Chapter 5
"No One Expects the Spanish Inquisition!"
Lana
Vershevin stood at the head of a growing crowd of angry Redwing tribe
members and stared daggers at Mister Poe- the ghost dealer. Lana was a
Freeman by birth and a Vershevin by marriage. She was lighter skinned
than most of the Freeman's, showing more of her mother's European
heritage. She kept her hair cut in a short neat haircut. Lana liked to
keep things under control- especially herself.
Behind
Lana were the several members of the Freeman family including Koko and
Layla, who was Malika's mother. Also behind Lana was Elder Fergus Wong,
Sonya Jenkins, who ran the mill now that her father had passed on, and
Edie Finch who was the senior bowyer of the village having learned from
her mother an taken up the mantle easily.
Behind
Mister Poe was Cooper Redwing- Lana's nephew- and Malika Freeman and
Pike Vershevin -Lana's son. Pike and Malika were shaking and calling to
Cooper, who was standing motionless behind Mister Poe.
Poe
had a bright red bruise on his otherwise translucently pale face,
courtesy of the slap Lana had given him when Mister Poe had told Lana
that he had given Cooper the traditional hallucinogenic herb peyote to
chew on.
Five
minutes had passed since Cooper had chewed the peyote and gone eerily
silent. In that time Lana had not been silent once as she screamed
accusations, threats and insults at the Ghost Dealer. This was what had
caused the crowd to gather behind Lana, and this was the reason that
even the normally unflappable Poe was now looking a little defensive,
having raised his arms in front of his body in the 'calm down' way that
parents do when children aren't using their inside voices.
Lana was certainly not using her inside voice.
"You
fed my boy a hallucinogenic drug! What were you thinking?" Lana had
yelled this before, but seemed to derive some benefit from repeating it,
because this was the third time she had repeated this phrase.
Mister
Poe faced her with the expression that one uses when dealing with small
but potentially rabid terrier- a combination of irritation, caution,
frustration and amusement.
"The
boy was possessed, he needed to confront the ghost that was travelling
with him. And as sensitive as the boy is, he could not do that without
help. So I..."
"So
you drugged him up and sent him a trip! Because that will cure whatever
crazy hoodoo you think he has!" Lana interrupted, her voice rising
several octaves as she spoke.
"Child, before the fall peyote was studied and found not to have any long term negative side effects."
"You don't believe anything from before the fall unless it serves your own ideas. Why should I take any of that seriously?"
The
crowd behind Lana began to murmur in support, and as Poe looked at the
growing crowd of people behind Lana, he even spotted
Redwing-Lives-Forever standing and quietly watching. This had become a
circus event and he was the clown- not the ring master as he normally
preferred.
Poe
Looked back at Cooper. The eight year old had not moved. His eyes
looked into the distance in and unfocused way, and his arms hung limply
by his sides. His mouth was closed and he would occasionally chew on the
peyote again. Malika was waving her hand in front of Cooper's eyes,
looking for a response. Pike was trying to muss up Cooper's hair and was
calling his name.
"The
boy is deep into the trance and has entered the spirit world. Whether
you object or not, he should be treated with more care and respect than
this mob is currently managing to muster."
"He's
eight years old! You shouldn't have fed him that stuff. I don't think
you can lecture on care and respect after drugging and eight year old
boy!"
Lana
stepped closer and looked up at Poe so that she wouldn't be yelling
into his chest. The Ghost Dealer looked straight down at her and then
carefully took a single step back.
Lana stepped closer again.
"I
have two boys! My son and my nephew! They are all I was left with, and
you don't get to go around endangering them because you think you know
better!"
Redwing-Lives-Forever
moved slowly through the crowd to where Lana and Poe were facing each
other. People stepped aside for Redwing without a word, and the elder
moved with the slow deliberate grace of somebody who has lived long
enough to feel rushed by nothing.
Lana and Poe noticed the crowd quieting behind them and looked back to see Redwing step out of the crowd.
"Honoured elder." Poe said, with a slight bow.
"Elder Redwing, he's poisoned my son!" Lana said, desperation creeping into her voice.
Poe moved to speak, and Redwing held up a hand.
"Lana,
he has drugged your nephew. He has not poisoned him." Redwing then
directed his gaze up at the much taller Mister Poe, "I do not think
administering hallucinogens to a child is wise. But Poe is correct, to
the best of my knowledge, peyote has never been shown to have long term
side effects. Still this is my nephew, and this is Lana's nephew as
well. His parents are not here. And thus, you should have consulted us
who are his closest family before you did this."
