William Redman Carter: Chapter Chapter 7

Posted: October 11, 2005 - 11:21:30 am



An ominous feeling radiated from the black hole as the sun peered over the

horizon. A huge construction crane towered over William. He watched the cage

slowly approach the hole. He lifted a hand and the operator stopped lowering the

cage.

William turned his back to the hole. Medicine men from all over the country had

gathered in a great circle around him. Behind them, stood hundreds of warriors.

Every man was dressed in tribal costumes. It was not that their costumes had

importance in their actions, but that they wanted to look their best when they

met the Great Spirit should they die.

Past the warriors, a handful of Druids stood where they could watch the

proceedings. Ed Biggers and Kelly were among the Druids, although their reasons

for being there were more parental than anything else. Next to Ed stood a couple

of Catholic Priests. A good distance away was a horde of reporters, brought to

the location by reports of a major gathering of Medicine Men.

Barefoot, wearing a loincloth, a medicine bag around his neck, and carrying a

Tomahawk, William felt very small and vulnerable. The only modern thing was the

communications radio that he wore over his right ear. He spoke, "Can you hear

me?"

"Yes, I can hear you," replied the crane operator.

William turned back to face the hole. Aware that he was about to enter the pit,

the Medicine Men started chanting. The sound of drums rose adding power to their

chants.

Never in his life had he experienced such overwhelming evil. Waves of a black

hunger seemed to reach out for him. Taking a deep breath, he walked over to the

hole and jumped into the cage. After closing the door to the cage, he said,

"Lower me."

As he entered the dark pit, he could feel dark forces gathering around him.

Above his head, huge wooden beams braced the ceiling. The air inside the pit was

freezing cold. He could see his breath in the fading light. Looking over the

edge of the cage, he finally made out the floor. The pit was much deeper than he

had thought it would be. He called out, "Stop."

It was with some relief that the cage came to a halt. He had been afraid that

the radio wouldn't work inside the pit. Physics said it would work. Magic

suggested that it wouldn't. There was a more than a little relief to learn that

physics had won.

Reaching down to the bottom of the cage, he picked up a rope and tied it to the

support cable. The cage shook as though a giant hand had slapped it. He threw

out the body bags. Dust rose up in the air choking him.

Moving carefully, William climbed down the rope. When he reached the floor, he

was thrown across the pit as if swatted by an invisible hand. Struggling to

stand, he looked around him. The pit was circular. Spaced around the walls were

eleven bodies. Six of them were Native Americans as evidenced by their dress.

Five of them wore outfits of Spanish Conquistadors. He could just make out two

bodies on the floor below the cage. One looked to be a missionary and the other

a prospector.

The first order of business was to remove the bodies from the pit. He walked

toward the center of the pit. The air was thick and heavy. It was like forcing

his way through molasses. Stopping, he picked up a body bag. He forced his way

to the bodies under the basket. Doing his best not to touch the bodies, he

stuffed the skeletal remains into two body bags.

He pulled the bodies out from under the basket. Dust rose around him, making it

difficult to draw breath. He blinked, trying to clear the tears that had welled

up in his eyes. He could feel forces beating against his body. A dark hunger

pulsed from where the bodies had been. He backed away from the center of the

room. Aloud he said, "Lower the cage."

The cage settled on the floor. Grabbing one of the body bags, he hauled it over

to the cage. He opened the door and wrestled one of the body bags into the cage.

Closing the door, he stepped back and said, "Sending up a white man."

A few seconds later the cage rose from the floor. He watched it rise from the

floor while holding his breath. He hoped his plan worked. When the body left the

pit, there was a general lessening of the pressure beating against him. He

didn't exactly relax, but he did feel relief. The opposing forces in the room

had balanced and taking him wouldn't affect the balance.

He knew that once the cage set down on the ground, a priest would bury the

remains in land that had been consecrated for that purpose. After more than

three hundred years, the spirits held within this pit would be put to rest. A

couple of Medicine Men were waiting to lay to rest the spirits of the Native

Americans once they were removed from the pit.

He went to work putting the skeletal remains that were scattered around the room

in body bags. Using a piece of chalk, he drew crosses on the body bags

containing white bodies and feathers on the body bags containing a Native

American. He had finished with four bodies when the basket was lowered back into

the room.

Two at a time, he sent bodies out of the pit. Each load contained a white and a

red man in order to maintain the balance of forces. The pressure beating against

him lessened, but the black evil hunger from the center of the room grew even

stronger. The air thickened and it was harder to breath.

