Dark Spirits of the Forest

by Michael Weinberger

  “Now?” Jett laughed, “In this semi-private room?”

  In response Ursula simply reached across her body and tore the paper examination gown away leaving her completely naked in front of Jett, and anyone else who might be looking through the glass door, and shifted her legs into a most provocatively receptive position.

  “We can go into the hall, if you like, and you can prove your manliness to everyone.”

  In any other situation, ABSOLUTELY ANY other situation, Jett would have accepted her challenge without another word… well, maybe not in such a public manner… but his conscience screamed that every moment that passed meant someone else could die at the hands of the Bakaak or the Wendigo, and they simply couldn’t afford to waste a single second.

  “Ask me again when this is over.”

  Ursula made a show of pouting, but Jett knew it was just more playfulness on her part to relieve some of the tension they both were feeling.

  With a smooth grace Ursula kicked her legs and she was instantly off of the table and reaching for her clothes.

  Then, as if the last minute never happened she asked, “I still don’t get it. The Bakaak’s arrow put you to sleep, and while in the process of scaring me half to death, leaving me to fight the Wendigo by myself, you went on to have a vision?”

  “Apparently.”

  “This vision-questing of yours is getting tiresome.”

  Jett shrugged, “Not like I have any control or say in the matter.”

  “Whatever. Explain the meaning behind the vision again?”

  There was a knock on the door.

  Ursula swung her shirt over her shoulders, “Come in.”

  Cottonwood opened the door and closed it behind himself, before looking up to see a mostly naked Ursula in the process of getting dressed. To his credit he only hesitated for a moment, checking to see if he had misheard the invitation to enter, then started talking as if everything was normal, “You all stitched up?”

  Ursula gave him a thumb’s up, “Gonna make it.”

  “So, what are we doing?”

  “Jett was just about to explain the whole ‘vision’ thing again,” she told him.

  Cottonwood nodded in approval and then, making no attempt to look away from Ursula as she dressed, said, “I always did have good timing, my dear.” He must have felt Jett’s eyes on him, because he waved a hand and said, “I’m old.”

  Jett sighed, “Anyway, what we are dealing with here is a clash of multiple dark magics that have corrupted the forest. Neither the Casino, nor the surrounding towns are the focus of the magic, but they will suffer all the same as a result of it.”

  Jett told them about the horrible scene that he watched unfold in the wigwam. “Near as I can tell, that was the birth of two malevolent spirits. First the Wendigo was created when the man attacked, raped and cannibalized a portion of the woman. Every story I have ever heard about Wendigo revolves around committing an abhorrent act of evil, which the scene I witnessed certainly qualifies, and the subsequent influence of dark forest magic that changes the perpetrator into the beast.”

  Cottonwood was nodding, “Our legends say the same.”

  “And the woman?” Ursula asked.

  “Deer Woman,” Jett replied.

  Cottonwood frowned at that, “There are several legends of the Deer Woman; most attribute her to be the spirit of the hunt, and a protector of animals. Not unlike Artemis of Greek mythology.”

  “There is also the darker legend of the Deer Woman, formerly being a human female who had been raped and is also changed by the dark spirits of the forest, into a vengeful spirit against all men, and particularly her attacker.”

  Cottonwood was doubtful, “Perhaps, but I don’t think that’s an Ojibwe legend.”

  “Fair enough, but it does fit in with what the Spirits revealed to me.”

  “True.”

  Ursula spoke up, “If these are all evil spirits, then why did the Deer Woman want to speak with you as opposed to, say, kill you?”

  “Vengeance is her primary motivator,” Jett said in a matter of fact manner, “I think she wants our help.”

  Ursula considered, “She wants us to kill her attacker?”

  Jett nodded, “Her rapist, who it just so happens has been turned into a creature that cannot be defeated.”

  “I’m not sure that’s true,” Cottonwood volunteered.

  Jett frowned, “All the research I’ve done says there’s no way to stop a Wendigo.”

