I grinned. “I thought I was the funny one.”
She laughed from the gut, and in the echo of it, I heard the chorus of thousands of years of her people. I couldn’t help but feel a sense of kinship with her at that moment, and it made me wonder at the level of her power.
“Yes,” I continued. “There has to be a way to force her out. I can’t hurt her while she is in Mary’s body. I just can’t.”
Zahara nodded. “I understand. But this will take some work. I don’t just know this, Henry.”
I sighed. “I figured that might be the case. How long?”
“I don’t know. But I will begin to work on it. She says she is an unwilling guest, that her host is uncooperative. That’ll be the key. That was a bragging error. We’ll use it to our advantage. Plus, you know the real name of the woman, and she knows you, so it will help. I promise.”
“Good because I’m pretty sure I can’t fight her.”
“Not the way you think, but you can.”
A silence slid comfortably into place as she ladled stew into two bowls, handing me one. “Eat. You look starved, and you’ll not train well if you’re not fed.”
“Train?” I asked as Dick’s head came up off her lap to stare as well.
“Yes. Since you are here, and she’s stepped up her game, we should train. How are you without a gun?”
I laughed. “In case you don’t remember my true stature in the real world, I’m a small guy. That’s the whole reason I learned to use a gun in the first place. I’ve never been strong enough to fight a man and win without one.”
She stood. “It’s not about strength where my family comes from. It’s about skill. My father was an Apache warrior who wasn’t graced with a son. Because of this, he secretly trained my sister and me. As did my mother’s brother, a Dog Soldier of the Cheyenne clan in Colorado. Now I will teach you.”
“A dog soldier? What is that?”
A wickedly playful smile touched her face. “A Dog Warrior is a man who his enemies knew was prepared to die trying to kill them. He is skilled in combat, with his own life on the line if he does not complete his task. You are in this same predicament often.
“For you, though, it is a much more dire situation, as it’s your eternal soul you fight to save, not just your body. What would you do if attacked by a pack of wolves twice your size? That gun of yours only holds six chances to save your soul; I say we up the odds.” She let that hang there a moment before saying, “Shall we begin?”
I stood. “Teach me.”
March, 1949
Not much was said between Sheriff Sally and I on our way back to the precinct. But as we got closer, he finally spoke.
“Did Francisco tell you why he was so afraid of you? The man was a judge; I cannot fathom why he would fear the FBI.”
“He felt I was there to punish him for somethin’ he did wrong many years ago. I told him that was not the case, that those lies on the stand as a young man were between him and God.”
“Francisco would never lie on the stand!” Sally blustered.
“His words, not mine. He was young, caught up in a war, broke, and was tryin’ to keep he and his family safe. And it’s good he did. Between the information you gave me and what he knew, I’m not goin’ to be headin’ into Las Cruces blind. Thank you.”
Sally’s jaw was too set still to say anything, so he nodded.
Once we returned to the court house, he dropped me at my car and told me how to find the B&B that Fletcher had stayed at. I thanked him again and was on my way. I hoped Lois could give me more information on Fletch and let me use her phone. I was going to need help on this, and as much as my partner was going to hate coming back here, I had to call him in.
Man, was he gonna be pissed.
March, 1878
I ached everywhere the next day. But she healed my muscles, and we began again, with Dick watching and learning. It wasn’t just hand-to-hand, but knives as well. I spent the day learning ways to fight as she proceeded to kick my ass repeatedly. Later that day, we went out into the orchard so Dick and I could practice the moves on one another.
It was close to sunset by the time we took a break.
“Have you ever been to Agua Negra?” Zahara asked.
We both nodded.
“Only in passin’ really, though,” I told her. “Why?”
She handed me two canteens. “Fill these with the black water there.”
“What for?” I asked, sitting on a stump to truly rest my aching bones a moment.
“It can help Richard not feel the pull of the moon so much.” She looked to him. “You can work up a tolerance to it, so don’t overuse it. Also, you must be careful collecting it.”
