19

Activity within the camp built to a furor. More and more warriors visited a large tent at the other end of the clearing and emerged carrying rifles, spears, knives, or bows. Other men prepared horses to be ridden, and women furiously worked to apply a fresh coat of leaves to cloaks that were given to the Dirt Swimmers. Food was handed out and drums began to sound, all while Hevo worked his way toward the cabin.

Slocum watched intently from his window. He kept the shotgun ready so he could fire at the guard if he should stir, and he kept his muscles tensed in case he needed to lunge for the woman, who grew more impatient with every second that passed. But Namid didn’t seem to be interested in running. She barely made a sound as she stood in the doorway, nodding to the occasional Indian who would look in her direction. Slocum watched for a hint that she might be passing some sort of signal to the others, even though he wasn’t sure what he could do to stop her or what options he might have if she did call for help. Even those few who nodded back to Namid were too busy to do much else.

After what couldn’t have been more than a few minutes, Hevo crept around the perimeter of the camp to the back of the cabin. First chance he got, he darted to the cabin’s only door and rushed inside, where Namid greeted him with open arms.

“I should have stayed with you,” she said. “I should never have left you.”

“You did plenty,” Hevo replied. As he stroked her hair, he looked over at Slocum.

Still pointing the shotgun toward the door, Slocum said, “You two sure seem a lot friendlier.”

“She has turned against Spirit Bear as I have,” Hevo told him. “She just could not get away when I did.”

“Now there’s a cryin’ shame.”

“This is a tangled mess, John,” Hevo sighed. “All I can offer you is my word that she can be trusted.”

Slocum maintained a solid poker face as he thought a few things over. First of all, Hevo had proven himself more often than not. More than anything else, Slocum preferred to judge another man based on his actions. Hevo had stood tall when things had gotten rough. He’d waded into battle when the wagons were being attacked, and when he had the opportunity to run now, he’d come back to the cabin for Namid. Mistakes may have been made, but Slocum could relate to making much worse mistakes where women were concerned.

As far as that woman was concerned, Slocum knew even less. Since he was going to be discovered sooner or later if he stayed in one spot, it didn’t seem bad to risk it now. A mess was a mess, and he was already in this one up to his ears.

“So you want out of here?” Slocum asked her.

Namid looked at Hevo, who offered her nothing in the way of any hint as to how he wanted her to answer. She looked at Slocum and nodded. “I am only here because I cannot leave. If I was to slip away in the night, I would be found. What they would do to me after that would be worse than death.”

“So that was all an act before?”

“I had to get Hevo alone,” she explained.

“She will come with us, John,” Hevo said. “If you will not allow her to come with us, then I will take her on my own.”

“She can come with us,” Slocum sighed while taking another gander out the window. “In fact, I think she can be a big help in getting us away from this madhouse.”

“I cannot get to your weapons,” she insisted.

“I’m not worried about that anymore. There’s more than enough weapons out there for us to shoot our way out of this place, into another place, into a fort, and out of there as well. My concern is getting the ball rolling and I think there might be a real easy way to get that part done.”

Hevo had taken a spot near the window and was now looking outside with one eye so he only exposed a sliver of himself to the rest of the camp. “I forgot what it was like to be here,” he said almost to himself. “There is no rest. No time for meals. Everyone works on Spirit Bear’s schedule and that man does not even let the sun or moon tell him when to lay his head down.”

“Spirit Bear rarely sleeps anymore,” Namid said. “He meditates and chants, all while smoking his own dust or drinking his potions.”

Turning to her, Slocum said, “He can’t be the only one who mixes that stuff. Considering how much dust gets burned, thrown around, and mixed into food or water, he wouldn’t have time for much else.”

She lowered her head and crossed her arms as if to cocoon herself. “I have helped with the mixtures. All of the women have. It is what we do to survive. One of the many things for which I am ashamed.”

Hevo went to her right away and said, “You should not be ashamed.”

“It is because of the Dreaming Dust that Spirit Bear turns his prisoners into workers and killers. It is the dust that allows the hunts to go on. I was even here for some time because of it. That dust has robbed me of memories and put nightmares in their place.”

“That is over,” Hevo said while shaking her as if to snap her out of those nightmares and make certain he was heard. In his own language, he added, “From this day onward, that nightmare is over. Do you understand me?”

