
William heard the fluttering again. A second shaft struck Roger’s left arm, just beneath the shoulder, and, like the other dart, passed through into the tree. Roger shouted. Raymond was shrieking. Bernie ran. Mark and Clarence, returning from looking for Sarah, broke and ran when they saw Sergei with the gun and their two companions pinned to the tree. Sarah approached from the cliff, thrower in position, a third dart aimed, totally focused.
Sergei checked the chambers of the pistol, then put it on safety. Blood dripped down the sleeves of the two trapped men.
Sarah walked forward, lowering the thrower and taking the dart in her left hand. She hardly glanced at Roger and Raymond. “I didn’t think he was going to smash it. I should have shot sooner.” She started to cry.
“Jesus, Sarah.” Tom stared at his granddaughter. “You could have killed them.”
Sarah went over and stood before Roger and Raymond. “If I’d wanted to kill them they’d be dead, Tom-Tom.”
Roger was hissing with pain.
Raymond was crying. “You crucified us.”
“You asked for it.”
“We’ll die here.”
“Then die, asshole.”
“You won’t die.” Tom peered at the darts. “These went through your muscle. Unless they hit an artery, you won’t bleed to death. It’s gonna hurt, cutting them off and pulling them out. Be better for professionals to do it. You have a radio?”
“You little shit.” Raymond spat at Sarah. “This is attempted murder. You’re going to be locked up. You need to be.”
Roger, grimacing, eyed Sarah. “That was some shooting, girl.”
Myra gently pulled Sarah away. “You should be happy, Roger. You win. No pictures, no thrower. No evidence.” Myra crouched by Pete. He was in a lot of pain. “Thanks, Pete, You didn’t have to do that.”
Pete gritted his teeth. “Yes I did.”
Tom radioed for help. When he got through, he said they needed medical help immediately. Three people were hurt badly, one with a gunshot wound. He said to bring stretchers. Two of the hurt people were impaled against a tree. When asked how two people could be pinned to a tree, Tom didn’t bother to explain.
Myra and Sergei managed to straighten Pete’s leg and bind the wound. He was in shock.
Roger and Raymond had to keep standing. If they started to slide down, the shafts pinning them to the tree quickly stopped them.
The other Buckhorn people, who had fled, heard Tom’s shouts and returned to the camp and the injured men. With Sergei holding the pistol, watching them always, the Buckhorn people helped Roger and Raymond remain on their feet.
While waiting for the helicopter, Tom, Myra and William repacked their gear. William wasn’t sure whether police would emerge from the helicopter or medical people. At this point he didn’t care. The atlatl was gone. They had no evidence aside from Sarah’s sketches. Sarah was certainly going to face some difficult legal issues when she came out of the park. Tom, Sergei, Myra and William were going to have questions to answer as well.
It took 90 minutes for the helicopter to arrive. It landed, rotors thudding, at the lip of the headwall dropping from Bear Valley to Godkin Creek. Tall thunderheads approached from the west.
A medevac team with drugs and stretchers and one ranger arrived. They were astonished to see Roger and Raymond fastened to the broken tree. The medevac team cut off the darts near the tree. Roger and Raymond were carried to the helicopter, a length of shaft still sticking through each of their arms, by the other Buckhorn people and the medevac team. Sergei, Tom, Sarah, Myra and William carried Pete.
The ranger who had come with the medical crew gathered them together as the unhurt Buckhorn people started back to their camp on the Godkin.
“I don’t know what happened here, but we can’t take statements from the injured parties and I’m not equipped, really, to take yours. When you get out, we’ll take your statements then. Are you heading out now? The helicopter’s full and we need to leave to beat the weather.”
“We’re leaving.” Tom was definite.
“There’s a fire down by Lillian River, also another on Dodger Point. Be careful, they may close the trail. Then you’ll have to exit via Hayden Pass or Low Divide.” The ranger kneeled eye to eye with Sarah. “You’re the girl who went missing last spring, right?” Sarah nodded. The ranger stood. “You people come in here in May and this girl here disappears, and now you come back and one man is shot and two others seem to have been attacked by a strange kind of bow and arrow?”
“Spear thrower. It was a spear thrower.” Sarah was looking at the ground.
“What the hell happened here? Just tell me you’ll check in at the ranger station when you come out. We can take your statements then. And for God’s sake, be careful. And you, little lady, you might want to be more careful about who you allow to take you into the park. These people here seem to draw trouble.”
Sarah said nothing. Myra and William started to laugh.
The ranger was at least a foot taller than Sarah. She stood next to William, back straight, staring up at him. The ranger almost smiled. “I won’t ask who threw those things.”
The helicopter left. The thumping rotors could be heard for a long time. They were suddenly alone. The points of the two darts, shafts cut clean just at the level of the bark, remained in the broken tree.
“Sarah, you could have killed someone.” Myra was standing before Sarah. “You could have killed Roger or Raymond. You could have killed any of us, too.”
“Raymond was getting ready to shoot you, Myra. Roger wasn’t stopping him. I did the only thing I could.”