  “No,” Cottonwood shook his head, then amended, “I’m sure the books your read said exactly that, but I think there might have been something lost in translation.”

  “How so?” Jett asked.

  “Every Ojibwe legend I have ever heard tells that the Wendigo cannot be killed or destroyed.”

  “Right… and?”

  “Well, that’s very different from not being able to stop it. Think about it. If these things are real and not just legend, which we now know firsthand, then someone had to have stopped one at some point or the creature would have kept on killing and eating people for centuries. The death and the killings would never have stopped, as the Wendigo is supposed to be insatiable in its need to consume human flesh.”

  “Once they killed everyone around them they’d run out of food, no?”

  Cottonwood shook his head, “No, Wendigo are known for pursuing their victims far outside of where the initial encounter may have occurred, in order to tear whole families from their homes and take them back to its lair to satisfy its hunger.”

  Jett shivered at the words, and then asked, “So you’re saying there might be a way to stop it even though we can’t kill it?”

  Cottonwood just shrugged, “Don’t know how, but it seems logical to me.”

  Ursula laughed, “Something about this seems logical?”

  Cottonwood smiled, “Those Bakaak are supposed to be invincible as well,” he looked at Ursula proudly, “but we seemed to take two of them out just fine.”

  “Actually,” Jett confessed, “I think you got lucky.”

  Ursula frowned, “Oh really?”

  Now it was Jett’s turn to laugh, “Not how I meant that. Still, the important thing is that there is still one Bakaak in the forest.”

  “Why?”

  “Because the Bakaak were the Deer Woman’s weapons against the Wendigo.”

  Cottonwood made the connection, “She was the source of the dark forest magic that brought the Bakaak into being?”

  “Exactly.” Jett confirmed, “the Deer Woman is a Spirit and she needed a physical champion to do her killing for her. Who better to fight for her than murderous unbeatable creatures, in order to hunt down and kill another murderous undefeatable creature?”

  “And why should the Bakaak do as their told, once she created them?”

  “Because the Bakaak are first and foremost hunters, and not just hunters, but hunters obsessively drawn to the greatest of the trophies to kill. What could be a greater trophy to take, than the most dangerous of all game, a Wendigo?”

  “Okay,” Ursula sounded doubtful as she said, “let’s say all of that is true, then why did the Bakaak attack that guide LaRose and his clients?”

  Jett dropped his head at the name of the deceased, “The last thing LaRose said to me was that he had been used as bait. I saw a show about an African Safari where the first thing the professional hunter did in his pursuit of a lion was to shoot a Zebra for lion bait.”

  “And the Wendigo is supposed to be insatiably hungry for human flesh,” Cottonwood finished Jett’s thought, “so what better to use as bait than…oh.”

  The room went silent for a moment before Cottonwood asked, “So, I take it the Deer Woman doesn’t think her monsters are powerful enough to take the Wendigo?”

  “Maybe or maybe she doesn’t care who helps her, as the end is all she cares about and she is completely focused on getting the job done by any means necessary.”

  Ursula screwed up her face, “I feel kinda bad a
bout breaking the other two now.”

  Jett shook his head, “Don’t be, they’d have killed you or used you for bait as well.”

  “All right,” Cottonwood was looking at his watch and acting more and more restless, “what do we do now?”

  Jett thought a moment, “Our goal needs to be to remove the Wendigo as well as the remaining Bakaak from the forest.”

  “And we do that how?” Ursula asked expectantly.

  “I have an idea,” Jett smiled wickedly, “but you’re really not going to like it.”

  “Well”, Cottonwood interrupted, “whatever your plan is, you better get to it”.

  Jett and Ursula turned to the elder with questioning looks.

  Cottonwood looked up from his watch, which he had checked again, to notice the looks on Jett and Ursula’s faces, “Did you forget? Today’s Friday, our Grand Re-Opening starts tonight.” Cottonwood pointed to his watch, “My guess is that, if everything is going the way Penchant had hoped, then people have already started to arrive”.

