A Girl's Guide to Guns and Monsters - Martin Harry Greenberg [11]
Jake led Prudence into the cave. He motioned around, pleased as if he was showing her a mansion.
“Not bad, huh? This time of day the light from outside does us fine. We use the space under the ledge sort of like you’d use a porch in a house. For night we have both lanterns and candles.”
The cave wasn’t bad, especially when compared to some camps she and Jake had shared. Bedrolls were stacked neatly to one side. Water dripped from a seep. A pottery basin collected the precious fluid. Jars lined up nearby showed that the occupants stored the excess.
Jake offered Prudence water. Prudence opened up her pack and brought out some of the grub she had brought. While beans were warming, Jake started in on his tale.
“After that night, you know the one I mean, I got to admit, I didn’t feel so good. I was worried about you, but my head was going six directions at once. I cut and ran until I couldn’t run anymore. Days went by. I guess I hunted along the way, but it was a while before I could think straight.”
Prudence nodded. This part matched her own deductions. She’d trailed Jake by the tales of a rabid wolf slaughtering sheep or other small domestic animals. Once a child had been killed, a boy of about ten, who’d been sent out to look for a wandering heifer.
“After a while,” Jake said, “I started being able to think again. I was scouting out a place where I could settle in and figure out what to do when I met Clyde. Now, Clyde was a prominent warrior during his people’s wars with the white man. He’s never come to terms with their eventual surrender. Clyde showed me this cave and shared with me his vision for the future.”
He paused. Prudence asked the expected question.
“Vision?”
“Clyde wants a world where the Navajo are again mighty. For that, we need war. War suits me just fine. When people are fighting each other, they don’t have time for chasing spooks.”
He looked at her, seeking approval for this bit of wisdom. Prudence made a noncommital noise. Jake went on.
“Me and Clyde work well together. Clyde has been studying the folk around here, white and red. He gives me suggestions as to who I can attack in order to create maximum tension and distrust.
“The Navajo’s fear that there is a powerful witch among them keeps them from coming after me. It also creates division within their own community. The usual thing is to seek a witch among your own people. Since Clyde and me are outsiders, they’re chasing shadows.
“Meanwhile, the white men are eager to blame the Navajo. Some of that eagerness is fear. Some is greed. There are those among the Navajo, like Nathan Yaz, who have aroused envy by doing too well. He not only has orchards and sheep, but the love of a beautiful woman.”
Jake gave a hoarse, barking laugh.
“I honestly don’t care whether they act out of fear or greed or a sense of justice. What matters is that the whites will eventually break their treaty with the Navajo. When they do, the Navajo will fight back. Other reservation Indians will hear about the treaty breaking. There is a good chance that widespread unrest will follow.”
Jake spread his hands. “And then, sister, people like you and me will have a refuge. It will be far better than holing up in the Smokey Mountains, jumping at shadows. In the midst of chaos, no one will notice our comings and goings. Only in settled times and places are we endangered. On this frontier, surrounded by war, we will thrive. And we will be in a position to spread the chaos, to maintain the war.”
“For a time,” Prudence agreed. “Then it will be for us as it was for the Indians. More and more white men will come from overseas, eager for new lands, willing to fight for those lands. We will be defeated.”
“I’ve thought about that, too,” Jake said. “Take a look at the beginnings of my new army.”
He gave a whimpering call. From a darker place at the back of the cave, five little shadows resolved into five little humans, five little humans who smelled of rotting meat.