Dick drank from our canteen. Handing it to me, he said, “Why?”
“Not you. It won’t work if you gather it. It must be a warrior of Scáthach. But there’s a twist. Now that your gift is triggered.”
“Curse,” I corrected her and drank.
“Fine. Now that your curse is triggered, you cannot let the water touch your skin. It can paralyze you.”
“What?” I sputtered, almost choking on the water I drank.
“And your body will not recognize that as an invader, and it will not know to heal you.”
“So, no touchy the water. Got it. How do I get it into the...never mind, I’ll figure it out.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t bother,” Dick said. “I don’t need it that bad.”
Quark-quark came the familiar cry of Gaax seconds before he swooped in and landed on Zahara’s shoulder. Tied around his leg was a small slip of paper.
“What do we have here? May I?” she asked. Gaax held up a leg, and she untied the tiny document. Unrolling it, she handed it to me. “It’s for you.”
I stepped toward her. “Me? From who?”
“The Regulators.”
Quickly, I took the note and read the words Doc had sent us. I looked to Dick. “We’ve been called to meet with McSween at Uncle John’s tomorrow mornin’.”
Dick grabbed his shirt from a nearby tree. “I know a shortcut from here.”
“Good,” she said. “Then you can leave at dawn. The sun is setting, so traveling now is not wise. We’ll eat and rest, so you can both leave at sunrise. Come, let’s head on in.”
Dick stopped in mid-dressing and took the shirt off again with a sigh. “Can I not be in human form this time?”
“I’m sorry, but that’s not how Forest of True Spirit works. Besides, if you weren’t a wolf, there’s a chance you’d have been a lion...count your blessings.”
Dick and I shared a glance, but neither of us asked her what she meant, and after collecting our weapons, we headed inside.
We awoke with the sun and ate. As we did, I asked a question that’d plagued my mind since the night before. “Why do I feel like an old man after yesterday’s beatings while you appear even younger now than when I arrived?”
“These two days brought back good memories of my family and renewed my love for them in a way I’ve not felt since I was a young girl.” She laid an open palm on my cheek. “You are far from trained. But you will fare better now. Put what you have learned into practice, warrior child, and return soon. There is still much I need to show you.” Then, she spoke the rest inside my mind. “Come alone next time. What I have to teach is for you and you alone.”
I nodded. “I understand.”
She kissed my other cheek, then walked over to Colonel. With dramatically spread arms, she wrapped around his neck, burying her face in his mane. “I’m going to miss you most of all.”
“Wow, really, Zahara?” I said in jest as Dick laughed in wolf form.
She pulled back to look Colonel in the eye. “Don’t you pay his crankiness no mind. He’s just jealous. It’s good for him.” She looked over a shoulder at me for a moment before returning attention to the black stallion. Kissing his nose, she ran a gentle hand along his jaw and then leaned to whisper into his ear. Whatever she said won her an e
nthusiastic whinny and a front hoof pound in the dirt.
I shouldered my bag and headed over. “I hate to take ya from her, pal, but we gotta go.” I tied my bag onto the side of his saddle and swung up into its seat. “I’ll be back for more training when I get a chance.”
“You mean, you’ll be back to get your ass beat by a woman as soon as your pride heals,” she said with enough sass that I knew she was just trying to get my goat.
“You aren’t wrong,” I replied with a hearty laugh as I led Colonel in an arch to turn him toward the exit.
“Come on, Dick, time to be a man again.”
With happy panting, he ran up, licked Zahara’s face when she bent down to say goodbye, and then headed off into the garden of light.
“He really hates being a wolf,” I said.
“I know, but he’ll learn to love what it gives him.”
“When?”
“In time.”
I snorted a laugh. “Well, we know we both got a lot of that now, Don’t we?”
“In theory,” she replied.
“Hey, everything works in theory,” I said with a silly grin on my face. “Come on, Mattie.”