She took comfort by responding in her native tongue. “I understand. I will never be able to make up for what I did to you.” Looking toward Slocum, she added, “What I did to others who were innocent.”

“We can start by putting an end to this. That is why John and I are here.”

“I know,” she said while nodding. Drawing a deep breath, she nodded again with more conviction.

“You two done sweet talking over there?” Slocum asked.

“We have talked enough,” Hevo replied. “There is no more time for it.”

“I agree. Will you be ready to help?”

“I want to help also,” Namid said.

“Good,” Slocum replied. “Because I was talking to you in the first place. What can you tell me about that Dreaming Dust?”

“It is similar to peyote and other medicines used by my tribe’s shaman. Many tribes use something like it as well. But Spirit Bear’s mixture is more potent. It is more like the opium used in parlors where men pay to dream their days away.”

“I guessed as much,” Slocum said. “But I’ve smelled opium and I’ve smelled peyote. This is something else. Do you know how to mix it up so it’s something more?”

Namid made a face that reflected how badly that notion sat within her. “What do you mean . . . more?”

As Slocum explained what he had in mind, Namid’s expression shifted to something much brighter. When he finished and asked, “So do you think you could pull that off?” she was already nodding.

“We won’t have much time,” he said.

Namid rushed past both men and glanced outside. “I will not need much time, but I must go now before it is too late to do what you ask.”

“How long before we know you got it right?”

“Maybe a minute or two. Not much longer than that. You must be prepared for when my job is done. Even you,” she said to Hevo. “I fear this may be too much for your friend, but I wouldn’t want to risk you as well.”

Slocum rolled his eyes at suddenly being talked about like he was some stray dog that just happened to be standing in the corner.

“I will be fine,” Hevo assured her. “Do not think about us while doing your part. Just do what you must so that we may put an end to this. When we are through, we will be free.” Turning to Slocum as a last-ditch effort to make him feel like he was still a part of the conversation, he added, “All of us.”

“No need to convince me,” Slocum said as he approached Namid so he could gently usher her toward the door before she and Hevo got sentimental again. “It was my idea, remember?”

“Of course,” she said before taking a deep breath. Apart from steeling her for what was to come, that breath set off a change that brought Namid right back to the cold-hearted exterior she’d worn when Slocum had first laid eyes on her. The mask slid into place and she was careful not to look at either of the men when she strode out of the cabin.

Watching her through the window, Slocum had to duck out of sight as some of the preparing warriors outside took notice of her and looked toward the cabin. Plastering his back against the wall beside the window, he whispered, “You think she can pull this off?”

“She has convinced them she is still following Spirit Bear.”

“No, I mean what I asked her to do. Do you think she can get that done? Because if it doesn’t go off just right, we could be in a whole world of hurt.”

Hevo stood away from the window with his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes were pointed straight ahead as if he could see straight through the cabin wall. “She will do her part. We must do ours.”

“Yeah, and that brings us to a whole new set of problems.” Slocum peeled his shirt off and took it to a corner so he could have his back to a wall and get a good view of the rest of the cabin without being too close to the door or window. “We’ve got a shotgun and some shells, but that’s about it.”

“You said we could get weapons. Spirit Bear may have an addled mind, but his men know how to arm themselves.”

Slocum trapped his shirt under the heel of one boot and pulled a sleeve until it ripped off. “Which is another thing. I haven’t even met this Spirit Bear fellow.”

“You have seen what he does,” Hevo said through a heavy scowl. “Isn’t that enough to judge him?”

“Not if I’m dropping a death sentence onto him.” He shifted his shirt so the other sleeve was under his boot.

“Are you having second thoughts?” Hevo asked.

“No, I’m just mulling over the thoughts I do have. What I said before is true. We’re in this too deep to get out quietly now. And even if we could get away from here, Ed and the others in those wagons would still be in danger. Nope,” he grunted while ripping another strip of thick cotton from his shirt, “we go forward just as planned.”

When Hevo grinned, it was an odd sight. Considering their circumstances, having something else strike Slocum as odd was saying quite a bit. “This is a good plan, John. Otherwise, I would not have allowed my Star Dancer to be a part of it.”

“Only problem with this plan is that if it goes wrong, it’ll go wrong in a real big way.”

“Then it must not go wrong.”

Slocum didn’t have anything to say to that. The sound of his ripping shirt tore through the cabin as the drums outside grew louder.