“Yeah, sure could. Name’s Ryan and thank you.” He held out his hand for the man to shake. The man looked at it but made no effort to shake it. Ryan pulled it back. “You have no idea how hungry I am. I’ve been on the road for a few weeks now and am finding it hard to find enough people to share food with.”
“People don’t like to share,” said the man. “Better to just take. Tell me about the land up north. I hear it’s good for fresh water and wild animals.”
“Yeah, its okay I guess,” said Ryan. He was busy watching Cracker and Dolton fix up a tray of food for him. The man noticed this and stood up.
“I’ll talk to you after you eat,” he said. “Enjoy.”
“Wait, what’s your name,” cried Ryan. “I want to know who it is that’s saving my life.”
“You can call me Howling Wolf,” he said. “And don’t thank me until after you eat.”
“Oh, I will. Don’t worry,” Ryan’s eyes were wide with anticipation of tasting all the stuff that was piled on the tray, “and you can tell me what I can do to repay you for all of this.”
“I have a few things in mind, but for now eat and enjoy.”
For the rest of the day Ryan ate. He stuffed himself with apples and cherries. He gorged on whatever meat they had roasted. He thought it best not to ask. You never knew what they cooked down here for meat. Some liked dog or cat. Others ate crows and pigeons. The familiar beef and pork were not always on the menu and if you told yourself that everything was beef it made it easier to keep in your stomach. Howling Wolf stayed with him for most of the day, asking questions about the north and the people that lived there. It seemed that the more Ryan told him, the more he got. He was given fresh clothes and a lot of little things like a watch, a pair of sunglasses, half a bottle of whiskey and someone actually gave him a pipe. He liked it here in this camp. Maybe he would forget about California and stay right here. As long as they were happy to share he was happy to stay.
“You have been a good sport today, young blond boy,” said Howling Wolf as the sun started to set in the western sky. Ryan had just finished a hunk of chocolate that was sitting a little queasily in his stomach. He ate too much and was now paying for it. His stomach was bloated and ready to burst and he found it hard to move. He wanted to lie down and go to sleep but he couldn’t be rude; Howling Wolf was still expecting conversation.
“Me? It’s you that’s been good to me.” Ryan let out a low burp and hoped that it went unnoticed. “You have no idea how hungry I was. I can’t thank you enough for your hospitality.”
“Well, there is one thing you could do.”
“Name it,” he said then thought he’d better add, “but make it tomorrow. I can hardly move right now and I don’t think I’ll be able to do too much.”
“Trust me; you’re in perfect shape to help me right now.” He snapped his fingers and Cracker and Dolton made their way over to them. They carried ropes and Ryan thought they wanted him to go wrangle some kind of wild animal. He couldn’t do that now, he’d puke.
“The sun’s going down boys. It’s time to bleed a pig.” There was laughter and Ryan realized that the rest of the camp was watching him intently.
“A pig? You have pigs somewhere?” He didn’t like the way they were all looking at him.
“Yeah, right here,” cried Dolton as he grabbed the boy’s arms and Cracker started wrapping the ropes around him. Ryan tried to struggle but the weight of the food in his belly was making it impossible. Besides, where was he going to go? The rest of the camp was now standing and cheering as he found himself being carried to an open area in the middle of the camp.
There was a wooden platform standing there with five stairs and a pole hanging over the side. Ryan thought it was some sort of hangman apparatus but, again, he was wrong. The pole swung over the platform and he was tied by his feet to it. The pole was then pushed back and Ryan was now hanging over a pot of some kind. What were these guys; cannibals? Were they going to eat him? His wrists were tied together in front of him and he tried to keep them there but he was so full that gravity took over and they fell and hung below his head.
“What is this?” he cried. He was scared to death and had no idea what was happening. “I told you I’ll work for the food. I’ll do whatever you like. Please, let me down, please, I’ll do anything.”
“I know you will,” said Howling Wolf, “and we all thank you for it. This is the best thing you could ever do for us.”
“Please, someone let me down,” he was yelling now, tears falling and sure he was going to puke.
“Gag him.” Dolton reached up and stuck an old rag in his mouth and secured it with duck tape. Ryan squirmed and rocked back and forth but there was no way he was going to get free.
“Attention everyone,” called Howling Wolf and silence fell upon the camp. “Young blond boy has come to us today in search of food. We have given him this and he has promised to repay us by doing whatever we want. I say the gods have given us a gift and we must take this gift with respect and gratitude. We must drink the blood of the boy and return his body to the gods. We are the Blood Demons and blood will sustain us in our new life down here. Thank you, oh gods, for your gift of life giving blood.”
“Thank you, oh gods, for your gift of life giving blood,” the crowd chanted and Ryan knew his life was coming to an end.
“Thank you, oh gods, for giving us our strength,” Howling Wolf said.
“Thank you, oh gods, for giving us our strength,” the crowd chanted.
“We take your gift and drink of his blood.” Howling Wolf pulled out a knife and ran it across Ryan’s throat. Blood started to flow, dark and thick, into the pot below.
“We take your gift and drink of his blood,” the crowd chanted.
“Lead us on from here, oh gods, so that we may flourish and become stronger.” He dipped a cup into the blood and brought it to his lips. He drank and then passed it on. Others came to the pot and filled cups which they in turn passed along. Ryan’s body hanged there until all the blood was gone and then he was brought down. There was another ceremony as they burned his body and returned his ashes to the gods.
“Sir, shall we pack up the camp?” asked Cracker.
“Yes, we shall pack up everything and ride,” said Howling Wolf. “We shall make our way to the north. It is where the gods want us to go next.”
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