The sun cast a bright spot on the floor of the pit; the spot slowly moved across

the length of the pit. The hours passed, each lift of bodies took almost an hour

to achieve. He had been working in the pit, fighting the forces beating him and

moving through thick toxic air, for almost seven hours when the last pair of

bodies was lifted out of the pit.

William was exhausted, but the forces that had been battering him had lifted.

The horrible hunger originating from the center of the pit seemed to attack his

spirit, trying to trick him into death. He had to crawl to the center of the

pit. Once there, he dug in the dirt floor seeking the source of the hunger.

Afraid to use his hands, he was reduced to scraping away the dirt with his

Tomahawk. The drumbeat and chanting from outside grew in volume.

His efforts eventually revealed a crystalline skull that pulsed with an eerie

green light. It was sickening to look upon. His stomach churned. Each pulse

weakened him as if it was a psychic vampire draining the energy from him. It

became everything he could do to lift his arms.

Gathering what little will was left in him, William raised the Tomahawk above

his head. He brought it down as hard as he could upon the skull. A brilliant

flash of green light blinded him. A horrible scream split the air a fraction of

a second before an explosion lifted and threw him across the pit.

William opened his eyes, but could see nothing. He didn't know how long he had

been unconscious. The evil hunger was gone. The forces that had been beating

upon him were gone. The drums and chanting had stopped. The fresh scent of the

desert reached him. Every part of his body hurt. His body was freezing cold. He

moaned.

"Don't talk," said a voice.

For a moment, William struggled to identify the owner of the voice. He gave up

the effort deciding it wasn't important. The only thing that was important was

the pain. With each pulse of pain, he knew that he lived. He could feel hands

touching him, but he couldn't see who was touching him. He closed his eyes and

listened to the voices around him.

"He'll be okay. Let's get him out of here," said a voice.

William felt hands lift him onto a stretcher and then the bouncing of the

stretcher being carried. He opened his eyes and was immediately blinded by the

bright light from the sun overhead. The thought that it should be night flitted

through his mind. Holding the thought was too much effort. It slowly registered

that he was thirsty. In a harsh croak, he tried to communicate his need, "Wa...

Wa."

A woman's voice, he recognized it as belonging to Kelly, said, "Here's an ice

chip. Suck on it."

A small sliver of cold forced its way between his lips. As it melted, heavenly

water trickled down his throat. He opened his eyes, but the bright light forced

him to close them again. Another chip of ice followed the first. He sucked

greedily on it.

"Let's move him to the clinic," Kelly said.

William woke and looked around the room recognizing it as the family clinic.

Linda said, "Ah, you're awake at last."

"What happened?" William asked.

"The pit collapsed on you after a huge green cloud billowed out of it. It took

us eighteen hours to dig you out. We were very worried about you," Linda said.

Worried was putting it mildly. She had been frantic and had tried to dig him out

with her bare hands. It had taken Ed and Dan working together to pull her away

from the site.

It wasn't a challenge to guess what the reactions had been among the mothers. He

imagined that Ling and Claire had been angry, Linda had been frantic, and Kelly

had turned into the clinical nurse. William said, "I'm sure that the rest of the

family want to know that I'm awake."

He had barely finished speaking when Betsy flew into the room and stopped at the

foot of the bed. After looking at him for a second, she said, "You're awake."

She sped off towards the door and then immediately returned to the foot of the

bed. She said, "I'll go get Momma Kelly."

She hadn't covered more than three steps before she was back at the foot of the

bed. She said, "I'm glad you're feeling better."

After Betsy finally flew out of the room. Linda laughed and said, "She's been

popping in here every five minutes. You'll have plenty of company in a minute."

"He's awake," echoed through the door as Betsy screamed the news as she ran

towards the family room.

In a soft voice, Linda said, "Your work was successful. Sarah and I were talking

about it while you slept. We both feel more energetic than we have in years. It

is like a veil has been lifted from our eyes. Our thoughts are sharper. I feel

fresh and strong. Others are reporting the same thing."

"I'm glad," William said. He wasn't feeling particularly energetic or mentally

sharp at the moment.

Eddie ran into the room. He stepped up to the side of the bed and looked at his

big brother. In a serious voice, he said, "You're the bravest big brother a guy

can have. I'm so proud of you."

Ruffling Eddie's hair, William said, "You're a great little brother. You know

just what to say to cheer someone up."

"That was a brave thing you did, William. I'm proud of you," said Ed when he

stepped into the room. He looked down at William knowing that his son had

provided a very significant and important service for a huge number of people.

"Thanks, dad," William said as the rest of the family filed into the room. It

didn't surprise him that Eddie and Ed had spoken nearly identical words. The two

shared the same soul.