“Well I, for one, thank you.” Sergei knelt down, took Sarah’s hand. “When I killed my first bear, I was 15, and I was terrified even though my father was by my side. When the bear died, I cried, a little. It had been such a magnificent animal.”
“Those two aren’t magnificent, Sergei.”
“No, that they are not. You did not kill them, either.”
Sarah went over to the now-smoldering fire. No evidence remained of the thrower. “What will happen when we get out?”
“Let’s hope none of those three dies.” Tom checked the straps of his pack. “They came to our camp, attacked us, destroyed our things, shot their own colleague, and were about to shoot us, all to destroy any evidence this might be an ancient site.”
“They succeeded.” Myra hoisted her pack.
“I’m sure Fletcher Lynch will try to us
e this as another excuse to keep Sarah from living with me.” Tom lengthened a strap. “If she can’t stay with me I’m not sure where they’ll send her.”
“I will testify for you, Tom. Even though I am a Russian and someone with no authority in this land.”
“Now they’ll claim I’m violent in addition to being crazy,” Sarah said.
“They may try, Sarah, but you have us four to say you were acting in self defense.”
They all hoisted their packs. Far off William heard the low rumble of distant thunder. They’d lose the sun in three hours.
“Let’s see how far we get before we have to stop,” Tom said. “Everyone ready?”
William brought up the rear, Sarah ahead of him. When they reached the lip of the low headwall, she stopped, looking over the Godkin Valley. The others were in front, working their way down the slope. William could see, beyond the trees, the opening at the creek where the Buckhorn camp lay. Smoke rose, lazy.
“This is messed up, William.”
“Why do you say that, Sarah?”
Sarah was standing on the lip of the headwall. “We lost the thrower. Worse, it’s destroyed. Tom-Tom didn’t get anything like what he wanted. Now the thrower’s gone. The photos are gone.”
“We have your sketches, Sarah. We remember what we saw.”
“But it’s our word against theirs. Now there’s no evidence. Tom-Tom didn’t even get to use the thrower to stop the mining. Myra doesn’t have anything to help her in fighting Buckhorn. I just proved I’m violent and dangerous. There’s no way they’ll let me stay with Tom-Tom, or anyone. And you, Myra, and Tom-Tom look bad, like irresponsible grownups, because you took me back in here again, secretly. They’ll say I’ve been kidnapped, and now I’m a criminal and you’re all accomplices, and we have nothing to show for this. Nothing.” Sarah stood facing the sun. A tear rolled down her thin cheek. West, clouds approached. Beneath, dark ropy whirls twisted. Lightning flickered. “This is gonna be a long sad walk out, William.”
They worked their way to the creek, passing the Buckhorn camp. Bernie, Mark and Clarence were sitting on their camp chairs. Behind the chairs were two large canvas sacks, with green trim, streaked, discolored, half covered with a poncho. Bernie saw William looking and said something to the others, and Mark pulled the poncho over the sacks. William wondered how the three of them were going to be able to pack everything out.
They followed the elk track for one hour to the Elwha Trail. As they moved, clouds rolled over the Elwha Valley and it began to rain. By the time they reached Hayes River, they had their rain gear on and thunder rolled across the mountains. Some lightning struck close by. Ahead, still distant, smoke rose from Dodger Point. The ranger tent at Hayes River was empty. A handwritten sign was posted by the tent.
“Listen to weather radio for fire and trail conditions.”
Tom tried his radio. He could get nothing.
They continued. They saw nobody. With fires closer to Whiskey Bend, few people would be coming into the park. The brown meadows in the Press Valley lay flattened by the rain. Leaves on the trail caught raindrops. As they left the Press Valley William turned back the way they had come. He saw smoke. Lightning striking close to Hayes River, probably just after they left, had started a fire.
A half-mile further, light fading, they decided to camp. They found a place beneath some trees, on level ground, where their tents would be sheltered. They gathered wood and rigged a ground cloth as a shelter to sit beneath while the rain tapered off. They could hear thunder growling for hours. They were physically tired, emotionally exhausted, and numb from the loss of the thrower and their cameras. They sat, watching the fire.
That night Sarah finished her story.
I was beneath robes in the bottom of the canoe, the same place Bright Eyes lay after the bear tore her calf. My head hurt. Most of one finger was missing. I feared the hot flesh Bright Eyes had feared. I did not want the dark lines under my skin reaching for my heart. We were at sea. I heard water sounds and the singing wind, the thunk of paddles against the side, the “Hut-hut-hut” of the paddlers. The sky was blue. Watcher stood with the steering oar. The sail spread above us. Weeps a Lot and Weeps a Lot More, Cold Eye, Tree Hide and Rock Hide sat under the tent with me. They worked on fixing ropes, robes, and clothing.
“She is awake.” Weeps a Lot saw my eyes were open. “Strong Heart is here.”
Cold Eye sniffed. “Strong Heart is a trouble maker. She brings bad spirits. The bear took Heavy. She called the cat to The Place People Were. She is not of the people.”