  Chapter 20

  “No! Absolutely not! In fact, I want the two of you off our land now!” Douglas Penchant was raising his voice and the security men around him began to move into position around Jett, Ursula and Cottonwood.

  Cottonwood’s voice, and his ire, were equally raised, “You can’t just ignore this! The danger to our guests is …”

  “Stop! Just stop! I don’t want to hear any more stories about ghouls, goblins or anything else that isn’t real. Our only concern should be the very real threat of financial ruin. Is that what you want Cottonwood? Do you want us to become so destitute that we once again have to lease our land to the white people for the pittance they have been paying us? Just so we can pay it all back in order to pay their inflated prices for the utilities and other normal life expenses they control?”

  One of the security people tried to move behind Ursula. She inclined her head slightly toward the burly man and growled, her voice very low, “To touch me could be your last mistake, boy.”

  The large man flashed a look of indignation at her words, before he registered the look on her face. Instantly his demeanor shifted as he paled and unconsciously began to back away from Ursula.

  “Douglas,” Cottonwood was obviously trying to control his anger, “if this were a pack of wolves, wild dogs or a problem bear, then you’d have our people take care of it without hesitation. I’m telling you, this is something much, much worse and we need to…”

  “What we need is for these…” Penchant turned an angry eye on Jett and Ursula, “…outsiders to go away and let the Tribe handle Tribal business.”

  Cottonwood shook his head, “You can’t just make this decision on your own. The rest of the council…”

  “The rest of the council stands with me on this.”

  “What?” Cottonwood looked genuinely surprised. “How could they? They don’t even know what…”

  “I have already spoken with each of the other council members about your…” Penchant seemed to pause in order to think of the right word, “…priorities and they are less than pleased with your apparent desire to side with the interests of those outside the tribe.” He held out his cell phone to Cottonwood, “Call them if you’d like. See what they tell you.”

  Cottonwood seemed to grow smaller at the words, as if his world were collapsing around him, “How dare you question my loyalties?! This Tribe is my family and I have served its interests my entire life!”

  “And where has that ever gotten us?” Penchant accused, “Everything that has happened up to now has disgraced and degraded the tribe to the point that we have lost the sense of who we are as a people!”

  Jett couldn’t hold his tongue, “You keep talking as if you are desperately trying to save the integrity of your people, while ignoring the very things that make you the people you are. That makes no sense.”

  Penchant turned to Jett, “Exactly what is that supposed to mean?”

  Ursula didn’t hesitate, “It means that by choosing to ignore what is in front of your face, not because you don’t believe, but because you’re worried about money is as greedy, careless and stupid as anything the ‘white’ people have ever done to you.”

  A couple of the security personnel turned to give Penchant questioning looks, but Jett couldn’t tell if they had doubts in their Tribal Chairman, or if they were simply awaiting the signal to escort them off the property.

  Cottonwood’s voice was pleading now, “It is our land, our home and our birthright, but we in turn have to be the caretakers of the land. This is what those who are not Native fail to understand, and if we are going to be worthy of our home and honor our heritage, then we have to act on this problem now!”

  Penchant dropped his head, sighed heavily and, for an instant, Jett thought that Cottonwood may have gotten through to the man. Then the Tribal Chairman straightened, “We’re done. Get off Tribal land.”

  Ursula’s predator was very near the surface, “And if we don’t?”

  “Don’t make me call the police.”

  Cottonwood interjected again, “Exactly what police would you be calling? Every local authority is overtaxed because of our Grand Re-Opening and every available officer from Ashland is either dead or missing!

  Jett turned to Cottonwood, “It’s all right. We’ll go.”

  Ursula’s head swiveled to him, “We will?”

  Jett nodded, “It’s as the Chairman said. The tribe needs to take care of Tribal business.”

  Penchant suddenly looked very relieved that Jett hadn’t called him on his threat to notify the authorities.