William touched his chest and found that his medicine bag was missing. Ed,

noticing the gesture, said, "There was a small pile of ashes on your chest when

we found you."

In bits and pieces, William was able to get a picture of what had happened. When

the last pair of bodies had been removed from the pit, the evil draw toward the

pit had intensified. The Medicine Men had fought to keep it contained.

When William had struck the skull, it had released a powerful explosion that

knocked down everyone within four hundred yards of the pit. The crane had fallen

over and the pit collapsed leaving a gaping hole with William buried under tons

of debris. It took five minutes before anyone understood what had happened.

The Medicine Men were exhausted and could barely move, but the warriors who had

been guarding the area sprang into action. They had searched for two hours to

find some idea of where he was buried. Giving up on locating him directly, they

started removing debris from all parts of the pit. They'd found him after

searching for nearly eighteen hours.

Suffering from extreme dehydration, he had spent a full day in the clinic

asleep. The IV was still feeding him a slow drip of saline solution. The family

had taken turns watching over him. After hearing the story, William fell asleep.

William woke to find that the IV had been removed and feeling much better than

the previous day. He looked over to find Leroy watching him. Leroy said,

"There's a glass of orange juice for you. Drink it and then try to sit up."

William spotted the glass and drank it down. It provided a wonderful rush of

energy and eased his throat. After setting the glass down, he asked, "What time

is it?"

"Six in the morning," answered Leroy.

"You always get the horrible shift," William said.

Laughing, Leroy said, "I get the quiet shift. I decided I preferred this shift

when Beth's father was a patient in this room. You're a much better patient than

he was."

"From what I heard about him, that isn't saying much."

"Ah, he wasn't that bad," Leroy said. He remembered those times with fondness.

Watching over Beth's parents had given him something to do and made him feel

useful to a family that had taken him in after his accident.

William sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He asked, "What's on

the program today?"

"Mostly rest for you. There are a couple hundred people outside waiting to see

you. I suggest you go out there after breakfast. It is Christmas Eve and I'm

sure they would like to go home to see their families."

"Why do they want to see me?" William asked.

"I would imagine they want to thank you for delivering them from a great curse,"

Leroy answered surprised by the question.

"Oh," William answered feeling unsettled by the prospect. He knew Ed and John

often joked about slipping out the backdoor after a rescue, but he had never

thought about it. He wondered where the backdoor was that he could slip out.

Leroy stood up and went to the edge of the bed. Offering his arm, he said, "Try

to stand up."

Accepting the arm, William slipped off the edge of the bed and stood. He felt a

little stiff, but in pretty good shape. He said, "I guess it's breakfast time."

"A little early, but I imagine Marguerite is in the kitchen already."

"Let's get something to eat," said William. His stomach rumbled, giving audible

testimony to his hunger.

Marguerite was seated at the kitchen table looking over a magazine when William

stuck his head through the door. In a teasing voice, he said, "I've been waiting

thirty minutes for you to come out and ask me what I want to eat."

Startled, Marguerite turned and looked at him. Putting a hand on her chest, she

said, "You little devil. You startled me. Just for that I'm not going to cook

for you."

"How did you know that I came all this way just to be abused by you?" William

asked as he made his way to the kitchen table. Leroy followed him giving a wink

to Marguerite.

"What do you want?" Marguerite asked hoping that he would challenge her.

"Surprise me," William said taking a seat across from her knowing that she would

make him French Toast. Leroy sat down next to William.

"He was telling me on the way here that he wanted cereal," Leroy said. William

had told him that Marguerite would make French Toast.

"Not in my kitchen. You're having French Toast," Marguerite answered as she went

to prepare some French Toast. She knew that he enjoyed French Toast.

After breakfast, William stepped out the backdoor of the house. It only took a

few seconds for someone to notice him. A cry went out and hundreds of Native

Americans rushed to greet him. The crowd came to a stop more than thirty feet

away from where he was standing and formed a huge semi-circle around him of ten

people deep. Looking over them, William could see they stood straight and with

pride. Something important had changed inside them.

It started with one person clapping their hands together in a slow beat. A few

at a time, others picked up the clapping until it was a thunderous sound that

echoed across the desert. Embarrassed by the attention, William raised his hands

in protest. It took five minutes for the applause to die down.

Once it was quiet, William said, "The time of darkness is over. It is time for

us to learn. It is time for us to grow. It is time for us to become masters of

our own destiny."

The applause was tremendous. When it finally died down, people started drifting

away to go home. After a few minutes, William was left alone with Kotyit.

Turning to his mentor, he asked, "Any comments?"

"I kind of expected you to come out and ask if anyone had a cigarette to spare.

