Later, by the fire and after an evening of relative silence, Buck asked Tel if she could tell them anything else. The whole day made him plain uncomfortable. He didn’t like not understanding what was going on and all this silence was grating on his nerves. But Tel didn’t answer, she was staring into the flames a look of pure concentration on her face.
Vin looked up then went closer to the still figure. He glanced at Chris who was now paying attention as well.
"Tel?" But she didn’t hear them or see them. Her face was completely composed and unreadable but pale as she concentrated on the flames.
Vin leaned over to look into her eyes. He could see the flames reflected there but no recognition from the woman herself.
"Tel? What can you see?" Vin persisted but was met with only silence.
"Aw, shit!" muttered Buck. Things had just gotten weirder. I hate weird!
Chris nodded at Vin to keep trying. The quiet tracker was beginning to feel on edge himself as he touched her shoulder and lightly shook it.
"Tel! Come back!" he called a little louder.
She seemed to hear him that time as her head turned toward him but she was still held firmly by the trance she was in. Vin realised he could still see the flames in her eyes and shuddered mentally making a sign against evil. He forced himself to keep calm.
Then, in a soft disembodied voice that seemed to come from all around and from the entranced woman at the same time they heard her say,
"There is no evil here Dan-El"
Vin jumped at the sound. What did she call me? Chris jumped up and walked over to where the pair sat. Vin had visibly paled when the strange voice spoke out and as the younger man had not seemed quite himself all day he’d decided that enough was enough. He grabbed Tel by the shoulders and forced her face towards him then he roughly shook her.
"Wake up!"
He watched as the woman dragged herself back to reality but he didn’t let go till she blinked and looked around at each of them. She could see that they all looked shaken up and guessed the reason why.
"What did you see?" Vin asked again. Tel was still dazed so she answered simply and honestly,
"Blood"
"Whose blood?" Chris demanded as his temper started to fray once again. He didn’t like this one bit.
Tel shook herself the rest of the way back to reality and stood up pulling away from Chris’ grip.
"What?" Her legs started to give out on her but Vin grabbed her before she could fall and helped her back down to the ground.
"Blood! Ya said ya saw blood …"
"Just whose blood are we talkin' about?" Buck interjected
Tel looked at their faces, her gaze settling on Vin but she looked away again and said,
"I can’t be sure"
Chris lost it. If one of them was going to be hurt, or worse, he wanted to know. Now! He grabbed her by the hair and forced her face towards the fire.
"Well look again and find out" he hissed.
Tel struggled against his iron grip. God, she’s strong, he thought to himself as she almost broke free. He held her tighter.
"I want to know what ya see and I want to know right now!"
Buck jumped up, scared at what his friend might do to the woman.
"Chris! What are ya doin? Let her go!" Chris gave Buck an icy stare and pushed her closer to the flames.
The woman had stopped struggling and Vin was amazed to see that she was going back into the trance. But unlike before when her face was calm and controlled she was now flushed and angry and her lips were moving as she muttered something he could not hear. Vin grabbed at Chris’ arm,
"That’s enough Chris. Let her go"
The angry man held on a moment longer then seemed to come to his senses and let go. Vin caught the woman before she fell into the fire while Buck pulled Chris away.
The air was thick with frustration, anger and fear as once again they watched the woman and waited for her to come back. She had stopped her muttering and Buck, who had seen it too, wondered if maybe she was a witch of some sort. He kept his thoughts to himself though and waited in worried silence.
A tremor went through Tel as she turned her face to the moon above her hands clutching at the ground. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and spoke. Her voice stayed in a monotonous tone as she repeated what she had seen.
"I saw the stagecoach being attacked. The driver and guard both dead. The outlaws are forcing the passengers out. The child is crying, its mother is holding it – protecting it but she’s scared stiff herself. The man is scared too, its his first trip away from the city. He’s praying [Tel’s voice became deeper as she repeated the words of the petrified man] – Please God, I promise to go to church every Sunday. I don’t want to die" Tel’s voice took on an almost whining quality with the last few words. She paused a moment then went back to her vision.
"The other woman is scared too but is armed and plans to shoot the first outlaw that tries anything. She looks at the mother and child – she will defend them too. She doesn’t like the man – he’s been pestering her for the whole trip. She won’t risk her life for him. Two of the outlaws are climbing onto the stage looking for something in the luggage. A third – the leader – has his gun aimed at the passengers. He calls something out and the two pull down a large trunk. The armed woman speaks out" Tel paused as if listening to the words of the woman. Vin sat down facing the now quiet figure.
"What next?" His question startles the woman from her thoughts but her eyes remain closed as she continues with the telling.
"The trunk belongs to this woman, she’s confused as to why they want it. She’s telling them that its of no value to them. One of the other outlaws draws his gun, he’s going to shoot. The woman brings up her gun … and fires. The outlaw is dead. Another outlaw opens fire on the coach [Tel’s voice catches and the soft tone is replace by raw emotion] He’s shooting her! He’s killing her! NO! STOP! [Tel is yelling now and tears are rolling down her cheeks as she fights with her emotions determined to finish. She lets out an anguished cry then slowly continues, her grief evident in every word]. The outlaws are killing them all … there’s blood everywhere … they’re killing and … laughing"
Finally finished she wipes at her eyes before opening them. She pushes herself up from the ground and walks away to the edge of the firelight shoulders bowed with the pain of what she has seen.