  “We came here looking for answers and we have them. My duty is to share the information and offer my help, which I’ve also done. What you do now is up to you and we’ll respect your wishes if you want us to go.”

  Jett waited, staring at Penchant until the Chairman said, with no little patronization in his tone, “Well? Go already.”

  Jett gave him a single nod and turned his back on the man. Ursula stared at Penchant for a moment more, before averting her eyes and following Jett out of the conference room.

  Even over the sounds of the slot machines, along with the crowd that had been growing with every passing moment, they could hear the sound of Cottonwood and Penchant beginning to argue once again before the doors of the conference room shut behind them.

  Ursula waited until they had walked about half the distance to the exit before asking, “So, are we really leaving?”

  “Hell, no.”

  A wide smile crossed Ursula’s face, “I didn’t think so.”

  Chapter 21

  “Okay,” Ursula said, “as far as most date nights go, this one might have under-delivered more than any other in my eight hundred plus years of life.”

  Jett smiled at her sarcastic statement, “What do you mean? We’re at a concert of one of the hottest up and coming stars of country music. This is a great date.”

  “We’re hiding in our rental car in the Casino parking lot.”

  “We’re not hiding, we’re on a stakeout. Besides, the stage is right there! We couldn’t possibly get a closer seat.”

  “We’re behind it. All I can see is a big wall of scaffolding.”

  “Well, Ms. ‘Glass is half-empty,’ we can hear the music just fine.”

  Ursula considered that, “Is it me, or does Country music today sound a lot like Rock-n-Roll?”

  “I like it,” Jett shrugged, “so I guess I don’t really care if it’s Rock or Country.”

  “Fair enough,” Ursula raised a jelly jar filled with red wine and toasted him, “to date night.”

  Jett clinked her jelly jar with his own, and they both sipped noisily before getting back to business.

  “So, you think the Wendigo will come here?” she asked.

  “The noise will alert it and the sea of humanity will stimulate it. Imagine you were starving, literally starving, and happened upon a chicken coop filled with eggs and birds and a sign that said, ‘A
ll you can eat!’ on the door. What would you do?”

  “Is that really a legitimate comparison?” Ursula wondered.

  Jett nodded, “Frankly, I don’t see how it could stay away.”

  Ursula’s demeanor sobered, “Would it come looking for more ‘food’ if any of the officers from Ashland are still alive?”

  Jett let out a breath, “I don’t know, but if that is the case, then I really hope it doesn’t show.”

  The music played on into the evening and the sold out crowd screamed and sang and danced along with their heroes on the stage the entire time until the band played the final song of its set and took a bow.

  “Is it over?” Ursula asked almost sleepily.

  “The band will likely play a couple encore songs before shutting down for good.”

  Ursula slapped her thighs, “Well, I need to take a walk and use the little girl’s room.”

  “Yeah, me too…but I’ll try the men’s room,” he replied.

  “One tree is as good as another for you, my love.”

  They had only taken a few steps toward the outhouses that the roadies had set up when Ursula froze in her tracks.

  “Jett, we have company.”

  Jett shook his head, “Couldn’t be. If the Wendigo was already here people would be screaming and dying.”

  “Not the Wendigo,” Ursula pointed toward the forest in the distance. At the tree line a figure floated, tatters of the fabric it wore flapping wildly in the breeze as it otherwise hung motionless, peering down at the crowd and the stage.

  “The Bakaak,” Jett thought aloud, and then shook his head, “I guess the legends about it not being able to leave its forest are true”.

  Jett knew Ursula, being part Ancient Spirit Bear, would be able to see the creature with better clarity, so he asked, “Can you tell if it is generally staring at the crowd or is it tracking something?”

  Urusla nodded, “Because if it is here, then its target, the Wendigo, might also be, right?”

  “Right.”

  Ursula stared, but after a moment shook her head, “It’s not moving at all.”

  “Then it’s just waiting, same as…”