The bay mare accepted hugs and an apple from Zahara before following us out through the garden and into the dawn. Richard stood there, now in human form, buckling his pants. Grabbing his shirt and coat, he slid them on and smiled at Mattie as she trotted to him. It’d taken her a bit to get used to his new smell, but she now had no problem with him.
“There’s my girl. Let’s show these two a shorter way to Uncle John’s than they know.” He hoisted himself into the saddle and got a good hold on the reins.
“You think you know a faster route?” I asked. “Well then, lead away!”
Dismounting from Colonel at South Spring Ranch, the black beauty pranced about with Mattie at his excitement to get a rest. As farmhands took him and Mattie for some water, food, and a healthy rubdown, Dick and I wandered toward the house. Not even to the gate yet, we heard the pounding of hooves behind us.
Turning about, we saw a group of men on horseback trotting toward the ranch. Dick and I shared a glance of worry, so I cupped my mouth with my hands and let out a loud whooping call, only to have it answered in kind, telling me it was none other than my pal Charlie Bowdre and the rest of the Regulators.
“Looks like they got a few more recruits,” Dick said.
“Looks like.” I turned to him. “You okay?”
“Don’t I look okay?”
“No. You look like a pig when its intestines are tight.”
“Oh, the imagery,” Dick muttered.
“Well, ya do. Now listen here...you did fine last time, and you’ll do so again.”
“More people. More to notice I move different or that dogs are strange around me or—”
“Stop,” I begged, holding the ‘o’ out longer than usual. “I’ve got your back. Remember the deal? If I notice somethin’ is off, I’ll double-tap your arm or stomp twice or somthin’, okay? Besides, it feels good to be back to normal life, don’t it?”
He huffed a short laugh. “It does.” With that, he dropped the topic and walked toward the arriving Regulators with his usual swagger, which I’d not seen since February.
I looked back at Uncle John’s one-story home to examine it for weaknesses like Zahara had taught us. Smoke coiled out of both chimneys, which were equidistant from either end of the long building. This made me eager to get out of the damp chill of the morning and inside the warm, dry home where Miss Sallie had likely prepared coffee and cakes for us all.
Anxious to head in, I turned my attention to my arriving compadres. Dismounting from their horses were Charlie, as suspected, Doc, MacNab, Middleton, Fred, Henry, Big Jim French, and a new addition, Joe Smith. I noted also that Chavez y Chavez and a few other Mexicans I knew were bringing up the rear.
Charlie dismounted, his auburn hair catching the sun as he took off his hat to resituate it on his head. “Glad to see you got our message. Was wonderin’ if you’d beat us here.” He clasped hands with Dick. “Good to see you’re both all right. Doc here told me you had a meetin’ with...you know.”
“That went as well as could be expected,” I said.
“She killed him only once,” Dick said with a laugh to make those who didn’t know about my curse to think he was just kidding around.
“Only once, musta been your birthday,” Charlie teased, grabbing me for a hug that turned into an arm around my neck. He dragged me down, grumbling something that sounded like, “You’re an idiot...next time we all go with ya.” Taking my hat with a whoop of fun to hide his growling message, he let me up. Tossing my sugarloaf sombrero to MacNab he said, “We thought maybe that woman had gotten the better of ya.”
I walked toward MacNab for my hat. “Nope, just had to run an errand after the meetin’.”
MacNab tossed my hat to Middleton. “You missed out on some good huntin’.”
I eyed Middleton and my hat. “I will scale you like the tree you are. Give me my damn hat!”
“Oh, is this yours?”
Standing my ground, I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrows at him. “I got at least two in the chamber. Give me the hat.”
“Sure thing,” Middleton said, his gruff voice sounding strange with the words as he extended my hat toward me.
I reached for it, and he tossed the hat to Fred Waite, who was to my left. “If you know what’s good for you, Fred―” I started to say.
“Boys, stop the lolly-gagging and get in the house,” Susan McSween yelled out at us. “Alex is waitin’ on you.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Dick said, opening the gate of the three-foot-high picket fence. “Fred?” He motioned giving me the hat.