What you did say was a little better than that," Kotyit said with a grin.

William laughed and asked, "Have you got a cigarette you can spare?"

The old man took out a cigarette and handed the pack over to William. He took

one and lit it. After taking a drag off his cigarette, William handed the pack

back to Kotyit. The old man said, "You did good."

"I did what I could," William answered.

"What did you find in the pit?"

"I found a crystalline skull. It pulsed with a sickening green light."

Kotyit was silent as he considered what William had said. Finally, he commented,

"Many crystalline skulls have been found in the past. I wonder if they had once

been cursed in the same way. Perhaps the curse they carried had worked to

completion."

"You may be right."

Looking over at William, Kotyit said, "I notice you are not wearing your

medicine bag."

"It was destroyed in the pit," answered William. "Daddy Ed said that there was a

small pile of ashes on my chest when they found me."

"I had heard that, but didn't believe it."

"What do you think it means?" William asked. He knew that Kotyit believed that

he would still have a connection to the Great Spirit.

"I think it means that you will have to make a new one," the old man answered.

He took a drag off the cigarette and blew the smoke to the morning sky. He

looked over at William and said, "You'll have to wait until you get a little

stronger before you even consider going into a sweat lodge."

"What do you think I should do for now?"

"Go to school and get good grades. I think the powers that be will leave you

alone for a little while. You deserve a little rest after that. Maybe after you

get your degree, one of the Druid Gods or Goddesses might request your service,"

Kotyit said feeling the rightness of his words even as he spoke them. He could

feel that much of William's power was gone, but it wasn't gone forever.

William could feel the rightness of his words as well. Nodding his head, he

said, "I think you are right."

Gesturing to the steps behind the house, William went over and sat down. Kotyit

joined him. The two of them smoked their cigarettes. Finally, Kotyit said, "That

was a big explosion. You should be proud of making such a big bang."

"I guess."

"The men who own the crane have to bring another one to get the first one

upright. It was knocked over on its side. I never saw anything like it."

William was silent for a couple of minutes while he looked over the crowd of

people packing to leave. Finally, he asked, "Where is Spirit of Desert Rock?"

"He was one of the ones injured in the explosion," Kotyit answered.

"I was not told that anyone was injured," William said.

"Four of the older Medicine Men died in the effort to contain the evil when the

last bodies were removed. Their hearts gave out. Younger men, including your

friend Dale, took their place. Sixteen of us were injured during the explosion."

Shaking his head, William said, "I did not know. I would have said words about

their sacrifice."

"I think it is better that you did not know. Too much of our past is filled with

sacrifice. Emphasizing sacrifice is an old man's speech. Your speech was about

the future. That is a young man's speech. As a result of what you did, our

people are young again and will look to the future."

"Everyone thinks I did something great, but others died. They should be

recognized as the real heroes," William said.

"They will be," Kotyit said. He was already planning a ceremony to mark the

event. Others were talking about constructing a monument on which the names of

those who fell would be listed.

William ground out his cigarette on the bottom of his boot and put the butt in

his back pocket. He asked, "So where can I find Spirit of Desert Rock?"

"I think he is in the house sleeping in a guest room. That is where all the

others are," answered Kotyit looking over at William with an amused grin on his

face. It was rare to catch William flat- footed.

"I should have known," said William as he stood. "I'll see you later."

"Not if I see you first."

William was laughing as he entered the house. He made his way to the dining room

where Marguerite had put out a breakfast buffet. Several of the Medicine Men

were seated around the table eating when William entered. Looking around the

room, William said, "Well, if it isn't the walking wounded."

Dale threw a piece of toast at William and said, "Some of us became Medicine Men

because we were sure it was safer than being a warrior. Imagine our

disappointment when not one warrior was injured."

William was laughing as picked up the piece of toast and made his way to the

buffet. After setting the toast on the table, he fixed himself a cup of coffee.

He sat down next to Dale and said, "I hope you're feeling alright."

"I feel much better than I've ever felt before," Dale said. His sentiment was

echoed around the table.

"So what part of you is broken?" William asked.

"It was my leg, but your mother took care of it," Dale answered feeling

embarrassed. William had told him about her healing power, but he hadn't

believed it. It was strange having the mother of his best friend make love to

him.

"Ah, Momma Kelly."

Twin Elks said, "I hope that's not a problem."

After taking a sip of his coffee, William thought about it. Finally, he said,

"It's not a problem. It is her service to the Goddess. She's lucky that her

service allows her to help people become whole and healthy."

Looking William directly in the eye, Dale said, "Kind of like your service to

the Great Spirit."