The crowd was silent as Poe considered this.
"This
needed to be done honoured elder. The Lady Vershevin would never have
given approval- no matter the need. I do not know if you would have
given approval. This needed to be done. I have consulted the bones. I
have listened to the winds. Both have brought me here. This boy has
trials ahead of him. Somebody must prepare him for those trials- none of
you have had the courage to do so. So I did. You will thank me later."
The crowd murmured at Poe's speech, a ripple of fear and anger.
Redwing spoke again.
"Young
man, this is not your tribe and not your people. I appreciate your
efforts and your work on our behalf, but do not presume too much."
Poe stiffened, he looked around at the crowd assembled and then pointed a skeletal finger at elder Fergus Wong.
"Fergus!
I remember you when we were in the prime of our youth. I was a
journeyman away from my teacher for the first time. And you were a young
warrior, traumatized by the horrors of conflict with the Winter Wolves.
The Wolves had taken and raped your pregnant wife, and then slit her
throat and left her for you to find. This broke you Fergus! It would
break any man. The Wolves had bound the ghosts of both your wife and
unborn daughter onto your soul. None of your tribesmen could heal you or
free the spirits. Do you remember what happened?"
The eyes of the crowd turned to look at Fergus Wong. The elder looked at the ground.
"You
fed me a tea, took me through a meditation and made me relive their
deaths," Fergus choked back tears as he spoke, "You let me say good bye.
You helped me move on."
The crowd was deathly silent as Poe continued to speak.
"You
Layla Freeman! Three years ago your twin was injured in a battle
against the Winter Wolves. He was left crippled, and your little sister
was haunted by spirits that would not let her forget that her weapon had
dealt one of the blows. Who banished those spirits?"
Layla looked directly at Poe, "You didn't banish any spirits, but you did help her deal with her guilt."
Poe continued.
"You
who accuse me, Lana Vershevin! You say these boys are all that you
have. Why do you have them in the first place? You were taken from this
place, from your tribe and everything you knew. When you were pregnant
with Pike, who delivered him into this world? When Cooper's mother was
pregnant with him, who brought Cooper into this world in the first
place? Think Lana, none of those idiots who passed for midwives or
doctors there had a clue how to deal with any complications of birth.
Would you have either of the those boys if I had not sought you out?"
Lana's head dropped and she started crying.
"You
claim that I presume too much, but I say that this whole tribe presumes
too much with regards to that boy." He pointed back at the still quiet
Cooper.
"You
know the path that will inevitably open before him. You know his
heritage, who his parents were, and you have not warned him. Every day
he faces this wall of silence and knows that something is wrong. His
destiny is already calling him, and if he does not know his history how
can you be sure he will make the right choice?"
"He's eight years old!" Layla Freeman said accusingly, "We are simply waiting until he is old enough to understand."
"You
can wait, do you think his father will wait much longer? Or do you
think that he doesn't know yet? I would not depend upon that hope, if I
were you."
Lana
had dropped to her knees and was crying into her hands by this point.
Pike had run to his mother and was trying to comfort her. Malika was
still talking quietly to Cooper in the hopes of waking him.
Redwing
looked at Poe quietly, "Very well young man, you make a number of good
points. I would consider it a personal favor if you would give Cooper's
father incorrect advice regarding his son's location."
"I have done that already honoured elder, but I do not know whether or not he believed me."
Booker
Freeman stepped forward. Booker was Lana's brother. Older by a whole
generation than his sister, Booker looked terrifying even though he was
over sixty years old. At six foot three, Booker was one of the few
people who Poe did not tower over. Booker kept his head shaved, both for
practical purposes and to show off the tribal scars that ran from the
top of his skull down his neck and onto his back. He had another scar,
this one not intentional, that arced like a crescent moon under his
right eye and across his broad nose. Booker was what warriors dreamed of
being when they became elders. Booker wore only the pants and knee high
moccasins of the tribe- he didn't bother with a shirt. He weighted
almost 250 pounds, and very little of that was fat- even now that he was
an elder.
"Mister
Poe. My family does not generally believe in your witchcraft. You are a
capable surgeon, but your eccentricities make you dangerous. You are
dangerous to yourself. If my sister's nephew does not recover, I will
have my son Lamont crush your hands on his anvil as payment for your
crime."