Fred grinned and walked up to me, handing me the hat. I reached for it, and he pulled it away. Switching hands, Fred placed it on his right shoulder, hitched it up, and leaned toward me, causing the hat to roll across his shoulders, down his arm, and into his left hand. He set the sombrero on my noggin’ and headed for the house.
“Points for style, Waite,” MacNab said with a laugh as he went through the gate. He punched Dick on the shoulder to say hello, but the big man didn’t move an inch. “Ow! You been throwin’ bales of hay since we last saw ya? Damn!” He shook the pain from his hand and kept moving.
If Dick had been a boulder before, he was a mountain of strength now. He looked at me with worry, and I shook my head with a laugh to let him know he was being hypersensitive. In retaliation for me laughing, he hit the top of my hat, indenting my sugarloaf sombrero again.
“Damn it, Dick, I just fixed that.”
“I like it that way,” a young lady’s voice said from the doorway. “That high top looked too formal for the likes of you, Billy.”
I looked up to see Sallie standing there in a pretty blue dress with a white lace pattern at the top. “Why, Miss Chisum, don’t you look lovely, and what for? A bunch of filthy cowboys comin’ in to dirty up your home?”
She grinned. “You all will be takin’ your boots off as you enter, and you’ll let Miss Mary Ann give you all a damp cloth to wipe your clothes off with.”
I took my hat off to her as I stepped behind the adobe wall that blocked the main door. “Really? Better with the dent?”
“Without question.”
I hummed in acknowledgment as I followed the rest of the men into the house. Here by the door, each of the cowboys was working to take their boots off, hopping this way and that. Trying not to laugh at the sight of all the big bunch of cowboys jumping around, I leaned my backside against the wall and pulled my boots off with ease. “The beauty of having small feet and boots that are always a bit too big.”
Setting them in the corner, I took a cloth from Miss Mary Ann and wiped the dirt and horse hair from my britches. Tossing it in a pail near the door, I noticed the man who’d been safeguarding McSween, Deputy Sheriff Barrier, enter the little foyer. With a polite nod toward me, he grabbed his shoes and was out the door be
fore I could ask where he was going. I threw a questioning look at Sallie, but she just shrugged her shoulders.
I peered out the door at him and it was apparent he was leaving. This wasn’t a good sign.
Looking in toward the rest of the house I wondered if McSween knew his protection had just left the building. Either way, that small detail was going to change things for us in a big way. With a last nod at Sally, I went off to find out what that change would be.
21
Some Bad News, And Some More Bad News
I headed into the parlor of John Chisum’s home, which was only one of eight rooms, all of which surrounded a patio at center. My eyes landed on Alexander McSween first. He sat in a rocking chair near the fireplace with Susan standing beside to his right, her hand on his shoulder. He patted it, and she smiled down on him, her other hand smoothing out a section of his bright red hair, which was thinning a bit, but we were never dumb enough to mention that.
Without knowing if Susan had mentioned to her husband that Ben and I visited the house about three weeks ago, I walked up to her and gave her a peck on the cheek. “Good to see you’re back in town, ma’am.”
MacNab took her hand and kissed the top of it. “Good to see you are safely here, Mrs. McSween.”
She, as well as the Regulators sworn by oath, knew the real meaning of this. We were happy she had made it safely to the Chisum ranch after suggesting she and Leverson come here to be away from Lincoln town.
“Thank you, Billy, Frank. It’s good to be back. Missouri was relaxin’, but it’s always nice to be home.”
“I wish you were returnin’ to more pleasant news,” Dick said.
“Yes, I’m so very sorry to hear about John. He was a dear friend to us all. Alex here sent me a letter while I was away to let me know about that and the arrest warrant.”
“We’re not gonna let him be arrested, ma’am,” Dick said.
The Curse of Billy the Kid: Untold Legends Volume One Page 23