Tree Hide overheard Cold Eye. “None of those things does she carry.” Tree Hide was taller than Cold Eye, almost the same age, and strong. She was not afraid of Cold Eye like the weepers were. “You bring poison with your words. You think because you have Thin Hair’s favor you are now his wife. You are not yet his wife.”
I did not know how much time had passed since the cat had attacked me. I had no memory of being taken to the canoe or the canoe pushing off.
Weeps a Lot whispered to me. “You have slept more than three days, Strong Heart. You have been here on these robes all this time and all this time you have been breathing but not here. You did not eat, or drink, but you were alive.”
“Do you remember the cat?” Rock Hide was sewing a robe.
“I remember the cat leaping and Pretty Face dropping the pole. I remember trying to brace the pole to stop the cat. Pretty Face shot the cat.”
“Thrower first shot the cat in the heart. It was his throw that saved you, Strong Heart.” Rock Hide whispered even lower. “Pretty Face ran. Everyone saw. He turned and ran. You did not.”
“She was falling.” Cold Eye was being cold in her speech. “She was cowering before the cat.”
“We have been in the canoe three days?”
“No, Strong Heart. Yesterday we came to an island and camped. A small island, with no animals, but with water and wood. We brought you ashore.”
The fresh air smelled good. The canoe smelled good. It must have been cleaned when we stopped.
Later, Watcher gave a shout and the paddlers changed. Those who had been under the tent, except for Weeps a Lot and Weeps a Lot More, replaced those at the thwarts. Now with me under the tent were Bright Eyes, Fat Hair, Pretty Face and Woman Too Soon. Pretty Face did not look at me. Woman Too Soon was happy to see me awake. Pretty Face, Fat Hair, and Bright Eyes stretched out and slept on slats and robes near the stern, in the open air. I then understood we would be paddling the entire night.
Woman Too Soon whispered. “You have an enemy in Pretty Face. Now he is my enemy, too, because I will not share his robe.”
“Cannot he choose his wife?”
“With these people the woman chooses. Did you not know that? Cold Eye chose Thin Hair. I chose Pretty Face and now I have not chosen him.” I saw Woman Too Soon gaze at Thrower. Thrower was still paddling, forward with Anger. “Cold Eye will stay with Thin Hair. I think Pretty Face will want Tree Hide, but I do not think Tree Hide wants him.”
Woman Too Soon stopped talking. I lay my head back. Surely Woman Too Soon had not been right, that we chose. Then I found myself angry with Woman Too Soon, for she was a woman and now she was seeking Thrower. If she shared Thrower’s robe, then perhaps Thrower would no longer teach me how to throw. I enjoyed throwing.
We travelled for many days, stopping at small islands, for water and seal. During this time we had to wait on land three days more because of strong winds. Everyone was impatient and sick of the journey. People argued. Much of the way ice was everywhere on the shore, many times into the ocean. All this time, Pretty Face measured me with his eyes.
When we came again to land and beached the canoe, we were in some kind of inlet, a deep, well-sheltered place. Thin Hair climbed with Fat Hair and Watcher to the top of the rise beyond the beach and faced south. The wind blew steadily from the north
. The sun was out. All except me pulled the canoe ashore and braced it. Here we found driftwood, trees, and fresh water. Anger and Long Braid reported some sign of bear inland, deep scratches against trees.
Now we had both a bear robe and a cat robe. These were the largest robes we had. At night we needed these robes. It was growing cold when the sun went down.
Thrower and Long Braid took a seal along the shore. Others turned and cleaned the canoe, then leaned it as a shelter. That evening, as we all huddled under the canoe, Thin Hair sat at one end and Fat Hair the other, far apart.
When Thin Hair and Fat Hair talked, they spoke across the rest of us.
“The wind is fair.” Thin Hair planned to depart the next morning.
“You are too impatient. This is a long coast we must traverse. It will take us two days. We need to wait.”
“Wait for what? Days to become shorter? The bears to find us?”
“This north wind will not last, Thin Hair.”
“You wish to travel the inner channels around these ranges. There the water is shallow, at times exposed by the tides. Many animals are there.”
“It is safer. Had we taken that way going to the headland we would have been there sooner and started back earlier. This is your fault.”
“We chose not to take that route because even you were uncertain, last spring. Now you are changing the past.” Thin Hair spoke forcefully. Before, Fat Hair had become quiet when Thin Hair spoke this way but now, sitting with the others, emboldened, he said more.
“I am the finder,” Fat Hair said.
“I have been on this route more often than you. I too know the route. The season is late. We will leave tomorrow, and we will take the north wind along this coast.”
Fat Hair rose. “I will take Pretty Face’s place on watch now.”
He gathered his thrower and darts and left.
Thin Hair settled back.
Anger, next to me, whispered. “Because Thin Hair killed the people who brought you to the headland, Fat Hair believes Thin Hair’s father will lose authority when we return. If this happens, Fat Hair’s clan would lead. Pretty Face will side with Fat Hair. The two of them may try to remove Thin Hair as our leader during this journey home, and to do that they may try to remove Watcher who is now on watch, to reduce Thin Hair’s allies. I will replace Watcher on watch now.“
Strong Heart Page 18