by Darrel Bird
here.”
“Did you walk here?”
“Yes.”
“Where are you going?”
“I was coming to Vegas.”
“What is Vegas?”
“This is Vegas; I think. Where were you going on a horse?”
“I have been hunting all morning, sometimes game takes refuge in these old places.”
“Do you know what year it is?”
“No.”
“People were here when I left.”
“You must be old; you don’t look old, what is the clothing you are wearing?”
“I don’t really know; I found it.”
“Oh.”
The boy looked around at the ruins, and finally, he spoke again, “I have to go; it is getting late. My grandfather is camped on the river.”
“What are you doing there?”
“Fishing, do you want to come with me to the fish camp? There is food there, and water in the river.”
“I suppose.”
“Ok, I will go slow.” The boy turned the horse in the opposite direction, with Gene following on foot. He walked up beside the horse. The boy had on buckskin clothing, and a saddle of sorts made from the same material.
“Are you an Indian?”
“Of course I am an Indian, what does it look like? Have you hit your head to ask such a question?”
“What sort of an Indian are you?”
“What sort? A living sort, are you a fool?”
“No, I mean…what tribe are you; do you have a tribe?”
“Oh… I am of the Shoshone.”
“Where did all the people go?”
“I don’t know, but maybe my grandfather can tell you. He knows more than me.”
“How old is your grandfather?”
“I don’t know…old.”
The boy followed a broken highway that looked worse than the one he had been on. They passed more old broken buildings, and he finally stopped, “We will rest here for a while, and then go on to the river.”
“Good, because I am about pooped out.”
“What is pooped out? You say strange things, and have a strange way of talking.”
“It means I am tired.”
“Why didn’t you just say you were tired then?”
Gene didn’t answer, the boy reached over and felt the material of the suit, “That is strange material, is it hot in there?”
“No, not too hot.”
“What were you doing coming to this Vegas back there?”
“I was coming to find me a woman.”
“Oh… my sister is in the camp, perhaps my grandfather might let you have her for a wife, if you have anything to gift him that he likes.”
“I don’t want a wife.”
“Then you don’t want a woman? You just said you did. You make my head hurt talking to you.” The boy looked at him as if he might go for the cross bow.
“Well… maybe a wife then.”
“That is good; it is good for a man to have a wife. I will have a wife someday, and then I won’t have to skin what I catch. My grandfather says in a few seasons.”
The conversation was awkward to Gene, but he liked the boy, and besides that, he didn’t know where the river was. He didn’t like being dependent on anyone, but water was a necessity.
The boy got up, and gathered up the reins, “We will go; it's not much further.”
They traveled for another hour, and then came over the top of a hill, and Gene could see the river below with tree’s growing along the banks. He could see the concrete structure towering on each side of the river. They walked down the incline until they came to a camp on the edge of the trees along the river.
An old man walked out of a tee pee, and raised his hand in greeting before they arrived at the camp. There was an iron pot hanging over a fire in front of the tee pee.
Strips of fish were hanging on slender poles around the camp.
“You have been gone a long time, did you see anything?” The old man asked, as he stared at Gene.
“No grandfather, all I saw was this man in the old place.”
“We will eat, then we will sit by the fire, and you can tell us. The sun is going down.”
“Sister, come out, and give us food!” He called toward the tent. A slender girl who looked to be about seventeen or eighteen walked out of the tent holding three bowls. She also was dressed in buckskin, as was the old man.
Gene noticed she had a rather homely face, but that didn’t bother him at all as he wasn’t looking for pretty, he was looking for female.
She glanced at Gene, then looked down, and proceeded to dip some kind of stew from the blackened kettle, and handed them each a bowl with a spoon.
“Come, and sit stranger, and we will eat.”
The old man walked over, and sat cross-legged on the ground. The boy followed suit, and the girl disappeared back inside the tee pee like structure.
Gene sat down, and crossed his legs as they did, but he wasn’t comfortable as it made his knee’s ache after a few minutes in that position. The old man, and the boy ate quickly, and the stew tasted good. It tasted strongly of sage. They ate, and then he watched the boy raise the bowl to his mouth, and drain it, so he did the same. He wanted to fit in with these people, especially after he had seen the girl.
After they had eaten the boy spoke, “This man would like to know where the people went who built the old place grandfather; I told him you might know, since you know many things.”
The old man turned to him, and asked. “What sort of clothing is this you wear? Perhaps we might exchange knowledge.”
“I don’t know; I found it on a ship.”
“What sort of ship?”
“A space ship, I went out among the stars in it.”
At that the old man looked at him incredulously, “Have you been at the peyote? We do not use that, we are worshippers of the true Jesus, and it is forbidden here!”
“What is peyote?”
“It is a plant that makes you see things that God did not intend for you to see. Some of our people still use it, but it makes you believe a lie is the truth.”
The boy spoke up, “I think he is telling the truth grandfather, he say his gray clothing keeps him cool, even in the sun, and he did not sweat much on the whole trip here.”
“If you are telling the truth, what did you see out among the stars?”
“I saw that we do not belong out among them, that is what I saw. There is no place for man out there. The people that brought the ship all died.” He didn’t mention the fact that he might have left one of them to cook in the desert heat.
“That, I believe.”
“What happened to the people who built Vegas, do you know?”
“My father told me about the shining city. The earth dried up, and this river stopped flowing, then the people left, and went east. That is all I know. My father said it was best not to adapt to the white ways, so we live off the land, as we always have. Why did you come to the old city?”
“He wants a wife, and there was none there grandfather, I told him you might give him sister, if he had a gift that was good enough.”
“Why did you tell him that boy, have you lost your mind?”
“She did not want Runs-with-the wind, or Bear Walking either one, is she to grow old without a husband grandfather?”
Gene wanted to correct them about the wife part, but decide to stay out of it, and let them talk.
“No, I suppose not, but it was funny when she slapped both of them, and ran them away. Perhaps she will slap this one too. What does he have to give me anyway?”
“He could give you the gray clothing, and then you would be warm during the winter, and cool during the summer.” It was as if Gene didn’t exist, as the two of them talked on. Neither of them looked at Gene.
“What would he wear? Have you thought of this? We cannot have this man running around our camp naked. Sister would kill him, and throw him into the river.”
“I
could give him buckskins to wear, as well as a pair of my old moccasins.”
The old man spat into the fire, and thought, his head on his chest. Gene thought he had gone to sleep. The old man finally looked up, “I will call for her, and if she slaps you, you cannot have her.” He called to the tent. “Sister, come out here!”
The girl walked out with her head down, and walked over to stand before her grandfather.
“Sister, I will not live much longer on the earth, and this man wants a wife. Since you have not chosen, it is my duty to choose for you. Will you permit this?”
“Yes grandfather.” The girl said without raising her head.
“Are you going to slap this man?”
“No grandfather.”
The old man rose slowly and painfully to his feet, “Well…perhaps he is not worth slapping. The both of you stand in front of me.”
Gene didn’t move, “Get up and stand before my grandfather, you wanted a wife didn’t you? Do not make my head hurt again.”
“What happens if I don’t?” Gene asked him.
“I would have to kill you for disrespecting my grandfather, and I would not like to do such a thing.”
Gene looked into the boy's eyes, and saw he was serious as a sore tooth, and he got up to stand beside the girl before the old man. The old man took a long strand of leather, and began binding their wrists