The men were shocked into complete silence and stillness.
We asked her to tell us, Buck thought
The seconds stretched into minutes as they all fought with what they’d just heard. It was Vin who found his voice first.
"But that’s only one possibility, isn’t it? You said there were many possibilities and many paths to follow"
Tel kept her back to the men but answered with a barely audible, "Yes"
"But how do you – do we – know which path to take so that don’t happen?"
"We know when we get there"
"That answer’s not got good enough lady!" said Chris.
"Right now, that’s the only answer I’ve got!"
"Tel, who’s Dan-El?" asked Vin as he watched the woman get control of herself. She turned towards him, confused.
"What?"
"Before, you said ‘There is nothing evil here Dan-El’. Who’s Dan-El?"
Tel looked away again – this was getting way too complicated way too quickly.
"That’s got nothin' to do with this situation" was all she’d say.
"No more secrets, Tel. We want to know everythin'" blurted out Chris
No we don’t, thought Buck still thinking about the last time she was made to speak. He was relieved when Tel obviously was not going to say anything further on this other mystery. This is too weird already.
Tel looked at the Chris – long and cold and hard, "No you don’t – believe me. I’ll explain about Dan-El when the time is right and not before. Now I’m gonna get some shut-eye. I suggest we all do – we’re safe here for tonight" With that she laid down on her blanket, rested her head on her saddle bags and firmly closed her eyes. Conversation was over.
Buck and Chris looked at each other – undecided. Vin stood up and reached for his rifle,
"I’ll take first watch" and he walked away from the fire into the darkness.
A few hours later Chris got up to relieve Vin from watch. He glanced across at the woman fast asleep but apparently in the grip of some bad dreams. Not more bad news, I hope he thought as he quietly crossed the campsite and headed in the same direction Vin had taken earlier. Once his eyes adjusted to the darkness he could see the younger man sitting motionless in the moonlight.
"There ain’t no one out there" he said without turning, "Can’t even hear any animals. It’s almost too quiet"
"This is too weird" Chris commented to his friend, echoing the earlier thoughts of Buck. "Tomorrow is not going to be a good day, I can feel it in my bones"
"Aw, I don’t know ‘bout that Chris" Chris was surprised at the man’s optimism.
"What d’ya mean?"
"Well, its jus' like she said. There’s more than one path to follow. More than one possibility of what will happen. What she told us is just one of the possibilities. Reckon it all depends on what choices we all make and what actions we take. That’s why we can’t go rushin’ in like all get out. If we do the wrong thing, make the wrong choice then maybe that bloodbath she saw will happen".
Chris had never heard Vin say so much at one time, he’d obviously been thinking about it a lot. He knew his friend was right. Every word he said had the ring of absolute truth.
"So, it all depends on the choice that one woman makes?"
"Reckon it depends on the choices we make too" added Vin. He waited to make sure the older man understood what he meant. "We have to choose whether to trust her choice and play this the way she says. Otherwise it might be us that gets killed as well as the passengers on that stage"
Chris shrugged still wrestling with it all.
"What about the other thing?"
Vin gave him a sidelong glance, the corner of his mouth lifting up in a smile.
"I choose to wait and believe that the answer will be there – at the right time". He lifted his face to the evening breeze then quietly got up and left Chris to his thoughts.
Buck sat up, instantly alert. He’d heard something out of the ordinary, a low muffled noise. He’d been having strange dreams Nearly as strange as this situation we’re in but the noise was not part of them. He waited then heard the sound again. It was coming from the woman. Guess she’s having her own bad dreams. He looked over to where Vin lay apparently asleep though you could never really tell with him. It was only an hour before dawn and Chris hadn’t woken him for his turn at watch. He got up to go look for him and found him sitting on the same rock Vin had vacated just a few hours before. The breeze had picked up a little forcing Buck to jam his hat down further on his head.
"Mornin’ Buck" Chris greeted his oldest friend. He’d been doing a lot of thinking, had made his choice and as a result was feeling much calmer.
Buck looked at him suspiciously, he didn’t expect him to be so relaxed, especially after the events of last night. He shifted about a little unsure of himself – his own uncertainty making him even more nervous.
"Sleep well?" Chris asked when Buck didn’t return greetings. The normalcy in his voice helped Buck to get a grip on himself.
"Not really. Wish I was back in Four Corners"
"Me too Buck, me too"
There was quiet again as the pair watched the pale light of the slowly rising sun.
"We have to make a choice Buck" Chris had decided to let Buck in on some of the tracker’s wisdom.
"Bout what?"
"Bout whether we follow that woman’s lead in this – trust her instincts"
"And do we?" Buck asked
"I think we each have to make the choice for ourselves"
Buck removed his hat and ran his hand through his hair out of habit. The small action helping him think. Consternation showed in his every movement
"And what was your choice?" he asked although from his friends relaxed manner he thought he knew the answer already.
"I choose to trust her. Lord knows it won’t be easy, but I’ll stand by her choice"
Buck sniffed The great Chris Larabee following someone else’s orders?
"Well, if that’s your choice then I’ll stand by you"
Chris smiled in the darkness, "That’s not good enough this time Buck. You gotta decide to stand by her, not me"
"Far as I can see, that’s the same damn thing!"
Buck had made his choice.
As the sun poked its face over the horizon and the first rays lit up the hills around them, the two men walked back to the camp, at peace – for the moment.
+ + + + + + +
Continued...
